Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ A Different Kind of You ❯ Story of Our Life ( Chapter 4 )

Sorry about it being out so late. It's a bit longer than the other chapters so it took me a little longer. I've tried working on it in school too, but it's hard to do that and take fast notes at the same time ^_^. Sorry.

~~

"…and then we went to the ice rink. I can almost stay up on my own too," Yugi finished just as excitedly as when he started, pulling on a tight maroon vest over his head as he was finishing.

"Sounds like you had a lot of fun today, Yugi," Malik smiled, "but that doesn't tell me why you need to borrow my clothes."

The amethyst eyes teen pulled some black jeans off a hanger in Malik's closet, slipping them on as he replied, "As we were walking back to the park Yami invited me for dinner tonight. I don't have any nice clothes to where like you do." He looked back at his friend with some akin to fear sparkling in the depths of his eyes (which surprised Malik greatly), "You don't mind, do you?"

"No, no, of course not, Yugi," Malik exclaimed, jumping off his bed and gathering his best friend in a hug. "You know I don't mind you borrowing my stuff. I'll tell you what, once you get a good pay, I promise I'll help you find some good clothes," He laughed, motioning at the legs of the pants that were bunching up on the floor and hiding Yugi's feet completely.

Yugi rolled up the legs and used pins that Malik handed to him to hold them up. He looked back up at his friend; "You'd really do that for me?"

"Yup, no worries," Malik said as he went back to his bed again and pulled out a small, worn out brown paper bag, "Come here, I'll help make you a knock out."

Yugi smiled, pulling on his own shoes since he knew Malik's would be too big on him, and bounced over to the bed, sitting between Malik's legs, facing him.

Just as Malik was finishing the few touched of eyeliner, there was a quiet knock on the door. After a second the wood creaked open and a teen with long white hair peeked in.

"Ryou," Malik accidentally shouted, completely surprised. "Come in, come in! I heard about where you've been heading off to at last! So, having fun without telling anyone?"

A small blush came over the albino's cheeks and he look down at the cracked wood floor. "Yes, well, I wish I could say I was here on a social call, but I'm afraid not. Actually," he looked at Yugi, "I was looking for you. Can we talk?"

"Me," Yugi asked in wonder, "Err…okay. Malik, are you done?"

"Yup, have fun."

Yugi nodded and hopped off the bed, hurrying after Ryou down the hall.

"I guess I just wanted to apologize," the white-haired teen started suddenly, disturbing the slightly uncomfortable silence between the two friends.

`Can we still be considered friends even though it seems like we haven't spent any time together in ages,' Yugi wondered absently. Ryou's words suddenly caught up to him and he looked up at the teen. "Ryou," he stuttered, "I-I don't understand." The words kept repeating themselves and he couldn't find any reason for Ryou to have to apologize for anything. He berated himself for stuttering though, `Moron, you don't have anything to be scared about. This is Ryou! You're friend! Yes! A friend still, I refuse to think this could be the end.'

"For not being around as much. I wasn't being a very good friend at all. I should've been there for you like Malik was."

"For…" Yugi was confused, `He can't be talking about…'

"About last night."

Yugi's eyes widened in shock, "How do you know about that?"

"It was the first thing I heard when I got here a few minutes ago. That creep Rex and Four-Eyes Weevil were laughing about it with some other guys."

"Oh," Yugi looked down sadly, "It-it wasn't that bad."

"Never mind that," Ryou argued, "I still should've been there." He paused before continuing on, the subject dramatically changed, "I met Bakura a while ago and he helped me out, showed me good times when I thought everything bad would come my way because of what I turned to."

"I was wondering how you came back from that depression so quickly. Malik and I were worried about you," Yugi smiled gently up at him, mostly to show him there weren't any hard feelings.

"He's amazing," Ryou explained excitedly, "I never thought we'd end up together though. I've never been so happy, Yugi. It's like everyday is like the first day we met and he makes me fall in love with him all over again."

"There's no such thing as love." -

Yugi froze for a small second as the simple phrase Yami had said to him just that day flashed across his eyes. He tried shaking it off though. `I don't want anything to interfere with my time with Ryou. I've barely seen him for a really long time and I've missed him.'

As soon as he finished that though, another zoomed in front of him; this time his own words he remembered:

- "About what you said about love; I believe you. I feel the same way about it." -

Yugi bit his lip, thinking pain could get rid of the words he himself had uttered. He wouldn't do a single thing to ruin Ryou's happiness, but then one thought came to mind. "Ryou, what about Bakura," he asked curiously, "with you being a… a… well, this," he gestured around the halls.

Ryou looked out a dusty window as he passed it, "He doesn't like it at all, but he understands I owe Marik and other people a lot of money and this is the quickest way to pay it off. We argue about it every now and then, but he only does it because he worries. He made me promise to tell him all my appointments and he knows all my regulars too. Whenever I have a hard night and am too sore to move, he even comes to visit me."

"That's sounds so cool, Ryou. I'm so happy for you." That inkling of guilt fought Yugi as he fought with his conscience. `How can to three stupid sentences affect me this much?!'

Ryou smiled and nodded his thanks. They stopped in front of the albino's door and said teen put his hand on the knob. "By the way, Yugi," he glanced over his shoulder, his eyes sparkling, "you look good."

Yugi blushed and looked down at the dusty carpet that was laid on the floor haphazardly, his shoes playing the loose strings as he mumbled his thanks.

Ryou opened his door and slipped into the darkness of it, barely even opening his door enough for him to get in. Yugi found the action curious, but looking out the dusty window Ryou had glanced out at he found the sky darkening and he forgot the act completely.

He walked silently down the hall towards the front door, inwardly giddy that he was having such a good day, especially so about being with Ryou again. He'd been worried that the albino was drifting away from him for good.

He was just about to step outside when a voice stopped him. He turned and was surprised to see Marik running towards him.

"Phew," the spiky-haired man gasped, "I was afraid you had already left when Malik said you were going out soon."

"What's up, Marik?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine; today's really helping me out."

"That's great, Yugi. I'm really happy for you."

The words struck a nerve since Yugi remembered only a minute earlier he had said them in half lie. He curiously wondered if Marik really meant it or merely did the same thing Yugi himself had.

"Marik, what did you do? You've got that look on you face," Yugi questioned suspiciously.

"I have some appointments…"

"Not for tonight," The amethyst eyed teen shouted worriedly.

"No! no, of course not, Yugi. I've put them on hold though in case you weren't feeling well enough for it. I made sure only regulars though," He pulled out a piece of paper and looked at, "Pegasus," Yugi cringed, "Espa Roba," Yugi felt a small sense of relief," and Duke," Yugi immediately looked up.

"Duke?! Duke Devlin?!"

Marik nodded, pocketing the small paper.

"I'll do it! I haven't see him in ages! No since ht told me he sent off his new game to that company: Industrial Illusions, I think is what he told me."

"I was surprised to hear him on the phone as well. What of the other two?"

Yugi thought for a while before reluctantly nodding, "A small price to pay for Duke, I suppose."

"Alright, I'll go call them back and say it's a go," he nodded goodbye and walked down the hall, albeit looking much more relaxed than when Yugi first saw him running up to him.

Yugi turned and opened the door, stepping out into the cool evening air.

~~

"Did you tell him what we discussed, Ryou," a husky voice asked from the bed.

"Yeah, don't worry, Bakura. He thinks we're going out, just like you want people to think."

"Good, I didn't want to have to punish you. You know my boss doesn't approve of me coming here even though he does," the taller albino smirked.

"Whatever," the younger glared.

"And by the way," a sharp smack sounded throughout the quiet room, leaving Ryou wincing as he held onto his pulsing red cheek, "That was for earlier."

"What? For when Yugi showed up? I didn't know he was going to be there," Ryou shouted, arguing back.

"You're lucky I don't punish you for that big mouth you seem to being using a bit today. Arguing with me like that! As it is, I can't or it won't be unnoticed by that little twerp friend of yours tonight. You're lucky he's going to be at the restaurant as well, otherwise I wouldn't bother being this careful."

"You don't care about other people seeing, but you care about my friends. Afraid that you're going to be reported?"

"You're pushing you luck, Ryou," Bakura growled, his temper rising.

"Do you think I care?"

Another, louder growl echoed throughout the room before a loud thump resounded from Ryou falling on the rough carpet, Bakura on top of him. "I said I wouldn't be able to punish you, but you are a whore. Why not make you useful?!"

The younger white-haired teen's calls were silence as a sock was shoved forcefully into his mouth, his hands trapped underneath his own back.

~~

"Well, hello there, stranger," a deep voice said from the shadow of a trunk of a dying oak tree.

The amethyst-eyed teen looked up at the voice and squinted to get a better look. He was surprised when Yami stepped into the little light of daylight that was left and smiled softly at him. "Hey, Yami. I thought we were going to meet up at the park again?"

"Yeah, I know, but I was bored so I decided to come and wait for you. It looks like a pretty rundown place if you ask me. Do people really come here and do you go to them after making an appointment or something," Yami questioned as they started walking down the sidewalk.

"It's only like that because of Marik. He's run into the cops before and he didn't want the business ruined because of them like the last time he opened of something. He doesn't want to let the people who work here down because most of them are really doing this because they've got nowhere else to turn to," Yugi explained.

"What about you?"

"It's no big deal," Yugi said, his voice suddenly quiet.

"I wanna know."

"Well, I don't want to talk about it," Yugi shouted.

Yami held up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry; sheesh. No big deal, then, you got it."

"Sorry," Yugi quickly looked away.

"Nah, I should've just let it alone. You would've told me if you wanted me to know."

Yugi nodded and the rest of the walk was quiet until they reached the busier half of town.

"What are we doing here," Yugi asked, looking around in awe. He'd rarely ever been to this side of town, maybe once or twice, but both were during the day. At night, the place looked amazing with the different lights and signs brightening the entire area up. It was a wonderful contrast to the night sky above and Yugi didn't think he could get enough of it. To him, the sight was breathtaking.

"The restaurant I work at is here, just around that corner by the street light," Yami pointed out.

"Oh! That's right, we forgot Ryou and Bakura!"

Yami laughed and shook his head, "Don't worry about it. Bakura knows how to get there since he's been there so many times. Knowing him, he'll probably be picking up Ryou at that whorehouse and meet us at the restaurant in about half an hour."

Yugi didn't say anything, only nodded. "So, Bakura must like eating with people he brings with him," he looked at the cracked pavement sadly. He'd been looking forward to spending the evening with Ryou as well as Yami and maybe even getting to know Bakura.

"No," Yami answered, making the teen look up suddenly. "I just wanted to hang out with you, I guess," Yami shrugged, "You're a cool person to talk to. We are friends, aren't we, Yugi?"

"Well, yeah, of course," Yugi said hurriedly, worried that Yami had gotten the wrong idea. Thinking that, the violet-eyed teen quickly explained, "It's just that I haven't actually spent any time with Ryou at all and I've really been missing his company. I was hoping that I could catch up with him tonight, but then you said you'd meet them up later and I just figured that you were going to make me eat an run."

Yami then started laughing, muffled at first behind his hand, before he completely lost it. Yugi couldn't help but stare at him in wonder, completely not understanding what was so funny about what he said. His hair was then ruffled playfully and he glared at Yami even though the older wasn't paying attention to it.

"You sure are a funny one, Yugi," he said as he wiped a small tear from the corner of his eye, "As good as a chef as I'm claimed to be, I don't really like cooking all that much. I'm not going to bother cooking four different meals at different times if I can help it."

Yugi looked down, feeling like an idiot. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"There's nothing to worry about. You probably thought I was just some bum the way you kept seeing me hang out at the park and then get into carnivals using one of my friends."

"Well, that didn't cross my mind, but now that you mentioned it, that would make some sense."

"Bookworm," Yami smirked.

"What," Yugi looked up, startled at the sudden comment.

"That's what you remind me of: a bookworm."

"How do I do that," Yugi questioned, still not getting it.

"The way you just said how it didn't cross your mind, but when I mentioned it that it would make sense. Just the way you said it reminded me of a bookworm."

Yugi shook his head and looked around, spotting a sign that said `Public Library' in a neon red sign. He sighed, "To be honest, I haven't so much as picked up a book in years. I sort of miss losing myself in the different worlds, but there hasn't been much time for it."

"Well, that just sucks, I guess. I don't care much for reading. In school, my teachers would always fail me just because I didn't read their stupid books they told me were required for me to pass. So, I finally dropped out. My dad didn't care, he just said it was easier to save money without having to pay for me to go to school. He was just glad that I didn't want to be a lawyer or a doctor, something expensive like that to pay through for."

He stopped talking while he opened the backdoor to the restaurant using a key from his pocket. He let Yugi walk in and they both got comfortable at a table before he started up again.

"After a few months though I got bored with my time and needed something to do for the day. I was so used to at least doing something going to school for most of the day. So I went out and wandered around. Well, that got boring for a while too and finally I noticed all the help wanted signs around me."

"Why a restaurant, then," Yugi asked, genuinely curious.

"It wouldn't have been my first pick, but my dad was always nagging about prices being so high for food and since I get free meals working here it was the best choice. Plus, I didn't need a good education to get it. I've been here ever since."

"So are you like the manager or something?"

"Nope, I don't really care. As long as I get a paycheck and my free meals than I'll be here."

"So there wasn't anything you wanted to be if you did get through school?"

Yami smirked and pulled out a cigarette, opening a small window by the door for the smoke to get through. "Not really. The only thing I can really count on are my looks and my stamina." He lit up his cigarette and took a long drag, breathing it out towards the window.

Yugi snorted and looked away, "It isn't everyone's dream to do what I do. Do you think I woke up one morning and said, `hey, I wanna go and have people pay for my body'?"

"I guess not, but, like I said, those are the only things I count on. That and my newly found skill of flipping burgers without burning myself now."

The younger shook his head, which earned him a glare from Yami.

"I'd like to see you try doing it without hurting yourself. You should've seen some of the marks I left with at night. None of which were very pretty. I refused to wear anything but a long sleeve shirt and pants to work until all of them were gone, even if I got stifling hot wearing it."

At that moment a knock rapped on the door.

"That would be Bakura with your friend," Yami mumbled as he pushed off the counter and put out the cigarette. He opened the door and let the two albinos in.

"I thought you said you were gonna quit smoking that junk, Yami," Bakura smirked as he closed the door behind him.

"I am… when I run out."

"Did you know you say that every time you get a new pack?"

"Yup."

Bakura rolled his eyes.

"So what do you want for dinner," Yami asked.

~~

"Dinner was great as always, Yami," Bakura waved, dragging Ryou along.

After they left, Yugi glanced at Yami. "He was limping," he noted.

"Hmm," Yami looked up from the dishes.

"Ryou, he was limping. Must've had a hard customer before he came here."

Yami shrugged and went back to the dishes, thinking it was be a `prostitute's intellect', or something like that.

Silence fell between them, both being a bit tired from the day's events. It wasn't until they were a few minutes from Yugi's place did the quiet break.

"I ran away," Yugi suddenly whispered.

Yami looked down at him, confused, "What?"

"You asked how I ended up at this place. I ran away from home. Everything was messed up. My sister was murdered by her boyfriend who was a drunk, my mom was never home and when she was she was sticking herself with needles to get high, and my dad was a druggie addict who drank nothing but beer. Plus, my parents were always fighting. I hated how my life was. Finally, when they said they were getting divorced I couldn't take it. That night I packed some of my stuff up, grabbed all my cash, and got as far away from there as I possible could."

"Sounds like neither us had very good lives."

"I guess not."