Yuuri wins the next duel but Yuugo immediately demands a rematch and Yuuri is so surprised that he ends up accepting. And then he loses.
He stares blankly down at his cards while his opponent jumps for joy, pumping both fists into the air in celebration. This time Yuuri is the one insisting on playing again and Yuugo is only too happy to comply. Yuuri loses that one too but wins the next three and by the time they finally realize it, the sky was already dark and they couldn't see their cards anymore.
"Oh crud! It's this late already?" Yuugo exclaims. Abandoning their match, he clambers up to his feet and brushes the grass stains off his knees. Without daylight, the lush green hedges are transformed into dark, looming structures as the pale moon cast strange, shifting shadows over the meadow.
Yuuri rises as well with an odd pit in his stomach as he watches his expression.
"I gotta go," Yuugo is mumbling, expression torn between panic and reluctance, especially when he glances back down at the half-finished game. "Rin's probably worried about me."
The pit grows and Yuuri finds himself blurting out, "You're leaving?" His voice comes out louder and crosser than he had intended. He's struck by a wave of complicated feelings that pass by too fast for him to identify, leaving him with a nagging sense of dissatisfaction. His lips curl. "But we're not finished yet."
He had never had fun like this before where the hours ticked by like seconds and the sky changed without his notice. It was wondrous and magical and ended all too fast, like a spell lifting at the stroke of midnight and leaving everything as it were. He's seized with an urge to reach out and grab onto the sticky little hand that had filled him with disgust just hours before and hold on tight so that the other boy wouldn't be able to go away.
"I'll come right back!" Yuugo exclaims, interrupting the negative turn to his thoughts so swiftly that Yuuri almost believed he had read his mind. "Promise. I'll come looking for you first thing tomorrow and I'll bring Rin too!" He grins easily, the slightly dopey expression without a trace of guile but Yuuri still isn't at all mollified.
Perhaps it's irrational but Yuuri can't help but doubt this airy promise of tomorrow. What if the moment he looks away, this strange, ridiculous child will disappear just as suddenly as he had appeared? How can Yuuri be sure that the other children wouldn't poison him against Yuuri? How does he know that Yuugo won't decide he would rather spend his time with someone else? And then, there's that other name again. Rin, Rin, Rin.
"What's a Rin?" he asks impatiently, arms crossed over his chest as he makes his displeasure clear.
He has a feeling he won't like the answer and he's proven right when Yuugo replies, "Rin's my friend! We live at the facility together."
Yuuri's expression closes off until his face could be carved from granite. Once again, he experiences a surge of irritation at the boy who dared to barge into his world and fill it with laughter and smiles and think he can just wander right out of it again? If that is how it's going to be then he would rather they never met!
"Fine then," he says heatedly, a dull, angry flush rising up into his cheeks. "Go back to Rin."
Yuuri tells himself he doesn't care when Yuugo blinks up at him, startled at the sudden vehemence in his tone. He doesn't. Because he's almost certain the other boy isn't coming back. No one else ever does.
"Um. Okay?" Yuugo says slowly, watching him with bemusement as he goes to collect his deck. Yuuri watches him back, feeling the pit in his stomach grow deeper and emptier with every card that goes back into its holder. Eventually, Yuugo's side of their makeshift field is clear, like every trace of him had been wiped clean. Yuuri can't help but notice how lonely his monsters look, all still lined up and waiting for a duel that isn't going to happen.
"See you tomorrow?" The boy offers him, uncertainty bleeding into his normally sunny face but Yuuri still doesn't care. He goes to collect his cards, lips firmly pressed into a line as he absolutely refuses to return the farewell he hadn't wanted.
He doesn't look up when Yuugo circles around the stump, too busy glaring down at the darkened grass. There is a curious sting behind his eyes and he reaches up to rub it away. He must have gotten dirt in them. He is so focused on ignoring Yuugo that he's completely caught off guard when a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around his waist and crushes his face against a bony shoulder.
"What are you doing ?" Yuuri demands, alarmed. He half wonders if he's being attacked but there is no accompanying pain. Frowning, he shoves at his arms but Yuugo only squeezes him harder. It's strange and awkward since Yuugo is all pointy elbows and his breath is making the hairs on the back of his neck stand. "Stop it!"
Yuugo shakes his head and Yuuri winces when he gets a mouthful of blue hair. "Nuh uh! You were doing that frowny thing that Rin does when she's mad. Why are you mad?"
"I'm not!" Yuuri protests, irritated that the other boy' is picking such an inconvenient time to be astute. With a final shove, he finally manages to free himself, sending Yuugo crashing to the ground with a satisfying yelp. His hands go to his hips as he glares down at him but the look of hurt flashing across Yuugo's face does little to make him feel better.
"See, you are mad!" Yuugo cries, scampering back onto his feet as the hurt transforms into indignance. "Are you mad because we didn't finish the duel! I said I was gonna come back!"
"Well, I don't believe you!" Both of them start and Yuuri isn't sure which of them is more surprised at his outburst.
Yuugo blinks several times before realization slowly dawned chasing away the clouds over his face clear. Then, he's smiling so brightly that Yuuri almost thought the sun had returned. "Oh, so that's why you're so mad. But I said I promised, didn't I? A real duelist always keeps his promises!" Before Yuuri can say something cold and derisive, Yuugo is in his face again and holding out a fist with his pinky outstretched. He stares at it blankly until the other boy gets impatient and grabs his hand and links their fingers together.
"Now what are you doing?" Too baffled to even stay angry, Yuuri tries to pull back his hand but Yuugo holds on with the same kind of stubbornness that had bullied Yuuri into dueling him in the first place.
"It's a pinky promise," he says with an almost comical graveness. "If you break a pinky promise, you have to swallow a thousand needles and then your pinky gets cut off."
Even Yuuri can't help but make a face at the imagery. But strangely enough, the knot in his stomach starts to unravel. "Really?" he says, skepticism wavering in the wake of Yuugo's sincerity. "Do you pinky promise you'll come back? You won't run away from me? Ever?"
"I do!" Yuugo declares without a single trace of hesitation. "I promise I'll come right back!"
"Hmph." Yuuri leans over, lips pressed into a thin line as he glares into the other boy's eyes as if searching for falsehoods. After a lengthy pause, the corners of his mouth curls up. His chest feels… fuller. Like some of the gnawing emptiness in his heart had finally gone away. And all because of this ridiculous child. But he still isn't entirely satisfied yet. Yuuri quickly schools his smile back into a frown as he presses further. "And you promise you won't be scared of me no matter what the other children say?"
"I promise!"
"And you'll do everything I tell you to?"
"I promise- Hey ! You… you tricked me!"
Yuuri is too busy cackling at Yuugo's indignant expression and he's still laughing even as he is tackled to the ground. He lands on his back with a furious Yuugo sitting on his chest and he thinks it's hilarious .
"A promise is a promise," he says gleefully as Yuugo growls.
"That's not fair!" he cries. "That last one doesn't count."
"You're the one who said a duelist always keeps his promises."
"But-! You-! Gaah!" Yuuri watches in fascination as the other boy turns red before finally admitting defeat and throwing his hands up. "You're so mean!"
"You're just too easy to tease."
"Am not!"
Yuugo looks so funny when he's angry; those too big eyes narrowed as he tries to look intimidating and his round cheeks are all puffed up like a baby hedgehog. It makes Yuuri want to poke them again. So he does.
"What was that for?!" Yuugo yelps as he scrambles off him, both hands pressed against his face protectively.
Yuuri smiles serenely as he gets up as well. His back is covered in grass stains but he's in far too good a mood to care. "How about this," he says magnanimously. "You do me three favours and then I'll let you off the hook. Sound fair?"
Yuugo sputters as his mouth works in soundness outrage. After several long seconds of visible deliberation, he crosses his arms over his chest with a huff. "... Just three , OK?" he huffs.
"Deal," Yuuri says putting his hands together over his mouth so Yuugo can't see the gleeful look on his face. He really is too easy. Still smiling, he pivots on the spot and quickly packs up his deck with a much better mood than before. He pauses and cocks a hand on his hip. "Well, what are you waiting for? Didn't you say you wanted to get back?"
"Huh?" Yuugo blurts out, blinking rapidly before his clueless expression clears. "Oh, right! Rin!"
Once Yuuri is satisfied that he's trailing him behind like a lost puppy, he makes his way back to the path. It's child's play for him to navigate the winding hedges in the dark; this is his garden after all. He knows every bush, every twist in the path, every pebble. The garden is a veritable maze and he's rather impressed that Yuugo had made it so deep into it all on his own. Although, he doesn't seem to be nearly as good finding his way back. Yuuri is torn between rolling his eyes and snickering as he hears the other boy yelping and cursing as he stumbles into shrubberies and gets tangled in ivy with a clumsiness that is rather impressive on its own.
Annoyance wins out and Yuuri stops, groping around in the dark until his grabs hold of his hand. "Keep up, Yuugou," he says, shaking his head. "Before you ruin any more of my plants."
"It's Yuugo!" Comes the dismayed complaint, but Yuuri is quietly pleased when Yuugo doesn't shake him off. Instead, he squeezes back, holding on just a bit too tight like he's afraid of being left behind. Yuugo's hand rough and callused with uneven, bitten-off nails and his palms are still a bit sticky, but Yuuri doesn't mind it too much anymore. Despite the chill of the evening air, Yuuri feels as warm as ever with that little hand clasped tightly in his.
It's nice, he thinks, to have someone walking with him for a change. There's something oddly comforting about having a second set of footfalls echoing behind his. Even if his shadow is loud and insists on bumping into him every other step.
"Ouch! How can you see where you're going? It's so dark!"
"That's because you're not paying enough attention! I'm over here."
"Am too paying attention! I just can't see nothing."
"It's 'anything', not 'nothing'. And you don't need to see, you just need to pay attention to where I'm walking and stop stepping on me!"
"How am I supposed to do that if I can't see?!"
"Stop complaining, or I'll let go!"
"What? No! You can't!"
Eventually, the pair of them finally make their way through the hedges and Yuuri breathes a sigh at the sight of the grey castle walls. His stomach twists as a wave of melancholy washes over him.
"You can find your way back from here, right?" he says, unable to keep the reluctance from his voice despite his best efforts to sound casual. "If I don't see you back here tomorrow, I'm going to find you and make you swallow a thousand needles and I'm going to be keeping count ." Steeling himself, he lets Yuugo's hand drop and starts to walk back to his room. Only to be jerked back when Yuugo suddenly grabs onto him with both hands. Now what?
But when he turns to tell him off, he's momentarily taken aback when he sees the look on Yuugo's face.
"Wait." Yuugo swallows audibly, those luminous blue eyes brimming with fear and confusion. "This… This isn't right. I don't recognize anything. There's supposed to be a huge tower right over there! For the TOPs."
Puzzled, Yuuri frowns back at him. "What are you talking about? This is how this place has always looked. This is the Academia, remember?"
"Aca-de-mia?" Yuugo asks blankly. "What's that?"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
For a moment, the two of them simply stare at each other, with Yuugo still awkwardly holding onto Yuuri's hand like a lifeline.
"What do you mean, 'what's Academia?" Yuuri says crossly. "You don't just show up here and not know about it!"
"I live in the Commons! I don't know any Academia!" Yuugo argues back just as stubbornly.
"Look," Yuuri says with a huff and an eye roll, dragging him up a flight of stairs until they're overlooking the courtyard. "Does anything look familiar now?"
Yuugo stares quietly. "No," he says in a tiny, trembling voice. "Nothing looks familiar. Yuuri, I think… I think I'm lost."
"Lost?" Yuuri echoes, staring at the ridiculous child like he had grown another head.
No one just shows up at Academia. All children over the age of eight have to attend and the only way onto the island is to get on a ship. There's simply no way someone could end up here entirely by accident. He frowns harder. The other boy doesn't look like he's clever enough to be making it all up. So how did he get into his garden? It's not like he really could have just fallen down a rabbit hole!
Behind him, Yuugo hiccups, dragging Yuuri out of his thoughts.
"How… How am I gonna get home?" he asks, sounding absolutely miserable as he lets out a pathetic sniffle. To Yuuri's alarm, the other boy's lip starts to tremble.
"Are you… are you crying?" he demands, appalled.
"'M not crying," Yuugo denies thickly, rubbing at his eyes on the back of his hand. "'M not a baby. And boys don't cry."
"You are crying," Yuuri tells him and crosses his arms in dismay. He bites his lips, agitated when he realizes that he's at a complete loss as to how to stop it. While he's had plenty of experience making other little boys and girls run away from him crying, he doesn't know how to get them to stop.
Or maybe he does? Yuuri thinks back to the burning sensation behind his eyes and the way Yuugo had chased it away with his little hands and bony elbows. Huffing again, he steps back over to him and throws his arms awkwardly around his shoulders. Yuugo smells like grass and earth and he's much, much smaller than he looks under his oversized t-shirt. But he's warm and solid and Yuuri finds that he doesn't mind it at all.
"Stop being a baby," he scolds. "You'll sleep over in my room and tomorrow we'll ask the Professor where you live. Okay?"
Yuugo sniffles into his neck and wraps his arms around him too and Yuuri takes it as a sign that it's working. "What's a Pro-fess-or?"
"He's one of the adults. Everyone has to listen to him. He'll know how to get you home."
"...'Kay," Yuugo finally says, hiccupping quietly as he gives his eyes one last rub.
"You're not going to keep crying, right?"
"Said I wasn't crying."
"You were."
"Wasn't!" Yuugo insists, even though his puffy eyes and red nose say otherwise but Yuuri lets it go since the sniffling seems to be subsiding.
Yuuri carefully unwinds his arms from the other boy's scrawny shoulders and clears his throat. "Okay, now follow me. And be quiet. We're not supposed to be out this late." Although Yuuri's teachers generally tend to let Yuuri do as he liked, being an honour student and all, he still had to follow a curfew like everyone else, as much as he would rather sleep in his garden.
Yuugo trails after him, still rubbing his eyes. "I'm not supposed to be out this late either. Rin's gonna be super mad and Matron's gonna send me to bed without supper."
Rin . Yuuri scowls and speeds up. "Hmph. Here, you'd be lucky if our teachers don't lock you up in the dungeons."
"Dungeons?!" Yuugo gasps and Yuuri immediately claps a hand over his mouth because apparently, his idea of being quiet was yelling in a stage whisper.
"Shush!" he scolds. "I said you have to be quiet. Do you want them to catch us?" Yuugo nods furiously and this time mimes pulling a zipper over his mouth.
But it's too late because that's exactly when a long shadow falls over them.
"Mamma mia! Just what are you doing out here this late, Señor Yuuri?"
