Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Love, Yuugi ❯ Chapter 02 ( Chapter 2 )

Awww… Thanks, you guys. You're so nice to me. I'm glad you're still willing to read. I'm posting faster so I can get chapter six up as soon as possible. I've already finished writing it! Yay! =]

- - -

CHAPTER TWO

"Yuugi! Where on earth have you…"

Grandpa Mutou appeared lost his voice as his only grandson tripped into the room. Yuugi's hair hung limply on either side of his head and he appeared to have lost his backpack and all of his clothes. Refusing to meet his grandfather's eye, he quickly made his way to the stairs, his soggy shoes leaving a trail of murky water across the shop floor.

"Stop right there, young man!"

Yuugi froze obediently at the bottom step.

"Oh, god," his grandpa gasped, rushing over to him, but careful to keep his distance. "What happened to you, Yuugi? Did you get raped? Tell me you didn't get raped. Tell me you didn't…" He lowered his faced into his hands, shaking uncontrollably.

"It's okay, Grandpa," Yuugi comforted, awkwardly patting the old man on the back. "I didn't. Someone stopped him."

"Thank goodness!" Grandpa cried, pulling out his handkerchief and blowing his nose loudly into it. "Go get dressed and come back down. You are in a lot of trouble tonight."

Yuugi lowered his eyes guiltily. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry." He trudged up the stairs and into his room, collapsing on the dry carpet. The image of the dead man lingered in his mind. Those lifeless eyes, the seeping blood, the knife. He curled into a tiny ball, pulling the warm jacket tightly around himself. It all seemed so unreal, like a movie or a dream.

And who was that mysterious man?

"Yuugi? Are you okay up there?" his grandfather called.

"I'm fine," he replied. "Just give me a minute."

He rose from the carpet and made his way to his closet, pulling on his old T-shirt and boxers. The leather jacket didn't seem as if it should be lying on his bedroom floor, so he picked up it and straightened it out, inhaling the thrilling scent of the his savior's cologne before folding it neatly and placing it on top of his pillow.

His grandfather was waiting patiently downstairs at the dining table, his newspaper lying several feet away.

"Good evening," Yuugi greeted, before sitting himself down across from the old man. Normally, they would be eating dinner and having a pleasant conversation about the day's events, but there was no dinner on the table today.

"Yuugi, I am very disappointed in you. Since you began going to school by yourself, I have made it clear that you must be home by five," Grandpa said, banging his fist on the table after each syllable. "As safe as this neighborhood seems to be, there are always rapists and muggers in the most unexpected places. Do you understand now?"

"Yes, sir."

Grandpa sighed. "Good. I can't risk losing my favorite grandson, can I?" It seemed to Yuugi as if he were muttering to himself, so he chose the ignore the question. "Who saved you, anyway?" Grandpa asked, changing the topic.

A slight blush appeared on Yuugi's cheeks. He could still hear the low voice in his head, a sound that sent delightful shivers down his spine. "Um… I didn't see him or ask for his name."

"What? Well, how did he stop the rapist?"

"He knocked the guy out," Yuugi lied. "The fog was too thick for me to see his face."

"Did that jacket you were wearing belong to him?"

If possible, Yuugi's face flushed even redder. "Yes," he whispered.

Grandpa nodded. "Sounds like a pretty nice person. There wasn't a name tag or anything on the jacket? Oh, well. Too bad. We could've at least thanked him for saving you from trouble…"

- - -

Yami quickly closed the apartment door behind him, his notebook still tucked away safely under his shirt. Trembling from the cold, he reached under the leather with stiff fingers, peeling off the garment and taking out the notebook in the process, casually tossing them onto the worn couch. Several tattered suitcases were thrown randomly around the living room floor.

"Bastet, I'm home!" he called to what seemed to be no one.

A cat appeared at the door of the nearest room, meowing softly, swishing her slender tail proudly in the air as she came toward her master. She circled his legs several times before curling up on the floor beside him, rubbing her face affectionately against his damp leather pants. He reached down and gently stroked her thick black coat, watching the green eye twitch as the blue one lazily drooped.

Then, he gently lifted her from the floor before she could fall asleep and carried her over to the couch, making himself comfortable with the purring cat on his lap. The violent thunder shook the rickety building and the dim lights flashed for a moment before coming back on.

"Do you like it here?" he murmured to Bastet, running his long fingers through the cat's fur.

She looked up at him and blinked slowly, dragging her long tongue across his hand, her eyes shining like two glass marbles.

Yami sighed and closed his eyes. "I met someone today," he began. Bastet's ears quivered slightly as if she were listening intently. "I guess I didn't really meet him, but at least I spoke to him." Yami paused, recalling what he saw at the park. "He was with a girl in the park, and he supposedly promised her ice cream earlier today. He looked so sincere, so kindhearted, so… beautiful."

The last word came out as a whisper, and for a second, he could've sworn his cat gave him a teasing glance through her paws.

He shrugged, pretending to be hurt. "Well, maybe I am a little attracted to him…"

This time, he was absolutely positive Bastet was grinning.

"So I watched him. He bought the ice cream as he said he would and the girl ate the whole damn thing. She didn't offer him one bite. And he didn't even complain. He just stood there, looking as content and pitiful as ever."

Bastet yawned and closed her eyes, but Yami knew she was still listening.

"Then, after his girlfriend left, I followed him…"

- - -

Almost as if it were a made of gold, Yuugi lifted the jacket off his pillow and held it out in front of him, checking for any signs of who the previous owner was. There was no name tag in sight. Reaching into the coat pocket, he drew out a black ball-point pen. It was one of those cheap ones from the drugstores sold in packs on twelve. He found nothing else in the pouch but a candy wrapper from a foreign country.

Carefully, he placed these two near-sacred objects on his bedside table, next to his alarm clock.

His heart sagged with guilt for being attracted to a man, a merciful killer whom he never met. Perhaps "attracted" was not the right word. It was more like "curious" or somewhat "interested."

Yuugi slipped out of his bathrobe and crawled onto his bed, not bothering to dress at all. Almost unconsciously, he wrapped his legs around the jacket, drawing it closer, burying his face into the cotton inside. The light cologne made its way into his nose, overcoming him with welcomed drowsiness and unexplained desire.

He could still see the pair of crimson eyes in his mind flashing darkly, dangerously. Perhaps he was still out in the night, dressed completely in black leather, another pocketknife ready to attack in his hand. Yuugi shuddered at the thought. In horror? Or in pleasure?

A warm tear slid down his cheek. In the back of his mind, he knew everything was his imagination, but there was something appealing about it, something intriguing. Even he couldn't resist the sick twisted nature of humanity.

With a mix of fear and self-disgust, he released the jacket and shoved it to the far end of his bed.

- - -

As he sat cross-legged on his bed, Yami could still picture the boy against the chipped brick wall, naked and shivering. At the moment, the sight had been almost repulsive. But now, he regretted his cold words. It wasn't Yuugi's fault for being unable to defend himself, and perhaps there were reasonable explanations for his strange and somewhat sad behavior.

Yami frowned as he found himself picturing where Yuugi was now, what he was doing. Perhaps in bed, sobbing silently into his teddy bear's soft fur, his room dark and unwelcoming. Or perhaps taking his fifth shower, refusing to leave the bathroom, calling to his parents in feigned casualty how he was fine and they didn't need to worry the slightest bit.

Drawing the covers over his lap, Yami closed his eyes, allowing the pleasant darkness to envelope him. He would need to rest if he wanted even a chance of waking up early enough for school tomorrow.

Yuugi, I promise you we'll meet again.

- - -

Note: I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but Yuugi and Yami were meant to be exaggerations of their actual characters. I really have no idea where I'm going with this story, but I'll figure it out soon enough. I have never hinted so much lust in one chapter before. Yuugi must be feeling horny today. Throughout the entire chapter, I was so tempted to use the word sexy (sexy scent of cologne, sexy voice, etc.), but it would have ruined the mood, so I didn't. Dictionary says: Sexy - sexually suggestive or stimulating: erotic. Is that the perfect word or what?

Yuugi: Yami, I think you're sexy.

Yami: Yuugi, I know I'm sexy.

Yuugi: *drools cutely*

Please review. If you liked or didn't like something in particular, please tell me why. I'm all open to criticism. =]