Chapter 8

Disclaimer : I Don't own Yu Gi Oh! & I Don't own Shaman King!

Thought / Dreams / Event from the past

[Voice from the past]

'Telepathic Voice'

"Spirit Talking"

-Telephone-

Letter

"Dialogue"

Emphasis

Dangerous Tone

Atem was feeling like he was a teenager again. Well, he might be a 3000 years old Spirits who was given a second chance to live, but actually he was still 18, he was still considered a teenager. His heart was beating so fast and he couldn't help stole a few glance towards the boy across from him. Call him pedophile or anything, but he love the boy for Ra shake, the boy was so gentle and warm to others that he fell for the boy on the first day he met the boy.

He looked outside the window to help him distracted himself from the fact that he was alone, really alone, with Yoh in a small place without much space. But to no avail, he caught himself glancing towards Yoh's direction once in a minute. One of the reason that he couldn't help but glancing at Yoh was because the boy was so beautiful, his eyes held so many wisdom and gentleness, his figure also a bit feminine and his face make him even more beautiful.

But . . . Atem thought sadly as he looked at Yoh, Yoh is still 13, he might doesn't think of going out with anyone yet, I'm not even sure if Yoh would like dating a boy or not. He sighed softly and looked out at the view outside again, And if Yoh like boy more than a girl, I still don't know if he love me in the same way as I love him.

"The stars are so beautiful, aren't they?" Atem commented in hope to make a conversation with Yoh, they bad been silent since the time they entered the gondola. Yoh didn't answer, he was nearly thought that Yoh didn't want to talk to him, but when he looked at Yoh to see if that really the case, he saw Yoh in his own world again, and the sadness in his eyes was so clear now than ever. "Yoh." He called out softly as he leaned forward to touch Yoh's hand, he saw Yoh blinked and looked at him with questioning look, "Are you alright?" He asked in concern.

Yoh blinked his eyes rapidly and shook his head before smiling at him, a smile that he could clearly see as a forced one, "Of course I'm alright." He said in a fake cheerfulness, "Why wouldn't I?".

Atem narrowed his eyes, "You always spacing out wherever we said a certain something like Other Half and, just now, Stars." He said with a stern voice, "You were always looked so sad when you were spacing out, and don't you dare to think that I can't see that you are faking your smile and cheerfulness".

Yoh looked down to the floor of the gondola, "It's my problem, there's no need for you to concern yourself with it." He said softly with a sad look again.

Atem sighed as he had had enough of Yoh's reluctance to tell him or the rest about his problem, he stood up before sitting down beside Yoh and pulled him into a one arm hug, "Don't say something like that." He scolded him softly, "Even if it's not my business, you can tell me your problem." He reached out a hand to Yoh's chin and make the boy looked at him, "I won't judge you, Yoh. So you could tell me what is troubling you, I would try my best to help you out, or if I couldn't at least you would feel better after letting your problem out of your chest." He smiled at Yoh, "Please tell me, I don't want to see you this sad".

Yoh's heart clenched, the words Atem had spoken to him, they were enough to lessen the tie that had make him unable to speak about his problem. Maybe it's because he was waiting for someone like Atem, someone who offered to listen to Yoh's problem and wouldn't judge Yoh because of that problem, and he trust Atem to not judge him, so he finally let it out. Tears flowing from his eyes, "I . . . I killed my own Twin Brother." He finally said it, "I killed him".

Atem's eyes widened, Yoh killed someone? He looked at Yoh sadly, Why would Yoh killed his own Twin Brother? Twins are like a pair of Hikari and Yami, they are inseparable and need each other, so for Yoh to kill his own Twin Brother would be killing his own Other Half, no wonder Yoh was so sensitive when he heard the words of Other Half. He pulled Yoh so the boy's face would be on his chest, "Why did you kill him?" He asked softly with sadness filled his voice.

"I didn't want to kill him, but I had to kill him." Yoh said softly as his hand gripped tightened around his jeans covered knees.

"You were forced?" Atem asked softly, he received a nod from Yoh in answer, "Tell me about it".

Yoh did just that, he told Atem everything, about the Shaman Fight, about Hao and what had happened between the two of them, and about their final fight which led to him killing Hao to prevent Hao fulfilling his goal.

"I dislike killing, I hate it! I know that Hao was bad and all and the only way was to kill him, but I hope I had more time to change him! The worst of all is that they celebrated it! I killed my own Twin and they are happy! My friends and family wouldn't let me mourn!" Yoh sobbed as he hid his face in Atem's chest, "They wouldn't let me! Hao was a monster for them and only that! They never stop to think that I would be the one hurting the most by killing him and had the right to mourn!" He pulled back and looked up at Atem with an expression that was so heart broken that Atem's heart clenched painfully at the sight, "I had make it clear that I am my own person and Hao was his own person, but the fact that I am a part of Hao's soul wouldn't change. I might able to make my own decision and he couldn't control me, but the connection is there no matter what people said, what we said." He covered his face with his hands, "We are not a normal Twins, we are literally a half of the same soul, and that make our connection, our bond, stronger than any Twins out there. Even though I only known him for a short time and never really spend any time with him aside from the time when we were in the Coffee shop, I already thought of him as my Brother. I love him, Atem! I love him no matter what, even if he was the Devil himself, I would still love him as my Brother! For me to kill him, I literally killing my own Other Half, it hurt me so much that some time I considered suicide just to apologize to him and explain everything." Yoh laughed bitterly, "Actually, maybe I would already if it was not for Amidamaru who stopped me, offering words of comfort every time my guilt, pain, and sadness become too much".

By this time, Atem was crying, he couldn't believe what he had heard, the fact that Yoh had to experienced so much hardship and had to kill his own Twin Brother was so sad for him, so painful for him to know about it. Yoh was so gentle, forcing Yoh to kill someone was already bad enough, but to kill his own Other Half? That's beyond bad, that was cruel. "I'm so sorry." Atem whispered as he pulled Yoh back into his chest, "I'm sorry that you had to go through so much, to go through something so painful like that".

"Don't be sorry." Yoh said softly with a shake of his head, "It's not your fault, it's because Hao was so damn stubborn".

"But still, I feel bad about it." Atem said sadly, "Is that why you ran away? Because you couldn't stand being near the people who forced you to kill Hao?".

Yoh nodded his head, "At first, I tried to stay with them and move on, but it's hard to move on if I couldn't ever mourn my Brother's death." He explained, "5 weeks ago, they came to Funbari Onsen, something happened that make me decided that run away was, and still is, the best choice".

5 weeks ago . . .

"Yoh, we need to talk." His Grandfather, Asakura Yohmei, said as soon as Yoh entered the Living Room.

Yoh sighed as the smile on his face faded and sat across from his Grandfather, "Yes, Jii-chan?" He asked lazily.

"I heard that you are still learning Chou Senji Ryakketsu?" Yohmei asked with a glare on his face.

Yoh blinked lazily, "And what if I am? You were the one who make me learn it in the first place." He answered casually.

Yohmei stood up, "It's Hao's technique! You could stop learn it since Hao is already dead! The longer you learn it, the higher the possibility that you will turned out like him!" He yelled in anger, "You are a part of him, there's no telling when you will start acting like him!".

Yoh frowned, "I already said that I and Hao are two different people, I am my own person as well as Hao is Hao." He said back, feeling annoyed that his own Grandfather thinking that he would turned out like Hao.

"We have to make sure that it stay that way, if you learn more about what was written in that book, who knows what will happen." Yohmei retorted, "While we are talking this, Hao's ghost might already trying to control your body or brainwashed you, we have to be cautious".

"Hao is already dead!" Yoh yelled as he stood up, "If what you said is true, we would see him doing it right now! Hao was my Twin, damn it! If he is here as a ghost then I would surely notice him!" He glared at his stunned Grandfather before stormed upstairs.

Yoh marched to his room, opening it then closing it with great force that left him panting for breath, he leaned on to his sliding door before slid down to a sitting position with his hands covered his face. "I don't want this . . ." He whispered to himself, "Why must I be the one to killed him? Why couldn't someone else did it? All because I'm his Twin and a part of him that they thought I would have the same power as him and could kill him, they never thought that by killing him, I had to kill half of me".

He fell asleep after that, and the next day, everything went like usual with him went to train himself in his own pace, then he would hid himself away in the cemetery beside Amidamaru's grave to be alone and to learn more about Chou Senji Ryakketsu. When it's time for him to cook dinner, he walked down to Funbari Inn and to the Kitchen's direction.

For him to get there, he had to go through the Dinning Room, but when he arrived there, he saw his Mother leaning on the door with a sad and pained expression, she looked up to see him before he could call out to her. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong but his Mother pressed a finger to her mouth, indicating for him to stay quiet and approached him, "To your room." She whispered softly and pushed him to the stairs.

They went to his room and he looked at his Mother when she closed the door quietly, "Kaa-chan?" He asked in confusion.

"Pack your stuff, Yoh, anything that you want to take with you." Asakura Keiko ordered seriously as she looked straight to Yoh's eyes, sadness and despair filled her eyes.

"Why?" Yoh asked with a frown, "Are we going to go somewhere?" He didn't know what to make of that order.

Keiko shook her head, "I will tell you soon, just pack your stuffs, and be quick." She said and left the room.

Yoh, not knowing what in the world happened, did as his Mother told him to and packed his belongings. He make sure that he brought his Harusame and Chou Senji Ryakketsu with him, his CD Player, his Headphone and his Bear-Claw Necklace were always with him, so after he packed a few clothes and necessary stuffs like his wallet and so on, he was ready.

"Yoh." Keiko called as she entered the room silently, "Take this with you." She said as she handed a small bag to Yoh, "Inside is the money I secretly keep for you when you entered college in the future and the documents needed for your education".

Yoh took the small bag and put it inside his bigger one, "What's going on, Kaa-chan?" He asked in confusion.

Keiko sighed sadly, "Your Grandfather, Grandmother, and Mikihisa had been discussing about you." She said in shaky voice, "They said that you started acting strange, as if you are possessed by Hao." She walked to Yoh and hugged him tightly, "They had been saying that they are going to have you dead as well if you are still acting this way, you need to run, Yoh." She whispered between sobs, "You have to run far away from here, I'm sorry but you have to live by your own now".

"They . . . really discussing that?" Yoh asked weakly, he couldn't belief that his own family wanted to kill him.

"Yes, Son, yes." Keiko sobbed, "I'm sorry I couldn't do more, but you have to go by yourself, I couldn't go with you or they could track us easier. I already talked to Anna, she let me stay here after the rest went back to Izumo, we would try to cover for you as much as we could".

"Thank you, Kaa-chan." Yoh whispered as he pulled apart and picked up his stuffs, "I will miss you".

"As will I." Keiko said with a sad smile, "Stay safe, Yoh, be careful. I will try to see if I could make them think with more sense, I love you, Yoh".

Yoh smiled sadly back at her, "I love you too, Kaa-chan." He said softly.

"I left then." Yoh said as he finished retelling what had happened to Atem, "I didn't know where I should go, so I go following my heart. I arrived here the next night, and I met up with Yugi when I was on my way searching for a hotel to stay".

Atem nodded, "I saw what happened that day." He said as he rubbed Yoh's back to soothe him, "Thank you for saving my Hikari, I can't thank you enough for it. I was so worried that time since I couldn't protect him due to me being in the afterlife, I don't know what would happen if you weren't there".

Yoh chuckled, "There's no need for you to thank me." He said as he pulled apart and wiped his tears, "I only did what I should do in that kind of situation, so it's alright." He smiled at Atem, "I should be the one thanking you, I feel a lot better by telling you my problem. Thank you".

Atem smiled warmly, "You are welcome." He answered with a soft voice, "I'm sorry that I couldn't help you more about it, but I'm glad that you feel better after letting it out of your heart." He then caress Yoh's cheek with his right palm, "But don't stop now, you had to let it all out." He pulled Yoh back to him, "Cry, Yoh, cry all of your pain out, only then that you will really feel better".

Yoh's hand clenched on Atem's black muscle shirt and he cried all his pain, it really helped him that he cried his heart out. When he cried the first time in Yugi's Guest Room, no one was there to soothe him, so he didn't really feel better. But now that Atem was there for him, he felt a lot better, knowing that he would always have Atem to back him up any time he felt down by his guilt and soothe him. Just like what Amidamaru had done all this time, even though the 600 years old Samurai was bad at soothing someone.

Yoh sighed in relief after he was done with his crying, "Thank you." He said as he pulled away from the hug, "Thank you for not judging me, and for letting me cry on you".

Atem smiled, "You are welcome." He said and looked outside, "Wow, we are already near the top." He informed the younger, "The view is so amazing".

Yoh looked outside as well, "Yeah, they are beautiful." He agreed.

"Yeah." Atem said softly, but his eyes were on Yoh, "Beautiful indeed." The boy was so beautiful, and he was even more beautiful now that he was smiling rather than looking down in sadness. 'I want to kiss him.' He said that through the Link he had with Yugi, even though he was not aware of it.

'Go for it then, Yami!' Yugi's voice suddenly entered his mind, making Atem froze in shock since he realized he didn't thought it to himself but through the Mind Link.

'But, Aibou . . .' Atem tried to answer but he felt Yugi shut the Link so he was really alone in his head, he looked at Yoh, Should I kiss him? But I don't even know if he like me, let alone love me . . . Whatever doubt he had in his heart disappeared when Yoh turned to look at him with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen on the boy's lips.

"Atem, look! The stars are . . ." Yoh's words cut off when Atem suddenly leaned forward and kissed Yoh fully on the lips, and as if it was done on cue, a firework was shot and became their background.

To be continued . . .

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