Apologies for another Wednesday update. I suppose you'll forgive me.
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Chapter 4:

Emotion Without Communication

A week had passed since his conversation with Mai, and Yami had hardly gotten to even see Yuugi; it seemed like somebody was intentionally trying to keep them apart. It was a little annoying at first, but it quickly escalated into being downright frustrating. It wasn't long before he could honestly say that he was tempted to find out Yuugi's room number and go find him himself.

He caught glimpses of Yuugi in the classroom, but Cecelia had been piling on the work lately. He'd been busy for at least five hours of school ever day, and even when he wasn't, Yuugi was working on learning braille. He was having a little difficulty, (Yami would too- bumps that small?) so he was also staying behind after school to learn. Yami had his extracurriculars after his school day, so he couldn't stick around and by the time he was done, Yuugi was already gone.

Yami woke up with the sun shining viciously bright in his eyes, and he sighed, pulling his pillow over his head again. It was seven again, bright and early. He laid in bed feebly, his muscles tensed up and aching from staying in the same position all night. He tried to get out the knots and kinks by just relaxing, but he found that it was nearly impossible. He gave up and stretched, savouring the yank and pull of his muscles as he pushed them to the limit.

It was at that point that he realized he knew where Yuugi would be at this time.

He practically sprang out of bed, going through his drawers at lightning speed to find something good to wear. He knew he had the advantage here since Yuugi was blind and couldn't actually see his clothes, but he still didn't want to go in his pyjamas.

He let a dark blue sweatshirt fall over his head, wrinkling his nose at the itchy feeling of the seams. Once it had passed, though, the sweatshirt was quite comfortable. After that, he just slipped on some regular skinny jeans, ran his fingers through his hair, and decided that he'd wasted enough time.

The cold air hit him hard as he stepped out the door, and he was grateful again that he could control the temperature in his own room. He had no clue why the hospital always wanted to make it feel like the North Pole was just around the corner from here, but he still hadn't gotten used to it, despite how long he lived here. Yami supposed he was cold-blooded. Maybe he would move to Florida one day.

He arrived at his intended destination not ten minutes after he left, having power walked the whole way there. He waved hello to a couple of the nurses, unable to return their verbal greetings.

When he got there, he excitedly burst into the room, leaning forward and looking around the posts and at the tables for Yuugi. He slumped when he realized that his friend wasn't there at the moment, a small frown appearing on is face. He'd known that there was a chance this would happen; the nurse's schedules change constantly. He'd just been hoping that Yuugi's nurse's hadn't.

He turned around, his head hanging low, fully intending to go back to his room and comfort himself by watching Supernatural and going through his Duel Monsters cards. As he spun, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and his head whipped around to see who it was, panic momentarily becoming his dominant emotion.

He sighed in relief when he saw that it was just a nurse, and he tilted his head in curiosity when she started to speak. She stopped abruptly, recognition sparking in her eyes as she realized who it was, and stepped back so that Yami could see her whole body, so that she could use sign language. "I have a problem. I'm supposed to take a patient on a walk for a friend of mine who has to watch the kids, and I have one of my usual patients getting sick. I asked Mai to do it and she said to come and find you. Sorry, I forgot you couldn't hear me for a second." She said sheepishly. Yami's head tilted in curiosity.

"I suppose I could help. Where's the patient?" He asked. The nurse yelled something, her eyes flashing with panic, and Yami waited breathlessly for his companion to make themselves known.

He watched as, feeling his way along the wall, Yuugi stumbled around the corner, looking concerned. He told her something and she blushed, looking apologetic as she tried to explain the situation. He nodded his head, a smile forming on his face in response. Yami felt like fist pumping the air. He'd always been lucky, but this was almost too much.

"Okay, he said he needed to be led around, and since you can't talk to him to do that, you'll just have to hold his hand." The nurse signed, looking back and forth between Yami and Yuugi. Suddenly, she smiled and gave a little giggle, gesturing in between them. "You're wearing the same clothes!" She pointed out. Yami quickly looked to Yuugi and saw that it was true; his sweatshirt was a little lighter that Yami's own, but the skinny jeans, the hair, even his signature black bracelets were the same on Yuugi. Yami felt a little heat on his cheeks; Yuugi definitely pulled the outfit off. He looked adorable.

The nurse suddenly groaned, looking at her pager. She grabbed Yami's hand and led him over to Yuugi, placing Yuugi's hand in his own. He blushed a little deeper, feeling the warmth not only from Yuugi's hand, but from the smile he gave afterwards. If it wasn't impossible, Yami would have sworn that Yuugi was looking right at him, too. The nurse turned to Yuugi and told him something before turning back to Yami. "Be back here in around forty five minutes. Until then, just make sure he gets to walk around and don't let him wander off. That means you stay with him the entire time, no exceptions." The nurse announced. The pager must have made a particularly alarming noise then, because her and Yuugi both flinched, and she gave a groan before jogging off, looking panicked.

Yami watched her go until she disappeared, before he turned his gaze to Yuugi. Yuugi was still smiling the smallest bit, and he felt a light squeeze on his hand. Yami tried not to melt as Yuugi intertwined their fingers, but it was a lost cause. He shook his head, slightly dazed, before he gave Yuugi's hand a little tug, urging him to come along.

He paused, looking back and forth between the hallways, trying to decide which path to go down. He didn't really have much of a plan, but he knew he had to check the time so he'd know when to have Yuugi back, so he decided that it would be best to go towards the nurse's station. Besides, it wasn't like he had to follow a specific set path.

Yuugi was easy to lead. He didn't resist, Yami could pull him the slightest bit this way and that, and he'd immediately respond. He shuffled his feet along as best as he could, sticking as close to Yami as was socially acceptable. Their arms were brushing up against each other, and Yami felt like butterflies had built an entire colony in his stomach.

Yami took a sharp turn to the left, and Yuugi stumbled a bit. His arms flailed and his grip tightened on Yami, clearly off his centre of balance. Thinking as quickly as he could, he pulled Yuugi's arm, sending him away from the floor and into Yami's arms.

Yami protectively wrapped the arm that wasn't holding both of their hands around Yuugi's waist, his head bending down to nuzzle Yuugi's hair. He felt the warmth from the other body cut through the chill of the hospital, and Yuugi's head tilted up the slightest. Yami stayed like that for a full ten seconds before he realized how... intimate this would appear to others and he quickly let go of Yuugi, returning their hands down to their sides. Yuugi was blushing just the slightest bit and mumbled something that looked an awful lot like "Thank you", so Yami gave a small sound to let him know it had been heard.

Yuugi looked down at the floor and shuffled his feet the tiniest bit, mumbling something else. Yami wished desperately that he could tell what Yuugi was saying, and he cursed that he had avoided learning how to read lips. He wanted to know what Yuugi had to say. For once, he actually cared.

He shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts. He gave Yuugi's hand another gentle squeeze, tugging a bit on his arm to try and lead him down the hallway. Yuugi stepped along with him, and Yami glanced up at the clock. He did the math to add thirty minutes and made the mental note to be back by then, knowing that he would cause a panic if he didn't have Yuugi back on time. He pulled Yuugi along a little bit faster, thinking of where they could go in that time.

Well, the hospital did have a small garden on the roof... It had been a couple of months since Yami had been there, but he absolutely loved the place. It had a large assortment of potted trees and flowers, and he knew that Yuugi would like it because aside from being beautiful, it also smelled lovely. He looked at Yuugi, remembering that they were both wearing the same outfit, and knowing that it would be warm enough for them to brave the outside weather for a little while.

He wasn't sure how Yuugi would feel about it, though. He knew that if he was taken outside spontaneously by somebody he barely knew and couldn't communicate with, he'd have some problems with it. He figured that it was just a risk that had to be taken though, and he had no way of clearing it with Yuugi beforehand if he still wanted to have him back on time. So, he started towards the elevator.

He pulled Yuugi into the small space and pressed the button for the top floor. Yuugi tensed up when the elevator started moving, tilting his head in confusion for a second before making the connection and giving a sigh of relief, laughing a little. He nudged Yami playfully, as if to say, "You scared me!" And he snuggled into Yami's arm. Yami tensed up, trying again to resist the cute, but he knew in his heart that it was impossible. It was impossible not to fall in love with Yuugi.

Yuugi's head lifted off of Yami's shoulders when they arrived on the top floor, the elevator giving a small 'ding!' to alert them that they had reached their destination. Yami walked out, pulling Yuugi along with him, crossing down a couple of hallways and passed a few rooms to finally reach the small double doors to the garden.

He gave a sigh, praying that Yuugi wouldn't panic at being taken outside, and he gave Yuugi's hand a small squeeze of reassurance. He pushed open the double doors, flinching at the burst of cold, early-March air as he slid outside, dragging Yuugi with him.

A thin layer of snow crunched under their feet, and he was overwhelmed by how fresh the air felt He gave a pleased hum, turning to Yuugi to make sure he wasn't panicking. Yuugi's face had a peaceful expression as he smelled the air, his mouth slightly open and his face alight with pleasure and wonder. Yami smiled, glad that he had made the right choice for their little adventure.

He glanced around and saw the trees, their bark rough and branches barren for the winter months. He knew that spring would be here soon, and he was anticipating the arrival of the leaves and blooming of the yearly flowers they had planted, but for now everything looked absolutely stunning covered in the layer of glistening snow that had fallen. He smiled just the smallest bit, remembering when he had helped to decide which flowers would go where, and what flowers to have.

He had been just nine years old, and Anna was the one who had gotten the funding for the garden, claiming that patients on the top floor needed something to do in their spare time. She had gotten several of them to admit that going down to the bottom floor was stressful and tiring, and even started a petition to get the hospital to do something about it. It wasn't long after Anna had put her mind to it that she had gotten a beautiful spring garden, with the stipulation that she would have to put in the flowers with her own workers and organize the thing herself. She had been more than happy to agree to those terms, and had therefore had the power and control to let Yami make some of the decisions.

He glanced over to the small bush in the far right, the one he'd been allowed to plant. He could still remember excitedly running over towards it and digging into the rich soil of the large pot, putting the little sprout there and watching as it slowly grew up into the large bush it was today. It produced tantalizing blue flowers that smelled like fresh fruit and felt like satin across your skin, being roughly the size of a tea cup. Looking over there now, he noticed something peculiar.

Despite the season, he saw a large dash of blue breaking through the leafy green, coated in a light frost and gleaming like a shiny diamond in a dark cave. He pulled Yuugi over, his feet working quickly as he approached the bush, tentatively reaching out to grab the flower by the stalk. He used his fingernails to cut through the thin stem, lifting it up to his face to inhale deeply.

Despite the early bloom, it smelled just as sweet as it had in the middle of springtime. He breathed out onto it, watching the frost slowly melt and turn into large droplets of water. He felt the silky smooth petals for just a moment before he turned to Yuugi, holding it up for him to smell.

Yuugi looked confused for a moment, sniffing the air curiously before leaning forward, his nose hitting the soft petals just the slightest bit. He pulled back sharply for a moment and Yami gave a small chuckle, earning him what would be a playful glare had Yuugi been looking in is direction. With his eyes closed, it just looked like a slightly displeasured look of amusement. Yuugi quickly leaned forward again, inhaling deeply this time, his eyes fluttering the slightest bit as he did. He pulled away and smiled broadly, saying something that Yami couldn't read.

Yami turned towards him and grabbed his other hand with the one that was holding the flower, placing it there gently before he pulled his hand away. Yuugi had a brief look of confusion cross his face before he realized what Yami wanted, and he blushed a beautiful shade of bright pink. Yami blushed a bit at that too, Mai's suggestion that he might like Yuugi echoing in his head. He looked down at his feet and shuffled them, mumbling in his mind about how stupid Mai was.

He jumped a bit as he felt Yuugi's arms around his waist, pulling him in for a nice hug. Yami froze for just a moment before he hugged back, his arms wrapping around Yuugi's waist and his hands coming to rest on Yuugi's sides, pulling the young one as close as they could manage to get. He closed his eyes and savoured the moment, breathing in and out slowly as he did.

Soon though, Yuugi pulled away. Yami gave a small frown and pulled him back inside after that, not wanting the cold of the outdoors to get to Yuugi. Yami lead them back to the elevator, pressing the button and waiting for the doors to open up. He was happy to see that nobody was inside the elevator, so Yuugi and him would have it all to themselves. He pressed the button for the floor Yuugi's nurse would be on, deciding it was best to get back down there. He wanted to check the time before he decided where to continue to.

Yami glanced back at Yuugi and found him fondly rubbing the soft flowers of the petal, a large, dopey smile on his face. He smiled too when Yuugi lifted it up to his face and let the petals slowly caress his cheek, giving a small shiver at the pleasant texture that resulted. Yami knew that people who had lost their sight loved both fragrant and soft things, and the flower was just as beautiful as Yuugi, so he knew that he should have it. In fact, it almost seemed like it had been placed there by fate specifically for Yuugi to have the flower.

The elevator stopped, and Yami pulled Yuugi out of it, passing by a child in a wheel chair with a very pregnant mother as he did so. He smiled at them, giving a light hearted wave as they passed. He found that with his walk outside, his mood had greatly improved in the short amount of time. In fact, it felt a little like he was walking on sunshine.

Yami went back to the nurse's station, a couple minute's walk from when he was supposed to meet Yuugi's nurse. He found that he had ten minutes left, so he decided that it would be best to go ahead and start heading back to the place where he was supposed to be. It seemed like it wouldn't be right to keep Yuugi's nurse waiting any longer than necessary, and he figured it would give him some time to talk to Yuugi via crayons and paper if they went back now.

They walked back to the small room, Yuugi still possessively holding the flower in his hand, and Yami led them over to the table they were sitting at yesterday, sitting both of them down in quick succession. Once they were safely sitting, his eyes scanned the room, looking for the crayons they had used to communicate yesterday. He growled in frustration, wondering why he couldn't find any, until finally he spotted the supplies cabinet in the corner of the room.

He tapped the table twice, hoping that Yuugi got the message that he'd be back. Yes, it was vague, but there was really no other way to communicate at this moment. He made his way over to the grey cabinet, the light reflecting off of it, and he gave the door a pull, nodding in satisfaction as it swung open freely. It was a good thing too; he didn't know where the nurses would keep the keys to something like this, and he didn't know anywhere else crayons would be.

He scanned the small cabinet, his eyes darting to and fro as he looked for something to use. Glitter, finger paints, hmm... Ah! Finally, his eyes rested upon a large box of markers. He reached in and grabbed a random one, (hoping that he didn't get yellow, as it would be hard to read,) and grabbed a small stack of printer paper off the bottom shelf. As soon as he had retrieved the supplies, he walked back over to the table and spread it out, handing Yuugi the marker he had gotten and placing a paper in front of him.

Yuugi's slightly confused and worried expression broke into a grin as he finally set the flower down on the table, using his other hand to uncap the black sharpie, (Yami vaguely remembered a nurse complaining once about putting sharpie in the kid's corner because they had tried to draw on the walls, but he disregarded the thought) and then to steady the paper as he began to write.

"Thank you. I had fun. Where did you take me outside?" He questioned. Yami smiled and got up from his seat, wrapping his arms around Yuugi again as he did. Yuugi blushed a bit and Yami pressed his cheek up against Yuugi's, savouring the warmth he radiated. This all felt so natural now, almost like he knew Yuugi long before any of this and they were simply getting reacquainted. If Yami believed in reincarnation, he would have said that they knew each other in a past life.

"The garden on the roof." Yami wrote slowly. He could see Yuugi's features scrunch up the slightest bit in calculation as he put together Yami's letters, and he finally smiled, nodding his head in understanding.

There was a lot Yami could tell about Yuugi just from his body language. He was submissive, but more to be polite than it being his actual nature. He was happy, but not too proud of himself. He seemed like the kind of person who didn't hold grudges, who would give you his right arm if it would help. He seemed clever, catching onto what Yami wanted by a simple tug of his arm. More than that, above all, he was kind.

Yami could see it in the set of his features, the way he smiled whenever they walked past noisy children having a good time, the way he never seemed to assume anything was for him until it was placed in his hands several times. He had a kind of selflessness that Yami appreciated more than anything, and Yami wanted to get to know him better more than anything. He gave a sigh and felt his body soften as he relaxed against Yuugi, feeling like a little piece of him was being given away. Yuugi was his friend now, and Yami was helpless to stop himself from getting attached.

"It smelled nice. I liked the fresh air." Yuugi wrote. Suddenly, there was a gust of said "fresh air" as somebody entered the building. Yami turned to see Yuugi's nurse coming back inside with the children, her jacket (which was currently tied around her waist) fluttering in the breeze. Yami puffed, pouting a bit over the fact that he would have to leave Yuugi soon, and his lips turned down into a frown. He almost wished that she would ask him to take care of Yuugi some more, but he knew that that wasn't going to happen.

The children filed away in a couple of neat lines, their legs pumping to get to the large play area. Some of the boys flocked to the Lego section, while others gathered in front of the small television in the corner, watching it intently. A small frown took over Yami's features and he turned towards the nurse, who was currently speaking to Yuugi. She nodded her head and looked relieved, as if something had just been explained to her, and she laughed. Yami realized then that she hadn't known it had been him taking care of Yuugi- she had probably been confused to come back to them instead of Yuugi and the other nurse.

"Thank you for allowing me to watch Yuugi. I really enjoyed spending time with him." Yami said, smiling. She turned towards him and nodded her head, returning his smile the slightest bit.

"From what he's telling me, he had a good time too." She admitted. She extended a hand to Yuugi and Yami backed away, pulling out his companion's chair for him as the woman instructed him to stand. Yuugi obeyed, a small frown passing his features and his shoulders sagging the slightest bit. Yami couldn't help but feel his heart warm when he noticed Yuugi's hand darting out and wrapping around the flower, holding it tightly as his other hand landed in the nurse's.

"Any time you want to leave him with me, I'm free. I love spending time with him." Yami said, nodding his head. She nodded back.

"I'll have to keep that in mind. I keep getting doubled up for duties, so you might have him often over the next few months. Sorry for the inconvenience, I just really need to keep up with everything." She admitted sheepishly, letting go of Yuugi's hand momentarily to explain. Yami nodded his head, trying not to get his hopes up.

"That's entirely fine by me. I'll be seeing him more often, then." He said. Suddenly, the nurse looked down at her pager and gave a groan, closing her eyes and shaking her head. Yuugi turned and waved at Yami with the hand that was holding the flower, his thumb holding the stem in place as he eagerly smiled in Yami's direction. Yami couldn't help but smile back, even if he knew that Yuugi couldn't see it.

Yami felt his stomach sink as he watched Yuugi walk away. He knew it was stupid to be sad about it, because Yami knew he would see him later, but he couldn't help but crave his presence. He knew that he never would quite et enough; Yuugi was so happy and gentle and kind, and Yami thought that he had to be the sweetest thing in the world. Much sweeter than anyone else he had met.

Later that day, Yami felt a vice-like grip wrap around his wrist.

He turned in panic as he felt himself drag, his feet stumbling. He almost yanked his hand back and got ready to defend himself, adrenaline searing through his veins, but he caught a glimpse of wavy blonde, waist-length hair and he stopped. He allowed himself to be dragged a couple of feet before he turned around and started walking with Mai, not bothering to tell her that she had (yet again) almost given him a heart attack of epic proportions, because he knew that his complaints would fall on deaf ears. Well, metaphorically speaking, of course.

He found himself being pushed into the waiting room, Mai smiling broadly. Her breasts jumped the slightest bit as she stopped her body with a slight pop, a smirk coming across her face. She looked like she had a story to tell, or had heard some juicy gossip, and Yami vaguely wondered which.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me how it went?" Mai asked, her eyes sparkling. Her hands came to rest on her waist and her bright red nail polish stood out against the white of her skirt, the little white plus in the centre of them a reverse of the typical medical sign. He noted that she smelled vaguely of lotion, and her skirt was a little longer than usual, and he figured she had been out with her mother that day. They would go out and get manicures every so often, and he knew that her mother was a little more...er... conservative than Mai herself, so Mai tried not to offend her by dressing just a little more covered, more as a courtesy than anything else. Her mother knew she wasn't typically like that, but she appreciated the effort Mai went through not to make her uncomfortable.

"How what went?" Yami questioned, his brows furrowing as his hands formed the question. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked back up to her face, watching as she rolled her eyes. He tilted his head as she lifted her hands to elaborate, apparently accepting the fact that Yami really didn't know what she was talking about.

"Come on, don't play clueless! Yuugi's walking around like cupid slapped him across the face with an arrow, clutching one of those blue flowers you love so much. It doesn't take much to put two and two together Yami, and it's adding up to four." She said, flipping her hair. Yami felt a light blush overtake his face; god he was doing that a lot lately, wasn't he? He shook his head, not knowing how to respond to that. It could be true, he supposed, but he also knew that Mai over exaggerated things sometimes, and when it came to romance, he didn't know if he could trust her judgement. He knew that he couldn't get out of telling her what happened now, but he refused to believe that Yuugi really looked that lovestruck. It was just Mai being Mai.

"We went on a walk and I thought he might like some fresh air. I thought that he would like the flower and it was the only one in bloom, so I picked it and handed it to him. Nothing more than that." Yami defended, shaking his head. Mai's eyebrows rose and he spent several seconds staring into her eyes, trying to let her see that he was telling the truth. She finally dropped her eyes and her shoulders slumped, displaying her disappointment for the world to see.

"Well, why didn't you kiss him?"

"For the love of god Mai, I still don't even know if I like men or not! Please don't- you're going to make things awkward if you keep meddling!" Yami signed, shaking his head and letting out a frustrated breath. Mai crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow, looking slightly uncomfortable with how the fabric smashed her chest. She'd been complaining about the chest being too tight for years now, but nobody seemed to get around to getting her a looser uniform. At least she was used to wearing tight things, or else she would have thrown a fit by now.

"You just need to get out there and experiment, Yami! Yuugi is your opportunity. I think you'll be fine with talking to him; everything will go okay, don't worry about things getting awkward. You're natural around him Yami, I can tell." Mai claimed. Yami shook his head. He loved her, but she got way too involved in his personal life sometimes.

"I'll be fine without experimenting. If it's meant to happen, it'll happen. Now, are we going to go see Mokuba, or what?" Yami asked, hoping for a subject change. Mai's reaction was not good.

Her face turned gloomy and her posture changed, her lips tightening into a displeasured half-grimace. Her arms tightened around her and she shifted back, her eyes falling to the floor. Suddenly, the tone of the conversation had taken a dramatic turn. Yami shuffled his feet awkwardly, trying to get rid of the sudden awareness that came with Mai's silence. She nodded her head curtly.

"We still have other options, that treatment for the other boy is working. We're starting him on that. For now, he's coughing and his white blood cell count is dangerously low. We should go and see if we can cheer him up. His brother might be there now, though." Mai said, letting her tight look soften a bit as she gave a small frown. Yami shook his head, taking a shaky breath and frowning, too. He knew that this had to be hard on Mai. It was pretty hard on him, too.

"Let's." Yami signed, turning quickly and offering his arm to Mai. She gave a small smile before her hand wrapped around his forearm and she took a step closer, comforted by one thing that had always been constant in her life; Yami.

They walked together in silence, approaching the room, until suddenly, Mai froze. Her entire body stiffened, and her eyes stopped as she listened. Yami felt curiosity overcome him as she looked back to him and started walking again, faster and looking concerned. Yami could only let himself be led along and hope that an explanation was to come soon.

As they rounded the corner, he knew that she had seen.

Yami stared in shock as he slowly registered what was happening. His body froze as his eyes darted across the scene, trying to see around the ridiculously long coat of Seto Kaiba. He felt anger flare up in him as he realized that behind the coat, pushed up against the wall, was Yuugi.

Yuugi was hunkered down in fear, shaking as his closed eyes looked for nothing. Seto pushed him harder against the paneling, his hands roughly digging into Yuugi's shoulders. His eyes showed hatred and sadness, anger overcoming everything else. Yami felt his own burst of fierce protectiveness over Yuugi, and he marched forward, rolling up his sleeves as he glared at Seto with all of the anger he could muster.

He put his hand on Seto's shoulder and yanked him around, his eyes glaring holes into Seto's blue ones. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw Mai dart forward and grab Yuugi's hand, pulling him into a tight embrace and soothingly mumbling in his ear.

Yami started to sign, using all of his willpower not to punch Seto in the face. Since he knew that the violent act would most likely be frowned upon, he had to settle for cussing him out in a language he didn't understand and hoping it made him uncomfortable enough to get his point across. He signed every single bad word he knew, and Seto glared at him indifferently, waving a hand aside.

Yami hated him more than anything in that moment. Didn't he know what he had done? He had taken someone completely harmless and scared them out of their mind, somebody who just happened to be ten times the person Seto himself would ever be, Yami was sure of that much. Now, not only was he acting like he was better than Jesus, but he was looking off in the distance like this whole thing had inconvenienced him so much. He wanted to slam him against the wall, to force him to feel the terror he forced upon Yuugi.

Yuugi. Yuugi wouldn't want him to do that, though. Yami didn't know how he knew, he just did. It was like a feeling deep down inside, like an infallible intuition that whispered to him not to do it. If he did that, he would be no better than Seto himself. What he really needed to do right now was to make sure that Yuugi was okay, and learn what happened. If he fought, he'd be lowering himself to Seto's level. Seto wasn't worth it. Yuugi would want Yami to let him go.

So, Yami reluctantly pushed off, shaking with the effort to control himself. Seto stepped forward and looked down the hallway, intending to leave right then. Yami looked toward Yuugi, who was now clinging to Mai and repeating something over and over again, and by the time he looked back, Seto was halfway down the hallway. Yami felt his rage slowly begin to fade away, as if it was an ink drop now deluded in a bucket of fresh water. However, as the anger faded, he found that the deludent was an overwhelming amount of concern.

He turned back towards Yuugi, his eyebrows furrowing in worry as he walked over to Mai, standing beside the two of them. Mai unwrapped her arms from Yuugi, mumbling something to let him know that she was still here, and said, "He's been asking for you over and over. He's not crying any more, but he's pretty shaken up."

Yami nodded his head and, without putting second thought into it, reached out to pull Yuugi into his arms.

Yuugi slowly began to relax, the anxiety fading away from his body. It reminded Yami of the way the black of night slowly slunk away to become day; Yuugi was letting go of what had happened and hugging him back. Yami inhaled deeply, letting in Yuugi's natural, vanilla-esque scent. He pulled him in in earnest now, gripping at him tightly as he ran a hand along Yuugi's back. He trembled a little more before he finally stop, and Yami felt a couple of warm breaths blown into his sweatshirt.

Yuugi slowly pulled away, shuffling his feet as he awkwardly backtracked.

"What was that all about?" Yami asked, reaching out subtly to nudge one of Yuugi's hands. To his delight, the hand was taken and Yuugi stepped just the slightest bit closer again, accepting the extra comfort now that he knew Yami was happy to give it. Yami thought that Yuugi was probably more than shaken up, and he noted dully that he was still clutching the blue flower to his chest.

"Apparently, Yuugi's nurse got an emergency call and forgot that she had another patient to attend to. So, Yuugi was left wandering around for a little while. He was trying to find his room when he bumped into Seto, who demanded to know whether or not he was blind, and insisted that Yuugi should watch where he was going. Yuugi was too shocked to respond, and Seto got angry and pushed him up against the wall. I heard him yelling and started walking faster, and well... you were there for the rest of it." Mai said. Yami knew that he was making a face.

"So, do you think Seto realizes yet that Yuugi is literally blind?" Mai asked after a long moment of silence. Yami didn't want to let go of Yuugi's hand to respond, so he shrugged and lifted one hand, spelling out what he needed to say instead of using both hands. Comforting Yuugi right now was more important than his own convenience.

"If he does, he doesn't care. He's a douche bag. Will you please tell Yuugi all the things I called him?" Yami asked, pulling Yuugi just a little closer. Mai's eyes drifted down to their interlocked hands, (Yami knew she was aware that he was spelling because he didn't want to let go, but he was too concerned with Yuugi to worry about fuelling her suggestions) and she raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment at the moment.

"I wouldn't repeat half of those things Yami, I'm a lady. Who knew you had the hands of a sailor?" She teased, and Yami playfully glared at her. She giggled and Yuugi stirred, his hand tugging at Yami's slightly as he stepped forward, talking to Mai for a bit. Mai responded to him, breaking out of her cheery mood and saying something calmly. Yuugi shook his head no.

"What?" Yami asked simply, looking to Mai to explain. She exchanged one final sentence with Yuugi before she turned back.

"He said he doesn't want his nurse to get in trouble, she was attending to another patient. I have a feeling that the hospital wouldn't be too keen to know she's left Yuugi alone, but I honestly can't help it if he doesn't want to say anything. He suits himself." Mai said, looking dissaproving. When she was done with the spiel, she crossed her arms over her chest and gave a small smile, displaying a healthy dose of that attitude she possessed. Yami was certain that if he could hear her voice, he would be able to distinguish it in her every sentence, as much as he could distinguish it now in her every movement. There was just something so... irreplaceably Mai about her.

"Well, I can see his point, but he deserves to be punished." Yami said. Mai shrugged.

"You try telling him that." She said flippantly. Yami rolled his eyes and set his head in his free hand for a moment, before using his fingers to comb through his bangs and nodding his head.

"Let's just move on for now. Do you think he'd be able to get a cane now, so he can tell where he's walking? I have the feeling he doesn't much like being babysat twenty-four hours a day." Yami said. Mai considered it for a moment.

"He'd have to have somebody teach him the hospital, too, but I suppose he could get around a little on his own with a cane. It would certainly be a smart idea for emergencies like this." Mai said. Yami nodded his head in agreement. "We should go and visit Mokuba now!" Mai suddenly blurted, her memory jogging as she realized that they had neglected to do what they had originally come here to do. Yami resisted the urge to face-palm over how entirely spontaneous it was at this point in the conversation, and was only able to resist because of the the commanding and determined set of Mai's body as she brought it up, as if it were the most obvious transition in the world. Maybe it was, to her.

"Okay. Do you think Yuugi would mind?" He questioned. Mai shook her head, smiling.

"I know he wouldn't, I took him to talk to Mokuba earlier this week and they loved each other. They played go-fish, I just whispered to Yuugi what cards he had in his ear and it worked out fine. All thanks to me thinking of that, of course." Mai said, flipping her hair a bit.

"Don't they have the cards with the Braille numbers on top, too?" Yami asked curiously. He wanted to know if maybe he and Yuugi could play alone sometime; Yuugi could just write down what he wanted to ask Yami for and Yami could just offer Yuugi the card to feel the number that he needed to know if Yuugi had. Mai shook her head in affirmation as she turned, opening the door and flickering on the lights in Mokuba's room.

Yami wasn't prepared for Mokuba's condition.

He was attached to twice as many machines as usual, his bright eyes dingy with the haze of pain and discomfort. His arms clutched the sides of the bed, and Yami could see veins pushing at the skin, as if they were wild animals clawing to escape the cage of Mokuba's body. Maybe it was like that; maybe the sickness was getting tired of this fight, too. Maybe it was ready to strike Mokuba victim to escape the constant rampaging struggle. Mokuba's room smelled like a mixture of cleaner and the sickly sweet smell of disease just barely masked to the average person. Yami was sure Yuugi could smell it too, the way his nose scrunched up and his body slowed, as if reluctant to enter.

"Hey, Tiger." Yami signed, finally releasing Yuugi's hand. Mokuba smiled up at him weakly, not bothering to take the energy to respond.

Mai started to walk around him, checking the various monitors and frowning before adjusting the medication; they were trying to wean him off of it bit by bit so he wouldn't go into withdraw, but they still needed to hurry with it because he needed to be starting the other medicine as soon as possible. She finally stepped away and Mokuba smiled up at her, moving his mouth to say something that Yami couldn't read. He didn't think it was 'hello', and he wondered what he had said.

Mai and him had a short interaction before he said something and she frowned, her eyes dropping down to the floor. She mumbled an apology followed by something else, and she put on a fake smile as she walked back towards Yami and Yuugi.

"He's not feeling the best right now, it would be better if we came back after he's had a nap." Mai said, speaking as she signed so she could address both of them at once.

Yami could see the seriousness of the situation. Mokuba had never turned down company, no matter who it came from. Mokuba was a social butterfly; Yami didn't even think it was possible to see him in a state where he didn't want them around. He shook his head, letting his bangs fall in his face as he tried not to be discouraged.

He could almost understand why Seto was so upset now; Yami knew Mokuba was the only thing in the world that really mattered to him. It didn't excuse his behaviour, but it made more sense now.

As they walked out of the cold room, he clutched Yuugi's hand just a little tighter for support. Yuugi squeezed back, nuzzling Yami's arm with his head just the slightest bit.

He just hoped things would get better soon.