Yami: So where's PhantomBrat?
Yugi: Dunno.
Ryou: While we look for her, enjoy the chapter!
Yugi was at a loss as to why his papa put a blindfold over his eyes and insisted on carrying him through the house. He heard faint whispers and was surprised to see his two playmates and his brothers' friends seconds before they all shouted 'SURPRISE' and nearly startled him into a panic-attack. "Here you go squirt," Bakura stated as he gently placed a medium-sized box into his arms, "this is for the last two birthdays and Christmases that me and my brothers missed. Hope you don't already have any of them."
Yugi tore open the box and saw a pile of puzzle books and a few metal puzzles inside. "WOW! I've not had these ones before! Thanks guys."
Malik and his older twin brothers gave him a new camera and some memory cards for it. While he was thanking the six guests, Yami and Atem slipped from the room. "Um, where's my, um," Yugi spotted them returning, each with a large bag. "What's that?"
"Your presents," Yami replied with a grin.
Yugi paled, "Is it alright if I open them later?"
Yami and Atem froze. "Actually, Yugi," Atem started, "We wanted to apologize for being such jerks to you for so long. I swear on our lives that what we have to give you is nothing like the past 'gifts' we've ever given you."
Yugi suddenly remembered his fifth birthday and looked at his brothers, "Could, um, you open them for me?" He really didn't want anything shoved in his face by some catapult that was rigged to go off when a lid was removed.
Atem and Yami sighed but sat down and opened the bags up, revealing posters, books, a few outfits, art supplies, and movies that he hadn't seen but had wanted to. The seven-year-old boy began crying, startling everyone.
"Yugi, what's wrong," Atem asked.
"You didn't, didn't get me anything from the trash like you did every time you gave me something," Yugi wailed. "This is the, the best day in my whole life!"
The two were hugged by Yugi and didn't know how to react to the boy's response to their gifts. Bakura saved them from their confusion. "What, no video games? He's seven and you didn't get him any games?"
Yugi looked at Ryou's brother, "They don't need to. I get all the games from Dad's work before they get released. I'm the game tester there."
Bakura's eyes went wide, "Seriously?! Got any multiplayer ones?"
"Yeah, but you and anyone who plays has to sign a paper saying that you won't tell anyone about what game you played and whatever glitches, if any, has to be recorded for the Game Department to fix before it goes out," Yugi said as he dried his eyes.
"Let's eat first," Atem stated the second Yugi spotted the food-laden table, "then we can play games or watch movies. This is Yugi's day so it's up to him."
Yugi fell asleep during the second movie. They had played two games, watched a movie, took a bathroom break so that Yugi could get his medicines and choke down some disgusting-looking drink, and started the second movie. Yami glanced over at their baby brother as the credits started rolling and saw that he was sound asleep in their father's large chair. It was only 10:00 pm and it was obvious that Yugi had taken the one pill that always knocked him out. Glancing around the room, Yami noted that Ryou and Malik were sleeping in Akefia and Namu's laps respectively. "I guess we're having an impromptu sleepover," he joked softly.
"Guess so," Akefia replied as Ryou shifted in his sleep. He looked at Yami and Atem, "We need to have a brother to brother talk…All of us."
After settling Ryou and Malik, the three sets of brothers went to the library.
"What do we need to talk about," Yami questioned his friend.
Akefia shot him and Atem a sharp look. "What did it take for you two to treat Yugi so well? And why did it take so long? How long will this last and what are you two plotting?"
"Look Akefia," Atem snapped, "just because we haven't been the 'World's Greatest' brothers doesn't mean that you guys can gang up on us. Yami and I are trying our best to make it up to Yugi for all the crap we've given him or put him through."
"I swear on your mother's grave, if you two screw things up with Yugi, I will make sure that you both suffer for everything you've ever done to him," Bakura hissed at the two brothers.
Yami held up his hands, "Alright, we get it. No need to threaten us."
Yugi watched as his brothers and their friends and little brothers happily poured syrup onto pancakes, waffles, or French Toast. He sighed, wishing that he could have more than the recommenced serving. He had found out that even the smallest amount of sugar over a normal serving sent him into a sugar-high. Mana arrived with his pure maple syrup and measured out an exact two tablespoons onto his wheat pancakes. "Thank you, Mana," he sighed as he watched Ryou's waffle drip the sweet syrup back onto his plate.
Malik caught the depressed tone, "What's wrong?"
"I can't do what you guys are doing," Yugi replied sadly as he cut his pancakes with his butter knife. "I wish I could, but that's just too much for me to handle."
Atem and Yami hadn't poured anything on their French Toast and smiled to each other, each grabbing a tablespoon from their place-settings. They hated having very little syrup on their breakfasts when it called for it, but to make Yugi feel included, they would do it and pretend to like it. Yami took the first bite and nearly gagged on the dryness of it. He swallowed and grabbed for his orange juice. "Not too bad," he choked out after taking a long drink.
Yugi shook his head, "Don't. Please don't make yourselves suffer on my account. Mana, may I have some berries instead?" He pushed his plate away as he asked. "I'm not too hungry."
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…
Yugi: Looks like PhantomBrat's exhausted.
Malik: Completely.
Yami: I wonder why…
Ryou: Moving will do that to a person when they work all day packing and stuff.
Bakura: So what now?
Mokuba: I found this on her nightstand. It says 'In case of exhaustion, please understand that updates will be slow. If 'Haunted' is not updated by at least Tuesday, October 13th, it WILL definitely be updated the following week with hopefully no delays. Signed PhantomBrat. P.S. Bakura better leave my cards alone! I don't care if they're spread out on the desk, I'll know what's missing!'
Bakura: She's bluffing.
Ryou: Actually, Kura she's not. I've seen her cataloguing them on her computer and on that Yugico site as well.
Bakura: Oh really? How many does she have?
Ryou: So far she has 2281 named and a total of 1665 recorded with an accurate quantity and 1589 unique cards. She's still working on the list in her spare time while trying to plan out her chapters for her stories.
Bakura: Don't tell me that she's actually sorting them somehow!
Ryou: She is…alphabetically.
Yugi: That's devotion for you.
Mokuba: Until next time!
