#17 – The Duty of Siblings

DISCLAIMER: Always drink responsibly, kiddies. Parents, you too. University students – kanpai, man!

Growing up, Anzu had never had siblings. In her darker moods, she would even grumble that she had never really had a family, but she knew that was going too far and was completely unfair.

"Shit!"

"Shh! What is it?"

"Frikking… Walked into the sign."

"Idiot. You okay?"

"Yeah…"

"Good, now shut up."

She had travelled a lot though. She'd seen a lot of the world, because her father was always moving around. Unlike Yuugi, she didn't have grandparents to stay with, and so had been shuttled between Japan and America more times than she could count. That was how her dream had started.

"The door open?"

"Shit. No. You got a key?"

"Why would I?"

"Check his pockets."

"What? Me? I can't do that!"

"You're such a girl! Here…"

"Well, thank you for noticing. Now tell Honda that I can't go shoving my hands down people's pants!"

"I was talking about the jacket."

"Shut up, the pair o'you. There we go, see? Was that so hard?"

She had always kind of wondered what it would be like to have brothers and sisters. When she was younger, she had thought of Yuugi as a nerdy little brother, but now she knew it was more because she wanted one than actually thinking of him in brotherly terms.

"Softly, softly!"

"Dude, it's only the old man. He ain't gonna wake up from us just walking through the house."

"I'm more worried about this one. If he wakes up, he might start singing at the top of his lungs again."

"The other Yuugi's going to be so pissed off at us…"

"We'll just tell him it was Anzu's fault."

"Hey!"

"It was! And besides, he likes you."

"He likes you too!"

"Guys! Shut up!"

These days, she didn't really need to try and think of people as brothers or sisters. She had her boys, and they were enough like brothers that sometimes she found herself thinking of them as more of a family than her parents. It wasn't that she liked them any more, but she was honest with them. She told them things she would never tell her parents – and more than scary adventures. Personal things. Or as much as you could tell boys, anyway.

"Dragonflies!"

"Huh?"

"Dragonflies're proof th'Duel Monsters ezzist 'cause they're weird lookin'."

"What the hell…?"

"Professor drunk. A lot of people get it."

"I repeat. What the hell."

"Yeah, you're probably right about that, Yuugi. You know what I think? You should totally think about that, really hard, so we can use it to prove Kaiba wrong."

"Kaiba-kun's n'idiot."

"Yes, he is."

"M'gonna think s'more."

"Good idea."

"… Yeah, the other Yuugi's gonna kill you, Anzu."

Sometimes people asked her if she was going out with Jounouchi. She shouldn't have been surprised, but they never asked about Honda or Yuugi, and for it to be Jounouchi… But they said she and Honda always looked like they were talking about something serious. Jounouchi looked like he and Anzu were always flirting. She had the vague idea that was because she was closer to Jounouchi. Not that she had ever actually done it, but she felt like she could jump onto his back or tackle him and he would just laugh and carry on the game. She felt fine saying anything to him, and knew he felt the same, because they occasionally had very deep and meaningful conversations without even meaning to. No matter what she said, he always had some kind of response.

"How was I supposed to know two drinks would affect him like this?"

"Have you seen Yuugi? He's kinda small."

"Yeah. And now the blood to alcohol ratio is kinda low."

"He's a guy! Guys are supposed to be able to drink more!"

"Ooh, drink? More drink? I like that drink."

"Yuugi, shut up. And I'm still thinking the size thing should've gotten through to you, Anzu."

"Oh, bite me."

"For real?"

"Yuu-gi!"

Since she was 'going out' with Jounouchi, girls didn't often ask her about him. They used to, but not anymore. Now they ask her about Honda. They always want to know if he's seeing anyone, or what his 'type' is. Sometimes she looks the girl over and passes judgement, but if she's seen Shizuka lately, she'll usually turn them down flat. A very small, strange part of her doesn't like the idea of Honda dating anyone from school. The girls of Domino High, like the boys of Domino High, are dangerous and more than just a little cruel. Honda deserves someone better. Shizuka is better. And she's 'in the family' – she's been a part of their group and knows how things work. Anzu wants a girl for Honda that won't try and take him away from them.

"Okay, can you get him down?"

"M'wake…!"

"No, you're not, Yuugi."

"I can do it… have you got the – thanks."

"Dun' wanna go bed…"

"Yes, you do, Yuugi."

"Alright, I've got his shoes off… what should we do about the puzzle?"

"I think he sleeps with it."

"Come to think of it, he's always wearing it when I've seen him in his pyjamas, so…"

"Yeah, but that could just be –ah!"

"Oh-ohh… I am very drunk…"

"The other Yuugi?"

"Very, very drunk. What – hello. Ohh…"

"Oh, crap."

Yuugi is different than the other two, but sometimes she feels like he's the same. It's only when he's on the duelling field, or she sees him in some magazine, that she sees him as a guy, not one of her boys. When he's at a distance, he's someone she can fall in love with over and over again. When he's sitting in class or reading the newspaper or drawing in his notebook, she knows she's never loved anyone so much. But when the group is just hanging out, and he's chuckling away at some dry humour the rest of them only barely get; when the other Yuugi takes over and they're walking around the town or having late night sessions over pizza or on the docks; she starts to wonder if he isn't just one of her boys. When either him is just sitting back and listening, he's not a guy, but more like a brother that will listen to her problems and care about what she has to say. He confuses her a little.

"Anzu did it!"

"You were the one that made us go to the party!"

"Yeah, but I wasn't drinking and I never gave Yuugi anything!"

"Don't blame it all on me!"

"Uh, guys?"

"What?"

"Alcohol lowers your inhibitions, meaning you're more likely to do what you really want to. Drunk, angry pharaoh with the ability to crush us all in dark games."

"Hello!"

"…Not very angry, is he?"

"Oh, I will be. Soon's th'world stops spinning m'gonna be very mad at whoever got me drunk."

"It was totally Anzu!"

"Jounouchi!"

Once, she asked Honda what it was like to have siblings. Jounouchi has a strange relationship with his sister because of their history, so Honda was the only person she could ask. But he said his sister seemed so much older than him that sometimes he didn't know. He said it was weird, because she varied between always making fun of her little brother, using him for as much as she could get away with, and teaching him everything their parents never taught her. That was how he knew how to drive, what went into twelve different kinds of drinks, and why he carried both condoms and a lighter. You never know when you'll need them, his sister had always told him. Otherwise you end up married at nineteen.

"Yuugi… you okay?"

"Hm… just very… aware v'something. You know what?"

"What?"

"I need to duel someone. Matter of fact, m'gonna go find… nah, dun'wanna see Kaiba-bastard. 'Togi. Go find 'Togi."

"Whoa, whoa, Yuugi! Come on, sit down again."

"No, I have t'find 'Togi! Gotta duel him! Or… challenge him or… something… His father tried to kill my aibou! M'gonna get 'im f'that!"

"Yuugi, no. No, you want to sit – sit – you guys aren't helping!"

"Sorry, it's just…"

"Funny!"

"S'not funny! He tried to kill – I'm gonna kill him! With – with – with – a thing! I – oh dammit."

"Ah, now, see, Yuugi, you really shouldn't go anywhere right now. You should just sit down and… sober up before you try and… kill anyone."

"…You have a point. I'd prob'ly miss right now."

Honda always used the same tone about his sister that he did about Jounouchi and Yuugi. And he described her the same way she felt about her boys. Sure, they made fun of each other all the time, but they meant everything to each other, too. They were always teaching each other new things, and they always looked out for one another. When something went wrong, they knew the others would be there to help them out.

Just like siblings.

Yuugi groaned, clutching his head as he slowly sat up. A hand that wasn't there settled on the small of his back to help him, and he peered up at Yami with red eyes. "What happened?"

"Whiskey and coke," he replied quietly, wondering if he should offer to switch places. Yuugi groaned again and he guiltily decided to stay a spirit.

"I only remember having two… I've seen guys down about six without getting drunk," he croaked, and Yami shrugged.

"Most people are much bigger, with more muscle tone, and much more tolerance, aibou," he said, but Yuugi was in too much pain to take offence to the truth.

He rubbed his temples, gazing blearily at his knees. After a moment, memories began filtering back and his eyes slowly widened, horror settling in. "Oh no…"

"You remember?"

"I thought you didn't remember things when you got drunk…"

"Some people don't," he agreed, before memories of his own few minutes hit him and he flinched. "Oh no."

They looked at each other nervously for a moment, before Yuugi groaned again and sank back under the blankets. Yami covered his face with his hand and thanked the gods Yuugi was the only one that would see him today.

The door opened and Yami opened one eye just enough to see that their friends were all peering into the room with fake innocence plastered all over their faces.

"Yuugi, are you awake?"

He remained completely still, taking refuge in his usual response to unwanted attention. Anzu, Jounouchi and Honda exchanged glances and nodded before stepping inside.

"You feeling better, Yuugi?" Anzu asked as she walked over to the bed. She knelt down beside the desk and peered into the space between blanket and pillow. "I have some water here. It'll make your headache a little better."

He twitched the blanket just enough to look at her, and she smiled, carefully understanding. He hesitated, then slowly lifted his head to look at Jounouchi and Honda, who just gazed back at him with innocent smiles. Jounouchi winked, and Yuugi sighed, shifting until he could sit up. He winced, grabbing at his head, and Anzu moved to sit on the bed as she helped him drink his water.

They would tease him mercilessly tomorrow, quoting back anything they could remember and remind him not to drink more than one glass at a time, but for now they would just help him recover. That was all you could ever do, for family.