A/N: Wow. Complete and total lack of updates for months. That's me. Well, this chapter is an accumulation of stuff that struck me during school when I actually had the time to write (curse you, chemistry!), and now it's actually come to something rather than a jumbled mass of meaningless rant.

In Memories Forgotten

Chapter 6

Yugi surveyed himself in the dusty mirror in a corner of the attic, not sure if he liked what he saw or not. After finding that Yami didn't really care what kind of clothes Yugi wore, Yugi had decided to try on some men's clothes. After digging through the attic, Yugi had found a pair of black trousers, a white dress shirt and a dark gray dress jacket that fit him reasonably well, though the jacket was a little big on him. He hadn't been able to find a pair of shoes that fit him without looking ridiculously large, and so the image in the mirror was barefoot.

Tilting his head to the side, Yugi was still trying to convince himself that it was actually his own reflection that he was looking at. He had never seen himself in anything besides dresses before, and he didn't know if he was going to be able to get used to this new look. The kegawa crowded around his feet and looked up at his reflection.

"What do you think?" he asked, looking down at them. One of the black creatures made a soft snorting noise, and the other kegawa purred in agreement.

"I don't like it much, either," Yugi said. He rubbed his fingertips against his right temple absently; he had woken up that morning with a headache, and although it had seemed harmless then, it had grown progressively worse as the day went on. Pouting at the mirror, Yugi turned around, then yelped and jumped back several feet. Yami was sitting on one of the many wooden crates, looking Yugi up and down.

"It looks good on you," he said.

Yugi had to take a moment to let his heart slow down to a normal rate. "I wish you wouldn't sneak up on me like that," he said breathlessly. Yami only shrugged.

"Sorry."

Yugi pretended to scowl at Yami, then looked back at the mirror. "Do you really think it looks good?" he asked. "I think it looks rather odd."

"Well, you don't have to wear it if you don't want to. I said that I didn't care, remember?"

"Yeah…" Yugi said with a sigh, then he frowned and began to rub his right temple again.

"Are you feeling all right?" Yami asked, his voice betraying a hint of concern.

"It's just a headache," Yugi said with a forced smile. "It's nothing, really. It should go away in a little while." But the smile faded quickly, and Yugi felt himself grow dizzy. "Actually, maybe I should lie down for a little bit. I feel a little bit dizzy…"

Yami frowned, wondering what could cause Yugi to be dizzy; it wasn't as though he had been spinning around in circles. /Humans…/ Yami thought to himself.

"All right," he said. "Here, let me…"

Yami touched Yugi's arm and before Yugi could even blink the dim, dusty attic had been replaced by his own room.

"You need to teach me how to do that one of these days," Yugi said with a smile. The corner of Yami's lip twitched upward for a bare second.

"You ought to get some rest and try to get rid of that headache," Yami said, then he turned to the doorway and suddenly disappeared. Yugi let his smile linger for a few moments, then his brow creased and he put a hand to his head. His headache was growing steadily worse, and the floor beneath his feet suddenly seemed uneven. Feeling rather warm, Yugi pulled off the dress jacket and, without bothering to change, climbed into bed. Maybe if he just slept it off…

Yami reclined on one of the many sofas in the library, lazily skimming the pages of a book that he had read several times before. The only sound was the crinkling of ancient paper and a tree branch scratching at the window outside. Yami felt his eyelids growing heavy and did not resist, knowing that he was in desperate need of sleep no matter what dreams haunted him. He laid his head down on one of the dusty pillows, just about to drift off when suddenly a mass of squealing black fur launched itself at him. Yami almost fell off the sofa in surprise, then said irritably, "What the hell do you want!"

The kegawa bounced around frantically, squeaking at Yami in alarm. Even to someone that couldn't understand them it was apparent that they were anxious about something. And Yami, who could usually understand what they were saying, could barely comprehend their frantic chirps.

"Wait, slow down…" he tried to say, but his voice was drowned out by their panicked squeals. Yami tried to listen (while trying to ignore his growing headache), and managed to make out "ill". Ill? Who was ill? Yami was about to tell them to shove off and leave him alone when something suddenly hit him.

Yugi is human, humans become ill… and ill humans die… With a speed Yami rarely exercised, he had located Yugi in his room and appeared at his bedside. Yugi was asleep, but obviously not well. His face was flushed and his breathing was ragged and uneven. He had kicked the covers away at some point, and as a result was shivering violently as he tossed about.

Yami stared blankly at the sick child, having no idea what to do. Nightwalkers never got sick. Several of the kegawa squeaked at him almost angrily, willing him to do something. Yami pulled the covers over Yugi's body and the boy sighed softly as the shivering subsided. Slowly, almost reluctantly, Yami rested his hand on the boy's forehead. He drew his hand back quickly; to his cold skin the heat of Yugi's fever was almost painfully intense.

Yami felt something nudge at his ankle. Looking down, he saw a few of the kegawa with a blue glass bottle full of liquid. Medicine for Yugi, of course… Yami momentarily wondered where the kegawa had gotten the bottle. Then, Yugi whimpered in his sleep, and Yami looked down at the boy. Even in sickness, Yugi was still beautiful.

Yami took the bottle from the kegawa and gently lifted Yugi up into a sitting position. Yugi mumbled something in his sleep, then his eyes opened a fraction of an inch. Still half-asleep Yugi watched Yami uncork the bottle, then closed his eyes and moaned softly as the pain in his head grew.

"Yugi, drink this," Yami said, and Yugi opened his eyes a little to see Yami's hand holding the bottle. "It will make you feel better. Just a mouthful should do it."

Yugi opened his mouth obligingly and Yami put the bottle to his lips. Cool, tasteless liquid trickled down his throat, which was red and raw from coughing. He felt himself being laid down again, and a wonderfully cool hand rested on his forehead.

"Yami…" Yugi whispered, "Thank you…" And he tumbled back into blissful oblivion. Yami pulled the covers up to Yugi's chin, then pulled up a chair for himself at the bedside. The kegawa let out several amused purrs at their master's uncharacteristic display of affection, but Yami's glare silenced them. Suddenly feeling exhausted, Yami leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. Perhaps both of them would feel better after getting some sleep.

The first thing Yami was aware of was that it was hot. Why was it so hot? And if it was so hot, why was he shivering? He opened his eyes slowly, and pain seared through his head at the sight of light. It flickered across the ceiling, firelight, most likely. Everything else was blurred shadow around him. Yami struggled to sit up in what he realized was a bed, but he felt so tired and weak.

Then, a cool hand rested on his burning forehead, and a cinnamon-sweetened voice said to him, "Just rest, child. You'll feel better once you get some sleep." Yami's eyes had fallen closed again, and even though he wanted so much to open them and see the source of the voice, he was so, so tired…

Yami's eyes snapped open and he sat up straight in his chair, looking around. Another dream? But that one wasn't anything like the others… Had the voice been that same woman from the other dreams? Yami's eyes shifted to focus on Yugi's sleeping form. The human's face was still flushed with heat of fever, and it seemed as though he was in pain. Had that dream… Could it have been… Had he remembered himself being sick? Nightwalkers don't get sick…

Yugi moaned and shifted his position, and Yami turned his attention back to him. Why did something so fragile have to be so beautiful? Yami's hand drifted up and stopped inches from Yugi's face. He was almost afraid to touch him…

Then, with surprising quickness, Yugi's hand darted out from under the covers to grab Yami's. Yami gasped audibly at the feel of the heat of Yugi's hand, and then he slowly relaxed. The warmth actually felt rather nice. It gradually spread from his hand up to his arm, then into his shoulder… Yami felt himself become drowsy, and then he heard a soft moan. Looking up, Yami was startled to see Yugi staring back at him with half-lidded eyes.

Yugi breathed out, "Is Father mad at me, Mai?" Yami blinked, confused, then realized that Yugi must be delirious. He squeezed Yugi's hand gently.

"No, Yugi. No one's angry at you," he said softly.

"But… I ran away… he always told me that he'd kill me if I did it again…"

Before he could stop himself, Yami blurted out a quizzical "Again?"

"I went out the window to see the summer festival when I was ten, remember? Father put bars on the window after that and kept me in my room for almost three weeks. He told everyone else that I was sick…"

"But… you didn't really run away. It wasn't your fault that some idiotic kids have nothing better to do with their time than pick on you."

Yugi smiled, but it was a bitter smile. "Do you think Father would really care about that? Somehow it would be my fault… it's always my fault…"

Then Yugi closed his eyes and said softly, "I had the most wonderful dream, though…" Yami leaned forward slightly. "When I was in the forest, someone found me… a man that lives in the forest. He says he's called a nightwalker. They're supposed to be evil, I think, but he was very kind. He lived in this big house with lots of rooms, and a huge library full of every book you could imagine. But the windows are always shut and he never sees the sun at all. I think it makes him sad…"

Yami sat still, enraptured by the sound of Yugi's voice describing what he thought of as a "wonderful dream".

"I liked it there, Mai… being there with him… such a nice dream…" Yugi sighed, then his grip on Yami's hand relaxed. Soon, he was asleep again, breathing slow and deep. Yami stared down at the human boy, still holding onto his hand, and remained that way for hours, mesmerized by the fact that Yugi liked being with him.

/I like being with you, too…/

A/N: That chapter actually took about three months to write… not that I was working on it diligently, of course, just a paragraph or so every so often. Anywho, I hope ya'll enjoyed it, and please review. Feed me!