Chapter 4 By the Light of the Moon
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh
Yugi did not sleep very well that night and his restlessness had very little to do with his throbbing leg and aching body. It was his racing mind that kept Yugi awake for the majority of the night. He really did need to figure out a plan other than spending the rest of his life moping away in his room. Although, that does have some merit. Yugi vaguely thought to himself at around three am.
Yugi sighed, maybe he should talk to Ryou about this whole thing however the only problem Yugi had now was that he had no way to contact Ryou. Or do I? Yugi thought to himself as his eyes landed on his backpack resting against the wall by the door. His cellphone was in that bag and it may be 1 am back home but right now Yugi didn't care. For the sake of both is future and his sanity he really needed to talk to his best friend.
Now, once Yugi had decided on what he needed to do he then had to make a plan to accomplish he goal which in this case was get up out of this bed and make it the ten feet to his backpack. Yugi's leg gave another nasty throb at the mere thought of climbing out of bed. Yugi slowly sat up his eyes narrowed in determination as they locked onto their target. He would get to his backpack and nothing would get in his way. Certainly not a little thing like a broken leg.
Once Yugi had sat up he slowly and as gently as possible swung his legs around so they were hanging off the edge of the bed, with his feet lightly touching the wood floor. "FUCK!" Yugi shouted as his senses were assaulted with pain like he had never imagined before. It almost felt like Thor had taken a freaking sledgehammer and started hammering away on his shin.
"Oh fuck fuck fuck that fucking hurts." Yugi muttered to himself, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to fight his way through the agony he was experiencing. Have these people never heard of painkillers? Yugi thought to himself. With as much pain as Yugi was in right now his backpack might as well have been ten miles away instead of ten feet. The pain was so intense Yugi thought he was going to literally be sick.
"Are you alright Mister?" A soft voice asked from the doorway, so soft that Yugi almost missed it.
He managed to force his eyes open to see the little girl he'd briefly seen earlier that evening standing there wearing a long nightgown. Komorkis? Is that her name? Shit, I don't remember what her name is. I think I heard Atemu call her Komorkis. Yugi thought to himself.
The little girl seemed to stare at him for a few more moments while Yugi's pain addled brain tried to scramble to think of the girls name before she hesitantly headed further into the room. "Are you alright? Do I need to wake up mommy or daddy?" The little girl asked softly.
Yugi forced himself to give the little girl a smile. "I'm alright. Thank you for asking, Komorkis, right?" Yugi managed to reply without his voice cracking on him. The intensity of the pain was slowly, very very slowly, beginning to lessen the longer Yugi managed to keep his leg perfectly still. At this rate it might return to the dull throbbing pain it was before by tomorrow night.
The smile the little girl gave Yugi in return was on of the brightest Yugi had ever seen. "Yup. I'm Komorkis. Natosi is my brother." Komorkis replied.
Yugi nodded, "Well, nice to meet you Komorkis. But, shouldn't you still be in bed? Its really late." Yugi said.
Komorkis nodded, "I know, but I woke up when I heard you shout that bad word. Don't let my daddy hear you saying that. If he hears you he'll wash your dirty mouth out with soap." Komorkis advised and for some reason this little girl telling him not to be caught swearing just made him smile.
"Okay. I promise to try not to use that bad word again." Yugi said.
Komorkis nodded, "Good. Now, you need to go back to bed too. I heard daddy telling mommy that you fell off a cliff and got hurt really bad and that you need lots and lots of rest in order to get better." Komorkis said.
Yugi grimaced, "Your daddy isn't wrong. I did have a pretty nasty fall and your daddy was kind enough to come and save me. But, right now I have too much on my mind to be able to sleep. I was hoping to get my phone out of my backpack so I could call and talk to my friend." Yugi admitted. And for some reason explaining his foolish plan to a child made his plan sound even worse.
"Okay. I can help you with that Mister." Komorkis replied before she walked over to Yugi's backpack and picked it right up and brought it over to Yugi.
"Thank you so much Komorkis." Yugi said as he gratefully accepted his backpack. Now, all he needed to do was dig out his phone and call Ryou. Yugi reached into the bag and pulled out his cellphone before he was forced to physically to bite his tongue to keep from swearing once again. His phone was busted. Cracked practically beyond any hope of repair.
Komorkis wandered over and took a look at Yugi's phone. "Can your phone still make calls when its broken like that?" Komorkis asked.
Yugi slowly shook his head, "No, no Komorkis. It can't." Yugi said. Well, on the bright side at least I didn't try and kill myself to retrieve my broken phone. Yugi thought to himself.
For a moment Komorkis seemed to ponder Yugi's situation before she seemed to come to a decision, "Oh. I know what to do. Hold on one second Mister. I'll be right back." Komorkis said before she turned to dart back out of the room.
"My name is Yugi." Yugi called after the retreating child.
He didn't have to wait too long before Komorkis returned, carrying with her a cellphone which she brought over to Yugi. "Here you go Mister Yugi." Komorkis said.
Yugi gratefully accepted the phone from Komorkis. It certainly wasn't the latest model, not by a long shot but it was a phone and it powered on when Yugi pressed the power button. And at this moment in time that was more than good enough for him. "Thank you very much Komorkis. But, whose phone is this?" Yugi asked.
"Its my daddy's phone. I got it off the counter. That's where he leaves it every night. You said you needed to use the phone, so I went and got his." Komorkis explained.
"Thank you." Yugi said as he watched the phone continued to power up soon revealing Atemu's lock screen which appeared to a picture of Atemu surrounded by his family and friends. His wife Yami was standing beside him with her arm around Atemu's waist. Komorkis was up on her father's shoulders laughing away meanwhile her brother was leaning against his mother. There were several other people in the picture with them but Yugi didn't have the slightest clue who any of them were. Yugi swiped his finger to unlock the phone revealing a screen requesting a password. "Uh Komorkis, you wouldn't happen to know what your daddy's password is for his phone, would you?" Yugi asked.
Komorkis scrunched her face up as she clearly was trying to wrack her brain for what her father's password was. "Is the password what you have to punch into the phone to use it?" Komorkis asked.
Yugi nodded, "Yes, Komorkis. That's what a password is. You can't use your dads phone without knowing his password." Yugi explained.
"Oh, then I know what it is. Daddy sometimes lets me and Natosi play games on his phone so he had to tell us his password. Its 3-2-4-2-0-1-3." Komorkis recited. Yugi quickly typed the password into the phone and was very relieved when the phone did unlock.
"Thank you so much Komorkis. Now I'll be able to call and talk to my friend. And you can go back to bed and get some rest. You'll need it." Yugi said.
Komorkis plopped down on the edge of Yugi's bed. "No, I can't go back to bed until I put daddy's phone back. If I don't put it back then its stealing and daddy will be really mad at me. So, I have to wait." Komorkis said.
Yugi said nothing further before he began to dial Ryou's number. According to the time on Atemu's phone it was almost four am now. This would have to a quick call since Yugi had no idea what time Atemu needed to be getting up for work.
Yugi put the phone to his ear and waited as it rang. Once, then twice before a voice gravely from sleep answered the phone. "Who is this? And why are you calling me at 2 am?" Ryou asked.
Yugi could not help the smile that crept up on his face at hearing the sound of his best friends voice. Only Ryou would wake up in the middle of the night and actually answer a call from a number he didn't recognize. "Hey Ryou, its me. Yugi." Yugi said softly as Komorkis laid down flat on the bed beside Yugi. Poor kid has to be absolutely exhausted. Yugi thought to himself.
"Yugi? Why are you calling me so late? And what's with the different number?" Ryou asked, his voice suddenly sounding a lot more alert.
Yugi sighed, now that he had called Ryou he really didn't have much of a choice but to tell Ryou what had happened. "Well, the reason I'm calling you from a different number is because, well my cellphone got broke. Right now I'm borrowing Atemu's phone." Yugi said.
"So, Mr. Hot Park Ranger and you have gotten pretty close if you have access to his cellphone at what is it, 4 am locally? Its about 6am here. You'll have to tell me all the juicy details about how you ended up sharing a bed already." Ryou said. Yugi couldn't help but flush a brilliant shade of red at the mere idea. Even though Yugi now knew it would probably never happen, his over active imagination was more than willing to travel down that pleasant rabbit hole. His eyes briefly flicked over to Komorkis direction hoping that the child didn't hear Ryou's rather scandalous comment about her father. Yugi subtly let out a sigh of relief when he noticed that the little girl had fallen back to sleep after all.
Yugi sighed, "Ryou, I wish the reason I was calling you right now was to brag that Atemu shagged by brains out. But, its not. Yes, I am staying at Atemus house with him. Its not remotely romantic since his husband and his two kids are also here right now. No shagging at all is taking place and I'm currently recovering from a broken leg." Yugi said.
"A broken leg? How in the world did you manage to break you leg?" Ryou asked.
Yugi sighed, "I lost my footing and took a tumble off the edge of the canyon. By some miracle I survived but I ended up injured, which includes a broken leg and some other cuts and bruises. I'm not sure of all the details since I haven't seen a doctor yet, or at least not to my knowledge I haven't." Yugi said.
"Wait, time out one second. You fell off the side of a freaking CANYON! Why the fucking hell would you not lead with that Yugi?!" Ryou shouted.
Yugi winced at the sound of his friends shout, his eyes flicked back over to Komorkis and Yugi was relieved to see that Ryou had not managed to wake her up with his shouting. "Sorry. But anyway, my cellphone broke in the fall. I also lost my camera. Which means my hopes of completing my Senior Seminar project have plummeted down to practically zero." Yugi said.
"Personally I think that a lost camera and broken phone are an acceptable trade off for you still being alive. And please, don't use the word plummeted again. Just thinking about you plummeting off the edge of the canyon freaks me out. How far did you end up falling? Or do I really not want to know the answer to that question?" Ryou asked.
Yugi shrugged, "I don't know. Ten, maybe twelve feet." Yugi said.
Ryou whistled, "That is still a pretty significant fall Yugi. You are lucky that you weren't hurt a lot worse than that." Ryou said.
Yugi nodded, not the Ryou could see. "Yeah, you have a point. And I'm lucky the park rangers came looking for me at all. Otherwise, I still would have died out there." Yugi said.
"Wait. Your saying Ranger McHottie WASN'T with you when you fell? I thought he was the one who was taking you to see the wolves." Ryou said.
Yugi sighed once more, "No Ryou. Atemu wasn't with me when I fell. He said he wasn't going to be able to take me to see the wolves that day and suggested I just do tourist type stuff and that a friend of his would be able to take me to see the wolves, I guess it would have been later today. I didn't want to waste a whole day filming so I decided to just go on my own. I vaguely remembered where Atemu led me and I did find the wolves but when I was moving to get a little bit closer look I lost my footing on some uneven ground and rolled. Right off the edge." Yugi said.
Ryou whistled once more, "Yugi. When you get back home I want you to do two things. First, I want you to buy a lottery ticket because you are one very lucky guy my friend. Secondly thing I want you to do is remind me that I need to smack you upside the head for doing something that stupid." Ryou said.
Yugi couldn't help but chuckle, "I'll definitely look into buying the lottery ticket." Yugi muttered.
"So, what is going to happen now?" Ryou asked.
Yugi sighed. He had no idea what was going to happen now. His broken leg wasn't going to heel in the next three weeks which meant his room at the lodge was going to go to waste. And Yugi didn't have enough money left in savings to book the room for any longer. At the same time, he wasn't going to be able to drive his car back home either which left him stuck. "I really don't know Ryou. I really don't." Yugi said.
Ryou seemed to hum for a moment while he was clearly lost in thought, "Don't worry about it Yugi. We'll figure it out. We always do. We'll figure this out too. Do you think I'll be able to use this number to be able to get back in touch with you again Yugi?" Ryou asked.
"Probably. Like I said right now I'm staying at Atemu's house so calling this number would get you to Atemu and I'm sure he'd be able to pass on any message you needed to leave onto me." Yugi said.
"That'll have to be good enough. Anyway, Yugi I'm going to let you go. You sound absolutely exhausted so I'll let you get some rest and I'll put all my energy into figuring out how to solve your problem. I'll be in touch to let you know what I figure out." Ryou vowed.
Yugi nodded, "Okay. Sounds good Ryou." Yugi replied.
"Yup. Bye Yugi. And please, next time you want to go jumping off a cliff, please at least promise that you'll be attached to a bungee cord." Ryou said.
Yugi chuckled, "I promise to keep that in mind Ryou." Yugi said.
"Good. You better Yugi. Anyway, good night." Ryou said.
"Good night." Yugi replied before he disconnected the call. His gaze once more drifted to the sight of the slumbering child curled up on the bed. Yugi really didn't want to wake her up but at the same time he had no other way to get Atemu's phone back out onto the counter where it belonged.
Yugi's gaze once more drifted onto Atemu's phone. He knew he really shouldn't...that he needed to wake Komorkis up and have her put her dads phone back, but he held in his hand a way to learn a lot more about Atemu. You can learn a lot about a person by going through their text messages and pictures.
Besides, Komorkis really does look tired. It would be mean for me to wake her back up again. Yugi thought to himself before he clicked on Atemu's text messages.
Atemu did have a lot of messages. He had messages from Yami, of course, he also had messages from his father and then several other names that Yugi had no idea who they were.
Yugi clicked on Atemu's messages to Yami first and swiped his finger to bring him up to the top.
Atemu: Hey beloved, just wanted to let you know that I've dropped Yugi back off at the Lodge and I'm getting ready to head home. Do you need me to grab anything while I'm out?
Yami: No, we should be good. Anything that we need we can grab while we're out and about tomorrow. Drive safe dear.
Atemu: Always do. Love you.
Yami: Love you too.
Yugi frowned as he looked at the messages. Those messages didn't tell him much of anything. He wanted to learn more about Atemu not just boring stuff like: Do you need me to pick something up before I head home.
Yugi clicked out of Atemu's messages to Yami before he moved onto the messages from Father.
Father: Hey son, I just wanted to know what time are you and the kids going to be coming down this weekend? Early? Late?
Atemu: I managed to get the day off of work so Yami and I will probably head down either the night before or early that morning.
Father: That sounds good. I'll be there the night before so if you come down then I'll be there too.
Atemu: I know. Natosi for one has been asking when we were going to go again practically since we got back home.
Father: He reminds me so much of you when you were younger. You always threw the biggest fit when it was time to head back home.
Atemu: I did not!
Father: Lol. You most certainly did my boy. You may have mellowed with age but you still have not lost your love for our traditions. You still love dancing by the bonfire and listening to the Shaman tell stories before we run through the woods.
Atemu: I never said I didn't. I just said I did not throw a fit when it was time to head home.
Father: If that is what you need to try and tell yourself than who am I to burden you with the truth?
Atemu: …
Father: Honestly, I don't see why you're making such a big deal about this. You were a child at the time Atemu and you did mellow with age. The temper tantrums stopped when you were about eight or nine.
Atemu: I guess I just couldn't believe I ever used to act that way.
Father: Its fine. But like I said. You grew out of it. I'm sure Natosi will as well.
Atemu: Right. Well, I'll see you this weekend.
Father: See you then.
Atemu: Father, there might be an issue. A tourist that I was sort of helping out in the park got injured. Fell off the edge of the canyon while trying to film the Gray Wolves. Right now he's staying at our house and Ishizu is going to come and take a look at him tomorrow. Depending on what Ishizu says I'm not sure how long we'll have our guest and we can't very well justify being away for two days when we are playing host to someone who is bedridden. Perhaps I'll just send Yami and the kids and I'll stay at home and keep an eye on our guest.
Father: I'm sorry to hear that happened Atemu. But isn't there anyone else who can watch over your guest for you? I don't want you to miss out either my boy. You know how important this is.
Atemu: Of course I know how important this is. I wouldn't ever choose to miss it. Maybe I can ask Joey if he can check in on our guest while we're away.
Father: That would be for the best. Let me know what Joey says when you speak to him.
Atemu: I will father. I promise.
Yugi frowned as he finished reading through Atemu's conversation with his father. Atemu was possibly going to be missing some big important thing to watch over him? Yugi glanced down at the conversation. He kind of wished Atemu or his father had spelled out exactly what they were talking about although based on what Yugi said it sounded like it was some kind of Native American thing that Atemu always would go to.
Maybe I can bring up to Atemu, somehow, that I wouldn't mind if he brought me with the rest of them. I wouldn't be in the way and it would probably be pretty cool to watch. Yugi thought to himself although how he would be able to bring that up with Atemu would remain a mystery because unless he happened to overhear Atemu and his family discussing it Yugi wouldn't be able to make the suggestion. Not without admitting he'd been going through Atemu's phone.
Yugi glanced back down at Atemu's phone before clicking on a message from someone called Seto.
Seto: Beta, don't forget that we are meeting up this Thursday. I will not tolerate any excuses.
Atemu: Seto, since when have I ever NOT shown up? I take my responsibilities very seriously which you are fully aware of. I don't appreciate you suggesting that I do not.
Seto: Regardless I was just reminding you. No need to bite my head off.
Atemu: Seto quit being such an asshole or our meeting will also evolve to include me kicking your ass.
Seto: Name the time and place. I am always up to putting you in your place Atemu. Just because you've gotten lucky in the past doesn't mean you will again. Underestimate me at your own peril.
Atemu: I have never underestimated you Seto. And that is a mistake I will never make. You however, always seem to make that very mistake when you have faced me. And I've made you pay for it on more than one occasion.
Atemu: I seem to have struck a cord. Anyway, I will see you on Thursday as planned.
Yugi frowned as he reread through the messages. What the hell is Atemu mixed up in? And who the hell is this Seto guy? Yugi thought to himself. He had hoped to learn more about Atemu by reading his messages however, the more messages he seemed to read he was finding himself left with even more questions. Questions that he had almost no way to find the answers to.
Yugi glanced back down at Atemu's phone trying to decide what other messages that he wanted to try and read when he heard footsteps. Oh shit! Atemu's awake. Now what am I going to do? Yugi thought as he quickly backed out of Atemu's text messages before he relocked Atemu's phone.
"Atemu?" Yugi called out. His call was rewarded by the sound of more footsteps before Atemu was standing in his doorway. And what a drool worthy sight he was. Atemu was standing in the doorway shirtless, leaving his toned muscular chest in full view of Yugi's hungry eyes. And surprisingly on Atemu's chest, right over his heart, there was a black and gray tattoo of what looked like a dreamcatcher and in the middle of the dream catcher their appeared to be a hoof of some kind although Yugi had no idea what animal's footprint it was.
"Yes?" Atemu began before he frowned when his eyes landed on his daughter who was sound asleep on the bed beside Yugi. "Do I want to know why my daughter is in here?" Atemu asked, his tone implying an unspoken threat if Atemu didn't like the answer to his question.
Yugi flushed, "Well, I couldn't really sleep last night because I had so much on my mind. And well, I tried to get out of bed to grab my cellphone out of my bag but when I moved my leg it hurt so much that I cried out. And that woke up Komorkis. She came in to make sure that I was okay and she grabbed my phone for me, only for us to find out mine was broken. So, she went and grabbed yours off the counter so I could call my friend. She fell asleep while I was on the phone and I've been trying to figure out how to get your phone back to you." Yugi said.
Atemu continued to frown for a moment as he walked further into the room before gently scooping his daughter up and heading back out of the room, no doubt to put Komorkis back into her own bed. Atemu returned a few minutes later and held out his hand, "I'll take my phone back now." Atemu said.
Yugi held Atemu's phone in the palm of his hand for a moment, "You aren't mad that Komorkis let me borrow your phone, are you?" Yugi asked.
Atemu sighed, "That will actually be between Komorkis and myself and to be perfectly honest isn't any of your business Yugi. Now, my phone please so I can go and get ready for work." Atemu said.
Yugi sighed before he held out the phone for Atemu to grab, which Atemu did without any hesitation before he turned to head back out the door. "Atemu, wait!" Yugi called out.
Atemu paused once more with an exasperated sigh, "What is it Yugi? I really don't have time to talk right now. I need to get ready and leave for work." Atemu said.
"When am I going to be seen by a doctor to get my leg looked at? And also, I called my friend Ryou from your phone and he said that if he needed to get back in touch with me he would contact your number. I hope that's alright." Yugi said.
"That's fine. Your friend is welcome to leave a message and I will pass that message along to you. As far as a doctor is concerned Dr. Ishizu Kimi will be coming later today to take a look at your injuries. Now, if that will be all I need to be going." Atemu said before he strode out of the room before Yugi could even reply.
Yugi sighed once more before he flopped awkwardly backwards across the bed, his legs still hanging onto the floor and his head resting against the wall. It would have been great if Atemu had helped him to at least turn so he was in a comfortable position but no, he had to be in this huge rush.
"Ate?" Yugi sat up slightly at the unexpected sound of Yami's voice. Shouldn't you still be asleep. Can't you tell Atemu is in a super big hurry. Quit holding him up. Yugi thought to himself.
"Yes beloved?" Atemu replied.
There was a long period of silence following Atemu's response which Yugi's mind filled in with an image of Yami slipping his arms around Atemu's muscular torso. Lucky bitch.
"Just wanted to tell you to be safe. And that I love you." Yami finally replied.
"I love you too. And don't worry, I'll be careful. I always am." Atemu replied and Yugi could hear the smile in Atemu's tone as he spoke to Yami. Which just wasn't fair, Atemu should be speaking to Yugi that way, not Yami.
There was another pause which Yugi pictured being caused by the pair kissing. "So, I made your lunch before I went to bed last night. Its in the fridge. And since I'm up, would you like me to make you breakfast?" Yami said.
"Breakfast would be amazing dearest." Atemu replied.
"Okay, then why don't you go and get dressed while I make you some breakfast." Yami replied.
"But I thought you liked me like this?" Atemu replied which made Yugi gag. Is Atemu seriously flirting with him? "Or is this still too many clothes for your liking?" Atemu teased.
Yami chuckled, "I like you just fine with your clothes on too dear. Now, go get dressed." Yami replied.
"But you still prefer me naked?" Atemu teased once more. And Yugi could just picture Atemu's gorgeous eyes sparkling with delight. Delight and no doubt a hint of desire.
Yami chuckled, "Of course I do dear. There, are you happy now? I admitted it." Yami replied.
Atemu just laughed as he walked away, no doubt heading back into his room to get dressed. Meanwhile Yami, Yugi was able to hear, was getting out a pan to cook Atemu's breakfast for him. Yugi sighed as he tried to shift his body slightly to find a position that was at least somewhat comfortable without having to move his legs back up onto the bed. He managed to turn his torso so that his head was at least resting on the mattress instead of the wall but he wasn't remotely comfortable.
However, despite his discomfort Yugi could feel his sleepless night beginning to catch up with him. His eyes were getting heavy. And before Yugi knew it he drifted off to sleep just as he heard Yami setting a plate of what was more than likely Atemu's breakfast on the table.