Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Chapter 6: Humanity aka Hikari confusion
A/N: .; I think that I might have gone a little overboard with this chapter. I had originally planned to make it a lot shorter, but it sort of took on a life of its own as I wrote it and it ended up as is. I thought of chopping this one up like I did for previous chapters, but thought that might be too much of a pain for readers, so I kept it as it is. If anyone does prefer a more condensed version, please let me know and I'll make the adjustments the next time I post. Thank you and please enjoy the chapter.
It had been one thing to say that they were going to Jou's home but it was a completely different matter in actually getting there. They were faced with several problems of getting out of the alley undetected, especially in how they were going to manage to take Solitaire with them. Unlike Yugi, they couldn't just throw a jacket on her and pass Solitaire off as a young child. Anzu, Honda and Jou knew just what sort of trouble they would run into if everyone were to suddenly see a little dragon running around. If it didn't cause some sort of panic, then they would have people trying to capture Solitaire just for the sake that she was something unique for their world. Since neither was a desirable option, they had had to rack their brains in order to find the quickest and safest way to keep her hidden while they traveled.
Their solution finally came when Yugi again offered his services. By using more of his magic, he was able to cloak her presence from everyone but their group. As long as no one stepped on her, it allowed Solitaire to walk freely among the countless humans, as Yugi and Solitaire now knew the people to be called, as if she were one of them. This proved to be a double-edged sword though because as much as it allowed Solitaire to remain hidden from causing a panic, it also allowed her to pull a few pranks among the humans.
Whenever they came across someone who stared a little too much as Yugi's somewhat odd appearance, some humans found themselves tripping onto the sidewalk or with trash in their pockets. One fellow was even unfortunate enough to find a rotten, half-eaten hot dog shoved down the back of his pants after he had made an insulting comment directed at the little hikari. He still jumping around trying to get the food out and shouting profanity while a confused Yugi, three blushing humans, and a very satisfied Solitaire walked away.
The rest of their trip passed with Yugi staring at the city in awe and asking a dozen questions a moment about what he saw. Many of the things that were in the city that his new friends called 'Domino City' were completely foreign to the little hikari. In the Shadow Realm, there were no such things as cars, cafes, or skyscrapers. There was magic and Monsters for transportation and palaces, caves, and huts that were used for inhabitation.
Of course, he hadn't told any of this to his new friends. They still had no idea of where he had come from and why. The most that they knew about him at present was that he wasn't from their area and that he was capable of doing magic. Any further information was still being put off until they managed to get to their destination for obvious reasons. Regardless of the fact that they had to keep quiet about Yugi until further notice, that didn't stop Yugi from asking them questions about their world.
The many questions that he asked left the three teens asking a few more of their own. For those who were used to seeing such things, it was beyond them how anyone could not understand the same things. Cars were found all over the world, so it really shouldn't be that much of a surprise that there were many zooming down the streets of Domino. So they were all really wondering just what sort of place Yugi had come from.
As they walked on, private theories were already surfacing in each of their minds. Theories that ranged from the outlandish that both Yugi and Solitaire were some sort of weird experiment or possibly being from some unknown magical occult to the more practical that they were the charges of some rich business tycoon. But these were all things that they were keeping to themselves until there was more evidence to support these possibilities. None of them wanted to say something that would earn them another shock treatment from the every wary Solitaire.
So the best they did was to answer Yugi's questions to the best of their abilities and to keep him from wandering too much along their route. Along with his questions, Yugi's attention tended to wander as he looked about the strange sights that were along the way. More than once he had attempted to get a closer look at something only to be grabbed by Jou or Honda before he managed to get too far. They would give him a quick word that it wasn't a good idea to go off alone and then continue along with a somewhat mournful Yugi.
It took them nearly an hour of walking to get from the alley to their destination. As they came closer, Yugi found that the landscape around them was changing. It went from being crowded with people and buildings to having almost nothing of the sort. There were still a few houses dotted along the way of course, but the land itself was what changed the most. From black and gray surfaces that were almost dead to a vibrant green that covered nearly everything.
In the Shadow Realm, there were kinds of few plants that managed to grow in the darkness. Those that did were usually a pale blue or deep, reflective crimson. A few were green, but these were also very pale, almost to the point of being invisible against the shadows. The only exceptions to any of these rules were the plants that grew in Yugi's personal garden in a walled off section of the palace.
Thanks to Yugi himself being born of light, he gave off a certain aura that helped plants to flourish. Thus the plants that he cared for were always of powerful and living shades of green, yellow, crimson, and blue that came in form of flowers and strange ferns native only to the Shadow Realm. Yet that was entirely different from the colors that he was seeing now which did not have to shine against a swirling background of black and deep shades of blue. The colors here were set against a blue sky that blended perfectly with the various hues of green and brown.
The colors gave way to even more when they finally reached their destination. It sat on a higher elevation than everything else that they had passed, which had been on relatively flat terrain. It was almost a hill but at the same time wasn't. Surrounding the entire length of that the building lay on was a large fence of an almost golden hue that reminded Yugi of a pale imitation of the Winged Dragon of Ra. There was a large gate at the center of this fence that when opened, offered entrance to the lands within. At the moment, these were tightly closed and seemed as if they would never be such.
Within the gates, the building stood proud and tall. It was a frosted white that had windows spread across the front side that was facing them. The details of these were hard to make out but it was obvious even from this distance that they were well cared for as they gleamed brightly in the sunlight. To Yugi, that meant that the building, obviously someone's home, was kept under good care and lacked for nothing. Almost like his own far away home in a way.
Thinking of that made Yugi realize that what he was looking at had to be the home that Jonouchi had been speaking of. He really hadn't known what to expect when it came to seeing Jou's home for the first time. Along the way, he had learned that humans lived in many different kinds of houses. Many were in the tall buildings that they had passed back in Domino, where people lived stacked on top of one another. Others were in the more solitary buildings that they had passed more recently along the way.
The solitary ones obviously came in a larger variety of shapes than the tall buildings since they had ranged from very small to huge ones that reminded Yugi of the palace. That was the impression he had from the large building looming ahead of them. There was nothing else that he knew of that would require something to be so grand and cared for so lavishly.
He started to mention this to Jonouchi after he had announced that they were almost to his home when Yugi realized that the human wasn't paying attention to him. Instead, he was now arguing with a very tired and somewhat winded Honda. The latter was complaining that Jou should have called for his 'limo' instead of having them walk so far. Jou on the other hand, was stating that if Honda had wanted to ride, then he should have said something earlier. He also said that it was probably better that they didn't call the limo after all. It would have only scared Yugi and made Solitaire so jumpy that she would fry it.
Now, Yugi wasn't so sure that Jonouchi should assume that he would be scared of this 'limo' thing. He had never seen or heard of anything like that before, so he couldn't make any judgment on the matter and so neither could Jou. But he did want to talk to Jou, so he decided that it would be better to interject while Jonouchi and Honda were taking a moment to catch their breaths to say something.
Tugging on Jou's sleeve, Yugi said," That's your home, right?"
"Huh?" Jou replied, turning his attention down to Yugi," Oh yeah. That's where I live."
"I like it. You have a very unusual palace," Yugi nodded," I've never seen one with this kind of construction."
Blank stares followed Yugi as he gazed away from the human to the building and the grounds around them. Jou, Anzu, and Honda were starting to get used to the fact that Yugi often said some very strange things, as was learned from all the questions that he asked them earlier. But none of them were expecting him to ask something like that. Now they were just back at square one as to what they might expect Yugi to say next.
When he turned to see why his new friends were so silent, Yugi easily caught onto his confusion. For him though, it was the possibility that he had made another social blunder of some sort. He had been trying not to do that despite all the unusual questions that he had been asking. But after seeing their expressions, Yugi had the sneaking suspicion that his efforts had been in vain.
"Did I say something wrong?" Yugi asked glumly.
Catching onto the sadness in his voice, Anzu quickly answered," N-no. Not really. It's just that this isn't a palace, Yugi. It's a big house that we call a mansion. That's something like a palace, but a whole lot smaller."
"Oh, I see. I'm sorry," Yugi nodded, relief flooding through him," It was just so big compared to those other buildings that we saw that it reminded me of home. The only thing that I've seen that's spread over such a wide area is a palace like ours."
"Hold on. You live in a palace?" Honda asked blankly.
"Yes," Yugi replied.
Honda made a strange gagging sound at hearing this while Jonouchi and Anzu just stared in disbelief. Once again they found themselves in two situations. One was the fact that no matter what Yugi said, it was bound to shock all of them out of their minds more than Solitaire's electrified attacks. The other was that they now had more questions to ask about Yugi, such as how he could call a mansion a palace and was he some sort of noble to even mention such a thing.
"Are you royalty or something?" Jou asked suspiciously.
"Of course not. I'm just me," Yugi giggled.
Well, hearing that certainly shot Anzu's theory into the ground. There was no way that Yugi could be lying about something like that when he said it so innocently. In fact, all three were beginning to think that Yugi was incapable of such an act. He might have no trouble withholding information if no one asked about a subject, but anyone could do that. But just by looking into his eyes and by listening to his voice, anyone could sense the innocence in Yugi. The kind that only shone with the kindness and goodness that was found only once in a thousand lifetimes.
So despite the strangeness of the situation, Jou and the others reluctantly accepted Yugi's answer. If they were able to, they would find out if there was more to what Yugi was telling them when the chance came. Until then, they would just have to pace themselves and not let what Yugi said stun them. At least, not to the point where one could develop a natural tic.
"Well, come on. We better get inside," Jou said.
He walked confidently up to the gate and spoke to another human that was sitting in a stone box that was off to one side. The others followed closely after him, though not closely enough for Yugi to catch what Jou was saying to the other human. Whatever it was, he simply nodded and then turned his attention elsewhere. A few seconds later, the gates opened wide, allowing complete access to the property within.
Without a second glance back, all three humans headed through the gates. Yugi and the still invisible Solitaire quickly followed behind them. As he passed through the gates, Yugi took one last glance at the human sitting in the stone box. He was dressed in some sort of solid blue outfit that had a hat with a shiny symbol on its brow. The human caught Yugi's glance as he walked by, gave somewhat of a confused look, but then gave a gentle smile and a wave. Uncertain of what else he should do, Yugi gave a tentative smile and waved back. He then hurried to make sure that he kept up with his friends.
"Who was that human?" Yugi asked.
"Oh, that's Takato. He's the guy in charge of the gate," Jou answered.
"Kind of like a sentry?" Yugi said.
"A what?" Jou replied.
"He means a guard, Jou," Anzu explained as they headed off the main road and off to a side path that led to the front entrance.
"Ah. Yeah, I guess that you could call him that," Jou nodded.
"Wow. He must be really strong if he's the gate sentry and the only one at that. We have to have at least a dozen to guard the entrance at home," Yugi said.
"Uh, I wouldn't exactly call Takato very strong. Plus, he's not the only guard we have here or to watch the gate. We have other people that keep an eye on the grounds and to take turns watching the gate. Takato's just the head of that department," Jou corrected.
"Okay," Yugi shrugged.
Nothing else was said as they reached the front door. The door opened just as they came to it, revealing a lavishly decorated room within. Anzu and the boys walked in without hesitation. Yugi and Solitaire followed after them, the door closing as soon as they had stepped passed. For Solitaire, it was somewhat of a close call for her tail as the human who had opened the door for them almost closed it right on her tail. She gave a silent snarled at the human and shot him a dirty look that was promising retribution for his little mistake.
"Welcome home, Jonouchi-san," the human greeted.
He was black haired, slightly shorter than Honda and wore what Yugi assumed was probably a servant's ensemble. At least, that's what he thought it was since this human had answered the door for them. Just like Takato being a guardian of the gate, this human must be the one who guarded the doorway to Jou's home.
"Hey Kanzaki. Any messages for me?" Jou replied.
"None sir," Kanzaki answered.
"All right. We're gonna go hang out in the den for awhile. Could you make sure that no one bothers us unless it's a major emergency?" Jou said.
"Of course, Jonouchi-san. Is there anything that you would like me to get for you guests beforehand?" Kanzaki nodded.
"Nah, we're good for now. If we want anything, we'll let ya know. Just make sure we're not disturbed or anything," Jou insisted.
"As you wish," Kanzaki said.
With that said, he turned and left the room. Yugi watched him go before Honda grabbed his hand and dragged the hikari after himself and the others. Letting out a squeak of surprise, Yugi allowed himself to be led by the human into another room that was directly opposite of the way that Kanzaki had just departed. When they reached the door, Jou held it open while Anzu and Honda ushered hikari and dragon into the room. Once they were all safely in, Jou followed them and closed the door behind him. As an afterthought, he also locked it to make sure that no one came in by accident.
"Okay, it's safe. You can stop the mojo now," Jou announced.
"Mojo? What's mojo?" Yugi asked.
"You don't have to keep Solitaire invisible anymore. We don't have to worry about someone seeing her while we're in this room," Anzu said quickly.
"Oh, okay," Yugi nodded as he did as he was asked.
A small sense of relief came over Yugi as he released the spell and allowed Solitaire to be visible to all once more. Just as it had been for Solitaire earlier, it had been a long time since Yugi had used his powers for such an extended period of time. He more used to small bursts of levitating things and healing little bruises that one of the servants might have picked up. Things like that only took small amounts of his energy and didn't really require much concentration.
At his side, Solitaire looked up at her master knowingly but said nothing. Unlike their companions, she knew right off what was wrong with Yugi. And with this knowledge, she already knew that it wouldn't take him that long to recover. Which was why she didn't say anything to their new companions. They hadn't known each other very long, but she had the feeling that they were the types to act like Yami and overreact to anything that seemed threatening. Since that was something she wasn't in the mood for at the moment, Solitaire would just keep quiet and watch Yugi on her own. If things did get any worse, then she would say something.
For now though, she just followed alongside Yugi as they were ushered towards the couches at the center of the room. Anzu and Honda sat on one couch while Jou directed Yugi to sit on a chair next to it. Then he took a seat on the couch next to that. Solitaire, without bothering to ask, just jumped up onto the arm of the chair where Yugi was sitting. There she sat back on her haunches and made herself comfortable.
"Hey, no claws on the furniture, dragon," Jou snapped.
"Oh quit your whining. I won't mess up your stupid chair," Solitaire snorted.
As she spoke, she instantly retracted and sheathed all of her claws. Now all that remained in sight were the webbed paws and their finger-like toes. A smug look crossed her face as she watched Jou just stare at her dumbfounded while Anzu and Yugi both looked exasperated at the whole situation with Honda sighing in frustration.
"Final score: Dragon 2 and Jou 0," Honda muttered.
"Not funny," Jou growled.
Quickly changing the subject before another fight broke out, Yugi quickly asked," Is there a special way that people introduce themselves here? I mean, if we're going to talk about things, we might as well do it properly."
"Introductions, right. Well, it all depends on where you're from, but most people just get by saying hello and their name," Anzu explained.
She was glad to see that even if he was a little strange in some ways that Yugi was a good tactician in some respects. Anzu herself had been wondering if they were going to have to deal with Solitaire attacking Jou for a second time that day. It surprised her that they hadn't already had to deal with such a thing given the volatile chemistry that teenager and dragon seemed to display around one another. Anzu was honestly starting to wonder if the two would ever get along without someone having to break them up.
"Okay then," he said," Hello. My name is Yugi and this is Solitaire."
"I'm Mazaki Anzu and this is Honda Hiroto and Jonouchi Katsuya, though we call him Jou for short," Anzu replied as she tried to suppress a giggle.
She just couldn't help herself though. Yugi was just so cute when he acted like that. He was almost like a little child when he talked like that and then followed her explanation to the letter. It was reminded her so much of the little cousin that she used to babysit in the summer when she was younger. For a brief second, she was almost tempted to cuddle the boy like she had her cousin. But she refrained from doing so since it would probably be too embarrassing for Yugi to be hugged by someone he barely knew like that and also because Solitaire would zap her in a heartbeat.
"Wow, that's a mouthful. How do you keep from getting your tongues tied from saying so much as at?" Solitaire asked, completely breaking the spell.
"Solitaire," Yugi scolded," Don't be rude. It's not right to make fun of other people's names."
"Who's making fun? I'm just asking a question," Solitaire shrugged.
Yugi sighed. Trust Solitaire to sound insolent when she was just making a comment or stating a fact. It was something that she could do quite well without even realizing it. Something that, deep down, Yugi could tell was bound to get into more than one argument with their new friends. He just hoped that it wouldn't be too difficult to deal with when the time came.
"It's okay, Yugi. I think I know what Solitaire's getting at. I mean, the two of you only told us your first names. You have told us your full names and those might be shorter than ours," Anzu replied.
"But we did give you our full names," Yugi insisted.
"Yeah. He's just Yugi and I'm just Solitaire, Mazaki Anzu," Solitaire agreed.
"You don't have to use my full name, Yugi. You can just drop my family name and call me Anzu," the girl explained.
"Family name? What's that?" Solitaire asked.
"Um…," Anzu began," A family name tells you where a person comes from and what relations you might have."
"Kind of like telling you what clan you're from?" Yugi asked.
"I guess you could call it that," Anzu said.
"Oh, well we don't do that because no one has a last name back home. They just have their own name and that's it. It's all you need to tell what clan they're from too," the hikari shrugged.
This statement gave the opening that the three friends had been waiting for. As curious as they were, they didn't want to press Yugi into telling them anything that he didn't want to. They could understand what with his gifts and having a companion like Solitaire that he might want to keep certain information from them. So they had each silently decided not to press him too much until he either spoke of it on his own or gave them an opening like he just had with his statement.
"Exactly where is your home, Yugi?" Honda asked.
"Yeah. Where'd ya come from?" Jou agreed.
"The Shadow Realm," Yugi replied instantly.
As he had done earlier, Yugi let the words slip out of his mouth before he really took a chance to consider his possible answer. He was more than capable of keeping information to himself. The fact that he had managed to keep Yami, the person who knew him the best, from finding out his biggest plan was testament to that. But the more comfortable he became around someone, the easier it was for him to speak with that person. That was the case with these three.
They barely knew him and vice versa, but their actions from earlier had proven that they meant no harm. Excluding the initial episode where he had first met the one called Jonouchi of course. But that had only been a misunderstanding, so Yugi was more than willing to forgive and forgot the entire thing. He even ignored the fact that Jonouchi hadn't really apologized for trying to hit him. All that mattered to him now were the steps that Jou and the others were taking to prove themselves instead of relying on the first impression alone.
Still, Yugi also knew that now that he had something he couldn't just try and push away from the subject. He had agreed to give his new friends the answers that they were seeking, even though he had never actually said to what extent he would tell them. So it would be wrong both morally and ethically to Yugi for him to go back on that promise now. Which meant that he would just have to hope that the answers he gave wouldn't be either too damaging or frightening.
"What's the…Shadow Realm?" Jou asked.
Deep inside of him, part of Jou wasn't really sure that he wanted to hear the answer to that. Just the name of the place was enough to give him the creeps and probably his friends too. But another part of him was truly curious as to just what the Shadow Realm was and what sort of connection it had to the Yugi and Solitaire. After all, maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought it sounded, especially if it produced an innocent and caring child like Yugi.
"The Shadow Realm is another world that runs alongside this one, though I'm not sure of its exact location," Yugi explained slowly.
For what could have been the umpteenth time that day, the three teens known as Jonouchi, Honda, and Anzu were thrown completely for a loop. For one thing, any theories that they might have had about Yugi and Solitaire's origins were completely shot down. Next was the fact that they were now learning that in addition to having magical abilities, Yugi and Solitaire were in fact aliens from another world. And not from outer space as the cliched method might suggest if one were to look to the stories of UFOs and recent scientific findings that suggested that there might be life on other planets. No, they were learning that the pair was in fact from an entirely different dimension.
They just sat there for the longest time in silence, staring at Yugi in utter disbelief. None of them were really sure what they could say in response to his confession. After all, it isn't every day that one encounters actual beings from another dimension and friendly ones at that. So it was a little hard to find just the right thing to say without sounding like complete idiots.
"You're from another world? Like another dimension?" Anzu said finally.
"More or less," Yugi shrugged.
His answer might have been calm, but inside, Yugi was breathing a sigh of relief. For a moment, he feared that he might have said too much and frightened his new friends. After all, the scrolls that he had read, though ancient by human standards, had explained that the people of Earth weren't used to encountering people from other world. They believed that the only place where life could be found was somewhere on their own world. Which was a reason why whoever had written the scroll mentioned that humans were small-minded and tended to run at the first sign of anything that classified as too unknown for them.
Thankfully, these three were proving to be at least somewhat receptive to what Yugi had to say. They were asking him for confirmation of his explanation after all. It wasn't much but at least it was a start and something that Yugi could work with. So he would take this as slow as necessary to make things easier for the humans.
"That explains everything!" Anzu smiled triumphantly.
Without meaning to, everyone jumped at her explanation. Naturally, after how quiet things had been for the last few moments, no one had been expecting her to just shout like that. So that they could do was look at her in confusion and wondering what in the world she was talking about while trying to get their racing hearts to slow down.
"Explains what?" asked Honda.
"That explains Yugi's magical powers, why he doesn't know anything about how things work here on Earth, and how a dragon like Solitaire can exist. If they're from another world, then it's not so strange for them to do things that we can't or that they don't understand our culture. The people of Yugi and Solitaire's world must've evolved differently to survive and that means an entirely different culture that we can't even imagine," Anzu explained.
"Yeah, I guess it does," Honda agreed.
"Who woulda thunk?" Jou replied.
They spoke so calmly about the situation that for a moment, Yugi was left feeling completely confused. First the three humans had been totally floored by the fact that he and Solitaire were from another dimension. Now they were acting like it was the most natural thing in the world to hear. Was this some weird traits humans had when it came to accepting something or just a way of falling into denial so that their minds could comprehend things?
"Um, so you don't think it's strange that we're not form your world? You're not scared of us or anything?" Yugi asked uncertainly.
"No way, Yugi. That just makes ya really cool," Jou said.
"Why does it make us cold?" Solitaire asked.
"Not cold, cool. Here has more than just meaning cold, Solitaire," Anzu replied," It can also mean when we're saying something is good."
"Oh," Solitaire said.
"But you like it that we're from another world?" Yugi asked.
"You got it, Yugi. I mean, it's a real surprise for us, but that's no big deal once you think about things. For a boring place like Earth, that makes you two really unique. We've never had anything like this happen before," Anzu stated.
"Ah," Yugi said.
"Okay. So you're magical and from another dimension. How did you guys get here?" Honda replied.
"Solitaire brought us. She can travel between worlds," Yugi answered.
The others looked at Solitaire skeptically, especially Jou. The most his opinion of her was that of an oversized battery charger with an attitude. As of yet, all he had seen her do was try to turn him into a walking light bulb and smart off at just about everyone but Yugi. So there was no way in his opinion that Solitaire was able to so something as incredible as jump from one dimension to the next.
"That oversized lizard can jump from place to place? You've gotta be kiddin' me," Jou scoffed.
"You wanna repeat that, human?" Solitaire growled, sparks starting to flare along her spine.
Anzu sighed," Do we have to remind you again not the antagonize Solitaire, Jonouchi Katsuya? Yugi can't keep healing you every time she zaps you and I don't think you want to explain to Kaiba why there's burn marks all over his furniture."
Jou glared at her for that comment but kept any retort that he might have had to himself. He knew that Anzu had a valid point. If Solitaire did hurt him again because he was insulting her, it wouldn't be fair to ask Yugi to heal him again. Jou didn't know anything about magic, but he guessed that it took a lot of energy for him to heal someone else. Plus, he really did NOT want to explain to his lover why there were electric scorch marks all over their new furniture. Kaiba was beyond scary when it came to explaining why he had to pay for damages that Jou had caused, even inadvertently.
"Fine, sorry," Jou grumbled.
Giving him one last warning glance, Anzu asked, "So if you're from this Shadow Realm, how come you can understand Japanese? Is that the same language you speak there too?"
"No it isn't. We have our own language," Yugi replied.
"Then how can we understand you?" Honda pressed.
"Oh that's because anyone who is born in the Shadow Realm has some part of its power, no matter how small. This power allows us to communicate more easily with people that we encounter from other worlds," Yugi explained.
Jaws dropped at this explanation. For them, the closest thing to being able to understand another language like that was something out of a science fiction movie. Somehow, even if it was through magic, something like that just seemed impossible. Though after everything that they had already learned and heard, that wasn't really saying much. In fact, it was probably the tamest bit of information that any of them had heard that day since meeting Yugi and Solitaire.
"Cool. So you guys have a built-in instant translation spell," Honda said.
"I guess you could call it that," Yugi nodded.
What Yugi didn't tell him was that it wasn't an exact description of what the Shadow Realm's magic allowed its inhabitants to do. There was more to it than just allowing one language to be translated into another. But it was something that Yugi decided against explaining to his new friends. He had the feeling that it was better to let them go along with Honda's explanation instead of giving them the full technical lecture.
That was probably how it was going to be with many things that he knew of that existed outside of the human world. Things that seemed perfectly normal were either beyond their grasp or they just hadn't come up with the concept yet. Something that he was just going to get used to himself and work around while he was with these humans. Not too much to do if he handled the situation carefully enough.
"Um, Yugi? Would you and Solitaire mind excusing us for a moment? There's something that Jou, Honda and I need to talk about," Anzu said suddenly.
This startled everyone in the room. Like earlier, no one had been expecting Anzu to say something like that out of the blue. For Yugi and Solitaire, it was because Anzu had completely changed the subject on them. For Jou and Honda, it was the confusion of both the sudden change of subject and figuring out just what Anzu might want to talk about.
"O…kay. If you need to talk about something privately, all you have to do is say so," Yugi nodded.
"Thanks. That window over there has a pretty good view if you guys want to get a better look at the grounds," Anzu said.
Shrugging once, Yugi got up from his seat and headed for the window. Solitaire shot Anzu a skeptical look but followed Yugi without question. As soon she felt that they were out of earshot, Anzu gestured for Jou and Honda to move in closer. The last thing that she wanted was for their guests to hear what she had to say and take it the wrong way.
"All right, Anzu, what's this about?" Jou demanded.
"Not so loud. They'll hear you," Anzu hissed.
"Hear what?" Honda snapped.
"What I think we should do about this," Anzu stated.
"Huh? What do ya mean?" Jou asked in confusion.
"I mean how we're going to keep Yugi and Solitaire out of trouble. We can't let them leave here on their own. We have to keep an eye on them until they go home. It's not safe if we let them wander around like they were earlier," Anzu explained.
"Wait a minute. You're saying that we're the ones who're supposed to take care of Yugi and Solitaire?" Jou said.
"Duh. Isn't that what I just said?" Anzu snorted.
"You can't be expecting us to babysit this kid and his electric dragon 24/7. That's not gonna be possible even if I did agree to it," Honda protested.
"Well we can't just let Yugi and Solitaire wander around on his own either. There's no telling what kind of trouble he'll get into, especially with how Solitaire acts every time someone threatens him. They'll be caught in no time," Anzu hissed.
"How about worrying about the kind of trouble you're going to get into if you don't stop talking about us like we're not in the room," Solitaire snapped from behind them.
The group turned to what was steadily becoming a familiar sight. Sparks crackling across her back, Solitaire sat while watching the group through half-slitted eyes. A dark look on her face showed that she was once again contemplating just what sort of punishment to give the humans for their ignorance. Only this time, it wasn't going to be something quick and simple like shocking them with her Glint Strike. This time, it would be a slow and painful reminder that they needed to watch just what they said.
"Um, did you guys hear that?" Anzu asked nervously.
Flicking her ears forward, Solitaire snorted," What do you think, human? I'm not deaf you know."
"And I'm not stupid," Yugi added.
The three humans looked at the two guiltily. None of them had meant to hurt their friends' feelings like that. They had only been trying to think of the best way to handle taking care of Yugi and Solitaire without them getting into trouble. Now though, they were the ones who were about to get into trouble. Which meant that they had just created more of a problem instead of finding a solution for one.
"I'm sorry, you guys. I didn't mean it the way that it sounded," Anzu said.
"Yeah, us neither," Honda agreed.
"We're just worried about you two. I mean, you really don't know anything about how we do things on Earth and there's so much that could happen to you if you're not careful. I just don't want you to get hurt," Anzu explained.
Yugi sighed. He knew full well what Anzu had meant when she said that they needed to keep an eye on him and Solitaire. In her own way, he also knew that the girl meant well. She only wanted to protect them from getting into any real trouble. There was nothing wrong with that. It was just that the attitude was so similar to how Yami had acted that it was more than enough to offend Yugi just a bit.
He was truly getting tired of everyone underestimating just how much he was capable of. Just by looking at him and watching his attitude, people always assumed that he was weak and helpless. Yugi couldn't help but wonder if it was really so much to ask that people at least give him a chance to prove himself before leaping to any conclusions. Really, that was all he wanted and it was something that he was going to make clear now before things got any further.
"I can understand your concern and I know I have very little knowledge of your world, but that doesn't mean that I need to be watched over all the time. I'm more than willing to learn if someone will teach me. It's one of the reasons why I'm here," Yugi said.
Turning away from the humans, Yugi made his way back over to window. Gazing out of it, he could see the grounds spreading out around the mansion. It was a pure green expanse that was dotted with a few bushes and a pathway with a bench off to one side. A very quaint picture even for a visitor like Yugi, who was jolted out of his reverie when a hand came down on his shoulder.
Looking behind him, Yugi could see that it was Anzu. Behind her stood Jou and Honda. They, after a gentle nod from Solitaire, had decided to come to Yugi's comfort. Even if he said that he understood what they had been talking about, Anzu and the boys knew better. It was easy for them to tell that they had hurt Yugi's feelings and that if they wanted to make things right again, then they were going to have to work at it. Starting with finding out what Yugi meant when he had said 'it was one of the reasons' why he had come to their world.
"Exactly what made you come to Earth, Yugi?" Anzu questioned.
"I left home because I want to prove to Yami that I'm not just someone to take care of. I want my darkness to understand that I can help him just as he helps me. I need him to realize that we're equals, nothing less," Yugi said quietly.
" 'My darkness'. Is that some pet name for this yami guy?" Honda asked.
Yugi's eyes hardened slightly at that and turned his face away so that Honda wouldn't see the hurt on his face. He knew that the human meant no harm with his questions. Honda barely knew anything about him, so it was only natural that he would be curious about the sort of relationship Yugi had with his lover. That didn't stop the hurt from the subject from hurting though and it took all that he had for Yugi not to show too much of what he was feeling.
His expression didn't go unnoticed though. Being a little more perceptive than the boys, Solitaire and Anzu watched Yugi with saddened eyes. Their expressions hardened though when they turned them back on a somewhat confused Honda. Solitaire bared her teeth in silent warning and Anzu jabbed him in the side, hissing at him to keep quiet unless he wanted trouble. Though he didn't understand what had set the females off, Honda took the message quick enough. After all, he wasn't stupid enough to tangle with two females when they were on the rampage.
"It isn't a pet name for Yami, Honda. It's part of what he is, just like his name for me is part of who I am," Yugi said quietly, surprising them all.
"Part of who you are?" Jou echoed.
"I'm not just some random traveler from another world, Jonouchi. I'm more than that," Yugi explained," I am a hikari, born of the light itself and made with a soul that is incomplete as a result. My lover is a yami, born from the darkness and his soul too was made incomplete. We are two halves of the same whole. He and I have been connected to one another since the moment we were created and will remain so for the rest of eternity. We are each other's balance and anchor for our powers."
As he spoke, his words had such conviction behind them that the humans had no choice to believe what he was saying. Under normal circumstances, if they had heard something claiming that they were only half a soul and theirs was made of light, then they would have assumed that that person was insane or close to it. But after seeing what he was capable of and knowing that he was from another dimension, what Yugi said wasn't as strange as one might have expected.
There was no doubt that they were all in shock at learning such a thing about what appeared to be a young human boy. Such a thing was a given. Another given was that their limit for learning startling and almost supernatural facts about said boy should have been reached long before this point. If anything, the three should have been fit for the insane asylum at that point or close to it. But just being around someone who had spoken so truthfully and had the aura that Yugi did prevented such things. In his presence, they had no choice but to believe that what he said was the truth.
"Wait a minute. How can a kid like you have a lover? I mean, you can't be more than 10 years old. Is this Yami character some kind of perv?" Jou protested.
Though Yugi had no idea what a 'perv' might be, he didn't like the tone that Jou had just taken about his relationship with Yami. Perhaps it was because the humans were deceived by what was a youthful appearance to them that he made that assumption, but it didn't excuse everything in Yugi's eyes. He would not have anyone insulting his lover, even when he didn't understand just what the insult is.
"I don't know what a perv is, Jou, but I know that Yami isn't one of them," Yugi said coolly," Nor am I a child. I am more than old enough to be with a lover and will ask you to respect that."
"And if he doesn't, I get to zap him," Solitaire quipped.
It was the first time that any of them had ever seen Yugi act so cold, so it was a bit of a surprise for the humans. Especially for Jou, who had begun to think of Yugi as another kid he would protect like he did with Mokuba, only a bit more naïve. Obviously, that wasn't going to be the case and something that he better remember if he didn't want to get fried by a dragon with Yugi's silent approval.
"Eh, sorry about that, Yugi. I didn't mean anything. Just kinda wrong for people to do anything like that with kids on Earth that lovers do. Ya know what I mean?" Jou said sheepishly.
"I understand, Jonouchi. Just please don't imply that anymore. What Yami and I share is special, even when they're not going smoothly," Yugi replied.
Jou started to ask what Yugi meant by that, but yet another warning glance from both Anzu and Solitaire silenced him. Again, their female senses were picking on things that Jou obviously wasn't and neither one of them wanted him to make things worse by opening his mouth. So they let him know in advance to keep his mouth shut unless he wanted to be dealing with two irate females instead of just an annoyed Solitaire.
"If you're not a kid, then how old are you, Yugi?" Honda asked.
"I don't have an age in the way that you would measure it," Yugi said.
"What do you mean?" asked Anzu.
"After seeing how you react to me, I know that I must appear very young in the ways of humans because of my size and appearance. But that's not the case. I am probably older than all of you put together and the same applies to Yami. We were both born when eternity was created and will continue to exist until its end. Yami and I are both ageless," Yugi stated.
As he spoke, his eyes suddenly shone with a wisdom that far exceeded anything that the three teens had ever seen before. The kind that only came from one having both great age and experience after living more than just the span of a single lifetime. Something that none of the three teens had ever imagined that they would ever encounter neither in their lifetimes nor in anyone else's.
"Damn. That means you're an immortal," Honda breathed.
"Immortal? What is that?" Yugi asked.
"Something that doesn't ever die. It exists forever, just like you said that you would," Anzu answered.
"No, I am not an immortal. I simply am and that is all there is to it. My life exists because that is what the fates desired and that is how it shall always be," Yugi corrected," Isn't that how it is for humans?"
The humans looked a little uncertain at this question. It wasn't the first time that they had been so today, but there was something about how they were looking at one another that told Yugi that he had just broached a very uncomfortable subject. At first, he was a little curious as to just what that subject might be. But then he realized that just like he didn't want anyone to talk badly about Yami, this must be one of those things that humans didn't want to talk about much. Which meant that if he didn't want to make the same blunders that his friends had already made, it was best to let things drop for now.
"Um, never mind. Just forget that I asked," Yugi said quickly.
Seeming almost relieved, Anzu replied," So you're here because you want to prove something to Yami?"
"Yes," Yugi nodded.
"Well ya can count on us, Yuge. We'll help ya show this Yami guy that you're the toughest little dude on the block," Jou promised.
He wrapped an arm around Yugi as he spoke and gave the smaller a gentle noogie. A little surprised and unused to this sort of action, Yugi struggled to get away at first. But when he realized that it was only playful in nature, he settled down some. Not enough where Jou was able to keep a full grip on him but enough where it didn't put too much stress on either his neck or Jou's restricting arm.
"You'll really help me?" Yugi asked.
"You bet, bud. We're pals now and that means we stick together," Jou nodded.
"He's right, Yugi. Some humans might be creeps, but most of us stick by their friends when they need it the most," Anzu agreed.
"Well, well. I think there might be hope for you after all, Jonouchi Katsuya," Solitaire smirked as she looked up at Jou.
"Huh? What are you getting at now?" Jou sighed.
"Simple. If you're willing to help Yugi show Yami-sama how foolish he's acting, then you can't be such an idiot after all. It means that you have something up there besides hot air," Solitaire replied.
"Gee, thanks. I think," Jou said.
Somehow, he wasn't sure if he should take Solitaire's words as a compliment or as an insult. As he was beginning to see, the dragon wasn't the easiest person to get along with. If she wasn't insulting someone, then she was playing some sort of prank. It actually made him wonder how Yugi could put up with someone so obnoxious. Then again, he had someone in his life like that along those lines, minus the prankster side. Maybe with that in mind he might be able to answer the questions of what was bound to be a rocky relationship with Solitaire and an unusual one with Yugi.
A/N: Yow. Almost 20 pages this time around. I think that I might have worn out some of my fingers trying to get this thing completed. But as long as it's done and everyone enjoyed it, then I'm happy. I am sorry to say that this is the last update that I'm going to be able to manage for until late November at the least. I'm a college student and for my major, my teacher is having us write a bunch of papers this semester. So between that, juggling work, my home life, a boyfriend, and two insane cats, it's getting harder for me to write. But I do promise that I will have another chapter for this story and one for Ignorance is Never Bliss out before Christmas. That I can guarantee. Until then, thanks for reading and ja ne.