A/N: A new chapter of Reflection. Hmm, I wonder if you can guess who Atemu's old friend is... Oh, and have I mentioned that I think everyone that's reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story is amazing? Because it's true. Please review.
Reflection
Chapter 3: Unsolved Problems
He wasn't exactly sure what to think when the door to the store opened, the telltale sign of a customer showing up. However, the surprise and confusion faded as he realized that it wasn't any real customer at all but instead it was Yugi, and a friend of his. Both of them were chatting away, barely even noticing that he was standing there bored to death. There was something about Yugi's friend though, that just completely started to draw him in. Maybe it was the fact that they looked so much alike except for the air of innocence that the other carried around him, one that he would really enjoy turning into something completely different.
"Good afternoon Bakura, it's nice to see you. Atemu wouldn't happen to be working this afternoon, would he?" the short amethyst eyed boy asked him.
He held back a laugh at the question, the kid was right to the damn point as usual.
"Sorry kid, it just so happens that today is his day off. You know, it's a bit rare but he does get one of those every once in a while. Now then, are you going to introduce me to this friend of yours and then maybe, oh, I don't know, buy something, or what?" he answered, eyeing Yugi's friend.
The white haired kid looks a bit upset that Atemu isn't there but it's absolutely nothing compared to how upset Yugi looks. It wasn't surprising though, the two of them weren't just brothers but twins, and before last week they hadn't seen each other in over a decade. Not that that was hard to forget, with Atemu complaining about the span of time once every week or so.
"Oh yeah, I guess that he does need to have a day or two off every once in a while, I just wasn't expecting him not to be here. I'll just phone him later then. This is Ryou, by the way, he started renting out an apartment right by ours the day after we moved in. And Ryou, this is Bakura, I mentioned him to you earlier," Yugi explained.
Ryou smiled at him, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that the guy is blushing, though he figures that it most likely isn't voluntary on his part. It distracts him though, and he barely catches Yugi's order or even the smile that's somehow found its way onto his face. But he does hear it, barely, and calls to the other worker to start making the hot chocolate.
"Bakura, I would like a small coffee and one of those cinnamon buns with cream cheese, please," Ryou requests, more politely than he had seen in a long time.
The way that his name just seems to roll off of Ryou's tongue makes him want to ravish the boy right where he stood. He resisted the strong temptation though, because Yugi was right there. And if Yugi saw it than Atemu would know, and he'd never be able to live it down. But when the beauty gives him a $10 bill to pay for the order, he gives him the exact same amount in change, making sure that he made contact with the other's hand. The blush colouring Ryou's face making him even more appealing, he figured out.
"You don't have to worry about paying, Ryou, it's on the house, courtesy of me," he told Ryou, as he tried to give back some of the change.
Yugi rolled his eyes at the small scene and his annoying coworker was snickering off in the background, clearly seeing his odd behavior. Oh, screw it, he no longer cared about what Atemu would do once he heard about any of this. Something holds him back from bluntly asking Ryou out or placing a firm kiss on those pale lips like he usually would do. For some odd reason, he actually cares what this boy will think of him once he walks out the door. And in the end, he still doesn't know what to think about these two customers. Or at least one of the two.
Ryou had never had that much luck with his friends. Most of them would eventually lose interest in him once they discovered that he didn't have some ridiculous hidden depressing part of him or he would be forced to move to a different town, once again. And so, because he had never really had any friends before now, he had also never had a boyfriend, or even a girlfriend for that matter. Sure, he knew his own preferences but he had never really gone on a date before. Well, except for that one time where the person asking him out had meant it as a joke, which really hadn't turned out well at all.
So, that was why he was standing outside of Yugi and Jono's apartment, hesitating. Were the two of them sick and tired of him showing up every morning? Sure, it had only been a week but it had been every day. Or what if Yugi and Bakura had some horrible past that he was unaware of, and he accidentally brought up bad memories when he planned to ask about the guy? It was really annoying him, but soon enough he was able to ignore the questions and knock on the door.
"Ryou, the door's already open! I'm already making pancakes too, if you want any," Jono yelled from the kitchen.
He could just see Yugi rolling his eyes at the blond man, or maybe even scolding him for yelling inside, and to use an "inside voice". Once he smelt the delicious smell that had carried its way from the kitchen area, all of the previous hesitation he had disappeared and all other coherent thought went along with it. Who would have thought that Jono of all people would be a really good cook?
"Good morning, Ryou," Yugi greeted with a smile, as he sat down at the kitchen counter.
Three plates were already out on the counter, including the half empty one that was right in front of Yugi. It looked like they had actually been expecting him to show up in the mornings. Maybe they didn't actually mind him coming over all the time like this? Or was it just that they expected him to show up now, whether they actually wanted him to or not?
"Good morning, Yugi. How was that job interview that you had yesterday evening?" Ryou asked, shoving the questions to back of his mind.
"I got the same response as before. They told me that I had a great resume but that they didn't think that I was suited for the job, and then sent me on my way. Oh well, the boss seemed like a real bitch anyways. However, Jono got a job as a waiter at some fancy restaurant downtown."
"How did you manage that one, Jono? Those types of restaurants are usually unbelievably picky with who they hire, no matter what you have on your resume."
Jono turned around, away from the stove, a crazy grin on his face, and a plate full of pancakes in his hand. "I only got the job because of my crazy awesome skill at being a server. Well, that and I was a server at a fancy restaurant back in our old town."
Yugi rolled his eyes and shook his head at his friend but not once did he deny that Jono had "crazy skill" at being a waiter, or a server, as the blonde seemed to like to call it. Ryou guessed that this meant that Jono was actually good at the job. And it was a bit surprising seeming the only other things that he seemed to be good at was cooking, being stubborn, getting drunk, and recovering from hangovers. Oh, and attracting a certain clingy blonde woman, he couldn't forget that one. She had been over at the apartment once or twice already since the first time he had ever seen her a week ago.
"Hey Ryou, snap out of it. You already devoured all of the food on your plate, so there's no point in attempting to get the non-existent crumbs on your plate, seeming you already ate all of them," the tri-colour haired teen teased.
When the white haired man looked down in shock, he realized that all of his food had in fact disappeared from his plate, not a single crumb left in sight. "Sorry about that, I was just that the list of things that Jono is actually good at is incredibly short and it's also full of things that you don't actually need. Such as the ability to attract ridiculously beautiful women but are way too annoying to actually be able to hold a conversation with or at least one in particular, Mai."
Yugi burst out laughing at the joke, but Jono was quick to defend the girl. "Hey, don't insult her like that. She's actually rather funny and smart and so good in bed that the two of you would never even begin to be able to imagine it. She's got a big heart too, when she tries."
"Well then, that's all the better for you then. Especially seeming I doubt there's any chance of me or Yugi even wanting to find out just how good she is in bed, seeming we're gay, and not just bi like you are."
Jono started to pout and became overly attentive to the pancakes sitting in front of him, shoving them into his mouth. It was then that Ryou knew that he couldn't come up with a comeback that was better than the one that he had just given him. Soon enough, Yugi stopped laughing at Jono's expense and the room fell into a strange state of silence. None of them even dared to try and break it. And slowly, as he had nothing to distract himself with, his mind drifted back to what he had been think about earlier.
"Do either of you think that it's annoying how I come over here every morning and eat breakfast with you guys? Because I can just start actually eating at my own apartment instead of here," he blurted out.
Both of the others turned to stare at him, as if he had grown a second head or had started sprouting off random nonsense for no reason at the top of his lungs. Were they really that shocked that he thought they might actually think that? Or was it that they just didn't expect him to realize what a bother he truly was? Or – he tried to stop thinking, the endless possibilities going through his head was just making this waiting even worse.
"Why would you ever think such a thing, Ryou? We aren't the type of people that would just let you keep coming over every morning if we didn't want to actually be friends with you, and I'm sure that I'm speaking for both of us when I say that we like you coming over in the mornings like this," Yugi tried to explain.
Jono smiled softly. "What Yugi is trying to say is that if we didn't like you than we would have already blown up at you for eating so much of our food all the time. But because we do like you, we don't actually care that you eat so much. So, keep coming over like this. Just, oh I don't know, maybe buy some groceries for us sometime or buy us dinner one time to make up for it."
Ryou's brown eyes widened as he realized that these two actually did care about him, and just didn't keep him around for some selfish reason or another. He was so into trying to make the thought process through his mind that he didn't notice Yugi glare over at Jono and then snap something at his and then vice versa. In fact, it wasn't until several minutes later that he finally snapped out of it, the doorbell going off in some tune making him finally come to his senses.
"Atemu!" Yugi called, his eyes somehow lightening as he raced towards the door. Ryou noticed that this was the happiest he had ever seen his friend.
Atemu? Where was it that he had heard that name before just now? But before Ryou was able to figure out where he'd heard that name before, a man walked into the room, Yugi walking happily beside him. The differences between Yugi and the man were few, only consisting of a bit of a height difference, sharper exotic crimson eyes, and a jaw line that wasn't as round and soft as Yugi's was. And that was when Ryou remembered, Atemu was Yugi's twin that he had gone to meet yesterday with Yugi.
"You must be Ryou, Yugi here has mentioned you quite a bit these past few days," Atemu commented.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Atemu. I have to say that Yugi has probably talked more about you to me than he has mentioned me to you, though," he responded.
Yugi started to anxiously spit out words and uselessly tried to deny that he had ever mentioned either one of us to the other one. He was completely ignored as Atemu sat beside Ryou at the kitchen counter, in the only available seat left.
"How would you like some pancakes, Atemu? There's still plenty of batter left here, Yugi and I are full, and I'm sure that Yugi's mentioned that Ryou's stomach is somewhat similar to a black hole, so he's not getting any more than the 7 or 8 that he's already devoured," Jono asked.
"No, I'm fine, Jono, I had breakfast before coming over here. I would have saved some room for some if I had known you were making them though. Maybe another day," Atemu responded.
It was quiet again for a few minutes as Jono started on the last 2 pancakes that were left on his plate and Yugi ignored everyone, still upset about how his twin and one of his friends had turned against him. Or at least, that was how it had happened in his mind. Atemu and Ryou both just sat there, awkwardly waiting for someone else to start a conversation.
"So, mou hitori no boku, what brings you out to our apartment this morning? I hope that nothing happened," Yugi asked, finally giving up on attempting to ignore the two.
"No, you don't have to worry, Aibou, nothing happened. There are just a couple of things that I felt the need to talk to you about and they gave me the perfect opportunity to slip away from the house and our overbearing mother for an hour or four," the elder twin responded.
Ryou really began to notice just how close the two twins were. They really didn't act like twin who apparently hadn't seen each other in over a decade. In fact, they acted closer than any other siblings that he had ever seen, twins or not. And this was including the relationship he had shared with his younger sister, which had been many years ago.
"So, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about, then?"
"Well, first things first, an old friend of mine from school was complaining to me last night that the shop his family own really needs some new, more experienced employees. It's an art store, so I was thinking that it would be in your line of expertise and all."
Yugi's eyes brightened and he practically seemed to glow at the thought of working at an art store. "Of course I'd like a job at a place like that, it would be wonderful. Can you give me the name and number of the place later? Then I can phone them and send in my resume sometime soon. This really is great, Jono has a job at a restaurant downtown and I might be working at an art store."
Atemu looked over at Jono, who was leaning back in his chair ever so slightly and half-listening to the conversation. "What's the name of the restaurant that you're working at, Jono?"
"Hmm, oh, the name of the restaurant is actually kind of wacky. It's called 'Blue Eyes White Dragon', but what's even stranger is that my boss seems to be a 15 year old," Jono commented.
Atemu looked back over to Yugi, and Yugi's eyes suddenly widened in realization. Jono looked back and forth as Yugi suddenly burst out laughing for the second time, and Atemu just smirked, as if he was holding some big secret. Sure the name of the restaurant wasn't exactly normal but was it really that funny?
"Seto is running his uncle's business now? And then even getting Mokuba to do all of the other work like going job interviews, it's all so stereotypical of him. That's just hilarious," Jono looked at Yugi in confusion, "Oh yeah, Jono, the 15 year old wasn't really your boss, he was actually your boss's younger brother, and mine and Atemu's cousin. Trust me, you're going to, uh, like the guy all right," Yugi commented, his laughter boiling down to innocent giggles.
"Alright then…? So, Atemu, what was that other thing that you wanted to tell Yugi about, then?" the blonde asked, trying to change the subject.
The elder twin's expression changed from a smirk into a small annoyed frown. "The other thing that I came over here to talk to you about if that Mother wishes for you to join us for dinner this Sunday evening, Yugi."
An odd tension suddenly appeared in the room, making Jono and Ryou both wonder just how much of a delicate subject Yugi's mother was. But on the twin's side of things, it seemed that they were having a small wordless argument, neither side wanted to lose to the other side. Finally the tension disappeared, and the argument ended, with Yugi sighing and breaking eye contact from his older brother.
"Fine, I'll go. But I'm only going to be nice if she's going to be."