Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness of Winter ❯ Preperations ( Chapter 3 )

Darkness of Winter: Preperation

Three days. I have been stuck in the house with Bakura for three. Bloody. Days. And I am going completely and utterly insane. That is to say, if I haven't already arrived. After all, our second day together (Damn, that sounds suggestive. Bad thoughts now, must stop.), I couldn't use the downstairs toilet at all, if you catch my drift.

The third day wasn't nearly as bad, and I believe that Bakura's getting better. With any luck, he'll be better by tonight, and I'll be able to send him home. He seems to be able enough to take care of himself, but he doesn't seem to think that himself. For some reason, he's completely changed his attitude and now claims that he's incredibly sick and needs constant attention. He must love seeing me so submissive (A/N: ^0^ Take that as you will), because I know for a fact that he's not as sick as he claims.

For example, yesterday I woke up early and caught him pacing the living room muttering to himself. He looked perfectly well to me. The moment he saw me watching, however, he flopped down on the couch and announced that he was starting to get delusional. Also, late last night, I saw him fixing himself a snack. He makes me pick up the TV remote for him across the room, for crying out loud!

I groaned to myself and opened my eyes, staring up at my bedroom ceiling. It was the morning on the fourth day, of course, and I was definitely not looking forward to another day of waiting on a pretending-to-be-sick Bakura. Maybe he didn't want to go on this trip either, and didn't expect that it would be me to take care of him…? Smart bastard. I wish that I had thought of faking sick.

"Oi! Pharaoh! Get your ass down here!" Bakura's voice shouted from downstairs. I twitched. Does that honestly sound like a desperately sick Bakura to you?!

I groaned and pulled myself out of bed, but instantly regretted it. It was so cold! I felt like diving back under my blankets. But, knowing that it would only make Bakura get angrier and murder me in my sleep, I opted for throwing on a red sweater and matching pants. I love my leather, but not in the winter. Sadly, I have fallen to the level of-don't laugh now-puffy snow pants. This winter attire makes me look like a pregnant hippopotamus. At least I can get it in colors I like.

"Pharaoh?! Where the hell are you?!" Bakura demanded.

"Shut up!" I snapped through the floor, "I'm coming!" I stormed downstairs to find Bakura standing in the dark (why hadn't he turned on the lights?) living room-looking perfectly healthy, may I add-with his hands on his hips.

"So you're better? Why are you sticking around here, then?" I glared.

Bakura jabbed his finger at the window. "That is why, Pharaoh."

I looked at the white window. "There's nothing there, only white."

"Look closer," he persisted. "Honestly Pharaoh, I thought you were smarter than that."

I huffed, seeing my breath in a cloud, but walked calmly to the window. I refuse to let him get the better of me. I gaze out the window, seeing nothing but white. I pressed my hands against the glass, but immediately pulled them away. The glass was so cold it stung ferociously. I frowned, and put it all together in my mind while warming my hand. The answer hit me like a load of snowballs.

"We're snowed in."

"Under seven feet of snow, Pharaoh. It was on the radio this morning. You really should get up earlier."

I groaned and put my head in my hands. Snowed in, and with Bakura no less! This just kept getting better and better. And it's so cold that my sarcasm is dripping into icicles.

"Did they say how long this was going to last?" I sighed desperately.

Bakura twitched.

"Bakura? How long is this going to last?"

Again, he twitched.

"Dammit tomb robber, answer me!"

"…Do you remember when Ryou and Yugi dragged us to that movie `The Day After Tomorrow…?'"

I groaned. How could I not remember that movie? The whole world buried under ice and snow, barely any survivors, the whole western hemisphere wiped out… (A/N: For anyone who hasn't seen that movie, I really recommend it!) It's my winter-phobia times five hundred.

"It's going to be that bad?!"

"No, that's only a nice visual aid," he rolled his eyes, "It's supposed to be confined to this area, and it probably won't exceed twelve feet-"

"TWELVE FEET?!" I yelled, "THAT'S OVER TWICE MY HEIGHT!"

"Okay, first, if we're going to be trapped together for a while, you're going to learn to try something called silence. It's very nice really, when the air isn't full of your cocky voice (A/N: I hate Atem/Yami's dub voice… he sounds too full of it)."

"Don't try to order me around in my own house, Bakura," I warned, placing my hands on my hips to match his stance, "This is my house, and I am Pharaoh, after all-"

"Yes, and that's what it's all about, isn't it? It's all about you, almighty Pharaoh," he mocked.

"Bakuraaa," I growled.

"You're always on top, Pharaoh. Maybe you should try living life on the bottom for once! Besides, I doubt that the top floor of the shop will be of much help to you now," he smirked.

"What do you mean by that, Bakura?" I growled again. "And wait, aren't you supposed to be sick?!"

"Sick people get better. And as for your first question… why don't you go up and see for yourself?"

Glaring at him all the way, I climbed up the stairs. At the top floor, I started to realize what he meant. It was absolutely freezing. I don't mean ice cube down your shirt freezing, I mean freezing your blood in place freezing. I wouldn't be surprised if my heart froze solid right here and now.

Why hadn't I noticed the cold before? I remembered my warm comforter and fluffy mattress. I was too used to the confines of my own body heat, that was why. But now that the warmth of my bed had faded out, it was freezing up here.

I cursed and ran to the thermostat to turn up the heat. The knob all but froze my fingers, but I turned it as far as it could go. The house didn't feel any warmer, and I wasn't hearing the heater crank up loudly like it normally did.

"The heat's broken," Bakura called up, "I tried it this morning. The electricity's broken, too. The radio was battery operated, and the batteries ran out an hour ago."

I cursed once more and dashed into my own room. A wave of cold air hit me as I opened the door. The only thing that had kept my room warm was my own body heat insulated by the blankets. Now that I wasn't in the insulating covers, all heat had left the room. I wouldn't be surprised if it started to freeze over like the rooms in `The Day After Tomorrow'-wait.

Oh. My. Ra. I am going to be stuck downstairs with Bakura.

Not able to stand the cold for a second longer, I turned around and dashed back downstairs, to the area where I was going to be spending the next few days-maybe even until Yugi and the others got home-with Bakura.

"We're going to freeze to death," muttered Bakura when I reached the lower level, "We've never seen snow before, much less survived a storm of it! And besides, we don't have any heat, and only one blanket…"

"Ah ha," I said triumphantly, "You're wrong, tomb robber, as always!"

Bakura narrowed his eyes, but his only reply was an inquiry: "How?"

"Yugi's grandpa, like us, hates the cold," I replied smugly, "He has a whole closet full of blankets, lighters, candles, matches, batteries, another radio, and even small amusement games for this kind of situation. He has piles of wood and newspaper in the cellar, too, because he didn't see the point in letting them get buried in snow outside in an emergency."

"The cellar will be colder than the upper level, Pharaoh."

"Crap… That's right…"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but cheer up, Pharaoh. I didn't say we couldn't get down there; I merely stated the fact that it would be very cold."

"What are you getting at?" I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

"What part of tomb robber do you not get?" he rolled his eyes, "Watch." With that, he walked over to an arm chair in the corner and started ripping the coverlet into strips.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" I cried, rushing over to him and the now mutilated coverlet.

"Relax, Pharaoh. Sacrifices must be made. Besides, it was a cheap fabric anyway," Bakura commented. He walked to the bookcase and took down a long, thin golden candlestick from the top shelf. He yanked out the candle and stuffed the insert slot with strips of fabric. He wrapped the strips that couldn't fit around the top and tied them together, until it looked like he was holding a screwed up microphone. It wasn't until he pulled a black lighter out of his pocket that I realized what he was doing.

"You can't possibly be making-" I gaped.

"No, I'm making lemon meringue pie," he rolled his eyes, and set fire to the ball of fabric. He smirked and held up his makeshift torch with pride. "I just won the Olympics. Fear me."

"Har har," I rolled my eyes, "Let's get this over with. Grab as much wood as you can carry, I'll take the newspaper, and we'll make three trips. That should cover it for today and maybe a bit of tomorrow."

"There you go, giving out orders again," Bakura snarled, "We are no longer in Egypt and you are no longer Pharaoh, Atem. I don't have to bow down to you anymore."

"Like you ever did," I muttered quietly.

He gave me a scathing glare, before walking off down the hall. He was out of sight for a few minutes before he came back and gave me another glare.

"What?"

"I have no idea where the cellar is in this Ra-forsaken shop."

"So, let me get this straight," I smirked, "You want me to… lead you?"

"Don't rub it in," Bakura growled. I just smirked and walked over to him, and passed him with an air of confidence that, I admit, was more than a bit smug and arrogant. But what do I care? He's only a tomb robber. I led him to the back room of the store, where the inventory was kept, and stopped at a small door in the ground.

"That it?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "But it's locked, and grandpa has the only-"

Bakura slammed his foot into the small doors, cracking them in half and revealing a short staircase to the cellar.

"You're paying for that," I frowned, starting down the stairs. He followed me and snorted.

"Like hell."

Upon reaching the basement, we were greeted with several piles of firewood and bundles of newspaper dating back to the 70's.

"The old geezer had issues."

"He did not. And he is not an old geezer."

Bakura just shrugged and started to gather up firewood. I was struggling to lift two bundles of newspaper, and watched in-I admit it-awe as Bakura piled on log after log until his head was completely hidden from my sight.

"How…?"

"You develop strength from working for a living, Pharaoh, unlike you pampered monarchs."

I glared, but didn't respond. I was holding the torch now, as Bakura's load was far too heavy and dangerous to carry the flame, but the cold must have still slowed my brain, as I couldn't think of a sarcastic retort.

We both climbed up the stairs and dropped our loads near the fireplace, and repeated the whole process two more times until we had enough fuel. I let Bakura set the logs and newspaper while I went off in search of grandpa's emergency supply closet.

I returned a few minutes later, my arms laden down with five thick blankets which I deposited on the couch. I went back and returned with a first aid kit, an emergency knife (Under threat of death, Bakura was not to touch it), a bag of lighters, several boxes of matches and candles, batteries and a new radio, and a deck of cards, a box of dice, Scrabble, five puzzles, and a bag of miniatures and a mini RPG field.

"Good Ra, what was this man expecting, the next Ice Age?" Bakura stared.

"Looks like it," I sighed. "Light the fire before I freeze my ass off."

"Your pampered royal ass can stand a few more minutes in the cold," he growled, but he lit the fire anyway. I shoved the pile of stuff from the closet off to the side and split the blankets between us, three to me and two to Bakura because he already had a blanket. He accepted his blankets graciously (surprisingly enough), and we both shivered and warmed our hands in front of the fire.

"Where'd the torch go?" I asked.

"I used it to light the fire and put it out with Shadow Magic."

"Everything is Shadow Magic with you," I accused.

"You're not so innocent yourself, Pharaoh, so don't be a hypocrite," he growled, still shivering furiously.

"You're shivering terribly. Are you all right?"

"…I'm fine," he murmured. I frowned. He certainly didn't sound like it. I studied him over. His hands were pale, as was all the skin I could see. It was a little creepy, I'll admit, seeing his tanned skin so pale. I touched his hand, but immediately drew back. Ra, he was like ice…

"You're freezing."

"So are you. Back off."

"No, I mean you're freezing more than you should be. You were just sick a few days ago, Bakura… The cold may have made it worse."

"I'm fine," he muttered, "Just tired…" he trailed off and lowered himself to the ground and curled up into the blankets, still shivering furiously.

I know that he's my enemy, but I can't help but feel a bit worried. I slipped out of the blankets and grabbed a small book from the first aid kit. I had a hunch about Bakura, but I needed to be sure. I flipped to the page I wanted, and, kneeling beside Bakura, compared his symptoms. When I had finished, my heart was as frozen as Bakura. All the symptoms were present. I checked further down the page, and the icy feeling intensified.

Appropriate Treatment of Hypothermia:

It is important that the hypothermic person be warmed immediately. The best and most reliable way of doing this is by warming them with your own body heat. Do this by keeping close to them in a blanket or sleeping bag. Clothes will only keep in the cold, so they must be removed...

*****

Okay, I know I promised fluff and humor in this chapter, but I opted for a bit of seriousness and rivalry instead to better suit the story. Think of this as not a chapter, but a bridge to the REAL humorous fluff up next ^_~

And no, this is not going to become a lemon/lime, unless someone else writes it when the story is finished. The next update will come speedy and quick, I promise!