Queer As Tachi – Chapter 4
The morning sun filtering through the skylight registered in Yugi’s eyes as he blinked them open and then closed them tight again, wishing he could have been allowed to sleep a little longer. The excitement and anticipation of the previous night had drained from him and left him exhausted, especially after being up so late and embroiled in breathtaking, sweaty sex, but the moment he realized it was morning, his brain switched itself on and refused to let him get any more rest. He immediately knew exactly where he was, and smiled faintly at the feeling of a warm, solid body curled up against his with an arm flung over his waist. Compared to this, he thought to himself, all their encounters inside the Puzzle were mere dreamscapes. Out here, the warmth was somehow more warm, the breath on the back of his neck more alive, the sensation of touch so electric that he had a hard time believing he hadn’t died and gone to heaven. Yugi rolled over a little, just enough to be able to tilt his head back and see the sleeping pharaoh beside him, his breath catching in his throat at the beauty of the sight. Yami’s blond bangs were rather disheveled and draped over his cheek, but it wasn’t perfection of appearance that Yugi found so lovely to behold in the morning light. Yami must have felt the stirring in his arms, for he breathed a soft sigh and let his eyes slowly open. Yugi gave a little whimper of joy at the sight of vivid purple eyes being revealed to him, and the expression of wonder and contentment that crossed Yami’s face as he remembered where he was. The arm around Yugi tightened. “Thank goodness,” Yami whispered huskily. “I was afraid it was just a dream.”
Yugi smiled dreamily as he found himself being hugged up against Yami’s slender, naked body. “No, I’m pretty sure this is the real thing,” he breathed, giving a small, tired giggle as he felt lips brush across his cheek and neck, just below his ear. The juxtaposition of old and new, of familiar and strange, had him positively giddy for having just woken up. It was his same old bed, his blanket, his room, but he had never had another body in it with him, particularly not one that was so keen on greeting the morning with soft kisses and gently roaming hands. Yugi shifted to face him, snuggling down into the blankets to keep all of his bare skin from being exposed to the chill air outside the bed. The Puzzle on its chain jingled merrily as it settled down between their bodies. “I didn’t wake you, did I?” he murmured.
“No,” Yami said quietly, snaking his arms around his lover and pulling him close. “What time is it?”
“Earlier than I wanted it to be,” Yugi groaned in reply, nuzzling against Yami’s cheek. “But I guess it’s okay. If we get up now, there’s time to get something to eat and think of how we’re going to explain you to Grandpa.”
Yami couldn’t seem to get enough of kissing him, as he laid there trailing his lips softly across every inch of Yugi’s face and nearest earlobe. “You still don’t want to tell him about us,” he said wisely. “But as for how I came to be here, I’m sure the truth will be enough.”
“I guess.” The young one purred happily at the continued kisses, but after a few more blissful minutes sighed at the need to end it so they could get up. He peeled back the covers and reached for the robe lying cast-off on the floor, but Yami delayed him even more by rising up and pouncing on him from behind, hugging him and kissing his neck some more until Yugi giggled brightly. It took them some time to finally disentangle themselves from the sheets and each other and wrap hastily up to get to the shower, and even more time to get dressed and sneak into the kitchen. Grandpa Muto was not awake yet, but Yugi promised he would be shortly, looking at the clock. After all, he had to open the game shop. “So what do you want to do first?” he asked his lover as he poked in the kitchen cabinets for breakfast.
Yami chose an apple from the bowl on the counter and studied it for a moment before biting into it, closing his eyes briefly to savor the taste. Yugi watched him, amused that the simple act of eating was giving the pharaoh so much pleasure. “I don’t know,” Yami finally answered after swallowing. “You know better than I do what there is to do and see around here.”
“True. But we have all morning to spend together, we’re not meeting the others until after noon.” Yugi settled on a banana from the same fruit bowl and stood for a moment with Yami, each of them nibbling away and giving each other shy looks, as if trying to verify that each really was looking at the other through his own eyes. Yugi tucked his hand into Yami’s and pulled him through the kitchen, toward the door. “Maybe we’ll just go for a walk. You know, let you see the world. It’s going to be nice and sunny all day, it said on the news.”
“That sounds perfectly fine,” Yami assured with a smile. “Not that Domino will look much different through my own eyes, but at least we’ll be together. That’s all I want.”
Just then, both of them heard the sound of a door further down the hallway. Yugi looked to his companion with wide eyes. “Grandpa’s up! Oh…um…stay here, for a second. Until I call you, okay?”
Yami nodded, a smile in his eyes. “I’ll be right here.”
Yugi slinked into the doorway and paused leaning on the frame, watching nervously with his hands behind his back as his grandfather came into the living room, yawning and stretching. “Ah, Yugi,” he said, seeing his grandson bashfully hanging in the kitchen doorway. “I didn’t know you were already awake. I thought you’d sleep in on your Sunday.”
“No, I kind of have some things to do,” Yugi tried to explain, aware that he sounded as nervous as he felt. “Um…and there’s something I need to tell you about first.”
“Hmm?” Grandpa frowned at the youth’s furtive posture. “What is it? Are you hiding something from me, Yugi?”
“Well, no…” Yugi glanced back, giving Yami a desperate look, and then took a step into the living room. “It’s just…well, you know how I told you about the Egyptian guy, Shadi, who sometimes pops out of nowhere to see me and make sure the pharaoh’s all right?”
Grandpa’s frown got even more confused. “Yes…?”
“After my accident, he came to see me. He told me about some ritual he’d uncovered, something to help the pharaoh. It…allows him to have a body for one day.” Yugi stared at the floor while he explained, not wanting to see the reaction lest it scare him into silence. “So, we thought about it, and we decided we wanted to try it, and see if it worked. I thought Yami deserved at least that much, for having to be bonded with me for so long. And so…we tried it. Last night. It…um…worked.”
“Wait a minute,” Grandpa cautioned, running this information over in his mind. “A ritual. A magic ritual?”
“Yeah.”
“To give the pharaoh’s spirit a body?”
“Yeah…”
Grandpa’s eyes widened. “And it worked?”
Yugi looked back, into the kitchen, and on cue, the pharaoh padded silently into the room, a tentative expression on his delicate face. His eyes searched out Grandpa Muto, and he smiled faintly. “Yes,” he answered, “it worked.”
Grandpa just stared at him for a few minutes, mouth open, and then blinked. “Well, I’ll be,” he said under his breath, impressed. “It really is you? The spirit who has been inside my grandson’s Millennium Puzzle all this time?”
“Yes,” Yami assured him. “This is no joke, I promise. I am the pharaoh. I understand, it may be hard to believe.”
Grandpa stood there amazed, his eyes traveling up and down the figure standing across from him to study him and verify that all was as he said. “Not for me,” he said after a bit with a pleasant smile. “It’s an honor to meet you, though I’m pretty sure I already know you, in a way.” He stepped closer, going right up to Yami and circling around him, inspecting him. Yami stood patiently in place, trying not to do anything rude. “How is this possible?” Grandpa wondered. “How does this ritual work?”
Yami shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. It is as much a mystery to me as the rest of my memories. But there was an incantation, and a blood offering.”
Aged eyes widened. “A…a blood offering? What?”
Yugi raised his forefinger. “I just pricked my finger, Grandpa! It wasn’t anything huge.”
“You should be careful, messing around with ancient magics, Yugi.” Grandpa Muto gave him a warning look, but it melted into an understanding smile very quickly. “But I suppose, if the pharaoh didn’t think you could handle it, he wouldn’t have let you do it.”
“Certainly not,” Yami agreed quickly.
“And how long did you say you have this body for?”
“One day,” Yugi replied. “From midnight last night.”
“Oh.” Grandpa’s eyes saddened. “That’s not very much.”
“It will be enough.” The pharaoh smiled at his younger half. “It’s my chance to remember life again, to create new memories for myself that I will treasure forever. No, I may not have the time to travel around the world or do anything on a great scale, but that’s not what this day is for.”
“We’re just going to go out and have fun,” Yugi added. “It’s not about seeing anything in particular, but getting out there and experiencing the world, being with friends. That sort of thing.”
Grandpa Muto nodded understandingly. “Then, don’t let me keep you. You have to make the most of your one day, don’t you?” He cocked a narrowed eye at the pharaoh. “Remarkable, how much you look like my Yugi but still are different. For one, you’re taller.”
Yugi blushed and gaped. “Grandpa!”
Solomon Muto laughed brightly, clapping Yami on the shoulder. “Still sensitive about that! My poor boy.” He ruffled his grandson’s hair kindly. “I’m just teasing. You two, go on now. Show the pharaoh what the world’s all about. I’ve got the store covered for the day.”
“Are you sure? Thanks, Grandpa.” Yugi hugged him briefly, and then gave Yami a clear laugh. “Well, you fit in my clothes, now let’s see if you fit in my shoes.”
Yami nodded and smiled, watching him dash back down the hall to the bedroom, and then turned to Grandpa Muto. “Thank you,” he said more calmly. “Yugi was concerned that seeing me like this would be hard for you to accept.”
“I’ve seen a lot in my time,” Grandpa said, “especially since that Millennium Puzzle came into our lives. I know I can expect even stranger things to happen to Yugi than this, because of your ancient magic. Just don’t let him get in over his head.” He faced the pharaoh squarely, man to man. “He may be willing to try anything, or sacrifice anything, to help you in the shadow games, but he must know when he’s reached his limits. He’s not you. There are some things he can’t handle.”
Yami nodded understandingly. “I am aware of that. I know him, better than he knows himself sometimes. I won’t let Yugi lose himself for my sake.”
“Of course you won’t. I trust you.” Grandpa flashed another cheery smile all of a sudden. “If you can’t trust a five thousand year old pharaoh with magical powers, who can you trust? Now go on. Domino City may not have a lot of fancy tourist attractions, but I’m sure you two can keep yourselves busy for a day.”
A few minutes later, the pair of young men stepped out of the door onto the streets of Domino, side by side and dressed in their own unique way for the first time. Yugi wore his favorite going-out pair of black leather pants and a slinky red shirt, its lapel unbuttoned, with the Millennium Puzzle hanging around his neck, while Yami stood beside him in a black sleeveless top that stretched tight across his chest and a rather tight pair of jeans, and Yugi’s favorite leather collar. He did fit into Yugi’s clothing, but barely, as he was taller and slightly broader in the shoulders than his young host. They paused to look at each other admiringly, each thinking the other looked positively sexy in his choice of outfit, and reached to clasp hands. “All right,” Yugi said decisively. “We have a few hours until we’re supposed to meet Joey and Tristan for lunch. Shall we?”
“Lead the way,” Yami implored. “I am at your mercy, Yugi.”
“Ooo! Lucky me.” Yugi grinned and tugged at the hand in his, guiding Yami down the sidewalk toward the busy city center, figuring they could just wander for a while until an idea struck them. The downtown shopping district was this way, but so were parks, pedestrian malls, and eventually the ocean. Yami had seen plenty of it through his eyes, true, but he had never experienced it himself, the smells and tastes and personal sensations, the ability to form his own opinion without feeling like he was being dragged along like Yugi’s pet to the places he liked. He didn’t really consider any place being of importance, though, he just wanted to feel the sun and the wind, drink in the scents and drown his physical senses in the things he couldn’t remember. It looked to be the perfect day for it, too, with a warm spring sun smiling down on them and a light breeze rustling in the new leaves on the trees. Yugi’s hand in his was warm and soft and just a little sweaty, and he slid his fingers in between Yami’s to bond them even closer as the two of them settled into a comfortable stride together. They had little need to say anything, but for the occasional superfluous casual remark about the weather or that cool car or the girl that giggled cutely when they passed her and she saw their clasped hands. Yugi wore a grin for absolutely no reason, giddy with the feeling of walking hand-in-hand with a lover for the first time in his life. Some distance from home they passed a park, and Yami immediately diverted their path to cross through it, wanting to see if there was anything worth indulging in. The flowerbeds were a riot of color and scent, leaving the pharaoh oddly enraptured for a while as he knelt beside some and brushed his hands across the softest petals, breathing deeply of the mingled aromas. Yugi finally tugged him away after promising to come back later when it was warmer and sit under the trees in the grass with him. They followed the paved paths meandering through the park, smiling at passers-by, stopping to trickle their fingers in a cold fountain, and generally poking into anything that got Yami’s attention. They ended up back on the street on the far side, and Yugi resumed leading the way to the downtown shopping area where they would eventually be meeting their friends. After a long time wandering, glancing in shop windows, pointing things out to each other, and generally being far too cute for their own good, the pair stepped into a wide, circular pedestrian mall lined with flower boxes and smart-looking signposts. “Here we are!” Yugi beamed.
Yami looked around with a smile. “I know this place. We’ve been here before.”
“Yup!” Yugi threw out his arms to indicate the grand area. “Battle City! Only now it’s not crowded with kids and duel disks. On a regular day like this, it’s actually not much.” He beamed cheerily up at Yami. “But it’s a good place to people-watch.”
“Is that what we’re here for?” Yami took both of Yugi’s hands in his and smiled slyly down at him. “I watch people all the time, it’s about the only thing I can do.”
“No,” Yugi admitted, “Joey’s supposed to meet us here pretty soon. We’re a bit early, though.” Yugi allowed himself to be pulled away from the middle of the paved circle, towards one of the walls where they could find a nice, secluded bench to sit on together. “And then the others should meet us the next block over by the arcade, so we can go get food.”
Yami nodded his understanding. “Do you know who is all going to be here, today?”
Yugi made a cute face as he thought, even as Yami pulled him down onto the bench beside him. “Let’s see…Joey for sure, and Tristan. Joey said Mai might be in town today, and he’d drag her along if she was. Téa wasn’t sure, she wanted to come but she said she might have had something come up. So, I don’t know.”
“It would be a shame to not be able to meet her myself on this day,” Yami mused. “She is one of your closest friends.”
“Yeah, I know,” Yugi agreed, “but to tell you the truth…if she doesn’t come, I’d be okay with it. I mean, considering how I used to feel about her. It might be kind of awkward.”
“You mean, because of your relationship with me.” Yami reached to touch the face tilting toward him, brushing back an errant lock of hair and smoothing his fingertips down Yugi’s cheek. “It will have to be dealt with sooner or later. As with all your friends, and your grandfather. My body may only last this day, but our hearts will still be together long after midnight has come and gone.” Yugi nodded silently, sliding closer to his companion. Yami looked out past them, to the anonymous faces milling casually about the pedestrian mall. “Does that mean you’re going to tell them, today?”
“Whoever comes to hang out with us is going to find out,” Yugi shrugged, his smile returning. “Because I’m not going to stop holding your hand like this for a minute.”
“Mm. I think I like that part of the plan.” They beamed at each other, and Yami leaned in to quickly kiss his young love’s cheek. “Very well, then. I will do my best to help you explain it to our friends, if they have trouble understanding.”
“Joey already knows, so he can help, too,” Yugi reminded. “But it’s going to be enough of a shock to all of them just to see you here, much less accept the whole other part of it.”
Yami cupped his cheek again, looking into his eyes. “You’re afraid they won’t accept your love for me.”
Yugi tried to keep the smile on his face, though there was indeed fear in his eyes. “Can you still read my thoughts like always even though you’re on the outside?” he asked timidly.
The pharaoh sobered briefly, giving a slight shake of his head. “No, and that is the one feeling I haven’t quite gotten used to yet. I’ve grown accustomed to our bond, to sharing everything down to our most secret thoughts and fears. Not being able to sense your mind or know what you’re thinking is a strange feeling all of a sudden, and I’m not sure I like it.” A wry shadow of a smile returned. “But I don’t need to read your mind to know that you’re afraid.”
Yugi looked down at his hand still clasped firmly in Yami’s. “I know I shouldn’t be. My friends care about me a lot, and finding out about this part of me shouldn’t change that. But I can’t help it.”
“It’s understandable. It’s not exactly the sort of thing they might have to deal with every day.” He tilted Yugi’s chin upward, to be able to look at him squarely and give him a reassuring smile. “Just be patient, and give them the time they need to think it through. Joey accepted us without flinching. I’m sure the others will react just about the same.”
Yugi cuddled up next to him and sighed quietly, turning his gaze outward toward the world and the masses of humanity passing them by, hardly noticing them sitting close and comfortable on the bench half-covered in shadow. “I’m not so worried about them not accepting you. I mean, they know you. They know you’re a part of me. I’m just a little concerned that suddenly finding out, after all these years we’ve been friends, that I like boys…” He blushed and looked away, leaving the rest unsaid.
Yami squeezed the small hand in his affectionately. “You don’t only like boys.”
“Well, no, but…” Yugi sighed again and let his head fall against Yami’s shoulder. “I don’t know what it was like back in your time, but here, today…it’s not always accepted. For a long time, being gay was something that had to be kept hidden, people would be scandalized or ruined if they were found out. It’s gotten a lot better, but it’s still not always safe to just tell people about that side of you.”
“I don’t know what it was like back in my time, either,” the pharaoh said dryly. “But I do understand your concern. The people closest to you are the ones whose opinion of you is most important to you.”
“I guess times like this are when you find out who your real friends are,” Yugi said hopefully. “I’m sure everything will be all right, it’s just that little tiny nagging fear that if I shock them too much, all at once, they won’t know how to react.”
“The only way to know is to simply do it. You can’t hold back from them, not if you trust them as much as you say you do.” Yami’s eyes drifted across the busy pedestrian center and caught a glimpse of familiar face and clothing, a sight that made a smile return to his lips. “There’s Joey now. I suppose, we can’t put it off any longer.”
Yugi followed his gaze to the tall, lanky blonde youth striding casually across the middle of the paved circle, looking vaguely around him. He obviously hadn’t spotted the two wild-haired young men on their shadowy corner bench yet. Yugi gave his partner’s hand another squeeze for courage and stood up. “All right, then. Let’s go.”
Joey paused in the center of the pedestrian mall, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his denim jacket as he looked around, hoping to see Yugi somewhere nearby. His friend was impossible to miss with that shock of pink and black hair, or so he thought. Then he heard the familiar fair voice call his name from behind him, and turned to see Yugi heading briskly in his direction. Joey was about to call back when he realized that Yugi was not alone – and the person with him should not have existed. He blinked and then rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing double, realizing after a second that the two alike figures were clad in completely different clothing. Nothing in his experiences could prepare him for this sight, leaving him standing there dumbfounded and unable to say anything as Yugi and his companion came walking up, hand in hand, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Yugi gave him a cute little smile. “Hi Joey. Is, um…everything all right?”
“Uhh…” Joey looked from one friendly face to the other, trying to verify what his brain was telling him. “Yug…you want to explain to me what’s going on?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to shock you like this, but I didn’t know how else to approach you.” Yugi glanced up at his partner, still grinning cutely, if a little sheepishly. “Joey…you know Yami.”
“Hi, Joey,” Yami said immediately, with a similar coy smile.
Joey’s brain seemed to have given up control of his mouth, for at that moment his jaw fell open and remained there for a while. That voice, those eyes…that was indeed the pharaoh Joey remembered talking to through Yugi time and again. “But…but…” he stammered after a few minutes of gaping. “How?”
Giving each other a cursory glance, Yugi and Yami together explained their magical story, not leaving out the details of the reason for choosing to invoke the ritual since Joey already knew full well of their relationship. As he listened, the confusion quickly left Joey’s face, to be replaced by interest and excitement. He kept glancing at Yami, amazed not so much by the resemblance as the differences between the two. It drove home the truth that they were two separate entities, and thus perfectly able under the laws that govern love to be able to love each other as naturally as any two humans could. “Sorry I didn’t tell you about it before today,” Yugi said to wrap up his tale, “but I wanted to be sure it worked, first. I already had my hopes up, I didn’t want anyone else to be disappointed if it didn’t work.”
“Makes sense.” Joey gave Yami a direct look and a big grin, and stuck out his hand. “Finally. After all this time.”
Yami clasped the hand offered. “It’s an honor, Joey.”
“Mine too.” Joey then accosted his best friend, hugging him around the neck roughly. “This is so awesome! Look at you guys! Man, are we gonna have some fun today! So this is why you wanted to meet everyone and hang out?”
“Yup.” Yugi disentangled himself from Joey’s headlock and straightened his shirt. “Do you think the others will be okay with it? It’s going to be a huge surprise to see Yami separate from me…and to find out about us.”
“You’re gonna tell them?” Joey whistled appreciatively. “You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. But yeah, it’s probably the best time to do it. It’ll make more sense if Yami’s standing right there next to you.” He then clapped a hand to his forehead. “Oh, I almost forgot! Mai’s gonna meet us later. She’s coming into town today just because you want to hang.”
“Really? Awesome!” Yugi crowed.
“That’s great,” Yami agreed. “Considering what she’s been through with us. I’d like to take this chance to thank her myself.”
“Yeah. But that’s later – come on, we gotta meet Tristan and Téa.” Joey slung an arm around Yugi and pulled him away, putting him between himself and Yami as they walked. “What do you say we hit the arcade after lunch? Man! It would be really cool to watch you two duel each other!”
Yugi laughed brightly. “That would be kind of hard, Joey. We only have one deck between us.”
“You brought it though, didn’t you?”
“He never goes anywhere without it,” Yami pointed out, patting the deck box on Yugi’s belt. It dangled dangerously against Yugi’s ass, which made him blush as he felt the pressure of Yami’s hand.
“Well, then one of you can borrow mine,” Joey offered. “Come on! It’ll be cool!”
“I can’t duel with your deck, Joey,” Yami patiently demurred. “How can I duel when your heart is in those cards, and not mine?”
Joey blinked. “Oh, yeah. Heart of the cards. Right. Forgot about that.” He grinned lopsidedly at the pharaoh. “You really take that seriously, don’t you?”
“It hasn’t let me down yet.”
“If we can find some way of constructing a second deck before the day is out,
maybe we’ll try it,” Yugi suggested. “Right
now I just want some food, and to see everybody.”
“Better let me go in first,” Joey said, more seriously. “Meeting Yami is gonna be a double shock to
the others, they don’t know about you two yet. I
can sort of…set the stage. You
know?”
Yugi nodded. “Thanks, Joey.”
A couple of blocks away, Tristan leaned on the sidewalk railing outside their favorite small arcade, hoping he wouldn’t be kept waiting long. The place was crowded with young kids on their day off from school, and they were annoying him already. He glanced at the corner just in time to see Joey come around it, and the two of them grinned at each other. “Hey, man,” Joey called out. “Right on time.”
Tristan slapped his outstretched hand. “Thank goodness. I’m surrounded by munchkins, here. Maybe we should pick a different place to hang out.”
“Eww. Good point.” Joey glanced behind Tristan to the packs of middle-schoolers streaming in and out the door of the arcade. “Hey, where’s Téa?”
“She didn’t call you?” Tristan stuffed his hands in the pockets of his motorcycle jacket. “She said she tried to call Yugi but he was already out. She called me just before I left, she can’t make it.”
“What?” Joey yelped. “Why not?”
“Her parents, I guess. Something about the arrangements they need to make to get her ready for university.” Tristan shrugged, and then smiled. “But that means she got in.”
“She did? She’s going to New York? Cool.” Joey also shrugged. “Guess that would make sense, then, she probably needs a student visa or something to go study there.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much what she said she had to do today. But I’m supposed to pass along the news.”
“Man, poor Yug. He had something to show her, now she’s not gonna get to see it.”
Tristan raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Like what?”
“A little Millennium magic,” Joey said with a sly grin. “Come on. Yugi’s waiting for us around the corner.”
Tristan followed his buddy with a perplexed look, gladly leaving the arcade behind. “What do you mean by magic? What’s going on, here?”
“Yugi and the pharaoh discovered something about the Puzzle and some magic rituals,” Joey explained. “I don’t know everything, just what he told me, but it’s done something for the pharaoh. You have to see it to believe it.”
“Great, more freaky magic stuff,” Tristan muttered. “All right. Lay it on me.”
They turned the corner and spotted Yugi a few yards away, peering at something in a shop window. Standing just beside him, Yami glanced at the flicker of movement to their left and smiled upon seeing Joey bringing Tristan along. Yugi followed his gaze and beamed happily. “Hi Tristan! We’re not late, are we?”
Tristan’s eyes went to the taller figure beside Yugi and widened. “Is that…the pharaoh?”
“Yep.” Joey folded his arms triumphantly. “Tristan, meet Yami. In the flesh.”
“No kidding.” Tristan unabashedly went straight up to Yami and started poking him in the arm. “You’re for real this time? Not just borrowing Yugi’s body…”
Yami couldn’t resist a laugh. “Yes, Tristan, it’s really me. Hey…stop that.”
“Tristan!” Yugi scolded. “He’s not a toy, he’s a real flesh and blood person like the rest of us!”
“Sorry!” Tristan stepped back with a stupid grin. “It’s not every day you see an ancient pharaoh come back to life. Dude!” He took another step back, his mouth dropping open in awe. “You came back to life! This is incredible!”
The pharaoh shook his head slowly. “No, it’s not quite like that. I never lost my life, or at least my spirit. I simply have been able to restore it to a body for today.”
Tristan looked from him to his shorter half. “What do you mean? For today?”
“The ritual only lasts twenty-four hours,” Yugi explained. “Yami’s only on the outside until midnight tonight. Then, it’s back to the Puzzle as usual.”
“Wow…that really kind of sucks.”
“Yeah, it does,” Joey agreed. “But you guys went through with it anyway? Even knowing you were only going to get one day?”
“One day is still better than none,” Yami reasoned.
“Especially since we don’t really have a noble, save-the-world kind of reason for doing it,” Yugi put in. “We picked today because…well…we just wanted to be together.” He faced his two friends squarely, particularly the one who didn’t already know this part. “Tristan…Yami and I are…we have a relationship. We love each other.”
Tristan frowned in confusion, looking from one to the other as if Yugi had suddenly spoken the last bit in a different language. As if to help, Yami slid his hand into Yugi’s and squeezed it gently as encouragement. After a moment, Tristan scratched his head. “I’m kind of lost. How does that work?”
“Come on,” Joey sighed in exasperation. “I know you haven’t had a girlfriend in a long time, but don’t tell me that means you don’t know what love is, you big doofus.”
“I get that much.” Tristan blinked at his spiky-haired friend. “But what about Téa?”
Yugi rolled his eyes. “Boy, are you behind the times. I gave up on Téa a long time ago. Where have you been?”
“It’s not as complicated as it appears to be,” Yami said more sympathetically. “I care for Yugi, and have loved him for some time, but our connection is for the most part only spiritual. Our interaction is internal, the only way we can be together in any sense is inside the Millennium Puzzle. Discovering the ritual to give me a body for one day is merely a side benefit in it all – we loved each other before it and will continue to love each other after it fades.”
Tristan sighed in relief. “Okay. That much, I can understand. Really, though?” He looked down at their clasped hands. “Wow. I never even saw it coming, Yugi. You’re the last person I’d figure to go for guys.” He smirked towards Yami. “Though, I guess, you two are closer than the rest of us realize. You already had something special.”
Yugi smiled hopefully. “Does that mean you’re okay with it, Tristan?”
“Of course I am.” Tristan gave him an honest smile in return. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t support my buddy? If that’s what makes you happy, I’m not going to stand in your way.” He then threw out a hand and smacked Joey beside him. “You already knew about this?”
Joey rubbed his chest with an annoyed look. “He only told me about a month ago. Right before that accident with his mind getting trapped in the Puzzle. But it’s their choice.” He smiled kindly at the pair. “I’ll respect their decisions, whatever they may be. If they don’t want to tell anyone, or want to wait to tell them themselves, I’m not gonna say otherwise. This is a big announcement, they have a right to make it themselves.”
Tristan nodded, and then a fallen look crossed his face as something re-entered his mind. “Oh, man. Now I see what Joey meant about Téa missing out on something big. That can’t be good.”
“Yes, where is Téa?” Yami wondered. “Is she coming?”
“No, she can’t make it. You guys didn’t get the message, then?” Tristan sighed. “She called me this morning. She got into the dance school in New York that she wanted, so her parents were taking her out today to get her student visa and all kinds of other stuff she’ll need.”
Yugi perked up. “That’s awesome! We should get her something, flowers or something to say congratulations.” His excitement wore off almost immediately. “But yeah, if she’s not coming, then that means she won’t get to see Yami.”
“That’s unfortunate,” Yami murmured. “I would have liked to see her. If we’re to tell her about us, she might take it better if she could see me with you.”
“Yeah.” Yugi shook himself out of his slump. “Oh well. I guess it can’t be helped now. We should just go ahead with our plans, and have a good day just like we wanted to.” He lifted his chin, focusing a brilliant smile on their two friends. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m hungry! Let’s go get something to eat, and then see where the day takes us!”
Joey and Tristan wholeheartedly agreed with that idea, and together the four young men headed off down the block in search of a good place to eat. Yugi deferred to Yami, on account of this being his special day, and the pharaoh admitted that much as he didn’t want extravagant amounts of money being spent on him, he would rather have good food over cheap food. They bypassed the fast food places and ramen shops, finding a decent restaurant with a sidewalk patio they could sit at, enjoying the atmosphere. It took Tristan a short time to figure out exactly how he was supposed to act towards the pharaoh, but Joey was already buddying up to him exactly as he did Yugi, and Yami appeared to accept it without issue, smiling and quietly laughing in his own calm, placid way. Yugi was certainly the more spunky of the two, his smile glowing at even higher magnitude than usual with Yami beside him. He had to teach the pharaoh to use chopsticks, and after that amusing episode, all four of them were laughing as four friends who had always been together should. It was helpful that Yami didn’t need to be told about anything that had happened between the group, he knew all of it, he had been there in some form or another for every moment of Yugi’s life since meeting Joey. Reminiscing over food took on a whole new dimension, then, and made for an interesting conversation. Yami spent most of the time just listening, watching Yugi, gazing in fascination at the energy and interplay of the three friends, and savoring his tempura one bite at a time. Of the things he could do with a real body that his spirit lacked, things he didn’t remember from his life but wanted to, foremost on the list were eating and sex. Sex had come first, and would probably come again later, but right now he was completely enraptured with the reality of food, the varied tastes, textures, and scents that were completely foreign to him and the unfolding memory of what it was like to eat and be full. He didn’t neglect the company, though, and managed to pull himself out of reverie long enough to converse at the right moments. Only Yugi sat close enough to hear the occasional happy purr of contentment from his lover, and he merely smiled to himself. He let Yami take his time, and talked things over with the other two while the pharaoh finished up and poked at what leftover bits of sushi remained in front of Yugi. “So, what do you guys want to do?” he asked them.
“Not the Domino arcade,” Tristan said emphatically. “It’s like middle school field trip day over there or something.”
“Yeah, but I feel like gaming,” Joey pouted. “Is there anywhere else we can go?”
“What about Kaiba’s arcade, across town?” Yugi suggested. “They have dueling arenas there.”
“I don’t want to throw any more of my money at Kaiba,” Joey snorted. “The duel disk is bad enough.”
“But you didn’t bring your duel disk.” Yugi wagged a finger at him smartly. “If you’re that interested in dueling, the only arenas close by are Kaiba’s arcade and Duke’s game shop.”
Joey made an aggravated noise. “Fine, we’ll go to the arcade. If you two aren’t going to duel each other, then I want me a piece of Yami!”
“Hm?” The pharaoh glanced up, hearing his name. “What was that?”
“I take it you like the food,” Tristan smirked.
“Sorry.” Yami smiled bashfully. “It’s an entirely new experience for me, I don’t mean to ignore you.” Since Yugi was letting him have his leftovers, Yami snapped up the last piece of sushi in his chopsticks and then noticed the cup on the edge. “What is this?”
“It’s wasabi. Careful!” Yugi cried as Yami dipped the nugget of sushi in the green substance and popped it immediately in his mouth. “That’s too much!”
Yami’s eyes widened at precisely that moment, and he had to choke down the sushi before grabbing his drink. Joey and Tristan burst out in hysterical laughter, nearly falling off their chairs and raising the ire of the people at the next table over. With his face burning red, Yami set down his chopsticks and decided he had had enough. “What…was that?” he stammered as soon as he felt able to talk again.
“Wasabi is really hot,” Yugi explained. “It only takes a little teeny bit. You have to be careful how much you eat at once.”
“I figured that much out.” Yami fanned a hand in front of his face, eliciting more giggles from the two across the table. “All right. I think I’m done.”
“Well, I guess you wanted new experiences,” Yugi said helpfully. Yami eyed him suspiciously, but then smiled in agreement.
Joey wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes. “Oh man, that was awesome,” he panted, still laughing under his breath. “I am never going to forget that as long as I live.” Just then, his cell phone went off, forcing him to sober up long enough to answer it. Yami just politely dabbed at his lips with his napkin and went silent. “Hey!” Joey crowed into the phone, and then pulled it aside long enough to inform the others, “Hey, it’s Mai!”
Yugi sat up in interest. “Is she coming?”
“Hold on.” Joey listened, and then explained the tentative plan in their hearing. “Yeah, we were thinking of going over to Kaiba’s arcade. Hm? No, just the four of us. Want to meet us there? Sure, that’d be great. Yugi’s got a surprise for you.” A slow grin spread across his face. Even Yami and Yugi across the table could hear Mai’s questioning tone. “Nuh uh, you have to see it for yourself. Meet us at the arcade, all right? Bye…” He snickered as he closed the phone and pocketed it. “There you have it. Mai’s gonna meet us at the arcade. And you get to go through your whole explanation all over again,” he reminded Yugi.
Yugi shrugged. “That’s okay. I haven’t told Tristan all the details yet either, I’ll cover it all at once.”
“I don’t need details,” Tristan demurred with a smile. “Magic ritual and Millennium Puzzle are all I need to know.”
Joey hopped up from his chair. “All right, then. Let’s go!”
The group of them had only visited Kaiba’s arcade a handful of times, being as there were smaller, less-Kaiba-related game stores and arcades closer to home, but it did still boast the largest space for video games as well as a number of dueling arenas, even if they were considered old fashioned next to the play-anywhere duel disks that were all the rage now. It took them a short bus ride and a bit of a walk to get there, but it gave them time to hang around and talk, to point things out to Yami and watch his reactions. His attention, however, was mostly on Yugi, with a special smile reserved just for him as they stood close together, hands entwined but hidden between them so as not to spook any strangers they passed. At one point, Joey glanced back at them in the seat behind him on the bus, and smiled at the way Yami leaned in close to whisper something to Yugi, and Yugi’s shy giggle in response. “Boy,” Joey murmured to Tristan, “I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but those two are really cute together.”
Tristan gave a quick backward glance himself and nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Yugi this happy. He’s practically beside himself.” He then grinned at Joey. “Well, technically, he is!”
Joey smacked him for that. “Don’t you get it by now?” he complained. “Yami’s completely different, he’s not just another side of Yugi.”
“I know, I know,” Tristan said, rubbing his arm. “I couldn’t resist, it was right there in front of me. That was the pun of a lifetime.”
Joey groaned, but fortunately they had reached their stop and could all pile out of the bus and walk the last few blocks to the arcade. It was as crowded here as any kid-friendly place on a Sunday, but the size of the arcade and its surrounding sidewalks made it comfortable enough to maneuver. As they walked up to the doors, Mai sashayed in from their left, turning to spot them at the same time and waving boldly. “Yoo hoo! Hey boys…” Her smile suddenly faded, and the four boys knew exactly why – she had spotted Yami walking at Yugi’s side, and didn’t know how to interpret his presence. Joey and Tristan stood aside and waited to let Yugi get his announcements out of the way. Mai blinked in confusion as they came up to her. “Yugi…?”
“Hey, Mai,” Yugi greeted her. “It’s good to see you.”
Joey and Tristan likewise said hello. Mai nodded and smiled at them, but couldn’t stop herself from staring at the fourth man in the party. “Um, so who’s your friend, Yugi?”
“Well, you know him, kind of,” Yugi tried to explain. “This is Yami…the pharaoh. From the Puzzle. We found a way to set him free for a day.”
Yami smiled strongly and held out a hand. “Mai. It’s been a while.”
Mai gingerly took his hand, still staring, though the conflicting expressions flickering through her eyes showed that she was starting to grasp the gist of his presence. “The…pharaoh?” she repeated. “Seriously. You’re the pharaoh.”
Yugi figured a little extra help was necessary, so he went into a short explanation of the ritual that had been brought to their attention, and its ability to give the spirit one full day of life. “That’s why I wanted to get everyone together to hang out,” he added plaintively. “I wanted as many of my friends to meet him as I could get. You’ve all known him, talked to him, watched him duel before, you just never really saw him as a separate person, the way I see him. This is our chance. Yami’s here for the experience.” He smiled cutely up at his lover. “To make new memories, since he still can’t get to his old ones. He really needs this.”
“You both do,” Joey pointed out. “Go on, Yug. May as well get it over with.”
Mai cocked her head curiously. “There’s more?”
Yami suddenly eased his arms around Yugi from behind and turned him to face him. “I think I know of a quick and easy way to explain,” he murmured. Yugi looked up at him, startled, but quickly braced himself as Yami leaned down and kissed him softly, saying the difficult without words. Yugi’s heart within him jolted excitedly, sending a rush of heat through his body as he forgot all about being scared of how to say anything to Mai and simply relished the delicious kiss. After they broke away, he just stood there blinking for a moment and let Yami hug him to his side as he turned back to Mai. “Do you understand?”
Mai stared at them a moment longer before shaking herself out of her shock. “Now that’s a hell of a surprise,” she managed to comment. She gazed for a moment at Yugi’s shy little smile, and the way he willingly cuddled up to the pharaoh’s side, and smirked knowingly at them. “No big explanation needed, I get it. But wow…I had no idea.” She looked specifically to Yugi. “How long has this been going on?”
“Oh, a while,” he replied casually. “A little more than a year, I’d say. We’ve had strong feelings for each other since, hmm, probably the Battle City tournament, but we took a while to admit to them and talk to each other about them. It’s not your normal kind of relationship, I know,” he added, “which is why we never said anything to anyone.”
“I don’t blame you. It’s really weird, Yugi.” But Mai smiled as she said it. Then, she laughed brightly. “But, what the hell. Having an ancient spirit share your mind isn’t normal either, and I’ve seen you do it for how many years now, it makes perfect sense to me. I never figured you as that kind of guy, though, Yugi.”
Yugi blushed involuntarily. “It’s just Yami. I love him so much, I don’t care.”
“Are we cool?” Joey broke in. “I don’t want to stand around here playing soap opera all day, let’s go get our game on or something.”
Mai nodded and smiled brightly. “We’re cool. I don’t care if you’re gay or your not gay or what, Yugi, as long as you’re happy. And you do look happy,” she noted, nodding towards the pair standing with their arms protectively around each other. Both relaxed and smiled at each other. Mai winked at them. “It’s way less weird than your magic ritual that let the pharaoh have a body for one day. That’s the freaky part, and don’t mind me if you catch me staring a bit.” She eyed the pharaoh then. “It’s one thing to hear about you, and all the Millennium stuff that goes on around you, but quite another to be looking at you like this.”
Yami smiled back. “I can assure you, Mai, I’m the same person you’ve always known about, the same one who’s stood beside you and against you in the tournaments. The one who took the brunt of a god’s attack to save you.”
Her eyes softened. “I remember that,” she murmured. “A little too well, sometimes. In that case, it’s an honor to have you hanging around with us, pharaoh. Now come on.” Mai turned and gestured over her shoulder. “Joey’s right, let’s go have some fun.”
They entered the cool, dark confines of the giant arcade in one big pack, looking eagerly around to see what sorts of entertainment they could choose from. There were dueling arenas, yes, but also video games, a dance-battle stage, and a laser tag arena. Hundreds of kids and young adults thronged the open spaces between games, but there was plenty of room to move around and hunt down something fun to do without having to stand in line. They played around with a few video games before the idea of dueling each other in an arena came up, since Mai was quite sure that both Joey and Yugi had their decks along and would have been willing to take each other on. “Nah,” Joey dismissed her, “if there’s gonna be dueling, there’s only one person I want to see play, whether it’s against Yugi or one of us.” He looked pointedly at the pharaoh.
Yami shook his head slowly. “I told you, Joey, I don’t have a deck to duel with.”
“So make one,” Mai dared him. “We’re in a game store, aren’t we? You can get cards here.”
“You guys really want to see us duel each other, huh?” Yugi sighed.
“Yeah!” Joey encouraged. “I mean, come on…when are you ever going to get this chance again? This is the only time you’re ever going to be able to look at cards without the other one lurking in the back of your mind helping you play them. Now’s the time to really find out which one of you is the King of Games.”
“Sounds like you’ve got no choice,” Tristan shrugged. “You better do it, Yugi. You know Joey, he’s not going to let go of this idea anytime soon.” He rolled his eyes at Joey, who grinned stupidly in response.
“I have to admit, it’s a pretty cool idea,” Mai added. “I’d be up for sitting on the sidelines and watching the two of you duel. Just make a new deck and get it over with. What have you got to lose?”
“Well, all right then,” Yugi decided, “I’ll create a new deck. I was kind of thinking about getting some new cards anyway.”
Yami looked concernedly at him. “Can you afford to do that right now?”
“I’ll help you out,” Joey said brightly. “On the deal that if you pull any cool cards I want, I get to keep them after this duel.”
“Yeah, me too,” Tristan offered. “Well, except for the bit about keeping cards. I don’t think it would do me any good.”
“Then it’s settled!” Yugi beamed at his lover. “We’ll put together a new deck on the spot, but with the cards I like. And with my friends helping me, all our hearts will be in it. Can you duel against that?”
The pharaoh smiled kindly. “I guess I can’t argue with that. All right, then. If you insist.”
They went to the main counter of the arcade, which doubled as a store to sell Duel Monsters cards and related KaibaCorp accessories, and the other two boys enthusiastically helped Yugi select a number of booster packs from all different card series. He thought hard and then chose a Flame Starter Deck, mentioning that he had always thought about structuring a Pyro-themed deck just for fun because a lot of Fire monsters were fairly powerful. Together with the boosters thrown in by Joey and Tristan, and even a couple from Mai, he was able to assemble a pretty good deck balanced between Fire and warrior-type monsters that he really liked. He even pulled another Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, and just grinned at Yami as he slid it into the deck. The extra cards he handed back to Joey and Tristan, to let them fight over which ones they wanted to keep. “There! That’s a deck I can be proud of, for short notice.” Yugi tucked it in his pants pocket with a firm smile for Yami. “Just remember, I know our deck as well as you do, and I know your strategies. I bet I can predict your every move.”
Yami raised an eyebrow in challenge. “You think so? Perhaps this is a good time to remind you that the one and only time we ever dueled each other, I won, despite us having identical decks.”
“Yeah, but that was to save the world,” Yugi said quietly, his smile fading.
“But you didn’t let me win.”
“No, I didn’t…”
Yami placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry to have brought that up. Come on, let’s duel. This should be a lot of fun. There are no lives at stake, no world to save, just you and me and some holographic monster cards.”
“Yeah!” Joey cut in exuberantly. “This is gonna be the duel of a lifetime!”
One arena was free, so they went in and stepped up on opposite sides, unable to keep from grinning across the expanse at the sight of an identical face looking back. A few people were lingering around the arenas to just watch games, regardless of who was playing, but someone recognized Yugi as the reigning champion and said something loud enough to catch the ear of anyone still in the seats. As a result, a fair number of bystanders came and sat down with Joey, Tristan, and Mai – who wisely chose a seat at the halfway point, instead of backing up one or the other. They simply couldn’t choose between their friends and needed to support them both. Each duelist set his deck down in its proper spot, causing the arena lights to flicker on to indicate an active duel. Yugi faced Yami with a determined but friendly stare as he picked up his top five cards. “We have this arena for a three-duel set,” he reminded. “Maybe we can play this way once, and then switch decks, see if it makes any difference.”
“That sounds like a good deal,” Yami agreed, also drawing five cards and fanning them into his hand. “And what about the third round?”
Yugi shrugged. “We’ll see when we get there.”
“You guys had better not tie!” Joey called to them. “If this turns out to be a draw, I’m gonna come over there and kick both your butts.”
Yugi giggled at him, and then extended a hand toward his partner. “You’re the newcomer, I’ll let you go first.”
Yami nodded and drew his first card. The murmurs around them in the gallery hushed as the duel began, though only the three in the front row knew who this Yugi-lookalike was and why it was so interesting to see the champion dueling him. It was a hard and fast duel, but prolonged, as neither could get the upper hand. Yugi was certainly able to predict what Yami would do with the cards he laid out, but Yami kept it interesting by throwing in new strategies or faking his opponent out with a different Trap than expected. Little did they know, there was someone special watching their duel from the shadows, someone who had heard the rumor threading through the arcade that Yugi Muto was dueling someone in public and wanted to know what was going on. While he watched, he pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and hit a preset call number. “Hey, Seto,” Mokuba said as soon as it picked up. “I’m down at the arcade. Yeah, everything’s fine, but I thought you should know. Yugi is here, dueling – and you’ve got to see who he’s dueling against. Seriously.”