Part 7 – Performances: Preparations

Yugi decided to go home to let Seto mull over what course of action he would take in approaching the media. Besides, Yugi had overstayed his stay at Seto's mansion either way, it was time for him to leave.

He reached the gameshop, and upon entering he could hear some music and the familiar thumping of dancing in high heels.

I want your lovin' and I want your revenge,

You and me,

Could write a bad romance

Oh-oh-oh-oh

'That's right!' Yugi thought, 'They're practicing for next weekend's Lady Gaga stint the three of us are doing.'

"Hey, Yugi! We're upstairs here, you should change into something comfortable and join us so we can teach you the routine, or what we've got of it so far. You seem to know Lady Gaga's moves better than either of us so maybe you can tweek it" Bakura shouted down the stairs.

Yugi smiled, "I'll be right there!" he shouted back. He ran up the stairs, went into his room, took off all of his tight fitting clothing and put on a plain, black tanktop, grey sweats and grabbed his high heels. He knew he would be needing those.

He entered a room nearby where they typically did their practicing. It was some sort of media and games room that they created, there was a makeshift dance floor to the side with some speakers set up, for the purposes of practicing for drag. Yugi found Marik and Bakura sitting in the middle of the dance floor, with Bakura massaging Marik's feet. "Yugi!" Bakura exclaimed, "so glad you're here, we have so much to show you, what we think we'll do for our show!" Marik looked at Yugi and smiled, "I think it's going to be a real hit," he said.

"Actually..." Yugi said, "I have an idea of my own. But please tell me yours first."

Bakura looked at Marik and Bakura stood up. Bakura managed to make anything look incredibly sexy, he was wearing grey sweat pants and no shirt on at all. It was a new change, since usually Bakura wore a shirt to cover his secretive tattoo, that was no longer a secret amongst them. Marik was wearing tan sweats with a black tank top, he was extremely sensitive about his back tattoos, they had quite a bit of meaning and a connection to his past. He realized his duty, it was fulfilled, but he felt scarred, literally and figuratively. However, seeing Bakura without a shirt on seemed to have loosened Marik up a bit, for his shirt was slightly slipped up. Most of the time Marik hated any part of his back tattoos showing, however, today was different. The couple had a new air of confidence about them.

"Well," Bakura started, " we were thinking of starting off with Marik opening with 'Paparazzi,' and you and I would be backup dancers. Then it would shift to my section, where I would be performing 'Love Game,' as the main dancer, the two of you my back up, then the final shift to 'Bad Romance,' and you Yugi being the lead dancer! We each would have costumes relating to our song."

Yugi smiled, "I like the sound of it, but honestly Bakura, I think you should perform 'Bad Romance,' I know how much you love it!"

Bakura blushed, "Hah, no Yugi, you are the better Gaga dancer, why ruin such a perfect song?"

"Let me tell you my idea."

"I'd like to hear Yugi's idea," Marik stated, finally getting up. He had put on his high heeled shoes again, and was standing on his two feet. He had also decided to fully take off his shirt, following suit with Bakura, "it's so freakin' hot in here..." he muttered to himself.

Yugi was slightly distracted by how toned the two of them were for a moment. He knew Bakura and Marik didn't like this "toned-ness" they had to their bodies, they preferred to keep slim, less muscular bodies to make drag much easier. However, being male, and the way they were built, didn't allow this. Yugi was jealous, he wish he could be more well-toned like them. He snapped out of it and told them of his idea, "Here is what I think we should do, open with 'Paparazzi,' with Marik as planned, but let him dance alone, he will lip sync, and because he is only lip synching, we want all the attention on him. Shift to you, you Bakura will be the main dancer and perform 'Bad Romance' with Marik and I as backup dancers, but I think you should actually sing the song, you have an excellent drag voice."

Bakura smiled sheepishly at this. Even though his voice had dropped to the octave of the spirit's, he could still manage to sing with an extremely feminine voice, it was usually if Bakura sang like this that people would truly question if he was a girl or a boy (if his abs were covered of course).

"All right," Bakura said, "I'll do that. And what are you planning on doing?"

Yugi smiled, "I think I would actually like to perform a song while on the piano, a Lady Gaga song called 'Future Love.' It hasn't been released quite yet but it's online, she's performed it, and I would just really like to sing that to a particular someone..."

Bakura smiled, "sounds like an excellent idea to me! But you'll still be in drag right?" Yugi was an extraordinarily talented pianist, however was usually too nervous to perform in front of a large crowd. However, Seto was hopefully going to be there, so he had a reason...

"Of course! I'll just be using my 'man's' voice to sing, which admittedly will look a bit weird, but heck, it's a performance."

It was all agreed upon and they started to work immediately on their routine. Later in the day, Yugi started to work on his piece with the piano. It was nice to hear the piano fill the empty spaces with sound again, filled with life and love.

Later that evening, Yugi decided to call Seto. "Hey," he said, "so, how've you been?"

"Good," Seto replied curtly. There was a moment of awkward silence. Yugi knew this meant something was up, something was occupying Seto's mind. "Yugi," Seto started to say, "I have an interview tomorrow."

"That's great! What is it about?"

"Of all the people who have called me, I have only agreed to do one interview with a TV station. It's going to be live. If anybody is going to ask me questions about my sexuality, and if I'm going to come out honestly about it, I do not want them fucking up my story."

Yugi grinned widely, "Seto!" he exclaimed. "I'm so proud of you for deciding to come out. This is truly a huge step for you, have you decided what you are going to wear for the interview?"

"I will dress how I always dress. Nothing different. However, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me...it would be nice to have that support on the set, and it would be foolish to deny we are going out since they snapped a picture of us...and I am to tell the truth..."

"Of course I'll come with you! What sort of live interview are you doing?"

"For a news station. I felt it was best."

"Excellent, what time do you want me at your mansion?"

"The interview is at 11. Why don't you come by tonight and stay over, it'll help calm my nerves."

Yugi smiled, "I'll be over momentarily!" he exclaimed.

Yugi ran through the house to find Marik and Bakura sitting in the kitchen eating some leftover dinner from the previous night. "I'm going to stay over at Seto's mansion tonight, he has an interview tomorrow morning he wants me to help him with – he's coming out!"

Marik and Bakura looked at Yugi astonished. "He's coming out?" Marik asked, "wow, that is a really huge step for him. Best of luck to you!"

"Yeah, best of luck, go hurry to your lover and make sweet love to him all night long!" Bakura sang. "And you two will make a bad romance!" he added on in his drag voice, to the tune of 'Bad Romance.'

Yugi chuckled, "You've been practicing!" Bakura chuckled. And within a few minutes he was packed and left to go to Seto's.

He arrived at Seto's mansion, and the rest of the evening was relatively uneventful. Seto was in a stressed mood, he wasn't up to much, however was extremely needy. He was constantly by Yugi's side, holding his hand, grabbing onto him. The two of them mostly kept Mokuba entertained until bedtime, watching movies, playing video games.

When Seto and Yugi went to bed that night, Seto wasn't much in a sexual mood at all. Once again, he simply wanted to hold Yugi, as something warm to have and a comfort for the impending truths he would have to tell of the next morning.

The two awoke bright and early at 8:00 am, so they could both shower, eat and get ready for the day. Yugi decided eggs was relatively quick and healthy, and eggs it was for breakfast. To save time, Yugi and Seto decided to shower together, and also partly for the sexual factor (although there was lack of sex). Seto was much too nervous, he was focussing too much on the interview that day.

When they got out Yugi asked Seto, "You've been so quite since we woke up. What's the matter? You nervous?"

Seto nodded. "I've never done something like this before, it's rather...odd. After this interview who knows what could happen, I could loose business, I could gain some. However, most importantly I don't want my reputation to be ruined."

Yugi walked over to Seto and hugged him tight (both were still in towels), "You'll be fine. And don't worry what other people think. Just continue being your grouchy old self" he teased.

Seto blew his hair dry. He wanted it to look especially fresh and clean for the interview. He then went into his close to pick out an outfit to wear. He found one, put it on and showed Yugi, who showered him with much praise over what he chose. "It's your decision Seto," Yugi reminded him, "you wear what you want, be yourself."

Seto had chosen to wear a purple long sleeved shirt, black pants and his Kaiba Corp. belt. He wore, as always, his card shaped locket with the picture of Mokuba in it, around his neck. He also had asked Yugi if he could borrow his choker, and Yugi thought it looked quite good on him.

"No trench coat?" Yugi teased.

"Not today. I better go simple..." Seto replied. "Do I look ok? You sure this will be fine?" Seto was still checking himself over in the mirror, worried about his appearance.

Yugi laughed, "Stop worrying so much Seto. First of all, do you feel like yourself in this outfit? Is it something you would normally wear?" Yugi was only asking Seto to reassure Seto, Yugi knew the answer would be yes.

"Of course, I wear this sort of thing all the time when I'm not in a trench coat..." Seto responded.

"Then don't worry. And lets go, we'll be late." Yugi stretched out his hand for Seto's, who grabbed it.

With his other hand Seto touched Yugi's choker around his neck. It was a reminder to him that Yugi was always with him, even though Yugi was going to be in the studio. It was more than that. It was a reminder of how much Yugi loved him. Yugi always wore that choker.