Here's the deal people, I can't update much as I am quite busy with life and work. From now on, if I get things like 'Please update', 'UPDATE', or 'Update Please' I will delay posting for a week after my intended day. I currently have four chapters after this ready to proofread and post once a week for four weeks. So I beg of my readers to please be patient with me.
Ryou: So far we counted at least nine variants of the update 'requests', most from anonymous readers. This was just in the last chapter alone.
I'm trying to post as soon as I can finish each chapter, but I have so many ideas that everything has to be sorted or relocated as with 'Curse of the Shadows'.
Yugi : So while PhantomBrat works on other chapters/stories here's Chapter 18 of 'Please Accept Me.
Mokuba: By the way, she will try to update somewhere between Sunday and Tuesday each week unless something comes up. Enjoy the update.
Yami and Atem worked on their broken Duel Packs while Yugi rested on the couch. Their father was at his desk, working on various requests from the departments of his Research facility. Every so often, he would sneak a look at his three sons and smile at the progress the two elder boys were making with accepting their baby brother. He couldn't help but notice their continuing hatred towards anything robotic and had decided to hold off on telling them the truth about Yugi's condition for a while longer.
The seven-year-old stretched and rolled over onto his stomach to look at his big brothers in curiosity. "Um, Atem?"
"Yes Yugi," he replied.
"That wire shouldn't cross with the green one unless you want it to fail seconds into testing. It'll blow the circuits out." Yugi yawned, "Grandpa taught me how to repair something like it once last year when its owner attempted to fix an issue themselves. It was a pretty expensive mistake on their part."
The two teens looked at the Duel Pack that Atem had been working on and saw that he was dangerously close to crossing the black and green wires. "Thanks Yugi," they stated as they resumed the repairs.
Yugi pushed himself into a sitting position and slid off the couch before padding over to their father's desk, "Papa? May I sit on your lap?"
Aknamkanon smiled at his baby boy's question, "For a little bit, Yugi. Dinner should be ready soon."
"Thank you Papa." The seven-year old climbed into his lap and eased back until he was snuggled against his chest.
"Comfy?" Yugi nodded and silently watched him work.
Yami and Atem stole a glance at their father and younger brother before resuming their repairs. Yami couldn't help but smile at the sight of Yugi dozing in their father's lap as he worked. Atem shared the smile with his younger brother, feeling relieved that Yugi was ok.
Yugi was at the dining table, reading one of the books that Mana had retrieved from the library for him. Yami entered and spotted his baby brother writing on a tablet and looking at the textbook. "What are you reading so early this morning," he asked.
Yugi looked up, "Great Expectations". Mana says I need to understand the works of Charles Dickens and write an essay on how the messages in the stories he wrote can influence me today. She's going to fax my papers to Professor Hawkins so that he can pass them to the proper instructors for grading."
Yami took note of the name at the top of the paper Yugi was working on. "Why are you doing the homework of a 'Hikari Sennen-Mutou'," Yami questioned Yugi. Said name was one of the ten top students on the scoreboard each quarter, however none had ever seen the youth attend the school. There were rumors in circulation on why the student was a 'no-show' with outstanding grades.
"Papa's idea," Yugi stated as he wrote an answer on the worksheet. "Professor Hawkins is on the plot too. We send my papers to him, they get graded, and the grades go in my files. As soon as I finish school, I'll have everything changed to my full name."
"Yugi Hikari Sennen-Mutou," their father announced with a sigh. He pulled a chair out and joined his two youngest boys. "Good morning boys."
"Morning dad/papa," the two replied.
Yami was curious, "Why is Yugi doing eighth-grade work when he should clearly be doing second-grade assignments?"
"I can understand it and since I get bored easily, Mana has me doing schoolwork year-round," Yugi replied. "It's fun to get it out of the way and I do get weekends and holidays off from my lessons."
Atem entered the room, dragging his schoolbag behind him, "Dad, can we get the keys back yet?"
"Two more weeks," Aknamkanon stated, not looking up from his paper. "You aren't getting off so easily anymore. If you ask again, I'll tack on an extra day."
Atem sighed as he sat in his chair and grabbed a roll from a serving tray.
Yugi watched as his brothers boarded the school bus, wishing that he could go with them. He silently cursed his weakened immune system on his being kept home to do his studies. He felt that they were the lucky ones, with them being able to interact with others of their age and making friends. The seven-year-old sighed as he pulled his curtains shut and returned to his studies.
Mana couldn't help but notice that Yugi seemed depressed as he worked on his literature assignments for the day. She brought the matter up to Aknamkanon.
"I know that Yugi needs friends his age, but I don't know if that's a good idea," he stated.
Mana looked up at him, "Master, perhaps the Ishtar sisters could help you."
The man smiled at the android, "that's a great idea, Mana. Bring them up in my office and I'll see what they can do."
Isis smiled at Aknamkanon, "That's a great idea! Yugi does need friends his age to interact with. Malik is so bored and is driving us insane. Perhaps he can play with Yugi on a weekend when Atem and Yami are with their friends. Malik is somewhat like Yugi in that he has a mechanical arm made up of the nanites that we programmed to mimic a real arm in every way."
"May I ask why?"
"Malik was in an accident that caused him to lose it as a young child. Isis and I had done everything we could think of to help him be a normal boy and despite the prosthetics, he was miserable. We found that combining his own DNA with tried and true medical nanites made it possible to give him back his arm in a sense," Ishizu stated. "Malik finally left the house to attend school at six-years old and nobody outside the family knows of his condition. Except for you, of course, sir."
Aknamkanon nodded, "Thank you. I'll send the boys out to the mall for a few hours this weekend. I was considering giving them a day off their house arrest and Yugi does need a friend. He can come over at around one. Oh and Malik can bring another friend over if he wants to. I want Yugi to have the company of children his age."
