A Requiem for Innocence
Chapter Two

After talking to Yami, Yugi took his advice. Strengthened by the knowledge that he had a supporter and adrenaline from the kiss, he returned to the game shop with a racing heart, but determination. Yami was right. He couldn't give up without a fight. And maybe…maybe his parents would reconsider and let him stay with his grandfather after all. There was nothing to lose in trying, and everything to be gained.

"Yugi, there you are. What took you so long?" His mother asked when he returned to the dining room, where they had all been discussing future plans before Yami had shown up.

"It was a friend of mine." Yugi replied. "He wanted to buy some more cards." Crossing the room, he handed the money to his grandfather, and sat back down in his seat.

"At this hour?" his father asked.

"He's a professional duelist, we told him to come buy cards anytime he wanted." Yugi's grandfather explained.

"A professional duelist." Yugi's mother didn't look as if she approved. "That's not a very professional job. Yugi, I don't want you getting caught up in that crowd. Gambling for a living might look glamourous, but it's dangerous, and irresponsible."

"Yami's very responsible, and he happens to be the best duelist in the world, so it's not 'gambling' to him!" Yugi retorted before he could stop himself.

Everyone in the room had to raise an eyebrow at this. Yugi lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry." He said quietly. Finally Yugi's father stood up and said,

"Well, it's late. We should all get ready for bed and we can discuss this further in the morning."

Seeing his chance, Yugi got to his feet too then and made his big announcement: "I don't want to go."

They all turned to look at him. "What did you say, Yugi?" his mother asked.

"I said I don't want to go. I don't want to go to school in America, and I don't want to go to college to be a businessman. I want to stay here in Domino and run the game shop after high school."

His family was struck into silence. Finally his father regained his composure and said sternly,

"Yugi, we already told you that you can't make a living off of a life like that. Maybe after you retire-"

"I don't care about making a living!" Yugi shouted. "I just want to be happy!"

"You'll be happy in the US, and you'll be very happy once you make enough money to live comfortably on, and start a family. You'll forget all these ideas." His mother offered. "I know it's tough right now, but-"

"No, no buts!" Yugi cut in. "I don't care about that sort of thing. I want to enjoy my life now, and I think I could make a good living off running the shop. The property is already paid off, and-"

"We're just trying to do what's best for you." His father said louder. "We don't want you to end up struggling with financial problems later on. And an American education will benefit you no matter what, considering western influence here right now."

"But it's not what I want. Yami told me that I should follow my heart." He'd said Yami's name again without meaning to, and now his father seemed to figure out what had happened.

"So, your duelist friend has decided to involve himself in our family matters, is that it? Is that what you were spending so much time doing down there, listening to his radical ideas?"

"Yami's not a radical-"

"Yugi, we're your parents, and we don't want to see you get hurt, that's all. We want you to have the best life possible."

"Money can't ensure all of that, though." Yugi muttered.

"Maybe not, but neither can dreams. On the other hand, if you have a good job and a stable life, it shouldn't be hard too find a wife and settle down and have a great family, and then you'll be just as happy as ever, without having to worry about getting hurt along the way."

"I don't know what you're so afraid of." Yugi shook his head. "The future I'm asking for isn't anything dangerous. It's not like I'm hanging all my hopes and dreams on becoming a rock star or something. I just want to run a game shop. How dangerous is that?"

"Even if you don't want to go into a majourindustry, the education will help you. One day though you could go out of business. With no further schooling, do you have any idea how difficult it would be to get a good job? You'd end up living in a shantytown someplace with the homeless people."

This made sense to Yugi, but for some reason he just couldn't see it happening. He had lots of friends. Even if he didn't have any money, it wasn't like he would be alone. To him, the idea of being alone was worse than being broke, and he almost said so, if it weren't for the looks on his parents' faces. He knew he was dangerously close to really getting yelled at, and he didn't want to upset them too much right now. So he merely got to his feet, quietly said good-night, and went up to his room, where he sat staring out his window at the sky for some time before he got in bed and his grandpa unexpectedly came up to see him.

"Yugi?" He asked quietly from the doorway.

"Hi Grandpa." Yugi was not in the mood for further lecturing.

"I saw everything that went on tonight, and I know where you're coming from. Yugi, even if you go off to America for your education, I want you to know that I'm still leaving the Kame Game Shop to you in my will."

Yugi sat up in bed. "But…"

"And you'll be eighteen next year, and old enough to make your own choices without your parents' consent. If you want to come back here and take up the business with me anyway, it'll be here for you, and no one else."

"First Yami, now you." Yugi whispered with a smile. "Everyone's campaigning for me to become a rebel."

"Yami's a smart young man." His grandfather acknowledged, as if he knew about what had happened downstairs. "Don't let your parents convince you otherwise. I'd trust him with my life. Good-night, Yugi."

"'Night Grandpa. And thank you."

His grandfather smiled and closed the door. Yugi knew it would be hopeless to sleep, and got up and walked over to look out the window again. "I'd trust Yami with my life too." He said aloud, thinking back to their hug and kiss, and how secure he'd felt then, despite the turmoil in his mind. "And my heart."

He sat up for some time after, making plans.

The next morning, fairly early, Yami was awakened by someone knocking at his front door. Groggily he got to his feet, tried in vain to smooth out his clothes-which he'd fallen asleep in-and felt his way toward the door, grumbling under his breath various curses he wanted to inflict on the sorry bastard that dared wake him up.

Last he could remember, it was just past four in the morning. His clock now said it was 6:47. He was functioning on less than three hours of sleep, coupled by inner conflict over the events of the night before, and wasn't feeling too happy about this rude awakening at all. But when he opened the door, his irritable mood vanished, to be replaced by surprise. Mutely he stared at the visitor for a moment before uttering,

"Yugi…?"

"Morning, Yami. I'm sorry if I woke you up." his visitor apologized.

"Oh-no-it's okay." He had instantly forgotten all the nasty things he'd planned to say to the person at his door, and now stepped aside. "Would you like to come in?"

Quietly Yugi followed him to the kitchen, where he sat down at the table and watched Yami pour himself a glass of iced tea, (the caffeinated sort), in hopes to wake himself up. Yami noticed him watching, and offered, "Want anything? Tea, coffee, juice, anything like that?"

"No, it's alright."

"Oh, okay." He sat down at the table too, taking a drink and trying not to look too curious why Yugi had shown up at his apartment on this particular morning.

Yugi seemed in no hurry to get to the point either, and was looking around the rather small kitchen. "Hard to believe, Yami. You're basically rich. You could go buy yourself an estate in the mountains if you wanted, with maids and all that. Why hang out here in a small apartment in a city by yourself?"

"Ah, I dunno. Too much solitude in the mountains I guess. Besides, I don't need that much. I can keep this place clean enough on my own, and I'd rather live a simple life." Actually, I just didn't want to leave and not see you again.

"You're one of those rich people that other rich people hate. The sort that offers his money to help a teenager run away from home instead of buying a yacht."

Yami blushed. "Yugi, all right already, I know what I said-it was just an offer."

"I know." Yugi paused. "But it meant a lot to me, that offer."

"It did?"

"Yeah." He paused. "I took your advice last night, after you left. I talked to my parents about staying."

"You did?" Yami asked, surprised.

"Yes…but it didn't really go over well." Yugi added sadly. "My parents told me it doesn't matter. They said that following my heart was a foolish thing to do."

"Hmmph." Yami grumbled, looking insulted. "Shows how much they know."

"Well, they also called you an irresponsible and radical gambler." Yugi added apologetically. "So I don't think they really respect your opinion."

Yami shrugged. "I've heard worse. At tournaments there will always be some idiot in the crowd that comes to go on about how duelists are all pagan and irresponsible and who make a living in the lowest of ways…they say that we live off luck instead of any skill and devote our lives to being lazy buggers just trying to get rich fast…what can I say, not everyone loves games. I think they're just jealous that we're enjoying our job and they just don't want to go back to the desk and the telephone." He looked rather bemused for a moment, then shook his head and returned his attention to Yugi. "So what else did they say to you?"

"Basically that I was going to the US and I was going to like it or I'd end up living in a shantytown…something along those lines. Not that I'm surprised. They're just trying to help me."

"Yugi…"

"Yami, I know what your opinion on the whole thing is. But they're not your parents, you don't feel the same guilt that I do. If they say they're trying to help me, I feel bad about going against their wishes. One day I'll probably look back and appreciate this move, you know. I just can't grasp it now, but maybe one day I will."

Yami looked uncertain, but still remained quiet and concentrated on his drink, thinking it best not to voice his opinion on that one.

"And anyway, if it cheers you up, my grandpa agrees with you wholeheartedly. He told me he's leaving the game shop to me in his will no matter what and that I can come take it over when I turn eighteen, he wants to retire. But it makes sense, he used to be a gambler too. Birds of a feather apparently flock together and share the same opinions when it comes to the corrupting of innocent teenagers."

Yami smiled softly at that.

Then, Yugi lifted his head and said quietly, "Yami…about that kiss-"

Here it comes. Yami thought sadly, and cut Yugi off with a painful smile, "It's okay, I know what you're going to say. You didn't mean it, right? It was one of those things people just do in desperation. And you really came here because you wanted to set things straight before I got the wrong idea." Yami fidgeted with a piece of ice in his glass. "I understand-I mean, you were upset and I shouldn't…I shouldn't have done what I did."

"No, Yami."

"Huh?"

"No, that's not why I came. I came to tell you what went on after you left, but I also came…because I wanted to tell you that I did mean it. It wasn't because I was upset or because you made a mistake-to me, that kiss was real, not some sort of accident. I came here because I…I wanted to know if it was real to you too." He squeezed his eyes shut. "And last night…I had an idea…so I wanted to ask if…if the kiss was real to you…if I could move in with you. Just till we leave. I don't want to stay around the shop. And…I love you."

Yami could not have been more surprised if tap-dancing ninjas had suddenly stormed the house and threatened to impale him with sporks. What Yugi was saying…well, it was what he'd always dreamed he'd hear Yugi say, but it was so unreal that he was sure he was still dreaming, and would wake up any moment.

Yugi apparently mistook his silence for anger, because he burst into tears, startling Yami. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad-" He hid his face in his hands. "It was just an idea, I'm sorry…"

"Yugi, no…" Yami knelt down on the floor in front of him to hug him tightly, wishing he would stop crying. He couldn't stand to see Yugi crying, it cut his heart terribly. "No, I'm not mad, don't think that."

"But-but you-"

"The reason I wasn't saying anything was because I was surprised." Yami said, chuckling. "Because I've loved you for so long and suddenly it was you telling me…and I thought I was dreaming."

"Dreaming?" Now it was Yugi that was laughing through his tears.

"Yeah, dreaming, can you believe it?" Yami smiled sadly. "I do love you too, Yugi, and I'll stand by your side till the world ends, but…you should go home. You shouldn't stay here."

"What? Why?" Yugi sounded hurt.

Yami felt bad now, but tried to push it out of his mind. "Don't take it that way, Yugi. I want you to stay, I really do."

"Then why are you telling me to go home? My parents are going to be impossible to live with for the next two months." He blinked.

Yami shook his head. Great, here he was, trying to do the responsible thing and not uphold the reckless reputation that gamers apparently had, and Yugi was blinking at him with tears in those huge eyes and making it very hard to say no. "Because it would be best for you."

"You're the one that told me to run away!" Yugi retorted. "What a hypocrite!"

"Don't call me a hypocrite!" Yami snapped.

"Well that's how you're acting!"

"Yugi, try to look at this reasonably…"

"You saw me last night, you heard what I told you! You said you wanted to help me! So did that kiss mean nothing to you after all?"

"Okay, now that's taking it too far. It meant way more than nothing-"

"Well you're not acting like it. You told me to run away, to follow my heart. And I believed you, so I went and yelled at my parents, and I spent all last night getting up the courage to come here today, because I thought when you kissed me that it meant something. Now, you're trying to tell me to go back home, like it was nothing at all." Yugi's eyes were narrowed and tinged with hurt that he couldn't conceal.

I'm too old for this crap, Yami thought with a sigh, and tried to think of how to explain. "Yugi…listen to me. I know you're upset. And I know that things at home for you are probably hell right now. But if you stayed here with me…it would only be harder. I wish you could stay with me, I really do. I want to spend my life with you, because I love you and I have for a long time." He lowered his eyes. "But think about it…you're seventeen, a high school student. I'm twenty-four and I'm rich and famous and all that stuff. If you moved in with me, rumours would start flying. Considering your age and the fact that I've got money and have never been seen in company with a wife or girlfriend, everyone would start tossing stories around that I'm a pedophile that likes boys or something. And you-they'd probably call you a whore or a prostitute, considering you shacked up with a rich duelist. I have a one-bedroom apartment you know! Even if we didn't sleep together at all-and I can't promise you I wouldn't try to-people would still talk and say we did. Make our lives hell. You see what I'm getting at here? I'm just trying to protect you."

Yugi seemed as if he hadn't thought of that before. "Oh…"

"And then, in two months, you're leaving, and from what I've heard, your parents don't sound like the kind of people that'll let me move in with you in America. Why would we want to subject ourselves to something that'll never last?"

"Well, why would we want to throw away what could be the best two months of our lives?" Yugi wanted to know. "It might not be forever…but can't we just pretend for awhile? Just spend this time together before it all has to end?"

Yami hid his face in his hands. This was impossible…what Yugi was saying was making sense in ways that it shouldn't, and he was actually considering saying yes. In fact, he was pretty sure he would have said yes right then if he hadn't broken their eye contact. But he was right, he knew he was. Them living together would cause too many problems, too many questions. Yugi had enough to deal with.

"Yugi…"

"Come on Yami, please? I just want to be with you. If I have to, I'll never leave the apartment, so people won't wonder. I don't want to go home, I want to stay here with you. I love you. This is like a dream come true for the both of us, are you telling me to just throw it away now, after all this?"

Goddammit, I must be going insane! Yami thought to himself. He might have been lonely, but he'd been happy just to dream. Now that the dream was real…it didn't seem so easy. This was reality, there were complications now, it wouldn't be the same as he imagined. There was society and Yugi's parents that would no doubt get in their way. There was the fact that in two months it would end and break their hearts. There was his own conscience chiding that if he wasn't such a lout and hadn't kissed Yugi in the first place, none of this would be happening. This just couldn't work, but…God, he wanted to say yes so badly…

"No…Yugi, no, you can't stay here." He finally whispered, forcing the words out.

Yugi looked crushed. "But-"

"Unless you agree to make dinner every night." Yami added, lifting his head and smiling. "Because I never learned how to cook and I've eaten ramen the last five nights in a row. Frankly, I'm getting tired of it, but I don't want to hire a cook. If you agree to make dinner…you can stay."

Yugi shrieked and pounced on him. "That wasn't funny!"

"Yes it was, you're laughing."

"I'll go visit Tea tomorrow and borrow some of her cookbooks and I'll practice a lot." Yugi promised. "Thank you Yami, thank you so much-" he grabbed Yami's shoulders and pulled him forward to kiss him.

"You're welcome." Yami replied, kissing him back, thinking: I'm insane, I know it. But maybe being insane isn't so bad.

To Be Continued…

Author's Notes:

About Yami's occupation: Considering that he doesn't have a whole lot of experience in things like cryptozoology, astrophysics, or telecommunications, I decided to give him a job I knew he'd be able to do well. Professional dueling! Now that the world is safe he's got time to pursue an actual money-making job, and thus I solved two problems at once. Giving him a livelihood, and giving him one that makes him enough money, (I mean hell, Duelist Kingdom could have made him three million if cute lil' Yugi hadn't given it to Joey), to live the comfortable life he oh-so-often is seen living in fics. I always wonder how he makes so much money to live that life without ever seeming to have a job. So! Dueling is his job and it's all good.

Ha! So now they're clear on how they feel anyway. (Like it's not obvious anyway? I mean come on! You can tell even in the show/manga that they're like totally in love! Just look at their eyes when they're together man, they're so infatuated! So many shippy scenes, it's enough to give a YamixYugi fangirl a heart attack! But I digress…) How will Yugi's parents take this whole idea? You'll find out soon enough. :mysterious: This is another chapter with mostly a lot of cutsey stuff…aren't I just too darn happy? Well, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your sorry excuses for lives with my happiness. It'll get solemn next chapter. :laughs:

Hmmn…we got a slight look at Yugi's family situation in this one. Contrary to dub belief, his family totally exists. I'm making up their main personalities though. His parents' opinion of Yami comes into play later…keep an eye on them.

Tea, although she thinks that the idea of the woman always doing the cooking is sexist, is a good cook. This is shown in Series 0. So, yeah, Yugi picked a good person to go to for that, considering he probably can't cook at all. Not that that was the real reason Yami was letting him stay anyway. :smirk:

Replies! (Aw, and I just have to say, it's so cool to see both old friends and new reviewing this story! I just know we'll all be one big happy family. :smile:)

Una: :glomp: Hi! I haven't seen you for awhile. Aw, I do know how fond you are of Yugi. Heh, I'm never true to one version or another, but sort of a mix of both versions of the series plus some manga details, as I enjoy all of them and like to mix my favourite parts. How fun! Eek, me n my cliché-ness. xD Yes, well, this is still one of my favourite starting dilemmas. Hmmn…as of yet…I haven't met a story I loved that wasn't wordy! Thanks for checking out my new fic, (even past your dislike of shounen-ai! I feel so special. :watery-eyed:), and I hope to see you in future chapters!

Fear of Falling: Woot! It's you! xD :attack: I'm glad to see you again too! Aw, writer's block…that sucks. :sympathetic: Well, I hope I'll do a good job providing entertainment for you! Multichapters rule. :niko:

Sansi: xD EEK, I forgot that part! I'm gonna be stalked now…well, I hope I will do a good job for all of those people! Aw, but I'm a YamixYugi lover as well, so we'll all be able to get along. :smile: Thanks for reviewing!

Atemu Yugi Lover34: Wow, better than your own you think? That's a majour compliment, thanks! I've been writing for a long time…though my first stuff was…ack. Good thing it never got posted. :wink: Thanks for reviewing, I'll update as often as I can!

Phoenix51: Heeey, I remember you! Good ta see ya again! Thanks, I'll update as soon as I can!

You Know Us: Aw, now I really do feel special, I know how busy you are and you took the time…in your busy busy schedule…to read the sappy things my shounen-ai obsessed mind produces…whaaaaaa…:bursts into tears: Right! So, that done with…oh yeah, parents know how to mess up a blossoming couple! Stupid people! (Present company excluded from that, of course.) Aw, and hello to you too, Michelle-chan. Woot! My mom's a YugixYami faaaaannn…syahahaha! I always knew…well, I fully agree with you, they make such an adorable pair, so we are on the same page! As for Bakura, don'cha worry Michelle, eventually he and Yami will get their sequel. Until then, try to understand that this is a different story. Thanks for reading!

Alright, I've decided to reserve the area under the replies for personal news.

Well, I'm going back to school next week. Eleventh grade in a construction zone for Chey. :jaw drop: I CAN'T FREAKIN' BELIEVE IT:screams: Nooo, NOOOOOOO! I don't wanna go back:clings to computer screen: Nooooooooooo!

Well, I did find this adorable binder with Yami in his sleeveless shirt on it, so my spirit is not entirely broken…there's nothing like my adorable Yami-kun in a sleeveless shirt to cheer me up. :niko:

Oh! And I watched the end of Gravitation the anime! It's just as cute as the manga ending! Sooooo cute! Eeek!

And now that I have succeeded in sounding as moronic as possible…I'll see y'all next week!