Me: "I'm awake and I'm alive!"

Jay: "Isn't that part of a song?"

Me: "Yes but it works. So you people may have been wondering where I've been. Well our power was out and I couldn't charge my laptop."

Jay: "That and you've been deciding on whether to write a new story or not."

Free: "That will be revealed later. For now enjoy the chapter!"

Yugi flipped his hair a few times, for good measure, before heading downstairs to wait for Yami. The older was supposed to pick him up for breakfast as planned and he was excited yet nervous. He decided to get some advice so he wouldn't look like an idiot and went to find his brother.

"Atemu?" he called from the den.

"In the kitchen!" came the reply.

He felt a smile come across his face as he went to the kitchen and started laughing when he saw his brother leaning on one crutch and waving the other one towards the top of the refrigerator, trying to knock a box of cereal off.

"Atemu… do you need help?"

His brother twirled around on his good foot and blushed before nodding his head slowly.

"You know, if you need something you just have to ask." he told him as he dragged a stool over in front of the fridge and crawled on top of it to retrieve the cereal box.

"I don't like feeling useless." Atemu pouted as he sat down and watched Yugi pour the milk and cereal into a bowl before sliding it in front of him. "Thanks."

"Well you can't do anything about it for awhile, so you may as well let me help you."

Atemu sighed. "Guess I'll have to." he paused briefly. "Did you need me for something?"

"Huh?" Yugi glanced up. "Oh yeah, I just wanted to-" he was cut off by the sound of his cell phone ringing in his pocket.

Atemu laughed while Yugi fished the device out of his pocket before flipping it open and putting it to his ear.

"Hello?"

A depressed sounding sigh came out of the other end. "Yugi… it's Yami."

Yugi could tell something was wrong by the sound of his voice. He could see Atemu staring at him from the corner of his eye.

"Hey, something wrong?"

"Well I have some bad news. I won't be able to take you to breakfast this morning. I'm really sorry!"

"Oh." was all Yugi could say. He felt a little part of his spirits sink. "But were still doing something this afternoon right?"

"Yes! I promise we'll do something after school. Meet me under the big sakura tree after ok?"

Yugi smiled. "Ok. See you then."

"Bye little one…" the phone line then cut off.

Yugi closed his phone and put it back in his pant pocket.

"So what did Yami want?" Atemu asked as Yugi got up to put his brothers now empty bowl of cereal in the sink.

"Well he said he couldn't do breakfast this morning, but were still going to go somewhere this afternoon." he explained as he grabbed his backpack from the corner that it was laying against.

"That means you have to walk to school by yourself…"

Yugi glanced at the time. "I bet Ryou can still make it over. Oh yeah he's going with Bakura… uh… Malik is with Marik…" he thought over his options in his head and realized he would just have to walk solo since his only other option for transportation had a hurt leg.

"How about Anzu?" he suggested.

"Anzu?" Yugi repeated. He hadn't seen his childhood friend since she transferred to a school that focused on the arts where she majored in dancing.

"Yeah. The brunette that you used to drool over." Atemu teased.

Yugi glared at his brother before wildly messing up his hair.

"Yugi!"

"Your own fault!" Yugi laughed. "Anyways, her school is pretty far from Domino High. I wouldn't want to make her late. It's really no big deal. I'll just go by myself."

Atemu moaned. "Be careful little brother. Seriously, we don't need a repeat of what happened to me."

"That's for sure. Don't worry I'll be careful. Got my cell phone and all that crap."

"Alright. Go on then or you'll be late."

"Your really sounding more like a parent every day." Yugi laughed.

Atemu just glared.

"Joking. Jeez." Yugi rolled his eyes. "See you later tonight. Love you."

"Love you too. Have fun with…Yami." he smiled.

The smile wasn't just a regular smile though. It was a smile that meant he was proud of his little brother.

"Thanks. Just text me if you need anything." Yugi said before leaving the kitchen and heading down the Game Shop stairs.

~At School~

Yugi wiped the sweat from his forehead as he leaned against his locker. He had ran all the way from his house to school once he realized how long he had spent talking with his brother.

"Hey Yugi!" a familiar voice called.

Said person glanced around to see Malik coming towards him with a smile.

"Hey Malik. How was your night with Marik…" he smiled like a child with a dirty secret.

Malik grabbed Yugi in a playful headlock before whispering in his ear, "Now that will stay between our knowing, yes?" he put a little more pressure on Yugi's neck to make his point.

Yugi nodded and Malik released his hold with a laugh.

"Someone must have had fun if I'm not even allowed to tell Ryou."

"Watch it Yugi or else I might have a little of that fun on the counter of your Game Shop. Kind of an unpleasant thought, eh?"

Yugi scrunched up his face in disgust. "Gross Mal. Keep the perversion to a scale of three."

Malik laughed and the two friends began their walk down the hall together.

"So you and Yami are going out today?"

"Yeah. He couldn't make breakfast, but were going somewhere after school."

"Oh, hey, I'm sorry I guess you had to walk by yourself then huh?'

Yugi shrugged. "Doesn't matter. But since your taking the shop over for me I'll tell you a little somethin somethin. There's wine behind the big picture in Atemu's room…"

Malik laughed. "Yugi Mutou were you snooping in your brothers personal items?"

"More like me kicking his football against the wall and the picture falling, thus revealing his hidden goodies."

This had Malik laughing even harder. "I knew I crushed on him for some reason…"

Yugi lightly smacked the back of Malik's head as they departed into their classrooms.

~End of the School Day~

The pencil in Yugi's hand drummed repeatedly against his desk as he waited impatiently for the last class to end. It's not like he was listening anyways. His mind was on Yami. That name alone could bring a smile to his face.

RING!

"Yes!" Yugi yelled which made everyone turn to him before they grabbed their bags and left the room.

Yugi ignored the blush that splashed his cheeks and left with them. He hurried to his locker and got the books he would need for the night before slamming his locker. What he didn't know is that he forgot to grab his phone back out of his locker since he kept it in there throughout the day. He then turned to find Malik and Ryou standing in front of him.

"Bye guys. Hope you have fun on your dates." Ryou waved.

"Thanks. You going over to Bakura's?" Yugi asked.

Ryou nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. Kura wants to go to the carnival."

"Carnival? That's the last place I expected him to go to." Malik smirked.

"Well… I think he said something about bumper cars…"

"That explains it." Yugi laughed. "Listen, I have to run. Ryou, good luck. Malik, don't you dare sneak off to one of the rooms in my house. Atemu is going to be home."

Malik's grin widened. "Is he now? Hm… I need to find Marik…" and with that the Egyptian took off down the hallway.

Ryou and Yugi waved goodbye to each other before going their separate ways. Yugi hurried off to the sakura tree where Yami said he would meet him. He wasn't there yet so he sat down on the bench and swung his legs back and forth.

Back and forth.

Back.

Forth.

Back and forth.

After a lot more back and forth's he decided to start on his homework. Yami probably got held after class. It happened to him a lot.

"Should I study for history or do algebra…?" he asked himself.

He decided on algebra and began to write down the equations before solving them. About ten minutes later he switched to studying. (A/N- forgive me, but I have no earthly idea what they read in high school. I'm still in grade school!)

"Yugi Mutou!" a voice yelled from across the yard.

Yugi looked up, dropping his textbook in the process. He frowned sighed inwardly at the sight of Duke Devlin.

"Hi Duke…" he managed a small smile. He barely knew Duke, but they had talked a few times in his physiology class.

"Hey. What are you waiting around here for?"

Yugi looked puzzled for a second. "I'm waiting for Yami. Were going out once he gets out of class."

Duke then bit his lip. He looked like he was having a debate inside his head with the occasional bobbing from left to right.

"Well… Yami's locker is next to mine. And… um, I'm sorry Yugi, but I saw him leave."

Yugi felt like someone had just thrown a dart at his heart and chipped a piece of it off.

"W-what…?"

"He looked like he was in a rush. He didn't even say hey to me. Just grabbed his books and ran to his car."

Duke felt incredibly guilty and horrible for having to tell the little Mutou about this. But he felt that the kid had the right to know so he wasn't waiting around all night for the person who wasn't coming.

"Oh…" Yugi felt tears prick his eyes, but he held them back. No. He would not cry in front of Duke Devlin.

"I'm sorry man." he laid his hand on the boy's shoulder, but Yugi only shook it off. "Do you want me to give you a ride home?"

Yugi stared at the ground for a few seconds before turning his watery gaze to the older teen. A sad smile displayed on his face.

"No, I'll be fine." he whispered. "But thank you."

Duke smiled. "No problem. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me." the older then left, leaving the younger alone.

Yugi wasn't sure what to do or what to feel. He had been stood up and the feeling hurt more than a large rock being pegged at your chest. He let his legs pick him off the bench and walk him towards the sidewalk. He should have known. The school was deserted anyways.

~Sometime Down the Road.~

Yugi continued to drag himself down the street. Tears were dangerously threatening to fall down his beautiful face. He didn't even look up as the rain started to pour down on to his head and back.

"That is so cliché…" he whimpered to himself as he neared the Game Shop sign. Although his vision was so blurry he couldn't be sure if he really was at the right place.

It didn't matter to him. He just clambered inside the door and lifelessly dropped his backpack by the fake plant that was in the corner of the shop.

"Yugi?" he heard as he glanced up.

Malik and Marik were both staring at him. Their clothes and hair were disheveled, but Yugi didn't notice.

"Yugi what's wrong? Where's Yami?" Malik asked as he maneuvered himself around Marik and the counter.

Yugi opened his mouth, but no words came out. He tried again, but his voice was high pitched.

"I don't know… h-he didn't s-show up." he pushed past Malik and ran up the stairs.

The tears were so close he thought his eyes were going to explode. He hurried down the hall and towards the den where he would go up to his room.

"Yugi?" a familiar voice asked from the couch.

From Yugi's blurry vision he could make out his brother sitting on the couch, giving him a concerned look. He couldn't take it any more. He ran to his brother and jumped into his lap, not remembering his leg. He let the dam break and all the tears cascaded down his face in a rush. Yugi held on to his brother like a lifeline as he cried into his muscular shoulder.

Atemu immediately wrapped his arms around his younger brother and ran his hand down Yugi's drenched hair. He listened as Yugi blubbered words that made no sense to him in his shirt.

"Shh… calm down. Your alright. Your alright." he mumbled as he continued to comfort Yugi. "Do you think you can tell me what happened?"

After a few more loud wails and sniffles Yugi calmed down enough to talk, even though his voice shook when he did.

"N-no Y-yami… stood me up…" he whispered.

Atemu comprehended what he had just heard and was angry. Angry that the only one he loved and cared for in the world was sad and felt hurt. He tried to calm down by breathing deeply through his nose. The only thing he could think of to do was to get Yugi in the bath to let him cool off. Besides the kid was dripping wet and shivering. With a grunt, Atemu stood up on both of his feet, yes even the hurt one, and gathered Yugi into his arms before heading towards his own shower. He couldn't make it up the stairs so this would have to do.

Atemu winced at all the pressure on his leg. It began to ache, but he ignored it and continued to carry his brother to his room. Once inside he sat Yugi on the bed and stripped off all of his wet clothes. He then turned on the bath and waited for it to get hot before pushing the drain in to hold the water.

"Ate…mu….mu?" Yugi whimpered.

Atemu came back into the room and carried his naked brother back into the bathroom where he laid him down in the bathtub. (Yes it was very akward.) He grabbed the shampoo and poured some on his hand before rubbing it around Yugi' scalp. He did the same thing with the conditioner. After making sure Yugi was clean and warm he made Yugi get out of the bath so he could wrap a big fuzzy towel around him. He took another towel and twirled it around Yugi's hair like how a girl might do with hers to dry it.

By this time Yugi had stopped crying and was now only whimpering softly. Atemu grabbed him by the wrist and lead him to his own bed. He rummaged through his drawers and pulled out a pair of boxers, soft sleep pants, and a large cotton shirt and gave them to his younger brother.

Yugi was a little hesitant about the boxers, but thought that their boxers probably got mixed up in the wash all the time so it didn't really matter. After he was fully dressed and his hair had been combed, Atemu pushed him under the covers.

"But Atemu…-"

"Shh… just sleep ok?

Yugi bit his lip. "Will… um… can you stay with me?"

"Anything for you pal." Atemu smiled lightly as he hobbled over to the other side of his bed and got under the covers. When he was concealed under he took off his jeans and shirt and carelessly threw them against the wall. (A/N- hope your not thinking perverted things because brothers sleep like this together. Trust me, I would know.)

Yugi wiggled over to his brother so they were shoulder to shoulder.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Atemu smiled before turning off the bedside lamp. "Now get some sleep."

He felt Yugi's hair brush against his skin which told him that Yugi was nodding.

"I just… don't want to see him tomorrow."

"You don't have to." Atemu whispered. "Maybe it was just a misunderstanding."

After that they said no more. Yugi fell asleep shortly after which gave Atemu time to turn on his phone. He pressed on the new message button and typed:

Atemu: Close shop and go home.

Malik: K. Wats wrong with Yugi?

Atemu: Tell you later.

Malik: :-\

Atemu: He's fine now. Don't talk about Yami.

Malik: ?

Atemu: Tomorrow.

Me: "I feel evil."

Jay: "Well you are. That was mean."

Me: "I was aiming for more of a brother fluff in this chapter. But the next will be the explanation as to why Yami didn't show up."

Jay: "Or why he blew him off."

Free: "True. Review please!"