A/N: I WAS going to discontinue this, but then I decided, eh, it's YGO. Discontinued my Kingdom Hearts story -- sorry to all who was reading it.
Speaking of, thank you to all who've reviewed previous chapters! If you leave a signed review, I do reply back to it. Not that anyone cares, but…
And on a side note, I might get published.
Have you ever heard of the orange age?
Don't tell your mama or she'll think you're insane!
All the purdy girls like to listen and pretend!
Our music train highway has no end!
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah…
Cocking an eyebrow at the radio, Yami sighed and switched the channel. What was up with that song? It was way too cheery for him. Well… not necessarily. Nothing was too cheery for him, but the song somehow reminded him of Yuugi, and Yami didn't want to think of Yuugi. Ever since Yuugi had left, Yami felt as if his light had been ripped away from him. Which was what happened, sort of. The light left him.
Same thing, in the end.
"Hey Yuugi…" Honda said slowly, handsome face worried as he looked, first at his friends, who gave him a nod as if to give him their support, and then to Yuugi, whose head was face down on the desk. Or rather, it had been, as Yuugi turned it so his cheek was on the desk, a single lavender eye staring up at Honda. He didn't say anything however, clearly waiting for Honda to continue. "Um…" Honda said, faltering. Yuugi simply rolled his eyes, beginning to turn his head to the desk again.
"What's with you, buddy? First you snap at Anzu, and then you don't even bother to catch up with us," Jounouchi said, shooting Honda a mild glare. Yuugi paused, and then lifted his head up from the desk and turned slowly towards Jounouchi. Eyebrow raised, Yuugi gave a small smirk.
"Like you bothered to check up on me when Yami got his own body?" Yuugi shot back. "Che, the only one who bothered was Honda." Yuugi turned his eyes to Honda, his smirk changing into the smile they all remembered. "Ne, Honda, how've you been? Sorry I didn't call you, but Mom said long-distance calling would be too much. And I don't know you're email, so…"
Anzu and Jounouchi gaped at Yuugi, while Honda flushed a little, obviously not expecting that Yuugi would act this way just because Honda had talked to him whenever he noticed Yuugi was by himself, or wave to him in the halls.
"Erm. I'm good?" Honda said, though it was more of a question then an answer. "I wasn't really expecting you to call… I thought you'd call Jou or Anzu, or even Kaiba-san, before me… Heck, even Yami…"
Yuugi smile turned into a frown, and he blinked up at Honda. "But why would I want to call Yami? He's the reason I went with my mom, you know."
What's with Yuug? Jounouchi wondered. Actin' all buddy-buddy with Honda, and not even sparin' me an' Anzu a second glance…
"Why… why didn't you tell anyone you were going?" Anzu asked timidly, blue eyes wide. Yuugi looked at her oddly, before shrugging.
"It was a last minute thing. And besides, you guys were all at the arcade with Yami anyways… or somewhere with Yami, I don't know. He wasn't home either."
"Yami's been really upset since you've left, y'know," Jounouchi said, and Yuugi looked to Jounouchi.
"Oh bon?" he asked. "That's interesting."
He lay his head down on the desk again, clearly indicating he wasn't talking anymore.
Jounouchi and Anzu looked at Honda hopelessly, both wondering why Yuugi was being so… anti-Yuugi. Deciding he could try to help out his friends, Honda looked at Yuugi.
"Are… you visiting your grandpa later?" Honda asked.
"Mmmhmm. After school," Yuugi's muffled voice said.
"Can… I come with? My mom wanted me to deliver something to him," Honda lied, feeling guilty about it.
"Sure," Yuugi said, not even bothering to ask what Honda had to deliver.
Clearly, Honda mused, Yuugi was unaware that Yami was still living at the Kame Game Shop.
With promises of calling Anzu and Jou later to tell them what had happened, Honda set out with Yuugi down to the Kame Game Shop. He hadn't been there recently, not since the last time Jou invited him along to go meet up with Yami and watch some movies or flutter around a new deck of cards. Glancing to his right, where Yuugi stood, Honda noted that Yuugi's head now brushed his shoulder.
Out of their group, Yuugi seemed to like him the most, and not warning Yuugi about Yami seemed to be a big mistake to him. No need to mess up their brittle friendship over something as unpreventable as this.
"Hey, Yuugi… Yami is still living at the Game Shop," Honda said, breaking the silence between them. Yuugi made a 'mmm' sound and nodded.
"I know. Grandpa told Mom, and Mom told me," he shrugged. Honda blinked, chewing on the inside of his cheek.
"It doesn't bother you?" Honda asked. Yuugi shook his head.
"No. Should it?" Not waiting for Honda's reply, he continued. "Katsuya-san said that Yami was angsting about me. I wanted to see if it was true."
Not commenting on how in the old days Jou was "Jou-kun", and was now "Katsuya-san", Honda instead said, "You wanted to see if Yami was really upset? That sounds… heartless, of you."
Yuugi gave a shrug. "I want to see if Katsuya-san was telling the truth. How do I know if he isn't lying?"
Honda frowned, but said nothing. Yuugi had a point there. But Yami really was upset about Yuugi. Still…
"Ah, there it is. Looks different, doesn't it?" Yuugi mused aloud, followed by a quiet laugh. "I suppose it would, after not seeing it every day for such a long time."
"I suppose it would," Honda agreed, walking alongside Yuugi as they crossed the street and got to the door.
"I hope Grandpa won't be too mad at me for dropping by unannounced…" Yuugi said, laughing again. He opened the door and Honda stepped in.
"He probably won't," Honda said. He was about to say more, when the doors leading into the house opening.
"Honda! Is that you? My, it's been a while, hasn't it!" Sugoroku (1) welcomed warmly. "And whose your friend?"
Looking over to Yuugi, who had an odd look on his face, Honda at first wondered why Sugoroku wouldn't recognize his own grandson. But… obviously the new haircut would have something to do with it.
"It's me, Grandpa," Yuugi said in a small voice. He looked so insecure, his eyes barely concealing the hurt from not having his own grandfather recognize him.
"Yuugi?" Sugoroku asked, blinking his eyes. The old man ran over to them and grabbed Yuugi into a hug. "My, I've missed you! It hasn't been the same without you! How are you? You've grown!"
Yuugi flushed a little, hugging his grandfather back. "I've missed you too Grandpa…" he murmured.
The door leading into the house opened once again, and Yami entered the game shop. He looked exactly as he did when Yuugi was still around, only he didn't look so glamerous and handsome anymore. He didn't scream "celebrity!" anymore. He looked slightly faded, too.
"Grandpa, the show is-" he paused, looking at Sugoroku and the boy he was hugging. However, unlike Sugoroku, Yami recognized Yuugi immediately. After all, he had inhabited Yuugi's body for how long?
"Aibou?" he asked in a shocked whisper. Sugoroku let go of Yuugi to look at Yami. Yuugi had stiffened, and Honda suddenly wondered if he should have come along.
"Ah… I should go…" Honda mumbled, uncomfortably aware of how much he was intruding on this reunion.
Yuugi's eyes widened, and he spun around and grabbed Honda's sleeve. "Please, don't," he whispered. Honda, still uncomfortable, nodded. He could only imagine what it felt like to see Yami again, after being separated for so long.
"Ah… let me close shop, and then we can all go into the house, mmm?" Sugoroku said, breaking the silence. He moved to the door and flipped the sign from 'open' to 'closed'.
No one else said anything. Yami's wide eyes were still glued onto Yuugi, seemingly unable to comprehend that this was Yuugi in front of him. Yuugi didn't want to say anything, and Honda didn't know what to say.
(1) I could not remember Yuugi's grandfather's name, so I looked it up. The site I found didn't have his grandfather's name in Japanese, so I used the English one. Sorry.
As for how Honda refers to Anzu and Jou by their names, but Kaiba as 'Kaiba-san", I figure that they were close enough that they would refer to each other on first-name, no-honorific base.
Next chapter will include their conversation. Obviously.
