Sugoroku looked up as he heard the door open. "Yami, is that you?" he called.
"Yes, Jii-chan." Yami came into the kitchen, and Sugoroku gasped. Cradled in his arms was a young boy who looked almost identical to him. Violet eyes blinked sleepily, then the boy turned his head into Yami's chest.
"Yami, what – who –" Sugoroku started to ask, staring at them both.
"This is Yugi. I'm taking him to my room," Yami said briefly. Sugoroku blinked – Yami couldn't mean that the way it sounded, surely? The boy looked to be too young for that sort of thing. But before he could gather his wits enough to speak again, Yami reassured him. "Where is the sleeping bag you take with you when you go to excavations?"
"It's in my just-in-case bag. I'll fetch it for you." The just-in-case bag was packed full of the things which Sugoroku might need if he went off on an expedition, and was kept ready for when he was called by one of his friends in the business. He went to get the sleeping bag, thinking about the child in Yami's arms. How could they look so similar?
Yami smiled down at Yugi, who was clutching him tightly. "It's alright, little one," he murmured soothingly. "You don't need to worry." Yugi relaxed slightly, but his hold was as firm as ever. Yami sighed, and met his grandfather's eyes.
"Here," Sugoroku said, smiling faintly. Yami nodded in thanks, and tried to take the bundle without letting Yugi drop to the floor. Sugoroku's smile grew wider. "Perhaps I should carry it to your room." Yami nodded again, feeling a little foolish. He followed Sugoroku, and waited until he had gone before going into his room and placing Yugi on the bed.
"There, little one," he smiled. "You can sleep here, and I'll sleep on the floor."
Yugi frowned, holding tighter.
"Yugi, I need to get ready for bed," Yami told him. "Could you let go of me?"
Yugi frowned harder, and shook his head slightly. "Stay…" he murmured.
Yami paused, and realised that he wasn't going to be able to convince Yugi to let go of him. So he tried to pry Yugi off, and managed to get one arm free. He undid his shirt, and then had to give Yugi his other hand before he would let go for him to pull the sleeve off. By the time he had stripped to his boxers, he was sure that trying to get into his pyjamas would be too much trouble. 'I'll probably be warm enough,' he told himself, with a final half-hearted attempt to free his arm from Yugi's grip. Resigned to the inevitable, he climbed into bed beside Yugi, who immediately curled up against him. 'Definitely warm,' he thought, blushing so hard he almost glowed with it. But it was nice to feel Yugi cuddling him, and soon he fell asleep as well. 'I just hope jii-chan believes me if he comes in here…" was his final conscious thought. And as he drifted off to sleep, part of his mind that he couldn't ignore and didn't control thought with satisfaction, 'Mine.'
*
Jou leaned on the doorbell. "Come on, already, Yams. Wake up!" Honda smiled about something, and Anzu tapped her foot impatiently.
The door was wrenched open, and the three friends stared with dropped jaws.
"What is it?" growled Yami – a Yami in his boxers, with a fast asleep younger look-a-like in his arms who had a death-grip around his shoulders.
Jou and Anzu stared in utter disbelief. Honda remarked casually, "I thought he was sleeping at my place, Yami?"
"He had a nightmare," Yami growled, moving back from the doorway so that they could come in. "So I brought him back here."
Jou managed to find his voice. "What the blazes is goin' on here? Who's the shrimp?"
Yami's eyes grew cold, and Jou stepped backwards. "The boy is called Yugi."
"Right. So, he's called Yugi, and you're called Yugioh, is that it?" Jou asked, trying not to let on how freaked he was. 'Man, Yami gets scarier every day…'
"Yes."
Anzu looked at the sleeping angel, and smiled.
"He's cute!" Everyone looked at her blankly. She raised her eyebrows. "Well, he is. How do you know him, Yami?"
"I found him in the park," Yami said, suddenly aware of how strange it sounded. 'I met this boy in the park and brought him home. Gods, I'm acting like he's a puppy or something.'
Anzu blinked. "So, he's not a relation?"
"No."
"…oh."
"Hey, Yams, when'd he have the nightmare?" Jou asked suddenly.
"Uh – late at night. Why?"
"And your grandpa didn't freak at you gettin' a phone call from a stranger at that time o' night? I mean, I knew he's liberal, but geez!"
"… Yugi didn't use the telephone."
"Huh?"
"Yugi didn't use the telephone."
"What, you guys have walkie-talkies?"
"No. He just – called me."
Yami's friends looked at him suspiciously. "You bin workin' too hard recently? 'Cause that sounds to me like you're saying that the kid Yugi here is a telepath, and mystically contacted you to come fetch him after he had a bad dream."
/Yami?/
Yami's eyes widened fractionally, and he looked down at Yugi. He couldn't have just heard Yugi calling him; Yugi was still fast asleep –
/Yami? Who?/ Yugi opened his eyes and looked at Yami questioningly.
"Yugi, these are Anzu and Jou. You met Honda last night, remember?" Yami said, freeing one arm to point to each of them in turn. They looked from him to the innocent creature in his arms, and stared at the wide purple eyes. They seemed to shine with their own light, Anzu felt.
Yugi studied them all carefully, then grinned. His arms still around Yami, he rested his head against Yami's arm. "Hello," he said.
Honda shot a quick glance at Yami's face. It was glowing; for an eerie moment he thought that Yami was reflecting the light cast by Yugi, and without it his face would be darkened by lust and rage, never to brighten. Then he shook his head, and the morbid idea vanished. 'Whoa! Been watching too many weird flicks lately,' he told himself. 'Still – it would definitely be a good idea to make sure that Yami never has a reason to feel worried for Yugi.'
"Hey, Yugi! You any good at Duel Monsters?" asked Jou cheerfully. Yugi nodded, then paused with his head tilted to one side. He shook his head, eyes turning dark. Jou looked at Yami in confusion, and Yami shook his head and shrugged to indicate that he had no idea why Yugi had changed his answer, either.
"Magician. Angry. Disgrace." They glanced back at the downcast face in surprise, and then Yami realised what he meant.
"Yugi, that was a dream! It's not real! Was that why you said you're no good at Duel Monsters?"
Yugi nodded, looking into Yami's crimson eyes. Yami smiled at him reassuringly. "It's alright, dreams don't mean anything," he started to say. Yugi shook his head violently, disagreeing.
"Everything," he said firmly. "Powerful."
Jou and Honda exchanged glances, while Anzu looked at Yami curiously. "Why does he talk like that?" she asked.
Yugi looked down, and Yami tightened his grip reassuringly.
"And why ain't ya put him down yet?" asked Jou, watching the two of them curiously. Yami blushed faintly, and Yugi looked at Jou innocently.
"Nice," he explained, cuddling Yami. Jou's eyes widened, and Honda almost choked trying not to laugh out loud at the innocent. Anzu had her mouth wide open, and was looking at the two identical boys in disbelief. Yami didn't blush any harder, but refused to meet her eyes, staring instead at Yugi.
"And you have no idea what you just said, do you, little one?" he asked in a lovingly scolding voice. This time it was Jou's mouth that fell open, and even Honda looked taken aback. Anzu watched the two intently, a faint smile curving her lips. 'This could be a very good thing for Yami,' she thought hopefully. 'I just hope that Yugi is interested in men…'
"Nice. You. Sleep," Yugi repeated, making Jou look away to hide his sudden fit of the giggles. 'Man, this kid has no idea what he's saying,' he thought gleefully. 'And I thought teasing Yami about the school dance was fun!' He risked another quick glance at Yami's face, and laughed harder at his expression. 'It's gonna be fun listenin' to Yami explainin' what Yugi just said.'
Yami had no intention of explaining to Yugi what he had just said. //I doubt he'd understand all of the words,// he thought wryly.
/Would!/ Yugi pouted at Yami, surprising his friends. Yami stared at him in shock.
//You… heard me?//
/Yes./
//Oh. My Ra.//