On top of his wife leaving him, the aftermath of his son's fight leaves Yugi feeling pretty ragged. Can things get any worse? Probably.
Chapter 3.
Trouble.
It was early in the afternoon when Yugi's mobile phone suddenly rang. He hoped it might be Anzu returning his calls and his heart skipped at the thought. But when he went to answer it and saw it was Domino High School his heart sank again; what could be so urgent that the school wanted to speak to him? He might have half been expecting a call today regarding Akemi being unhappy, but not Atem.
In fact, he did not think he had ever had a call from the school about his son, not since his son fell over a bench in grade school and cut his head open!
With trepidation, he answered and was dismayed to hear that his son had been involved in a fight. "I'll be right there," He was seething, not at his son, but at himself; what was he thinking, sending them back to school so soon?
After telling his co. workers that he had an urgent matter to attend and would be out of the office for the rest of the afternoon, he hurried down to his car and drove to the school.
When he arrived, he made straight for the head masters office, and found Atem sitting sulkily on a chair outside with an ice pack on his face. He hurried over to him. "Are you okay?"
Atem nodded. "Yeah." He pulled the ice pack away, showing off a bruise just under his left eye. It was puffing up nicely and Yugi winced as it brought back memories of his own bumps and bruises.
"What happened?" he asked. Before Atem could open his mouth to explain, they were interrupted by the headmaster's secretary.
"Ah, Mister Muto." She gestured them through to the headteachers office.
Yugi listened, as the headteacher explained (as if Yugi did not know) that starting a fight would result in Atem receiving a two week suspension. It made Yugi angry –he did not recall any of the bullies that beat him up ever being suspended!
"I already said I didn't start it," Atem grumbled. "Kobayashi's a bully. I was trying to stop him picking on another boy."
The headteacher cleared his throat impatiently, and Yugi shot him a glare, before turning to comfort his son and saying, "Let me handle this, okay?" His son nodded.
Trying not to let his own experiences influence his response, Yugi turned back to the headteacher with a stern expression. "My son doesn't fight without good reason," he stated calmly, which belied the anger he was feeling inside. "If he felt the need to intervene and protect a fellow student from being picked on, then I have to question why there were no teachers on hand to prevent the bullying from happening in the first place?" -there never seemed to be any teachers around when he was being picked on, either.
The headteacher looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment, before saying, in a rather condescending tone, "My staff cannot be in every location at once, but your comments have been noted, Mister Muto. However, I will not allow students to brawl on my premises. Kobayashi has already been sent home, and his future at the school is being considered. However, if I do not punish Atem as well it will send a message to students that fighting is acceptable."
Yugi felt the corner of his mouth curling into a slight snarl, and his anger bubbled to the surface. He tried to control it but, given his own experiences, it wasn't easy and his retort was scathing. "Nothing has really changed since I was a student here, has it? You may like to pretend that bullying no longer exists, but my son's experience today is proof that it does." The head master looked at him, stunned. He had only been headteacher here for five years, but was aware of the bullying that went on in the past.
"B..but.. we have an excellent reputation for student safety, Mister Muto," he said officiously.
"Then answer this: How does a popular, well respected grade A student, who normally avoids trouble, suddenly get involved in a playground brawl with a known trouble maker? I'm sure you don't want that to become public knowledge, do you?" Yugi didn't usually use his status and fame to prove a point or to get his own way, but on this occasion felt it justifiable.
Atem felt himself swell with pride for his father, and was trying very hard not to smirk – they had not won yet.
The headteacher pursed his lips, and agonised over his next decision: Yugi Muto was a popular local legend, who was seen as a role model by many people. If it became public knowledge that the school had punished his son for defending a student from a known bully and trouble maker it would attract negative attention for the school, especially where the ongoing problem of bullying was concerned. He also knew that many students feared Kobayashi and would now view Atem Muto as their hero for defending them.
Taking all of that into account, the head teacher offered Atem a reprieve from suspension, but would be placing him on cleaning duty for a month and a mark made against his name, tarnishing his unblemished record.
::::::::::::
On the way home there was a tense atmosphere in the car.
Yugi glanced over at Atem sitting in the passenger seat staring morosely out of the passenger side window. "Are you okay?" he asked, finding it difficult to be angry at his son.
Atem shrugged. "I suppose I'm grounded." he grumbled.
"No. I'm not grounding you. I think you're already being punished enough with a month of having to clean the locker room."
Forcing a rueful smile, Atem snorted and turned to face his dad. "Cleaning the locker room sucks." Mud from football boots, smelly socks left behind, grimy showers. Yuk!
"I know. But you'll get through it. I did when I had to clean the locker room."
Atem's good eye widened, while his bruised one barely moved. "You had to clean the locker room?!"
"Hmm hum," Yugi nodded as he indicated and took a left turn. "I got into a fight. Well, not exactly a fight. It was a bit one sided actually. My reward: the guy who beat me up also made me take his punishment as well."
Atem pulled a face. "Didn't you protest?"
"He was twice my size! Not a lot I could do," Yugi told him. "So, take your punishment, and use it to grow stronger as a person."
Although still feeling bitter about his punishment, Atem at least felt a little less despondent about it. "Yeah. I will. Thanks, Dad. You're the best!"
Yugi chuckled. "So I'm told," he said, winking.
::::::::::::
Akemi felt guilty for lying to her dad about where she was going after school.
She sent him a message, explaining that she was going to her friends house and would get a lift home from her friend's mum later. She then caught the bus to her grandparents house. None the wiser, her dad replied with a thumbs up, and asked what time she would be home? She replied to say it would be around six. He sent another thumbs up and a smiley face and they left it at that.
Getting off the bus, Akemi walked the short distance to her grandparents house and rang the doorbell.
Her mother answered, and greeted her with a hug that was both grateful and protective. "Does your father know you're here?"
Akemi shook her head. It was not because she was being deceitful, or feared that her father might be annoyed if he knew she was here; it was more that she was trying to spare her dad's feelings. Besides, if all went to plan and her mother agreed to come home, then it would be worth it.
Anzu smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. "Will you tell him you saw me?"
Sucking on her lip, Akemi bowed her head guiltily. "I told him I was at my friend's house."
"You shouldn't lie to him," Anzu said seriously. Akemi seemed to shrink, a bit like Yugi used to when he was that age. It tugged on Anzu's heart strings, compelling her to soften and give her daughter a cuddle. "If he does ask, you should tell him the truth. He will understand." If she knew Yugi as well as she thought she did, he would probably encourage the children to visit their mum anyway. She felt Akemi nodding and her arms tighten around her like she did not want to let her go, ever.
After reluctantly letting go of her daughter, Anzu took her into the kitchen, where Nana Mazaki gave her granddaughter an equally protective hug and offered her a chocolate milk drink.
Mrs Mazaki shot her own daughter a pointed look as she kissed her granddaughter's head, and asked, "How are you feeling, Akemi?"
Glancing sideways, Akemi caught her mother's eye and said, "Sad," with a pout.
Anzu offered a small, guilty smile. "Because of me and your father." The guilt she felt for hurting her family was enormous, but she needed to protect her mental health and was not ready to go home just yet, if at all. She just did not know how to talk about it.
Akemi shook her head defiantly. "Dad didn't make me sad, you did!" she said accusingly.
Anzu was taken aback. "I know you're annoyed with me Akemi, but I couldn't go on like I was. I'm sorry."
Pouting, Akemi glared at her. "I'm not annoyed at you! I'm sad because I don't understand why you left us!"
Anzu looked down at her shaking hands. "I don't understand either," she admitted. "I just need some space right now." She quickly changed the subject. "How is your dad by the way?"
"Sad," said Akemi bluntly. "He wants you to come home. We all do."
Anzu's jaw flapped, and she struggled for something to say. Her legs felt so weak that she had to sit down. Luckily, Mrs Mazaki intervened. "Who would like some mochi?" she asked, holding out the box. Nodding, Akemi took one, but Anzu had no appetite and declined.
Trying to ease the tension, Anzu thought it would be nice if she showed Akemi an old photo album she had put together when she was still a student at Domino High school. Her mother had been keeping it safe all these years, and until yesterday Anzu had forgotten it existed. Looking at the photos had been invoking some fond memories.
Some of the photographs were family photos from when she was little. but most were of herself with Yugi (often the other Yugi, as he was known at the time), as well as many of the whole gang.
Of course, Akemi had seen photographs of her parents when they were young –the internet was full of pictures of her dad during his heyday as the King of Games– but she had never seen any pictures of her parents together when they were still in grade school. She giggled at one where her mum had her arms around her dad's shoulders and was hugging him tightly. His face was flushed with embarrassment and he was scowling. "How old were you both?"
Anzu smiled nostalgically. "About twelve. Yugi –your dad– was going through the 'girls are embarrassing' phase, so I deliberately cuddled him and announced that he was my boyfriend, even though at the time I thought that all boys were gross."
Giggling, Akemi asked, "Did you think Dad was gross?"
"Hell, yes!" She grinned. "Just not as gross as the other boys. I liked cuddling him because it made him blush."
"That was mean," said Akemi.
"I know. But in my defence, he has since admitted that he was blushing because he had a secret crush on me." She sighed at the memory. "We've known each other almost all our lives," she said, nostalgically wiping away a tear.
Akemi studied her face, and becoming serious asked, "Why don't you like Dad any more?"
Without going into detail about her emotions, Anzu did not know how to answer, but tried her best to at least give some sort of explanation. "It's not that I don't like him. It's just that… sometimes couples go through phases where they don't get on very well. Your dad and I are going through one of those phases."
"You will make up with him and come home though, won't you?" Akemi asked hopefully.
There was a pleading tone in her daughter's voice and it broke Anzu's heart. "I hope so, sweetheart." She kissed her daughter's head. "Just give us some time."
::::::::::::
After they had finished looking through the photos, Akemi decided that she should get home.
"It's raining. I'll drive you," said Anzu. Akemi did not protest –getting her mother to drive her home was part of her plan.
Anzu borrowed her mother's car, and as they rounded the corner and approached home, she started feeling apprehensive; Yugi's car was on the driveway, indicating that he was home from work. Fearing that if she parked right outside he might look out and see her, she drove on and parked further up.
Akemi gave her a questioning look. "Mum?" She swivelled round in her seat. "Our house is back there!"
"It's probably better I park here." Anzu did not want to justify her reasoning, but Akemi was not letting it go.
"But I was hoping you might agree to come in with me and talk to Dad!"
Anzu tried not to get irritable. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart. I already told you, I don't think I can face seeing him at the moment." Akemi opened her mouth to argue, but Anzu shook her head sternly. "I know it's not what you want, but please, don't argue with me Akemi." She felt awful when her daughter's face sagged and she looked close to tears. Anzu quickly tried to backtrack. "I promise, I will talk to your dad, but not until I'm ready." She leaned across to touch her daughter's cheek, but Akemi pulled away.
"Bye, Mum," she said abruptly, shoving the door open and storming out.
Anzu sighed. And then spotted Akemi's backpack in the footwell. "Akemi?!" she called, reaching down for it and holding it out. Pouting, her daughter turned around and snatched her backpack from her hand. Their eyes met, and Anzu felt her heart breaking at the hurt in her daughters eyes. "I love you. Tell your brother I love him, too!"
Akemi scowled back at her. "What about Dad? Do you love him?" And with that, she stormed off, leaving Anzu sitting alone in the car feeling alienated and dreadful.
::::::::::::
When Akemi opened the front door to the house and went inside, she kicked off her shoes and ran straight upstairs to her room.
Half way up the stairs, she heard her father call out from the kitchen, "Akemi, is that you?" Like it would be anyone else! She did not reply, but ran to her room and threw herself on her bed.
Downstairs, Yugi heard his daughter's bedroom door slam. Worried, he went up to find out what was wrong. Calling softly, he knocked her door, but she did not reply, so he called again, "Akemi! Can I come in?" a little more sharply this time.
"Go away!" Ignoring the order, Yugi sighed and opened the door a crack.
"What's wrong? May I come in?" he asked softly.
Knowing her father would not go away until she told him why she was upset, Akemi heaved a huge sigh. "If you want," she replied grumpily.
Tentatively, Yugi went in and sat on the end of the bed. Akemi was cuddling the giant Marshmallon plushy that he and Anzu had bought for her when they went to the Domino Duel Monsters Carnival a couple of years ago –it brought back memories of happier times.
His daughter was frowning at him tearfully. "Wanna talk about it?" he asked softly. He hoped she had not fallen out with her friend. If she had he was out of his depth –schoolgirl spats were more Anzu's area of expertise.
"No!" she snapped, but then relented and said, "I went to see Mum." Yugi's jaw went slack and his mouth formed an 'O'. Akemi continued, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't want you to be annoyed with me, and now I'm upset and I wish I hadn't bothered going."
"I'm not annoyed with you," he told her, "You should still see your mum. But I'm guessing it didn't go too well. What happened?"
Akemi sniffed. "It was fine until I asked her to come home. She doesn't want to."
Yugi hung his head for a moment, and when he looked up again his eyes were watery. But he did force a little smile. "Thank you for trying," -he did not know what else he could say "-but I think your mum needs some time to herself right now."
Akemi huffed. "That's what she said." She started crying. "I was only trying to help and now I've made things worse."
Yugi reached out to touch her arm. "No you haven't. Maybe leave the adult stuff to us, eh?" He gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "Apart from that, how was she?"
Cheering up a little, Akemi cracked a smile. "We looked at old photos and she got sad when she showed me photos of you and her together." She giggled, and a snot bubble came out of her nose. When Yugi chuckled, she got embarrassed and wiped it away with her sleeve. Yugi frowned and handed her a tissue.
"You looked funny when you were little," she told him, once she had blown her nose.
Yugi pretended to be offended. "Hey! What do you mean I looked funny?" When Akemi told him about the photograph of him as a pink faced, scowling twelve year old, all big eyes, crumpled clothing and unruly hair, he blushed. "I was a cute kid, that's why your mother liked cuddling me." He changed the subject. "I saved you some food; are you hungry? Oh, and I should warn you, your brother got into a fight at school today and has a black eye, so go easy on him."
It was Akemi's turn to make an 'O' face.
::::::::::::
After Akemi had eaten her food and cleared her plate away, Yugi started the dishwasher going and then sat down at the kitchen table with his laptop. He was feeling pretty ragged. It had been a tough day, what with Atem fighting and Akemi being upset after going to see Anzu; he had no idea how they would all move forward.
Akemi was now up in her room playing her favourite music, and Atem had skulked off to the living room to play Legend of Zelda on the Nintendo Switch, leaving Yugi alone in the kitchen with his thoughts.
He had wracked his brains trying to work out what he had done so badly wrong that Anzu did not even want to see him, but came up blank. Perhaps that was his problem: he was too dam clueless to see where the cracks in their relationship were.
Sighing, he got up and went to the fridge to get himself a well deserved beer. He was tempted to get drunk, but his kids needed a functioning father, not a drunken basket case. Besides, being drunk would not make things better, only worse.
He poured his drink and took a nice long sip. Putting his glass down, he sat down again in front of his laptop and started playing a game of solitaire.
His patience was tested, when a journalist from the Domino News called, asking him to confirm if there was any truth in a rumour that his wife had left him?
Yugi knew the media would find out eventually (he and Anzu were considered a celebrity couple) but he had not expected it to be so quickly. Anzu had only left him three days ago and hardly anyone outside close family knew.
Sighing, he scratched his bearded chin. "Who told you?" he asked.
"I'm sorry. You know I can't divulge my source, Mister Muto," the journalist said with an air of authority but also a hint of guilt. Yugi made sure to make a disgruntled sound in response.
"Right," he said coldly. "Well, since you will print your article with or without my consent or response, I will confirm that Anzu and I are currently having some problems, but it does not mean our marriage is over. We're taking a short break, and Anzu has gone to stay with a friend while we sort out our differences." He cleared his throat. "Can I also ask that you respect my family's privacy during what is a difficult time for us? That's really all I have to say at the moment." Years of experience in dealing with the media had taught him well and he was unwavering in his brief statement. He was also careful to use the term 'friend' so as not to give away Anzu's true whereabouts.
"Thank you, Mister Muto. I wish you and your family the best. Sorry for troubling you," the journalist said, losing the self important tone and becoming remorseful that she had been asked to call him, no doubt by her boss.
"When will you be printing your story?" he asked calmly.
"In tomorrow's early edition," she informed him.
"Right. Thanks. Goodbye," he said, and hung up.
Letting out a long sigh, he tried ringing Anzu, to let her know the press had found out, but she did not answer and it went to voicemail. He did not bother leaving a message.
Just moments later, his phone rang. Hoping it was Anzu, he grabbed his phone. But when he saw it was Jonouchi, he groaned. Not in the mood to talk to anyone else about his situation, he rejected the call.
It rang again. He ignored it, but did listen to the waffled voicemail message left by his friend, and it seemed that Jonouchi knew about Atem's fight. Of course he did, his daughter went to the same school. If Jonouchi knew, then Seto Kaiba would also know, since his daughter was in Atem's class and was Mayumi Jonouchi's best friend.
Wishing he could just vanish into the floor, Yugi took another chug of his beer.
He was on his second can of beer, and was reading reviews for the new game releases, when the doorbell chimed. He ignored it, but it rang again more insistently.
"Dad! Someone at the door!" Atem shouted from the sitting room.
"I know," Yugi said irritably, huffing as he got up from his chair. As he had half expected, it was Jonouchi.
"Hey, Yug! Ya didn't answer ya phone! What's going on?! Mayumi told me Atem gave one of the bullies a beating today! Is he okay?" he blurted loudly from the doorstep.
Not wanting the neighbours to overhear, Yugi gestured him inside. "I wouldn't exactly call it a beating, but, yeah, he seems okay," he replied, trying to sound casual about the whole affair.
Jonouchi popped his head in the sitting room. "Hey, you okay little buddy?" When Atem looked up to acknowledge him, he added. "Ooh, nice shiner! Hope you gave the other guy worse?" Atem gave him a thumbs up and went back to his game.
Jonouchi turned to Yugi. "I can't believe he was in a fight! How'd it start? Mayumi only caught the end of it, but said a notorious school bully was involved."
Yugi shrugged. "You remember what it's like in high school? Sometimes you just can't avoid trouble."
"Yeah, but Atem's a good kid. He usually walks away from that kind a shit!" said Jonouchi, following Yugi into the kitchen.
Yugi could not help but roll his eyes at his friend. "On this occasion he didn't. Anyway, do you want a beer?" He was keen to change the subject.
"Er… yeah, sure." Jonouchi watched, bemused as his friend went to the fridge for a beer. "You okay, Yugi?" He knew his friend loathed violence, yet seemed almost blasé about it.
"Never better," was the bitter, sarcastic reply. Jonouchi scratched his head.
"What's Anzu think of Atem fighting? Bet she ain't pleased." He noticed his friend tense at the question, but it was fleeting, and when Yugi turned to hand him the can and a glass, his face was passive.
"She doesn't know. She's left me." His friend would find out sooner or later, so it might as well be from him, rather than read it in tomorrow's paper.
Jaw going slack, Jonouchi almost dropped the glass. "W..what d'ya mean, left you?"
Expression becoming pained as his mask cracked, Yugi shrugged. "Like I said, she left me. We're all pretty cut up – it's why Atem was spoiling for a fight today."
Jonouchi didn't know what to say, so he said the first thing that popped into his head: "Shit! That sucks! Why da hell she leave ya?!"
"I dunno!" Yugi snapped irritably, "If I knew that I might have been able to stop her!"
"So, ya don't know why she left? There has to be a reason: what did you do wrong?"
"That's just it, Jou! I don't know!"
"Have you tried asking her? Whenever Mai leaves me, I always go after her and persuade her to come home."
Yugi shook his head. "She won't talk to me. And, anyway, Mai doesn't leave you, she chucks you out and you end up here!" Yugi had lost count of the number of times his friend had turned up on his doorstep asking for a place to sleep for the night.
Jonouchi chuckled, embarrassed. "Oh, yeah… she does. But we always sort out our differences in the end. Maybe you and Anzu should do the same. You want me to speak to her? Talk some sense into her?"
Yugi's eyes widened. His friend would probably make it worse. "Thanks, but it's okay. I'd rather deal with things my way."
Jonouchi nodded. "Okay. But the offer's there if you need it. I expect Mai will be talking to her at some point. Mai likes a good bit of gossip: pretty sure she'll find out why Anzu left you."
Yugi brightened up slightly. "If she can persuade Anzu to at least talk to me, that would be great!"
"Yeah. I'll tell her."
The two men finished their beer. "Do you want another one?" Yugi asked, going to the fridge.
"No, thanks. I've gotta go pick Mayumi up from Karate. Since you weren't picking up, I stopped by here on the way." Jonouchi eyed the two empty cans on the side. "How many of them have you had, Yug?"
"Er… two. This'll be my third." Not really a drinker, he already had that glowing, slightly inebriated feeling and it was good, numbing.
"I don't wanna lecture you or nothing, but you probably shouldn't have that third one." He was speaking from experience, of both his father's and his own. It made Yugi look down at the can in his hand and question himself.
"Ah, yeah. You're right." He put the can back in the fridge.
Jonouchi clamped him on the shoulder. "You might have to do a bit of apologising, even if it ain't your fault, but she'll come back, I'm sure of it."
Yugi smiled weakly at him. "Thanks. I hope so," he said.
"Anyway. I better get going. I'm in trouble if I'm late!"
Thanking Jonouchi for stopping by, and for his advice, Yugi saw him out. He then went back into the kitchen and poured himself that third beer.
I thought it would be amusing to make Seto Kaiba and Jonouchi's daughters best friends, especially since their father's have a long running dislike of one another. What do you think?