Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Lover's Duel ❯ Tanjobi Present ( Chapter 3 )

Tanjobi Present

As Yami's 18th birthday approaches, his servants and other high officials were scurrying around the different cities he ruled to find the perfect traditional gift for the Pharaoh. There was only one problem though: they didn't really know what he preferred other than it was male. Until, Malik and Bakura laughed at them and themselves so hard for not figuring it out sooner, they would simple ask Kyra what Yami liked. She did say when she first joined them that her and Yami had talked about what the king preferred in a male.

A couple days before his birthday one of the servants, Sukai, went to Kyra to ask her what she knew.

She knocked on the door and wished that the girl wasn't busy. The door opened and she held her breath, knowing Yami sometimes went to talk to her when he was bored. She sighed relief when the green-eyed girl opened the door curiously.

"Hi, Sukai. What brings you here?" She asked kindly as opened the door and allowed the other girl to come in.

"It's about Yami's traditionally 18th birthday present, the Coming of Age ceremonially gift. We… don't know what Yami would like other that for the gift to be male." She answered almost shamefully that nobody knew.

Kyra let out a short giggle. "I remember this conversation well when I had it with Yami those years ago. He doesn't want him to be taller, maybe the same height but he can be shorter. He has to be very beautiful too. I suggest you take Malik and Bakura; they can spot a beauty for Yami in any crowd. And he doesn't like the big tough guy act some men like to put up for girls. Does that help any?"

Sakai bowed lowly. "Yes, it helps us very much, miss Kyra. Thank you, thank you so much for everything." The blonde woman then scuttled out of the room in a hurry, Kyra guessed it was to find the two joker friends of Yami's.

Malik and Bakura were summoned on the double and they eagerly went out with Sakai and two other servants to search. It felt like hours before both boys turned the final corner in the last city, expecting failure that there was no such boy in the whole kingdom that would suit their friend perfectly.

They thought of nothing but failure as they walked through the final village of the kingdom. It had taken them days and nothing came close to what Yami wanted. They hated the thought of having to take just any person who looked good for their best friend and Pharaoh. It took them fast ending days and today was their last chance to find someone for the king for today was his birthday.

They looked into the alley and a vision of perfection sat there looking into the sky like an angel from Ra himself.

The boy was thin and, from the way he was sitting as his feet didn't touch the ground, they knew he was shorter than Yami. Not only that, but the boy looked nearly as much like as their king. There was only one flaw they could think of: his age. If the boy were too young than they would surely have failed.

Not wanting to accept that the beautiful image before them had such a flaw, both walked over to him.

Violet eyes turned curiously at the movement from the corner of his eye and looked to see the two advisors of the Pharaoh walking over to him.

"Hey, beauty," Malik breathed. He couldn't believe just how perfect the boy was, if he wasn't for Yami then he would surely have to have the boy for himself.

The pale boy nodded his presence, wondering what the two advisors could want with him.

"We were wondering," Bakura started, "how old are you?"

Yugi gave them a weird look before answering. "I'm seventeen."

Triumphant smiles gleamed on the two Egyptian's faces as they tugged the boy from his seat to look him over. Words such `beautiful' and `truly perfect' escaped their mouths before nodding mischievously at the other.

"He's better then we hoped to find."

"This will indeed be the best present ever given to a Pharaoh for his Coming of Age."

Yugi froze at the words. `Coming of A-Age?! No! I can't! My Grandpa, Joey, Tristen… all of them. I can't be… that means I'll be nothing more than a…' Unable to finish his thoughts as tears welled in his eyes at the thought of what he was going to be reduced to. How did ever get himself into this mess? He wasn't doing anything except minding his own business and suddenly was yanked into this.

`Besides, the Pharaoh is ruthless and the mirror image of evil and darkness. He'll hurt me and then throw me away. I'll be too ashamed to face anyone ever again!' He thought as more tears trailed down his pale cheeks.

He was pulled to the palace unknowingly as he continued his thoughts and tears as the over-excited teen advisors pulled him through the gate.

They brought him to Kyra and asked if she would mind getting him cleaned up in a hurry. The girl happily agreed as she took the boy inside and closed the door after excusing the other two away so she could start.

She gave him a bath as he continued to cry for what would happen that night. She wanted to stop the tears for they were hurting her as well. She just wasn't used to this kind of thing. She dressed Yugi in the clothes brought to her by Malik and Bakura and brushed his hair as practically glowed shiningly after being freed from all the dust and dirt that had dried there from living in the town so long without proper cleaning.

After getting cleaned up he was led by Kyra, since he was still crying about this sudden turn of unwanted events in his still young life when the guards came to retrieve him. The auburn haired girl told them she would feel better if she took care of Yugi since he needed comfort and not strength at the time. They agreed, obviously mad that they spent that time waiting for him to find out they weren't needed to deliver the gift after all. But at being one of Yami's closest friend the guards also listened to a few things Kyra asked of them and she did ask to bring Yugi rather than tell them.

She sat on Yami's bed and wiped his tears away with her hand, happy they were finally subsiding.

"There, there little one. Everything will turn out okay. I promise you it will. In the end you'll see that you may not want to leave as bad as you do now. Now then, take a deep breath." He did so. "And try to calm down." Yugi tried, but wasn't coming up with much. "Wait for Pharaoh Yami to return and give him this note." She took the note from her pocket and placed it in his palm before she pat him on the head reassuringly and left.

Yugi sat nervously, looking at the note. He wanted to know what it said but he couldn't read very well. If he were lucky maybe the king would read it out loud.

When the door started to creak open Yugi tensed and didn't look up as he bowed his head in submission like Kyra told him would be best if he were scared witless while giving him a bath. She told him something about able to see emotion in Yami's eyes if you knew if well enough or at least looked hard enough. Sometimes he tended to be angry after being bored all day and he was sure to be upset if her were bored on his birthday of all days.

Yami walked in rubbing his eyes irritably. Indeed, he had had a boring day and was out of his mind agitated with the headache of a century. When he saw the beauty sitting on his bed though all trace of the pain and anger left him at once.

There a boy was sitting on his bed with is head bowed in submission to him. He could tell the boy was shorter since his feet didn't touch the floor and he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He was wearing tanned, loose pants with a silver cord tied around his waist to hold them up. He had a white, tight, sleeveless shirt that loosened at the hem. He wasn't wearing any shoes, but the gold jewelry he wore on his arms and one around his ankle made it barely noticeable.

He walks over to him and he lifts the boy's face up and he drowns into pools a violet almost at once.

`Amazing, such a unique color to have. He's just perfect, but somehow I feel as though Kyra helped with this. Nobody but her knew what I liked and he's the ultimate perfection I've ever seen.' He thought as he continued swimming in the amethyst deeps.

He moves in closer to kiss him only to find that Yugi flinched at his closeness and was terrified of him even being in the same room.

Yami felt hurt at this realization. `I don't want him to be scared of me.' He thought in a pouting manner.

He felt as though he needed to be nice to this boy even though he barely knew him, he didn't know why of course. It was just something he felt deep inside himself.

"I'm not going to hurt you little one."

The boy wasn't listening as he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts of how much it actually was going to hurt. He only shivered more in thought of being seriously hurt and this move only got Yami irritated for a second time this day. But it wasn't for the boy's fright, it was because of how he acted towards people he didn't know or like that got him such a reputation and the people knew he could get mad easily if done in the right way. Then no one would come near him except three people, those being his friends that he'd never hurt no matter how upset he got.

It was then he saw the boy was shakily holding a note to him and he took it carefully as to show he didn't mean to harm the boy.

Yami

I'm sure you can easily tell by now that Yugi's scared out of his mind.

`Yugi… so that's his name. Such a perfect name for the perfect boy.' He thought after reading the first line. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at the note in his hands.

Please don't be too angry with him, I've heard those rumors about you being dark and all that stuff too so he's bound to have heard them too. Just show him kindness, he trusted me, but then again I'm not the one with the bad reputation around the villages. I hope you like him though. The servants asked me what you liked and they only just found the only one who was absolute perfection today.

Kyra

After reading it Yami looked at the boy who had curled farther away from him on the bed.

"Stay here, ok Yugi?" He didn't expect an answering or much of anything else from the boy except the continuous silent crying from him so he left in search of his wise friend.

"Kyra?" Yami asked as he sat upon her bed a little while later. "Kyra, I just don't know what to do. I barely know him yet I wish for him to trust me and me to protect him. How can I do that if he's scared out of his mind of me? I don't want to hurt him yet I can't touch him or hold him to tell him everything will be okay. I even told him I wouldn't hurt but he didn't seem to be listening."

Kyra shook her head in annoyance as she sat beside him. "Don't worry, Yami. This is his house too now. Make him feel at home, I would if I were in your position right now. Let him know you trust him first. After all, he didn't exactly get time to think or anything. Like I said, he was just brought here today. Then again, I don't think it's fair at all to take the boy away from his family just to be a pleasure slave, the lowest thing anyone can become. Not even for the Pharaoh's 18th birthday and Coming of Age gift."

Yami understands what she's telling him easily. When he was younger he dreaded this day. "I don't really have a say in this sort of thing though. It is tradition and has been for years, centuries even. I could tell him he could leave, but then I'd hurt Malik and Bakura. They did try very hard just for me, that I at least know of."

"Yes, they're still sleeping away in their chambers it took so much time and energy up. I bet they're just glad that they didn't have anything important to do in that time spent."

"I'd hate to hurt their feelings at not at least kissing Yugi before he leaves so I can at least say I tried."

Kyra nods in understanding along with distaste at the thought of supposing to have sex on your birthday with someone that didn't want any of this written as his or her destiny.

Yami looks at her sadly. "You should've seen him when he looked at me. He was so terrified and…"

Kyra interrupted him. "He knows how you're a dark person sometimes and can be pretty brutal if angered enough."

"I don't want Yugi to be scared of me though."

Kyra was at a loss for her semi-emotionless friend. "Just treat him kindly Yami. If he doesn't come around by a week then promise me you'll let him go. Don't make him stay here just to scare himself sick. And don't overdo is with being kind or he'll be scared you're trying to ripe him up to something. Set a couple rules for him so he doesn't think you are. Do what you did for me when I was scared of you when we first met."

Yami agrees and goes back to the bedroom after a little bit more thinking.

"Yugi." He looked at the bed and was slightly angered with himself. The boy seemed like he finally had calmed down some as he was laying down on the bed resting, but as soon as he came in Yugi sat with his back to the wall watching him closely.

"Yugi, I'm trusting you so I'm going to give you some rules I expect you to follow, ok? First off, you have be back in the room before dark. Second, you aren't to go past the gates and walls of the palace. If you do I'm afraid you're going to have to be punished.

Yugi looks at him strangely before giving a slight nod.

Yami sighs happily. `At least he acknowledged I said something this time.' He saw Yugi glance out the window carefully and watched him to see what he would do.

Yugi moved to the edge, being cautious of his movements like one wrong move would get him hurt. He hopped from the bed and walked slowly towards the door pausing just before he passed Yami.

The dark kind moved aside to show Yugi it was fine if he left the room.

Yugi opened the door still watching Yami carefully before disappearing behind it and running off to enjoy his freedom of the room. It unnerved him greatly just sitting in there, of course, it could have just been the king since the violet eyes beauty relaxed some and actually lied down on the bed.

He wanders around palace without any problems, that and he didn't see anybody who could really give him problems either.

He wasn't foolish though. He knew that sooner or later he would have to give in until Yami got fed up with waiting and either went through with it and took him or through him out in complete frustration.

`No way, did you see his eyes when you backed from him? He was hurt.' A voice in the back of his argued.

Yugi ignored it as he passed by one of the rooms and glanced in to see the girl who helped him before, the one who led him to Yami's room and got him cleaned up. He was very grateful for that since he felt like sandpaper with all the dirt and dust sticking to him the way it was.

He's so happy to see her and runs over to her. She was the only one he felt he could trust right now since she was the only nice person he knew of, he secretly wished there were more.

`There is, there's Yami." The same voice argued again.

He jumped into her lap and cried into her soft dress as she soothed him gently. She hears words being mumbled into her clothing and picks Yugi up into her lap and cradles his head, asking him to repeat what he said.

Yugi took a deep breath and tried again. "I'm so scared. What if Yami doesn't like me and he'll kill me if I wait to long to be ready for him, but what if he hurts me?"

"Shhh, little Yugi. Don't cry anymore. I promise Yami'll do no such thing to you. He'd never intentionally hurt you, he told me so himself when he came down to see me no less than an hour ago." She explained to the frightened boy.

Yugi looks into her green orbs carefully, as if searching her. "H-How cane you tell he's n-not ly-lying?"

"Yami was the first friend I ever had in the entire world, Yugi." She explained happily. "He comforted me and took me in as his secret even knowing what would happen his father found him out. He even fed me when I was close to dying of starvation since it was too hard to steal it for myself with all the guards around all the time. But then I got kicked out after being beaten by the guards when his father found us."

Yugi drew in a gasp as he listened to her intently.

"I hadn't seen him again until only last year a day after he became Pharaoh. He apologized for everything and took me in again and I've been here ever since and I love it. Everyone's really nice, Yugi. You can learn to like it too if you tried to be open-minded."

Seeing he wasn't paying much attention to that kind of advice she got an idea. She started to sing one of her favorite songs her mother used to sing to her before she and her father died. Her mother always sung it to her when she was scared, even when they were sick her mother sang it to her to calm her when she couldn't sleep at night too scared for them.

Yugi cheers up and listens calmly as she sings the melody to him and he lays his head on her shoulder and closes his eyes, enjoying the comfort and motherly act. He finally felt at ease in the giant palace of the Pharaoh.

Meanwhile, Yami was looking for Yugi since he hadn't seen the beauty for a while when he hears a soft voice echoing off the walls. He follows it to one of the side rooms that didn't have much purpose except to look out over the free space of the desert.

He's surprised to see Kyra the one singing, but even more so when he sees Yugi sitting in her lap with his head resting on her shoulder. He could tell Yugi was relaxed from the way he breathed, almost like he were asleep.

He took is calmed by the song and decides to stick around since it was going to be dark soon and he wanted to see what Yugi would do since he was looking out at the sky so Yami knew that Yugi could easily tell when it was getting dark. He climbs up onto one of the statues behind them and watches both people from above.

After the song Yugi lifts his head and smiled wearily at Kyra. He was sad the song had ended, but also happy. He'd hate having to leave while she was still singing but the sky was beginning to darken with night and stars could already be seen twinkling in the sky.

"Thank you. That helped me a lot, but I have to go now before it gets too dark." The boy doesn't wait for an answer as he turns and runs out; proud of himself for remembering the way he took.

After Kyra left, Yami climbed down and headed for his own chambers a minute later.

In returning to his room he sees that Yugi is already asleep and was shivering slightly from not covering himself. Upon closer look he noticed tear tracks from crying and he then realized why Kyra had been singing to him in the first place.

He climbed into the bed behind Yugi and covered them both up and successfully stopped the boy's shivering by pulling the smaller form closer to him to share his body heat. He smiled as the boy curled into him perfectly, but frowned as he also noted Yugi was unconscious and wasn't aware of doing it except to get warmer.