Here goes…next chapter.
Title: A Game of Masques
Chapter: 2/?
Author: Silvershadowfire
Rating: This chapter – PG.R for later lemons and violence.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything except a couple thousand books and a goldfish named Impulse.
Note: This is partially inspired by UsagiLovesDuochan's's plotbunny and by a picture I have on my computer of a rather spooky looking Yugi.I got it at theFanart section of ww w. ja ni me .com (take out spaces) It's not my picture (I wish!) but I don't know who it actually belongs to so I can't give proper credit.
Chapter 2 – The Quiet One.
Yami walked over to the dresser, rubbing at his itching, burning eyes. He reached up and neatly pulled out his tinted contacts, revealing the true vibrant red-violet of his irises – a colour he had been taught to hate. With a sigh, he pulled off his clothes, leaving them in a neat pile on the edge of his bed before walking over to the en-suite for a shower. He shivered as he remembered the interview earlier in the afternoon.
Flashback
Yami stood at 'attention'; his feet together, his shoulders thrown back, arms at his sides, chin lifted, eyes at a point just over Father's left shoulder. They were in the man's study, where Yami had been summoned when he got home from school.
"I understand you broke up with Anzu Mizaki today."
"Yes, Father." No point in telling him why Anzu had been angry , or pointing out that his punishment last weekend – no telephone use – had contributed to the problems.
"Very well. I can't keep you home from the dance, as it is mandatory for you to attend; however…" He stood, walking around the desk he had been seated at. "Kneel."
Yami complied without a word. He bent over in a full, formal Japanese bow, his forehead to the floor.
"What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Forgive me, Father. I, who am less than nothing, humbly beg you forgive my offence." Yami knew the words well – nine years of repetition had burned them into his brain. He closed his eyes against the dull ache of his heart and tried not to hear the words emerging from his own mouth. "Father, I will willingly accept whatever punishment you decree, as is your right and duty. I beg you; show mercy, though I deserve none."
"What are you?"
"A worthless freak. Less than nothing before you."
"What do you deserve?"
"Nothing save your anger. No mercy. No forgiveness. I beg you to punish me, Father. Allow me to repent for having disobeyed your will."
A pause. Then lips beside his ear. "I will be merciful, my son. You will not speak unless spoken to after this night for the next five days. You will write me a 10 page paper on how you have squandered the gifts I have given you – which will be on my desk by the end of those five days."
"Thank you, Father."
"You will not dance with any girl more than once – you are not worthy of them. You will not slow-dance at all. Is that understood?"
"Yes. Thank you, Father."
"Now get up – you still have to make ready for the dance."
End flashback
Yami stepped out from the shower, his body warm and clean but his soul empty. He didn't want to go to the dance, but he had no choice; he'd been looking forward to it until this afternoon, but…
"You are not worthy of them…"
Father was right. That was why Anzu had broken up with him – he was too low to even think of being with her. And if his father ever found out about his dreams…
He shuddered. The first time he'd been caught after a wet dream, he'd been made to kneel in Father's study for over an hour while Father told him how weak and pathetic he was; how he couldn't control his baser urges. If he ever found out that the center of his dreams had been male, rather than female…
Yami shook the idea from his thoughts. It didn't matter anyway. He wasn't worthy of anyone, man or woman – he would be better to marry whoever his parents picked for him and count his blessings that anyone would consent to bed a nothing like him.
He dried and combed his hair; put his contacts back in and dressed in a clean uniform, his every movement by rote. Then he slipped out of his room, walking silently down the quiet hall and out the front door. He glanced down at his watch – almost time. Vaguely he wondered who would be taking him to the dance.
A car pulled up in the drive with Father's aide at the wheel. Yami wordlessly got in. The drive was silent as well – Yami never even looked at the scenery, or at anything else. He felt…empty, dead. He could barely remember the last time he had felt alive…back when he lived with his grandfather.
The first eight years of his life with his grandfather at the Kame Game Shop, playing with his friends and learning the games of chess and go. He'd loved it, and his grandfather had encouraged him, claiming that a person with good game skills could apply those to real life and solve any problem.
Then his parents had claimed him, ripping him from his school and life, showing him his true path, and his true worth. I'm sorry, Jii-chan...I can't solve this problem.
When they pulled up at the school, Father's aide coughed lightly. "I will pick you up here at 11:00 o'clock sharp."
"Yes, sir." Yami answered dully. "Thank you."
"Have fun." The phrase almost sounded sincere.
"Thank you." He answered again, sliding out of the car. He joined the line of students entering the gym, hearing to their excited chatter without listening. Flashing his student card at the door, he walked immediately to a dark corner. He always felt better in the dark…it made him feel like he could just vanish from the world.
The music had already started up, a fast dance mix. Swirling spotlights flashed around the gym dizzyingly, illuminating the few brave kids already on the dance floor. Yami leaned further back into the corner, willing himself not to feel. Not to care…
Perhaps five minutes passed – perhaps an hour. Yami watched dully as the dance floor filled up; a bright and cheery song boomed over the loudspeakers and a flash of movement caught his eye.
The center of the floor cleared; someone must be holding forth, doing some kind of fancy move, because clapping and cheering echoed suddenly in the room. Yami blinked slowly, coming out of his daze, poked by a hazy curiosity.
He walked across the floor, unnoticed, towards the source of the commotion. He could just barely make out the two dancers in the centre of the floor, surrounded as they were by much taller kids than he. Yami managed to find a hole in the surrounding wall of bodies and worm his way in – only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw the dancers clearly.
The girl was pretty, with long dark hair and flashing green eyes, a grin on her face as she gyrated with her partner. The boy…
Yami swallowed convulsively. The boy was breathtaking. Wild spiked hair that flashed with red highlights, gold bangs falling on either side of angelically beautiful features, he was dressed in a silver sleeveless shirt and black jeans; spiked wristbands and a collar completed the ensemble.
But more than the physical looks made Yami's limbs tremble and his heart ache. The boy's head was thrown back, eyes closed, those angelic features radiant with a rapturous joy. Innocent sensuality flowed from every graceful move of his dance. Maybe it was the silver shirt, but illumination seemed to cling to his body like the light of Heaven. He's so beautiful… His stomach lurched – Yami stumbled back out of the circle of people, ignoring their clapping and cheering, fighting the burning in his eyes and the rising lump in his throat.
God…he's everything I'm not…everything I want... Yami knew he'd fallen helplessly in love in that moment…and knew he would never be worthy to touch this earthbound angel. His stomach lurched again, as though it was trying to climb up his throat. He hit the wall in his dark corner and slid to the floor, curled in a ball of abject misery. No one would see him here – no one would care if they did. Please…he pleaded with...someone, perhaps the darkness itself. I can't take this anymore…I can't…just open up and swallow me and let me fall forever and ever and ever…
"Hey…are you okay?" A gentle voice pierced his spiraling thoughts. Yami peeked up from his knees to see his angel staring at him, gentle concern written on his face and in his eyes…
Yami forgot to breathe. A thousand glimmering shades of amethyst swam in endless pools of lambent night, drawing him into their depths to drown in ecstasy. The world fell away, leaving only Yami and those glorious eyes that promised bliss…
"Hey." A poke on his arm snapped him back to reality, the sound in the gym suddenly deafening. Yami blinked and gasped, his lungs burning with returning oxygen. "You don't look good. Do you need any help?" The words were innocent; the boy couldn't see the truth about him. Yami took another gulp of air and shook his head.
"It's…it's okay." He managed to force the words out. "I'm just feeling a little…dizzy. I'm okay."
"Here." The angel tugged insistently at Yami's arm, gently urging him to his feet. "It's a little warm in here…how about we step outside, get some air?"
"You don't have to…" Yami started. His mind refused to function as his angel towed him outside. The cool fall air hit him like a slap in the face, making him gasp.
"Sorry." His angel turned, wide eyes repentant. "Did I hurt you?"
"N..no..o." Yami bit his cheek in frustration. I am such an idiot…
"My name's Yugi." The angel smiled brightly.
"Yami."
"Darkness? Interesting name…I think it suits you though." Yugi grinned at him. "Feeling any better?" He sat down on the bench he'd dragged them to, settling down comfortably.
No. "Yes, thank you. I guess I just needed some fresh air, like you said." Yami shuffled from foot to foot. He wasn't very good at interpersonal communications. The silence hung between them for a long moment, but surprisingly it wasn't an awkward one. Just two people sitting outside in the night, the muted music from the dance behind them filling the air.
"Yami?" Yugi said at last, breaking the other teen out of his daze.
"Yes?"
"You dance?"
"Erm…" Yami swallowed. "Yes, but…"
Yugi laughed – a sound light and sweet as a nightingale's song. "I was just curious. Have you ever noticed how many people seem to come to dances, especially boys, and end up not dancing at all? Seems a bit of a waste to me."
"I dance…a bit." Yami admitted. "But I'm not really that good at it."
"I bet you slow-dance well." Yugi grinned up at him.
"N-no." Father's voice rang through his head. You are not to slow dance at all!
"I love to dance. It's the greatest thing in the world, just to lose yourself in the music and the movement until all those pesky thoughts in your brain go away."
Another silence.
"Can I ask you a question?" Yami asked. Before Yugi could reply, he rushed on. "I've never seen you at the school before. Are you new?"
"Nope. I don't go to this school – but I love to dance so much that I take any chance I can get. They aren't usually too fussy as long as you have student ID from some school."
"Oh." That surprised him. He never thought that someone could love anything so much as to go out of their way to obtain it.
"Yeah. Listen, you want to go back in, or you want to stay here? I don't mind either way."
"You…don't have to stay with me, you know." I'm not worth the time and effort. He probably is just looking for an excuse to go back to the dance. I can't blame him either.
"I don't mind." Yugi smiled again. He had a beautiful, sincere smile.
A slight flush running over his face, Yami sat down beside Yugi. A strange, fluttery feeling built in his stomach, one that he didn't understand.
"Have…you been in Domino long?" Yami started. His reserves of small talk were miniscule – not that Yugi seemed to mind silence. But he was curious – after all, who would help a total stranger like this, just to be friendly?
"No…just a few months." Yugi cocked his ears as though listening to something, shot him another smile and leaned forward. "Come on. Let's dance."
"But…" Yami bit his lip. He heard the music – a slow dance tune - and sought frantically for an excuse. "I don't know how." Maybe he could just delay until they moved onto a new song.
"It's easy – here, I'll show you." Yugi stood, pulling Yami to his feet. "Okay, I'll play the girl." He smiled mischievously as he placed Yami's hands on his own hips, amethyst eyes shading almost to lavender with mischief; Yami swallowed convulsively, and it had nothing to do with nerves; his heart waspounding like akobuki drum. Yugi placed his hands on Yami's shoulders, loosely twining his fingers around each other behind Yami's neck. "Now, close your eyes and listen to the music."
Yami did as he was instructed, sighing as he felt Yugi begin to sway to the faint sounds from the gym. Yami concentrated on how they moved in tandem, slowly feeling out how Yugi danced to the rhythm of the sound.
"Relax." Yugi breathed. "Just relax – don't think. That's part of the trick."
Just as he was beginning to get the knack of it, the music died away, leaving him with Yugi standing in his arms. He opened his eyes to see that same look of rapture on the other's face – then those glorious eyes opened again, features settling into a look of cat-like satisfaction. "See? I knew you could slow-dance."
"Thank you." Yami murmured. He felt strange now – relaxed and tense at the same time. "But we should get back."
"Yeah." Yugi smiled slowly. "But…I want to dance some more. Will you dance with me again?"
"But…" The music was faster now – how on earth did you dance to fast music with another guy? He licked his lips as Yugi seemed to take the hesitant word for assent, because he had dropped his hands to the front of Yami's school jacket and was unbuttoning it! "What are you doing?"
"Undoing your jacket." Yugi answered fussily, but a smile still played on the side of one mouth. "Honestly, how do you expect to dance dressed in this?" He flipped the jacket off, tossing it on the bench before moving to stand behind Yami, taking the teen's hips in his hands. "Now close your eyes again. I'll show you a different way of dancing." Yami felt Yugi start to guide his movements, moving his hips in an almost aggressive thrust. "The hips are the beat." He whispered in Yami's ear, the hot breath doing bad things to Yami's awakening libido. "Use your feet to convey the rhythm, and your hands for emphasis. Dancing is just expressing the music with your body. Think tai chi – let the music flow through you. Let it move you." Yugi's hands vanished from his hips, allowing him to continue the motion on his own. Tentatively he moved his feet back and forth to the rhythm.
"Good." Feather light touches ran over his shoulders and arms, releasing tension he didn't even know was there. "Now close your eyes and relax…I'll tell you a secret. As long as you enjoy the music – release the tensions and thoughts that clutter your mind – you can't dance badly. It's impossible."
"But…"
"Shh. No buts…just close your eyes and listen. From ear…" -Yugi ran a light finger over the shell of the organ, making Yami shiver - "…to the spine…" -Yami had to bite his lips to keep from moaning as the finger traveled to the back of his neck – "…and down to the centre of your body." A long arm wrapped around his chest, running that finger over his body, tagging his nipple along the way. Helplessly Yami felt his body start to move; he felt Yugi come up behind him, their hips moving in tandem. His closed eyelids fluttered as he let his brain just stop working. Relaxing into the movement, Yami found himself dancing with a strange, wonderful freedom. Ghostly touches ran over his face and through his hair; without really understanding why, he let his head drop onto Yugi's shoulder, melting into the embrace of his partner as Yugi wrapped warm arms around his waist. The music changed – so did the dance, becoming slower and more heated; it felt so good just to stop thinking and be.
Until the buzzing discordance of his watch destroyed the moment. He jerked out of Yugi's grasp, blinking down at the digital readout.
10:55 pm. His ride would be here in five minutes. He looked at Yugi, who was watching him with his head cocked in silent query.
"You have to go?"
"Yes…I'm sorry. That was fun – thank you."
"Hey, no problem." Yugi helped him into his jacket – now that he had stopped moving it was starting to get cold - and sat back down on the bench while Yami started off towards his pick-up spot. He paused.
"S-see you around?" Yami bit his lip, waiting for a reply as he looked over his shoulder at Yugi, who gave him a slow, glorious smile of pure joy.
"Yeah, sure."
Yami returned the smile. Then his watch beeped eleven and he ran for it.
If I'm late Father will punish me!
Yugi smiled after Yami's retreating back, his eyes dark and half-lidded with satisfaction. That had been fun…and this would be both easier and harder than he thought. Seducing him would be a snap – the kid was so bloody repressed all you had to do was give him some attention and boom! He's putty in your hands; but then there would be the guilt and the crying and the accusations - so messy and bothersome. It would be neater and more fun to get Yami to chase him…
Yugi smirked, extending his wings and drawing the veil of his will around himself, becoming unseen to the mortals. Leaping into the air, he vanished into the night.