Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Do You Dream of Me? ❯ Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh. If I did, this wouldn't be a manga-based AU.

 

This is the chapter that will ideally be posted to ff.net during the first week of NaNoWriMo. Ganbatte, Laryna6! It will have by then been up on my lj for a long time.

 

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

 

Friday! Yugi was counting down the days. He had caught his Grandpa on the phone with who Yugi thought was Professor Yoshimori last night, but Grandpa had just winked at him and given him chores. Which Yami had done for him very eagerly. Or, technically, summoned Duel Monsters to do. The Kuriboh had found being a mop very diverting, running all over the floor and making happy noises. Yugi had stared, amazed and laughing, and had thanked Yami whole-heartedly. Instead of an hour spend doing chores, he got fifteen minutes of the cutest thing he'd ever seen!

 

Fortunately the Kuriboh had waited until it was back in what Yami called the Shadow Realm to shake itself dry. While they were in the Shadow Realm, they had both felt like they were being watched, but it didn't feel threatening. Quite the opposite, it felt like they were being welcomed.

 

Normally, Yami felt at least an instant of fear when in the dark, but he'd seemed almost as fearless while in the Shadow Realm as in Yugi's Soul Room, like the place comforted him. Like it was home?

 

They appeared as separate entities in the Shadow Realm just like in Yugi's Soul Room, but Yami looked the same `out here' as in there. Which was very strange, because Yugi knew he had a very unusual appearance. Some of the people who had bullied him called him a freak.

 

Was this really how Yami looked? Yugi wondered if it was or not, as they were identical except for slightly darker skin and deep crimson eyes instead of Yugi's purple. But Yami could alter his form… Yugi knew he changed his eye color when he took over the body to appear more menacing and threatening to those who had dared to frighten his Master. Was Yami's a form just a reflection of Yugi's? If so, what did Yami really look like?

 

Yugi was sometimes almost afraid to know, or he would be if he ever could be afraid of Yami. What if the Shadow Realm really was his home? What if he never was human?

 

It wasn't that Yugi was afraid that Yami was some sort of demon and all of this was a sham, he could feel Yami's sincerity, know every aspect of him when he was in his Soul Room. He knew that Yami loved him, worshipped him, was grateful to him to an alarming extent.

 

But if he wasn't human… could he become human? Would he have to go back to the Shadow Realm? Would he have to leave Yugi someday?

 

Yugi didn't want to know the answer to that. He wanted to know everything about Yami, wanted to share all of himself with him, but if he had to leave someday… he was afraid of that.

 

They'd played with Kuribohs in the Shadow Realm, Yami smiling in a way that wasn't meant to intimidate, laughing in a way that wasn't gloating that took Yugi's breath away. They laughed together and Yugi managed to get him to play-fight with him, tossing Kuribohs at each other even though Yami was at first worried about even pretending to fight Master. The Kuribohs didn't explode: they trusted them. They liked the game. They seemed to like everything.

 

Yugi had really liked it.

 

But he couldn't stop thinking about the dreaded possibility of Yami going away someday. He was finding out more and more about him, coming to love him more and more. He couldn't bear it if he went away.

 

And eventually Yami had seemed to sense that something was wrong, glancing at him and frowning slightly, worried that he was all right. Apparently the Shadow Realm drained those who were unprotected. Yami had protected him, and kept looking at him to make sure he was fine, but as Yugi's fears grew and began to show in his smile becoming a little shallower, his laughter a little false, he took him home and checked him exhaustively.

 

Yugi felt bad for making Yami worry over him when he was fine, and had tried to tell him everything was all right, but Yami knew that something was bothering him. Yugi didn't want to tell him what it was. The idea of going away, being taken away, would remind Yami of the Puzzle and frighten him horribly and maybe give him nightmares again. Yugi couldn't bear it if that happened either. Yami had suffered so much… Yugi wanted him to have fun here, with him.

 

So this morning he'd chatted with him while getting ready and made him take over to taste some of breakfast, and had chatted with him during school, Yami listening to classes and telling him the answers to the questions the teachers asked him to make sure he was paying attention.

 

He'd also asked Yami to duel at least once with Jou and Anzu during recess. They'd seemed a little worried at first, but Yami had gone easy on them even if neither had managed to make a dent in his life points. They'd gone out of the classroom, not like usual, and found a quiet corner to duel in so Yami saying Mazaki-sama and Jounouchi-sama wouldn't attract any unwanted attention.

 

Yugi had also asked him to conjure up a Kuriboh to show them, and Anzu had thought it was incredibly cute, Jou had fed it a bit of his lunch, and Honda had scratched it through the fur like he said his dog liked to be scratched. It seemed to like Honda best after that.

 

Partway through, Yami had asked him hesitatingly if this was all right, that Yami spend time with his friends instead of Yugi, time Yugi could be using to have fun. Yugi had hugged him, smiling, and reassured him that this was fun!

 

Jou and Anzu had also found it fascinating that the monsters on the cards came to life when they dueled Yami, or if he helped when they dueled each other.

 

Yugi was really glad that they were beginning to trust him more. On the one hand, he could understand why they wouldn't. Powerful spirit possessing their friend. It was nice that they cared, actually.

 

On the one hand… he knew Yami better than they did. And he knew Yami would never hurt him. And it made him a little angry, that Yami had helped them all so much and been through so much and they didn't trust him. So… he wanted them to get to know Yami better. Then they'd see that he was a good person. A great person. The best person. Yugi hugged him again, just because he could, as he walked to the arcade with Jou, lost in thought.

 

During lunch, Jou had asked Yami to let Yugi take over so he could ask him to go to the arcade. Yugi had been watching, and could have had Yami relay the message, but he took over to reassure Jou.

 

He'd love to go to the arcade. He loved the idea of taking Yami to the arcade. Yami loved games just as much as Yugi! He would have so much fun! He had thanked Jou a lot for the idea. Jou had smiled and been `aw shucks' about it, as he was almost every time he had a good idea. If he didn't boast about it, that is.

 

“Awright!” Jou grinned when they got to the arcade. “Today I'm finally going to break this dude's record!!”

 

Yugi blinked. “Is this someone good at arcade games, Jou?”

 

“Yup! This guy's a legend!” Jou looked at him askance. Yugi didn't know about this guy? Jou thought Yugi knew everything about games. “Take that racing game for example,” Jou pointed to it, explaining, “See! The top ranked guys get to record their names, right?! See, this guy… this KAI dude!!” Jou pointed to the top ranking on the machine.

 

“Kai…?!” Yugi looked, amazed. Yami was interested as well. A worthy opponent?

 

“It's not just this game.” Jou looked around at the other games. “The puzzle games and the fighting games… this `Kai' has the high score on almost all of the games in this arcade.”

 

“Wow! He must be awesome!” Yugi was excited now too.

 

“Plus,” Jou continued, “these games are connected online to other arcades across the country! That means this KAI dude is the number one gamer in Japan!”

 

“I wonder who he is?” Yugi would really like to meet him.

 

“Donno, never seen him… but get this, Yugi! If I beat this guy, I'll be the best in Japan!” Jou was really psyched.

 

“You're right!” Yugi agreed. Jou's enthusiasm was catching!

 

“Awright! Today, I'm gonna beat `KAI!'” Jou vowed. And observe Yami some more.

 

“Yay!” Yugi agreed.

 

“Pfft…”

 

“Huh?” Jou turned at the sound.

 

“Shyeah right! Not in a million years…” another boy walking by agreed. “There's no way you can beat Kaiba's record!”

 

“What was that, you little brats!?” Jou's fists clenched. Yugi could tell he was trying to restrain himself from punching them. Now that he knew Jou had been in a gang, it made so much more sense. Jou wasn't trying to act tough, he was trying to be less tough, less violent. And was having a really rough time of it.

 

But Yugi wasn't paying too much attention to that now. “K… hey, you guys! Did you just say `Kaiba?'” Yami was paying attention to that as well.

 

“Yeah, Kaiba the game master! He's so tight! He's like a legend!”

 

“There's two brothers, the older one's the game whiz!”

 

-KAI… it's him, Kaiba!- Yugi was amazed. -He's not just a genius at Duel Monsters… he's an expert at any game!-

 

“But, they say,” one of the boys continued, “Kaiba got bored with normal games…”

 

“No surprise! No one can beat him!” another interrupted.

 

“And there's this rumor…” Jou noticed how wrapped up Yugi was getting and stared too. Kaiba who had dropped out of class? “He's working on this super secret project… they say he's building the ultimate game.”

 

“Later! Have fun challenging his record! Forever!” The boys walked off, laughing.

 

“Let's play, Yugi!” Jou tried the racing game, and quickly concluded he sucked at it.

 

“I'll play a fighting game!” Yugi wanted to play a bit, to show Yami how it worked before he tried. “I'll play as `the Dragon,' Bruce Ryu! He's a kung fu master!”

 

“Hey! He looks just like Bruce Lee!” Jou noticed when the game started.

 

“Yeah! I'm a big fan of him!” Yugi loved action movies, even though as he was so small, he knew he could never… but Yami could fight…

 

--I would love to teach you this as well as magic, Master.—Yami smiled.

 

Yugi hugged him.

 

Since the arcade's games were hooked up to the internet, Yugi wasn't fighting the machine, he was fighting a real live opponent somewhere! He liked that. But he kept ending up fighting the same person that day, someone else using Bruce Ryu. Yugi kept playing, and winning, Yami and Jou cheering him on, until the guy quit. Jou went off to get something for them to drink.

 

A few seconds after that, Yugi heard from behind him, “Hey, kid! Turn around!”

 

“Huh?” A tall teenager was standing there, scowling at him. Yugi could see the animosity…

 

Yami blocked the man's punch and glared at him with red eyes. The man growled and launched a few more, all blocked. “So upset over a fair game with nothing at stake?”

 

The words seemed to enrage him even more. “Care for another round? Game start.” Yami grinned. The man grunted, resuming his attack. Yami defeated him, even after he violated the rules of boxing by pulling out a knife.

 

“Penalty game.” Yami grinned as the man fell unconscious. -Master, might I play a little longer?—

 

Yugi nodded.

 

Yami had defeated the opponent's Bruce Ryu in the fighting game three times when Jou returned with a hot coffee for himself and a Coke for Yugi. Jou blinked at the guy on the ground. He looked a little doubtful, until he noticed the gleam of the knife. “Sore loser?” Jou asked, handing him the Coke.

 

“Sore loser.” Yami nodded. “I think, now that you're here, it might be a good idea to leave.” Yami exited the game, entered YUG first on the high scores list, and stood up as the man on the floor began to moan quietly.

 

Jou agreed, and they headed back to Yugi's to duel.