Adeption

By HikariEryaviel

Monday June 21, 2004 (5:39 AM)

The wind coming from the open door of the balcony was trying to freeze his toes off. It really was. It was cold!

Yuugi yawned and stretched his arms over his head as his eyes slowly came into focus. He looked around, slightly disoriented, as he tried to figure out where in the world he was. When the sleepiness wore off some, he looked around and smacked his forehead, smiling stupidly to himself. Unfortunately, the smack forced his dizziness to come back full force and he landed back on his bed with a dull thwump. He laughed to himself. 'Of course. You're in your bedroom, dufus. Where else would you be?'

'Well, you never know. You did fall asleep at the sports' grounds after you were done training that one day back in November. You had the entire place freaked out, y'know!'

Yuugi smiled despite himself, and turned over happily smothering his face into the pillow. He decided he'd continue this little conversation with himself. 'I had the place in an uproar, I did. That day was so awesome! The look on Dad's face was priceless!'

'You shouldn't talk bad of your father, Yuugi.'

He snorted. 'And I shouldn't talk to myself either! But who's gonna stop me?'

'Me!' And he punched himself in the face.

Yuugi couldn't take it anymore and started laughing like an idiot. The sound eventually got so loud that he had to smother his face in the pillow again.

After the laughing died down, he forced his giggling self out of bed. He made his way toward his balcony and over to the doors, shutting them. As he closed them, he took a look at the clouds outside. The city beyond his room was slightly darker than normal, and the clouds above his head were a dark menacing gray. He smiled. 'Aw, cool! It's definitely going to rain today!'

He walked back over to his bed and plopped back onto it. His face was pressed into the mattress so his nose was getting smushed, but he smiled all the same. 'Could this day get any better so far?'

He smiled as big as he could, completely forgetting his troubles and insecurities for the time being. He loved it when he could be like this. There were always nobles around to make sure he was always prim, proper, and completely unemotional. Mornings like this were scarce, and he was lapping up every minute greedily.

Suddenly, a he could hear something coming from across the hall. He quickly feigned sleep so if they came in, he wouldn't be bothered. The sound kept getting louder until it was right at his door. It sounded like…giggling? Then came a lot of 'Shhh!'s, and it rendered Yuugi helplessly confused.

He heard his bedroom door open but didn't look up to see who it was, because it would ruin his cover. He heard something- somethings?- move almost silently across the floor, and stop near his bed.

All at one there was a big "YUUGI!" and then he found himself covered with his laughing, tickling brothers and sisters.

After he got over the shock of having the seven people jump all over him, he started laughing all over again. He grabbed a few of them and started tickling them, while he himself was being tickled mercilessly. One of the younger siblings started jumping up and down on his bed saying, "C'mon, get up Yuugi! It's morning time!"

Yuugi pried himself from the throng of children and ran to the end of his bed. He put his hands out in front of him and yelled, "Alright, alright! I'm up! I'm awake!" He put his hands behind his back and reached behind him, grabbing a pillow that had found itself wedged between the bed and the wall.

He turned around to make it look like he was leaving, but at the last minute he turned around and jumped on the nearest person. With a loud battle cry, he started whacking anything he saw moving with the pillow. Soon, all of the other children found a fluffy weapon of their own, and started yelling and beating each other.

Then suddenly, the wind was knocked out of him as one of his sisters ran at him from the back, knocking him down on the bed. All at once, the children started ganging up on him. Two of the others were sitting on his back and effectively holding him down, whilst the other beat him with the pillows.

He laughed hard and yelled, "Hey, what is it, gang up on Yuugi day?!"

Half of them yelled "Yep!" and continued with their torture. Soon enough, Yuugi was laughing so hard the he thought he was going to bust a lung. He rolled over, forcing the two on his back to fall off, and grabbed his lost weapon and started up the war again.

Soon after, Yuugi was breathing heavily and was getting hit more often. He had managed to get himself pinned one or two times more before he gave up. "Alright! Uncle, uncle! I'm defeated! You got me!" And he feigned a dramatic death.

One of his siblings gave him another good whack on the head for good measure, and Dead-Yuugi cracked a smile.

He blinked his eyes open. "Alright, who's up for breakfast?"

This got a chorus of cheers and yells. He felt himself being dragged up off of his mattress. "C'mon, bro!"

He smiled and waved the offered hand away, insisting on getting himself up. Once he had pulled himself upright, smaller hands were clawing at his, pulling him to the entrance of his room. He had to admit; the kids' laughter was addictive. He couldn't stop himself from chuckling as he pried their little fingers off his hands. "Heh, you guys go ahead, I still have to get dressed!"

His youngest sister groaned playfully and grabbed his arm, trying to force him out of the room. "You do not, 'Uugi. C'mon!"

He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly and gave in. The half of the children in his room were wearing them, why couldn't he? He took control of the pack and did some pulling of his own.

When all of the children were out of his room, he started purposely walking really fast down the hall. The expected groans of his brothers and sisters were heard as they tired to catch up with him. He chuckled a bit, and then slowed down his pace.

He got an idea. "Hey guys! Last one to the dining hall is a loser!" And they all took off running.

Though before Yuugi could start off, a hand gripped his upper arm to keep him from running off. He turned around and found it was Kaial. He smiled slightly at the boy and was about to question him, but the boy beat him to it.

"…Hey Yuugi?" The said older boy gave his brother a questioning glance. Kaial fidgeted. "I…I wanted to say sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to make you mad or anything. I was a real jerk." The younger hung his head.

Yuugi ruffled his hair, giving the boy the biggest smile he possibly could. That apology meant a lot to him. "Nah, it's probably me who should be saying sorry. I shouldn't have overreacted like that." Kaial looked up, surprised his brother still wasn't mad at him.

Yuugi continued. "Hey, whaddya say, how' bout a truce?" He couldn't possibly be mad at his brother on a great morning like this.

The boys' only answer was a big tackle hug. Yuugi laughed and crushed Kaial's head to his side with his arm, using his other arm to playfully run his knuckles across the others' scalp.

After Yuugi let go, Kaial smirked up at his brother. "So, last one to the hall's a loser, eh?" And he took off running. Yuugi yelled saying that he had an unfair head start, but was laughing his heart out the entire way there.

They both arrived at the doors at the exact same time, earning a groan from both. "So, I guess we're both losers, eh?" Kaial quipped.

Yuugi smirked teasingly. "Nope, just you!" and he walked inside the hall. Kaial huffed and went up to him and lightly punched him in the arm, then went and took his seat. Yuugi shook his head, then walked a little further up the table and sat himself in his own, smiling all the while. They were the last ones to arrive.

His father raised an eyebrow. "Sheesh, you lot seem happier than usual today! What've you been giving those kids, Yuugi?" He jokingly continued, "You all are an unexpected bunch, that's for sure!"

Yuugi opened his mouth to explain their abnormal happiness, but again was beaten to the chase. This time by his mother. She smiled at her husband and explained the phenomenon in the simplest terms possible. "It's Thursday, dear."

He cocked an eyebrow. "…and?"

Yuugi gave him a look that said 'Think about it for a few seconds.' and the King blinked.

"Ooooohhh…" He blinked again, "…I still don't get it." Yuugi facepalmed.

One of the older children piped up. "Today's a good day because all of the stupid lordy guys that always eat with us are off at their morning meetings. So we can actually sit together without them being so uptight and in our faces!" Their father laughed at that.

"Aww, c'mon now Emi. You should try to be nicer to your relatives!" Though he didn't contradict her blunt statement.

At this, a few of the younger children blinked. One of them spoke up. "…The people that sit with us are relatives? Ewww!"

This had half of the family on the floor. Yuugi even had to wipe some tears from his eyes. He himself didn't actually know the nobles that ate with them were relatives either, but his siblings' blatant disgust was enough to send him into hysterics.

After the laughter died down, their food was served. The mood died down slightly because of the distraction, but became louder as the meal progressed and people started finishing their food.

Yuugi was just finishing his third flapjack when his father asked him a question. "So, my boy, when are you planning on going out to see what those grungy Adepts are up to?"

Surprisingly, the mention of the 'grungy Adepts' did not dampen his mood in the least. He was more than used to the indirect insults by now.

He took another bite of his flapjack, seemingly contemplating the question. Though, he had already figured out his schedule for today.

After he finished chewing, he answered the question. "Eh, probably around 10 o'clock or so. That's when the market opens, and the salesmen always have the best gossip."

His father smiled once again. "That's my boy, always the thinker. Great idea!" Yuugi smiled and nodded. 'Man, I've gotten too good at lying to my parents. Who ever knew they could be so gullible?' His father continued to question him.

"When are those friends of your going to get here? I'd like to know so I can formally greet them. I haven't met too many of the people you know. It'll be nice to see what my son's social life is like!"

The Adept scrunched his nose up at the question. He himself wasn't too sure of the time they were coming in. He'd probably find out at the meeting later today.

"Actually…I have no idea. I was going to stop by the airway terminal on the way to the market and find out. They didn't give me a specific time when I talked to them last." His father nodded.

"Alright then, just see that they get here safely. I don't want them being zapped by Adepts on their way here!"

Yuugi laughed outright. He got the sudden mental image of a random group of people point fingers to their foreheads and purposely hurting themselves in a strange, awkward manner. His father gave him a questioning look and he simply smiled.

"I was just thinking of the look on your face if the Adepts actually did that!" 'There you go lying again, Yuugi. Sheesh.'

The King nodded, a smirk tugging at his lips. "I'd be furious! I don't know who I'd sentence to death first!" At that, Yuugi's mother raised an eye at her husband.

"Now now, dear. What did I say about random, useless killing?"

"Only on Mondays, yeah yeah, I know…"

She smiled. "Good." And she got up and hugged him in a random burst of affection.

Yuugi smiled and spoke up after they were done. "Alright, may I be excused? I want to go upstairs and get changed if I want to get out of here by 10." His mother nodded her consent, and he smiled gratefully back at her. His father quipped up, suddenly saying, "Yes, because the clothes you wore down to breakfast are so presentable." He laughed to take the rudeness out of the remark. His mother picked up where his father left off.

"Yes, because if the 'lordy guys' were here today, they'd have a fit. Can't have a Prince wear pajamas to the table, now can we?" She giggled.

Yuugi chuckled a bit and pointed to his brothers and sisters. "Blame them! They brought me here against my will!"

The entire end of the table screamed "Did NOT!" in unison, and everyone laughed.

The High Prince waved at his family before running up the stairs toward his room. When he was there, he quickly changed. He threw on a black, long-sleeved button up shirt that draped loosely over his shoulders. He then grabbed a matching pair of loose black pants and then went searching though his many pairs of boots. He found the ones he wanted, and then quickly put on the pants he had grabbed. He hopped around the room for a minute or two while trying to get his shoes on, and then went searching through his drawers once more.

He grabbed a small silver and amethyst dragon necklace that was looped around a silver chain, and delicately put it around his neck. He adjusted his collar slightly, and when he was satisfied with his look he walked out the door.

He made his way out to the gardens and took a shortcut through the hedge maze to make his way to the courtyard. Once there, he saw guards standing by the metal detectors at the entrance to the palace and walked up to them. He walked through the detectors and it beeped like it always did. The guards raised their eyebrows at him and he lifted up his pant leg to show them all of the buckles on his boots. He pointed out his necklace also, and they laughed a bit.

Even though he wasn't entering the palace, he still had to go through the safety precautions. If someone had managed to slip into the palace unnoticed, they could steal something and hide it on their person. It had happened before, and they wanted to prevent it.

After he passed the gate, Yuugi went up to a little metallic disk that was on the wall. He placed his face right in front of it, and when the guard pressed a little button, a red light shot out of it. It was scanning his eye. Everyone in the kingdom had their eyeprint on record, and it was how they kept track of criminal and escaped convicts. They were like fingerprints, except they weren't as troublesome. And the system was very effective.

After the scan was done and the guards had checked over it, he was free to go. He stretched his arms out over his head and yawned, then set out into the city.

He smiled. He loved going into the city, and went whenever he could. Plus, all of his friends lived in the city, so he had more of a reason then going just to look at people. But he still loved the feeling that he got when he walked through it.

'Enough gazing around, Yuugi. You've got a meeting to get to!'

He set off into the crowd.

Authors' Notes: Well, you got some fluffy family stuff in this chapter. Yuugi's personality was a little to uptight in the last chapter, so I gave him a reason to loosen up. I personally like him better when he's all sarcastic and bitchy, but that's just not in his character. Meh.

Yes, I gave him a completely new family. (I made OC's, Dear God, save me!) But don't worry too much, they wont play a real big part in the plot. Even Kaial. They're there because it would be hard to have a Royal family with just a Grandpa and a mom who's hardly there. So I forced his mom to stay home, and gave her a husband and a crapload of kids. If you don't like it, sue me. I'm not changing it.

XD! But, like I said, they wont really have a big part, so it's not a big deal. I might end up bringing Sugoroku into this thing later too, just to liven things up. After all, I mentioned briefly in the first chapter that he was an Adept, ne? I could make some fun stuff out of that.

Oh, well, we'll see how it goes.

Next Chapter: The meeting, and Eeon royals arrive!