(A/N: FIRST OF ALL, I wanna thank all of those of you who're still following this story! Second, I wanna apologize for lasting so much in updating this fanfic, but I've been so unfocused lately and I don't know why it's so hard to just SIT DOWN AND FRIGGIN WRITE O-O

but still, I want to thank you if you're still here and I really do hope you enjoy this chapter!)

Yami was utterly fascinated with his work. It would be only a few weeks more until he could give his great masterpiece to his young lover. He was glad that Bakura wasn't such an asshole anymore, because he alone couldn't go out of the hospital yet, so the albino had actually made him a favor.

"Bakura, I NEED you to bring me that sketch!" Yami had asked him one day that Yugi was still asleep after noon. The poor boy was so tired it was hard to believe. "How am I going to finish it if I can't continue it for more than a month?!"

"That's not my problem," Bakura had answered. Yami frowned.

"Oh, all right. I'll have to ask Ryou then." This, of course, had made the albino jump.

"Oh, no, you won't, you little shit!" Then he sighed and shook his hands in anger. "Fine, I'll bring you your freaking sketch."

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Bakura!"

"Hai, hai, hai."

Yami chuckled to himself, looking at the work on his hands. He had Ryou to owe for that one favor; he hoped his little one liked the present.

Suddenly he saw his cell phone moving on the table. He was glad he'd put it on vibrator, or Yugi would've woken up with a jump at the loud noise. Reluctantly, Yami put the sketch under his pillow—in case he accidentally interrupted his little one's sleep—grabbed the phone, and flipped it open.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Yami? Is that you?" Yami's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, goodness, it's been so long!"

"Mother?"

Shōnen-Ai High School

Chapter 32

When Yugi woke up, his lover was nowhere to be seen, and he could only wonder where the older one had gone off to this time. He didn't call his name though; the crimson-eyed couldn't have gone very far away, since they didn't have any permission to leave the hospital yet.

"But—I understand, but still… what? No! You… I can't… that's not what I meant and you know it!" What was that voice? "At least let me speak to him!" There was a small pause, and what came next was nothing but a whisper. "I don't fucking care, he's my father! He should…" Yugi realized it could be no other than his Yami. Was he talking to some relative? He seemed to be very angry about something. Yugi couldn't hold his surprise when he heard his lover sobbing.

"Mom, I need to speak with him! I'm his only son, for Ra's sake!—No, no! He should have at least thirty seconds to listen to what I've got to tell him!" he cried out between tears, as Yugi could decipher from the broken voice Yami was talking with. "To hell with the fucking company!" The boy was taken aback. He'd never heard Yami so angry… or frustrated, in his life.

"What could be going on there?"

"I don't think you really want to know." He hadn't even noticed when Ryou came inside the room.

"Ryou, I'm glad to see you!" he greeted his albino friend.

"Same to you, Yugi!" Ryou smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, I guess," answered Yugi. "Hey, uh…" he swallowed. "Do you know what's going on?" asked the amethyst-eyed as he signaled to the door with his head.

"Oh," said his friend, his face full of sadness. "He's talking with his mother." Now that he remembered, Yami had never said anything about his family. He'd met Yugi's, but had never spoken about his own.

"And what's the problem?"

"Uhm…" Ryou rubbed the back of his head. "Let's say that he and his parents don't have a really good relationship." Yugi just stared at him, as if waiting to hear something else. "As a child, Yami-san was always alone—or at least most of the time. That's why he became so close with Kerii-chan."

And Joshua, thought Yugi, remembering the story Yami had told him before their first kiss. He then prayed that both Joshua and Kerii-chan were resting in peace.

"His father is the head of one of the greatest film companies in Japan, and his mother works in the same company as an executive producer," continued the albino. "After some years, though, the company had to move to America, so his parents had to move as well. They allowed Yami to stay here to finish middle school, and they kept contact through phone and letters. But then he stopped receiving their calls, and he couldn't find them at all, so they lost all contact."

"And what is he so angry about?" questioned Yugi. Ryou had to shrug his shoulders at that.

"I don't know that."

"GOD DAMMIT, MOM!" Both nearly fell from their seats at the loud yell that came out of Yami's mouth. They soon heard a nurse.

"Sir, I must ask you not to yell inside the hospital," she said.

"Hold on a sec," was Yami's response. "Sorry, but can I go outside to finish this call?"

"Sir, you aren't allowed to—"

"I… I know, but please." Yugi saddened at how desperate Yami's voice sounded. He was really arguing an important matter. They heard the nurse sighing.

"Fine, but don't last much or I'll be forced to send a doctor to look after you."

"Arigatou." The crimson-eyed could be heard no more after that.

-

"Mom, I do understand. But I can't go with you!" Yami had to talk in English with her. Every time he said something in Japanese, she seemed to have forgotten her own language.

"Oh, there won't be need, Yami. We'll come home to bring you with us."

"I didn't mean it like that! I meant that I'm not leaving Japan!"

"Yes, you are, young man!" Yami rubbed his temple in frustration. The first time he was talking with his mother for three years and this was all he was getting. "Don't you want us to be a family again?"

"Oh, like you and dad care much about that!"

"Don't use that tone with me!" his mother replied.

"It's the freaking truth! Why do you never care for what I want?! It's always been like this!"

"What are you going on about?" He was tired—tired of always pretending. He'd had enough, and he was going to let his mother know.

"You and dad never asked what I wanted! Did I want you to leave?! No! Did I want you to ignore my calls, my letters?! No! Did I want you to abandon me after my best friend died?! NO!"

"Yami, what are you saying? What friend?"

"You see? Do you see?! You didn't even pay me enough attention to know who I was friends with, who I was with! I could've fallen into drugs and alcohol and sex and you would've NEVER found out!" he cried with tears falling down his cheeks, earning strange looks from everyone around him. "I bet you don't even know that Kerii, Toko, and their father died!"

"What?" He could hear the surprise his mother was trying to hide from him. "When did that happen?"

"Haven't you EVER thought about your family at all, mom?!" Yami heard a distant voice speaking, and that definitely wasn't hers. "M- Mom?" Maybe he'd gone too far…

"Hello, Yami." The crimson-eyed had to bite his lip.

"Dad."

"Why don't you stop thinking about yourself and think about your mother and me?" Yes, he could still remember that voice full of authority that always yelled at him whenever he did something wrong. "Do you believe we're perfect, Yami? We've both had troubles at the company, we tried calling you back, but we couldn't until now." Yami's tears kept running, but this time it was because of disbelief, and his mouth dropped in shock.

"During three fucking years? And you couldn't one single time?!"

"Don't be so selfish?! Your mother and I have enough work as to worry about your own trivialities!"

"'Trivialities'?! I'm your son, yet you've never worried about me in the very first place! I want to stay!"

"Mind telling me the reason?"

"Because the boy I love is here and I don't want to leave him!"

"A boy?" Oh, shit. He'd forgotten; the very reason he'd never told his parents about his drawings was because they didn't accept it. "You do know what we think about that, don't you?"

"I could care less! I love him, you should be happy for…!"

"Yami, you're coming with us and that's the end."

'That's the end.' Just how many times had his father used that line when he was a child?—he could not remember. But it had silenced him during his childhood… and even now he could only answer with one thing. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Yami whispered. He knew his father had learned to hear him whisper. He'd done that a lot as a boy, and still today he hadn't the courage to defy the man for long.

"Good, start packing your things. We'll go for you in two weeks, so you better be ready." The line cut off immediately. Yami, tears still invading his face, let go of the phone and didn't care that it fell right onto the floor. Hell, he didn't even care if the god damned thing had broken. His heart had already crashed into thousands of pieces.

But one problem remained yet: how would he be able to break up with his sweet Yugi within two weeks? To break up or not to break up; to stay or not to stay…

That was the question.

(A/N: *hides under table* Please don't kill me! This has been part of the story since it began, and I HAD to include it!

Bad news, though T^T This story will soon come to an end, just like Codename u.u gomenasai, minna-san! I really do apologize for this and much more, but I beg you, please don't give up on me! If you liked this chapter, please review! And thank you so much for following this story even though the authoress is the worst updater in the world D: Oh, and please take a look at the poll in my profile! and please review!!)