Recovery

Miriku POV

"We're almost there! One…two…three…heave!"

We had been struggling for the last five or ten minutes to get my bookshelf upright, and it was almost there, tilted at an eighty-degree angle away from the wall. At my shout, the four of us—Yuugi, Mikey, Terra, and I—pushed as hard as we could.

The bookshelf landed back upright against the wall with a loud thump, and settled into place with a creaking groan. I quickly shoved the 'Monster Book of Questions and Answers' back under the crooked shelf before it sagged again.

Terra dusted off her hands. "There. All we've got to do now is put all the books back, and we're done!"

Everyone else groaned. My bookshelf had been full of books and magazines—so full that each shelf had been stacked up to the bottom of the next. I'd even had books on top of my bookshelf.

Terra sweatdropped, grinning sheepishly. "Or…we could call everyone over to help so that it doesn't take as long."

"Good idea," Yuugi said wearily, flopping down onto the bed—the portion that wasn't covered in junk, anyway.

"I've got to check on Yami," I told them. "I'll be back in a minute."

"I'm coming with," Terra said. "I need to start calling people."

"I'm coming, too!" Yuugi and Mikey said at the same time. So the four of us went out through the hall back into the living room.

Yami, who had been lying down on the couch and absently running a finger up and down the scab on his cheek, looked up. I noticed that he had wrestled his shirt back on. "Konichiwa. …Is the bookshelf up?"

Terra nodded. "We managed to push it into place. Right now, I'm calling the others for help. We need it—putting the books back is going to be a major project." With that, she headed over to the kitchen and picked up the phone.

"Is it okay if I grab something to eat?" Mikey asked hesitantly.

"Sure," I replied.

Yami glanced at them. "Yuugi can show you where the fridge is."

Realizing that he wanted to talk to me alone, I nodded. "Go ahead, Yuugi—I'm sure you're hungry, too."

"No I'm—"

Grrrr…

"Ano…maybe I am. C'mon, Mikey."

I sat down on the arm of the couch near Yami's head, watching the two of them enter the kitchen. When they were gone, I turned to him.

"So. What've you got to say for yourself?"

Yami eased himself back, wincing. He unconsciously leaned against my leg. "I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble, Miriku. The book looked so interesting—I didn't know."

I crossed my arms. "You didn't ask, either."

Yami sighed. "I really am sorry."

"For yourself or for the bookshelf?" I snapped irritably. "That can be replaced! You can't! We can't afford to lose you because of sheer stupidity on your part—and that's exactly what this was! Plain, unadulterated stupidity!"

Yami winced, and bowed his head. "I know I was stupid. Sometimes I think I'm nothing but stupid. Stupid and ignorant…"

I realized that my voice had been much harsher than I'd intended. What I'd said had hurt him.

"I'm sorry, Yami—I didn't mean to snap at you." I sighed, and looked down at him. "It's just…you scared me. You worried me. And I get angry when I'm afraid."

Yami nodded. "I understand how you feel. I do the same thing, sometimes."

At that moment, Terra came back out, dusting off her hands. "There, that should do it. I've called everyone up. Dean's agreed to pick up Kaiba and Joey. They should be here in—"

She stopped. "All right, what's with the fluff scene in here?"

My eyebrows quirked. "What are you talking about?"

Terra just sniggered. "Nevermind. Like I was saying, everyone'll be here in a little bit."

I jumped off the arm of the couch. "Good. We definitely need their help." I turned back to Yami. "Take off your shirt."

Yami recoiled. "What!"

Terra sniggered again. I rolled my eyes. "I need to check the salve, you idiot! Now take off the shirt—unless you want me to do it for you!"

Yami immediately began to peel off the skintight black tanktop he had slid back into. Terra went back to the kitchen, still laughing.

This is not going to end well, Yami muttered. I nearly missed it.

"What was that?"

Yami blinked at me. "What?"

"No—what did you just say?"

"I didn't say anything!"

"But I just heard you say something!"

Yami sighed. "If I said something, I was talking out loud to myself."

I glanced speculatively at him, before pouring a liberal amount of salve on his arm.

He shivered. "This stuff is cold…"

"Yeah it is," I agreed, spreading it up and down his arm. "Lay down on your back."

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. "Mikey, could you get the door?" I called, spreading salve across Yami's chest."

"Sure!" Mikey called, and darted over to the door.

John, Dustil, Dean, Merekai, Malik, Kaiba, Ryou, Jonouchi, and Bakura all entered. Dustil grinned at me. Of course, since the back of the couch faces the door, they couldn't see what was happening. "Hey, lead—heard you needed some help reorganizing your bookshelf."

"Reorganizing?" I asked incredulously. "Did Terra not tell you guys what happened?"

John shook his head. "All she said was that the books fell, and that you guys needed help fixing them."

Yami sat up and peered over the back of the couch, grimacing as his wrist moved. "Who said anything about books? It was the whole bookshelf."

Everyone gaped at Yami. I saw their eyes dart from bruise to bruise, to the thin scab that ran from the corner of Yami's eye to just below his lip, and then back.

"Holy shit!" Bakura exclaimed. "I didn't know you were capable of taking that much damage without the brat stepping in for you!"

"Tojikomeru," Yami growled. "No one asked you."

I sighed. "Mikey, Terra, and Yuugi are in the kitchen. I have to finish up in here." I looked at Yami. "All right, I'm done with the salve. Give me your wrist."

With a long-suffering sigh, Yami held out his wrist. Dustil, who was just passing by, winced. "What happened to?"

Yami looked mournfully down at his wrist. The bones still bulged out in odd places. "It's fractured, according to Miriku-sama."

Dustil nodded, not catching the honorific, and went off to the rec room with everyone else. I did catch it, though, and raised my eyebrows. "Sama? Where did sama come from, Yami?"

Yami ducked his head, blushing a little. "You're so good—at so much—it just seems right that—"

I cuffed him on the side of the head. "Friends don't give each other the sama honorific, tonchiki!"

Yami grinned sheepishly. "I stand corrected—Miriku-kun."

I grinned at him, fishing the roll of linen bandages out of my bag. "That's better. Now, just let me finish up with your wrist, and then I'll go and help the others in the rec room. Like I said before, just take it easy—don't strain yourself. If you need anything, give a holler."

I tied off the linen and nodded. "That should do it. Don't move your wrist too much."

I had already figured that part out, Yami said dryly.

"Well, I'm glad for you," I snapped.

Yami blinked. "What?"

"You just—I mean—" I threw my arms up in the air. "Nevermind! Just stop making rude comments already!"

"But Miriku—I didn't say anything!"

I snorted. "Right. Just stop it, 'kay?"

I left him staring after me, a look of shock on his face, and headed to the rec room to help.

After about half an hour, the bookshelf was nearing completion. Everyone was sweating hard—except Kaiba, who refused to help. I had him fetch lemonade for us instead. My response to his loud protests was; "It's either helping with the bookshelf or making lemonade. Take your pick, or I'll pick for you."

John sat back on his heels, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "Jesus, Miriku! How many books are on this thing!"

I shrugged, sliding Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince into its niche next to the previous five books on the second-to-top shelf. "I lost count at around two hundred." Everyone groaned.

"You guys need a hand?" Everyone jumped, and looked up at the door. Yami was standing there. Well, to be more accurate, he was leaning against the doorframe for support.

"Yami!" I admonished, jumping to my feet. "You're not supposed to be up! You don't even look strong enough to walk!" His forehead was, in fact, beaded with sweat, and his face was pale.

He smiled at me, though. "I'm fine, Miriku. I can help you with the bookshelf, as long as I don't use my left hand, or move too quickly."

"I still think you ought to be taking it easy."

Bakura rolled his eyes, grouchy that he had been forced to work. "If his highness-ness wants to work, let him work. It won't be our fault if something happens to him again."

"Now dat ain't even nice," Joey muttered.

"I don't think it was supposed to be," Malik replied.

Yami shrugged. He made his way over to us—with a slight limp—and reached down to pick up a book. "I'll be fine. It's just picking up books—no big deal. See?" He reached up to put the book on the top shelf—and winced. "All right, maybe I shouldn't do that…"

"You could help Kaiba with the lemonade," Dustil suggested.

Yami shrugged, grinning. "I'm just happy to help." He hobbled away.

Yuugi looked at me. "I'm worried that he's going to overwork himself some day."

Bakura sniggered. "See, that's why I'm not a goody two-shoes like his highness-ness. I don't have that constant urge to help people."

Terra glared at him, fists raised. "You're gonna have the urge to get a tissue because of your bloody nose!" Bakura winced, and edged away from her.

"You're dead," he said to John, who was trying to stop himself from rolling all over the floor, laughing.

"You wish!"

"That was exhausting," Ryou mumbled, stretching his back.

Dean nodded, stifling a yawn. "It must have taken Miriku years to get that many books!"

I grinned at him. "Eight, to be exact."

Malik sighed. "Well, I'm all for going home and hitting the hay. You coming, short stuff?"

Dustil nodded, jumping to his feet. "Let's go!" He raced out the door.

Malik stared incredulously at me. "How can he have that much energy!"

I shrugged. "This is Dustil we're talking about—who knows?"

Slowly, everyone trickled out, until Yuugi, Yami, and I were the only ones left in the apartment.

"It's eight thirty," Yuugi said, after glancing at the clock. "I feel like turning in a little early."

I nodded. "Me, too. G'night."

Yuugi made his way to the couch, while Yami and I went to our separate rooms.

I've got to make sure nothing like this happens again, I told myself firmly. Yuugi would kill me if we lost Yami, and vice versa. We need to find a way to prevent stuff like this from happening…

And with that thought running around in my head, I drifted off to sleep.