Well, this chapter is longer than I originally thought it was going to be. Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying this and please enjoy this next installment.
It had been over a week before Yugi dared to even think about that stupid tablet. Instead he spent his time mulling over other things. Namely his and Atemu's fast approaching birthday. It was the day after tomorrow, the day that they would turn sixteen and Atemu would be given (or sent since Akhnankhamun was now in Egypt again) the Millennium Puzzle. He still wasn't sure what the hell the thing did, but hopefully it wasn't anything too baffling. He didn't think he could cope.
Yugi had been attempting to think of ways to approach Atemu before he was sent back to Egypt. Bakura had told him that, the day he had gone back to school. The day after their birthday Atemu would be leaving for Egypt again, most likely never to return. That thought made him feel cold inside. As much as he had detested the idea of being a prince and having to change, the past few weeks had somehow reconciled Yugi with his brother. Vague memories from when they were kids came back to him at night, along with the strange nightmares which had started after he had seen the tablet of the Nameless Pharaoh, but one in particular stood out.
Yugi had wondered how the Millennium Puzzle had been put back together, even if he wasn't sure how he had known it was originally in pieces (and he was not taking the word of a dream to explain why). But now that he thought about it, the answer came to him. It had been him and Atem. He remembered being about three when the puzzle had originally been handed to them and they had spent every waking moment working on it between them, much to their parent's delight and despair. There had been many arguments over whether or not they should be spending more time in the garden, to which their answer would always be "so long as we can take the puzzle too." It had been a fond memory, right up until they had completed it and their father had taken it away from them. He had barely been able to remember what it looked like but now he knew that the pendant his father had been wearing the day they came was that exact puzzle. So why had it been given to them in the first place?
Of course when they had completed it they had been five and about a week later, Akhnankhamun and Atemu had left. So of course, Yugi remembered that rather than the puzzle and he had never had cause to think on it before now. And yet, with all the craziness of the last few weeks, that was what had come back to him. He must be going mad he decided.
The dreams were strange as well. No longer did he see his brother dying in front of him, although that still came up quite a lot. A few times he had been wandering around a tomb, other times the desert. But always alone, always crying. One time he thought Ryou was there, but then he had turned out to be Bakura who stood atop some kind of stone, melting into sand. It had been horrible. Another time he had watched Mahad be sucked into a blank stone tablet that kind of looked like the front of a Duel Monsters card. A girl had sat in front of it, crying her eyes out. She kind of looked like Dark Magician Girl except she was wearing a beige dress and boots, and was brunette and tanned instead of blonde. But she still had big green eyes like the Duel Monsters card.
Yugi didn't want to dwell on those dreams since they were disturbing and frightened him. He knew now that his uncle was a mad man and he was glad that he didn't know him personally. In fact, it made him feel sorry for Kaiba, who was stuck with him as a father and it explained so much about how protective he was of Mokuba. Having a psychopath as a father had to be hard, especially since Kaiba also ran a multi-billion dollar company on top of it all. But he also knew that there was more to Bakura than just a thief and troublemaker. Yugi used to be scared of Bakura, avoiding him at all costs, but since he had gotten to know him through Atemu's letters (which he had finally found the courage to read) as well as personally, he found that he couldn't bring himself to fear the boy any longer. It seemed that everyone's lives around him were as skewed as his own.
Yugi took that day to visit Serenity with Joey, who had had her eye operation only the day before. Yugi wondered what it must be like not being able to see. Terrifying, probably. Thankfully, she would be able to see once the bandages were removed. He was actually pretty nervous, since the last time he had met Serenity they had both still been in junior school.
"How is Serenity getting on?" Yugi asked as they walked into the reception area. Joey was just grinning like an idiot, happy that his sister would be able to see soon.
"Great! Another week and the bandages come off!" Joey replied. He was eyeing the café in the corner and Yugi rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure Serenity's got some food in her room," he said and Joey laughed, wandering off down and corridor and up a flight of stairs.
"Yeah, probably." Joey paused a moment, his smile slipping from his face. "How's Atemu?"
The pair had barely spoken about his brother the past week, only pausing every so often to talk about Atemu's bronchitis, which was now clearing up (although Yugi had heard from Mokuba about how Seto had to practically hold Atemu down to get him to take his medicine). Joey was still confused on the whole matter and Yugi wasn't feeling inclined to helping him out. He wanted to keep his problems to himself.
"Ok. Mokuba was practically giggling through the phone the last time he called about him," Yugi said, wishing that the stairs weren't so steep. His only were only so long. Joey looked confused.
"Why?" Yugi kept his face blank.
"Atemu didn't want to take the medication. I could hear them arguing through the phone." Joey's eyebrows were slowing rising up his face and looking like he wanted to laugh. "They were on the other side of the house." A snort of laughter made its way down Joey's nose as he looked at Yugi incredulously.
"Really?" Yugi nodded, a smile slipping on his face. It was pretty funny looking back on it. He could tell why Mokuba was giggling so much, although it probably also had something to do with the fact that Seto seemed to constantly be shouting "She's not my girlfriend!" Yugi hadn't dared to ask what that was about for fear of losing all coherency from Mokuba.
"I'm guessing it must be something to watch." Yugi said as they finally reached the first floor. He really hated the fact that Domino Hospital had old rickety stairs whilst the rest of it was so high tech. That and the elevator were for patients and disabled people only. "I've never seen Atemu sick." It was almost an afterthought and one he kind of wished hadn't run through his head. It was a sudden reminder that they were practically strangers to one another. Joey blinked and turned to look at him.
"Do you miss him?" Joey asked, sounding both surprised and understanding at the same time. Yugi paused, clutching to the banister if only to stop himself from falling back down the stairs. Ever since the nightmares had started at the museum he had felt extra concerned about Atemu. Sure, while they were apart he had been kind of worried through his anger and bewilderment about everything, but he had been used to that. Now… now it was as if he really had once watched his brother die in his arms and couldn't bear for the same thing to happen twice. And yes, he could admit to himself, this time round was different because he honestly did miss Atemu. He had gotten to know him enough for that to happen, for him to have dug out memories that Yugi had thought he had forgotten that made being apart more painful.
"Yes. I can't explain it but… it's like there's only half of me around anymore. Like, I wasn't whole until Atemu came back and when he was around I didn't realise it until we were apart again." Yugi bit his lip and looked at the floor. "The thing is, Joey, Atemu goes homes the day after our birthday. Forever. I won't see him again unless I go to Egypt too."
"Then go with him." Yugi blinked and looked up at his friend. Joey was staring at him in all seriousness. "School finishes for the holidays in two weeks. I'm sure they'll let you off to go and visit your family in Egypt for a while."
"I thought you didn't like Atemu," Yugi said, confused and yet happy at the same time that his friend was trying to support him. Joey screwed his nose up a bit, but Yugi recognised this as his thinking face.
"Well, Atemu isn't my favourite person but he's still your brother. And your my best pal Yug', which means that I'll support you no matter what!" Yugi grinned but there was one problem with Joey's plan. He wondered if Daisuke would tell him off if he was around (Yugi had asked him to stay at the hospital entrance. They weren't going anywhere other than Serenity's room for the next hour anyway).
"There's just one problem with that Joey. Uncle Akhnadin."
"Who?" Joey looked really confused now. Yugi sighed, still not sure on all the details himself.
"My uncle Akhnadin, Seto's dad, wants to be king in my dad's place or something and have Seto in line for the throne. Apparently he wasn't happy that he got substituted while he was away. Anyway, he doesn't even know that I exist because if he did he would be trying extra hard to kill both me and Atemu off. So I can't go to Egypt just because I feel like it." Yugi looked at the floor again as Joey stared at him in horror.
"And I thought my family was messed up. You mean rich boy's real father wants you dead? And he's ok with that?"
"Not really," Yugi said. "Kaiba doesn't want anything to do with his dad because he doesn't approve of most of his life. Something to do with Mokuba and someone called 'Kisara'." Joey looked as confused as Yugi had when he had first heard that statement. Maybe that was what Atemu was teasing Kaiba about last night. "So he's trying to help dad to stop him from succeeding. Which means we're stuck with Daisuke and Bakura for pretty much the rest of our lives."
"Wait, did you just say Bakura?" Joey asked. "What's he got to do with anything?"
"Err…" Yugi had forgotten he hadn't told Joey that Bakura was the unofficial bodyguard from New Thebes. He hadn't really thought about it all that much, not even when he glanced up at school in lunch to find Bakura scowling at the world from his usual spot under the cherry tree. Now he realised that Bakura usually had his eyes trained on them or anyone remotely close to his group of friends. Freaky, yet effective. "My dad kinda sent him to Japan… to look after me… cos he, um, knows how to fight off uncle's people…" Yugi wasn't actually all that sure what Bakura did but he couldn't think of any freaky people that had come after him (apart from the one guy who had been complained about but he had never been found, nor had he ever approached him anyway). Joey just looked confused.
"I'll take your word for it. Come on, Serenity's waiting!"
Ryou wondered whether or not he was a bad son to feel happy at this moment in time. His mother and father were very nice to him and all, especially towards all the weird stuff that happened to him, but sometimes he couldn't stand the limitations they set him. There was always a feeling that he didn't belong here and he felt bad whenever that thought ran through his head. He had only told them once and his mother had burst into tears while his father had scowled, looking disappointed. So Ryou did his best to please them.
The problem was, Ryou felt certain that this wasn't his place to be. He was always on the wrong side of a bully's fist, but somehow, he instinctively knew how to block and hide so that they didn't do too much damage. Ryou was very good at hiding. He had the perfect place behind the school all laid out for the times when he would skip class so that the bullies wouldn't continue during free periods or registration. He also found the world around him strange, even though he had no proper memories of anything other than Japan. One vague memory showed that he had once lived somewhere with very little electricity considering he could see the stars. They were bright in an inky dark sky and someone had been cuddled up close to him. Well, three people really, but two must have been his real parents so he supposed those didn't count. Perhaps the one he remembered the most had been a sibling? He didn't know.
And so, Ryou wandered through the house that day, very much alone and yet much happier because of it. When alone he didn't have to pretend. He didn't have to be the perfect son with perfect manners and perfect grades. His father always told him that even though he had been born in poverty he shouldn't let that hold him back. But that just made him wonder what had happened to his parents. What had happened to that warm and comforting presence he could remember whispering to him at night when he had been scared. He couldn't remember what the words meant though, which was depressing. He wished he knew what that person had been saying.
He wondered what his parents would say if they knew how their son really felt. Sad and disappointed most probably. Haima Hashini wasn't able to have any children and she doted on her adoptive son as if he were her own. She would never let him out of her sight if she could help it and hated it when she caught Ryou tending to the bruises the bullies left. She was also the one who insisted that he was meant to be a part of their family but sometimes Ryou did wonder. There was one tiny memory, well more of a dream really, that he couldn't let go.
He must have been about five and he was sitting in a room that was filled with sand and a few wooden toys. There was one in his hand that day, some kind of hippopotamus that you could move the mouth up and down. He hadn't really been playing with it, just holding it close and waiting. In his dream his father would come up and take him away but there was another man babbling away in that strange language, the one that he couldn't understand. He had seemed frantic, attempting to grab Ryou by the material of his shirt and pull him back but his father was having none of it. Then the dream would change and he would be sitting in a jeep leaning out the window as someone shouted his name "Ryou…! Ryou!" He couldn't remember ever seeing that person, nothing but a flash of white hair and blood trickling down tanned skin. After that it was all darkness. He really wished he knew what that person looked like.
There was a click as the door opened and Ryou pasted a smile on his face as his mother walked into the room. She smiled too when she caught sight of him.
"All finished with your homework Ryou?" she asked as she gave him a hug. Ryou nodded, not trusting himself to lie convincingly. He was too distracted to concentrate on his homework but she didn't have to know that. "Good. Now I need a shower so I'll be back down in five ok?" With that she was gone and Ryou sighed, sitting on the sofa.
The real reason he wasn't able to concentrate on his homework was a certain tanned boy from the museum. Bakura, the others had called him. Ryou knew that he resembled the boy in some way, Joey's reaction to him when they first met being one of them, but he hadn't been prepared for the truth of the matter. This other Bakura looked more as if he wanted every one of them on the spot rather than be dragged around the museum. And then he flippant comments on the artefacts and how boring it all was… well, he supposed it would seem boring if you came from Egypt. But Ryou couldn't brush off the fact that this boy seemed somewhat familiar to him which made him wonder if he had ever met the boy before. But that was impossible. Apart from some similar colouring in terms of hair and build, they were nothing alike. For one thing, Ryou certainly never wanted to rob anybody.
Ryou wondered if something had happened to the boy to leave him in the state he was in. The scar under his right eye attested to the fact that he had a harder life than most, although that just made Ryou want to ask him how he had gotten it. However it had been, it must have been painful.
"I'm back!" his father shouted as he too walked through the front door and Ryou jumped. Time to put on the mask of the perfect son and hope that his parents didn't find the pile of unfinished homework.
Yugi took a deep breath as he walked up to the mansion's front door. He could have simply called Mokuba and got him to pass the message on but Yugi missed his brother more than he would like to admit, along with the fact that this could be the last time he would see him. Time to put things right in the end.
Daisuke was tagging along behind him and Joey had stayed behind at the hospital to spend the day with Serenity. Yugi wondered if his mother would let the pair stay together now that they were bonding again but he doubted it. Mrs Wheeler had no love for her husband and wouldn't want her daughter anywhere near the man. However this had left Yugi with no one other than the freaky bodyguard behind him to give him the courage needed to knock on that door. Daisuke was nice enough, if a bit silent and blunt, but Yugi still hadn't got used to being followed constantly.
The doorbell sounded deafening to Yugi's ears and nerves curled in his stomach. What fi Atemu didn't want to see him? But that was stupid. His brother had seemed distraught that he had thought he didn't care. That, and Atemu had always been around whenever he needed him no matter what. That left Yugi with the problem that he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to see Atemu, but deep down he wanted nothing more than to curl in his brother's arms and never let go. Ever. Eventually the door opened to reveal Roland.
"Mr Moto!" Roland exclaimed, sounding surprised. Well, he hadn't exactly given them any warning. "What are you doing here?"
"I was wondering if I could see Atemu? Before he returns to Egypt," Yugi said and the man's eyes softened, although it was hard to tell behind his dark glasses.
"Of course. I should warn you now though, he and Mr Kaiba are out at the school* right now." Yugi stared at him wondering what on earth that meant. Roland ushered him inside without any extra explanation, exchanging a few words with Daisuke. He then led Yugi through the house, out the back door and through the copious fields behind the house. Things suddenly became a lot clearer when he caught sight of a fenced off area filled with sand and rubber. Two horses and riders were taking it in turns to jump the terrifyingly large jumps set up within the area.
Mokuba was already there, leaning against the fence and it took Yugi then realised who the two riders were, although he probably should have known by the red, black and golden hair that was visible under one riding hat. Seto Kaiba was mounted upon a grey horse with blue eyes while Atemu sat upon a great bay with dark knowing eyes. Yugi could only stare as he watched his brother guide the horse towards a huge jump made up of a painted wooden filler, made to look like a brick wall. The horse flew over it with no problems, snorting as if to say 'was that supposed to be a challenge?' Yugi heard his brother laughing and call out to Kaiba in Wesret, who rolled his eyes, following a slightly different route to the same jump. Yugi could see that Kaiba was not as good as Atemu and yet he still took the jump without so much as a blink of surprise, which only made Yugi respect him a little more. He would never have done anything like that in his life.
It was then that Mokuba noticed him. "Yugi!" he shouted waving at him. The bay snorted and danced away and Atemu blinked, startled by both the horse's movement and the appearance of his brother.
"Hare- What are you doing here, Yugi?" Atemu said, stumbling slightly between the two languages. That was the first time that Yugi had ever seen Atemu do that, which was strange and jolted the truth home about how much life was different between them.
"I…" Truthfully Yugi wasn't all too sure how to put the reason into words. "I heard you were leaving." That was safer than most of the things he wanted to say. Atemu seemed confused and it was the most open he had ever seen his brother. Most of the time he just kept a careful neutral expression when he was unsure of something.
"Err… yes, the day after our birthday." Unlike Yugi, Atemu didn't hesitate in the use of 'our'.
"I was wondering if… well, Grandpa was going to hold a party at the Game shop for us before all this…" Yugi was really making a hash of this but he didn't really know what to say. It was like they were strangers again, with nothing in common. "I wondered if you still wanted to come…" He couldn't meet Atemu's eyes knowing what he had put him through. Atemu's answer was surprising.
"I didn't know if you wanted me there." The mask had slipped back into place, his brother's voice carefully neutral. Yugi wanted nothing more than to run up to his brother and hug him but there was the problem of the fence and horse that kind of impeded that.
"I do…" Yugi whispered. There was a soft thud and suddenly a pair of arms was around his shoulders. Yugi sighed, suddenly feeling complete again, and wrapped his own arms around his brother, holding on for dear life. He never wanted Atemu to leave again but the problem was, he would. In three days. "I'm sorry I left."
"Don't be," Atemu murmured. Up close, Yugi could still hear a slight croak to his brother's voice, no doubt the remnants of the bronchitis. "You had every right to be angry."
"So you'll come?" Yugi asked. He felt rather than heard Atemu laugh as his brother nodded.
"Of course." Yugi then found himself eyeing the bay which was being held by Roland, who didn't look particularly happy with the situation. The horse didn't seem to like him either, dancing around and snorting.
"Um, Atemu…" His brother hummed as he walked back over to the horse, taking the reins from Roland. "How on earth do you ride that thing?" Yugi blushed then as Kaiba snorted under his hat. Yugi had never sat on a horse, nor been this close to one. The bay seemed terrified compared to the grey that Kaiba rode, twice as big and with a vicious temperament. Atemu just laughed quietly and shook his head.
"It's not that hard. Here," he said and grabbing Yugi's hand as he bent down to pick a handful of grass. The horse snorted, staring down at him with contempt. "Don't hesitate, he doesn't like that," Atemu whispered as he gave the grass to Yugi. He gulped, wondering if his brother had thought this through.
"Um, I don't know..." Yugi started but Atemu just pushed him forward.
"Offer him the grass and keep your hand flat. And make sure your thumb doesn't get in the way, he might think it's a piece of grass," Atemu said. Yugi held his hand out tentatively, trying to follow Atemu's instructions. He felt slightly bolder knowing that his brother didn't want to harm him intentionally. The horse eyed him suspiciously before stepping closing and taking the picked grass from Yugi's hand as gently as a breath of wind. Yugi giggled as the horse's lips tickled his hand and then yelped as a pink tongue came out to slobber up the last remaining pieces of grass. Atemu laughed and patted the horse's neck.
"Trojan likes to check that he's got everything," he said, crimson eyes alight. Yugi had only seen his brother this animated over games before. He moved towards him to make sure that the horse wouldn't try to kill him or anything its head followed him, the nose nudging him slightly as if asking if he had any more. "He likes you," Atemu said appraisingly. Yugi swore he heard Kaiba mutter something like "don't know why, that horse hates everyone," as he rode past. He watched under Trojan's neck as Kaiba approached a jump made up of two green and yellow striped poles that made a rather large cross, although the smallest of the jumps set up.
"How long have you been around horses?" Yugi asked in awe as Kaiba cleared the jump easily, even if the boy seemed irked about something. Atemu shrugged, still stroking Trojan's neck.
"Since I was six. Father insisted I learn early. 'A prince of Egypt knows his horse, his weapons and his people'," Atemu suddenly quoted, sounding both bitter and as if this were a concept that had been drilled into him for as long as that. Well, it was no wonder he was good if he had been riding that long with nothing much else to distract him.
"Oh." Yugi wondered if he would be forced to learn in the not too distant future. Atemu seemed to notice his tone of voice and gave him a long calculating stare.
"Do you want to try?" Yugi jumped and stared at his brother for a moment.
"I don't know how," Yugi said, eyeing Trojan and the as-yet-unnamed mount that Kaiba was riding. He was most definitely going to fall if he attempted the jumps. Atemu just shook his head.
"I'll teach you. And I won't make you go over the jumps," he promised, taking the hat from his head. Yugi took a deep breath. Mokuba was already heading over to Seto anyway, who had already got off the horse. The younger Kaiba brother had his own hat in hand and was being helped onto the grey by his brother, who had somehow gotten his hands on a length of rope somewhere. He nodded and took the proffered hat, wondering how he got up on the horse to start with.
"Here," Atemu said, leading Yugi over to a plastic block that had steps formed into it. Yugi didn't need to be told any more than that, ascending the steps and sliding a leg over the saddle. Weirdly it had no stirrups and Yugi wondered what he was supposed to do with his legs. The horse shifted slightly underneath him and Yugi gripped the saddle with his hands and legs, suddenly wondering why he was even attempting this. "No, don't grip Yugi," Atemu admonished, resting one hand on Yugi's thigh. "You'll only make Trojan nervous. Horses are sensitive to their rider's feelings and f something upsets them, then they think there is something to fear as well. Relax, Trojan can't go anywhere. I have the reins." The sound of Atemu's voice, calm and reassuring, helped Yugi to relax slightly and Trojan seemed to settle again.
Atemu then showed him how to hold the reins, which was different than how he had ever imagined one to hold them. Like holding tea cups rather than a tray. "Direction is supposed to come from the seat," Atemu explained as he showed Yugi how to urge Trojan forward, "as well as speed. But you don't need to worry about that right now since I've got you." He then gave a gentle tug on the reins and Trojan followed, calmer than he had been earlier. After a few terrified moments, Yugi found himself so relaxed that he was starting to enjoy himself. The easy gait of the horse beneath made him feel relaxed, even if the saddle wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. And for the first time that week, he found that the smile on his face was real.
*I do a lot of riding myself and so I should explain that the arena that you ride in is called a school. Confusing when the whole place you go to is a 'riding school' so saying school could just mean about anything. Just in case you didn't know and got confused. I won't mention how weird/hard it was to write this out from the point of view of someone who knows nothing about horses since my family has been around them all my life.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and reconciliation! Well, for some of our characters anyway.
So review answers:
angiembabe: hey look Yugi now understands stuff! i told you they would get together again except now there's another problem in the way... Sorry about that. It shall be resolved don't worry!
Aqua Girl 007: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, I did too! Unfortunately I haven't heard of those books although they do sound interesting. At the moment getting through the stack of seven Game of Thrones books that I got for my birthday about month ago since I only just found time to start reading stuff non-school related. But good news: Mana's in the next chapter!
Guest 1: Don't worry. They've stopped lying now :)
Guest 2: Akhnadin will appear soon, I promise! Most of the characters are in the wrong place at the moment though, but trust me. They will all be in the right place soon and then he'll start to play a major part in this.