Chapter 8: Kiss the Prince
Yugi and Yami left the palace in a open horse-drawn carriage led by Yugi's friend Tristan, and as they galloped gently down the hill that separated the beach and the palace from the town in the valley below, Yami's heart swelled as his eyes went over the bustling action.
The colors were astounding; if the town were a painting, the artist must've exhausted his supply of paint completing his work. A cornucopia of smells hit Yami's nose: perfumes, bread baking and the salty air from the sea a hill away. Voices of shopkeepers calling out deals for their wares and parents scolding their children to stay close mingled together, creating an almost song of human voices in disordered harmony.
Yugi turned to see how Yami liked the city. Then he did a double take.
'Where's Yami?'
He looked outside the carriage to see Yami had jumped out and was running along the cobble-stoned street.
"Stop the carriage!" Yugi called to Tristan.
The carriage shrieked to a halt and Yugi leapt out, running to catch up with Yami, who had stopped in front of a window display for a store with a large, colorful name of "Masters and Monsters Game-Shop." When Yugi got close enough to see what Yami was staring at in the window, he grinned.
"They're called Duel Monster cards," he told his new friend.
"Duel Monster?" Yami repeated, looking away from the display at Yugi in interest.
"You fight your opponent with monsters and magic and trap cards until you wipe out your opponent's life-points and win the duel," Yugi explained.
"Do you play it?" Yami inquired.
Yugi nodded, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "People around here call me the 'King of Games'…though I think the title and everything is rather silly."
Yami looked back at the display wistfully. "I wish I knew how to play…it sounds wonderful."
"I'll teach you," Yugi proposed immediately, seizing hold of Yami's arm and pulling him into the shop. "C'mon…I'll help you build a deck!"
So the two tricolor-haired males plowed through the store's Duel Monster cards, acting as excited as two children let loose in a toy store. For some reason, the idea of learning a new game he could play with Yugi seemed like heaven on earth to Yami, and he wasn't quite sure if it was learning the game or being with Yugi that made him happier.
When they finally exhausted the store's supply of cards and finished organizing Yami's deck, Yami attached the new leather carrying case holding his deck to his belt and he and Yugi headed back out into the busy street.
"Now that you have your deck and know the rules, why don't we have a duel?" suggested Yugi. "I think it'd be the easiest way to teach you how to play."
Yami nodded in agreement. "Where to, little one?"
Yugi looked around before his violet eyes caught sight of a fancy-looking restaurant with whimsical letters spelling out "The Dark Magician" on its overhead sign.
"There! It probably won't have much business around this time of day, so no one will mind us dueling there."
The Dark Magician was indeed a very cozy if not quite upscale restaurant. Upon hearing they were serving the crown prince (which Yami pretended he was as he was playing as Yugi's double), the staff quickly escorted the two to the best booth in the place so they could duel in peace.
"Alright, Yami," Yugi said, grinning as he drew the last card for his hand, "you ready?"
"Born ready, little one," Yami answered with a friendly smirk.
"DUEL!" the two chanted in unison.
Yami: 2000
Yugi: 2000
Yugi drew his first card. "I play Graceful Charity, which lets me draw three cards if I discard two…then I place Beaver Warrior (1200/1500) on the field in attack mode and one card facedown. I end my turn."
"Very well," Yami granted, drawing a card and smiling. "I play Queen's Knight (1500/1600) in attack mode, and I attack your Beaver Warrior."
Yugi smirked. "Big mistake. I reveal my facedown card, Horn of the Unicorn, which increases my Beaver Warrior's attack points by 700, making my Beaver stronger than your Knight. I destroy your Queen's Knight."
Yami: 1600
Yugi: 2000
"You walked into that one, Yami," Yugi warned gently. "You need to be careful about magic and trap cards."
Yami gave a mischievous smile. "Thank you for the advice, little one…I only advise you not to underestimate me…"
He stroked Yugi's thigh underneath the table, and Yugi blushed quite red indeed.
"Um…yeah…sure," stammered Yugi, drawing so that he wouldn't have to reply to that comment. "I sacrifice Beaver Warrior in order to summon Gaia the Fierce Knight (2300/2100). Then I play the card Reborn the Monster to bring back the Curse of Dragon (2000/1500) I discarded last turn to the Graveyard, so I can fuse them together with Polymerization to create Gaia the Dragon Champion (2600/2100). Fortunately for you, I can't attack on the same turn my Dragon Champion was created, so I end my turn."
"Good move," Yami complimented, removing his hand from Yugi's thigh (making Yugi relax slightly but also miss the warmness of his touch) and drawing a card. "I summon King's Knight (1600/1400) in attack mode, and then I activate a facedown card, Swords of Revealing Light, preventing you from attacking for three turns."
Yugi frowned slightly and drew with a shrug. "I place Kuriboh (300/200) in defense mode and end my turn."
Yami drew. "I activate the magic card Living Arrow, which lets me use one of your magic cards, and I use Reborn the Monster so I can summon my Queen's Knight back from the Graveyard. With her on the field, by King's Knight's special ability, I may also summon Jack's Knight (1900/1000) to the field in attack mode. That ends my turn."
"I sacrifice Kuriboh to summon the Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)," Yugi answered as he drew a card, "and she gains 300 extra attack points for the Dark Magician I discarded to the Graveyard by Graceful Charity. I end my turn."
Drawing, Yami passed his turn.
Yugi was very confused as to Yami's strategy but nevertheless drew, summoned Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) in attack mode, played a card facedown, and ended his turn.
"Your Swords of Revealing Light have now worn off," he commented. "Next turn, I can attack you again. I hope you're ready."
"And I hope you are," Yami responded.
As the merman-turned-human drew his next card, he smirked. "Alright, little one…you've played a wonderful duel…but now it ends. I play the magic card Black Luster Ritual."
"What?" said Yugi in surprise.
Yami smiled. "Ah good, I was able to surprise you…I didn't think it fair to let you see my entire deck before we dueled, little one, so I picked out a few myself when you were looking for others for me. Sorry about the deception, but I wanted to have some fun."
Yugi smiled too. "That's alright…I only hope you know how to use it!"
"Not to worry, little one," Yami chuckled. "I learned this game from the best…I should at least win one duel I have against him, even if he is going a bit easy on me."
Yugi's smile widened. "Then make your move, my friend."
"I shall," Yami replied. "I sacrifice both King's and Queen's Knight to ritual summon Black Luster Soldier (3000/2500). Then I activate the magic card Diffusion Wave Motion; if I have a level 7 or higher spellcaster, I can attack all of the monsters on your side of the field…I must pay 1000 lifepoints to do so, but it's well worth it."
Yami: 600
Yugi: 2000
Yugi's eyes widened. "Wow, you really did surprise me, didn't you?"
He then grinned. "I've never had such a great duel before!"
Yami smiled fondly in return. "I'm glad I could give you a challenge, little one. I attack your Celtic Guardian, your Dark Magician Girl and your Dragon Champion and wipe out your lifepoints…I win."
"No," Yugi dissented simply.
Yami blinked. "What?"
"You don't win," Yugi elaborated, flipping his facedown card face-up. "I activate the magic card Mirror Force, reflecting your attack back at you."
Yami: 0
Yugi: 2000
"Sorry, Yami," Yugi apologized gently. "I win."
Yami stared at the field for a moment, dumbstruck, before his face broke into a big smile.
"Very good move, little one…very good move."
Yugi looked a bit regretful. "I only wish we could've had a longer duel…it was a lot of fun…and you almost beat me! Are you sure you've never played Duel Monsters before?"
Yami's forehead scrunched up in thought. "…I don't think I've ever played it before…but I don't remember…then again, I don't remember anything…"
"Well, whether you have or haven't," stated Yugi, "you're one of the best duelists I've ever seen…we need to duel again sometime."
Yami placed his hand on Yugi's resting on the table. "I would like that very much, little one."
Yugi blushed slightly, looking into Yami's eyes shyly. He delved into the crimson depths so far that he barely recognized that Yami had started moving closer to him until he had stroked a flyaway hair out of his face and their noses touched…
"Well, well, well…look what we have here."
Yugi and Yami sprung apart and looked up at a group of men who had stopped in front of their table. All five of them were middle-aged and they all had faces that seemed to smirk without them smirking at all.
"The little prince seems to have a look-alike today," remarked one with glasses. "Worried about being recognized in public, little Yugi?"
Yami was about to pretend like the man had been talking to him, but Yugi stopped him.
"What are you doing around here, Johnson?" he inquired, feigning politeness.
"We were just having a discussion about…er…the weaker areas of the government," a balding man answered, a wicked glint in his eyes as he looked down at the young prince.
Yami stood up angrily and looked the man right in the eye. "Perhaps you should consider what makes some areas of government weak…they might be weak because they are so ambitious to gain other things that they aren't focusing on what they can do to benefit others."
"Yami-" Yugi started concernedly.
"And who are you to make such statements, you little stunt-double?" a bearded man demanded coldly.
"I have no title, if that's what you mean," Yami replied, his tone equally cold, "but if you work in the government, titles should be the least of your worries…you should be more concerned with what the people say and want."
A few of the men scoffed: some of them even laughed.
"I'd watch my words if I were you, boy," a man with a thick mustache admonished mockingly. "I'm sure with you being the prince's mimic, you know that if you pay a man enough, he'll walk barefoot into hell."
With that, the group left, chuckling and muttering sinisterly. Yami watched them leave, his scarlet eyes narrowed.
"Those were the men Tea and your grandfather are worried about, aren't they?" he asked Yugi quietly.
"Yes," Yugi murmured. "They're called the Big Five when together…individually, they're Gansley, Crump, Johnson, Nezbitt and Lector."
Yami clenched his fist so hard it bled.
"Yami, don't worry about them," Yugi insisted firmly, ripping off a part of his shirt and wrapping it around Yami's bleeding hand with tenderness. "My friends are so worried about them that they'd never get close to me…and besides…they just don't know any better. Bad people sometimes just don't."
Yami relaxed slightly at Yugi's touch, and he sighed.
"Why don't we go toward the water for a while?" Yugi offered. "It's nice and quiet there…would be nice after that…conversation."
Yami smiled. "That sounds great, little one."
The two rented a boat on the dock and Yugi paddled it through the water toward the weeping willow that he'd told Yami was his secret "hiding place" to think and do work without disruptions.
The sky darkened above them with the second sunset since they first met. Yugi paddled the boat slowly underneath the weeping willow's hanging branches, and for the slight moment that the side of the boat with Yugi was behind the willow's branches and Yami's side was in front of them, Joey popped out of the water near Yami.
"Have you kissed him yet?" he asked immediately.
"No," Yami sighed.
"For crying out loud, man!" Joey snapped. "I've already told you that you don't have much time!"
"I…I don't know what to say to him," Yami confessed awkwardly.
"Just tell him how you feel," Joey advised.
"Are you sure that will be enough?"
"If he loves you back, it will."
"But what if he doesn't?"
"He will, man. He will."
Yami's side of the boat made it through the willow's branches and into the almost-cavern that Yugi loved to hide in. The light of the sunset gently crept in through gaps made by the windblown branches, dancing around the tricolor-haired duo like fairies dancing around some secretive dance floor.
"It's really quite beautiful here, little one," Yami told him, taking Yugi's hands in his. "I understand why you like it so."
Yugi was glad the darkness helped conceal his blush as he again looked into the merman-turned-human's eyes. He quickly stopped himself from falling into them, the memory of his rescuer returning to him.
'Yami might be him…but nothing I've tried today has triggered his memory…and he doesn't remember anything on his own…and what if the Puzzle's wish doesn't help me find the man who rescued me? I'll never be able to repay him…'
"Yugi?" Yami asked concernedly. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," Yugi responded immediately. "I'm fine."
There was a silence. Then he continued,
"Yami?"
"Hmm?"
Yugi hesitated, before stating, "I trust you more than any of my other friends…I wonder if I could confide in you."
"Of course, Yugi," Yami answered. "I would never betray your trust."
Yugi smiled slightly, glad for his reassurance. "Well…I was on my friend Valon's ship on my birthday a few days ago…"
And he explained everything about the party on the ship, the storm that followed, him running to retrieve the Puzzle and the mysterious man who had rescued him.
"…And I don't know who or where he is…I just…feel awful I can't do anything to thank him for rescuing me…and I am curious about what he called me…'aibou'…it almost sounds like a word in an ancient language-"
"Partner," Yami interrupted.
"What?"
"Aibou means 'partner,'" Yami elaborated, remembering what Ryou said to him before and his heart sinking. "It's a term for life companions…mates."
Yugi stared at Yami for quite some time. Then he whispered, "How did you know that?"
Yami froze.
"I…I don't know," he lied.
'I feel bad lying to you, Yugi…but it's the safest thing I can say…'
Yami's heart felt like it had gone cold.
'That man who rescued you…he's a merman…and he's in love with you…'
He looked at Yugi to see him deep in thought.
'Are you in love with him…?'
Yugi didn't say anything else concerning his rescuer or "aibou"; instead he quickly suggested that they should return to the castle before night fell. Yami sadly agreed and the two headed to shore.
"It seems even without his memory, the little blackfish is one smart cookie," Dartz muttered as he popped the bubble he'd created with the image of Yugi and Yami together, his shark tail swishing in the water angrily. "At this rate, he'll be kissing him by sunset…and I will not let the strongest soul in the ocean wrench out of my grasp…"
Yugi stood on his balcony looking out to sea, fitting pieces into his puzzle and thinking about Yami now sleeping in the room across the hall.
'How did he know about 'aibou'? Does that mean he really did rescue me?'
He shook his head slightly.
'The only two options I have is…should I keep searching for the man who called me his 'partner'…or should I be with Yami? I…I really care about Yami…I'd do anything to make him happy…but if the man who rescued me wanted me to be his life companion…'
He looked down at his puzzle, which was now one piece away from completion.
'Should I still wish to find him…or should I wish for Yami to remember his past?'
After a few moments of thinking, he picked up the final piece of the puzzle and was about to put it in when…
"Aibou…"
A quiet yet oddly haunting voice called this single word along the beach as if making a mellow search for a puppy.
"Aibou…"
Yugi looked around the beach by his balcony to see a man with hair down on his shoulders with spiky bangs and sharp-lidded eyes walking along the shore toward his balcony.
"Aibou…"
Yugi would've called and asked who the person was, but something around the man's neck had caught his attention: a blue-green pendant with a circle-surrounded six-pointed star that seemed to glow in the dark.
It seemed odd this pendant was so striking, but it was like the pendant had frozen him in place like a statue as its light slyly sneaked into his senses, clouding his reason…
"Aibou…"