Ha, ha, ha, I got up ten to eight today, way too late to update. Oh, and for this chapter I hope you can either read backwards or have a small mirror handy, cause you're gonna need it for some words, not sentences, words. Now, I do not own Yugioh, The walk by Imogen Heap, I like it like that by Hot Chelle Rae or Rude boy by Rihanna, enjoy!
Chapter 28
"Yugi, come on, it's ten o'clock already, you need to get up." Yami was saying while shaking his shoulder.
"Your friends have already left." Atem tried.
"Heh, I suppose I'm not a very good host, huh?" Yugi asked opening his eyes to look at them.
"Not really, here eat some breakfast even though now it's more like brunch." Atem said setting a tray down in front of him.
"Thanks." Yugi said grinning up at him before lifting the spoon full of oatmeal up to his mouth.
"So, do you want to talk about that dream you had last night?" Yami asked jumping right into it. Yugi froze, the spoon halfway to its destination. His eyes darted to the sides as he contemplated his options. They weren't very many, so he sighed; closing his eyes, and went with the most truthful one.
"It was just something that Ryou mentioned before we all headed to bed. It must have still been swimming around in my head when I fell asleep and formed itself into a dream." Yugi said shrugging before placing the spoonful of oatmeal in his mouth. It was maple and brown sugar, all things new to him. He sure hoped he didn't have a side effect.
"Are you sure that's all it was, Yugi?" Atem pushed.
"Um, no." he said uneasily as he stirred his oatmeal round and round.
"No?" Yami asked in surprise.
"No, it definitely had a deeper meaning than that." Yugi said his voice rising in pitch.
"Which was?" Atem pushed looking hopeful.
"Um, the meaning?" Yugi asked dropping his spoon and knotting his fingers together.
"Yes, what was the deeper meaning?" Yami asked rubbing his back in soothing circles. He could feel the shock and surprise reverberating over the link. He bit his lip, maybe he was sharing too much too soon, but no, he promised he'd try. So he was going to try, just try to trust again, without fear of rejection or back stabbings. Trust like he used to, freely.
"It, the wall of crystal, represented my heart, and the red blotches, the blood, the damage Sarugaki conflicted upon it." Yugi said in a very shaky voice.
"And us? What did we represent?" Yami asked.
"Yourselves, you represented yourselves." Yugi answered confidently.
"Why are you being so open with us?" Atem asked confused.
"Yeah, we're so used to walls, what's with the sudden change?" Yami added.
"I'm tired of hiding behind those walls in fear. You guys have proved over and over again that you love me more than life itself. And I just…I just keep shutting you out. It's not…not fair to you. So I'm trying…trying to bring down the walls I built up in the Hospital to keep my heart from ever breaking again in the way that it did when Sarugaki tried to kill me, when he first started to abuse me. It's not going to be…easy, but I'm going to try. I'm going to try to show you the Yugi that used to exist before Sarugaki entered my life, before he ruined it." Yugi said tears starting to fall down his cheeks as he cried out his explanation, hugging his arms around himself.
"Oh, Yugi." they said wrapping their arms around him.
"There's something I need to do today. It isn't going to be easy, not at all, but I have to do it." Yugi whispered.
"What do you need to do?" Atem asked pulling away from him slightly so he could look down at him.
"Forgive the man who brought Sarugaki into my life. We can never be friends again, but I can at least forgive him for something he's apologized for a thousand times." Yugi said licking his lips before biting his bottom one again.
"So, we're going to finally meet this Honda?" Yami asked slowly.
"Do…do you want to?" Yugi asked in surprise.
"Yes, we would." Atem said firmly.
"Okay, but you must promise not to hurt him. What he did was in the past, and it's high time I forgave and forget." Yugi said pushing his tray away and standing up on the bed.
"No, you need to eat first." Atem said pulling him back down.
"I'll eat later I need to do this before I lose my nerve." Yugi said climbing around him and placing his feet on the ground and walking into their closet.
"Yugi, that's our closet." Yami pointed out like he didn't already know it.
"Uh huh, don't care!" Yugi responded from within its depths. He took down the blood red long sleeved red leather shirt, black jeans, two belts, and low heeled boots. As he was on his way out of the closet he saw a black jean vest which he put on. Glancing in their full length mirror, he noticed that he looked hot, tugging on the vest with pride, he walked out and presented himself to his mates, spinning so they could get a full look at the outfit he had designed from their closet.
"So what do you think?" Yugi asked.
"I don't think you should be able to leave this room looking so delicious." Yami said shaking his head.
"Excellent! Let's go!" Yugi said skipping from the room the biggest grin upon his face.
"So happy." Atem commented following him out at a vampire's pace.
"I like this, Yugi!" Yami shouted with glee skipping forward to catch up with their happy mate.
"Happy Yugi, happy Yami, I'm good to go." Atem said watching the two hold hands and skip down the hallway.
[Time skip]
"Just tell me where we're going." Atem said holding the keys above Yugi's reach. Not that he was reaching for them; he was just holding his hand out calmly to him.
"No, keys." Yugi said again.
"You're not driving. Just give me the directions." Atem said tapping his foot.
"We can stand here all day, or you can give me the keys so we can be on our way." Yugi said seriously.
"Just give him the keys. I mean, we've never actually been in the car whilst he's driving before. We don't even know if we like him driving or not. We've just assumed we won't." Yami sighed from inside the truck. Atem sighed and looked behind Yugi at Yami, before handing over the keys. Yugi opened the door for him, and Atem slid in albeit reluctantly.
"I'm not a bad driver, now Sakura; you'd never want to ride in the car with her. Drives like a maniac that one." Yugi joked as he hopped in behind him. He started the car and flicked on the radio. Not bothering to change the station, it was a commercial anyway. He backed out of the driveway and headed towards the highway.
It was silent in the truck as some random tune about tires played over the radio. Then the station's DJ came on and announced that they were playing a new song by Imogen Heap called The Walk. Yugi turned it up slightly to listen to it, and finding himself slowly becoming attached to it in the same way that he had Hold me now by Red.
Inside-out, upside-down, twisting beside myself
Stop that now 'cause you and I were never meant to meet
I think you'd better leave, it's not safe in here
I feel a weakness coming on
Alright then, alright then, I could keep your number for a rainy day
That's where this ends, no mistakes, no misbehaving
I was doing so well, could we just be friends?
I feel a weakness coming on
It's not meant to be like this, not what I've planned at all
I don't want to feel like this, yeah
Was not meant to be like this, not what I've planned at all
I don't want to feel like this, so that makes it all your fault
Inside-out, upside-down, twisting beside myself
Stop that now, you're as close as it gets without touching me
Oh now, don't make it harder than it already is
And I feel a weakness coming on
It's not meant to be like this, not what I've planned at all
I don't want to feel like this, yeah
Was not meant to be like this, not what I've planned at all
I don't want to feel like this, so that makes it all your fault
Big trouble losing control
Primary resistance at a critical low
On the, on the double gotta get a hold
Point of no return, one second to go
No response on any level, red alert, this vessel's under siege
Total overload, all systems down, they've got control
There's no way out, we are surrounded
Give in, give in and relish every minute of it
Freeze, awake here forever
I feel a weakness coming on
It's not meant to be like this, not what I've planned at all
I don't want to feel like this, yeah
Was not meant to be like this, it's just what I don't need
I don't want to feel like this, it's definitely it all your fault
Feel like this, it's all your fault
Feel like this, it's all your fault
Feel like this, it's all your fault
Feel like this, it's all your fault
"I'm surprised you didn't try to change it, Yami." Yugi commented once the song was over and it moved onto Love the way you lie by Rhianna.
"I've learned not to touch." Yami said simply crossing his arms. Yugi grinned as he pulled off of the highway and into the slums district of Domino.
"Yugi, what are we doing here?" Atem asked as Yugi continued to drive deeper and deeper into the slums.
"We're going to see Hiroto Honda." Yugi said simply as he pulled up to a seemingly random curb and took the keys out of the ignition. He put his hand on the handle and tried to climb out only for Atem to grab the door and shut it again. Yami leaned across Atem and fastened a familiar object around his neck.
"Being so close to rogue territory, I don't feel comfortable without you wearing this anymore." Yami said calmly.
"Uh, okay, come on." Yugi said getting out of the truck and flattening himself against the door as a car sped by. Yugi could smell the smoke from the cigarettes that they were smoking as they passed.
"I don't know how Otogi can come down every weekend and make it back to the civilized part of Domino unharmed." Yugi muttered under his breath as he looked both ways before sprinting across the street and into the dingy apartment building. The lights in the lobby kept flickering like they were about to plunge the place in darkness any second, but still managed to stay on somehow. Yugi walked over to the elevator and pressed the up button. It opened and the three of them walked inside, Yugi hit the four button, and waited for the doors to close and the elevator to start moving up.
The doors opened onto a just as darkly lit hallway, and Yugi walked out and towards door 4F. He knocked three times and waited for it to open. It did, but it wasn't holding the person he expected, making him think he had knocked on the wrong door, and Otogi had finally convinced Honda to move out of the ghetto.
"What a pretty human." The vampire purred and Yugi felt a hand slip onto both of his shoulders.
"Uh, does Honda still live here?" Yugi asked unsure if he should even be asking or running away.
"Yes." He said looking above his head at his mates.
"Oh, okay, can I come in then?" Yugi asked bouncing from one foot to the next.
"Sure, second door on the left little Prince." The vampire said moving out of the doorway and motioning to the door smiling in a very pedophile way.
"Cool." Yugi said moving sideways into the apartment and making his way through the living room and to the second door on the left. On his way there, he passed three other vampires who openly leered at him. Yugi gulped before swiftly knocking upon Honda's door.
Knock. Knock.
"I told you I'm fucking studying for my micro biology exam coming up!" Honda shouted throwing the door open and staring at Yugi in shock. He hadn't changed a bit. He still wore black jeans, dark brown shirt and his brown hair was still in a pointy cut. Brown eyes, slightly tanned skin, he was still Honda.
"Clearly, I'm not the person you thought you were talking to." Yugi laughed nervously.
"Yugi…what are you doing here?" he asked surprised glancing behind him at Atem and Yami who had taken the liberty of sitting down on the couch where they had a clear view of Honda's door.
"We need to talk." Yugi said firmly.
"Uh, yeah, come in." Honda said moving out of the way.
"Thanks." Yugi said moving into the room.
"So, Otogi tells me that those two vampires out there are your mates." Honda said swinging his arms back and forth.
"Yes, they are." Yugi said nodding.
"Cool." He said back.
"I forgive you, Honda, for introducing Sarugaki into my life." Yugi said looking him dead in the eyes.
"But we can never be friends again, can we?" Honda asked.
"No, I don't think that's possible." Yugi said shaking his head at the same time that he felt a weight lifted off of his shoulders. Another blood stain cleaned away from his crystal heart.
"Yugi, you didn't have to come all the way down here to tell me that you forgave me. You could've just called." Honda said.
"No, I needed to do it in person." Yugi disagreed placing his hand on the handle as he prepared to leave. That's when he heard the conversation going on behind the door.
"…to Dartz you could get a pretty penny." One of the vampires was saying.
"So?" Atem asked.
"Just saying, you may not know it, but Dartz has put a black market price of $1,000,000 on his head." another vampire said.
"That's it? If we were him, we would've put a $500,000,000 on his head, get more volunteers to risk their lives that way." Atem said in a scathing voice. Yugi's heart picked up pace.
"We'll suggest it next time we see him lurking around." The first voice said laughing.
"Who says you will be?" Yami asked menacingly.
"Uh, could you please stop them from killing my roommates? I kind of need them to help pay the bills around here." Honda asked nervously clearly having heard the conversation as well.
"Sure." Yugi said opening the door and walking out to see Atem trying to get Yami to put the other vampire down that he was holding by his throat. The other vampires just looked amused by the scene as they drank blood from bags.
"Yami, put him down, we're done here." Yugi said walking past them and out the door.
THUMP! Cough cough cough. A grumbled sentence, and then silence.
Yugi hit the elevator button and went in slamming his fist against the lobby button, feeling more than seeing their presences following him inside, quickly. Yugi turned around and tapped his foot waiting for the elevator to finish its descent. Once it had, Yugi walked out and to the car where he unlocked it and climbed inside, sliding over to the middle and handing Atem the keys.
"You know for someone who wants to drive so often, you sure handed the keys over easily." Atem said as Yami climbed in and he started the car.
"You really think I'm worth $500,000,000?" Yugi asked looking at his shoes.
"Uh, Atem said that not me, I think you're priceless." Yami said immediately trying to get himself out of trouble. Yugi couldn't help it; he started laughing, loud and very bubbly was the laughter spilling forth from him.
"Ju-just go to that one restaurant that I stormed out of last month. We'll eat there for lunch. If that's alright with you two?" Yugi asked looking up at them.
"You're not mad?" Atem asked surprised.
"Nah, I'm worth more to you than I am to Dartz. Now, if I was less, we'd have an issue." Yugi said smiling.
"Stop trying so hard, you're starting to freak us out." Atem said as he pulled away from the curb.
"Would you rather I was upset with you, Atem?" Yugi asked flicking on the radio.
"No." he said simply.
"Alright then, stop complaining." Yugi huffed as Atem pulled up onto the highway.
"You didn't stay very long." Yami commented.
"Uh, yeah, it was actually easier than I thought it was going to be, and we had an understanding of how things were." Yugi chuckled uneasily rubbing the back of his head.
"Well that's good. So what's this last thing you have to do?" Atem asked glancing over at him.
"Uh, the last thing?" Yugi asked.
"That's what I asked." Atem said nodding.
"Aren't the clouds pretty today? You know I think it could actually snow." Yugi said abruptly changing the conversation.
"Yugi." Atem said simply.
"I don't want to talk about the last thing." He mumbled shrinking into his seat.
"Alright, why not?" Atem asked.
"It's…complicated." Yugi said looking at his shoes again.
"Well, uncomplicated it." Atem said.
"I don't want to." Yugi said closing his eyes in frustration.
"Hello wall, I wondered where you went." Atem said in a half joking manner.
"It's not a wall. I just don't want to talk about it." Yugi ground out.
"Let's go back to that cloud conversation." Yami suggested making Yugi snort slightly.
"Yami!" Atem reprimanded.
"What? He doesn't want to talk about it, no sense in pushing a conversation we're not going to get anywhere with." Yami said shrugging.
"Fine, and we're here." Atem said climbing out and throwing the keys to a valet. How had Yugi not noticed that before? Probably because he was so upset, and in a foul mood.
"Yugi, are you getting out of the truck sometime today?" Yami asked. Yugi looked over to see them looking at him expectantly.
"Oh, yeah, coming." Yugi said nodding and scooting out of the truck. He hooked his arms around Atem's and Yami's which seemed to surprise them but they just took it in a stride and walked up to the door.
"After you gentlemen." Atem said with a mock dignitary voice. It was a little amusing considering he was a dignitary.
"Why thank you kind sir." Yugi said bowing before heading in.
"What's wrong with you?" Yami asked before he followed Yugi inside.
"Well, at least one of you knew how to play along." Atem said rolling his eyes pushing Yami further inside towards a very stern looking maître d' who was drumming his finger against his podium.
"Look, I know he ran out last time, but that won't happen again. There shall be no arguments before dinner time, I promise." Atem said looking nervous.
"And even if there is one, we will make sure he stays in his seat." Yami added smiling in just as nervous as a way that Atem was.
"What? Am I missing something?" Yugi asked looking up at them.
"Very well, but if I so much as see him leave without you two strapped to his sides, you will never be allowed in this establishment again." he said swiftly before picking up the menus and taking them to the same table they were at before.
"Understood, and we won't be needing menus because we won't be eating." Atem said nodding before adding on quickly. The maitre d' stopped to fasten a glare at the vampire over his shoulder, which was probably the reason why Atem was looking at the back of Yami's head not him.
"Very well, sir." The man said pulling out a chair for Yugi who sat in it. He placed the menu in front of Yugi and then walked away to leave them to pull out their own chairs.
"Well that's not very host like." Yami said pulling out his own chair and sitting in it.
"Hello, my name is Candy and I'll be your ser…ver today." The waitress said starting out all perky and quickly switching to annoyed. She physically turned her back on Yugi as she faced his mates.
"So what can I get you gentlemen to drink?" she asked all smiles. Atem motioned to Yugi. She turned reluctantly.
"I think I'll have what I was going to last time, Spri-" he never got to finish as she snatched the menu out of his hand and wrote down what he had indeed ordered last time.
"Sprite and squid, got it." she said starting to walk away.
"Uh actually…I had the lamb." Yugi said as she turned a death glare on him.
"But that sounds wonderful, I'll have that instead." Yugi finished smiling brightly. She nodded and sashayed her hips in an angry manner as she walked away.
"Okay, what's going on?" Yugi asked turning to his vampires.
"You almost got her and the maitre d' fired because neither could explain why you had suddenly departed?" Yami asked more than said.
"I sure hope you told someone it was your fault." Yugi said raising his eyebrows.
"It came up." Yami said nodding.
"Is that why you never showed up? At Grandpa's I mean." Yugi asked.
"No, we just figured you thought we needed a break from one another. After the fiasco at the restaurant we were more than happy to give you all the space you thought you needed." Atem said closing his eyes.
"I see." Yugi said nodding. They were breaching tentative, could turn into a fight, topics. Candy slammed his drink down in front of him with an unfriendly smile before walking away towards another table.
"Do you think my charms will get me back on her good side?" Yugi asked.
"Nope." Atem and Yami answered together.
"It's worth a try." Yugi said unsure himself.
"Don't, you'll be wasting your energy." Atem assured. Yugi sighed before taking sips of his drink through his straw. It was silent after that until his food arrived.
"Your food sir, enjoy it." she demanded more than said.
"Th-thank you." Yugi stuttered before picking up chopsticks and starting to eat.
"So, how's the food?" Atem asked after he had taken three bites.
"Delicious. What's this place called?" he asked after swallowing the food.
"Fancy Human." Yami answered.
"Interesting name for a tnaruatser." Yugi said or tried to.
"What was that last word?" Atem asked raising his eyebrows.
"Hu, tnaruatser. Tnaruatser. Siht t'nsi gnikorw." Yugi said in what sounded like gibberish to him. It was Japanese in his head, but came out all twisted when he said it.
"Something wrong with your speech little human boy?" Candy asked smiling smugly as she passed their table.
"Ho, ho, ouy wenk I deredro eht bmal, ouy tsuj deganhc eht redor ni ruoy daeh os uoy dluoc elbrag ym hceeps pu! Ekam ti elbissopmi rof em ot klat!" Yugi shouted after her even though his words came out far from intelligible.
"Yugi? What language are you speaking? I don't recognize it." Atem asked slowly.
"Esenapaj, I kniht." Yugi responded.
"What?" Yami asked raising his eyes.
"Yako, ew eta. Kcehc esaelp!" Yugi said raising his hand and trying to get Candy's attention.
"Yugi no one can understand you when you talk like that." Atem said shaking his head.
Dluow ouy ekil ot eb gniraew siht duiqs, metA?
Still can't understand you.
S'taht ti.
Yugi stood up, took his entrée and dumped it on Atem and then sat back down, leaning against the back of his chair arms crossed. Atem just sat there stunned as the restaurant roared with laughter from the other patrons, and the waiters and waitresses that were trying to hold back behind their hands. Yami had fallen out of his chair he was laughing so hard.
"What was that for?!" Atem yelled at him standing up from his chair and starting to shake the squid off of him.
"I t'ndid ekil ruoy rewsna." Yugi said looking all high and mighty.
"Can I get the check, please? Yami, get up off the floor." Atem asked and then growled.
"Yhw? S'eh gniyojne ruoy noitailimuh." Yugi said grinning. He was starting to enjoy this.
"Stop talking, Yugi. No one can understand you." Atem ordered.
"S'woh taht ym melborp?" Yugi asked in a snide tone back.
"I mean it, Yugi." Atem said in one of his warning tones.
"Uoy t'nod ekil ti? Ekat ti pu htiw ydnaC, s'ehs eht eno ohw evag em eht diuqs." Yugi said motioning to her.
"One more word and you'll regret it." Atem said in a very testy voice.
"S'tahw eht melborp, metA? I naem I sseug rof lla uoy wonk I dluoc eb gnitlusni uoy. Ho! I dluoc tlusni uoy dna d'uoy reven wonk, esuaceb uoy t'nac dnatsrednu em!" Yugi said then burst out laughing and joining Yami on the floor.
"That's it!" Atem hissed opening his wallet and throwing five one hundred dollar bills on the table. He grabbed both Yugi and Yami off the floor and dragged them out of the establishment. The truck was already parked outside waiting for them. Atem opened the door and shoved them both inside before walking over to the driver's side and getting in.
"Ho, ev'I tog ti! M'I gnikaeps sdarwkcab." Yugi said snapping his fingers as it dawned on him what language his gibberish was. It was still Japanese, it was just all backwards.
"I thought I told you to stop talking." Atem growled at him.
"Ho, t'nod teg tespu. M'I erus ll'ti raew ffo noos, ym sexy bunny." Yugi said pouting in Atem's direction. He slammed on the breaks lurching them all forwards.
"What did you call me?" Atem asked turning to him and ignoring the honking of the people behind him.
"Well that didn't last long. I'm disappointed." Yugi said slumping against the seat in evident disappointment.
"So, did you ever figure out which language you were speaking?" Yami asked looking as if he was holding back laughter as Atem started to drive again.
"Yeah, Japanese." Yugi said still moping that the effect didn't last longer.
"I'm sorry, but that was not Japanese." Yami said shaking his head.
"Sure it was, it was just backwards." Yugi answered.
"No more squid for you." Atem muttered as he pulled up to the Palace. Atem got out and pulled Yugi from the car holding him bridal style.
"Now, while I am enjoying the treatment, may I inquire as to the occasion?" Yugi asked fastening his arms around his neck. Atem paused, shook his head and continued walking.
"There isn't one, he's just upset because you dumped your meal on him without cause." Yami chuckled as he walked past them.
"Oh, I had cause. So sorry if he couldn't understand it!" Yugi said turning his head away. Atem raised an eyebrow down at him before dropping him.
"OW! That hurt!" Yugi complained rubbing his rump as Atem stepped over him. He shrugged and continued walking. Yugi rolled his eyes, sometimes Atem could have mood swings worse than a woman.
"I do not!" Atem shouted back at him indignantly.
Do to! Yugi chanted skipping past him.
"Oh, you think so huh? Do you think that you little imp?" Atem said grabbing him from behind and tickling him mercilessly.
"Ha ha ha, yes, ha ha ha." Yugi laughed.
"Well, I'll have you know there is nothing womanly about me." Atem whispered in his ear as he ceased his tickling.
"You sure? Cause that would be so hot if there was." Yugi said back biting his lip. Atem just chuckled loosely shaking his head.
"Can we just stay like this forever?" Yami asked out of the blue.
"Like what?" Atem asked standing up straight. Yugi looked around him to see Yami better.
"Care free and happy?"
"Of course!" Yugi said happily before grabbing his hand and dragging him off in a random direction.
"Where are we going?" Yami asked as Yugi dragged him along.
"To the beach silly. Wait, what time is it?" Yugi asked stopping slightly and making Yami almost trip over him.
"Uh, 4:56 pm." Yami said glancing down at his watch.
"Yeah, to the beach! Come on, Atem!" Yugi said proceeding to drag Yami off again and waving Atem along.
"Yugi!"
"Malik!"
"Do you know where they're taking us?" Marik asked Yami as he was pulled up alongside of him by and excited Malik.
"The beach." Yami answered knowledgably.
"Know why?" Marik asked.
"Not a clue." Yami said shaking his head.
"Dang." Marik said looking disappointed.
"So, how was your day?" Yami asked.
"Great! We visited his sister, then went to see Isis, Mahad, Maria and Yugi's Grandpa, and I have a feeling we should be paying attention to the whispering fiends in front of us." Marik said pointing to Yugi and Malik who were indeed whispering.
"Okay, and then you'll take it and squish it?" Malik was asking.
"Right, and then after that I'll give it to Ryou." Yugi said nodding as he released Yami's wrist.
"Right, and Ryou will probably throw it at Akeifa."
"Then he'll chuck it at Jou, and after that?"
"No idea." Yugi said biting his lip.
"Wait, did you say you went to see Sakura and Mutou Senior today, why?" Yami asked of Marik turning away from the confusing conversation in front of him.
"Who's Sakura?" Marik asked in confusion.
"Yami!" Yugi shouted in a reprimanding tone.
"What? Did he not know…?" Yami asked as if the thought just occurred to him.
"Baka, I should slap you." Yugi muttered.
"Who's Sakura?" Marik asked again.
"Uh, no one." Yami said looking all hot and bothered under the collar.
"Oh, is Sakura Maria's real name?" Marik asked like it suddenly clicked for him.
"No, where'd you get an idea like that?" Yami asked skipping ahead.
"It is! Isn't it? Isn't it, Yami!?" Marik asked running after him.
"Atem, if I murdered Yami tonight how would you respond?" Yugi asked.
"I'd have to kill you in retaliation, which would make me a very lonely man." Atem said sadly.
"So you would be sad?" Yugi asked.
"I would be very sad." Atem confirmed.
"Malik, you're going to have to do it. So Atem won't be lonely and very sad." Yugi decided.
"Don't worry, I'll make it look like an accident." Malik said cracking his knuckles before throwing an arm around Yugi's shoulders.
"No, wait, I think you misunderstood that, Yugi." Atem said frowning.
"After all, we're on the beach, many things can happen to someone on a beach." Yugi said nodding and ignoring Atem.
"I've already thought of ten." Malik said nodding.
"Wait, no, humans, no!" Atem said appearing next to them and running right into the door.
"Oooo, that looked like it hurt." Yugi winced before he and Malik ducked through it.
"Jou! I need your help!" Malik said latching onto the werewolf and dragging him down to his level.
"With what?" Jou asked confused.
"Yami let slip Maria's real name to Marik. So we're going to stage an accident for him tonight. Yugi gave his approval, so it's all good." Malik said seriously.
"What about Atem?" Jou asked as the vampire in question stumbled through the door if not albeit wobbly.
"He said as long as Yugi wasn't delivering the final blow, he's good with it." Malik said leading them towards the beach.
"I said what?" Atem asked.
"Excellent. So, what have you thought up so far?" Jou asked.
"Well…" Malik said leading them into the woods.
"I've gotta warn Yami." Atem said walking in the direction of the garden. Yugi laughed and ducked out from Malik's arm and went to grab Atem so he would be going in the right direction.
Yami, we're coming to kill you for spilling Sakura's name.
"Come on Atem, the beach is this way." Yugi said latching onto his arm and dragging him in the right direction.
How is that a just punishment?
Who said it had to be just?
Atem?
I'll protect you, Habibi.
You're not protecting anyone in your current condition.
What's wrong with his current condition?
He vampire walked into a door.
Oooooooo.
Yeah.
"You poor thing, will a kiss make it all better?" Yami asked suddenly beside them.
"I'm surprised you even have to ask." Atem said dipping him before kissing him.
Whoa!
Yugi rolled his eyes before walking off towards the beach. He was halfway down the forest trail when he heard them come up for air. Or at least he assumed they had from what he heard in his head through the link.
Now, to show the same treatment to-where'd he go?
We really shouldn't take our eyes off of you, should we, Yugi?
Might just lose me.
"No vampires?" a female's voice asked from above. Yugi's snapped up to connect with bright blue eyes.
"But we can easily catch up." Atem said from his right. Yugi's head snapped to him and when he looked back a half a second later, the blue eyed female was gone from the tree branch.
"Something wrong?" Yami asked looking up to where he was looking.
"No, nothing. Race you to the beach." Yugi said grinning before running off. Atem and Yami waited a few moments looking up at the branch that Yugi had been staring at before taking off after him.
It was no surprise that Yugi won the race, considering two certain vampires let him. It was a surprise to them however, to find Bakura, Akeifa, Silver, Penny, Mira, Sakura, Isis, Ishizu, Mahad, Mutou Senior, Rebecca, Otogi, Honda, Mana, Kaiba, and Rafael. That last one really shocked them.
"R-Rafael?" Atem and Yami asked at the same time their jaws dropping to the sandy floor.
"It took awhile to find him, but we finally managed it. He doesn't look fifty." Yugi said scuffing the sandy ground with his foot before frowning.
"That's because I'm fifty-one." Rafael said seriously. Yugi let out a loose chuckle.
"So, you're their new food source." Rafael said nodding looking him up and down.
"Uh, yeah, and you're their old one." Yugi said biting his lip.
"Want to compare notes of treatment?" Rafael asked.
"Okay!" Yugi said grinning brightly and going to sit down on a log by an already roaring fire.
"Rafael, no." Atem said sternly.
"Why? Do you treat him better?" Rafael asked.
"W-well…" Yami trailed off.
"That's not the point; the point is that we don't want you scaring him." Atem waved off.
"Don't worry; I'll leave the gory stuff out." Rafael waved off their concern going over to sit by Yugi.
"Alright, how many days a week did they feed from you?" Yugi asked jumping right into it.
"Once. Every Wednesday, we never diverted from that scheduled Wednesday feeding." Rafael said slapping his hands together to emphasis his point.
"You weren't ever able to get them to divert their feeding so you could do what you wanted to?" Yugi asked curious tilting his head slightly in confusion.
"No. Why? Have you been able to?" Rafael asked looking over Yugi's head in a suspicious way at the vampires in question.
"Yeah, several times." Yugi said nodding eagerly.
"YOU NEVER DIVERTED FOR ME!" Rafael screamed at them.
"Well, perhaps if you hadn't fought us every time we wanted to feed, we would have." Atem said in annoyance.
"Tch, excuses." Rafael muttered.
"What about leaving their eye sight? How many times did you get to do that?" Yugi asked eagerly.
"Never. I was cut off from my family, my friends, school, I was their personal blood prisoner." Rafael huffed.
"Really? You didn't ever try to put your foot down and say that you were going to go to school and that was final?" Yugi asked looking Rafael over again. He was broad and muscular, he could have done it.
"Heh, have you ever tried putting your foot down with them? It doesn't work very well, does it?" Rafael asked.
"Uh, well actually, it does half the time work." Yugi said shifting uncomfortably.
"Oh! You two! And him! Oh!" Rafael got up and stomped away.
"What did I do, er say?" Yugi asked looking at his mates in confusion.
"Nothing Dear. Come on Rafael, he actually wants to be around us. As I recall you were constantly running away, hiding on feeding day, and trying to replace yourself with maids. Of course we're going to be more lenient with him than were with you. Plus, he's our mate, so that just adds to everything." Yami said going after him.
"So, how much did you have to pay him to get him to come?" Yugi asked Ryou walking over to him while watching Yami trying to explain their actions to a stubborn Rafael.
"Nothing. He wanted to meet you." Ryou said shrugging.
"Oh." Yugi said frowning.
"So, did you bring the music?" Ryou asked.
"Oh, no I forgot it. Come back to the Palace with me to get it?" Yugi asked.
"Sure." Ryou said hooking his arm into his.
"If we're quick, they'll never notice we're gone." Yugi whispered as he and Ryou took off back up the beach. At the top of the cliff Yugi glanced back once to see Yami still pleading with Rafael and Atem still watching. If they were quick their absence would never go unnoticed.
"Come on, Yugi." Ryou said tugging on his arm.
"Coming." Yugi said following him.
[Time skip]
"I can't believe that took five minutes to get." Ryou complained.
"Sorry, I forgot I put it on the charger after last night's dare." Yugi apologized.
"Classic." Ryou said grinning.
"Hello, boys." The same female voice from before, spoke out of the short silence that hovered between Yugi and Ryou. A lithe female jumped down in front of them, she had dark green eyes and blinding white blonde hair.
"Uh, hi." Ryou said back politely.
"Now don't be alarmed, I simply have a question for you Yugi Mutou. Answer it, and I'll allow you to be on your merry way." She said.
"Um, okay." Yugi said stepping forward and over to his left, hiding Ryou from view.
"Why does Dartz want you dead?" she asked straight out.
"Because at the time of his mate's death, Dilan Sarugaki, I happened to be dating him." Yugi said uneasily.
"So you killed his mate?" she asked like she was trying to understand.
"No, Akeifa did." Yugi said.
"Then why is he after you?" she asked.
"Because he believes it was my fault that Akeifa became so committed to ending Sarugaki's life. I was friends with his boyfriend you see." Yugi explained.
"I understand better now, thank you." She said nodding before disappearing.
"A vampire that tells the truth, how about that?" Ryou asked after a few beats of silence.
"Come on." Yugi said rolling his eyes grabbing Ryou's hand and running back to the beach.
"And you were where?" Atem asked as they skidded to a stop in front of him and Akeifa at the bottom of the beach path.
"Ha ha ha, we were getting music." Yugi said waving his iPod around and the miniature speaker that went with it.
"You know, you're not helping Yami or I to prove a point by wandering off." Atem said frowning.
"Nothing happened though." Ryou was reasoning with Akeifa.
"What do you mean by 'nothing happened'? Was there a possibility of something happening?" Akeifa asked looming over Ryou with an intense stare.
"Uh, no." Ryou said nervously taking a step back.
"Oh look, people, they need to dance, come on Ryou, let's go set up the music." Yugi said trying to dodge around Atem at the same time as grabbing Ryou's wrist and yanking him forwards.
Atem's arm curled around his waist and he was yanked away from Ryou. He was transported by Atem to the other side of the beach in three simple steps. He was clutched to Atem's chest as he just stood there holding him.
"Tell me Yugi, what happened?" Atem asked quietly in a controlled voice.
"Nothing, just some vampire asking why Dartz was after me, that's all. She asked three questions and then left. She didn't even touch me, or Ryou." Yugi answered honestly.
"Yes, I can tell." He said releasing him and vanishing only to appear over by Yami who stiffened. Yugi blinked before walking over to Jou and asking if he brought bigger speakers. He grinned and pulled a tarp off of some that Yugi had originally thought to be a table of food. And here he thought he had known his friend. New surprises met him every day.
"Let's crank this party into calling the cops loud!" Jou said putting the iPod in its spot then connecting one plug to another. The effect was instantaneous, as mostly everyone who was within two feet of the speakers clapped their hands over their ears and shouted at Jou to turn it down as I like it like that by Hot Chelle Rae blasted over the speakers. Jou pouted before turning it down two notches and everyone agreed that that was much better, before forming small groups and dancing together.
Yugi felt two pairs of eyes burning holes into the back of his head. Looking over he saw the culprits as his mates. Yugi looked at his partners Penny and Silver who he was dancing between, before shrugging and turning away from them again. If they had a problem with his current partners, then they should do something about it. It wasn't like he hadn't taught them to dance before or anything. Besides this was more jumping music than grinding anyway. Now the next song, now that was grinding music. The glares in the back of his head intensified at the thought.
"Oh, you're so bad, Yugi. You're just trying to tempt them into snatching you from us aren't you?" Silver asked as Rude boy by Rihanna came on.
"I just want to see how dirty they can get out of bed, that's all." Yugi said grinning up at her.
"So bad." Penny whispered in his ear moving closer to him.
The reaction to this small movement was instantaneous. He felt a sudden sensation of being plucked from between Penny and Silver and placed between two rock hard bodies. Not to mention two stiff tents rubbing up against him from the front and back.
You are so mean.
So why don't you punish me? Yugi asked wrapping his arms around Yami's neck and yanking him down to this level. Yugi placed his lips over Yami's in a very needy way, the kiss intense and satisfying.
Lips attached themselves to the side of his neck, sucking and nipping at the skin there with front teeth, careful of the sharp appendages. Yugi moaned into Yami's mouth, opening for the other's exploration. Yami took the opening greedily as he explored Yugi's moist cavern, re-mapping it out. Hands fiddled with the waistband of his pants, and Yugi unclasped his hands from around Yami's neck to grab them. They were still out in the open after all, and they were around a very large group of people. Having sex on the beach would be highly inappropriate.
Then why tease us so?
Whoever said I was teasing? Yugi pulled away from Yami to connect lips with Atem.
It's obvious that you are, Dear.
"How long do you think it's been since they had sex?" Yugi heard Ryou ask. Yugi opened his eye a little to look over at him.
"Too long it would appear." Malik said as Marik and Mahad approached them from different angles. Yugi saw their intentions before they acted upon them, and couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him, confusing Atem and forcing him to pull away.
"What's so funny?" Atem asked.
"Your friends." Yugi laughed before they were grabbed from behind and pulled away from him.
"Hey!" they said at the same time. Yugi just fell on the sandy floor laughing before his friends pulled him up and away.
"We all agreed when Ryou started dating those two that none of us were allowed to have sex on the beach during a party remember?" Jou reminded.
"Hence why I grabbed wandering hands." Yugi said.
"And we agreed on that when you started to date Kaiba." Ryou pointed out.
"I don't recall this." Jou said looking away.
"No of course you wouldn't, because then you would have to admit that it was you who were trying to rip Kaiba's clothes off, not the other way around." Malik said rolling his eyes.
"Oh Kami, Yugi, you put this song on the mix?" Ryou asked as Red solo cup by Toby Keith came on.
"Couldn't resist." Yugi said shrugging and grinning.
"Where are the red solo cups?" Jou asked grinning.
"Over there under the big blue tarp." Malik said pointing.
"Let's pour ourselves some glasses and get drunk tonight!" Ryou said skipping over to the cups.
"Wait, do we really want Yugi and Malik getting drunk around each other?" Otogi asked from behind.
"Ooo, good point." Jou said frowning.
"It'll be my mate's responsibilities to keep tabs on me. After all I'm only one human, how hard could it be?" Yugi asked as he filled up a cup and started to drink it.
"Right, and if Marik didn't learn his mistake of taking his eyes off me the first time, he would be a fool not to remember it the second time around." Malik said tapping his glass to Yugi's.
"Let's give 'em hell drinking buddy." Yugi said grinning sinisterly around Malik at his mates, winking in their direction. Yugi didn't need a mind link to know that they were thinking 'oh shit' their faces said it clearly enough.
[Time skip]
Yugi and Malik weren't that trashed as Yugi had stopped drinking a few hours before, and Malik feeling lonely without his drinking buddy had stopped soon after. With the sun having set only just a few moments ago, they found the need to start to building a bonfire up. Sakura, Mira, Rafael, Bakura, Akeifa, Penny and Silver had left, Mahad and Honda not too far behind them. Yugi had found it odd though that Mahad stuck around his sister a lot most of the time. When he had questioned it, his answer was very odd to Yugi.
"Hey, why are hanging around my sister so much?" Yugi asked coming to stand by Mahad.
"Someone needs to keep an eye on the hunter. Atem and Yami don't seem to concerned about it, so I figured the task falls on me." he answered stiffly.
"She's not going to hurt anyone." Yugi said back frowning.
"Still, it's better to be safe than sorry." Mahad said before moving away as his sister had moved closer to the water.
It still didn't seem right to him, and was probably the reason for why he had stopped drinking around the same time of the conversation with the vampire as well. He was trying to figure out Mahad's true motives. It couldn't be that he was just concerned with Sakura harming his Queen and King, there was something underlying in his stiff tone. Yugi just couldn't place what it was. He shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts before going to sit over by the fire. Yami came over to sit by him.
"Want to talk about it?" he asked. Yugi glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. It wasn't a demand; it was a question that he had the option of backing out of.
"She can take care of herself, right?" Yugi asked.
"Who, Sakura? Yeah, I think she can more than take care of herself." Yami said nodding.
"So she wouldn't need me to worry about her. Kami knows how annoying it is when she worries over me." Yugi said letting out a loose laugh.
"Why are you worried about her?" Yami asked.
"I don't know…brotherly instinct?" Yugi guessed.
"Sounds reasonable enough to me." Yami said shrugging.
"Do you miss your sisters?" Yugi asked.
"Every day." Yami sighed.
"If you could figure out what happened to them, would you want to know?" Yugi asked.
"I'm not sure. I guess it would depend on whether the news would cause me grief or happiness." Yami answered. Yugi nodded in understanding as a familiar song came on. He stood up and held his hand down to Yami.
"Do you want to dance with me?"
"Anytime, place, or song, I'll always dance with you." Yami answered taking his outstretched his hand and standing up.
They danced simply around the fire, no ballroom dances, just swaying back and forth around the fire. Yugi whispered some of the lyrics to Yami and he pulled Yugi closer in response. Yugi just enjoyed the moment as he laid his head against Yami's chest his arms wounding their way around his neck. Yami's fell to his waist, pulling him closer still. As the song came to the end they jumped apart by a bright flash of light from their left.
"That was so cute. I had to take a picture." Ryou cooed lowering his camera.
"Way to spoil the moment, Ryou." Yugi grumbled.
"You'll get over it, Yugi." Ryou said shrugging.
"No, I'm getting revenge." Yugi said before tearing after him.
"Ah, Jou catch the camera!" Ryou said throwing it to him. Jou fumbled with it slightly but did end up catching it. He put it back in Ryou's camera bag before going to help his friend. Malik joined in on the fun, and somehow all of them ended up in the frigid water. Not that they cared, they were too busy splashing each other with previously stated frigid water to care too much about its temperature, or the fact that they could get sick for playing in it.
It was only when they started to lose feeling in their hands and feet that they started to make their out of the water. Yugi tried to give both Atem and Yami hugs, for two reasons: one to get them wet and two because he was cold, but they expertly avoided him with their supernatural speed. This left him with no choice but to go sit by the fire and try to warm up his body and dry his clothes off. Ryou was already sitting by it, and Jou had transformed shaking the water off his wet coat, before lying down by the fire. Malik was still trying to hug Marik, but he was fighting a battle already long lost. Giving up, he came over to sit by them.
"Achoo!" Yugi sneezed as he sat still shivering by the fire. Jou had fallen asleep next to it in his wolf form. Kaiba was cuddled up to Ryou trying to warm him, as he was shaking the worst out of all of them. Otogi, Rebecca, Ishizu, Mana, and Mutou Senior had taken of sometime before. Isis had stuck around to reprimand Atem, Yami, and Marik for allowing Yugi and Malik into the water in the first place. She was also spewing something about if they got sick they wouldn't be eating this week, something they should remember.
Isis doesn't need to worry, I'll force you to eat, sick or not.
No, you won't.
Like you guys can resist. You've tried before, remember? It failed, epically. The only way you'll be able to resist is if you distance yourselves from me. And we all know how hard that is on the three of us.
THUMP!
Yugi's world suddenly went dark as something heavy and soft was dropped on his head. Pulling it off, Yugi discovered it to be a blanket of animal furs. Looking around he saw an angry Silver dropping one on Malik as well. Akeifa was growling lowly at Kaiba who was slowly backing away from Ryou, who was wrapping a fur blanket around himself. Akeifa huffed and nudged Ryou gently to stand up. He did so, on shaky legs, climbing onto Akeifa's back and laying down. He carried him away as Kaiba slowly woke Jou up, and once he had shepherded him off the beach and to home.
Silver was having a loud argument with Isis about endangering her human charge with worrying about them getting sick, instead of doing something to prevent it. Atem, Yami, and Marik were using the distraction to their advantage by scooping up Yugi and Malik, blankets and all and fleeing with them back to the Palace.
"Hopefully she'll forget all about it in the morning." Yami whispered to Atem.
"Not likely, but that's very wishful thinking on your part." Atem whispered back.
"See you tomorrow, Yugi." Malik called as he was carried off in the opposite direction.
"See you then, Malik." Yugi waved.
"The only thing you're seeing tomorrow is the canopy of your bed." Atem said sternly.
"But we need to fill out college applications. By the way, what's the address of this place?" Yugi said back slowly falling asleep in who's ever arm's he was in.
"Grey Stone Palace, 811734th Ave, Domino, Japan, 63185." Yami answered.
"Grey?" Yugi asked.
"Grey." Yami nodded.
"Grey…" Yugi said falling asleep.
"Yes, Yugi, grey." Atem confirmed in an annoyed voice.
"Do you have Palaces of other colors too?" Yugi asked before he was completely out of it.
No.
Ahem, gonna make something clear here. Heba=Christmas time. That is when you should expect him, around the Holiday season, for the story. Almost there by the way, almost there... Thanks to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review. Midnight ;p