Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Drifting towards Tomorrow ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

This fic was supposed to be a one-shot, but for some reason I wrote this second chapter for it…This is shorter, I know, and I don't think that it's that good, but here it is, anyway. ^^

Disclaimer: *sigh* I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Just believe me.

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Chapter 2

"Morning, niisama!"

"Wha…" Seto bounced sitting up in his bed, startled awake from his sleep just in time to see his little bother taking a long run-up and jumping to his lap - and knocking him back down in the process.

"Ow… uh, Mokuba, get off of me…" He pushed the giggling boy aside and sat up again, still trying to wake up properly. "I wish you stopped doing that, you're not so little anymore…"

"Don't complain, niisama, I know that you like it."

"Maybe…" Seto tried to hold his smile in check as he ruffled the boy's black mop of hair.

"Where's Ryou?" Mokuba asked suddenly, still sitting on the bed. "Why's he not sleeping here?"

Seto gave a start and tried not to blush. "Cause he isn't," he replied gruffly, the events of the previous day flowing to his mind.

"Why not?"

"Mokuba, please…"

Mokuba sighed, very deeply. "You're impossible. Anyways, I'll go to wake him up too." He jumped up from the bed. "Where's he?"

"In the guestroom, left wing," Seto replied, heading to the bathroom.

*

With a little smirk on his face, Mokuba tiptoed to the guestroom's door and peeked inside. The room was still dark and silent, and he saw Ryou lying on his stomach on the bed. He took a deep breath, and began to run towards the bed.

"Good morni…" he started to shout as he jumped, but just then the white-haired boy's eyes flashed open, he rolled aside, and sneaked his arm around the smaller boy's neck.

"Wha… what?" Mokuba tried to struggle weakly, but the grip was too strong. Then he heard a snort.

"Priest's baby brother. Figures."

Suddenly the grip of his neck loosened and Mokuba sat quickly up, staring at Ryou with wide eyes. Ryou looked back at him with a slightly bewildered and worried expression.
"Are… are you okay, kiddo?"

Mokuba nodded, more shaken than he wanted to admit. "I'm f…fine."

/You'd better tell that little twerp not to do something like that again. He can be really glad that I didn't happen to have a knife at hand…/

Yeah… sure, yami…

Ryou tried to smile reassuringly at the little boy who still looked quite shocked, although Mokuba was doing his best to hide it. "Uh, Mokuba… I don't think it's a good idea to do things like that with me, it's not that I'd have something against it, but… uh… you know."

Mokuba nodded again. "I guess so…" he rubbed softly his neck. "So, um… Seto's awake too, so let's go to eat breakfast, okay?"

Seto.

Ryou had to fight hard to keep the smile on his face. "Sure. You go ahead, I'll be right there."

"Okay." Mokuba left the room, quite hastily to Ryou's mind. He sat on the bed for a while, wondering whether he really wanted to get up. Although last night had not gone as badly as he'd been afraid it would, he and Seto weren't still on the best possible terms. He was afraid that now, after having had time to think about things, Seto might want to end it all.

Slowly he lay back down on the bed.

Maybe I should just tell them that I feel sick - which was quite true - and that it's probably something contagious, they'd better leave me alone for some time… for few years or so. Maybe by then I'd…

/Maybe what? Maybe by then you'd have gathered up your courage and wouldn't anymore be afraid of your lover? You're impossible, yadonushi. Now get up and go to him, I'm getting sick of listening to you. …Or do you want that I go to him?/

Ryou's eyes flashed opened, as he felt the spirit smirking. You?

/I have some… very interesting suggestions to make for him that might give a much-needed boost to your love life… Like…/

Ryou jumped up from the bed and started frantically to search for his clothes. Don't tell me, don't tell me… I don't really want to know…

*

The morning was beautiful and Mokuba had persuaded Seto to eat breakfast outside. The two brothers were already sitting at a table by the shore when Ryou finally got out of the house. Mokuba waved at him happily.

"Hey Ryou! What took you so long?"

Ryou shrugged the question off as he sat down by the table, painfully aware of Seto's eyes on him. "Morning," he muttered, not looking up.

"Morning, Ryou. You did take quite long, I hope your tea hasn't get cold yet."

"Oh…" Ryou took a sip of the said tea. "It's fine." He was still staring at the table.

"Seto agreed to stay here at least for a few days," Mokuba piped up happily, munching his toast.

Ryou gave the boy a ghost of smile. "That's nice."

He heard Seto laughing a little. "Yes, I decided that'd be best if I want to have a moment's peace from that little pest… And anyway, I guess you were right, I really need a break."

That made Ryou to look sharply up at the other teen on the other side of the table. Seto admitting that he had been wrong in something? Ryou knew that this should make him happy, but it didn't feel right. It had come too lightly from Seto, and as he stared at the brunet boy who was calmly sipping his coffee he realized that it was all because of Mokuba. The storm wasn't over yet, great waves were still rolling against the shore's sand. Seto just didn't want to worry Mokuba any more.

"Can I go to swim when we've eaten, niisama?"

"No." Seto placed his cup on the table with a clink. "The sea's still too cold," he continued, as Mokuba was going to protest.

"Oh." The boy pouted a little. Then his face brightened. "Why don't we go to sail, then?"

"Mokuba…"

"Why not?" The boy jumped up from his chair in his excitement. "We haven't been sailing for ages, soon you won't anymore remember how it's done."

Seto snorted. "Highly unlikely. But…"

"But what? C'mon Ryou, tell him you want to go sailing!" Mokuba turned his beaming face towards Ryou, who gulped.

"Well… I guess… it could be nice…" he stuttered.

"Well?" Mokuba turned to look expectantly at his brother, who in his turn was staring thoughtfully at Ryou. Finally Seto shrugged. "Why not."

"Yes!" Mokuba jumped up and down. "We're going to sail! I have to get my rod and baits and…" He ran away.

Ryou glanced after him, hoping that the boy wouldn't have left him alone with the unnervingly composed creature who was just calmly making a new sandwich for himself.

"It has really been quite long since we've been sailing last time." Seto's voice made Ryou to jump a little, and he nodded slightly, not trusting his voice.

Seto was staring into emptiness, the sandwich forgotten in his hand. "You know…" he said thoughtfully, "I don't think that we've been sailing since last summer. Do you remember that time when you fell overboard? You really managed to scare me then," he finished with a little laugh.

Ryou nodded again. This time he wouldn't have been able to say anything even if he had wanted to, there was a strange tight feeling in his throat. Why are you saying this? That summer had been their happiest time… their first summer together. He remembered very well how he had fallen into the water, and even better the… circumstances that had led to the fall. They had been sailing alone then, without Mokuba, and he remembered how he had climbed to sit on the ship's rail as he had been 'running' from Seto, and… Suddenly he had to blink tears away from his eyes.

"Anyway…" While he had been remembering, Seto had finished eating his sandwich, and was just getting up. "I guess that I'd better go to make the yacht ready. Why don't you clean up the table during that time?"

Ryou nodded for a third time, although he knew that Seto didn't see it; he was already walking away.

*

"Alright! Anchor up, and let's be going!"

Ryou tried to smile at the enthusiastic boy, but he was afraid that he failed miserably. He took a long look at the yacht as he stepped on its deck. It wasn't any big one, even one man could have easily handled it alone. It was beautiful, though, white, graceful and elegant. The red sails shone in the sunlight, and as he looked at them, he felt the tears gathering again in his eyes.

'Red sails in the sunset, way out on the sea…' They had sung that song, jokingly, on many nights when they had been sailing together. Sailing had been something they both loved, a good way to relax and to have good time, but now… It felt wrong to go to sail when he felt like this, when the air itself seemed to be rigid with tension.

He leaned against the rail - the same rail on which he had sat when he fell - and watched Seto steer the yacht to the sea.

Maybe this will help… Maybe doing something together, something we've both always enjoyed, will help things to get back to normal. I hope it does…

Except that they weren't, exactly, doing this together. With a sigh Ryou raised his eyes back to the red sails, which were swelling in the wind. '…Oh carry my loved one home safely to me…' This has to help.

*

"Why don't you go to speak with him?"

"What?" Startled out of his thoughts Ryou turned to look at Mokuba, who rolled his eyes in an exaggerated gesture of annoyance. "Why. Don't. You. Go. To. Speak. With. Him. You've been standing here alone staring at the water for at least twenty minutes."

Ryou blinked. "I have?"

Mokuba nodded. "Not that he's any better; after he put the autopilot on, he's been doing exactly the same thing on the other side of this boat."

"He has?" Ryou glanced over his shoulder not knowing what to think. "Then why aren't you telling him to come to speak with me?"

"Because you're the less stubborn one of you two… at least I've always thought so. C'mon, go now!" Mokuba gave Ryou a little push, but the white-haired boy lingered where he was, licking his lips nervously.

"Give me a moment… I still have to… think about this a little…"

"Oh god…" Mokuba shook his head exasperatedly. "Seto!"

"What?" Ryou stared at the little boy, suddenly feeling scared.

"Niisama! Come here! Ryou has something to say to you!"

"Wha… wha… what!?"

Mokuba grinned at him. "Good luck," he said as he walked away. Ryou stared after him, feeling quite alike to those few fishes Mokuba had caught.

The black-haired boy turned to glance behind. "Hey, close your mouth," he whispered to Ryou, winking his eye at him.

"I… I… I…"

"Yes?"

Oh shit… Ryou turned to look at Seto who was looking at him expectantly. Say something… Say something, say something, say something…

"Um… It… it was just Mokuba he, uh… well, you know… he…"

/A little correction, yadonushi. Say something intelligent./

"Uh…"

An eyebrow over one strikingly blue eye rose an inch, and suddenly Ryou found it very difficult even to think coherently.

/I give up with you./

Without any prior warning Ryou was suddenly made a passenger in his own body, and he could do nothing but listen with a sinking feeling the words his mouth was uttering.

"What this pathetic excuse of a hikari is trying to say, is that he's desperately longing to be back in your arms, and driving me nuts in the process. So why don't you just grab him, kiss him, and carry him to your bed, maybe that'd make him silent for a while so that I could have even a moment's peace from his constant whining."

And suddenly Ryou found himself back in control. Blushing madly he glanced at Seto who was staring at him with wide eyes. Feeling that he really had to say something, he finally muttered, "I don't whine."

/Oh, I'm sorry, it was called whining back in Egypt… What do they call it nowadays?/

Ryou felt himself blush even more, if that was possible, and he turned again to stare at the waves.

Seto, on the other hand, was staring at the white haired boy, trying to regain his composure. This wasn't the first time he had met Yami Bakura, but… He shook his head.

I'll never get used to that…

It was quite impossible to comprehend how the gentle and softly spoken boy could suddenly turn into a madman with glowing eyes without any warning. Now, as he looked at Ryou, it was even more difficult than usually to believe that the creature who had just spoken to him could have anything to do with this fragile figure with hair as white as the sea's foam…

He blinked. Okay, stop that. Now. But I guess…

"I guess we really should talk," he continued aloud. Ryou nodded slightly, still staring at the sea.

There was a moment's awkward silence, when both of them waited for the other to begin. When they started to speak, they did it at the same time.

"Are you…"

"Who did…"

They both fell silent, for some reason feeling a little embarrassed. Finally Seto cleared his throat. "You first," he said.

Ryou coughed as well. "Are… are you still mad at me?" he asked quietly.

Seto was quiet for a while. "I don't know," he said finally. "In the morning I was, but… I don't know." He paused for a moment. "Whose idea it was?" he asked then.

"Well… Mokuba was the one who came up with it… I… I guess I shouldn't have agreed to it, but… there wasn't anything else I could think of that might have helped, and, well, we had to do something."

Seto snorted slightly. "You seem to have been quite desperate."

At last Ryou took his eyes off the sea and turned to look at Seto. "We were," he said gravely. "We care for you a lot. We… we both love you."

Seto swallowed, trying to come up with something to say. Even after being together with Ryou for quite a long time he still wasn't comfortable with speaking about his feelings.

"I know," he finally said. "And I… I love you both, too. But I need to do my work."

Ryou sighed. "And I know that. I do, Seto, let me finish," he said as he noticed that the other was going to interrupt him. "I know how important your work is to you, and I know that it is a great responsibility, but…" he paused for a while, looking again at the sea as if searching the right words from among its waves.

"You should listen to us more. It's not as if the world would end if you had a free evening every now and then. I… don't like the loneliness. I've had to be alone all too much in my life, and I've never liked it. Even in the beginning of our relationship I was alone many times when you were in your meetings or conferences or locked into your workroom, but I could deal with it then cause I knew that you'd come to me as soon as you could. I'm not sure about anything anymore… It feels as if I've turned into a piece of furniture, something that's always been there and is supposed to be there, just in the case you'll someday need it…" his voice trailed of as the tight feeling appeared again in his throat.

There was something tight in Seto's throat as well. He swallowed again, quite at a loss with words. Then, for once giving in to an impulse, he wrapped his arms around Ryou, drawing him nearer. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't… realize you felt like that. I… you should have said something earlier." He took one deep, shaking breath. "I love you. And I… I don't want to lose you. Could we still try to… to make this work?"

Ryou nuzzled closer against him, with a little smile on his lips. "Sure," he muttered against Seto's chest. His smile grew wider as he felt the other pressing his lips softly on his forehead.

The small yacht continued its way on the calm sea, a little boy sitting in its bow, throwing pieces of bread for the seagulls and carefully ignoring everything that was going on in the stern.

~*~*~

Red sails in the sunset, way out on the sea

Oh, carry my loved one home safely to me

He sailed at the dawning, all day I've been blue

Red sails in the sunset, I'm trusting in you

Swift wings you must borrow

Make straight for the shore.

We marry tomorrow,

And he goes sailing no more.

Red sails in the sunset, way out on the sea

Oh, carry my loved one home safely to me.

~*~*~

The lyrics of Red Sails in the Sunset are by Jimmy Kennedy, that's all I know. Hmmm… I think it was Nat King Cole who sang it… sometimes long ago. ^^

Note: I don't really know anything about sailing, so if there were some inaccuracies, sorry. All I know is that a yacht is some kind of a boat. And boats float. ^^;;

Anyways… I think that that was the fluffiest thing I've ever written (yes, I haven't written much fluff ^^). Hope you liked it!