Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Nemo ❯ Five ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *
- Part Five -

The first thing he notices is that the goo in his eyes is back. He blinks up at the ceiling vaguely, trying to force the world to focus, and it takes him several moments to realize that the reason he can't quite see clearly is that the room is darkened in the gray, misty way that precedes a dawn. It's a sight that's unfamiliar but not, and the ceiling he's begun to know so well seems more shadowy than ever.

His lips curl down in a frown as he tries to blink away the goop, not really succeeding - and there's a sound like a sigh or a moan and he's shocked to realize that Yugi is actually awake, and somewhere nearby.

Aibou? he calls, and isn't really surprised when a surprise that isn't his own reverberates in the back of his mind.

"Mou hitori no boku?" Yugi mumbles, and he's elated when his efforts to turn his head on the pillow actually succeed enough that he can blink down at his sleepy, sad-eyed omote, pushing himself up from a nest of blankets on the floor, and yawning hugely in what he recognizes as an attempt to blink away tears.

He doesn't think he's yet able to speak - turning his head has left him annoyingly dizzy - so he just watches him, carefully reaching out to question without asking, without letting him know that he's already been caught.

Yugi blinks at him, slow and dazed, and a tiny, forced smile curls his lips. "Ah... I'm okay."

It's such a blatant lie that all he has to do is narrow his eyes to force a flinch out of him.

"...you should be sleeping," Yugi says abruptly, and scootches next to the couch, looking him over with a critical eye. "You look like crap."

He's tempted to poke him, but his arms appear to be trapped underneath a thick blanket, and he's not quite sure how to fish them out. Aibou, he settles for growling, I've been asleep forever. What's wrong?

One hand drifts up to smooth the blanket down his chest, and he's perfectly aware that the motion is meant to distract just as much as it is meant to soothe. "Just thinking," Yugi murmurs, and rubs a lazy circle on his chest. It's the most blantant manipulation he's pulled in a long while, and he finds himself torn between hissing in annoyance and purring in delight.

Aibou.

"What?" He's not looking at him, and he knows that the only way Yugi will be dragged into this conversation is kicking and screaming. Fine. He's just as stubborn as his aibou, and much less willing to give ground, so he'll win this even if he has to play dirty.

What did you tell your mother?

Yugi's shoulders hunch, and his hand drops, and he looks away. "Just... stuff."

He arches an eyebrow, pleased when the attempt works, even if it makes his nose itch. So I am 'just stuff' now?

"I didn't mean it like that," he mumbles, and turns away, busying himself with something he's not tilted at the right angle to see. "Are you thirsty? Or hungry? Grandpa made some miso soup last night, just in case... I can go heat some up for you, if you want, you should have more than just water." He promptly starts untangling himself from the blankets, and for the first time this morning he tries to make a sound, a low, throaty growl that doesn't quite sound human, but it startles Yugi into freezing.

Aibou, he says after a moment's silence, What are we going to do?

Yugi's shoulders hunch, and in the dim light he can just barely make out the blur of his hands, folding and re-folding the blanket, and he knows he's longing for a puzzle to lose himself in. "...I don't know," he admits after too long, voice just barely cracking, "I don't know what to do."

He watches him quietly, keeping silent, still wishing the goo would just go away, wishing that his limbs would obey him, wishing that he could twist to lie on his side - he's starting to get a crick in his neck already.

"We've gotta... and you're..." he trails off helplessly, "I have school today."

He blinks a bit at what seems like a non-sequitor, but then Yugi's head is resting in his hands and he's laughing, just a little too hard and too deep. "Oh god, I have school today and you're still sleeping on the couch and I haven't done any homework yet!"

He frowns and tugs softly, inquiringly - Aibou? - but Yugi doesn't seem to hear him, face buried in his arms, knees drawn to his chest and rocking. "Fuck," he mutters, half-singsonged, and now he's struggling to sit up, struggling to move, and he hates the unnatural heaviness of his body, hates how he has to gasp for breath, hates how dull and lethargic he feels, hates how long and useless the struggle seems - he hates it, he hates feeling this helpless, and Yugi's acting strange and he doesn't know what to do -

And then there's warm, living flesh beneath his fingertips, and Yugi's frozen in surprise, and there's a heavy dull spike of pain throbbing through his shoulder, but he's touching him - faintly trembling shoulders beneath cheap cotten cloth, and he can't help the helpless laughter bubbling up inside of him, even as all he can do is wheeze for breath and tighten his grip on Yugi's shoulder.

And then Yugi turns and looks at him, and he's crying, and he thinks he might be crying too, and then Yugi lunges forward and pulls on him - and ohgodsohgodsithurts - but now he's half-leaning on Yugi, arms crushed up against his chest and off-balance and they're both about to fall over and Yugi might be crying against his hair, and he can't even care about the pain or the panic or what the hell they're going to do, because this is a miracle, it's their miracle, and this - real now, alive now, and the pain steals his laughter and his breath all at once, but nothing can touch the joy of it all, raw and blazing - and Yugi's laughter is hysterical now, and he knows instinctively that the reason he can't quite breathe is because of how hard he's crying.

They hit the ground in a tangle of limbs and blankets and blinding agony, and he closes his eyes and thanks every god he's ever forgotten for the ache in his skull and the throbbing in his limbs, the dizziness and the nausea, and the smell of Yugi's tears on his skin.

* * *

Part Six
Story Home

Feedback?

Back to YGO Fanfic
Back to Fanfics
Back Home