Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Differences Don't Matter ❯ Vibrant Colors ( Chapter 11 )

Orange….Yellow….Heat….

 

Yami pushed the covers away from him in an attempt to cool off. He couldn't remember it ever being so warm during the night before, at least not right after winter had just finished.

 

“Master Yami,” someone pleaded.

 

The teen rolled over, groaning sleepily while swatting away the insistent hand on his shoulder.

 

“Master Yami,” the person called with more desperation, continuing to push at his shoulder.

 

Crimson eyes blinked open once, twice, and the bright, orange shadows playing against the wall caused his brow to wrinkle with confusion. He sat up, his shirt and pajama bottoms sticking to him grotesquely and a fine sheen, blanket of sweat covered him like a second skin.

 

“Thank goodness, Master Yami. I was beginning to worry. We have to get out of here in case the fire catches the house,” Tea exclaimed, tugging on his arm to pull him from the soaked sheets.

 

Pushing his hair from his eyes, he continued to stare at the wall. “What's going on,” he asked. “What fire?”

 

The head maid pointed towards the window and Yami's eyes widened with disbelief. “What the - ”

 

Flames licked at the edge of the window and smoke curled through the thin cracks like spirits to a haunted house. He could barely see people running to and from the fountain with buckets, cups, and anything else that could hold the water.

 

“Master Yami, we have to get out of here,” Tea said again, fear crawling into her voice as the fire began to grow in the window.

 

The young lord nodded, still in a daze over what was happening. How could a fire have started he thought, letting himself be pulled by the frantic blue-eyed girl. Before they left the bedroom entirely though he picked up his clock his mother left for him and cradled it in his arms. Just in case something does happen Yami told himself.

 

As they passed by the elf's room, Yami froze. “Yugi,” he whispered, alerting Tea that he had stopped. She bustled back to him and started tugging on his arm again.

 

“Master Yami, this is no time to dawdle. Please, we have to get out of the house,” she exclaimed, tears starting to breech her eyes.

 

“Did you get Yugi,” he asked.

 

The woman shook her head. “He's huddled in a corner and he won't let me near him.” A wooden clock was shoved into her arms and Tea looked at Yami in confusion.

 

“I have to get him. Please, make sure that doesn't get ruined,” he asked before going into the room. The head maid watched him go before she started running down the hall, praying that the young lord would be safe.

 

~~

 

Smoke was already a massive cloud in Yugi's bedroom. Yami was forced to use the rip off one of his sleeves and use it to breathe through. The smog was so thick it was unbelievably impossible to see through for longer than a couple of inches.

 

“Yugi,” he coughed loudly, breathing in some of the smoke.

 

Something hot touched his arms and he jumped back with a hiss as he dropped the torn cloth in a reflex. He choked on the haze, feeling around the floor desperately until he found the lost item. His arm stung horribly and when he looked he realized he'd been right next to the window, the drapes in ashes at the foot of it. He crawled away from it, putting the cloth back up to his mouth.

 

His hand finally touched a warm, sweaty foot and he crawled further in until he was able to make out Yugi's outline, crouched against the wall with his head down.

 

“We have to get out of here,” he said, voice muffled from the sleeve.

 

The elf looked up, eyes shining with tears (from the smoke in his eyes or fear, Yami's couldn't tell) and his hands went to his face. “I thought it looked pretty,” he choked, “but it wasn't…” His voice sounded so lost and confused that Yami felt compelled to just sit there and hug him to make all his troubles go away, but he also knew if they stayed there any longer they'd become a human barbeque.

 

“Please, Yugi, you have to come with me. The house is going to burn down. It isn't safe,” he started to grab one of the elf's hands when he breathed sharply through his teeth and jerked away. “What is it, Yugi? Tell me, what's wrong?”

 

“It hurts,” he mumbled, cradling both his hands.

 

Realization dawned on him and Yami made quick work of tearing off his other sleeve and handing it to Yugi. “Breathe through that,” he instructed, pulling Yugi up by his wrist this time. “We have to hurry,” he said mostly to himself before half dragging his charge in the general direction he thought the door was in. He was grateful when he found it and didn't have to be in the ruined bedroom for much longer.

 

The first thing Yami did once out of the bedroom was look at Yugi's hands. Just as he expected, both were bright red with scorching burns. Having no other choice he took off his shirt and ripped into two as even as possible pieces to wrap gently around the injured hands. “I'll get something better to put on them once we get out of here,” he explained, pushing Yugi gently down the hall.

 

Air outside was humid from the fire and smoke ascended towards the heavens in flocks of clouds. Children were crowded in an arch watching with awed faces at the nipping flames. Women were doing their best to carry teakettles of water to some of the smaller flames around the perimeter of the house so it wouldn't continue to spread. And the men and able boys carried bags of sand and buckets of water to splash at the larger flames.

 

It turned out that the house right next to Yami's had somehow caught fire and the flames had only begun to start eating away at the much larger mansion.

 

Tea pushed with frenzy through the crowd until she caught up with the young lord and elf. “I'm so glad you're alright.”

 

“Of course,” Yami agreed. “Tea is there anyone around that can treat burns? Yugi got hurt,” he asked immediately.

 

She nodded, leading the two back through the crowd to a small corner where the family of the burning house were sitting brokenly…or rather the two small children were sitting brokenly while the husband raged on about it being the `wretched elf's' fault and the wife listened with embarrassed as other people started to stare. An elderly woman was sitting next to a table with different bottled ointments and cleans towels sat.

 

“Excuse me, grandmother,” Tea called, bowing slightly to the much older woman. “Master Yami needs your assistance. Could you please help?”

 

“Indeed, that's what I'm here for,” she said kindly.

 

Yami nudged Yugi closer. “His hands got burned; I don't know how badly. I bandaged them up the best I could before we got out.”

 

“Oh my, what a handsome little elf you are,” she complimented, tugging at the shredded shirt on one of his hands. “Weren't you Makoto's elf that helped him in the bar? My husband tells me that Makoto is always talking about you.” She spread a cool cream over one of his hands, not noticing the look that dulled in Yugi's eyes at the mentioned name. Instead, she picked up his other hand and repeated the process.

 

“Yami, you were hurt to,” Tea suddenly announced, pointing to his arm.

 

“Oh, yeah, it was while I was looking for Yugi. I got to close to the window I suppose,” he said casually, paying more attention to the uneasy elf than his own arm.

 

“All set to go,” the elderly woman announced after covering both hands in a white bandage. “Just be sure not to use them for a while and they'll be good as new.” She glanced at Yami with eyes wizened from age and slightly crooked glasses. “Now you,” she gestured.

 

With a roll of his eyes, Yami let himself be babied for a few minutes before finally announcing that he was going to live and moved away as soon as the knot on the bandage was tied. He hadn't let himself be coddled since before his mother passed away and he wasn't in a hurry to have it happen again.

 

“By the way, dear,” the wrinkle-faced lady started thoughtfully, “that was a very interesting mark on your wrist. I don't think I've seen any elves with such a mark.”

 

Yami glanced curiously at Yugi, his eyes roaming down to where the elf started scratching absently at one of his wrists. He moved over and held it gently in his hands, taking in the erratic symbol with marvel.

 

I didn't even notice it before he said to himself, entranced by the mysterious beauty of the black design.

 

Yugi quickly pulled his hand away. “I don't like it,” he mumbled irritably, continuing to scratch at it like scuff marks on a tile floor.

 

“Don't do that, Yugi,” the crimson-eyed teen scolded. “You'll hurt yourself.” He took Yugi's bandaged hand and held it in between his, taking care not to press on the covered burns.

 

At that moment the elf let out a tired yawn and Yami let him lean against him, wrapping his arms around his waist to make sure he didn't fall off to the side. “Tea, do you know if my father's arranged for us to sleep somewhere else tonight?”

 

The head maid nodded. “Yes, the innkeeper down by shops up front has already set up rooms for you, free of charge.”

 

“Good, what about you and the other maids that slept in the house?”

 

Tea smiled, giddy that at least one of the two masters of the house made sure that they'd be taken care of. “Someone has already agreed to let all of us stay at her place.”

 

Yami nodded. “I'm glad. Sleep well; I'm taking this one to go get some rest. If my father hasn't gone yet and bothers to ask, you'll tell him?”

 

“Naturally, Master Yami; have a nice night.” She watched the young lord and his charge walk awkwardly down the street until they disappeared before a frown appeared on her face. She felt horrible for lying to the young master and the guilt twisted in her stomach as she trudged down the sidewalk looking for the other homeless servants.

 

In actuality, no one had offered to let them stay the rest of the night with them. Tea knew that Yami wouldn't have left without making sure about it, but he's already done so much and the added worries of Yugi and his recovery on the young lord's shoulder was bound to make him collapse if anything else was added. She couldn't do that to him.

 

~~

 

“Ah, Lord Yami,” the innkeeper greeted with a large smile. “I've already set up your rooms for the night. I hope you'll be alright with them.” He handed Yami a bronze key with the number `12' burned into it. “You just go up the stairs and take a left.”

 

Yami nodded his thanks, fatigue starting to play with him. Yugi had already fallen asleep while they were walking and he had to carry him the rest of the way on his back.

 

He barely made it to the room and placed Yugi gently on the bed before he collapsed back into a chair. What a night he thought to himself. This will definitely be the talk of the town for weeks.

 

The young lord hadn't meant to fall asleep in the chair. He'd meant to make up a makeshift bed on the floor and let Yugi have the bed, not wanting to startle him by being in the same bed when the elf woke up. Exhaustion caught up with him faster than before though, and his eyes closed of their own accord before he had the chance to search for some spare blankets.

 

Yami wasn't sure when he fell asleep or how long he'd been out, but when the chair started to tip he startled awake.

 

Yugi watched guilty through wet eyes as red eyes shot open and focused sleepily on him. Both hands were on the arms of the chair and he had a knee resting between on the seat between Yami's legs.

 

“Oh, Yugi,” the young lord drawled with sleep.

 

“I'm sorry,” he whispered, voice cracked with tears.

 

“What's the matter,” Yami asked.

 

The elf repeated, “I'm sorry.” He started to back away from the chair, arms curling in on himself as he moved back towards the bed.

 

“No, Yugi, wait,” he stopped the elf, settling his hand a pale arm gently. “Please?”

 

Yugi mumbled something on his breath that sounded like, “I had a nike wear from the shire,” but Yami knew that couldn't be right. He pulled Yugi to him, letting him curl into his lap and clutch at his shirt. He snatched up a rumpled blanket on the floor, presumably Yugi had dropped it while trying to get in the chair, and covered the both of them.

 

“Shh,” he soothed quietly and Yugi started to sniffle and hiccup. “Just tell me what's wrong and I'll make it all go away. I promise.”

 

“I had a nightmare from the fire,” he said and Yami nodded with understanding.

 

“It's okay now, Yugi. We're out of there and it can't get you all the way over here.”

 

Yugi nodded into his shirt, shivering slightly and moving further into Yami. “Can I…stay here? I can't sleep alone.”

 

“Of course you can, Yugi. Just rest now; morning's almost here and we'll go outside and see the damage on the house together.”

 

Another nod and Yugi was soon sleeping wearily on top of him. Yami couldn't sleep anymore though and just sat there, soothing his fingers up and down along the sleeping elf's back and arms, cooing things now and then when Yugi started mumbling.

 

~~

 

True to what he said, Yami took Yugi's hand the next morning and led him back to where a much smaller crowd was gathered around the house. All men and children were gone, mostly likely sleeping from exhaustion, and only gossiping ladies remained. The only man wide awake and talking surprisingly more than the women were was the owner of the house that had started the nighttime fiasco.

 

“I'm telling you it's all that wretched elf's fault. She's nowhere to be found and she was the only one in the house that could've done it. My two boys were dead asleep before that fire and my wife was right beside me the whole time,” he accused loudly.

 

Yami's eyes narrowed and he unconsciously pulled Yugi closer to him, wrapping an arm possessively around his waist and letting his hand rest on his hip. How dare he Yami growled mentally.

 

The women, however, erupted in excited whispers and nodding.

 

“He's right,” Yami heard one say.

 

“She's nowhere to be found,” another said.

 

“Could've slipped out of town easily,” a third one announced.

 

The young lord couldn't believe this. For all they know she could've died in that fire that one of the family members had accidentally started and didn't know about it. Everyone in the town knew specifically that three of the house's candles were always lit in case someone woke up in the middle of the night. Any one of them could've fallen. Yami grit his teeth with frustration and went to find someone not involved with the crowd. He found Tea and his father standing in front of their house.

 

“Father, Tea, what's going to happen,” he asked.

 

The head maid smiled at the elf and watched as he scurried behind Yami, poking his large, amethyst eyes around an arm to watch curiously while his hands clutched at the shirt.

 

“Luckily, the fire was put under control and extinguished before any real damage could happen. The glass of your room melted a bit and the only room even remotely ruined is that one a steps away from your door,” his father answered, sniffing with dislike when he saw the elf firmly attached to his son.

 

“Will we be able to go in?”

 

“Yup, it's deemed entirely safe,” Tea smiled.

 

Yami nodded and led Yugi inside without another word.

 

It was genuine. The whole half of the room Yugi had stayed in was in tatters, only a few pictures on the far wall and most of the bed and been untouched.

 

“Are you going to sell me to someone else now,” Yugi asked quietly.

 

“What,” Yami asked with surprise, looking down at him with wide eyes. “Where would you get such an idea?”

 

The elf looked down, smudging his toes in the blanketed ash and puffing up smoke. “Makota got rid of me,” he mumbled, “and Shigure dropped me when I broke all the glass,” he mumbled.

 

“Yugi, I did not buy you; understand that. I took you away from all that and I won't let anyone else hurt you.”

 

The elf looked up with a streak of hope in his eyes. His lip trembled and the tear tracks shown brightly against his pale skin. “Y-you didn't buy me,” he squeaked.

 

“Living things are not property, Yugi. You are not an animal like a dog or a cat. I could never own anything as precious as that.”

 

Yugi's cheeks colored pink and he offered a watery smile, looking back around the ruined room.

 

“If you don't mind, I could set you up in my room. Or I could find you some other room to stay in,” Yami offered.

 

His cheeks darkening, Yugi continued to play with the dust on the floor, puffing up more smoke. “Could I….stay with you?”

 

“Of course you can, Yugi.” When Yami looked down at the elf his heart sped up at the angelic way he seemed to look with the morning light pouring over his silhouette. He was reminded of when Yugi was sleeping and the lights made him look like an angel himself. His eyes shone brightly, sparkling like a stream in the moonlight, his tri-colored hair framing his face to bring out his already outstanding eyes, and his pointed ears made him look like something out of a children's fairytale picture book.

 

Against his better thoughts, Yami wrapped his arms around Yugi tightly and his cheeks reddened as he let his lips graze the elf's forehead. “I'll…get something set up for you,” he said, voice sounding loud in the quiet room.

 

Yugi nodded, enjoying how well Yami treated him. He cuddled into his chest, a deep blush staining his cheeks from the unexpected kiss.