Hikaris-DS: I'm kind of updating a little sooner than expected. Only because so many reviews came in this early, 12 REVIEWS! That made me so happy…especially the positive responses.
Yami Muraii: Now should the responses be at the end, or beginning? For now they'll be at the end, so people will read the chapter, at you, the reader's request they'll be at the beginning or end, no middle! –LOL-
Hikaris-DS: Somebody actually acknowledged your presence, Raii-chan, that's pretty funny if you think about it…
Yami Muraii: Oh shut up you…
Hikaris-DS: XD no swearing now, that's Kura-kun's job!
Yami Bakura: That's Ryou's nickname, not yours!
Ryou: Quiet Kura…
Yami Bakura: Sorry…(sad puppy dog look)
Bakura Fan girls: sigh
Hikaris-DS: (growl) Go away! Stupid fan club…
Fan girls: (run away crying like babies)
Yami Muraii: Can we start the fic, like now?
Disclaimer: Only because some people think I based this off of Rurouni Kenshin, I disclaim mentioned animes, their characters, and anything to do with Yugioh or Rurouni Kenshin.
'Thoughts'
"Talking, dialogue"
Warning: Mentioned shonen-ai, possible yaoi, demons, maybe blood, swearing/cussing.
Summary: See previous chapter, same goes for pairings, and rating.
8888888888888888888888888888888
As Yugi prepared the baths for his students, his thoughts wandered to the new arrival, currently snoozing peacefully in his bedroom. He seemed not to pose an immediate threat to the well-being of his students. With that sword of his, Atemu could possibly help him in teaching some new skills. He poured fresh water from the Gyro River that Malik had brought to him into the main basins. When they were all filled to the brim, steam rose over the top in a silver mist, curling this way and that.
It reminded Yugi of an ancient dance from the earlier generations of swordsmanship, where both male and female participants would glide together and apart in perfect unity. The music was gentle and alluring, allowing the spectator to whisk off into a forgotten place and time. He could almost picture watching his mother and sister practicing this dance before the annual cherry blossom festival, flowing to the timeless melody. Tears pricked at the corner of Yugi's soft amethyst eyes at the memory of his deceased family.
A soft hand reached into his sight and wiped the water and salt from his eyes. And a familiar deep voice purred in his right ear.
"Why are you crying little one?"
Yugi started, but turned his head upward and found affectionate red eyes resting on his own. The subject of his previous thoughts was kneeling next to him, hand resting comfortably on his shoulder, his left arm in a snug sling. He swallowed, but found his throat quite dry, despite the hazy atmosphere.
"It-it's nothing Atemu-san, my eyes are watery that's all. Would you like to freshen up?"
Yugi gestured to the baths that were now filled with hot water. But Atemu shook his head,
"I would like to Yugi, but I would rather meet the rest of the family and get a bite to eat."
"Follow me, then."
Yugi straightened up and led Atemu out of the bathhouse, across the yard, and behind a pair of sliding doors, into the dining area in his small house. Bakura was in the kitchen with Ryou making oden for the residents. Malik was chopping at the onions merrily whistling Marik's favorite walking tune, and adding them at necessary intervals into the large pot. All three gave a hearty smile to the new arrivals, and greeted Atemu with due kindness. Ryou explained,
"Any friend of Yugi-sensei is a dear friend of ours."
Jounouchi and Kaiba also greeted Atemu and Yugi with due regard ( as is expected of students, Yugi explained to Atemu), with a respectful bow. They resumed their discussion of current news on the Meiji government, with many a wild gesture when either stated a particular opinion.
Ryou was debating whether to use beef or fish in the oden, and asked Atemu,
"Atemu-sama, which meat do you prefer, beef or fish. It's customary to ask guests of the school to decide on the meal, when certain chefs don't help!"
With this said, he stuck his tongue out at Bakura playfully, and dodged a swing from an equally playful Head chef.
"I don't know, beef sounds good to me."
A new voice came from outside the doors, singing a merry tune in quite a sober manner,
I come home from a hard day's work
To see my lady fair
She waits for me at the door
Oh my! She makes me stare
What could this be, Oh bless me!
There waits my lady fair!(1)
Marik, a spiky haired blonde, slid both doors open with a loud 'Bang!' Malik dropped the onions and knife and embraced the elder with enthusiasm of the highest degree. Both blondes cuddled for a moment, having missed each other during the daylight hours. The song of course was old, but still you can probably guess whom Marik's 'lady fair' was. They did not seem ready for a serious, settle down romance, but they were in love.
Dinner that evening was a spectacular event. The talk was merry things, full of laughter and smiling. Atemu felt more at home than ever, and he considered staying with this joyful bunch of swordsman and merchants (in the demon Marik's case). No one at the table cast him a hostile glance, or even an uncomfortable question. Not that he would've noticed, for he was too busy admiring Yugi in the soft glow of the fireplace.
Yugi, more than once or twice, caught Atemu admiring him. Each and very time, the sensei would duck down to hide the red coloring painting his cheeks. This went unnoticed by all except for Ryou, who as the closest friend of Yugi would take heed of this sort of thing. An uncharacteristic smirk spread across Ryou's gentle face, and for a split moment, one could have mistaken him for his crush Bakura.
'So my dear friend has found a suitor worth his tastes, I never knew Yugi to be a (no pun or poked joke intended of any sort) man's man. These next few days will be quite interesting.'
"Ryou-sensei?"
"Yes, Jounochi-kun?"
"Why do you look so deep in thought, do you have any ideas for the next lesson?"
The white-haired boy smiled and gave Bakura a sly wink, causing him to blush.
"Not exactly…but that doesn't mean you shouldn't practice your basics tomorrow!"
"I will as long as Seto helps me…"
Kaiba also blushed, but gave Jou a small peck on the cheek, and mumbled his thanks in his puppy's ear. Malik giggled, most likely from a combination of sake (2) Marik's nuzzles and kisses, and the simple cuteness of the situation.
It became quite dark outside, and the stars had begun to come out. The night was clear as a blue crystal, and the occupants of the dojo sat beneath the stars outside for awhile, simply admiring the beauty of nature. Malik had fallen asleep in Marik's warm arms, snoozing gently, and blond bangs fluttering slightly with each breath.
Ryou lay in Bakura's arms as well, as the elder tried to hide his rapidly darkening flush. Starlight glistened off of both of their white crowns of hair, creating a soothing aura around their entangled bodies. Both smiled gently, slowly breathing in each other's entrancing scents, and sending whispers of their breath onto the other's skin.
Bakura's normally harsh face was set in a calm manner, a small smile resting on his full lips. His mind seemed to settle and even relax whenever he was holding his white-haired angel. Ryou appeared to feel the same treatment around him as well.
Kaiba stroked Jou's wild mane of hair with one hand and held him around the waist with the other. His icy blue eyes were half-lidded in a stupor, and appeared melted to show his true warm heart. Only Jou needed to see this side of him, Kaiba thought, only him.They stayed that way for awhile, reflecting in the other's presence.
Keeping the watchful eye for his students, Yugi sat cross-legged on the roof, watching the stars only occasionally. Atemu sat next to him, respecting the sensei's distance and personal space. The elder had closed his blood-red eyes a few minutes before and Yugi found himself wanting to see those eyes open for him. So he straightened up, and turned his torso and head toward Atemu.
"Atemu-san?"
"Yes?"
He answered without opening his eyes and this frustrated Yugi just a little.
"How long do you plan on staying here?"
"As long as I am welcome, I will remain here."
The remark was devoid of emotion, almost cold in a manner that sent a negative shiver up and down his spine. Yugi frowned deeply and folded his hands in his lap nervously. Then he bit his lip and said to Atemu's astonishment,
"But…I don't want you to leave, will you stay here?"
"…I…do…but…"
"It's alright! You don't have to, it's your choice because you're a rurouni right?"
"How did you know? Was it that obvious…?"
"I could tell by the way you disagreed with the government and that you carry a sword when you aren't a student of one of the styles of swordsmanship…"
"I see…"
Yugi flushed out of embarrassment when Atemu had finally opened his eyes. The rurouni smiled at him, a genuine smile that lit up his features. 'Those beautiful eyes, the golden bangs that hang over his…whoa'…Yugi stopped his train of thought and forced his blush down again. Atemu chuckled to himself at the adorable red tint to Yugi's cheeks and nose.
He put his arm gently around Yugi's shoulders, leaned against the other male, and whispered in his ear, yet again,
"You know what…I think I will stay."
And a shooting star spread across the sky, carrying a familiar song on its tail. (3)
88888888888888888888888888888888
Hikaris-DS: I liked writing this chapter…it had fluff and a bit of shonen-ai. I also liked the coming-home song for Malik and Marik, I wrote that myself, so NO STEAL!
Yami Muraii: I'm totally speechless hikari-chan…that was really good!
Hikaris-DS: Stop it…you wrote part of it! (blushing slightly)
(1) Like I said before, the lyrics to this short coming-home song belongs to me! It's kind of old style, I thought of it awhile ago for boredom purposes and decided to use it for this fic, hope you like it! Comment on it..please?
(2) This a very alcoholic beverage, drunk by men in this time period and Japan as far as I know, I'm willing to be corrected, but in a nice way, don't hurt other's feelings on purpose if you can help it!
(3) And to think I wrote that…When I was a kid, I used to think the stars would sing me to sleep. When I tried to explain this to someone, they laughed at me, and I stopped thinking that way for awhile. Now I do believe this...sort of, because I have a strange mind.
Review Replies:
Enjeru: I hope you and your yami enjoyed this chapter as well, thanks for the review.
Plus I enjoy the type of stories you guys write, so keep that up!
yaoishoujo: I can't wait for the 9th chapter, please load that up soon, I'll be sure to review it for you. Yep, you're the first to say that this fic relates to Rurouni Kenshin, please believe when I say I had almost no influence from that anime to my fic in the beginning. I mean after awhile, it became clearer, but I decided to go with it anyway. Yugi being a sensei, that came to me first, before Yami/Atemu was the rurouni, definitely cute in my opinion (holds out Yugi-sensei plushy).
Hikari Flame: You like the plot? I'm very shocked and surprised, but I'm glad you love this so much, hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Pharaoh Atemu's Angel: My Pharoah! (bows respectively) So glad I could write to your expectations, hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. I might write something like this for your yahoo group pharaoh and his hikari, or perhaps maybe pharaohshikari (ya know the yaoi, lemony one) I just recently joined up with.
Yana5: Hey I've seen your reviews around here, thanks for gracing this one's fic with your review(bows again). I'm glad they fell in love at first sight, but that really didn't mean to happen, I just can't help myself sometimes.
Sarah Costa: Another favorite (and talented) author of mine! Thank you for your review, and I'm happy you think it was a great start, I was kind of nervous at first, but I'm still uncertain about the beta thing, maybe I'll give it a whirl in the future. Thanks for the explanation though, it really helped this one, that it did!
Bakura18 (Shadow Cat): I hope you liked this chapter, and thanks for the review, short sweet and to the point! I love your e-mail address too, very creative!
Hikari Skysong: I won't abandon it, so I just need a spark or some inspiration. I'm very open to ideas, but I don't want to sound desperate. You and Yana5 think alike, did you know that? I will post the third chapter as soon as I can, don't torment this one!
Rin-almighty-yaoi-lover: Another revered fellow author! I'm shocked at this long review you graced this one's fic with! Please don't be sad, this one does not want one of her favorite authors to be sad. I read in some of your footnotes/author notes that you want a yami, is this one correct? Yamis are a lot of fun to hang out with, and they do not have to be the same sex, as far as this one knows. I found Muraii in a sword of sorts, and he decided to stick around this website and in my mind. He's actually quite helpful with my Latin homework, and sometimes he helps me to write new chapters, being a good muse, that he is. Names are kind of fun to come up as well, that they are, though I forgot where I found Raii-chan's name…keep a lookout for the third chapters of both of my fics, I need some ideas and I'll be on a roll!
PetPetAngel: PetPetAngel-sama!(runs and glomps) I haven't seen or talked to you in such a long time, I missed you, that this one did! The compliments, they were quite overloading for a humble story of this one's creation (blushes). But I'm happy anyway, please wait patiently for the third chapter, my spring break is coming up (two more days of school, HUZZAH!)
Akira of the Twilight: Please be patient with this one, I might have Bakura be rather jealous in the third or fourth chapter. As I mentioned in this chapter, Malik is already in love with Marik, but also teaches archery with Ryou, so Bakura will tend to be jealous every now and then. I'm ecstatic that you and so many other people like this so much, see you next chapter, as well?
Fuyish: Not too sure with Atemu being the teacher, but I will try in the third chapter, I'm sorry I didn't in this one. Please forgive this one (cowers slightly)! Thank you for the suggestion, though, many times over!
Hikaris-DS: Wow, so many respected authors commented on this one's story…I feel quite happy!
Yami Muraii: And that they gave such positive responses to your first chapter too, you should feel honored, hikari-chan.
Hikaris-DS: Like I said, all of the readers and reviewers get Atemu rurouni plushies or Yugi-sensei plushies. But I'll add in this bag of your favorite candy if you take a guess at what will happen in the next chapter, it doesn't need to be correct, I just would like a little longer reviews, is that too much to ask Raii?
Yami Muraii: (sitting reading Gravitation graphic novel) I don't think so, so you know what to do people, one more thing! If you ant something funny or dramatic to happen in the author notes or disclaimer, let my hikari know as well.