Chapter 14

We hit the rest of the rides on that side of the park and started heading back.

"Alright, now if you guys want something to remember this place by, let me know. I, for one, am getting a bag of kettle corn that will last us two weeks."

"What's kettle corn?" Marik asked.

"It's this sweet, sugar coated popcorn that's cooked in a kettle and salted. Amazing stuff, highly addictive, and best of all, it won't destroy your body from the inside out like other addictive substances."

Marik and Bakura looked at me oddly.

"I had a friend in high school who was a heroin addict." I explained. Bakura seemed to understand, Marik continued to look at me oddly. It was at that moment that I was so relieved that Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged had yet to touch on drug use.

We ducked into a gift shop. "Alright, pick out one item. Nothing more than thirty dollars, I'm not made of money." Everyone scattered as best they could. In the end, Yugi and Yami got matching mugs, Bakura got a jackknife that said Florence on the handle, and Marik got a stuffed animal of the chocolate bar mascot.

As for me, I decided to get a dog tag with a custom engravement. I had the person put Atem on it. I planned to present it to him when we went to see the cherry blossoms in DC. Yugi was right. It didn't matter if he rejected me or not, I was going to make my feelings known.

Walking back to the RV, something was stirring in my gullet. A feeling of uneasiness. But the RV wasn't broken into like I had feared. The fangirls were nowhere in sight. Everything was fine on the way back to the hotel. Melvin didn't come out that night, he was probably still recovering his strength. Ai was silent.

So why did I feel uneasy? Maybe it was because I feared rejection. Really, my heart was pounding at the thought. I stayed up late into the night thinking about it, watching Marik snuggle with his new companion, whom he had named Willard.

I don't know when, but I passed out from exhaustion and when I woke up, we were on the road. I could overhear Marik arguing with Yugi.

"But I'm exhausted! Can't we wait until tomorrow?" Marik whined.

"No, it has to be today! Look at this calendar!" I could hear the flipping of pages. "Today is the peak bloom! She marked this day for a reason, I just know it! So will you please just drive us there? It'll be a surprise that she'll love!"

A moment passed.

"Tch, fine. For her." he grumbled. The engine roared to life and I could feel movement. I pretended to be asleep because Yugi came by and looked at me.

"Don't worry, Gypsy. Soon you'll be at the cherry blossoms."

Oh. I had a feeling I wasn't supposed to hear that conversation. I waited a few minutes and pretended to wake up and go about my daily routine of making breakfast. Today's menu was toast with a choice of topping. After that, I settled in the booth and read my Season 0 manga. Oh Dark Yugi, you are so adorable and yet so terrifying.

I was about halfway through the second book when I realized that I needed to play along. Slowly, I put down the book.

"Why am I not driving?" I asked the cabin.

"Oh, Marik volunteered to drive to our next destination. By the way, where are we going next?" Yugi asked.

"Washington DC. We need to haul ass there today. The cherry blossoms are at peak bloom, and I really want to see them." I said, returning to my terror in a book.

Eventually, Yami piped up. "What are you reading Gypsy?"

I snapped the book shut and hid it behind me. "Oh nothing you would like." I laughed nervously.

"No seriously, what is it?"

"Ehehehe...Oh, look over there!" I shouted. He looked where I was pointing, and I turned and chucked the book into the bunk.

"Gypsy, there's nothing there. Now what were you reading? It looked interesting."

"I wasn't reading anything, Yami. See?" I held out my hands to reveal they were empty. He looked at me weirdly.

"Okay... But I got my eye on you." he said, eyes narrowed. I got the sudden urge to pee.

"I gotta go. Be right back." I said, getting up. I went into the bathroom and did my business. It was a bit stinky in there, I should probably think about emptying the sewage tank soon.

When I came back out, I was horrified to see Yami trying to retrieve the book I had chucked. In desperation, I dashed towards him and threw my arms around his waist, trying to weigh him down. We fell backwards and I hit the floor with a thud.

I don't know how it happened, but Yami had twisted his body around in my grip so he faced me. Here I was, arms wrapped tightly around his waist, looking into his piercing purple eyes. I could feel myself blushing, and I swear I heard harps playing in the background.

Shit.