Zypher: And another chapter for you all! I told you I get these chapters out fast. Anyways, I'm happy for all your lovely reviews so, as always, please enjoy this chapter.

0

Yami no Game: Death's Awakening

Chapter 31

0

A few days later, Zella, now elected school festival officer and was the Class B representative, was with all the Class B students, discussing the upcoming festival. "Ok! We need to decide what to do for the school festival!" she announced. "If anyone has a good idea, raise your hand!" Students started raising their hands, wanting to give their suggestions as soon as they could. 'My first high school festival. It was a bummer one didn't happen last year but I'm glad we can do one this year! I want to invite Yami and Aqua to come with me!' Yugi thought happily.

"I think a Haunted House!" One student called.

"No good! Class C had already put in for that!" Another told the first.

"How about making yakisoba (fried noodles)?" A student grumbled with less enthusiasm.

"Listen to my idea, guys!" Jounouchi called, standing up. "The school festival is 'bout entertainment, right? So we have ta show some guts to steal the audience from the other classes! I vote fer-" He was hit in the face with a board eraser before he could make his suggestion. "Sit down, Jou! We don't need to hear it!" Honda snapped. Zella laughed softly to herself before looking to the rest of the class. "Alright, any other ideas?" she questioned.

"Costume Contest!"

"Student Pro Wrestling!"

"Not all at once, please..." she mumbled, rubbing her ears from the ringing before looking to Hanasaki. "What about you, Hanasaki?" she asked. Said teen looked up. "Oh...! Uh...um...gag manga...?" he offered but was only met with silence. The boy looked down dejectedly. 'I shouldn't have said anything...' he thought. "It's ok, Hanasaki. Don't put yourself down." She told him and he looked back up before smiling. She smiled back before she took some chalk and started to write the previous suggestions down on the board. "Is this everything...?" she called. Jounouchi pouted from his seat. "Can't we think of anythin' excitin'?"

"Is there anyone else that hasn't given an option?" she called before looking to Yugi. "Yugi...what about you?" He looked up when he heard his name called. "Oh...well...I guess I'd have to say games...carnival games! Y'know, like at an amusement park..." The class was silent before they started to brighten up in the idea until they all agreed, making him smile. "Then we're set! Carnival games it is!" Zella confirmed and they nodded. "Next is what kind of games we're going to do."

"We have to have Target Practice!"

"Bottle Toss!"

"Basketball Free Throw!"

Yugi smiled brightly as his idea was accepted. 'Everyone's really getting excited. I can't wait til the festival comes.'

In the end, we decided on three games. Bluebeard's Attack, Bottle Toss and a Shooting Gallery. And best of all, Zella pulled the most popular spot out of the placement lottery! There are only three days left before the festival...the preparations are in the final stretch!

0

Soon, the whole courtyard of the school was done up with games, brightly colored signs, decorations and even more color. Yugi was helping his class with their carnival games booth. Zella was even more grateful because he asked Yami and Aqua to help which they gladly came to do so. "What do you think? The sign's pretty good!" One of the students spoke as he looked to the Carnival Games sign.

"Yup, it's good!"

"We went over our budget, though!"

Yugi sat in the back, working on the Bluebeard mask. He smiled as he finished up the last few details. "There! The Bluebeard mask is finished!" Yami walked in and leaned down to kiss his cheek. "Good work, love. You have a great talent for art." he praised. Yugi smiled even more before looking to Jounouchi who was finishing up the last touches to the barrel. "That's great, Jou!" Yugi complimented. "You're really good at building stuff!"

"Everyone has at least one skill, Yugi...remember. If it wasn't for his skill at opening locks, we would have never made it out of that mansion." Yami said and he nodded. Jounouchi laughed. "I've been makin' plastic models and garage kits fer a long time! I have a hand fer makin' anythin'!" Jounouchi said. "Have a look!" He opened the lid on top and hopped inside before closing it back on top of him. "What do you think? It's perfect!"

"That's so cool!" Zella complimented as she walked in to see their progress. He rubbed his hands together deviously. "I wonder who the pirate will be...I'll get a good laugh at 'em!"

"Why not you? The size is perfect for you..." Yami suggested. Jounouchi has a dumbfounded look on his face at the suggestion. "Oh no! You're not gonna make me into this game's guinea pig!" he barked. "Oh...come on, Jou-kun! I made the mask to fit your head." Yugi murmured, giving him the puppy dog look. One gaze into his eyes and he groaned. "Oh fine! I'll do it!" Jounouchi grumbled. "Yer eyes are everyone's weakness. You can make anyone do what ya want just by lookin' at 'em."

A stomp of a foot was heard outside and they turned to the burly person standing there, a few more students standing behind him holding a large, thick black piece of metal. Yugi realized this was Goro Inogashira, the School Festival Officer of Senior Class D. "What's this? Carnival games..." he groused. "How strange...there seems to be someone in our space! What are you guys doing?!"

"We're getting ready for the school festival!" Zella answered as she stepped up towards him. "Don't be ridiculous! This school festival space is the stomping ground of Senior Class D!" Inogashira growled. Yami snarled, ready to step forward but Yugi held him back. /Don't try anything right now, Yami. There're too many people around./ Yami gave a rumbling snarl before standing back. "What do you mean "stomping ground?" We won this space in the lottery!" Zella told Inogashira.

"In the lottery...?" Inogashira bellowed in laughter along with the senior students behind him. He stopped laughing sharply and glared at them. "Listen up, underclassmen! This is where we traditionally make okonomiyaki (cabbage pancakes or Japanese pizza) each year! Get rid of these games and beat it!"

"Who are ya?! You're the ones who're gonna beat it!" Jounouchi yelled from his spot. "There's always some moron who starts a fight at these things! And I wouldn't miss it fer the world!" he said as he started to climb out of the barrel but soon got stuck. "That's some talk from where you're standing!" Inogashira growled as Jounouchi tried to get out of the barrel. "Just die!" he shouted, punching Jounouchi and knocking him out of the barrel and into unconsciousness.

"Jou-kun!" Yugi called. Yami growled, claws forming but Yugi took hold of his hands and shook his head. /Please, Yami. I don't want to risk you being seen as a demon and worse, have people asking so many questions once they see you with me./ But it didn't get any better. "Go, Grill Brigade! Break down the carnival games booth! Give 'em the Battering Ram!"

"Yeah!" They cheered and soon the students charged forward with the grill. "And a-one!" Was heard as the first slam of the grill hitting the wall was heard. Aqua landed beside Yugi, after helping the students hang the School Festival sign, growling. "Yugi, let us deal with them." he hissed. "I can't. I don't want you two to turn into demons and rouse a lot of attention." Yugi whispered.

"And a-two!" They roared as they smashed the grill into the wall again and soon, cracking and snapping of the wood making up their booth was heard. Inogashira only laughed as he watched. "Take that! Feel the power of our six-inch thick, 50 serving grill! This spot is ours!" Yugi knew he couldn't let Yami and Aqua do anything, but he also couldn't let them ruin their carnival games and dashing away from Yami and Aqua, gaining a shocked cry from them, and stood in front of the charging seniors. "Stop it! We worked hard to build these games!" he cried but they didn't care as they charged forward again.

"And a-three!" They weren't quick enough, and the two demons watched in disbelief and anger as Yugi was hit ruthlessly by them and fell to the ground. "Yugi!" Yami called as he and Aqua ran over then looked back up when they heard the Class C students' cries of fury as the grill busted through the wall of their booth, taking out their carefully set games. Inogashira chuckled. "Alright! Leave the grill right here...in our space!" he claimed, and cinder blocks were placed down before the grill was left there. They all turned away from the ruined booth and walked off. "That's all for today! We'll be looking forward to the school festival in three days!" Inogashira said with a laugh.

"That's awful..."

"There's nothing we can do..."

In the end...our space was dominated by a huge grill.

0

Yugi soon woke up and found himself in the nurse's office. Yami was sitting in a chair beside his bed, holding his hand while Aqua and Zella were standing by his bedside. "You're finally awake." Yami whispered, bringing his hand up to kiss the top lightly. "What...what happened to the carnival games?" he asked.

"Those idiots destroyed them." Yami hissed.

"Yeah...we'll have to try next year..." Zella said.

"What?! That's not good at all! We have to get that space back!" Yugi cried as he sat up, Yami still rubbing his hand gently. "That's right...we should get it back...It belongs to us..." she whispered and turned away, a tear coming from her eye. "Zella..." Yugi whispered softly, hating to see her cry. /This is her first time being the school festival officer and Inogashira ruins it. We can't let him get away with this./ Yugi said to them. /I think...another meal is in order for you both. This cannot go unpunished./ They grinned before nodding. Aqua grabbed Yugi's shoes and placed them onto his feet before opening the window and flew out. Yami followed behind him, holding Yugi snugly in his arms.

Zella laughed softly before turning back. "Yugi, I'm sor-" she started but was surprised to see him, as well as Yami and Aqua, gone. 'Yugi?'

0

After finding out the house phone number of Inogashira, Yugi made the call and Inogashira was waiting at the festival grounds for them. Yugi stood there, looking to him. "You've got some guts calling me this late. So...what did you want to say about the festival?"

"Give us our spot back and you won't get hurt tonight." Yugi whispered and he laughed. "Oh really? And how would a puny thing like you hurt me?" he said, still laughing. "I'm bigger and stronger than you!"

"He won't but we will." A voice hissed and the burly teen stopped laughing to glare at Yugi but looked up more to see cold, cerise and crimson eyes glaring down at him from the shadows behind Yugi. "Yeah, they aren't happy when your tread on grounds you shouldn't and you treaded on the grounds of me and my classmates' souls. You hurt me and my class...these demons here don't take kindly to people hurting me or someone close to me. You'll have to play a game if you want to escape with your life." Yugi spoke. "Oh yeah? Fine then. I don't believe in demons and you must've gone nuts to have them challenge me." Inogashira said, laughing again and a snarl came from the shadow bearing crimson eyes.

"You are a fool but since you have accepted, you can get away now." Aqua hissed as he came from the shadows and stood beside Yugi, eyes glowing a menacing crimson. Inogashira only chuckled. "It's beneath me to play games with imaginative demons but I've never backed down from a challenge...and I've always won! So...what kind of game are you talking about?" he questioned as they led him to where the grill was set up, bricks now lining the edges with two openings at the short ends of the grill. "We'll play a game with this! The grill that you brought and ruined all the hard work for our booth!" he said, startling Inogashira for a second.

"We've already heated it up! The surface over 100 degrees Celsius! Next: this block of ice. The test tube in the center is filled with explosives. If it touches the grill, one or both of us will be blown sky high. Then you can find out what okonomiyaki truly feels like..." Aqua continued with a chuckle before holding up two griddle spatulas. "And we'll be using these instead of rackets. Prepare yourself for what I'd like to call "Griddle Ice Hockey!" he said before tossing a paddle to him and Inogashira caught it while grinning.

Aqua placed the block of ice on the grill and it began hissing as the ice met the extremely hot surface and started to melt. "The loser of the game gives up the right to this space at the school festival. And if Aqua wins, your life is ours. Any problems with that, Inogashira?" Yami spoke. "No, no problem at all! I'll meet your dragon's little challenge!" Aqua nodded as he wrapped his tail around the handle of the spatula and smirked. "Game Start!" he hissed, swinging his tail and hitting the ice block across the grill.

Inogashira smirked and once the ice block was close, hit it back with an unnatural force. "Put a spatula in my hand and no one can match me!" Aqua snarled and swung his tail again, wincing as he felt the shock from hitting the ice block at the speed Inogashira sent it reverberating up his tail. Yugi saw his discomfort and looked to Yami. "Do you think Aqua can win this using his tail to move that ice block?" he asked.

"I'm sure he can. The strongest part of a demon of his caliber is the tail since most of it is made up of muscle. That alone, when swung hard enough, can break a person's spine so when it comes to Aqua's ferocious hunting skills, that strength combine with his hardened tail spines can really damage a person, even kill them by impaling." Yami explained. Yugi nodded and continued to watch the game. Inogashira saw that the ice was melting rather quick for traveling back and forth over the steaming hot griddle but knew with his speed and power, once the ice reaches its last few bits, it would be in enemy territory and the explosives will kill Aqua.

They continued to hit the ice back and forth, Aqua wincing more. 'Even with the ice as small as it is, it comes at me with the weight of a boulder! I'm impressed with his speed and power but even so, he can't match up with a demon.' Aqua thought as he sent the ice puck back down the grill. Inogashira laughed as he saw that Aqua was using a lot of strength to send it back. "Lookit that! It takes all you got just to send it back! My strength gives me the edge in this game even if you are a demon! This is a piece of cake!" he jeered as he slapped the ice puck back.

Aqua readied himself for the return hit but almost fell over as he sent it back and growled. 'That recoil is becoming a hindrance. Every time I hit it, even with my tail, it sends me flying! This may be a tough one to win.' Inogashira bellowed again. "Let's give it even more power!" he roared, sending the puck back with more force and Aqua saw the ticket to winning this. 'He may have power but that will be his downfall.' he thought as he used the edge of the spatula and slapped the puck back, hoping he got the precision of his hit right.

He laughed once more. "I'm so tough that I can make a demon push back a tiny piece of ice! Not so high and mighty now, are you?! It doesn't matter though! I've saved the best for last! Power return!" he called, hitting the ice but gaped when he saw the ice split in half instead, releasing the vial of explosives. 'No way! He nicked it...putting a crack in the ice!' he thought as he watched the vial drop as if in slow motion.

'I'm going to lose...i-impossible...!' Was his last thought as the vial hit the grill, causing a giant explosion that sent him flying but a wall of shadows broke his line of flight as the singed body fell to the ground. Yami let go of Yugi and walked over to him, Aqua stepping up as well. "You thought you can win with power but that power is what killed you." Aqua whispered. Yami let out a snarl and ripped into the flesh, ripping away the burned school uniform as he gorged on the singed flesh. Aqua joined him, gulping down flesh and blood by the mouthfuls until nothing remained.

Yami swallowed his last mouthful and licked the blood from his fangs and lips. "Cooked flesh actually tastes better, especially after a little exercise." Yami purred with a smirk. "Of course, I prefer a hearty meal of raw flesh over that. That always retain the sweetness I crave." Yugi walked over and wrapped his arms around Yami's neck, placing a soft kiss upon the lightly bloodstained cheek. "Do you think you can fix the booth?"

"But of course. We can't let all that work you and your classmates put into it go to waste." Yami replied and with a wave of his hand, the shadows repaired the demolished walls, added the decorations the class was planning to add before the matter with Inogashira and the grill, along with the corpse of Inogashira, was gone. Yugi smiled and kissed his cheek again. "Thank you, Yami." Yami smiled and nuzzled him. "Yugi, you know Aqua and I will do anything for you to make you happy. You make us happy and we will do the same." Yugi nodded, still smiling. He leaned up and kissed Yami softly, Yami wrapping his arms around him and bringing him flush to his form, his tail curling around one of Yugi's legs as he deepened the kiss. Yugi mewled softly through the kiss, closing his eyes as he tasted the blood and Yami's natural flavor on his tongue and he felt himself fall into a deeper euphoria of rising delight.

The kiss would've lasted longer if they didn't hear Aqua chuckle quietly to himself. "Come on, you two. No need to hit anymore bases, especially here." Aqua murmured and Yami pulled back from the kiss, glaring at him playfully. "Shut it, Aqua." he snipped playfully before unfurling his wings and scooped Yugi into his arms before flying off with Aqua trailing behind. Yugi looked up to Yami and saw the content look in his eyes then remembered the promise he made to himself. 'Soon...soon I will give you both something very important to me as my gift to you. I can see you both want my gift of innocence but you want to wait for when I'm ready. I'll be ready soon...ready only for you two.' he thought before snuggling closer to Yami as he and Aqua flew back to the game shop.

0

On the day of the school festival, everyone was surprised to see the booth back up and decorated with everything they were planning to add before Inogashira ruined it. I mentioned to them that Yami and Aqua helped get the space back for them and they thanked them for helping them out. Of course, they were even more surprised to hear that there was no sign of Inogashira from the Class D seniors but we didn't care, only made to enjoy the festival.

The booth was crowded with people, everyone taking a liking to the carnival games. A kid, playing the Bluebeard's Attack game, was pushing a sword into the barrel, hitting the switch and making Jounouchi fly out of the barrel. "Poor Jounouchi..." A student hummed. "He looks like he's having fun to me." Zella commented, laughing softly as Jounouchi landed, right into Aqua's arms and they both laughed as Jounouchi removed the mask once Aqua placed him down.

"We got to stop meeting like this." Aqua joked, causing Jounouchi to laugh and hit his shoulder playfully before heading back to the barrel for the next person. Yami came up behind Yugi, holding a stick wrapped in candy floss and both shared it, watching as once again, this time a student, hitting the switch and making Jounouchi fly. And again, landing in Aqua's arms but, of course, Aqua was suckered into catching Jounouchi anyway since he couldn't land gracefully and no one was willing to grab him when he falls.

But all in all, our carnival booth was a big hit!

0

Zypher: And there we have it! Another chapter done and a little extra fluff, and a hint, to boot! More chapters to go and then we'll be on Monster World. The final stretch is ahead and the next kiriban will be at 155 reviews! Keep 'em coming everyone and thank Yami and Yugi's Genie for catching the last one. I'll see you later with the next fun filled chapter!