A Requiem for Innocence
Chapter Three

"No, Yugi, you are not moving in with him."

This was his mother's reaction to when Yugi came home that morning at eight and announced he was moving out to go live with Yami for two months. His grandfather hadn't looked surprised at all and just smiled to himself, having guessed months before about Yugi's crush. His father looked deep in serious thought. But his mother was far more vocal where her son was concerned.

"I don't see what you have against Yami." Yugi argued back. "It's only for two months. He can't possibly corrupt me in only two months." The last sentence was meant with some contempt, but he did a good job of hiding the sarcasm from his voice.

"Living with him will give you dangerous ideas. Just because he made a living off playing card games, that doesn't mean everyone can."

"I don't want to become a professional duelist, though!" Yugi countered. "It doesn't fit my personality, but it fits his fine. Living with him isn't going to change that."

"But weren't you a duelist for awhile?" she asked, puzzled. "I remember something about you beating Seto Kaiba. Though, your grandfather never did give me the whole story." She shot the eldest Mutou a look as she said this. Yugi sighed. He and Yami had come up with a story, (because his mother would never believe that Yami had once lived inside him, or else she would merely think that was supposed to be code for something vulgar), but he still didn't like trying to explain it.

"Yes, I dueled Kaiba once before I even knew who he was, and he became convinced I was standing in his way to world championship. So he invited me to tournaments because of that. Eventually I got sick of it, and luckily that was around the time that Yami entered the dueling world. And before you say anything, it's a coincidence that he looks a lot like me."

She didn't look convinced at all, but was willing to let it slide as she replied instead: "So, what if this friend of yours tries to get you back into dueling?"

"For the umpteenth time," Yugi seethed, starting to get annoyed, "I do not want to be a professional duelist. Yami does, I do not, and he's not going to push me into it."

"If you're sure, then."

"I'm sure. Yami's really nice, he cares about people, and he's responsible too. He even offered to have you guys over sometime for dinner to visit and meet him better." Actually, Yami had said nothing of the sort because he currently was holding a grudge toward Yugi's parents and had informed Yugi that he'd be hard pressed not to poison their drinks if they ever met for dinner. But Yugi was hoping that if they took this offer up, that he would forgive him for it…and that he wouldn't poison anyone.

"Yes, but wasn't he the one that was trying to talk you into rebelling and refusing to come to the US? If he really cared about you, he'd let us worry about your future. We know better."

"He only said that because I told him I didn't want to leave. He's very supportive of people." Yugi was purposely trying to sound universal so that they wouldn't pick up on the underlying relationship that had blossomed between the two boys. The last thing he needed was for his parents to find out about that. And telling them that he and Yami had an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't sleep together would be pointless…they'd still freak out. For the same reason, he hadn't mentioned that Yami's apartment had only one bedroom.

"If he was so supportive-"

"No, let him go." His father suddenly spoke up.

"What?" Both Yugi and his mother asked in unison.

"Let Yugi go. If it'll make him happy and help him adjust for the move, I see no trouble with the idea." He continued.

Yugi's eyes lit up with hope. His mother furrowed her brow for a moment.

"I don't know…"

"It wouldn't hurt. Yugi, if it means that much to you, and if you'll agree to stop arguing with us about the move, I give you permission to room with your…friend."

"Deal!" Yugi agreed quickly, before his father could change his mind. "Thank you, Dad, thank you very much." He dashed upstairs, first to snatch the hall phone and call Yami, crying, "They agreed!", into the receiver before slamming it back down in joy, and then to pack up what he'd need for the next two months.

"Is this really a good idea?" Yugi's mother inquired.

"It's only for two months. Might as well let Yugi stay with his friends for now, and make it easier on all of us. After all, we're leaving for the States soon anyway, and then all this will be put in the past."

"I can't believe they actually let you stay." Yami said over lunch. It was about the twentieth time he'd said it, in an awe-struck sort of voice. But he looked extremely pleased.

"At first Mom didn't want to let me. I'm not sure what her problem was, lots of kids my age move in with roommates. I'm guessing it's your profession. They don't think much of how you make money."

"Hey, she ought to be counting her blessings. I could be a bank robber." Yami replied cheerfully. "Or a hobo with no house at all, and I'd be inviting you to come camp out in my cozy cardboard box."

"Or it might be your age." Yugi mused further. "I doubt they think you're responsible enough to take care of me and yourself at twenty-four. And mom doesn't think that most twenty-year-olds are very responsible anyway. They normally like to party and she's against heavy partying."

"You ought to have informed her that I don't usually drink alcohol, it might have calmed her down. Hey…what about 5000-year-olds, eh? She got anything to say about them?"

"I didn't ask." Yugi laughed. "Maybe another time. Anyway, all that matters is that they managed to look past whatever their reasons for disliking you, and let me stay."

"Yep, that's the bottom line." Yami agreed. "And it's the most important of all."

Yami couldn't have been more delighted to have Yugi living with him, and at first Yugi seemed as if he couldn't be happier either. But over the course of the next several days, Yugi was starting to look more and more troubled. Finally, one night as Yugi unfolded the couch bed for the night, Yami brought it up.

"So, Yugi, has anything been bothering you?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

Yugi turned to look at him. "Why?"

"I've just noticed…you've been looking concerned about something. If it's about the cooking, you've got nothing to worry about. I'm eating better than I think I did as a pharaoh even."

Yugi smiled at this and looked amused, but he couldn't completely get rid of the distracted look in his eyes. "Don't worry about it, Yami. Nothing majour. I'm just thinking about a lot of stuff."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really."

"In that case you probably do need to talk about it." Yami said sternly. "People always say that when they really want to talk about whatever is that is bothering them."

Yugi sighed. "I can't hide anything from you, I swear. You're too observant."

Yami shrugged. "Occupational hazard. That sort of thing happens when you've lived inside someone for a year or so."

"Well, anyway, I can take care of these issues myself."

Yami frowned. "Okay, tell me what I've done now."

"Huh?" Yugi looked up, puzzled.

"What did I do? Did I hurt your feelings somehow? Have I made you angry? Why are you closing yourself off to me?"

"No…no, you haven't done anything. Don't think that." Yugi looked away. "You've helped me so much…you've done nothing to make me angry at you."

"Yugi…" Yami couldn't think of anything else to say. It was obvious something was troubling his friend, and it was going to drive him crazy until he found out what it was and corrected it. But Yugi didn't seem to want him to help him, so what he supposed to do? With lack of a better idea, he reached out to give Yugi a hug good-night. Yugi turned to lean into him and that was when he finally said,

"Yami…what it is, is I'm scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

"Of...everything I guess. Leaving. Never seeing you again. Never getting to…make anything of this."

"Never getting to make anything of this? What does that mean?"

Yugi drew in a long breath, his head resting on Yami's shoulder. "After I leave…it'll be a long time before we'll ever get to see each other again. My parents would sooner have dental surgery without painkillers before they'd let me visit you. And…I mean, people change in a year. And if we're apart, we won't be able to change together. We'll grow apart. I finally…learned what it feels like to love someone with my whole heart, and I just don't want to lose that."

Yami was silent, but tightened his hold around Yugi protectively, as if trying to shield him from the very words he was saying.

"It just isn't fair." Yugi was now adding. "We've got something that very few people will ever have. And we'll never be able to make anything of it. It's just not fair." He turned his head to hide his face. "Maybe you were right about subjecting ourselves to what won't last. I never should have asked to stay here."

"Asked?" Yami finally demanded. "Yugi, you seduced me into staying here!"

"No I didn't!" Yugi raised his head with a start. "What makes you say that?"

"Yes you did. You were crying and blinking at me and begging to live here, how was I supposed to say no to that?"

"Oh, now that's seduction alright." Yugi muttered, somewhat sarcastically.

"To me it is!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, I know I sort of forced my way in…but you never had to say yes!"

Yami shook his head quietly. "No, I did. Because I love you. And you said it yourself. We have to enjoy what time we'll be able to have together."

"I wish time didn't have to end." Yugi's voice was starting to sound choked up again. "I wish time could just freeze right here."

Oh no…Yugi, don't cry. Don't you dare cry… Yami thought desperately. If you start crying then I'll start crying and this is not going to turn out well.

"It-It doesn't have to end." he finally said. "It won't end. I'll come visit you, in secret if I have to, I won't let this end."

"But what if we change and grow apart?" Yugi asked. "You know we will. We'll make all these promises and then we'll end up just letting each other down. I hate it, but it's likely."

"Yugi…" Indeed, now Yami's voice was growing higher too and he fought to keep himself steady. "Yugi, if I ever let you down, I want you to know that I won't leave you there." He embraced Yugi with all his strength, trying to defy the idea of this future. "I promise, I won't leave you down."

"And I won't leave you there either." Yugi whispered back.

They held onto each other for a long time. The clock on the wall ticked off the seconds, and then minutes. And while those were small measurements of time, they both knew deep down that every minute was a minute closer to an inevitable parting. Yugi had hit the nail on the head when he said it wasn't fair. It was a cruel twist of fate that they would fall for each other at this time, and they both knew it could not be avoided. Yugi's future was set, and it didn't involve Yami in it. His parents would make sure of that.

But for now, they were together. And it was easy to believe in forever. It was easy to believe in innocent love that would not only survive a parting, but also the years and miles that would separate them.

But soon they would come across something else they would have to survive, this perhaps the most difficult barrier of all.

Having come to the conclusion that worrying about the future would only ruin their time they had right now, both Yugi and Yami agreed to not talk about the day they'd have to part. With this behind them, they threw themselves into enjoying the present. Visiting friends, (including Joey and Mai, whom both yelled, "I KNEW IT!", upon hearing that they were a couple), watching movies, taking long walks, finding pictures in clouds, and just enjoying each other's company. This is what they were doing one evening as they walked along the street back towards the apartment. Dusk had fallen, and in shadowy corners of the street they would chance holding hands. Both of them were pretty well-known in the duelist crowds, so they had to be careful not to act too close. They both knew that if word got out that Yami was dating another guy, he'd lose a lot of fans, and his job depended on his fans. But in the shadows they didn't have to worry about this very much.

Tonight the sky was rather overcast. It was the rainy season, and by the looks of things, it was going to start raining again soon. Indeed, as they jogged toward home, the rain began to fall.

Yami slowed back to a walk. "Well, we're going to get soaked anyway, might as well take our time." He said cheerfully.

Yugi laughed despite a sudden chill from the downpour. "What if we catch colds?"

"It's not cold rain, we won't." Yami took Yugi's hand and smiled at him. Yugi smiled back. Yami was right, the rain didn't feel cold now.

"Doesn't this seem like a scene that would be in a movie?" Yugi asked, motioning with his other hand. "Walking on an almost empty street in the rain…all that's missing is some background music."

"You're right." Yami agreed. "This is where the lovers always stop to kiss in the rain. Very romantic, ne?"

Yugi glanced at him. "We're technically not lovers…"

"And certainly wouldn't be good at acting in a movie, seeing how terrible we are at keeping secrets from each other…" Yami mused.

"But it'd be a shame to waste this rain." Yugi added shyly.

"You're so thoughtful." They had stopped walking. "But I love that about you." He smiled down at his friend. "I guess we'll just have to imagine the music."

"Who needs music?" Yugi whispered. "I've got you."

In Domino city there's a fast food restaurant, called Burger World. They're "famous" for their hamburgers and special ketchup, but other than that, it's just your average fast-food joint. Yugi's parents had been out all day comparing companies that would help them with their intercontinental move, and had stopped here on the way home for some dinner. As dusk, and the rain, fell, they got back in their car to drive home to the Game Shop, taking a back route that few cars bothered with.

In the distance then, their headlights illuminated a couple standing on the sidewalk.

"Look at the young lovers." Yugi's mother sighed. "They're probably imagining themselves in a movie scene."

"It's rather sad, though." Her husband replied. "They're so close right now, but soon they'll probably have broken each other's hearts and will never see each other again. Young love is sad that way."

They were driving slowly because the rain had made the road slick and dangerous. In the distance, the two people were now kissing and seemed unaware of anything around them. Clearly their world was made up of only them, and nothing else. The rain around them fell harder as they wrapped their arms around each other, oblivious to everything.

"You'd better flash the lights." Mrs. Mutou said. "Just to let them know there's a car coming."

"Good idea." Her husband reached for the headlight controls and flashed them brighter for a moment.

It was only a short moment, but it was long enough for them to recognize who the people were.

Yami and Yugi were vaguely aware of the car that came to a screeching halt behind them, but they thought nothing of it at first. It had been raining, this was a back road, and the driver of the car could have easily been swerving to miss a stray cat or dog that had run across the street. But then Yami, looking over Yugi's shoulder, saw the people that got out, and he was brought back to reality in a flash. Unconsciously, he tightened his hold on Yugi and took a step away from the speechless man that was Yugi's father, whom was now striding toward them with an almost murderous look on his face.

Yugi lifted his head "Yami, what's wrong?"

"We're busted." Yami muttered.

"What?" Yugi turned just as his parents regained their voices and both shouted,

"Yugi!"

Yugi realized who they were, and froze. "Oh no…"

To Be Continued…

Author's Notes:

Well, those boys really threw the proverbial shyt into the fan with this one. What an embarrassing situation to be caught in. I mean really. They must be sooooo embarrassed!

I had some fun with this chapter. It was very emotional. There is anger, sarcasm, sadness, humour, angst, love, all sorts of emotions to play with. I love doing that! The end was particularly enjoyable. Ah, innocence. And irony. In the same paragraph. Ha!

I know this is getting...fluffy and cute. And you know what? I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT! I'm so not in the mood to deal with people pointing out the obvious, when I think the world could benefit from some fluff and kawaii-ness right now.Enjoy the cuteness, don't critisize it! Cuteness is...cute!

Next chapter is a big sl set-up one and it'skawaii to boot…please do come back to read it!

Oh, and I heard a very disturbing rumour. (This is not personal info, so I'm putting it up here.) I heard that this fall, KidsWB will be playing the fifth and FINAL arc of Yugioh. Final? Final as in, no more dub after that? That means they might not play the Memory arc, or even the Ceremonial Battle! If they do that…I will so have to kill someone! Do they have any idea how long we sappy fans have waited, and are still willing to wait, just so that we can cry our eyes out during ep 224? DO THEY? And all the shippy and adorable scenes in the Memory Arc…my god, it makes me mad just to think that they won't play them in English for us! Okay, so while I'm willing to totally accept an end where Yugi and Yami get to stay together forever…and I guess if they want to stop, I can always buy the subbed version on DVD…still! I'd rather see it to the real end. IN ENGLISH, DAMMIT! Okay…I'm sorry. Chey's outburst is over. But if any of you can either corroborate this rumour, or give me proof that it's not true, please, please do so.

With that, here are the Replies:

Fear of Falling: Sporks! Dude, sporks are so amusing! I'm really not sure why…but they are. xD No, not really surprising, but I am glad to see you again! I'm glad I could make you laugh, too. xD Ooh, let's hope so! (Not that that was the real reason Yami let him stay anyway, but…people have been killed over lesser issues than being a bad cook, so good luck to Yugi!) Oooh, and I was reading your user page…you live in Australia? That is AWESOME. I've always wanted to go to Australia! You are so lucky. xD

SoulDreamer: Aah, I like your name! It's pretty. Welcome to the review crowd of Requiem! Aw, and thanks, I plan to!

Atemu Yugi Lover34: Eeek, school. Man, summer goes by waaaaaay too fast, huh? Lakes are nice, have a good time!

Phoenix51: Woo, thanks for the luck! Given the looks of the past few days, I believe I'll be needing all the luck I can get. But, you're right! It's great to know that no matter how hard school is, you all are always here to say such nice things about my fics. :lip tremble: That means so much to me, and I doubt if any of my classmates could truly say the same! Thanks for understanding about the possible delays too…school, and homework, sure is time-consuming! I'll try my hardest to get the chapters up each Friday all the same, though. After all, I want you to have something to read over the weekend! xD See ya around!

Shadows-insanity: Thanks, I will!

Yami Hirokiri: Yeah, it's a very fluffy story. xDD Gotta love it. Rage against the system, woot! xD Yugi might seem awfully shy but when it comes to things he cares about, he's a very stubbourn person. :nod: I take it you must like RyouxBakura, ne? I've written a few fics for them…they were all early ones though, and a bit strange. Still…well, they'll be mentioned in passing, so I guess you'll like that! Thanks for reviewing!

Firefreak: Hey, I think that sounds like a perfectly fine word! In fact, I believe I'll add it to my list of fake words that sound right. O.O Another insane advocate:glomp: Yes, yes, more people should be insane, it is far more fun! Aww, I'm so glad you're enjoying it even now in the early bits. I'm going to try my hardest to post once a week, I promise! (It would be so cool to own Yugioh…) Thank you so much for recommending my fic to your sis, and for your encouraging words!

You Know Us: What, you've never seen tap-dancing ninjas armed with sporks? They're an elite class, you know. xDD Well, yes cause it's the start, and also because this is supposed to be a sappy fluffy fic. Did I or did I not warn y'all of that back in chap. 1? Aw, you're not included in that list of misunderstanding parents, no, but the fact is that a lot of them are! You could give lessons. Many parents could benefit from lessons from you. I also believe Yugi would be thrilled to have a mom like you right now. Drama! Drama is great fun, although as I've said before, I'm sure Yami would have let him move in regardless of his cooking abilities. Well, let us hope everything works out for them…or else I fear Michelle's wrath. Then again, the signs aren't good for the end of this chapter. (Ah, but I am glad to see we have the salt-bearers ready on the front line should the snails attack!)

School has started…gaahhh…Whose brilliant idea was it for us to have 180-day school years anyway? I dunno about you, but I'm pretty sick of it by the time they hit Day 2. Journalism is quickly becoming my favourite class, and math of course falls under the most-disliked category. We're talking college pre-calculus! Just the NAME gives me a headache. :wince:

On a happier note, it's the weekend! That means anime shows! And hey, has anyone seen the changes they made to TVTome? It's like…WTF-OMFG? Well, that was my reaction…I liked the old set-up far more, and now I can't depend on them for reliable news or quotes or anything! Ack! In retaliation, I took their link off the credits part of my quote site. Syahahaha…

And of course, most important of all, Cartoon Network has officially redeemed themselves in my eyes by playing Yugioh again! Wooo! Finally, my emotional stability can be stable again! Plus, I haven't watched the Alcatraz Duel Tower arc for a loooong time, so that's even better.

Stay safe everybody, and I'll see you next week. (Provided I live that long.)