Queer As Tachi – Chapter 15
Yugi clutched the phone anxiously as the unexpected announcement from Duke left him momentarily speechless. “W-what?” he stammered when he regained his wits. “Kaiba wants to buy your game shop?”
“That’s what the papers said,” Duke sighed wearily.
“What did you say? Did you sell?” Yugi demanded.
“Hell no,” his friend retorted. “I told them to take their offer and stick it up Kaiba’s ass. Well, maybe not quite in those words,” he admitted with a little chuckle. “But I said no. I worked hard to build this shop, dammit, and I’m not going to sell just because Kaiba waves a wad of cash in my face.”
Yugi slumped back down onto the stool he had been sitting on to read his textbook, still cradling the phone to his ear. “That’s so weird,” he breathed. “How much did he offer you?”
Duke was sitting in his office above the game shop, closed away in quiet so he could make his phone call. He leaned on the desk and fiddled with a pen. “Only as much as the property is currently worth,” he muttered. “I wouldn’t break even, much less profit from the sale. I put a lot more into the store than just the property value, and he can’t put a price on that.”
Yugi propped up the phone with an elbow on the counter in front of him, his brow knitting in concern. “I don’t get it. Why does Kaiba want your game shop? Did the lawyers say anything? This is really sudden.”
“I know. Well, I asked, but if they knew they didn’t tell me. They all just kind of gave me a blank look, I guessed they were sent with these papers but weren’t really told anything extra about them.” Duke huffed an annoyed sigh. “First thing I did after I sent them away was call you. I wanted to know if he’s tried to buy your shop, too. But you haven’t heard from him?”
“No, not at all,” Yugi said with some curiosity. “You think he might want our shop, too?”
“Couldn’t say,” Duke replied. “But if I were you, I’d keep an eye out.”
Again, the eerie sense of wrongness cut through Yugi’s heart. “Duke,” he said cautiously, “by any chance, have you heard anything from Pegasus?”
“What, like…regular business, or something different?”
Oh yeah, that’s right, Yugi remembered, he has a contract with Industrial Illusions for Dungeon Dice Monsters. “Anything out of the ordinary,” he answered.
“Well, no,” Duke said, sounding curious that Yugi should ask. “I don’t usually hear from him regardless. He’s got peons that handle my contract renewals.”
“Ah. Okay.” Yugi debated telling him about the strange visit he had received a week ago, but figured the less people that knew about that, the better. “I wonder what Kaiba’s up to.”
“Guess he wants the market covered from concept to sales floor,” Duke shrugged. “He’s going to have to do better than that if he really wants my shop, though. I’m not going to sell, ever, but I’d like to see him bend over backwards to try to make me an offer before I laugh in his face.”
“Yeah, don’t let him push you around,” Yugi encouraged. “Neither Grandpa nor I have had anything like that happen here, but if it does, I’ll let you know.”
“Yeah, let’s make sure we’ve got each other’s back,” Duke agreed. “We may be competitors, but we coexist just fine. I’ll stand by you if it means standing up to Kaiba.”
“Same here, Duke.”
When Grandpa Muto returned from his shopping errands later that afternoon, Yugi let him put things away and come back down to take over control of the shop before springing the odd news from Duke on him, wanting to hear his take on it as well as confirm that Kaiba hadn’t been sneaking around Kame while Yugi was at school. Grandpa rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I haven’t heard anything like that,” he said. “That is mighty strange, although I suppose it makes sense in a business sort of way. Duke’s store is bigger than ours. Maybe KaibaCorp is looking to get into game sales.”
“Yeah, and maybe Kaiba wants to go into direct competition with us,” Yugi worried, “because of me.”
“Now, don’t you worry, my boy.” Solomon patted his grandson on the shoulder. “We haven’t been run out of business by any of the game shops in town yet, it won’t happen even if Seto Kaiba gets his hands on one of them. There’s lots of room in this town for all of us.”
Yugi began to smile. “That wasn’t quite what you said when Duke first opened his shop…”
Grandpa cleared his throat. “Hm, yes, isn’t it time you went up and started dinner?”
Yugi laughed and swept his books off the counter, carrying them back upstairs and setting them aside so he could concentrate on his regular chores. But as he did, his thoughts turned inward, where he could find solace and a wise soul to discuss matters with. “What do you think?” he asked his partner. “Is this what Pegasus was warning us about?”
“I don’t know,” Yami mused. “Kaiba trying to buy a game shop is not a very suspicious thing. Pegasus seemed to imply that there was something much more sinister afoot.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t know for sure.” Yugi sighed to himself. “I guess he and Duke are both right – we have to keep an eye out.”
Spring was finally beginning to chase the chill out of the air long enough to allow life to return, and by the equinox the cherry trees were starting to show buds. Yami’s next visit outside the Puzzle would be too early for the sakura festivals, but it would be close enough for Yugi’s taste, he looked anxiously forward to going out and seeing the trees in bloom. Just a few days after talking to Duke, as Yugi walked home from class, his wistful look at the budding sakura was arrested by the sight of a sleek black car parked out in front of Kame. Though he didn’t know who it might belong to, he could think of a few options that didn’t sit well with him, and that made him quicken his step. A pair of excessively businesslike men in suits came out of the shop before Yugi could get there, disappeared into the car and left. Yugi ran up just as the car pulled away, and looked curiously after it before going inside to find out what it was all about. He met his grandfather’s scolding stare, though it was directed past him, out the door to the men who had just left. “Grandpa?” Yugi wondered. “Is everything all right? Who were those guys?”
“You saw them, did you?” Grandpa Muto eyed Yugi unhappily. “They were Seto Kaiba’s lawyers.”
“Oh no!” Yugi dropped his backpack and raced to the counter, slamming his hands down on it in his urgency. “Did they have an offer to buy the shop?”
“As a matter of fact, they did.” The discomfort eased from Solomon Muto’s face as he gazed at his grandson. “Don’t worry. I told them no. Flat out.”
“So it’s not just Duke,” Yugi muttered, half to himself. “Kaiba wants both our shops.” His eyes hardened. “But why?”
“And would you believe they had the nerve to offer me the lowest market price?” Grandpa complained. “I told them Kaiba had to do a lot better than that if he seriously wants my game shop.”
Yugi stared wide-eyed at him. “You’re not going to sell the game shop, Grandpa?” he yelped.
“Of course not,” Grandpa Muto chuckled. “This isn’t just my dream job, it’s my home. And your home. I can’t just up and sell it, no matter how much Kaiba offers.” His look became sly. “But I’m curious to see just how serious the offer is. I want to see how much Kaiba is willing to put up before he chickens out.”
Yugi laughed a little, though he was entirely uneasy inside. It wasn’t how much money Kaiba wanted to offer for Kame game shop, it was the fact he wanted it at all. What was he planning to do with it? Did he simply want to buy out Yugi and Duke for the sake of his long-held grudge against his rival and friends? Or was there something else behind it, something for which Pegasus’ warning might make sense? And to what other lengths would Kaiba go if he really wanted the game shops? For now, all Yugi could do was pick up his backpack and go upstairs, trusting that his grandfather had everything safe in hand. These visits from KaibaCorp lawyers could be just the first step in a much bigger scheme, Yugi was certain that they would hear from Kaiba again, and maybe next time, there would be no lawyers in between.
Another week passed before anything out of the ordinary happened again, a week in which Yugi found himself filled with dread every time he approached home after class, wondering if he would find out that while he was out, something bad had befallen the shop or his grandfather. He thought he knew Seto Kaiba well enough to trust that he wouldn’t try anything drastic, but the warning from Pegasus had put him on edge and caused him to second-guess everything he thought he knew about Kaiba. It recalled all the old animosity between them, when Kaiba’s sadistic greed for a single card jeopardized Grandpa Muto’s health and started Yugi on his long path to uncovering his destiny and the power of the Millennium Puzzle. They had been through a lot together since then, and Yugi thought he knew something of Kaiba’s heart now, but every time he saw the game shop ahead of him as he walked home, he inwardly cursed Pegasus for filling his head with worries. Nothing really happened, though, except for classes and homework and oncoming springtime. Outside of the veiled threats, everything seemed to be blossoming into joy around Yugi. Mai Valentine was living in Domino, now, testing the waters not only of a normal lifestyle, but of dating – dating Joey. It was still rather tentative, her presence so far had not robbed the two best friends of their usual hanging-out time any more than Yami’s embodiment had. Together with Tristan, the group was talking about meeting up to go to the sakura festival in traditional garb in a couple of weeks. Yugi wasn’t sure he could consider his classes joyful, but at least he wasn’t failing any and didn’t seem to have any trouble with the homework. It was rather boring, actually, and he found himself lost in daydreams most of the time when he ought to have been listening to lectures. Yami was considerate enough not to distract him during class, but he was always there watching, noting every weary sigh and absent glance of his young charge’s. At least this semester wasn’t taxing his energy or stealing away his nights that could be spent inside the Puzzle’s realm.
Thanks to a quirk of the exam schedule, Yugi was able to leave campus and go home early one afternoon, and without any homework to have to complete, a rare occurrence that put him in a much better mood. He offered to help his grandfather in shop if so desired, but Grandpa just dismissed him to make the most of his unexpected free time. Yugi pottered around the house for a bit, munching on a snack, but he couldn’t find anything to do all by himself. He came back downstairs to the shop with the last stick of Pocky hanging from between his lips, intending to sit around and get in his grandpa’s way instead. Grandpa Muto didn’t mind his company, so they hung around talking about new twists in Duel Monsters cards in between customers. They were in the middle of debating the pros and cons of Archfiend monsters when the door jingled to announce the entry of another customer, and both naturally looked up. Both gave a simultaneous jerk of wide-eyed surprise to recognize the tall visitor darkening the door. Seto Kaiba regarded them with his usual cool, sullen look, which darkened slightly upon seeing Yugi sitting on a stool next to his grandfather. He let the door slam behind him as he started into the shop, a briefcase at his side, his eyes going straight to Grandpa Muto. “Kaiba!” Yugi exclaimed in wonder.
Kaiba pretended to ignore him as he strode up and set his briefcase on the counter in front of Solomon Muto with a heavy thump. “Good afternoon, Mr. Muto,” he said, not at all politely. “It seems maybe my lawyers didn’t make my offer very clear to you the other day. I thought I would come down myself and make up for their mistakes.”
“Oh no, it was quite clear,” Grandpa said sternly. “You don’t have to tell me anything more, I get it.”
“Kaiba, what are you doing?” Yugi asked, frowning. “It’s not like you to be so formal.”
Kaiba glared at him out of the corner of his eye. “Shouldn’t you be in a class or something?”
“Not today.” Yugi glared right back. “Don’t you even think about threatening my grandpa.”
A smirk tugged at the corner of Kaiba’s mouth. “I don’t need to threaten him, or you,” he said condescendingly. “My offer is legitimate.”
“The answer’s still no, young man,” Grandpa said curtly. “You can take your briefcase and your big coat and go, now.”
Kaiba returned his eyes to the old man with an unsettled stare. “You haven’t even heard my offer.”
“Is it different from the one you sent your lawyers with last week?”
“Somewhat.” Kaiba snapped open the briefcase and pulled out a single sheet of paper, with blanks at the bottom to be signed. “I’ve raised my asking price. I realize that the low sum in the previous offer might have put you off, but it was what they advised me to start with. I knew you wouldn’t have parted with your game store for such a pitiful amount of money.” He slid the paper across the counter.
Grandpa Muto did not even glance down, only folding his arms and giving Kaiba his best glare. “I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work,” he grunted. “You think if you lowballed me the first time, as long as you keep coming back again and again with higher figures, soon enough you’ll hit a number that will make my eyes pop out and I’ll sign it all right over to you. Well, it’s not going to happen that way.”
Kaiba bristled and stepped back, his hands falling to his sides. “You haven’t even looked at my offer. How do you know it’s not worth it?”
“Nothing would be worth it.” Solomon glanced at his grandson beside him. “Some things in life have no price, Kaiba. You could offer me a hundred times the market value of the store and I wouldn’t sell.” He eyed the taller young man suspiciously. “Certainly not to the likes of you.”
Kaiba gave a seething growl. “You’re making a huge mistake. Yugi…” He shot his rival a glance in hope. “Talk some sense into your grandfather. This pathetic store isn’t worth holding out on me, I can offer you enough money to retire to a life of bliss.”
Yugi managed to hold onto his composure, only shaking his head slowly. “It’s not my place,” he said calmly. “Grandpa and I are in agreement on this. I’m not going to tell him what to do, especially when I feel the same way. This is our home, we’re not going to leave no matter how much money you throw at us.”
“At least have some sense to do me the courtesy of looking over my offer,” Kaiba snapped.
Yugi drew the paper across to him with a finger and glanced it over. The numbers did seem to be much larger than before, but he didn’t know exactly what the property and the house were worth, so he couldn’t be sure they were fair. “That’s very nice,” he admitted. “But the answer won’t change. What do you want with our game shop anyway?” he pressed, fixing Kaiba with a pointed stare. “Ours and Duke’s both?”
The CEO frowned deeply. “You know about the offer I made to Devlin, do you?”
“Of course. He’s my friend, we talk about these things.”
“What is your intention?” Grandpa repeated, not about to let Kaiba evade the question. “Why are you trying to buy us out?”
Kaiba swept his narrow-eyed glare from Yugi to his grandfather. “What I have planned is none of your business,” he said sullenly. “I have no intention of announcing my plans to the public until I’ve lined up all of my resources, starting with you and Devlin.”
“Well, thank you, but no thank you,” Grandpa said, pushing the paper back across the counter. “Jack up the price all you want, you’ll never have my shop. You should have known that.” He gave Kaiba a look like a parent wrangling the truth out of a fibbing child. “This shop is as precious to me as the Blue Eyes White Dragon card you took from me and tore in half. You knew then that I would never part with something dear to my heart for all the money in the world. That hasn’t changed one bit.”
Kaiba took a huge, seething breath, making the flared shoulders of his purple coat swell up indignantly. “Are you challenging me to a duel for the shop, then?”
“No, because I’m not interested in giving it away.” Grandpa Muto looked at the boy beside him again. “And it’s not my place to do so anyway. Yugi has as much stake in it as I do, so his opinion matters as well. If you’re that serious about getting Kame game shop, you’ll have to go through both of us. And if that means a duel…” He gave Kaiba a sly smirk.
Kaiba’s anger ratcheted up several degrees as he shot Yugi his most reviling glare. Yugi faced it without flinching, feeling a new confidence steal through his heart and warm his inner soul. “If you’re not going to take no for an answer,” he said with quiet strength, “then you just might have to duel me for it.”
“This isn’t a game,” Kaiba hissed. “This is business. Fine.” He took back his paper and tucked it safely away in the briefcase. “You may think you’ve got the upper hand right now, but every man has his price. It’s just going to take me a little creativity to find yours.” He glared daggers at Grandpa Muto. “And when I do, you won’t be able to refuse my offer. I’ll have both game shops before the year is out.”
“You can try,” Grandpa sighed, “but it will just be a waste of your time. This stubbornness of yours isn’t going to win out this time, Kaiba. Just let it go.”
Growling, Kaiba whisked his briefcase off the counter and whirled in place, his coat swirling magnificently around him as he stalked through the game shop and out. Yugi heard his grandfather mutter, “And don’t let the door hit you on the butt on the way out,” under his breath.
As soon as their visitor was gone, Yugi lunged across the counter and snatched up the phone, dialing Duke’s game shop and asking the clerk to put him on with the boss. “I need to give you a heads-up,” he said when he got Duke on the phone. “We just had a visit from Kaiba. Himself.”
“Is he still on about buying our game shops?” Duke wondered in annoyance.
“Oh yeah. Big time. He came down here himself to up the offer.” Yugi glanced at his grandfather with a bit of an admiring grin. “And he was not happy to have it shoved back in his face.”
“Well, all right. I’ll be on my guard if he shows up here next,” Duke sighed. “Thanks, Yugi.”
“He still won’t say why, though,” Yugi added. “I don’t get it. What does he want with us? And why do I get this feeling that he’s going to be making a nuisance of himself until he gets what he wants?”
“No worries,” Duke said breezily. “Even Kaiba has his limits. I’m sure he won’t want to tangle with you any more than he has to.”
Much as he hated to admit it, Yugi knew Duke was right. After he had wrapped up the conversation, he sat in the game shop beside Grandpa in silent thought for a while, replaying the visit from Kaiba and searching his comments for any clue. Eventually, he became aware of his inner spirit listening to his thoughts. “What’s your take on it?” he asked Yami point blank.
“Hm?” The pharaoh’s spirit glided into view beside him, though his attention seemed to be elsewhere. “I don’t quite know,” he responded after a moment. “It is a rather unexpected move from Kaiba.”
“But do you trust him?” Yugi wondered. “Do you think he’s up to something…bad?”
The phantom pharaoh turned wise eyes on his young partner. “Kaiba has changed since we first met him. He may still treat us poorly, but I trust him. If for no other reason than he helped me save you.”
“That’s what I don’t understand.” Yugi glanced sidelong at the vision only he could see. “We’ve been through so much with Kaiba, I thought I knew him. But now he wants to take my grandpa’s game shop away from him – from us! How can he just ignore all the times he’s helped us, and we’ve helped him?”
“Seto Kaiba is a complex man,” Yami murmured thoughtfully. “This situation requires a little patience. In time, we’ll know what he wants, and why.”
“Oh great. You know how good I am with patience,” Yugi sighed.
Later that evening, after the shop had finally closed and Yugi and Grandpa were finally able to settle around the table with a nice, hot dinner, Yugi found himself with the opening he needed to ask about something that was said earlier in the day. He had been pondering it since then, wondering what his grandfather meant, but didn’t want to let it go another minute lest he forget about it. “Grandpa?” he began cautiously. “This afternoon, when Kaiba was here…you said the game shop was as much mine as it was yours.” Grandpa Muto glanced at him, his eyes alight with interest. Yugi met his gaze squarely. “But I don’t have any kind of stake in it, other than living here and sometimes working the counter. You still own it completely.”
“That may be so,” Grandpa said. “But I guess this is as good a time as any to ask you. Yugi…” He smiled kindly. “Would you like to own the game shop someday?”
Yugi sat up sharply with a little gasp. “Me? Seriously?”
“Well, you know I’m not going to be around forever,” Grandpa warned. “Sooner or later you would have to make this decision, whether you want the shop or would rather I just set it up to be sold so you didn’t have to be chained to it the rest of your life.”
“Aw, don’t say that, Grandpa,” Yugi fretted. “You’re still young, it’s not like I have to make this decision now. It’ll be a long time before we have to face that.”
Grandpa Muto chuckled. “Flattery gets you everywhere, my boy, but seventy-five is not that young.” He poked at what was left of his rice with his chopsticks. “You’re in school, so it’s something you should think about. I wouldn’t want you to have a dream of a particular career and pursue it, only to have the responsibility of running the store dumped on you just when you get going.” He peered curiously across at his grandson. “You’ve been doing very well, helping me, but do you want to do this for the rest of your life? What would you do with the store if you had to run it?”
Yugi sighed. “I hadn’t really thought about it,” he admitted. “I like it when things just stay as they are, it’s hard to imagine big changes like that. But…I guess I like the store. It’s familiar, it never changes. It’s something stable I feel like I can rely on. And the mere thought of Kaiba taking it from us,” he added with a bit of a scowl, “makes me angry. I don’t want to lose it.”
“Well, take some time and think about it,” Grandpa encouraged. “I won’t run out and make them draw up papers tomorrow, there is plenty of time. But if it’s your choice to keep the store, I’ll find some way of putting it in your name, so that Kaiba will legally have to go through you to get it.”
“That would be nice,” Yugi mused. “Maybe you should do that anyway, just in case.”
For a while that night Yugi lay in bed unable to sleep, staring up at the ceiling while his thoughts wound around Kaiba’s visit and his grandfather’s suggestion. Yami’s presence hovered beside him, speaking soothingly to him to try to quiet his mind, but he figured if there was a time when he shouldn’t interfere in the decisions Yugi needed to make, it was now. He settled for being a comforting presence, giving Yugi space and peace in which to consider his options before finally giving up and rolling over to sleep. There were other things Yugi wanted to think about, happier things, more immediate things, like where to go with Yami on their next date. He fell asleep in the middle of a happy daydream about walking under the sakura trees with pink petals showering their hair.
It was rather nice to blow off his classes and just sleep in, Yugi thought, particularly after being up well after midnight to play with Yami as usual. They didn’t go as wild this time, but laid awake kissing and touching for a very long time until they were both more than ready for the rest, turning it into a sweet, slow session that left them both rather happy and dreamy as they fell asleep in each other’s arms. They had opted not to plan anything for their day, deciding to play it by ear and see what sorts of adventures morning would bring them. That way, if their friends turned out to be busy and unable to make time to hang out, they wouldn’t be disappointed. When he finally managed to convince himself to get up, Yugi prodded his lover awake with soft kisses so he could join him. Grandpa was already downstairs in the shop, so the two were able to slip into the bathroom unnoticed, where they folded aside the pajamas they had managed to get on in the middle of the night and prepared to share a shower. Though the Muto house was small, it outsized a lot of dwellings in the city and was blessed with plenty of conveniences, including a shower just barely big enough to fit two. At least, that was what Yami and Yugi had discovered together on one of their earliest days of embodiment. If they stood just right, they could both fit and shower at the same time, not so much for convenience’s sake but the novelty of it. Yami stood with his eyes closed letting the water soak his hair and run over his shoulders and back, smiling to himself at the feel of hands gliding over his limbs, half to wash them, half to feel them. When he felt more than warm and wet enough, he turned and maneuvered Yugi under the water instead, leaning in to kiss him even while taking the soap from him and running it over his chest and stomach. Yugi tilted his head up with a pleased gasp, dousing his hair fully while Yami undertook the romantic task of washing his young lover. They certainly did everything to get clean, but before Yugi could reach for the faucet and turn the shower off, Yami took his hands and pushed him back against the tiled wall, where water spilled all over their bodies as they met and kissed. Yugi smiled enticingly as his lover’s hands roamed down his chest to his abdomen. “We’re going to get in trouble,” he warned with a little chuckle. “If we use too much hot water…”
“I’ll take the blame, then,” Yami assured, darting a kiss behind Yugi’s ear before pulling him into his arms and turning him just enough to let the water cascade down his back and shoulders, keeping him warm. The pharaoh’s hand slid down even further, and he smiled to find Yugi stepping aside to open his legs enough for a roaming touch to explore him. Keeping one arm lazily draped around the young one’s shoulders, Yami stroked him very gently with the help of the hot water trickling down his body and along his thighs. Smiling hazily, Yugi clutched him around the waist in order to keep himself upright, finding his breathing beginning to quicken. He, too, let a hand slide down his lover’s stomach to between his legs, receiving no protest as he traced his fingertips teasingly along Yami’s length. They stood together for a while letting the water heat their skin and fog the room as they delicately stroked each other, clinging to each other to stay in close contact. Yugi pressed the attack first, clasping his fist around Yami and stroking him harder, feeling him growing hard in his hand. Yami reached out and braced his arm against the wall behind Yugi’s head, which pushed them both back under the water so that it streamed through their hair and down their faces, chests, and arms. Tossing his head to shake the water out of his eyes, Yami quickened his pace to match Yugi’s, abandoning the sweet, seductive exploration in favor of good, old-fashioned pumping. It was difficult to maintain concentration the further they pushed each other, but they managed, knowing that as long as one didn’t stop, the other wouldn’t either, and both would bring the other to orgasm at the same time. As he gazed up at Yami, Yugi couldn’t help but be aroused by the sight of his slender, elegant lover with soaking-wet bangs framing his face, the water running in little rivulets down his cheeks and neck and beading on his eyelashes and parted lips. The two leaned in even closer to each other, blocking the water with their shoulders in order to provide themselves a small, safe space in which to just stroke each other off without interference, already hot and raging and only needing a few more minutes to complete the job. Young Yugi came first, his gasps escalating to cries as he tipped his head back and arched into Yami, his whole body quaking with the effort of holding himself up as his hand continued to work by rote. Yami had barely let go of him, bracing himself with both hands on Yugi’s shoulders, when he likewise reached climax, pulling Yugi into him as he came across both their bodies. They stood holding each other up, though Yugi started to slump back against the tile, until their gasps cooled and became laughter as they considered what they had done. Yami bent his head and kissed Yugi tenderly, a long string of kisses just to his lips, and then they stepped apart enough to rinse themselves off and restore themselves to the clean state they had been in before hands started roaming. Yugi finally shut off the water and giggled surreptitiously, hoping they wouldn’t get scolded for taking too long of a shower.
It was a beautiful day to be out walking, the lovers discovered when they finally dressed and got themselves out of the house. Yugi was fine with simply seeing where the day took them, so long as they were open to adventure and not following any sort of plan. The cherry trees in the park were just beginning to bloom, so Yugi made sure to divert their walk through it so they could enjoy the uniquely Japanese beauty of it. Yami relented and allowed himself to be dragged along, and in the end was glad he did, for he underestimated just how lovely the sight and scent could be. Yugi led him to a quiet spot along one of the sidewalk paths where the sakura blooms appeared to be the thickest and let him fall under the spell of the trees. The dappled sunlight seemed to take on a hint of pink as it streamed through the lightly-swaying limbs laden with fresh blossoms and warmed their faces. The pharaoh stood breathing in the heady scent, and felt as though his heart would burst with joy as Yugi put his arms around him and leaned up to kiss him under the flowering trees. It was a beautiful, priceless moment, one that his memory would never let go of – the warm sun, the lightly-perfumed breeze, the taste of his partner on his lips as they broke softly away from Yugi’s, the comfortable pressure of arms around his waist and a body trustingly snuggled into his, the blush of happiness on Yugi’s cheeks and the sparkle in his violet eyes as he opened them and smiled up at Yami. As they stood there, arms around each other, they were suddenly aware of a random passerby trying to sneak past them without disturbing them, which made Yugi blush even more as he tried to pull Yami out of the way. They both glanced to see a girl about Yugi’s age, both staring at and trying not to look at them as she passed. She just grinned and giggled and waved as she hurried away, a cheerful lilt to her step. Yami made a confused face. “What was that all about?” he wondered in a placid murmur.
“I don’t know,” Yugi replied, shrugging helplessly. “Fangirl?”
“Fangirl…?”
“She seemed to think we were…cute…”
Yami chuckled and gazed down at his lover. “I’d have to agree with that assessment.”
Yugi purred cutely and stretched up to peck him on the lips again, and then took his hands and led him away, figuring they had gotten their romantic moment and could move on with their day. They walked for a while without really caring where they were going, but Yugi considered that they were heading towards a particular side of town that had a destination worth seeking. “Hey, let’s go see Duke!” he suggested enthusiastically. “As long as we’re this close to his shop, we should drop by and say hi. I kind of wanted to talk to him about Kaiba, anyway.”
Yami pouted very slightly. “You want to bring up unpleasantness on such a nice day?”
Yugi gave him a timid look. “Well…as long as we’re there. I mean…I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
“All right.” Yami let go of his hand and brushed his cheek kindly before letting his hand settle on his partner’s back. “I just don’t like to see you upset when there’s so much we have to be glad for.”
“Mm…I guess I can’t argue with that,” Yugi smiled.
They put the thought out of their minds as they walked the rest of the way across the neighborhood to Duke’s game shop, a much bigger affair than Kame with all the bells and whistles. Just like Kame, it looked to be suffering the usual midday doldrums as it waited for school to let out so kids could throng in and play and buy. At least that meant it was fairly unlikely that Duke would be busy, if he had visitors drop in unexpectedly. Yami looked around in interest as Yugi led him inside, at the grand scale of the operation and all the TV monitors and flashing arcade games, bright colors and loud music. As expected, Duke was simply lounging on one of the register counters, talking to a clerk and generally looking bored, when Yugi and Yami walked in. He glanced aside and broke into a big grin upon seeing them. “Hey guys!” he called out. “Whoa…hey, it’s the pharaoh!”
Yami smiled broadly. “Hello, Duke.”
“Hi Duke!” Yugi said brightly as they came up to him. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much, what’s up with you?” He looked back and forth between them. “It’s that day already, huh? Out on the town having fun?”
“Pretty much, yeah,” Yugi shrugged.
“This is quite the place,” Yami complimented offhandedly, still looking around. “We’ve been here before, but I’ve never taken the time to look around for myself.”
“Go ahead, be my guest,” Duke implored. “I know Yugi came to see the new arcade setup last fall, but I never know how much you know about what he does.”
Yami glanced at him with a sly smile. “It depends on how much I’m paying attention.”
“You want to look around?” Yugi wondered.
“Sure.” Yami lifted his hand and kissed him on the knuckles before letting go and wandering away. “I won’t be long.”
“Okay.” Yugi smiled after him and then turned to Duke. “So how’s it going? Everything still in order?”
“You could say that.” Duke folded his arms over his chest, trying to look casual. “I’m guessing you want to know if Kaiba came to see me after he visited you.”
“Well…”
“He did.”
“He did?”
“Not the same day. He waited for a couple days, but then yeah, he came by,” Duke said airily. “I didn’t want my employees hearing what he wanted, so I brought him up to my office and talked it out there.”
Yugi looked wary. “What did he say?”
Duke huffed a bored sigh. “He upped his asking price, but apart from that, wouldn’t really give me much information. I told him, it was going to take a lot more than he was offering to make me actually consider selling. He’s still not in my price range. About all he said was that he wasn’t giving up so easily.” A cool grin began to cross his face. “He didn’t say anything about you, but I gathered that both of us stonewalling him is really pissing him off.”
“Well, if he’d stop being so secretive and explain what he wants with our stores, maybe we’d be able to explain why we’re not interested in selling in a language he understands,” Yugi groused.
“You know him,” Duke said, twirling a lock of his jet-black hair idly around a finger. “He thinks he’s so much better than us, he doesn’t have to humble himself to tell us anything. Ah well. I’m beginning to think you’re right, and he’s going to be popping up pretty often trying to get us to bend. I guess we’ll get to see which is stronger, his desire to own our shops or our desire to keep them.”
Yugi frowned up at his friend. “Would you sell, if Kaiba was so adamant that he offered you more money than you’d ever see in your lifetime?” he asked cautiously.
“I don’t know.” Duke stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I don’t really want to, because I sacrificed a lot in order to open this store while I was still in school, and keep it open. It means something to me. But if Kaiba was actually willing to pay me that kind of money, no strings attached? I’d have to say, it would be tempting, Yugi.” His green eyes narrowed in a wry smile. “But in order to close that deal, Kaiba would have to tell me what he’s going to do with my baby, and that might be the deal-breaker. Money is one thing, but if he’s just going to buy it in order to close it and tear it down…no way. I put too much blood, sweat, and tears into this store to let that happen.”
Yami walked back towards them at that point, his hands tucked in the pockets of his tight jeans, looking around with mild interest in his eyes. “I know the feeling,” Yugi said to Duke. “Well, as long as nothing too weird happened. I’m glad to hear you’re still in business. What do you think?” he then asked his lover as he rejoined them.
“It’s very nice,” Yami replied, smiling for Duke. “Much noisier than I’m accustomed to.”
Duke laughed. “Yeah, I think Kame game shop has me on the thoughtful-gamer’s ambiance. But really, all the monitors and the arcade games are to help sell video games. You guys don’t have that.”
“No, we’re just tabletop and card games,” Yugi agreed. “We have our little niche to fill, and you have yours. That’s why we can coexist so peacefully.”
“Not to mention my exclusive Dungeon Dice Monsters license,” Duke said proudly.
“You know, Grandpa would sell boosters for that if you’d let him,” Yugi retorted. “It wouldn’t be competition, it would help. You still have the market cornered on starter packs and game guides.”
“I’ll have to see about it.” Duke smiled coolly at him. “Some of that isn’t my fault, there’s some clauses in my contract with Industrial Illusions.”
For a fleeting moment, the reminder of the other game company made Yugi wonder if Pegasus had spoken to Duke about Kaiba, or if he was ever going to contact him again to find out all about this crazy store-buying nonsense, but he decided not to ask about it. He didn’t really want to think about it, after all. “How’s that going, anyway?” he asked blithely.
“Not too bad. I’ve got some upgrades in mind, hopefully I can work on them and get them out by fall. It’s been a year since my last upgrade, I’m really due.”
“Mr. Devlin…” The pretty clerk who had been at the counter when they came in slinked up behind him, holding a clipboard. She looked like she didn’t want to interrupt, but Duke turned to give her audience without a second thought. “Is this the inventory list you wanted me to go over?”
Duke took the clipboard from her and glanced it over. “Yeah, that’s the one,” he answered. “If you want to do that, you can. I’ve got an eye on the register, and we’re not real busy at the moment.”
“Okay.” The clerk took the clipboard back, and then gave the visitors a smile. “They’re not buying?”
“Ah, no. Sorry – these are my friends. Yugi Muto,” he introduced, “and his boyfriend Yami. This is Aiko.”
Yugi gave her a kind smile, though he blushed at having a boyfriend introduced. Aiko smiled back. “Nice to meet you. Yugi Muto – the Yugi Muto? Wow, cool. Don’t let me interrupt you – talk to you later!” She gave them a wave and turned to go count inventory to keep herself busy.
“You’re famous,” Yami chided his partner.
“Well, she works in a game shop,” Yugi tried to argue, though he was still blushing.
Duke laughed brightly. “Don’t let it go to your head,” he smirked. “Actually, she was surprisingly calm about it. I thought for sure she’d go fangirl on you.”
Yami’s brow twitched – there was that word again. Yugi giggled a little. “She’s a Duel Monsters fan, really?”
“Well…maybe not so much for that…” Duke started away from the counter, waving for his friends to follow him. His voice quieted but remained warm and friendly as he went on. “She’s one of few people who knows about my personal life, and she doesn’t mind. She’s even tried to set me up with a guy friend of hers. It’s pretty cool.”
“Well, that’s nice,” Yugi commented. “Did you do it? Go out on a date with him?”
“Nah, she talked him up well but in the end I don’t think he was my type.” Duke had led them across the store to the arcade, where a few consoles and a dance stage had been installed to help boost electronic game sales. “Anyway. Yeah, Aiko’s cool. It’s nice to have someone on staff like her.”
“She’s cute, too,” Yugi offered.
“Hey now.” Duke shook a finger at him. “I draw the line at dating employees. That’s bad form. Customers…maybe.” He then turned and pointed out the dance battle game. “What do you think?”
“It’s a nice addition,” Yugi complimented. “You didn’t put these downstairs with the Duel Monsters arenas, though?”
“Nah, these are simple and flashier. And having the DDR stage right here by the console games helps move home versions of DDR, you know.” Duke gestured flippantly to the end shelves where several different game versions were on sale, along with soft pads for playing at home. “The arenas are more for people to really play, and learn how to play. The Sunday leagues are doing really well. This is just for show.” He grinned sidelong at Yugi. “Wanna play?”
“Hmm…” Yugi gave the dance stage a serious look. “I’m pretty bad at it, but sure, I’ll give it a shot.”
Yami’s eyebrows raised. “You’ve played before?”
“Sure…I used to play with Téa all the time,” Yugi admitted. “Though, I think she was more into Pump It Up, but I hate K-pop. You remember…” He winked up at his partner. “You’ve seen her play before.”
Yami gave him a grouchy look, recalling the date he had been forced on. “Yes, I remember now.”
Duke sprang lightly up onto the stage and pulled a card from his back pocket, swiping it through the arcade slot. The game immediately switched from demo mode to player status. “Come on, let’s see what you’ve got,” he taunted. “I want to see if you’re really the King of All Games.”
Yugi laughed. “I told you I’m no good! You’ll probably beat me.” But he hopped up onto the second player pad nonetheless.
Yami stood back and folded his arms, curious to watch Yugi play this dance battle game he vaguely remembered. Duke apparently played more often, because he upped his level to Standard, while Yugi put himself on Light. The music thumping out of the oversized speakers was bright and bouncy, much like the music they had danced to at the club a month prior, making Yami perk up a little. He wanted to see if the game was anything like that experience, for if it was, he would be very shortly entertaining thoughts that shouldn’t be acted upon in a public store. Duke left it to Yugi to select the first song, and off they went. Despite his disclaimer, Yugi actually did quite well, clearing the stage and posting a pretty good score. Yami’s eyes shifted back and forth between the two screens, comparing the difficulty level, and wondered. There were a lot more arrows on Duke’s side, but it didn’t look impossible. They played a second song the same way, and afterward, Duke glanced to his opponent’s screen and snorted at his score. “Dude, if you’re doing that well on Light, you have to switch to Standard,” he scoffed. “You should have no problem.”
“I’ve never played on Standard,” Yugi protested.
“Oh, come on! Chicken…”
“Am not! Okay…” Yugi stamped on the back arrow to raise his level to Standard. “But if I fail this one, I have the right to say I told you so.”
“Fine, fine. Pick a song.”
He did so, selecting one that sounded cool and was only moderately difficult even on Standard. Duke groaned, but didn’t raise his difficulty level to Heavy. Yami paid closer attention as they began, realizing he could now see what it was like when people played on the same level. Yugi and Duke appeared to me moving in tandem, striking the same arrows at the same time, though there were a few new steps that Yugi wasn’t quite used to and missed. He tried his hardest, though, and came through the stage without failing – though points-wise he still lost miserably. He leaned back on the railing behind him with a cute laugh. “Well, all right,” he conceded, “it’s not as hard as I thought.”
“You did very well, Duke,” Yami complimented.
The young man grinned less than modestly. “Thanks. I used to play a lot more when I was a skinny little gamer kid in middle school, now I just do it for kicks once in a while.” He peered curiously at the pharaoh. “You want to try?”
Yami started. “Me?”
“Yeah, come on!” Yugi crowed.
Duke grinned, but he could see over some shelves to the counter from there and noticed that he may be needed up at the front. He handed the card from his pocket to Yugi. “Here, I’ll be right back. Just pop that in if you want to play another round.”
Yugi looked at the card in wonder. “What is it?”
“My access card. Free games.” Duke waved a hand casually as he disappeared between the shelves.
Yugi giggled happily and fixed his gaze determinedly on his partner. “Come on. If I can do it, you can do it.”
Yami didn’t look convinced. “Yugi…”
“Come on! You didn’t believe me when I said you’d figure out how to dance, and you did. Boy, did you ever,” he breathed. “You can do this, too. You can step on the correct arrow when it reaches the top of the screen, it’s not that hard.”
He had been watching carefully and understood how the game worked, but Yami still wondered how much of it was gaming skill and how much relied on rhythm. “This isn’t at all like dancing in the club,” he noted as he stepped up onto the stage platform.
“Well, no,” Yugi admitted as he inserted the card in the slot to bring up a free game. “But that’s where your instincts will come in handy. You’re as good at games as I am. We’ll both play on Light, though, just to be safe.”
Though still unsure, Yami decided not to argue, and steeled himself to begin. He let Yugi choose the music, and simply concentrated on doing exactly as the game required. After the first song, he realized there were patterns in the arrow combinations to follow. After the second, he began to anticipate arrows and cleared with a full combo. For their final round, he openly suggested they both move up in difficulty, and played a song on Standard together. Unfortunately, the learning curve between levels was greater than he expected, and he was astonished to fail out of the song. The game did not end for Yugi, as he was still clinging to a bit of life gauge, but he got a low score. The two of them laughed off the pharaoh’s defeat and decided they had had enough. Duke had finished attending to a customer and came back to watch their final round, grinning at the unique sight of the identical lovers hitting arrows in perfect coordination. They even stumbled at the same points. Yugi gave him back his access card, which he pocketed. “Not bad, not bad at all,” he said. “You guys should drop by more often. Maybe with a little practice, we can turn the pharaoh into a dance master.”
Yami laughed shyly. “I don’t think such a thing is possible.”
“I’ve seen you dance,” Yugi reminded him, “and you definitely have it in you.” He turned to Duke. “Maybe I will come around more. The only other arcade to play major games at is Kaiba’s, now that Spider closed.”
“Yeah, there’s a few places like that that’ve closed,” Duke sighed as he walked with them toward the door. “I guess it’s survival of the fittest.”
“All the more reason to keep Kaiba from buying us out,” Yugi complained.
They stood around talking for a while longer, though Yugi didn’t want to keep Duke from running his store as he needed. It was slow enough that he didn’t have to interrupt their talk very often, but as the afternoon wore on, all three noticed an upswing in traffic that signaled that school had let out and the kids were starting to come in. Yugi began to excuse them from conversation, suggesting that he and Yami needed to think about where they were going to have dinner, so Duke walked with them to the door to see them off. “You guys are going out?” he casually wondered.
“Yeah, I think so.” Yugi slipped his hand into Yami’s, though the pharaoh’s attention had been diverted by some kids playing a fighting game not far from them. “We kind of want to mark the occasion. It’s been about a year since we first found out about the ritual – the first time we did it was last April.”
“Ah,” Duke said knowingly. “So it’s kind of an anniversary.”
“Kind of.” Yugi glanced up at his lover, just in time to catch him glancing back and smiling. “At the time, we thought it was our only chance. And look at us now. I never dreamed I would be so lucky.”
Duke smiled warmly, almost wistfully. “You do look really happy,” he said quietly, “happier than I’ve ever seen you. I hope someday I’m in love with someone the same way.”
“I hope so, too,” Yugi said kindly. “I wish it for all my friends.”
They parted soon after, as things were getting busier and Duke needed to pay attention to his business, and the lovers were getting hungry. They walked for a while just to walk, and talk and be together, though they idly discussed what they wanted to eat. Yugi suggested trying an ethnic restaurant, maybe Italian, though he didn’t know whether there was one within walking distance. Yami suggested that trying to find one might qualify as the adventure Yugi had been looking for, so they spent a while investigating Domino City in search of an Italian restaurant. They actually found one, closer to downtown, just in time for it to open so they could get seating immediately. It was a wonderful way for lovers to spend dinner together, for it gave them lots of time to sit and be with each other in a rather cozy, dreamy setting filled with the most marvelous food scents Yami thought he ever would experience. They lingered long over dinner, since there was a lot of it to eat, and shared a positively orgasmic chocolate dessert before finally deciding they were more than full and could head home. The distance proved a good thing, for it allowed them to walk off the heavy dinner. Yugi’s face glowed with happiness as they walked, as he clung to Yami’s arm and they talked lightly of things that mattered little, things like sharing Yugi’s clothes and what sorts of fun things the gang was going to do at the sakura festival next week. The sun was setting and the air was getting cooler, tingling against the warm blush on Yugi’s cheeks as he snuggled close to his partner. At last, the lights of Kame game shop were close enough to be seen, a welcome beacon as dusk drew on, though a couple of blocks away Yugi suddenly straightened up beside his partner. “That’s odd,” he breathed. “The lights aren’t on in the shop.”
Yami glanced to where he was looking and noticed the same. The main lights over the shop sign were on, automatically, but the front windows were dark. They kept walking without faltering, though, feeling an extra bit of urgency to be inside now. They crossed the street together and headed up to the main door, noticing that it was locked. Yugi naturally had his house keys on him, but he was concerned that Grandpa had closed the shop early tonight. “I hope he’s all right,” he fretted as he unlocked the shop door and reached to flick on the lightswitch hidden behind a display case by the door. “Grandpa?” he called out as they entered.
“Perhaps he just got tired and needed to close down early,” Yami suggested. “After all, he had to run things without your help today.”
“Yeah, I know.” Yugi was about to call out again, before going upstairs to find out whether his grandfather had chosen to retire early, but then he noticed something out of place that made his worries increase. One of the displays by the counter was knocked over, booster packs of cards lay strewn about the floor near the register. Regardless of how tired he might be, Grandpa would never leave a mess in the shop. “Yami,” Yugi said quietly, his voice beginning to waver. “Something’s wrong.”
Yami stepped up behind him and placed strong hands on his shoulders. “Let’s go upstairs and check on him.”
Yugi nodded and started towards the stairs, but on his way he noticed the light on the shop’s answering machine blinking. Out of instinct, he decided to check it first. There was only one message, but the strangeness of the voice made Yugi think it was just a customer. That theory quickly flew out the window. “Hello, I’m leaving this message for Yugi Muto,” the adult male voice said. “This is Dr. Kaneda at the hospital. Your grandfather was transported here this evening, he had a heart attack. Please call me as soon as you get this message at…”
Yugi’s knees crumpled beneath him, dropping him to the floor in shock. Yami quickly hit the button to save the message and then knelt down beside him, noticing as he took him by the shoulders how badly he was shaking. “Yugi…?” he whispered.
He was silent for a moment, but then a huge sob welled up out of Yugi, as he broke down in tears. “Grandpa!”