All right, Chapter 10's here everybody and as always, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter! (Smiles cheerfully) I figure that this story will definitely reaches more than 20 chapters but not sure if it'll be more than 30 or not…(sweat drop) again, thanks so much for the wonderful faves and alerts, I really appreciate that! :3 So without further delay, here's Chapter 10 but first…
Beta: Natoya
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Keys:
"Talks"
'Thoughts'
~Flashbacks~
Chapter 10: Delicacy
Meanwhile, in Joey's tent…
"What a heavy storm out there." Commented a man with cold blue eyes who slammed the door behind him while letting the water on his body dripped down to the floor.
"I wonder what Yami is doing now?" Kaiba whispered while grabbing a spare towel that was hanging near the cabinet. "Well, at least that mutt isn't here."
As soon as he spoke his last word, a luminous light suddenly surrounded the pitch-black living room, and Kaiba spun round to see a worn-out teen that was none other than his annoying enemy, Joey Wheeler.
"Huh? Kaiba? What are you doing here?" The honey-brown eyed adolescent drawled before yawning.
"I should be asking you the same thing." The brunet said sternly, feeling irritated that Joey wasn't in Ryou's tent.
"Ryou said that I'm feeling better so he's allowing me to go back to my own tent." The younger of the two said with a bright smile as he stretched his tired arms as far as he could. "So, what's up with you? Why are you here? I thought you hated me so much that you wouldn't even want to take one step into my tent."
Although Joey's bitter words made Kaiba's resentment increased rapidly, it was the truth.
"I wouldn't ever want to come here if it wasn't because of the storm."
"Storm?" Joey repeated while confusion and curiosity flashed in his eyes.
"Yes…apparently, the storm has gotten so strong that those huge winds destroyed our tent. Therefore, we had no choice but to stay in you and your friend's tents for the time being."
"What? Seriously?" Exclaimed the Newcastle student as he wondered if his tent could withstand the strong winds as well.
A nod from the brunet was the only response Joey got.
"I guess it can't be helped." Joey said whilst releasing a frustrated sigh. "I just hope that the storm will end soon."
Then, the energetic honey-brown eyed fellow went into the kitchen to get some food for lunch while Kaiba sat on the sofa before he gazed at the ceiling on top of him.
'Why in the world am I stuck in this place?'
Out of a sudden, a piercing scream reached his alerted ears and without a second thought, Kaiba dashed into the kitchen to realize that Joey was ogling at the fridge with a flabbergasted expression.
"What's wrong?"
"Th…the…fridge is…."
Kaiba looked at where Joey was pointing at but all he could see in the fridge was…nothing.
"There's nothing in the fridge…"
"That's the problem! How I am supposed to have lunch if I have nothing to eat?" Joey sputtered while at the same time, scratching his head in aggravation as he felt like wanting to bang his own head on the wall.
"What happen to all the food in the fridge?" Kaiba asked curiously.
That sentence instantly made Joey realized something.
"Oh, now I remembered! When I came back here last night, I was feeling very hungry and without thinking, I ate everything in the fridge. At that time, I was feeling very sleepy due to the medicine effect so I don't even know what I'm doing. Argh, I'm so stupid!" The shorter of the two whimpered as he kept on shouting and whining for being so clumsy.
"Can you just shut up, mutt? Your whining annoys me." Kaiba retorted with detestation in his eyes.
"I can't help it, I'm feeling so darn hungry now!" Joey snapped with that similar infuriated look displayed on his face.
"Do you have anything, anything at all in your kitchen?"
Joey thought for a moment before calmly replying, "Well…I guess I do have something in the cabinet."
He then flitted towards the kitchen cabinet and opened it to reveal some packages of noodles, rice, raw vegetables and fruits.
"Everything's in there, but there's no meat." Joey whined heartbrokenly. "And what's worse, I can't cook!"
"But I can."
Those three words made Joey swung round to face Kaiba who stared back at him with a cool, composed look on his features.
"What did you just say?"
"Are you deaf, mutt? I say I can cook!"
Kaiba, however, didn't expected Joey to stifle laughter by covering his mouth, which made the blue-eyed adolescent grit his teeth in anger.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, I just never expected a person like you could do the cooking." The younger teen spoke with a cheery grin.
"You don't believe me? Then, I'll prove it to you." The brunet then grabbed all the stuff from the kitchen cabinet and placed them onto the kitchen table.
"Alright, tell me what you want." Kaiba abruptly spoke aloud to Joey who was slightly taken aback by his words.
"Is this a challenge?"
"Yes. Since you don't believe me, I will have to show you what I'm capable of." The Water Elemental said with a sure-to-be-victor smirk on his handsome face.
"Fine, I accept your challenge." The Newcastle student said, also smirking. "The loser will have to listen to what the winner says three days from now on."
"Deal."
Meanwhile, in Malik's tent…
"I'm getting hungry now." Moaned a lavender-eyed youth as he paced around the room with a troubled expression written on his face.
"Then why don't you find something to eat in the kitchen?" Asked his look-alike, Marik.
"There's nothing left in the kitchen except those stuff that needs to be cooked. And you know that I can't cook."
"Oh…" Was the only word Marik uttered to his friend.
"Ryou usually prepares all the food for me but since I can't go to his place because of that stupid storm, I will have to figure things out myself." Malik explained whilst releasing a saddened sigh.
"What should I do now?"
"Well, you can't just stand there and do nothing, that's for sure." The pineapple-head fellow said before he stood up from his chair and walked down the stairs. Malik later followed him from behind.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to the kitchen to see if there's anything else we can eat that doesn't need to be cooked."
When they reached their destination, the duo searched for food in both the kitchen cabinet and the fridge but all they could find were just raw vegetables and small packets of noodles.
"This is tougher than I thought." Marik whispered but Malik heard him clear enough so he nodded in agreement.
"So, what now?"
Marik grinned mischievously as he walked towards the cooker and turned on the fire.
"We'll have to cook ourselves."
"But we…"
"Do you have a better idea?"
Malik stayed silent for a while before sadly answering,
"No."
"Then, let's get started." Marik said in a singsong voice while at the same time putting some garlic into the wok along with some oil. He had seen some ladies cooking before in commercials and short TV programs back when he and his cousins were living in the city, so he thought he should do the same.
Little did they know that chaos will happen in the kitchen really soon.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest…
"What's taking him so long?" A tri-colored haired boy wondered as he felt his palpitation increased little by little.
"I wonder if he's alright…"
His speech was cut off shortly when he saw a human shadow emerged right in front of him and soon, an image of a familiar person was seen carrying various fruits in his arms.
"It's Yami!" Yugi exclaimed in delight as he stood up immediately while waiting for his friend to arrive.
As soon as Yami reached his destination, Yugi, without thnking, hugged him tightly with a relieved smile on his cherubic face.
"Thank goodness, you're safe."
Yugi's actions made Yami blush with confusion in his eyes but soon a smile became visible on his lips before he spoke aloud,
"Yes, I am. Thank you for your concern."
When Yugi heard Yami's words, he realized what he was doing so he quickly let go and looked away in embarrassment.
"Erm, it's nothing."
The ruby-eyed stripling smiled once again before carefully putting the fruits onto the ground.
"By the way, Yugi. I have something for you."
"Huh?"
Yami then showed his companion a lifeless chicken.
"We'll have roasted chicken for the night."
"That's great." Yugi said while at the same time, thinking to himself.
'So is that the reason why Yami took so long to return? Just to look for a chicken?'
The smaller of the two then watched Yami pick an apple from the ground, and he gave it to Yugi who gladly took it.
'I'm not sure if I'm imagining things or not, but somehow I feel Yami's body being unusually hot.'
"Is something bothering you?"
Yugi snapped out from his thoughts when he saw Yami staring back at him with a worried expression painted on his features.
"Oh, it's nothing really." Yugi said while waving his hands in defense.
"If you say so…"
The Fire Elemental then leaned on the tree-like wall while at the same moment, thinking silently to himself.
'It's happening again…I wonder why I have this feeling when Yugi gets so close to me…the feeling of my body getting burned…'
That's when he remembered something important a scientist had told him back when he and his cousins were living in the city.
~Flashback~
"What did you mean by that?" a boy with chocolate brown eyes asked sternly to the scientist that stood on a corner to the right.
"I've told you, your elemental powers are also affected by your emotions. So you should be careful and control your emotions at all times or else your powers will run wild and might end up hurting someone like what you did in the laboratory."
"What's going on during the lab?" a deep, baritone voice questioned inquisitively and in that instant, the door opened wide as two guys walked towards them with curiosity written on their faces. They were now in the scientist's laboratory.
"Hey, Kaiba, Marik. We're just talking about what Bakura did in the lab during the morning. Some students in his class said bad things to him and Bakura got angry eventually so his powers were released…creating a tornado in the lab but luckily, I was with him so I managed to stop him from causing any more damage…" Yami explained but after that, he thought wordlessly to himself with an inward sigh.
'…However, in the end, he broke almost all the expensive chemicals and apparatus in the lab. How am I supposed to tell this to his aunt?'
"Seriously?" Kaiba finally spoke after a full minute of silence; shock was clearly shown in his blue eyes.
"That's why I said this before, you really need to learn how to control your powers efficiently, especially your emotions." The oldest of the group said with a disappointed sigh while crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"I…don't quite understand this concept." Marik admitted, being confused as always.
The scientist sighed once again before answering,
"Alright, it's something like this…for example, Fire Elemental like Yami…"
The speaker then took a glance at Yami who's ogling back at him when he heard his name being mentioned earlier.
"If you blush around someone you like, your body will of course start getting hot like you're having a fever but when you reached the state when you feel your body burning like fire surrounds you, then it means…"
"It means what?" Yami promptly asked, desperately wanting to know the answer.
"It means that you fell in love with that special someone."
~Flashback Ended~
'No way, that can't be happening.'
Yami was obviously surprised when he found out the reason but he refused to believe in the end.
'No, I can't be in love with him. It's only been 5 days since the first day I saw him, it has to be something else that makes me getting nervous when he's around.'
"Yami?"
The said teen quickly brought out from his thoughts before he swung round to face Yugi who was sitting on a tree-like bed with concern in his eyes.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Just thinking, that's all."
"Okay…" Was the only word he could utter before he felt drowsiness slowly taking over his body and mind.
"I guess you must be getting sleepy. You should get some rest." Yami said with a pleasant smile as he saw Yugi yawning cutely. Wait a minute, cute? Where did that thought came from? Yami wondered.
"Yeah, it must've been the cold weather caused by the storm."
"I guess so…"
Sooner or later the smaller of the two fell asleep, and Yami couldn't help but smile when he saw Yugi's expression.
'He looks pretty cute when he's sleeping and cuddled up on the bed, wait a sec…what am I thinking?'
The ruby-eyed youth swiftly shook his head in hope to get rid of that thought before he climbed up the tree-like stairs and glanced around the unfamiliar tree-like room.
"I suppose I should stay here until the storm subsides." Yami whispered with a perturbed sigh while watching the rain dripping down from the sky through a small hole-like window.
"I wonder if there's anyone who lives here? It seems like a secret private house or some sort…but it doesn't look like a man made tree to me."
The taller tri-colored haired boy then touched the tree's surface while strolling around the small, narrow room before he stumbled into something he hadn't seen for so long.
"Is that…a telescope?"
A few hours later, in Ryou's tent…
"What's wrong, Bakura? You seem awfully gloomy." The shorter white-haired adolescent questioned, earning a sigh from his older companion.
"Don't you know that it's almost time for dinner?"
That sentence made Ryou realize what Bakura was exasperating about.
"Oh, I see…and I thought you had fun cooking during the afternoon."
"Of course not! What makes you think that way?" Bakura retorted as soon as he heard Ryou's comment.
"But since your fingers are injured, I guess I have no choice but to do it again, right?"
Before Ryou could say anything, Bakura stood up from the sofa and without thinking, he walked towards the kitchen and he was about to open the kitchen door when Ryou's next speech made him stopped his movements immediately.
"Actually, you don't have to cook because I have instant noodles somewhere in my kitchen cabinet."
"What?" The older teen was obviously traumatized and furious at the same time. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"
"Well, I've just remembered that I have them in my kitchen after we had lunch together. I'm really sorry Bakura." It's because Ryou had so many thoughts in his mind that he didn't remember the fact that he had some instant noodles in his kitchen.
Anger started to 'boil' in Bakura's mind as he gave a deathly I'm-going-to-kill-you glare to his partner who on the other hand, was laughing nervously with sweat drops trickled down his cheeks like raindrops.
'I'm in deep trouble now.'
Meanwhile, in Malik's tent…
"So, what should we do for dinner?"
As soon as the older of the two spoke his last word, Malik instantly gave him a glare that would positively sent him to hell.
Apparently, when they were both preparing lunch in the kitchen, Marik was trying to open a package of flour but when he did, all the flour poured out and some of them entered his eyes so as the result, he screamed while running round the kitchen in circles. He then accidentally pushed Malik who was frying some noodles and later, fortuitously turned the fire to the highest volume.
Just when Marik managed to open his painful eyes, Malik has gone out of the kitchen to search for the fire extinguisher. However, when the younger lavender-eyed teen reentered the kitchen, the Earth Elemental has thrown some oil onto the cooker which made matters worse because not only had the fire gotten stronger, it caused so much damage to the kitchen that in the end, all the curtains and some cooking appliances were burnt and destroyed.
"Well?" Marik inquired softly but impatiently.
After two minutes of silence, his younger look-alike stood up from the sofa and walked towards the kitchen, but he shot another deathly glare to his so-called friend when Marik stood up and tempted to follow him.
"Sit there and don't move!" Malik shouted in a demanding tone while pointing a finger at Marik who held a flabbergasted expression, but later obeyed his order as he could only watch his younger 'twin' entered the kitchen alone.
"What have I done?" Marik whispered in despondency whilst unconsciously grasped his hair with both hands.
"I'm just nothing but trouble."
Suddenly, he felt something thrown onto his lap and when he realized what it was, the lilac-eyed stripling looked up to see Malik who gazed back at him with that same stern look.
"We're having these for dinner?"
"Stop complaining, you should be grateful that you have at least something to eat. Whose fault is it that made us both having nothing but these for dinner?"
Marik looked at the food on his lap, then to his shorter look-alike, then back to the food before he released a miserable sigh and ate a cold piece of bread wretchedly.
'Why am I living in such a horrible life?'
Meanwhile, in Joey's tent…
"Why am I the one who's cleaning the dishes?" Joey spoke furiously before he took a glance at the brunet who smirked proudly at him. They had just finished their dinner and if you're wondering, yes…Kaiba's the one doing the cooking.
"Because you lost the bet and from now on, you will listen to everything I say."
"You have to remember that it's only for 3 days."
"Of course."
The honey-brown eyed teen groaned in response when he heard Kaiba's triumphant voice. He shouldn't have agreed to this deal in the first place but then again, the person who willingly accepted the challenge was none other than Joey himself.
'I have to admit, Kaiba's cooking skill is no doubt amazing.' The Newcastle student thought with a deep, inward sigh.
'But the thought of me always losing to him really bugs me.'
Joey snapped out from his thoughts when he heard Kaiba's call from the living room.
"Hey, are you done cleaning the dishes? You still have lots of work to do!"
After hearing those words, Joey had to resist an urge to break something in the kitchen.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest…
Yugi woke up to realize that it was already nighttime and he couldn't help but wonder how long he had slept since that afternoon. Before Yugi could think any further, a familiar voice followed by sounds of footsteps drawing close to him reached his ears.
"So, you're finally awake, Yugi." The ruby-eyed stripling spoke cheerfully with a charming smile plastered on his face.
"Yeah, I guess I'm getting really tired due to the cold atmosphere." The younger star-shaped haired boy replied. He then looked up to see raindrops that kept falling down to the ground.
"So, the storm hasn't stopped, huh?"
"It seems to be so." Yami said with a nod but then he remembered something important so without further delay, he speedily said,
"Hey, Yugi."
The said teen swung round to face him.
"Yeah?"
"I think I found a way to escape this place."
To Be Continued…
That's the end of Chapter 10! I'm writing this chapter longer than the previous one so I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I do. So, now you know how and why Yami had that 'temperature problem', it's all because of his emotions that brings great effect to his elemental powers but different elemental powers have different effects so I wonder how Kaiba, Bakura and Marik react when they fall in love…(laughs evilly).
Things are getting interesting now but I'm sorry if I make things a bit too fast forward…(sweat drop) Anyways, Yami and Yugi are going to escape the forest and meet up with their friends soon so let's hope they're both safe throughout their journey…:3
Faves and Alerts are always, always welcomed! And if you have any questions regarding this story, feel free to leave a comment or PM me.
Stay tune for Chapter 11: Path!
Last but not least, review pretty please! XD