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Chapter 5:

An old Friend Comes this Way

The routine that they settled in to was an easy one.

Yami felt like, for a couple of weeks, things were all in place. As you may know, life can be quite boring that way, but a couple weeks of it never hurt anyone. Well, anyone sane, that is.

Every day when Yami woke up, he'd run downstairs and meet Yuugi and Mai for breakfast. Yuugi was quiet even in these times, and Yami enjoyed watching his little quirks. After breakfast they'd walk together to school, Yuugi's hand secured in Yami's becoming something familiar and usual. Yami longed for it every time. After school, (and after Yami had ran to do his extracurriculars) he'd swing by again and take Yuugi on a walk of the hospital, leading him through the catacombs and to every nook and cranny Yami knew of; He didn't want Yuugi to get lost once he had his cane. Finally, Yami would drop Yuugi off in his room and go eat dinner, finding something else to occupy his time for a little while.

Mokuba had finally been weaned entirely away from the old medicine, and three days prior they had started him on the miracle juice that was saving the other kid. He'd been feeling a little better, but his body still needed time to adjust. That was okay, though; Mokuba was used by now to having to get used to things.

The days passed by in a blur, and Yami could feel that his heart belonged more and more to Yuugi with each passing day. He didn't know how- it didn't make sense, granted, but it felt like he knew Yuugi deeper and deeper with every time they spent time together. He could feel the warmth and love that Yuugi provided and tried his best to start to incorporate that sort of kindness in himself. If Anna could have seen him now, she would have been proud of him; He was nice before, but now, he was understanding.

Yuugi was changing things in him, slowly but surely. It was like the waves crashed onto the shore, taking just a little more sand as time passes, leaving behind logs and sticks and shells, subtly changing the beach until it looked entirely different. Yami felt like Yuugi was the ocean to his beach; he was changing, happier, a better place than he was before. Yuugi made him want to be a better place.

Of course, at first, he had been wary. He'd actually considered that he might be going crazy, he'd seen it happen before. When he didn't start seeing things in the shadows or changing shape before his eyes, he slowly relaxed. What he felt was simply an incredibly strong emotional connection, and even if it had no explanation, he figured it was normal. Well, not quite normal, but not bad, either.

It was a Saturday in April when it happened. It was early April, and holding true to the norm, because rain had been pouring down the past few days, interrupted only by ice when it was cold enough to snow. Yami liked it better when it was rain; being in New York made him a little sick of the cold sometimes, and there was no way to escape it, especially with how cold the hospital was.

He walked around a corner with Yuugi in hand, intending to go to Mokuba's room. Mai had announced yesterday that Mokuba would probably be good enough to have a small visit from them the next, and both boys were eager to see the little rascal. They came up and eventually came to a stop right outside of Mokuba's door, Yami leaning up against the wooden railing and Yuugi following his lead, their interlocked fingers swaying lightly as they waited for Mai. Yami had been a little early on purpose, not wanting to miss any time with Mokuba.

Yuugi stirred, his head whipping to one side as it usually did when he heard something. There was something deeper in his expression, though, and a little unreadable. Was that... Confusion? Yami settled on confusion as he leaned forward, towards where Yuugi's head was, and he was almost hit when Yuugi gasped and backed up a couple of paces, his hand leaving Yami's.

Yami quickly stumbled back, and looked over Yuugi again to find that he was practically thrumming with excitement. His face was stretched into a wide smile and he almost shook with anticipation as he stood alert, starting to become antsy after a few moments of nothing emerging. Yami wished he could ask what was going on; curiosity burned at the edge of his mind, imprinting like a brand across his every thought. He knew he couldn't leave Yuugi alone to go see what it was, though, so he supposed he'd just have to wait and see what was coming.

Around the corner walked Mai, and Yami paused. She looked... Slightly perplexed, vaguely annoyed, and a little... flirtatious? He'd only ever seen one person make her look that way, only one person Mai had ever felt like that about...

Around the corner after her came Joey, his blonde hair hanging in his face just the slightest bit and his puppy dog brown eyes lit up with excitement as he gave a wave towards Yami. Yami stared in shock for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

Finally, everything fell into place as he saw the hospital name tag.

Joey had been there three years ago, a senior in high school and dealing with a rare form of cancer. It was easily treatable, but it was hard to convince his father (because his mother had been gone for awhile, taking his younger sister with her, it was just the two of them) that the procedures and tests were safe, and Joey had gotten worse as he waited for someone to finally agree that he could start treatment. The treatment had gone perfectly- just as the doctor had predicted, but thanks to the delay had left him weaker than usual. As a result, Joey had stayed at the hospital for the entirety of six months, even graduating high school at the hands of Cecilia.

They had all three been the best of friends; Mai, Joey and him would spend hours together prowling the hospital, pulling pranks on some of the doctors, generally stirring up mischief. Of course, Joey had gone when he'd graduated, promising to come back when he got a nursing degree. He said that living in the hospital had given him a new appreciation for what went on in a place like this, and that he wanted to be a part of it for as long as he could.

Of course, Yami didn't actually expect him to come back. He'd had many people say that they were coming back after college and fail to do so, choosing a different path or being influenced by something else to start work at a different hospital. None of them had ever come back before now; granted Yami had a couple of years to wait for some of them.

Yami had been entirely convinced that Joey would be one of these cases- He would find something that interested him more than hospital work, something that he would excel in and would flourish without a second thought to his old career opportunity. However, as long as Yami's eyes weren't deceiving him, Joey was standing in front of him, dressed for work beside Mai as a nurse.

"Look who decided to make a reappearance." Mai said, trying to make herself look grumpy. Joey watched her hands work with intrigue, looking back to Yami. He said something to Mai and she shook her head in confirmation.

"Joey!" Yami signed. He waited no longer, stepping forward and grabbing his friend in a crushing hug. He inhaled the scent of pepperoni pizza and aftershave, a spicy kind of thing that showed Joey had at least tried to smell nice today. Yami chuckled, happy at the fond memories that came flooding back to him.

He pulled away, beaming at his friend. He glanced over to find Mai smiling at him affectionately, shaking her head. He knew that Mai felt strongly for Joey; She had pretended like she resented him at first and he acted like he hated her attitude, but in reality, they couldn't be more close. They'd slowly overcome their impatience and disrespect of each other to be best friends towards the end of Joey's visit, even if they did still have their disagreements.

"Joey, how are you?" Yami asked, looking to Mai to translate. She opened her mouth and started to, but abruptly stopped, turning to Yuugi with her eyes widened. Soon, Joey followed suit, looking behind Yami and staring blankly at Yuugi, surprise evident on his features. They stood still for what seemed like forever, (when in reality it probably wasn't more than thirty seconds) and stared, seeming to be halted by an invisible force.

Yami eventually got curious enough to turn around and look at Yuugi himself, seeing his friend with a wide smile stretched across his face and his arm leaned against the walking rail, the skin around his eyes crinkling the slightest bit from how far upwards his lips were turned. He shook his head in disbelief, finally speaking to try and break the tension.

Suddenly, everything happened at once. Joey stepped around Yami and barrelled towards Yuugi, his arms wrapping around the boy and swinging him around a couple of times before Yuugi started squirming against his hold, complaining and pushing until Joey finally set him down. They both began to have a heated conversation, Joey concentrating more intently than Yami had ever seen. His lips pulled down in a frown as Yuugi talked. Yami turned to Mai, his eyes begging for an explanation.

"Apparently, those two know each other. Remember when Joey said he used to go to a private school on a scholarship for dodge ball?" Mai asked, still looking vaguely stunned. Yami nodded his head, feeling surprise radiate through him, too. "Apparently, it was Yuugi's old school, too." Mai said. Yami stood silently, trying to process the new information, and Mai turned towards the two friends.

Once Yami was certain he had comprehended right, and that Yuugi and Joey really did know each other, he turned back to the two of them, smiling broadly.

He fought to keep his smile in place.

Yami wasn't sure why, but looking at Joey talking to Yuugi like that, an arm carelessly draped around his shoulder as if it had always belonged there, and his face stretched up into an (admittedly handsome) grin, made his stomach give a jolt. He shook his head and widened his eyes considerably, turning away again and breathing out a puff of air. It was silly to feel any bad way; this was great! They could all hang out together, as a group now!

Yami turned back, keeping his smile genuine this time. He watched as Yuugi and Joey exchanged a few words and Yuugi laughed. Though Yami couldn't hear it, he was convinced that if he could, laughter would be his favourite sound in the world. Yuugi threw his head back and let go; there was a certain kind of lightness in the way he held himself now, as if he hadn't known that Joey was okay until today. Knowing how Joey was about long distance friendships, Yami knew that they had probably drifted away after Joey graduated.

Mai stepped forward after a couple of minutes and put her hand firmly in between the two, pulling them apart from one another. She 'tsk'ed' and leaned forward to open Mokuba's door, walking in as if she owned the place. Yami, and Joey shared looks before both of them stepped forward to follow Mai into the room, Yami reaching down to grab Yuugi's hand, grateful that he got to keep his position in assisting Yuugi, rather than the responsibility getting passed off to Joey.

The machines incessant whines annoyed Yuugi; Yami could tell by the way his ear moved slightly back, as if cringing itself from the noise. Yami was far past wishing he could hear, but at this point, he couldn't help but wonder what the sound was like. He knew that certain people could hear even the most unpleasant sounds, for example, Joey could hear dog whistles. Actually, Mai had teased him about it for months when he first got there, blowing a dog whistle whenever she needed him to do something or just generally missed his company. No matter where he had been in the hospital, he'd come slinking towards the sound, his head hung low and annoyance sketched onto his face as he demanded to know what she wanted. Yami thought that these were some of his favourite memories of Joey and Mai.

Yami watched as Mai went around Mokuba, grabbing random tubes and checking things and shooting some liquid into his IV. She talked as she worked, most likely explaining to Joey why Mokuba was so important to her. Yami knew that Joey had left a couple of months at least before Mokuba had gotten here, so Joey was entirely clueless as to how important Mokuba was to both of them.

As she spoke, Joey paid rapt attention, and she was only interrupted for questions a couple of times. Mokuba added in a couple of sentences after she was done speaking, smiling broadly at Joey and putting out his hand to shake. Joey immediately took his hand and vigorously shook, nodding his head and talking enthusiastically. Mokuba bounced up an down with every shake until Joey was done, laughing a bit with the jumps. When Joey finally noticed that he was being too rough, he dropped Mokuba's hand and put his own hands behind his back, sheepishly mumbling something.

After that small exchange, Mokuba asked in sign language and out loud if there was any way they could play cards. Mai and Joey shared a glance, grinning as they thought of what they should play. Mai turned to Yuugi and asked him something, (presumably something along the lines of, "Do you think you'll be able to read Braille numbers?") and Yuugi shook his head. As soon as she had the affirmation, she turned around and bent over, rummaging through the drawers for some cards.

She emerged triumphant, a simple pack of playing cards in her hands. Her face was set to a dangerous smirk as she sauntered over to the group, swinging Mokuba's food tray around so that it could be used as the playing card table. She began to shuffle as the rest of the group crowded around, Yami leading Yuugi over to the table and all eagerly awaiting the deal.

Mai eventually finished shuffling, her hands stalling before switching positions and putting cards down in front of each member, five in all. When she was finished, she set the leftover cards down in the centre of the table, and each respective member reached forward and took their piles, Yuugi having his pushed into his hands by Yami.

Everybody looked at their cards and then up and around at their opponents, (well, everyone except for Yuugi), giving some extra time so Yuugi could be sure of which cards he actually had. Once he gave a nod and told Mai to start the game, she went first.

"Does anybody have a four?" She asked, quickly signing what she wanted to Yami. Mokuba pouted before he passed over one of his cards. Yami watched as Mai set down a pair, noticing then that Joey had already put down a pair of his own, having gotten one from their first hand. Yami could remember that Joey had good luck, but his luck was no match for Yami's own.

It got around to Yuugi's turn and Yuugi asked for a three, Mai quickly translating as usual, and Yami found that he actually had a three. He handed it over to Yuugi, smiling a little bit. Yuugi set the two cards down side by side on the table, his nose scrunching up adorably right before he sneezed into his elbow. Yami chuckled and Yuugi turned towards him, smiling broadly.

Suddenly, he looked away, a lovely shade of pink spreading across his features, as if he had just been caught in something. Yami turned to Mai confusedly and she raised her hands, her eyebrow arched as high as was physically possible. "Joey cleared his throat." She explained. Yami resisted the urge to glare at Joey with every ounce of hatred he could muster up, and instead signed to Mai the number seven.

Joey had his card, and he reluctantly handed it over to Yami. Even if it was a little childish, it made Yami feel just the tiniest bit better.

As the game progressed, it became obvious that Mokuba, Mai, and Joey were way out of their league. Three turns in and Yami already had three matches down, rivalled only by Yuugi, who had the same. Through the entire game, the other players were competing for third place as Yami and Yuugi stayed neck and neck.

Finally, they had both come down to holding their last card. Yami narrowed his eyes, sparkling with humour and excitement. The rules of the game was that the first person to go entirely out of cards would end the game, and whomever had the most amount of card pairs at the end would win. Yuugi stood with a dangerous smirk, angling his body away so that Yami couldn't see his cards. Not that Yami would, he was more respectable than that, but it was more out of force of habit than anything. He tapped his last card thoughtfully; the game had come to his turn, and he pursed his lips slightly, delaying the inevitable. Yami loved the tension, and he was practically on the edge of his seat.

Slowly, Yuugi held up three fingers, smirking. Yami's mouth almost fell open as he looked in between Yuugi's hand and his own last card, disbelieving of the three glaring up at him.

He handed the three over top Yuugi and Yuugi ran his hand over the top, where the Braille was situated right above where a normal person would read it. He smiled and set them down, officially ending the game.

Mai and Joey stared in shock at the card, looking back and forth between Yami and Yuugi. It wasn't long before Yuugi found Joey practically tackle-hugging him and congratulating him, Mokuba nodding approvingly in the background while Mai teasingly insisted that it was a fluke, signing her opinion at Yami for good measure. Yami shook his head no; Yuugi had told him that he was good at games, and Yami believed that this was probably just how it was. Yuugi was apparently excellent.

However, it wasn't long until Mai had convinced them to try something else. They sat across from each other, Yami fiddling with his hair nervously as he was positioned directly opposite his opponent. Mai turned to Yuugi and explained what they were doing first before turning back to Yami and raising her hands, letting Joey shuffle the cards behind her while she explained.

"We're going to do a version of blackjack where I'll be the dealer. It's just like regular blackjack, except I'll put two cards in front of each of you and not take one myself. One of the cards will be flipped up, and you'll have to decide whether to hit or miss. You want your card amounts to add up to twenty one, and no higher. The highest number that's still below twenty one when the one card that remained face down is flipped up will win the game." She explained. Yami nodded his head, waiting patiently to be dealt.

She set two cards in front of each of them, and the entire room was paying rapt attention to what was going on. Yami shifted in his seat, slightly uncomfortable, as his first card was flipped over. A ten.

Since there are so many cards in the deck that can equal ten, his other card is most likely a higher number. If he hit again and got anything other than an ace (which could be either an eleven or a one), it could be a problem. He motioned for Mai to stay and she turned to Yuugi, flipping over one of his cards.

He reached down and felt at the corner, nodding his head. The card was a queen, which had the value of ten. He motioned for Mai to hit him again. She raised her eyebrows and looked over at Yami as if to ask what he was thinking, and Yami shrugged his shoulders honestly. She pursed her lips as she slowly flipped over another card, a king. Yuugi felt it and nodded his head, and Yami smiled a bit to himself. The chances that the last card was an ace were incredibly small; Yuugi had dug his own grave when he asked to be hit again.

Yami smirked as his second card was flipped over; it was an ace. With the ten he already had, it made twenty-one. Not only that, but him having one of the aces lowered the chances that Yuugi's other card was an ace. He nodded to Mai and watched as she scooted over to Yuugi's side of the table and flipped over his card.

Yami stared in utter shock. The shiny red ace of hearts sat proudly on Yuugi's side of the table; they had just tied the game. Mai blinked a couple of times, looking back and forth between them before she turned back to Yuugi and shook her head, relaying the results. Joey came over to see for himself, scooting closer to Yuugi as he looked between his cards and Yami's. He mumbled something and Yuugi's face went bright red, Yuugi elbowing him in the ribs, hard.

Joey doubled over, rubbing his side and pouting slightly, probably mumbling something about Yuugi being stronger than he looks. Yami tilted his head at Mai and she rolled her eyes.

"Joey just said that 'Now we have the Queen of Games, too!', and Yuugi apparently didn't find it funny." She relayed. Yami blushed a bit too, deciding to play it up. After all, "you only live once" should be implied to situations like this. He may never get such an opportunity again.

"Well, tell him I'd be perfectly fine with him as my queen." Yami signed. Mai raised an eyebrow but turned to Yuugi without comment, relaying the message to him.

Yuugi's face lit up red again as he mumbled a thank you, his head turning down towards the ground as if he was watching his own feet shuffle out of habit. He looked so cute and flustered that Yami wondered why he hadn't said anything like that sooner; after all, even if he didn't know what his sexuality was yet, he could still flirt, right?

Suddenly, the door swung open, letting in a cool draft from the hallways. Yami turned his head to look at the opening, finding Rebecca, standing with a hand on her hip and a clipboard in the other hand. She walked in and looked around, locating a table and setting her clipboard down before turning to Yami frantically.

"Yami, I need your help. There's a little boy who's absolutely in hysterics over something, we can't pinpoint what exactly, and he won't talk to me. I think he feels intimidated by adults." he suggested, shrugging her shoulders. Yami paused, looking at the tied game before him and then back to Rebecca. This boy might have something important that needs to be done...

"Of course, I'll follow you. Mai, tell Yuugi I said goodbye." Yami said, squeezing away from Mokuba's bed and towards the door, working his way towards Rebecca and following her out the open door.

He hadn't gotten to see much of Rebecca lately; they were taking care of a second deaf child, trying to teach her to read lips, and it seemed like there was a sudden increase in the amount of people coming in to have their children evaluated, and well... she was a doctor, too. If they needed staff, she had to go and help out. So, for the most part, Yami had used Mai as his translator or all together avoided interactions with people whom didn't know how to speak sign language.

He followed her down hallways and around rooms, eager to get to talk once all of this was over. She had been gone for far too long, and he missed her to no end.

Eventually, they were in the wing of the hospital where disabled kids had their appointments. Yami had been here a million times before, so he knew how intimidating it could be sometimes. She opened up the door to go back, and Yami stepped through it, eyes searching intently for the boy who had become the problem. When he came up with nothing, he turned back to Rebecca for further instruction, realizing then that she had walked down the hallway to his right.

He jogged to catch up; She was probably stressed right now, and there was no need to mention that she had left him behind if he didn't have to. Besides, he was where he needed to be now, and she was briskly leading him to... Well, he didn't know.

Finally, she stopped, turning on her heel and looking at Yami. He noted that there were bags under her eyes, and her skin was a little paler than usual. Her usually pristine hair had some strands out of place or sticking up, and she clutched her clipboard to her body just a little too tightly. She hadn't been getting much sleep lately, Yami supposed. He thought he should talk to the hospital about maybe getting a second translator, maybe claiming that Rebecca's work was hindering his ability to interact or something like that. Then, maybe she could at least get a break every once in awhile.

"I'm going to warn you that this little devil has been kicking us for the past hour. Don't assume anything, he might be distressed but he's also a brat." She told Yami firmly. Yami shook his head, nose crinkling in distaste. He'd seen enough of those kids. It was one thing when they acted like that because they were going to get a shot; it was a whole 'nother ball game when they just wanted to be tyrants.

She turned back and lifted her hand, shaking, to the door. The handle turned smoothly under her gentle touch, and she pulled the door open quickly, standing behind it to let Yami through first.

The room was an absolute wreck. There were crayons and torn paper everywhere, stains on the ceiling, (is that jelly? Where did the kid even get jelly in the hospital?) and he was running around like a whirlwind, his face red and mouth open in what Yami assumed to be a scream as he threw himself onto the table belly-first.

This was going to be a long day.

Three hours later, Yami walked out of the room with three new bruises, (a couple on his shins, and one on his ribs) what could only be presumed to be jelly in his hair, and a tired expression on his face. Rebecca was indefinitely grateful though, which in his opinion, made it worth the pain and effort. She shouldn't have to go through this alone, and they boy did eventually talk to Yami, explaining that he just didn't like the doctors touching him. Yami had given out a frustrated sigh before calmly explaining to the boy that doctors had to touch him to help him get better and make sure he was doing all right. He had eventually relented, allowing the doctor to check him out and make sure that he didn't have a sinus infection. The mother had left about halfway through it to go and get some snacks and escape the chaos, and she was pleasantly surprised when she came back to find her son sitting well-behaved in the waiting room with a sucker in his mouth.

Now, Yami stood outside the office with Rebecca, who had lovingly wiped the jelly out of his hair, leaving a small portion wet but him in much better shape.

"I've missed you, Rebecca." He told her pleasantly, then leaned forward to give her a hug. She laughed and pushed him off, shaking her head.

"I heard you haven't been thinking about me much with the way you've been looking at the new boy." She teased him. Yami blushed dark crimson, his ears turning red as he shook his head no. She smiled and pushed him playfully again, her eyes sparkling. "Yami, it's not exactly a secret. The two of you walk around together constantly, hold hands, you look at him like he's the best thing that's ever happened to you... The entire hospital has already placed bets on how much longer you'll wait to kiss him." Rebecca put in. Yami's mouth dropped open.

Mai hadn't told him any of that! Honestly, as his friend, he would expect her to tell him when things like this happened! This was absolutely mortifying. Well, okay, not mortifying, but... He was slightly uncomfortable!

"Listen, I don't even know my sexual orientation right now, you can't expect me to throw everything away and kiss him, especially not knowing if he feels the same way." Yami signed, shaking his head. It was hard to even admit that much, honestly. But he was coming to terms with the fact that he was questioning, and he knew that he trusted Rebecca more than anything in the world. She wouldn't tell anyone without his permission.

Rebecca's eyebrows rose. "Really? It seems pretty clear to me that you're Yuugi-sexual." She insisted. Yami rolled his eyes and turned away, making a dismissive gesture at the accusation and blushing a bit. Honestly, just because he looked at somebody funny, everyone was freaking out.

"You'd better go and get lunch. I have break for ten more minutes before I have to go and work for another hour, and I know for a fact that Mai and Joey are waiting for you to go and eat. So you should probably go." She insisted, giving Yami one final hug. Yami squeezed her back with everything that he had, not wanting to let go. She was being overworked to no end, but at least she got to go home in another hour. (Then again, that didn't help much when you considered that she was supposed to have Saturdays off).

Rebecca pulled away and turned, walking towards the large group of nurses who were crowded into the break room, gossiping and giggling. He watched her go sadly and waited until she was entirely out of his sight to turn, wishing that life could just be a little more simple. Maybe then Rebecca wouldn't be so overworked and he would actually know what the heck was going on with his sexuality.

He started back towards Mokuba's room, figuring that even if they weren't there, they would be somewhere close. He walked for around ten minutes before he finally arrived, ducking his head into the room briefly to see that they had already gone. He said goodbye to Mokuba and walked out, deciding to try the waiting room closest to Mokuba's.

When he finally got there, he smiled as he saw the group. That is, until he got a strange feeling in his stomach.

Mai was standing up and talking elaborately, laughing every once in awhile as she told her story. Yuugi and Joey laughed along with her, sitting on the fluffy couch that had been put into the waiting room. Joey was sitting close to Yuugi, an arm carelessly slung around his shoulder, and Yuugi returned the affection, having his own arm around Joey's waist. They looked like the picture of friendship.

Yami snapped himself back to attention. He scolded himself. It's not like Joey was over there kissing Yuugi, and even if he was, it's not like Yuugi was actually Yami's boyfriend. There wasn't anything Yami could do about it, and getting jealous would only create unnecessary drama. Just because Joey had known Yuugi longer and had spent more time with him didn't necessarily mean that Yuugi liked him better anyway. Well, at least, Yami assumed so.

Actually, now that he thought about it, Yami didn't know how Yuugi felt about him. It wasn't like he could just ask; Yuugi couldn't see the sign language, and having to go through Mai would be uncomfortable and embarrassing. Yami could only survive so much mortification, and having her ask a question like that would be off the scales, especially if the response was bad.

Suddenly, Yami was jealous of Joey. Not because he was over there being affectionate towards Yuugi, or because he had known him for longer, but because he could talk to him now. Yami couldn't dream of being as close to Yuugi as Joey could be, because Joey actually had the ability to talk to him. Without being able to really talk to someone, while you could feel close to them, you couldn't ever really know how they felt about you. Yami knew that, to truly be close to Yuugi, he would have to find some way they could communicate. Writing and hoping Yuugi understood what he was saying wasn't going to hold him over forever.

Yami frowned, giving a sigh as he put on a smile and continued forward, eventually plopping down on the couch next to Yuugi. Yuugi gave a jump as Yami sat, not expecting the shift in the furniture. When he realized that it was Yami (Yami was never sure how, exactly Yuugi knew that it was him), he laughed, throwing his arms around the other boy in a warm hug. Yami thought his heart was melting.

Mai lifted her hands. "Are we going to go and get something to eat now, or what?"

They walked down to the cafeteria together, and Yuugi chose to hold Yami's hand instead of Joey's. Joey asked Mai if they should hold hands since "Everyone else seemed to be doing it!" and Mai retaliated with, "If everyone else was jumping off a cliff, now I know you'd be stupid enough to follow suit". (Of course, this conversation was relayed to Yami later.) Once they were there, they chose a nice, secluded table off to the side and ate together, Yuugi having trouble stabbing his food and Joey teasingly feeding him a bite, earning him an elbow in the ribs from Mai. Yuugi made it clear that it was okay when he picked up his fork and teasingly tried to feed Joey a bite back, smearing it all over his face and pretending like it was an accident. ("Must be because I'm blind!").

They were soon finished and took their garbage to the garbage cans, dumped it in, and parted ways. Yami walked Yuugi back to his room before heading to his own, (after he dropped Yuugi off, he gave him a small peck on the cheek, blushing the entire time) and practically throwing himself down on his bed, feeling the long day begin to wear on him. Dinner wasn't for a couple more hours and he had nothing else to do, so he picked up his copy of Game of Thrones and started reading.

He read the rest of the day, only stopping when the nurse brought dinner to his room. He wondered idly what Yuugi was doing, but for the most part, stayed concentrated on his book. He was four hundred pages into it by the time he fell asleep, the book still lying open on his chest while his eyes and body grew heavy. He slowly felt his consciousness fade into a restful oblivion.

It was hours later when he woke. The outside had been covered in the veil of night, and the room was dark except for his alarm clock, which proudly proclaimed that it was two o'clock in the morning. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and he could taste salt; the only thought that crossed his mind in its hazy state was, water. He stumbled out of bed and his feet shook as he stood, protesting their job of holding him up so late in the night. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes in attempt to clear the sleep from them, stumbling out in search of a cup.

He knew there was a cabinet of supplies on the other side of the hospital that would have something he could drink out of, so he walked out of the room and proceeded to twist his way through the hospital, walking the least busy hallways so as not to be questioned. He wanted to get there and back as quickly as possible; he would be tired all day tomorrow if he didn't hurry back to bed.

Finally, he reached his destination, locating the nearest sink, (he just went into an empty room) filling up his cup and drinking. His whole body went slack when he finally tasted the water, the cool refreshment music to his parched throat. He drank the entire cup twice before throwing it in the trash can and wiping off his mouth, walking out the door and heading on his way back to his bedroom. This wasn't the first time he had gotten up in the middle of the night, and most certainly wouldn't be his last.

However, on his way back, something seemed...off. He passed down a hallway a couple of hallways down from his, and one of the doors was slightly ajar. He felt curiosity bubble up; sleeping patients were supposed to have their doors shut, and he knew this room specifically to be Yuugi's. He'd been walking him back here every night after their adventures, for the past two weeks, so he knew he wasn't mistaken. He wondered if a nurse had just forgotten to shut it; they did that sometimes, and Yuugi wouldn't be able to go and shut it himself. Yami wondered if he should go and shut it for him.

As he approached, something still seemed wrong. His hand hesitated on the cool steel of the door, uncertain in what to do. He bit his lip and shook his head, feeling indecision rise up in him like a tidal wave. Should he check and see what, if anything, was wrong?

Well, it couldn't hurt, could it? Thought Yami, sliding the door open the slightest bit. He peeked his head in slowly, curiosity thrumming through his veins.

What he saw surprised him. The moonlight reflected off the tile of the floor, the shape of a glass with a dead blue flower illuminated in shadow. Through the pale moonlight, Yami could see Yuugi's form hunched over, his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with sadness like Yami had never seen before. Without thinking, he stumbled in, and Yuugi's head shot up.

He froze, not entirely sure what to do. Yuugi looked distressed, but if he were to reveal himself, Yuugi may think that he was spying in the first place. He didn't want Yuugi to get angry or think he was a pervert, but he looked so distressed... He'd like to think that despite not being able to talk, Yuugi knew him better than that. With that thought, he took a couple steps forward, slowly shutting the door behind him. Nobody else needed to see Yuugi like this; he didn't know how Yuugi felt about other people seeing him upset, but there must be a reason he's crying on his own.

Yuugi said something indistinguishable, scooting back as if he were frightened. Yami cleared his throat, hoping that Yuugi may recognize the sound. It must have worked, because he said something that looked to Yami an awful lot like his name. He stepped forward a couple more steps, noting the exact moment when Yuugi visibly relaxed. He kept his pace nice and slow though, making sure that Yuugi wasn't frightened. He wanted to comfort him, not scare him away.

Eventually he walked up beside Yuugi, heart throbbing in his chest. He reached out gently to touch Yuugi's cheek, his hand cupping Yuugi's jaw as his thumb swiped away a tear. Another one soon replaced it, and Yami did his best to keep himself from being discouraged. He leaned forward and kissed this one away, pressing his body closer to the bed.

Yuugi shifted, on his knees in front of Yami. He leaned into his touch, wrapping his arms around the other's waist and pulling him closer. Yami let out a hum of approval and placed a second kiss to Yuugi's forehead, ignoring the tears that kept coming. They stood there in the comfortable silence that had accumulated, for how long, Yami wasn't sure. Yuugi eventually put his head down on Yami's shoulder, the hand that was cupping his face coming to rest naturally on his shoulder. Yami closed his own eyes as Yuugi began to shake as he had before, crying into Yami's shoulder. He rubbed his hand up and down between Yuugi's shoulder blades, letting him get it all out.

It escalated before it got better; Yuugi's whole form was shaking and Yami could feel tears soak through his shirt as Yuugi clung to him. He held Yuugi close as he cried, burying his own face in Yuugi's hair and inhaling his vanilla scent. He let everything else in life go; in this moment, at this point in time, all that mattered to him was Yuugi.

Eventually, after the hardest of the sobs had subsided and the tears were coming less and less often, Yuugi pulled away. Yami reluctantly let him go, wondering what was happening. He felt a sloppy kiss placed on his cheek, and Yuugi scooted back in his bed, patting the place beside him. Yami stared blankly, unsure what to make of it, until Yuugi scooted under the covers and lifted them up, waving his hand as if to say, "Come closer."

Yami finally felt the pieces connect in his head and he sheepishly crawled into the bed, trying to stay on what he designated as "his side". As soon as he was comfortable, though, he felt Yuugi scoot over and lay his head down on his chest, curling up against him in the cold room. He made a mental note to get Mai to ask Yuugi if he'd like to have his heat turned up.

Yami wrapped an arm around his friend, leaning back comfortably on the pillows as he felt the rhythmic rise and fall of Yuugi's chest against his side. He closed his eyes, wondering what made Yuugi sad. Maybe he could help. But he knew that seeing a person like that would be much too intimate to ask Mai to translate, and he didn't want to bring it up later and have Yuugi upset again. He would ask Yuugi about it when the time came. And he would ask him himself.

He could feel the exact moment that his mind was made up.

This had gone on too long. He needed to learn how to speak. Something had to be done about this situation; he was too emotionally invested at this point to back out of it now. He was going to get to know Yuugi, they were going to spend time together talking and laughing and enjoying each other's company, without a translator.

Something else had been decided, too. He may not be gay; he may not be bi. In fact, he may not be anything at all. All he really knew, though, was that he liked Yuugi. Maybe it was even love.