Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Millennium Dark ❯ Getting Personal ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3 "Getting personal."

Sasha's notes: HOY! Greetings and well wishes to everyone. O_o Okay that even SOUNDED weird in my head. Anyway, thanks everyone for the reviews, and here's chapter 3 from the expressway! Also, if you want to see the picture that this fic is based on go here:

http://www.mediaminer.org/fanart/view.php?id=97847

Lizeth is an amazing artist and by GOD that colouring is phenomenal! That's Millennium Dark, and Millennium Light has yet to be fully drawn and posted. Without further adieu, let's begin!

Tricky names to remember:

Malik Ishtar-Millennium Dark

Maric Ishtal-Millennium Light

Shadi-Millennium Dark

Shaadi-Millennium Light

* * *

-Much More Music-

Yami had been in front of some loud fans in his short career, but whenever he came to Canada, they were a few octaves higher. He flinched-and that was something Yami Akaisura never did-as the girls were informed that the interview would start soon. Glancing over at Yugi-who appeared to be in a whole other world-Yami smiled very slightly. Seto's words echoed in his head: "There's bound to be a highly profiled rivalry between Millennium Dark and Millennium Light. I want you to protect the integrity of the band." Yami turned his head slightly and saw his manager standing silently by the door, leaning against the wall. He was the only person from MD that Yami had with him. Joey was with Malik, Bakura and Shadi at their mall appearances.

Seto wasn't gung-ho about at rivalry between the two bands; all he wanted was for his band's status not to slip into oblivion because of an up-and-coming band. What the young manager was really concerned about was not stomping Millennium Light into the ground-that was not good business-it was to use such a thing to their advantage subtly. Seto Kaiba was not called the best in the business for nothing. There was only one concern to him, and that concern went by the name Mai Valentine. That woman is off her rocker, Seto thought dryly, as he heard Mai sound off on a recent interview. All she cares about is wiping us off the face of the music world. She'll play hardball there's no doubt…The young manager's thoughts then went to Yami and his strange behaviour. I shouldn't be worried; Yami isn't a child, and he's responsible enough. I'm probably worrying about nothing. Still, I should ask him after the interview.

Bill Welychka jolted both of them from their thoughts by calling out to the crowd with his microphone, "here is Yugi Motou from Millennium Light!" Yugi jumped up from the couch he was sitting on and ran out, to a loud amount of applause. Seto nodded to Yami and the younger boy nodded, standing up. "And what's a dual interview without the second half? No less important, here is Yami Akaisura from Millennium Dark!" The applause was the same, no less loud yet it caused Yami to want to plug his ears. He braved it all and walked confidently to the couch, shaking the hand of Bill before sitting down beside Yugi.

"Before you say it," Yami began, once everything had calmed down, "I did not steal Yugi's hairstyle." He gave a little smirk to the smaller boy. "He stole mine."

"Oh pshaw," Yugi retorted, making a scoffing noise. "You're just jealous because people don't say I stuck a fork in an electrical socket."

The crowed `oooh'd before Bill held up a hand. "Hey now, easy with the insults. We're here to have a civilised interview!" He laughed. "Just a good time, that alright with you two?" Both nodded giving joking death-glares to one another. "Now before we start the interview, I want to ask you two separately about your careers. They're similar in that both your bands have achieved amazing success in such a short amount of time. How has that affected your friendships within the band, and how are you dealing with the sudden stardom?"

He gestured to Yami to begin first, and Yami sat back, his arms folded in that regal style that seemed to be really popular with the opposite sex. "While we had gotten on each others nerves to the point of actual fights, we've gotten through the stardom, the touring, the many appearances and whatnot. The thing that's kept our tempers in check is that we started for the music, and we're going to continue doing it for that. No one person is greater than that, and that is the one thing we all understand," Yami explained, not missing a beat. He had paused when he needed to, his extensive vocabulary allowing him to recover quickly when he was at a loss for words. "Of course, we're facing a big challenge with the emergence of this Millennium Light, but we're not focused on beating them into the ground."

"So there's no immense hatred?" Bill interjected.

Yami shook his head. "We have no reason to hate these guys. Yes, they are a rival to this `top spot' everyone seems to value so much, but we don't hate them. That'd be stupid, to hate someone just because they're doing what they want to do just like you are."

Bill gave a nod and turned to Yugi. "Alright, your turn, Yugi. How has your group responded to your quick rise to stardom?"

"We're still big dorks," Yugi replied off-handedly laughing. The Millennium Light fans began to laugh and Yugi heard a few girls discussing his cutness, and to put that out of his mind before he started to blush, he began to answer Bill's question. "Actually, with all the hectic touring and running around the world, it's brought everyone closer. We knew we were good friends before our first single went to #1, and now that we see each other constantly, and that we're never alone, we just got closer. Sure there were times we were at each other's throats, but nothing serious."

Bill looked to his sheet of paper with a list of topics to ask the two of them and read a line before saying to Yugi, "now, your manager Mai Valentine has been quoted as saying that you are determined to make the world forget about Millennium Light. She's notorious for such things, but how does your group handle such pressure?"

Yugi laughed a little and Yami stole a glance at the younger boy whilst no one was paying attention to him. "Mai is a little off kosher when it comes to this rivalry thing, but we don't think there's a rivalry. Sure, we have variations of the same name and do look kinda alike, but as Yami said, there's no hatred, we don't have anything against these guys. Mai's just…well she's very competitive. We like to joke that she's got something against Kaiba."

"Something against Seto Kaiba? Like what?" Bill questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"See that's the thing. We don't know," Yugi said, shrugging. "But with Mai, it's best not to ask. She's (chuckle) well I better not say anything more." The interview went on as expected, with the occasional insertion of a fan asking either Yami or Yugi questions. Most popular was the `Do you have a girlfriend?' in which the answer was emphatically no.

The hour was winding down and Yami felt Yugi's fingers brush his own as the younger boy shifted to get comfortable on the couch and resisted the very strong urge to shiver. "Now, as one last thing, and I hope you two warmed up your singing voices, because we're going to have a sing-off," Bill said and Yami blinked. "Well, that came out the wrong way, you two are going to do a duet."

Yami raised an eyebrow. "How do you propose we do that?"

"It's quite simple," Bill began to explain. "Yami, you're going to sing one of Millennium Light's songs, and Yugi, you're going to sing one of Millennium Dark's. At the end of the songs, we're going to let the fans decide just who is better. For fun, of course," he added at the end. "What do you guys say? You up for it?"

Yugi spoke up first before Yami had a chance to object with an excited, "Yeah, count me in! It sounds like fun, and it's not like we haven't heard the others' song played over and over on the radio." He laughed. "What do you think Yami?"

"Well seeing as how I'm outnumbered, why not?" Yami chuckled, shrugging. He took one of the microphones from Bill, and Yugi took the other one. "Do we get to pick the song or do you have that already set up?"

"You're sharp," Bill laughed and nodded. "Yes, Yugi's going to sing `Everyday' and you, Yami are going to sing `Somewhere out there'. That cool?" Both nodded and looked to the band that was behind them of hired musicians. "Yugi, you go first." The smaller of the two singers nodded and as Yami moved to the left, near the back standing beside Bill. His amethyst eyes stayed focused on Yugi.

The music started and even though the tone of vocals for `Everyday' was different than what Yugi usually sang, he impressed everyone including Yami by adapting his style to the song, pulling it off very well. "I ain't here to play, I'm gonna live my life everyday," Yugi finished strongly, getting a solid reaction from both the Millennium Dark and Light fans. He bowed once and waved to everyone in the audience and the cameramen. Yugi put the Mic to his mouth after it had calmed down and turned to Yami. "Your turn."

Yami smirked, and walked out into the centre of the space, as Yugi went to where Yami had been standing during his performance. Part way through the song, Yami turned and faced Yugi, but made it look like he was singing to the fans surrounding his little love. "I hope you remember me when you're homesick and need a change. I miss your purple hair; I miss the way you taste. I know you'll come back someday, on a bed of nails I'll wait; I'm prayin' that you don't burn out or fade away." He sang the rest of the song facing the other half of the crowd and when it came time for the last lyric, he turned back to Yugi. "You're falling out of reach…I know."

Thunderous applause erupted as soon as he was done, and the two of them embraced in a friendly hug, they made sure it looked like that. Yugi almost put his arms around Yami's neck but remembered with a vengeance where he was and shook hands with Yami when the embrace broke. "Hey, you didn't mess up the song. I'm impressed," he said, keeping up the façade of bantering back and forth.

Giving yet another smirk, Yami nodded and put the Mic up to his lips, "you too, Smurf. I'm impressed that you could sing a song such as `Everyday'."

"Ah, well you learn something new everyday." Yugi grinned and Yami shook his head ruefully, a smile still on his face.

~ After the Interview, backstage ~

Seto walked over to Yami as soon as he came backstage and pulled his singer over to a corner. Yami raised an eyebrow at his manager. "What is the matter, Seto?" Yami asked quietly, as he put a hand on his hip. Seto had a serious expression on his handsome face, and the hesitation to speak worried the tri-coloured haired singer even more. "Seto?"

The brown haired male gave a little sigh. "There's something I want to talk to you about Yami. I may be just worrying about nothing, but I've noticed something about your behaviour as of late and it's enough to make me worry slightly."

Yami's face blanched, as he feared what Seto noticed was how he kept escaping to phone Yugi. Was Seto onto him? Onto his relationship with Yugi? "What do you mean, Seto? What have I done to cause you to worry?"

"Three months prior to this promotional tour, you were silent, responsible and always there ready to work even if you weren't needed. Now, as soon as this promotional tour started, you've been escaping from the hotel suite and coming back late. Now, I may just be speculating, but I wanted to talk to you privately. What is going on, Yami?" Seto questioned, his voice low enough so that only Yami could hear him.

Yami used all the willpower he had to stop himself from sweating or letting his face get hot with guilt. He appeared to his manager as calm, collected and in control, which is what he wanted. "I did not mean to worry you Seto. But I've been calling home to check on my grandfather. He's been getting sick and my mother asked that I phone no matter where I am in the world or she'd come and kick my ass." This part wasn't a lie at all, it was true, Mrs. Akaisura told her son firmly to phone home at least once a day or else she would come and kick his rock star butt.

Seto paused for a moment before responding, trying to search through Yami's eyes and find the lie, but he didn't, Yami was far too good at concealing his true emotions. And for all his ability to see through lies, Seto Kaiba could not see the falter in Yami's amethyst gaze. Finally, he gave a slight nod. "Alright, I believe you. But please make sure you tell someone where you're going. I don't mean to sound like an annoying parent, but you know what could happen if you get caught out with the paparazzi." Yami nodded. "Come on, let's get out of here. We've got to catch that plane to Japan."

"Home sweet home," Yami said with a smile, walking after his manager. He turned and locked gazes with Yugi one more time, giving his little love a rare genuine smile. Yugi brightened and Yami turned his back and walked out of the building with Seto. Well. That went better than I thought it would. Seeing him again only makes my heart ache to hold him…

-TBC-