Queer As Tachi – Chapter 23
Summer didn’t seem to fly by so quickly when there wasn’t a school year waiting to start at the end of it, Yugi noticed as he spent the hot days closed away inside the store seeing to the sale of Duel Monsters cards. Joey was doing a lot of grumbling about there never being enough time in vacations, but Yugi just grinned and said he didn’t notice. There was still a full month before the next semester of university began, but Joey spent a lot of it working so as to build up enough savings so he could take more time off when he needed it for studying. Mai’s new job was working well, too, but Joey never liked to take handouts, he was too independent for that. He and Yugi were hanging out in the store after Yugi finished for the day, since it was nice and cool there, making up for Yugi and Yami being too wrapped up in each other (and purple satin ropes) to see their friends the day before. Joey was a little miffed to hear that Mai and not he was responsible for Yugi’s first ever trip to a sex shop, but upon hearing the reason, he understood and agreed. “You know I love ya,” he said wryly, “but no. I’m not helping you buy sex toys. Now, if you were just going to look and giggle…”
“Then I totally would have asked you to take me,” Yugi agreed. “Don’t worry, there’ll be other times.”
“It’s not that I’m scared of you, you know,” Joey quickly added, his eyes going serious. “I just don’t know what to think, I guess. It’s different than looking at magazines with you like we did in high school.”
“It’s okay, Joey,” Yugi assured. “I’m not offended.” At that moment the door jingled to admit a customer, so both of them immediately clammed up and thought about changing the subject. “Where’d Grandpa go, anyway? I’m supposed to be off, now.”
“Phone call.” Joey gestured through the door to the storeroom where Grandpa Muto had disappeared shortly before.
“He’s still on the phone?” Yugi slipped behind the counter and went to peek to verify it. “Who’s he talking to?”
“Better not be Kaiba,” Joey grumbled. “Has he come around again, at all?”
“No, not since that last time, when he talked to me.” Yugi leaned against the wall with a sigh. “I still wonder what he’s up to, but the less I hear from him, the better. I have enough to worry about as it is, I don’t need him popping up whenever it’s convenient for him to try and argue his case again.”
Joey gave his best friend a sympathetic look. “Everything’s going okay, isn’t it?”
“Mostly.” Yugi looked away shyly. “Grandpa won’t let me see the bills or do anything about them. I’m supposed to just blindly work the store and keep order. But I know it’s bad. We don’t have anything extra right now. I spent the last of my birthday money on the present for Yami, I don’t have enough to even go out.” He gave Joey a wan smile. “Not that he and I were planning to go out yesterday, we kind of intended to spend the day in.”
“Yeah, I bet you did.” Joey thrust out a hand and smacked him in the arm. “Don’t worry, I got your back. Dinner’s on me tonight.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that, Joey,” Yugi began to protest.
His best friend held up a hand to stop him from going any further. “My money,” he sniffed, “I can do with it whatever I want.”
Yugi gave another sigh, but before he could continue, Grandpa Muto came out from the back room. “Oh, you boys are still here? Oh…” He noticed the customer. “Well, I’m done with my phone call now, I can take over. Go on, get out of here.”
“Who was that, Grandpa?” Yugi wondered. “You were on the phone an awful long time.”
Grandpa put him at ease with a beaming smile. “That was my old friend Arthur Hawkins. He wanted to catch up, make sure I was still kicking.”
“Really? Cool!” Yugi smiled back. “Well, that’s good. How’s he doing?”
“Just fine. He’s on an archaeological dig in England right now.” Grandpa waved off any further comment. “I’ll tell you about it later. You and Joey go have a good time. He didn’t get out at all yesterday,” he added to Joey, making a disgruntled face. “If I can’t make him get out and get some fresh air, maybe you can.”
“Yeah, yeah. All right, I’ll see you later, Grandpa,” Yugi relented, tucking his hands in his pockets as he followed Joey out. After they had passed through the door, he added secretively, “It’s not like I didn’t get any exercise.” Joey cackled with laughter.
A day or two later, as they were sitting down to dinner together, Yugi’s grandfather faced him squarely and told him he had some news to share. Yugi froze with his chopsticks poised to dig in, a flash of fear passing through his mind that this had something to do with his grandpa’s heart problems, or maybe the store. “What is it?” he wondered, trying to keep his voice light. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine,” Grandpa Muto assured. “I just wanted to run something by you, and get your approval before I made any plans. I know things are kind of tough right now,” he added sympathetically, “but you’ve been very responsible and I’m very grateful to have you here with me.”
“Um…okay.” Yugi relaxed enough to continue serving himself as he had been doing. “What’s on your mind?”
“I talked to Arthur again today,” Grandpa informed him. “The dig is going really well. He’s uncovered some things about the savage games the ancient Celts used to play, and he thinks I might be interested to see them. Now, before you start to get worried about money,” he immediately added, “I can assure you, Arthur knows what we’re going through. I told him, as nice as the idea sounds, we don’t have the money for me to be taking a vacation smack in the middle of summer like this. But he’s offered to help me out with that, something about frequent flyer miles and putting me up at the university where he’s staying.”
Yugi nodded to show he was listening carefully. “Do you want to go, Grandpa?”
Solomon smiled faintly. “I have to admit, it sounds interesting.”
“And you could really use a getaway,” Yugi offered. “You’ve had a hard year. I bet it would be nice to get away for a week or so and not have to worry about me and the shop.”
Grandpa’s eyebrows raised. “You’re encouraging me to say yes?”
“Well, if you want to,” Yugi shrugged. “You’ve always told me to go with my heart and do what I need to, why should you be any different? And if Professor Hawkins is going to help you out with the trip, I don’t see why you shouldn’t.” He smiled kindly. “You’ll have to thank him for me. I’ve been worried about you, I don’t like to see you work so hard to keep the shop open. You need your rest.”
“Posh,” Grandpa Muto demurred, “I’m fit as a fiddle. I don’t need to be coddled.”
“You need a vacation.” Yugi smirked across the table at him. “You haven’t had one as long as I can remember. And Kaiba’s tournament doesn’t count,” he added with a stern look.
Grandpa folded his arms on the table and sighed. “Yes, I suppose you have a point. I would very much like to go to England for a week and see Arthur. But I’ll only go if you’re okay with handling the store all by yourself in that time. It wouldn’t be over a full moon,” he explained, “so you wouldn’t even have the benefit of Yami’s company.”
“How soon are we talking?”
“Arthur still has to check with his airline about the miles, but the window of opportunity is short. I’d be flying out at the end of next week.”
Yugi turned it over very briefly in his mind, glad to hear no protest from the spirit inside him, and gave his grandfather a smile. “That’s not a problem. It’s not massively busy in the shop right now, I can handle a week on my own. If you want to go, then go. Look, Grandpa…” He sobered, then, lowering his eyes. “I know you’ve been trying to protect me from having to worry about the finances, but it’s okay. The shop is part mine, now, I’m not afraid of how bad it might look. I know things are bad, I can tell just by the grocery budget and the fact that you haven’t gone to the bookstore for crossword puzzles since you got out of the hospital.”
Grandpa Muto also lowered his gaze. “That’s why I didn’t want to say yes,” he admitted. “We really can’t be making extra expenses like vacations right now.”
“But sometimes, you just have to. If the opportunity is there, and someone’s willing to help you out. You can’t pass up this chance, it won’t ever come again,” Yugi pointed out.
Solomon nodded. “True. After this dig is over, the government is going to boot them out and let developers plow it all under some parking lot. History could be lost.”
“You see? As long as Professor Hawkins understands, he’ll make it so you can’t say no.” Yugi smiled again. “I’ll take care of things here. You go to England, have a good time. It may be your last chance at a vacation for a while.”
Grandpa Muto met his grandson’s firm look and nodded. “All right, then. I’ll let him know the plan is a go.”
Thanks to whatever strings Arthur Hawkins was eagerly pulling on his end, Grandpa had a plane ticket in no time and arrangements to fly to London and spend a week poking around the archaeological sites being investigated by one of the prestigious universities there. It was rather short notice, as vacations go, but the Mutos were assured that everything was being taken care of without their needing to lift a finger. All Grandpa needed was a suitcase and a little spending money, and he was free to get away. Unable to leave the store to see him off at the airport, Yugi stood waiting with his grandfather on the curb outside Kame game shop for the taxi, going over last-minute instructions. “Yes, yes, I know,” he insisted, “walk the night deposit over to the bank at a different time every night, and never go anywhere without locking up. Honestly, Grandpa, I’m probably not going out at all. Joey said if I ran out of milk or something he’d pick it up for me so I didn’t have to close down early or anything.”
“Just don’t forget those bills that are due next week,” Grandpa continued to lecture. “I have the checks all written out, you just have to make sure they get posted on the right day. You shouldn’t even have to look at them.”
“And what if I do?” Yugi gave his grandpa a wry smile. “I’m not going to freak out, don’t worry. I can handle it. The shop is safe with me. Just remember to take all your medications at the right time – you have them all packed, right?” He pointed a stern finger, then. “And don’t you be calling me every single day to check up on me, either. I want you to have a good time, not be worrying constantly about me and the store.”
“Fine, fine,” Grandpa agreed. “I am going to check up on you once or twice, though. I can just imagine the kinds of trouble you and Joey are going to get into without me around.”
“Oh yeah, we’ve got the big house party planned for Monday night, and the yakuza are dropping by to talk about whacking our enemies on Wednesday,” Yugi laughed. “Sheesh, Grandpa!”
Grandpa Muto patted him firmly on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, Yugi,” he said contritely. “It’s just been so long since I’ve been away without you. Not since I took you in, I think. You’ve had a couple of adventures yourself, but I’ve always been here for you to come home to. Now, the shoe’s on the other foot.”
“Just don’t go getting into any of my kinds of adventures,” Yugi grinned. “No picking up any ancient Celtic spirits, all right?”
“What if she’s a pretty banshee?” Grandpa winked. “Oo, wouldn’t that be something?”
Inside Yugi’s mind, he heard the pharaoh’s exasperated tone. “I think this house is too small for two spirits.”
Laughing, Yugi clasped his grandfather’s hands amiably. “You just have a good time, take lots of pictures. Don’t worry about me, I’m okay. Yami’s going to be looking over my shoulder the whole time. And I promise not to trash the place with Joey.”
Grandpa waved a hand dismissively. “Ah, you kids never did anything worse than turn up the volume on your video games too loud. I trust you.” They both glanced aside as a taxi pulled up to the curb, then, and broke off the conversation for a goodbye hug. “I’ll call on you in a couple of days to make sure everything’s all right.”
“Okay, Grandpa.” Yugi helped the taxi driver load his grandfather’s bags, and then stood aside waving as the car pulled away. Almost immediately, he felt the pharaoh’s presence beside him, watching just as he was. “Well, here we are,” Yugi said to him. “All alone with ourselves.”
“The true test of your responsibility,” Yami agreed with a smile. “For a good reason, not like last time you were left running it all yourself.”
“Yeah, I know.” Yugi shrugged and turned to go back inside, though for right now there were no customers that warranted his haste. “I don’t know what everybody’s worried about. It’s going to be a perfectly boring week. I’m going to spend all day in here, then go up, make dinner, go to bed, and wake up in the morning to do it all over again.”
“I suppose,” Yami conceded, watching from his inner vantage point as Yugi straightened up a few things on the shelves and went to sit behind the counter and wait. “Too bad it couldn’t happen over a full moon. I can just imagine what I would be able to do for you to help you.”
Yugi smiled brilliantly to himself. “You’re doing the only thing I really need, right now,” he sighed happily. “Keeping me company.”
As much as he would have liked to take advantage of his grandfather being out of town for the first time in ages, Yugi’s week turned out pretty much the way he expected. Joey came to bother him one night, but the only other night off he had during the week, he and Mai were going out. Tristan came over another, bringing Yugi dinner, and let him indulge in the only remotely disobedient thing he could manage – a ride on his motorcycle. It was much more convenient and safe, Yugi reasoned, for Tristan to give him a ride down to the bank and back, in the dark of night when you couldn’t tell who might be lurking around to steal someone’s money. Yet, he wasn’t going to explain this line of rationale to his grandfather. Yugi even wondered if there might be some oddly unpleasant coincidence that would bring Kaiba out on another hunt for the game shop’s price, with Grandpa temporarily out of the picture, but there was nothing. In all, it was indeed a perfectly boring week, up until the day before Grandpa was to return.
In between fielding phone calls and receiving the week’s shipment of new orders, Yugi was finding himself falling easily into the routine of a shopkeeper, always ready to look up and welcome a customer when he heard the ring at the door no matter what he was in the middle of. He heard the chime again as he spoke on the phone with a distributor and simultaneously checked off information on a packing slip, but with his back to the door, he was unable to acknowledge the visitor until he had finished the phone call and turned around. Even before he could, he felt something grow cold in his chest, a feeling of dread that made him suddenly want to get the distributor off the phone so he could prepare for danger. As he turned, Yugi realized where the feeling came from – Yami. He didn’t have to discuss a new display for card games, he could peer around and take stock of the situation first, and he had certainly recognized their visitor right away. Yugi gave a little gasp of surprise under his breath. “Uh…Bakura!”
Ryo Bakura smiled faintly, as he had been waiting for Yugi to notice him. “I’m sorry, did I come at a bad time?” he wondered politely.
“N-no, it’s just…well…hi.” Yugi set down his clipboard and rested his hands on the counter, keeping it between him and Bakura. He could not forget the last time he had seen that face, and though his mind had healed, somewhere deep inside it lingered a faint reminder of being attacked by the spirit of the Ring. A quick glance told Yugi that Bakura seemed safe enough – he could not have concealed the Ring under such a thin t-shirt. “This is a surprise. I haven’t seen you in forever…”
“I know,” Ryo admitted, “I’ve been overseas. But, I’m back now, and I’m starting university next month.” He smiled as kindly as he could. “I seem to recall you saying you were going to university as well…”
Yugi sighed. “Well, I was,” he said, “but…you’ve missed some big things.”
Ryo gazed in interest at him, his brown eyes wide. “Yugi? Is everything all right? You seem a little...on edge.”
Yugi took another deep breath, inwardly wondering, how much does he know? How much do I tell him?
A response came in the pharaoh’s deep voice. “I sense no darkness around him at the moment, Yugi. Unlike the last time we met him, this is your friend Bakura. I don’t think he remembers seeing us last fall.”
“It’s all right,” Yugi finally responded to his old friend’s comment. “I’ve just been really busy, hardly a moment to breathe. My Grandpa’s on vacation, so I’m running the store all by myself.”
“Oh!” Bakura looked around quickly. “Do you need me to go? I don’t mean to be wasting your time with small talk, if you have work to do.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s usually kind of slow at this time of day.” Yugi smiled warmly. “Speaking of which, why are you here? What are you up to?”
Bakura smiled back and held up the plastic shopping bag dangling at his side. “I was out getting some of my books. There’s a nice bookstore near here, they have better prices. I thought I’d drop by and say hello as long as I was in the neighborhood, and find out if we’d be classmates.” His smile faded. “But something has happened to change that?”
Yugi nodded seriously. “I…dropped out. I had to. Grandpa had a heart attack this past spring, and I had to take over a lot of his duties.”
“Oh, Yugi,” Ryo said, distressed. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s okay. He’s doing a lot better,” Yugi assured. “It kind of helped me to face up to reality, that I didn’t really want to be in university and would much rather be here, taking over the family business.” He smiled again. “It’s pretty fun, actually. And not having to pay for classes isn’t bad.”
“I suppose,” Ryo acknowledged. “I’m sorry you’ve had a hard time, though. I didn’t know, I was traveling around the world with my father until about a month ago.”
Yugi leaned more casually forward on the counter, folding his arms. “So what was it like? Seeing all those exotic countries? Did you have a good time?”
“Mostly.” Seeing as there was no one else in the shop right now, Bakura set down his bag and leaned on his side of the counter, feeling free to monopolize his friend’s time. “I guess the experience is worth it, all the different cultures and languages. I kind of want to study anthropology, so it will help me there. But…” His brown eyes saddened a little, and he looked away from Yugi’s attentive gaze. “I didn’t really enjoy the company. It wasn’t as though I had any, most of the time my father had things to do and couldn’t be bothered to join me in exploring. I almost wish I could have had one of my friends along, like you. It would have been much more fun.”
“Yeah,” Yugi sighed, “but I can’t exactly take off a year and jaunt around the world. I wouldn’t be able to afford it, for starters.”
“I suppose not. Oh! But I brought you something.” Bakura smiled cheerily. “Not from Egypt, though I thought about buying you a souvenir there. Don’t worry, it’s nothing to be suspicious about.” He looked straight at Yugi, still trying to smile but with a shade of darkness to it that showed he understood more than his words let on. “I know you and I have been through a lot, because of our Millennium Items. Not a day goes by when I don’t think about the spirit of the Ring inside me, and what he wants from you, but I don’t give him a reason to come out and make trouble for you. I just want us to be friends, like those days in Duelist Kingdom when I first got to know you.”
Yugi met his gaze with understanding. “I know, me too,” he said in the same soft tone as his companion. “It’s just so hard, when the spirits inside us both are at such odds.”
“Yes, it certainly is,” Ryo said morosely. “But, I’m being as strong as I know how. I’m going to stay in Domino, and try to live a normal life as much as I can no matter what. And that includes seeing my friends.”
“And getting them presents?” Yugi prodded with a hint of a grin.
Ryo grinned back. “Of course! I missed your birthday this summer, didn’t I? I’m sorry…” He patted his jeans pockets. “I didn’t bring it with me, I didn’t consider that I’d be stopping by. It was sort of a whim. I’ll give it to you when I can, though.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a bracelet, from a little shop in Thailand. I just thought it looked cool – it reminded me of you, and your exotic style.” Bakura smiled admiringly. “Something I figured you wouldn’t have.”
“Well…thank you!” Yugi said. “That’s nice of you to think of me. I’ll have to get you something on your birthday, too. You know, come to think of it, I don’t even know when your birthday is.”
Ryo looked modest. “It’s not far away. September second.”
“Oh, yeah, not far away at all. A couple of weeks. Well,” Yugi decided, “I don’t know if I’ll have the money for any kind of big present, but maybe we can all go out. Joey and Mai and Tristan, and you and me.”
“Mai?” Ryo blinked. “You mean Mai Valentine?”
“Yeah, she’s living with Joey. Oh man,” Yugi laughed, “I really do have a lot to catch you up on!”
Bakura glanced around the empty shop again. “Well,” he offered, “I’m not busy this afternoon. If it’s all right for me to hang around your shop, that is.”
“Yeah, sure, it’s all right.” Yugi moved his clipboard so he wouldn’t have to look at it. “There’ll be a few kids coming in, they usually do in the afternoons, but as long as you don’t mind being interrupted now and then, you can hang out here and I can catch you up on things. So, where are you living, now…?”
While Yugi leaned on the counter and swapped stories with Bakura most of the afternoon, within his mind and heart Yami undertook the responsibility of keeping a keen eye and ear out for any suspicious moves from their silver-haired friend. He, too, was unable to forget the night Yugi was attacked inside the Puzzle, but much as he wanted to be angry and retaliatory toward this source of his soulmate’s pain, he knew he could not blame Ryo for what the spirit inside him did. This slender young man with the expressive, dark eyes and shock of white hair was not the culprit, and indeed probably had no knowledge of it whatsoever, since the attack had been spiritual rather than physical. Yami did not know whether the connection between the Ring spirit and Ryo Bakura was alike or different to the bond between himself and Yugi, so he could not predict whether the dark spirit was lurking and listening to the idle small talk in the same way as he was. Fortunately, he never once sensed darkness, and saw nothing in Bakura’s expression or mannerisms to suggest that he was being taken over by the second presence. After an hour or two Bakura figured Yugi needed to get back to work and took his leave, waving and smiling like an old friend ought to, and only then did Yami insinuate his presence in Yugi’s mind. “Strange,” the pharaoh mused. “He seems to have no idea that he saw me separate from you that one day.”
The boys had talked about a lot, but Yugi had carefully steered away from mentioning Yami as his lover so long as Ryo didn’t bring it up either. “He always used to tell me,” he said in return, “that when the spirit of the Ring took over his mind, it was like he blacked out. He could never remember what happened, but he’d sometimes find himself waking up in the oddest places and just knew it was the Ring again.” He glanced aside at the phantom hovering near his elbow. “Like on the dueling field in the middle of a final-round match with Slifer the Sky Dragon breathing down his neck.”
“I’ll never forget that.” Yami folded his arms sternly. “I can’t help but feel anything but a great sadness and pity for Bakura, that he has to suffer so for his spirit’s recklessness and greed. When he walked in, my defenses went up immediately, but I can’t blame him for what the spirit did to you. Ryo Bakura is innocent of that transgression.”
“You felt it, too?” Yugi sighed under his breath. “I couldn’t stop that flash of memory, even though I know it wasn’t him. He has no idea.”
“Yet, I think he senses something isn’t quite right.” Yami’s translucent presence vanished, but he was still speaking within Yugi’s mind. “He turned down the opportunity to spend his birthday with you and his friends. He must know that we remain wary of the spirit of the Ring.”
“I know something happened to him, too.” Yugi remained staring at the door, his conversation going internal even though there was no one around to overhear. “He didn’t say anything, but I’d have to guess something happened while he was away. Something to make him realize that he’s still not in control of the Ring at all, and has to be careful. I wonder.”
“…and that’s the tomb of some ancient king. See? They buried their rulers with weapons and riches to help them in the afterlife just like in Egypt.”
“Wow, that’s really freaky.” Yugi thumbed through glossy photos from his grandfather’s vacation, not really interested until they got to the sequence of pictures of underground burial tombs and the carvings left on the walls. It was clear from the number of them that Grandpa really found this part fascinating. “Does any of this tie into Professor Hawkins’ other theories about the history of the shadow games?”
“It’s still a little too early to tell.” Grandpa sipped at his coffee as he looked over Yugi’s shoulder in order to interject comments when necessary. He had been back for a week but still couldn’t stop talking about some of the things he had seen – moreso the pubs and the locals than the archaeological dig itself. He had just picked up the photos that morning, three rolls’ worth, and was regaling Yugi with tales all over again now that his memory was refreshed. “We didn’t find any obvious carvings of what could be Duel Monsters like he has at other sites, but there is more they need to study before they can make any kind of conclusion.”
Yugi reached another photo and gave a little laugh. “I thought you said you weren’t going to get your hands dirty this time.”
“So I lied.” Grandpa chuckled back. “I had to, just for old times’ sake.”
“You definitely look like you’re having the best time, sitting in a hole with a trowel and a brush.” Yugi thumbed through a few more photos, noting that they were of his grandpa’s visit to Stonehenge on his way back to London, and laughed at the requisite shot of a double-decker bus before reaching the end. “It looks awesome, Grandpa. I’m glad you got to go.”
“I am too.” Grandpa Muto sipped at his coffee again, sitting back in his comfortable desk chair. Both he and Yugi were watching the shop together, neither really needing to leave or find something better to do, except perhaps hunt up some lunch. “And Arthur said it was no problem. After all, he owed me for missing an awful lot of holidays, or so he said.”
“You two are funny,” Yugi said with a smile, tucking the photos back into their envelope. “I hope me and Joey are still as close when we’re old and gray.”
“That’s what best friends are for.” Grandpa Muto collected his pictures and stacked them neatly together, almost reverently. “And thank you, Yugi, for taking care of things so I could go.”
“I told you, it was totally boring. Nothing happened that I couldn’t handle.”
“Well, you never know. Forgive your grandpa for caring. Oh…wait, I want to hear this.” He reached to turn up the volume on the small TV they kept in the back of the shop to amuse themselves when it was slow. The midday news was on, and a dark-suited weatherman was waving in front of a screen showing a satellite picture of a huge storm over the ocean.
With a sigh, Yugi wandered around the counter and went to poke at something, anything, just to keep from being bored. But there were only so many times he could straighten the shelves and re-categorize the booster packs of cards. “And you told Professor Hawkins I said hi?” he wondered idly.
“Of course,” Grandpa replied over his shoulder. “And he said he’d pass it on to Rebecca when he talked to her.”
Despite himself, Yugi grimaced painfully. At least his grandfather couldn’t see it. “You didn’t tell him about me and Yami, did you?”
“No, no,” Grandpa assured. “That’s your private business.”
“I’m not trying to hide it,” Yugi quickly added, “it’s just…I don’t think people need to find out third-hand.”
There was a long pause, as if Grandpa hadn’t heard him. “My, that is big,” he commented suddenly. “Looks like we’re going to get hit after all.”
“Grandpa?” Yugi straightened up and turned around.
The weather report was over, so Grandpa Muto turned the TV back down and swiveled his chair. “There’s a super-typhoon out in the ocean by Taiwan,” he explained. “They’re pretty sure the storm track is going to take it right across Japan sometime next week. Might even hit here.”
“Uh oh.” Yugi unconsciously placed a hand on the Puzzle. “How bad is it?”
“It’s too early to tell.” Grandpa got up, nudging the chair back through the storeroom door to where it belonged and taking his empty coffee mug with him. “But, we’ll have to keep an eye on the weather reports. If it gets closer, we may have to do something about it.”
Yugi nodded, watching his grandfather go upstairs to refill his coffee. Within his mind, his companion spirit asked him, “What could you possibly do about a storm?”
“If it’s bad enough, they’ll make us evacuate,” Yugi replied. “Domino is on the sea coast, depending on which direction the storm comes from we could get flooded really bad.”
He sensed the pharaoh thinking as he crossed back to the counter and took up station behind the register, just in case. At last, Yami murmured quietly, “The full moon is next week.”
“Oh man…” Yugi turned to look at the calendar on the wall behind him. Sure enough, the square bearing the date of the next full moon, which he had put a star on, fell close to the end of the month – next week, right when the news was saying the typhoon might hit Japan. “That’s not going to be good. We’ll have to watch the news, in case it all happens at the same time.”
“We could always forego the ritual,” Yami suggested hesitantly.
“No!” Yugi took a breath and closed his eyes so he could focus on Yami more clearly, and converse directly with him. The pharaoh materialized in his mind’s eye clad in the same tank top and jeans as he. “It’s just a big storm. It’s not going to affect me or the ritual, there’s no reason not to do it. Besides.” Yugi gave him a wide-eyed look. “I need you here with me. If it’s before the storm, you can hold my hand and tell me everything’s going to be okay, but if it’s after…I’ll need you to help me. Grandpa needs you too.”
Yami met his gaze and nodded. “Are you sure?”
“Very sure. Grandpa would agree with me – he considers you part of our family.”
“Very well, I won’t make the offer again.” A faint smile crossed Yami’s lips. “Truthfully, I don’t want to forego the ritual either. I just want to be sensitive to you, and not demand your energy or attention when there are far more important, life-or-death matters you need to attend to.”
“At times like that,” Yugi reasoned, “I need you here more than ever.”
“I agree.” The vision faded away, allowing Yugi to open his eyes just as Grandpa returned with a fresh mug of coffee. Together, the partners glanced at him through the same set of eyes, sharing the same sense of gratitude and affection. “I don’t want to see anything happen to him either,” Yami said to his partner. “If there is some way my corporeal presence can help protect him and you, or offer some kind of comfort, I will be there.”
“We have some time,” Yugi reminded him. “Let’s just wait and see what the weather does.”
Unfortunately, as time went on, the news seemed to get continually worse. The typhoon first pinwheeled across Taiwan, losing some of its strength and it’s “super” status, but it was still a powerful storm. Nearly every news forecast predicted it would move up along the coast of mainland China and then curve to cross Japan, though at that point the storm tracks diverged and no one could say with certainty just where it would hit or now strong it would be when it did. Domino City lay on the western coast of the country, it would likely be hit regardless, but all eyes became glued on the daily news to find out just how badly. By the end of the week, local officials were talking storm watches and evacuation plans. The typhoon had slowed enough to give every city up and down the western coast, as well as those some distance inland, the time they needed to prepare and implement disaster plans, but it wasn’t until closer to landfall that they could know which cities were in the direct path of the giant storm. Helicopter shots of oil rigs and shipping tankers wrecked out in the China Sea did not bode well. Even Joey, typically ignorant of the wider world around him, was staying abreast of the news and discussing it almost nightly with Yugi. They hadn’t been through a storm of this magnitude since they were in middle school, when evacuating meant several days off of school and the adults in their lives looking worried. Now, as young adults, they felt that worry themselves. At last, some three to four days away from landfall, when the mayor of Domino came on TV to alert his city to the mandatory evacuation of coastal areas scheduled to begin within twenty-four hours, they had to do something about it. “Are you going to leave?” Yugi asked Joey on the phone that night, as he stood in the living room in front of the TV.
“Where am I gonna go?” Joey said seriously. “Sure, Mai’s got a car now, but…we got nowhere to run to.” His voice dropped. “What about you and Grandpa?”
“I don’t know.” Yugi sighed as he sank to a seat on the couch. “I don’t want Grandpa to have to stay here, he really needs to get out. My aunt lives in Kyoto, he can go there. But…somebody has to stay and board up the store.” He threaded a hand nervously through his hair. “This store is all we’ve got. Without it, we could lose everything. It has to be protected, as much as we can.”
“You got insurance on it, don’t you?”
“Yeah, we do.” In fact, it was one of the things Yugi had looked into on his own while his grandfather was away on vacation and couldn’t hide from him. He wanted to know where the store stood in case of emergencies, in case something happened while Grandpa was in England, and finally had gotten a good solid look at their situation. “But it won’t help us if the store is completely wiped off the map. Then, how are we supposed to make money to pay our bills?”
“If the storm’s that bad,” Joey reasoned, “I think attracting customers to buy games is going to be the least of your worries, Yug.”
“Maybe.” Yugi sighed again, hard. “I really don’t know what to do, Joey. I know it would be smart to get out now, while we can, but I can’t just leave the store to nature. I have to do what I can to protect it. But I know what Grandpa’s going to say if I even make the suggestion to him.”
“He’s not going to let you stay there alone,” Joey agreed. “And I don’t think you should, either.”
“So what am I going to do?” Yugi complained angrily, getting up to pace. “Go with him to Kyoto and spend the whole time staring out the window, hoping against hope that the store isn’t being flooded or knocked down?”
“And don’t you think your grandpa would be doing that himself if he knew you were back here all alone?” Joey argued. “That’s why you gotta have somebody stay with you.”
Yugi immediately knew what he meant. “Joey, no!” he protested anxiously. “I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not askin’ – I’m tellin’.” Joey sighed into the phone. “I don’t have the same concern about my place as you do about yours, Yug. I could care less what happens here. But it’s not a safe place to ride out a typhoon – we both know that. So, if I don’t have anywhere to evacuate to, I’m gonna stay with you.”
“What about Mai?” Yugi said forcefully. “You have her, now. You can’t just do something so reckless without thinking about her…”
“Why not? You’re considering something reckless without thinking about Gramps.” There was a long pause. “I’m sorry, Yug, I didn’t mean to be so harsh. But Mai’s a big girl, she can take care of herself.”
“Have you talked to her about it?”
“No, she’s not home from work yet. Have you talked to your grandpa?”
“No, not yet. He wanted me to watch tonight’s news and tell him the current state of things when he closes up downstairs.”
Joey sighed softly. “He’s not going to like it when you tell him what you’re thinking.”
“I know, but…” Yugi also sighed, giving up on pacing and slumping back onto the couch, leaning against the phone attached to his ear. “I don’t like feeling helpless. I can’t just abandon the store at a time like this. We have to do everything in our power to save it, or at least try.”
Joey gave a short, sardonic chuckle. “It’s that or sell out to Kaiba, huh?”
“Lesser of two evils.” Yugi sat back into the cushions, rubbing his forehead. All this worry was giving him a headache. “I’m sure Grandpa would be more comforted to hear that I wouldn’t be staying alone. And besides,” he added after a pause, “the way they’re talking now, it’s not going to hit land until Friday – and that’s the full moon.”
“Shit,” Joey muttered appreciatively. “Yami’s gonna be out?”
“Neither of us want to skip this month.” Yugi groaned tiredly. “And I know that’s the way it’s going to work out, because they were talking on the news about how high tides connected to the full moon are going to make the storm surge even worse.”
“Yeah, but you’re still far inland enough, you’re above the storm surge level, aren’t you?” Then Joey cursed again. “But Tristan’s not. I better call him. He’s got to get the hell out of there.”
“If I can talk Grandpa into letting me stay,” Yugi suggested, “he can stay here too. Besides, I can use his help. A big construction guy like him can help me board up the windows.”
“Well, good luck,” Joey said dryly. “Call me when you have a plan. I’ll talk to Mai, see if I can get her to leave town without me.”
“She’s going to kill you.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she will.”
“Okay. Well, we’re not in the immediate evacuation zone, but I’m sure we’ll have something worked out by the morning. I’ll let you know. And Joey?” Yugi added quietly.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
Yugi spent the rest of the evening straightening up and taking care of chores, making sure there was nothing left amiss that his grandfather could be annoyed about when he came upstairs. He sat down with Yugi in front of one of the news channels that was carrying almost constant reports about the oncoming typhoon, though at the moment they were in the middle of some pre-recorded piece about the sea walls in a city fifty miles north of Domino and how they were built to withstand such-and-such typhoon in the 1970’s, blah, blah, blah. Yugi caught his grandpa up on the current information and the city’s evacuation plan, and then immediately demanded, “You have to go, Grandpa. Don’t wait for them to evacuate the whole city, you should go right away. Go to Aunt Keiko’s.”
Grandpa Muto eyed him. “And what about you?”
Taking a deep breath, Yugi clasped his hands around the Millennium Puzzle to take courage from it and faced him squarely. “One of us has to stay here and board up the store. I’m younger and stronger, I’ll take care of it. And Joey said he’d stay with me,” he quickly added to help his case.
“Absolutely not,” Solomon said sternly. “No one is riding out the storm here. That’s insane.”
“Grandpa!” Yugi’s fingers tensed even more on the Puzzle. “Listen to me. Please. This storm is going to pass north of Domino, they’re saying, but that means the worst part of the eye wall is going to hit us. If we lose the store, we lose everything. Our lives, our future, it’s all right here. I can’t just run away and leave it to the wind and the rain, I have to try to save it. I’ll board up all the windows and skylights, I’ll barricade the lower levels to keep floods out, I’ve been paying attention to the news and all the things they say about what to do for an emergency. I know it’s stupid,” he continued after a pause for breath. “But I’m not going to take any crazy risks. Joey and I will hole up here, maybe Tristan too, and Yami because it’s the full moon…”
“Oh my word – it is, isn’t it?” Grandpa interrupted.
“Yes, but you see? I have Yami here to protect me, too. We’ll stick together, we’ll do what we can to make sure the house isn’t damaged beyond repair. I know insurance will cover some of the damage, but if we can do anything to prepare so it isn’t so bad…” Yugi fixed his grandfather with pleading eyes. “I just want you to get out of here, so you’re safe. I’m tougher than I look, I can handle it.”
“Yugi…” Grandpa Muto reached to clasp his hand. “You’re all I have left, I can’t put you in harm’s way. Forget about the store, it’s not important compared to your life. If I go to Kyoto, you’re coming with me.”
“You’ll have to tie me up and throw me onto the train to get me to leave,” Yugi said with a wan smile. “We’ve been giving Kaiba the cold shoulder for months, we can’t back down now.”
“Kaiba is not an unstoppable force of nature,” Grandpa argued with one raised eyebrow.
“But everything we said to him, to explain why we wouldn’t sell, still holds true. This is our home and our future. Even if all I can do is nail down some boards and huddle here hoping the wind doesn’t rip them off, it’s something. It beats sitting in Kyoto worrying for days on end,” he grumbled.
Grandpa Muto sighed hard. “I’m not going to change your mind no matter how much I remind you that I love you and I don’t want to see you get hurt,” he realized.
“I know,” Yugi said gently. “I know I’m going to worry you by doing this. But I won’t be alone. My friends will be here to take care of me, Yami will be here. We’ll save the game shop together.”
Another sigh racked Solomon Muto’s shoulders. “I can’t just agree to this, Yugi,” he said heavily. “I’ll think about it, overnight. We’ll sleep on it, and discuss it again in the morning. Maybe the weather reports will be a little more clear on where the storm is going to hit.”
“Okay,” Yugi relented, watching his grandfather get up and go into the kitchen. Throughout this time, he was aware of Yami observing silently from within, not wanting to get in the way. At least he could be sure that he and his lover were of the same mind. Yami had already made it clear to him without even speaking a word that he would stay to protect Yugi no matter what.
Across town, Joey had to wait until Mai got home from the office, where she had been putting in late hours to help make a deadline. He had dinner waiting for her, and sat down with her to try and have a nice, quiet meal together, but he couldn’t keep himself from reporting the current news of the typhoon to her. “It’s all anyone at the office can talk about,” she shrugged over her dinner. “It’s going to be pretty bad, isn’t it?”
“That’s what they’re saying.” Joey glanced past her out the patio door, where a perfectly quiet, dark night lay over Domino, betraying no hint of the storm hundreds of miles off the coast. “Our neighborhood isn’t in the first evacuation zone, but if it gets to be that bad, they’re gonna tell us to get out too. Maybe not till it’s almost too late.”
Mai glanced up at him as she ate, trying to keep her flippant cool, though her eyes betrayed some small hint of worry. “Where would we evacuate to?”
“Well…” Joey hunted around for an idea. “Your parents are in Tokyo, aren’t they?”
“Oh, I am so not going to my parents’,” Mai snorted. “Besides, Tokyo’s no safer in a typhoon.”
Joey sighed roughly. “Well, I’ve got a really dumb idea,” he began, “but hear me out, okay?” He glanced across to her, to make sure she agreed, before continuing. “Yugi’s trying to talk his grandpa into letting him stay, and ride out the storm in the shop. He’s got a really brave but misguided idea that he can save the shop if he stays and boards it up.”
Mai groaned and rolled her eyes. “That sweet, stupid kid,” she lamented. “What is he thinking?”
“You know they’re up to their eyeballs in bills,” Joey offered by way of explanation. “Yugi’s afraid of losing the store completely. They’d lose everything. He wants to stay and do what he can, while he sends his Grandpa to Kyoto – they’ve got relatives or something.”
Mai lowered her chopsticks and fixed him with a steady glare. “So where does Yugi’s dumb idea become your dumb idea?”
Joey dropped his gaze to his plate, though he only picked at it. “He can’t stay alone,” he said firmly. “I’m not going to let him do this by himself. He needs me. You can get out, go someplace safe – I’m staying with him.”
“Like hell you are.” Mai dropped her chopsticks completely and banged a fist on the table. “I just started this life with you, I’m not going to lose you now. You can’t stay, Joey.”
“You’re not gonna lose me! Look.” Joey also clenched his hand into a fist, lifting his head and staring determinedly across the table at her. “I know it’s dangerous and a little stupid, but I can bet you any money we’re not the only ones who want to ride it out. And right now they don’t really know how bad it’s going to be. Either way, I’m not letting Yugi stay here alone – him and Yami, anyway. I called Tristan to let him know his flat’s in the storm surge zone, he needs to get out of there, and he’ll stay with Yugi too. It’ll be the four of us, we’ll be okay. We’ve always had each other’s backs, now’s no different.”
Mai scowled at him. “And you expect me just to cut and run without you?”
“You can be the smart one and say ‘I told you so’ after it all blows over.” Joey relaxed his fist and sat back in his chair, combing both hands through his hair in frustration. “How about this. If I look after Yugi, maybe you can look after Grandpa. You can drive him to Kyoto, instead of making him take the train with all the other evacuees. Keep an eye on him for Yugi’s sake.”
Mai held his gaze for a while and then gave a defeated sigh. “Why am I letting you talk me into this?”
“I’m sorry, Mai,” Joey said softly. “I love you, and with this big storm knockin’ on our door I really understand how much you mean to me. But Yugi’s my best friend. I couldn’t talk him out of staying, so the least I can do is help him out. He’s not as strong as he’d like to think he is. I have to protect him. If I don’t, who will?”
They sat in unmoving silence for a while, staring at their plates, but at last Mai nodded slowly. “I understand, Joey,” she said in a low voice. “I’m still not going to like it, but I know you’re right. If Yugi’s dumb enough to stay, he needs someone to watch out for him. And much as I like Yami,” she smirked, “something tells me he’s not going to be much use in the middle of a typhoon.”
“Would you be willing to take Grandpa to Kyoto?” Joey asked hopefully.
“Sure, if he could use the ride.” Mai picked her chopsticks back up and prepared to resume dinner. “Be honest, though. Is this just to give me something to do, to feel like I’m helping, or is it your way of making sure I’m going to be somewhere safe too?”
Joey began to grin. “Hm, maybe a little bit of both.”
“Fine. As long as you don’t try to snow me with some kind of story about it being for Grandpa’s sake only, and how I’m doing something so noble to support my friendship with Yugi.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
They ate for a while in silence, though both their minds were privately worrying about the storm from their point of view, about disasters and evacuations and the sheer foolishness of this idea. Eventually, Mai pulled her drink towards her and glanced up to Joey. “Yugi can be so stubborn sometimes.”
“Yeah,” Joey admitted. “So can I.”
“You’d better look out for him.” She thought for a moment. “Even if Yami’s going to be there.”
“I’m sure he’s going to be in full-on protect mode,” Joey mused. He shook his head. “Don’t worry, Mai. I’ll make sure nothing happens to either of them.”
“And don’t do anything stupid yourself.” Mai eyed him across the table. “I want to be able to come back after it all blows over and smack you upside the head for doing something so reckless.”
Joey found himself laughing. “I promise.”