Chapter title: Yuugi
Word count: 3.911
Chapter 6/?
Chapter summary: Juudai settles in and meets Yuugi.
Chapter warnings: Cursing/swearing, referance to adult situations
Pairings: YamixYuugi
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

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Chapter 6: Yuugi

After their promise, the two immediately set out to the orphanage. Their reception wasn't great, of course. Yami had already made the blacklist with his little blackmail method.

"You." The woman spat as she spotted them. "Here to bring him back?"

Yami huffed. "No." He said back with sass. "I am here to take him away from you."

The woman raised her eyebrow in disbelief. There was no way that Yami could have managed to convince the social worker to let him adopt! He thrust the form of approval he had gotten from the social worker into the face of the director of the orphanage.

Her eyes darted over the paper as she read it. "Hm. Must've been a good fuck." She commented as she sat down behind her desk and started on the transfer paperwork. Yami spluttered in disbelief. This woman thought he had gotten custody over Juudai by the means of intercourse!

"I did no such thing!" He said incredulously, insulted. "I convinced her by showing that I am capable of taking care of children, unlike you." The woman stopped the paperwork.

"I'd watch what you say Sennen-san. I might just conveniently drop your approval slip into the paper shredder." Yami flinched back and shut his mouth, his expression forming a sneer. The woman wordlessly filled in the forms as the three sat in the office.

Juudai looked from Yami to the director. Why was Yami so angry at what the woman said. "Yami?" He asked, lightly tugging the man's jacket. "What is 'fuck'?" He asked as soon as he got the man's attention.

Loose syllables were all that came out of Yami's mouth. The director looked bemused at the little scene. Yami straightened his posture, crossing his arms over his chest. "I will tell you when you are older."

"Oh…"

"And if I hear that word coming out of your mouth again you will be in big trouble, you hear me?"

"Is it a bad word? So is she going to get in trouble?" Yami cursed the curiosity of children. How was he supposed to answer that? The woman was watching him expectantly. He smirked.

"Since she is an adult she won't. But if she does not watch what she says, she can get into trouble."

Her expression was blank as she watched him. She rolled her eyes and continued the paperwork. Juudai stopped his questioning and swung his legs idly on the chair. Yami watched him with a soft smile. Juudai truly was an adorable child, he really wondered why they treated him so badly.

"I wish you good luck with him Sennen-san. Hopefully he won't come back anytime soon." Yami saw how much this comment hurt Juudai. The boy had his head bowed low. Yami took the papers and Juudai's passport from her.

"Before I leave… I have one question." He looked at the child. "Juudai, can you wait outside for a bit?" The kid obeyed and left the office. Yami looked back at the woman. "Why do you dislike him so much?"

She just shrugged her shoulders. "Just because."

"That's not an answer. Give me a reason."

The woman sighed, leaning back into her chair. "The kid is just too happy all the time! All he goes on and on about are some monsters and a hairy ball with wings. It started getting annoying, not to mention that he can get a little hyper active."

Yami's jaw dropped. They hated him because he was happy? "Isn't a child supposed to be happy and a ball of energy?" The woman shrugged.

"He can also be very childish at times."

"Well… maybe because he is a child?"

The woman huffed annoyed. "You will see yourself in time Sennen-san. This is not the first time he was adopted and brought back. We keep warning the adopting parents but they won't listen until they've had enough of him and bring him back. Giving him away is always such a waste of time."

Yami gulped. That wouldn't happen to him… right? The short time that Juudai was with him the kid had been good, except for that fit when the social worker visited earlier. But he had made the promise and he was a man of his word. "I will make sure that you won't see him back here again," he vowed.

The woman stood up as well. "I hope so, too," she muttered. They shook hands and Yami left.

"Can we go home now?" Juudai asked as he saw Yami exit the office.

"We can." Yami replied, taking Juudai's hand and walking out the orphanage.

"Thank you so much Yami… I really think that you're not like the others." Juudai said shyly as they walked home. His former foster fathers wouldn't even let him call them 'daddy' or anything else that would identify them as his father. He always had to address them politely, not giving him a family feeling.

"Believe me Juudai, I am nowhere near like them. I won't give you up for such trivial reasons." Juudai smiled and skipped the rest of the way home while still holding Yami's hand. They found that annoying? Yami found it endearing.

First things first when they got home, get Juudai a bed. Yami knew from experience that the folding bed could get quite uncomfortable after spending a couple nights on it. "How do you want your room to be?" Yami asked as he scrolled through the furniture on a website.

Juudai blinked a couple times. "I can choose it myself?" He asked.

"Of course you can, it's going to be your room after all." Juudai jumped up and down.

"Duel Monsters!" he shouted, clapping his hands.

The man laughed as he looked for the furniture Juudai requested. After looking for a while, he couldn't quite find something however. "How about this then? We can get you plain white furniture and decorate the walls with Duel Monsters posters and figures?" Yami suggested, looking at the kid over his shoulder.

"That's alright, Daddy." It felt so good to call Yami "Daddy" now! Yami blushed a little. It was not that he minded being called that, it was just very weird to him. Very weird and new. He found a nice bed with two drawers underneath it. It was an okay price. It came with a matching wardrobe, so he ordered that too. On the side, he ordered some new clothes for the boy, as well.

It was going to cost him a lot, but he had accepted that all when he decided he wanted to adopt the boy. This was all going out of his savings. He was relieved that Ninkendo was taken over by Kaiba Corporation and that he wasn't going to be fired. Still, that didn't mean he could drain all of his savings until there was nothing left.

"Alright then," Yami said after the transactions had been completed. "Your furniture will arrive Monday evening. That'll leave Sunday to paint the room if you'd like." Juudai looked around the room. It was just plain white.

"C-can it be red?"

"Of course it can. The hardware store is open seven days a week so we can go in the morning and get the paint. Maybe Jounouchi can come and help." Yami mused as he took out his cellphone. He texted a couple people to see if they could help out.

"If we want to start immediately, we better start clearing out the room first." He said looking around. The only things in it were the bookcases, the folding bed and the desk. The desk could just be pushed into the middle of the room and be covered by those plastic sheets. The bookcases, however, were going to be a bit difficult.

So with Juudai's help, he first emptied the contents before pushing one out of the room and into his own. As soon as he was done with the first, he plopped down on the couch, his back broken.

"I'll let Jounouchi do the other one." He gasped out. He looked up as he heard the pitter-patter of feet. Juudai stood at the edge of his bed, a glass of water in hand.

"You looked really tired so I brought you water." He said, holding out the glass. Yami took it and took huge gulps as he drank the refreshing liquid.

"Thanks, I needed that." Yami placed the glass on his bedside table. It had taken quite some time to take all the books and move them to his own room. "Juudai, it's bed time." Yami stated, pointing at the clock. It read nine pm. Yami himself always used to be sent to bed at these times, so he figured it was good.

Juudai nodded and ran to his room. Yami mentally noted that he should also get the boy some pajamas. Sleeping in overly large clothing couldn't be too comfortable. He stood up from his bed again and slowly started filling up the bookcase that now stood in his room. He started thinking about where to place his work computer now. His room would never be a good idea, the bed was too tempting sometimes.

The living room was a better option. The television could be distracting too but he could sometimes use a little break. The vibration coming from his bed made him stop with his thoughts and with filling the bookcase.

The cellphone had slid out of his pocket and fallen unto the bed. Jounouchi had replied. The man unfortunately couldn't help him since he was working on a small portfolio for Honda to take part of the game. Yami understood it and thought. One more person came to mind. He smiled brightly as he texted them for help.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Why did his bed move? Yami cracked one eye open to see Juudai smiling brightly, on his bed on all fours. "Daddy, let's go! I want to paint!" Yami chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair.

Yami sat up and reached out to the phone on his night stand. By pressing the middle button below the touch screen the screen lit up. "Juudai it's still eight in the morning. The stores won't open 'til ten." The boy pouted and plopped down on his butt. Yami let out a yawn.

"Why don't you take a shower and I'll fix breakfast."

"Okay," Juudai said and hopped off the bed, running through the hall to his own room. Yami plopped down on the bed again, mobile in hands. A second later it vibrated. He held it in front of his face, reading the message he received, a smile splitting his face.

It had immediately woken him up. Yami got out of bed and dressed up.

"Daddy!" Juudai called from the bathroom. Yami did the last button of his shirt up before going into the bathroom. Juudai stood outside the shower cabin with a towel around his middle. It was big, reaching his ankles. "The water is too hot or too cold." He whined.

Yami laughed and shook his head. "I'll fix it." By turning the warm valve up completely and twisting the cold valve till the water was nice and warm but not scorching hot. "There you go." Juudai tested out the water with his hand. Happy with the temperature, he threw off the towel and jumped into the cabin. Yami caught it before it fell to the ground and placed it on top of the small cabinet.

"Call me if you need me." He said, leaving the bathroom. He faintly heard Juudai shout "okay" after he closed the door to the bathroom. Yami remembered that his mother still washed him when he was five years old. But he thought Juudai could manage on his own. If the boy was still dirty after showering, he would start washing him. He felt a little awkward to wash him now. While it was true that Japanese families took baths together to bond, Yami did not feel too comfortable with it. He did not know Juudai that well yet.

With a yawn, Yami poured some rice and water into the rice cooker. Glancing at the clock, only 15 minutes had passed since his awakening. He really hoped that having a child now, he would be able to sleep in. He really hated getting up early in the weekend. Maybe Juudai was just really excited about his room and couldn't sleep. From experience, he remembered that he always had trouble waking up early. Then again, that was when he was about fourteen years old. He did not remember much about his sleeping habits from when he was five. Only that his mom forced him to sleep really early.

After Juudai had come out of the shower, Yami dried his hair, and after eating breakfast, the two went to the hardware store. They arrived a couple minutes before opening. Juudai was bouncing on his feet in anticipation. Seriously, Yami had never seen anyone so excited just to get paint.

The doors opened and Yami had to restrain Juudai from running into the store. Yami firmly held the hand of the overexcited boy and lead him to the paint section. Juudai picked out the red he liked to most, of course taking a stack of color swatches with him home. Yami also brought along some paint rollers and brushes.

Back at home, Yami broke his back once again by dragging the second bookcase out of the room. After resting for a couple minutes, only because Juudai was bugging him, he stood up again and laid the plastic covers on the floor. The desk was just pushed into the middle of the room and covered with plastic, as well.

"Let's start!" Yami said with a grin, holding out a paint roller at Juudai. The kid took it with a cheer and dipped it into the red paint. It was a bright red, but a bit of a lighter hue. The two had about one wall done when the doorbell rang.

"Is that uncle Katsuya?" Juudai asked happily.

Yami shook his head. "Jounouchi couldn't come. I asked someone else to help." Yami said as he walked out the room to open the door. "You keep on going."

Before opening the door, Yami straightened out his clothing and took a deep breath. He knew Yuugi for a little over two years now, but he was still always nervous around the other male. "Hey Yuugi!" Yami greeted after opening the door. The other smiled at him. Yuugi was wearing a thick coat and old sweatpants underneath.

"Hey Yami." He greeted back. Yami stepped aside so the other could get inside.

"I hope it isn't a trouble for you to help me out today."

The shorter male shook his head. "No it is okay. Mom took Omote to our grandfather so I was alone anyways." Yuugi explained, taking off his coat and handing it to Yami. Yami hung it up, seeing that Yuugi was wearing an old sweatshirt.

"Would you like to meet Juudai?" Yami asked, taking Yuugi's hand and lightly tugging his boyfriend to the room.

"Sure." Yuugi said with a smile and walked along. Yami lead him through the hall into the room that used to be a study. There, Yuugi saw a little boy, in a simple black shirt and jeans. He was holding a paint roller in his hands and looking at it, trying to figure out how it was going to work. "He's cute." Yuugi commented. Yami beamed, happy that Yuugi liked Juudai so far.

"Juudai." Yami called to get the boy's attention. The little boy looked from the paint roller to his father. "This is Yuugi. He and I are going out." Yami introduced. Yuugi smiled and kneeled down to Juudai's level.

"Hello there Juudai, nice to finally meet you." Yuugi said, lightly ruffling the boy's hair. Juudai smiled right back.

This Yuugi person didn't seem as bad as he first thought. He seemed really nice. "Daddy, can we start painting now?" He asked at his new father. But Yami didn't answer, nor move. He was only dreamily looking at Yuugi. "Daddy?" Juudai asked again.

"Uh… Yami?" Yuugi tried.

Yami snapped out of his daze. "What is it Yuugi?" He asked. Juudai glared at Yuugi. Why did his father react to Yuugi and not to him?

"I think Juudai is trying to tell you something…"

"Oh." Yami finally looked at the kid. "What did you want, Juudai?"

"Can we finally start painting?" He asked with annoyance.

"Sure." Yami said and walked to the middle of the room. There stood the big bucket of red paint. He opened it up and stirred, the fumes of it immediately filling the room. He stirred the paint a little before pouring some into the paint trays. Juudai had insisted on helping, so he got a paint tray and roller too.

They got started. Yami was chatting with Yuugi all the time and completely forgot about Juudai. The boy had called out to his father a couple times to ask if he was doing okay but Yami either completely ignored him or shrugged him off. He thought he had done a pretty good job at painting his side so he could make his daddy proud, but daddy didn't even pay him any attention!

He walked back to the big bucket in the middle. He was out of paint on the tray. With a huff he refilled it again. He was almost done with his side. He was only allowed to paint the lower parts since Yuugi had found it too dangerous for him to be on the ladder. On his way back, he tripped and almost fell over one of the folds of the plastic cover.

The boy smirked as an idea came to mind. He had wanted to throw paint on Yuugi to finally get his father's attention. But he knew Yami would me mad at him if he did it by purpose. But, he couldn't be too mad at him if it was an accident.

He glanced at the couple. Yami was wiping specks of paint off of Yuugi's nose, while Yuugi giggled as Yami did so. His eyebrows furrowed into scowl. Yami was supposed to do that to him! "Daddy!" He called out and ran at the couple with the tray outstretched. Yuugi was the first to look at the little kid. Juudai pretended to slip and threw the tray of paint at Yuugi.

Yuugi shrieked and guarded his face with his arms, closing his eyes for protection. The paint splashed all over Yuugi, his face, his arms and his clothes. Feeling that there was no more paint flying around, Yuugi wiped the paint away from his eyes and looked at himself. He was red.

Yami had gasped and frozen from shock when he saw what was about to happen. The tray was already in the air and it was too late to push Yuugi away.

"Y-Yuugi are you alright?" He asked, pulling the younger man to him so he could look at him better. Yuugi was still wiping away the paint from his face with his hands, a couple drops of tears running down his cheeks.

"Y-yeah." Yuugi answered with a small sniffle. Yami pulled the man out of the room and into the bathroom.

"Why don't you take a shower? I'll see if Juudai is okay and continue to paint the room okay?" Yuugi nodded and took off his the sweatshirt, showing his pale flat stomach. Yuugi blushed as he noticed that Yami still hadn't left the room. Yami gasped and blushed too, having been caught staring.

"W-wait." He stuttered. "Let me get you your clean clothes." Yami said. He quickly ran out of the bathroom and grabbed the bag Yuugi had brought when he came over. He ran ban to the bathroom where Yuugi had wrapped a towel around his torso. He knew it was somewhat acceptable to be seen without a shirt on as a male but he was still self-conscious about it, especially since he was at his crush's house.

"Thanks." He muttered as he took the bag.

"If you need something give a shout." Yuugi nodded and closed the bathroom door, locking it afterward. This had not been a pleasant experience, but then again, it was not something so horrible to make him cry. He hated that he let those few tears escape. Now Yami was going to think that he was a crybaby. It was just that bottled up emotions got free from the little accident that happened.

Yami waited a bit in front of the door till he heard the water running. He sighed and went back to the room they were painting. Juudai was sitting, idly drawing figures with his fingers in the spilled paint. "That's not finger paint you know." He said, kneeling down near the kid. Juudai gasped and looked up at his adoptive father.

"S-sorry!" He apologized. Yami smiled slightly and ruffled the hair of the boy.

"It doesn't matter. It was an accident. I should've been more careful and lay out the covers more smoothly. Are you hurt?" Yami asked, looking the boy over. Juudai shook his head. Yami patted his head once and stood back up, picking up a paint roller and painting the higher parts Juudai wasn't able to reach.

Yami stepped off the ladder and looked at his handiwork. The whole room was painted red, the color distributed quite evenly. Sometimes the shades were a bit different but those were hardly noticeable. Juudai beamed as he looked at his soon-to-be-room. The colors were bright and he couldn't wait for the furniture to arrive!

Ushering Juudai out so the kid wouldn't touch the paint, Yami cleaned up the painting supplies. He would just have to put the leftover paint away in storage one day. Finally done putting everything away, and changing into that was not stained in paint, Yami plopped down on the couch, waiting for Yuugi to get out. Paint was hard to get out of hair so he figured it would take a while.

Yuugi came out a little later, dressed up in his clean clothes and a towel wrapped around his hair. Yami handed him a hairdryer and waited patiently for Yuugi to finish drying.

"I'm sorry Yami," Yuugi apologized after he turned off the dryer. "I was about as useful as a kiwi."

"No, I should apologize. I should've been more careful. Also, kiwis taste good. They make a great furnish for cakes."

"I was talking about the bird."

"Oh…. At least they're cute." Yuugi chuckled slightly. He stood up and faced the other. "I think it's best I go home now." Yami stood up as well and nodded.

"Let me show you out." He walked the shorter male to the door and smiled gently at him. "You were still a great help Yuugi, give yourself some credit every now and then." Yuugi's eyes cast down and he nodded, the motion barely visible. Yami embraced Yuugi, wrapping his arms around his middle. Yuugi hugged back and they stood like that for a couple seconds, before letting of each other.

"I'll call you to see when we can go out or something, okay?" Yami said.

"Okay, bye Yami."

The man waved as Yuugi walked outside. With a sigh, he closed the door once he was out of sight. That could've gone way better. At least Juudai's room was almost done.

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Author Notes: I'm sorry if parts of this is dull, this is supposed to be a character development chapter. Also, my apologies for the long wait. It has been sitting around beta'd for a little while and I didn't get to uploading it. I also got a little job and it kept me busy.

Maybe I've said before but this story is written because all the hatred towards Juudai. As in the story, everyone hates him for no good reason. I've asked a friend who's been in the YGO fandom way longer than me for the reason. He doesn't hate Juudai but he told me that people hate on him because he is always happy…. That's just the same as saying they hate Anzu for friendship speeches, but loving Yami while the guy speeches more about friendship than her.

Next chapter: Omote