Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ My Slave for All Time ❯ Not Meant to Be You & Me ( Chapter 26 )

—Looking back on the previous chapter, I kinda laughed at my little emo-ness from Chapter 25. Man, that's scary and I sincerely apologize for it. Now I feel really, REALLY bad for almost abandoning this story. Three major reasons why. One, I had one foot out of the yaoi phase. Two, the further you get into college, the harder and more demanding it gets (woo, fun, bleh). Three, writer's block is a real bitch to deal with. I hate it.

 

—Probably lost many of you, but for those who've been waiting and are still with me. I worship you and kiss your stocking feet. *kiss kiss darling*

 

Chapter 26 - Not Meant to Be You & Me

 

For the past month, Yugi felt awful. He thought he had a small fever and a stomach virus, but when his mother took him to the doctor, they could find nothing physically wrong with him. Mrs. Mutou wondered if something emotionally devastating had happened to her son, but when she or Grandpa Mutou tried to speak to Yugi about it, he insisted nothing of the sort happened. He insisted that everything was great and he loved his boyfriend Bakura.

 

It was true. Yugi and Bakura were an official couple. As school ended and Yugi started his new job at the video rental store, they spent lots of time together. Though after a week, the store owner caught them making out in the documentary section and put the boys on separate shifts. But that didn't stop them from dating. Yugi didn't let his condition worry Bakura and kept his spirits up when they were together. He acted normal, although whenever he tried to eat, he felt sick and barely finished his meals, claiming that he just wasn't hungry.

 

After a while, Bakura became worried about Yugi. He decided to get Yugi some chicken noodle soup, some flowers and a small bag of Hershey Kisses. He picked out a can of soup and heard a familiar voice from behind him. He whirled around and saw Yami Kotara wearing a store uniform and stacking ramen cups on the other side of the aisle.

 

“Kotara-san?”

 

Yami looked at him indifferently. “Hello Bakura-san. Shopping for your uncle?” Since the movie theater incident, Yami had become almost a lone wolf. He kept to himself, only talking to Joey or Tristan on rare occasions. He also treated Yugi as though the smaller boy didn't even exist. It was as though Yugi was dead to him. Not only that, but secretly Yami's heart had a gaping hole and he had been trying to fill the void with experimentations. His mother had become concerned when she found gay pornography under her son's bed. Yami had no explanation and gave her not even the time of day for her concerns.

 

“Yugi-kun isn't feeling well. He hasn't been eating much and I noticed he's lost a lot of weight. I'm worried, but I've been hiding it. I don't want him to know I'm worried, because he'll think something's wrong.”

 

“If something is wrong…he deserves to know.” Yami said. He couldn't even bring himself to say Yugi's name.

 

“I suppose you're right.” Bakura said softly. “If you loved someone who needed help, you'd do anything to save them, wouldn't you?”

 

Yami stopped stacking and stared blankly at the shelves of ramen. He wanted to answer. He wanted to tell Bakura everything, but he couldn't. His mind was blocked by something powerful and almost physical. Ever since he told Yugi that he didn't love him, a wall had built itself around Yami's past life. A huge wall that kept him from feeling anything at all towards Yugi.

 

Bakura sensed that Yami was upset about something. “Is…anything wrong, Kotara-san?”

 

Yami sighed impassively and continued stacking. “No. Nothing ever is.”

 

——————

 

Yugi woke up early one morning. It was almost 5am and he couldn't sleep. It was June 1 and he would be seventeen in just four more days. July 10th was Yami-kun's birthday and he'd be eighteen. Must've been nice to know one could live to be eighteen. Yugi had accepted the fact he was going to die and his sickness was proof enough. Though why the doctors said differently was a mystery.

 

Yugi threw on an old T-shirt and some faded jeans and decided to go walking until breakfast. He had gone down almost two shirt sizes since his illness had taken effect. He just didn't have the stomach for food anymore. His mother and grandpa were starting to notice and they begged Yugi to go to the hospital, but Yugi denied that anything was wrong. At least publicly he did.

 

As Yugi snuck out and started his walk, he thought about how his Egyptian former self had not bothered him lately. Maybe he was gone already. Good, thought Yugi as he continued down the street towards the park. Maybe I'm rid of him for good. Maybe I can just die in peace. Yugi privately didn't want to believe he was suicidal. He wasn't actually. As he walked into the park, where the trees became clearer in the rising peachy pink of the sun, Yugi made the decision to live what little time he had left to the fullest. He would spend every moment with the person who loved him. Bakura.

 

He stopped and looked up at the fading stars of nighttime. “Egyptian gods, I don't know why you thought Yami and I would be together. Because it's just not true. Love cannot stand the test of time. We've already proven that to you. So, can't you just let me live? Not for Yami's sake, but for Bakura's. I don't want Bakura to mourn me. I don't want him to cry for me.”

 

Yugi felt a presence behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw Yami. The other boy was looking right through him with expressionless crimson eyes.

 

“You were right. All this Egyptian reincarnation stuff is ridiculous. It's hopeless. We were never meant to be.”

 

Yami said nothing and jogged passed him without looking back. He was clear he had forgotten Yugi and would never remember. Yugi had no more tears to waste on him. He watched Yami jog into the park before turning around and going back home. He didn't have the energy to walk anymore.

 

But he didn't notice Bakura sitting in a nearby tree with a golden falcon on his shoulder. The falcon looked at Bakura who said, “It's getting worse, I fear.”

 

“Yes.” replied the falcon in a distant, echoing voice. “Perhaps we were wrong to put this test upon the Pharaoh.”

 

“He was chosen by the God Monsters.” said Bakura. “They would not have obeyed him if he wasn't strong enough to within the challenge of time.”

 

“And you, my lord, still believe that this test is not over? I see now that it is quite over indeed. Let us put the boy out of his misery.”

 

“You are far too dense to truly grasp this situation.” Bakura sighed heavily. “I like that boy. We will keep the test open until the very last moment. The Pharaoh still has time to take back his words.”

 

“What is said cannot be unsaid, sir.” the golden falcon pointed out.

 

Bakura combed his white hair with his fingers. “True. But only when something stronger is said.”

 

“I beg thy pardon, my lord?”

 

“Words become stronger when more emotion is put into them.” Bakura replied.

 

“If you insist, O wise one.” whispered the golden falcon.

 

——————

 

Four days later and Yugi was feeling a little better. He was able to actually eat something and his friends came over for his birthday. Joey, Tristan and Bakura gave him presents and Tea mailed him a card. She was off on a cruise with her graduated boyfriend. Some dude named Malik or something. At least she was happy. Yugi wanted her to be happy.

 

After Joey and Tristan left, Bakura and Yugi cuddled together on the sofa to watch a movie and eat the homemade cupcakes that Bakura had brought over. Yugi was pleased and rewarded Bakura for this moment of happiness. They went into the bedroom to make love, but before anything clothing could be shed, Mrs. Mutou knocked on the door and said that Yugi had another birthday present that had just been delivered.

 

Yugi told Bakura to wait for him and he went out into the living room to see what it was. It was a flat, gold pendant shaped like an upside down pyramid. On the front were decorative hieroglyphics written in silver. Inside the box was a card, which Yugi read and frowned hard. He threw it into the waste basket along with the pendant. He ran back into his bedroom and gave Bakura the sexual experience of a lifetime.

 

Mrs. Mutou discovered the thrown away card and pendant ten minutes later, while the boys were still making love. She rescued the present and read the card.

 

To someone very special on his seventeenth birthday,

Here's wishing you lots of happy birthdays yet to come.

May this gift I've given bring a sweet smile to your face.

 

Forever truly,

Yami Kotara

 

But it wasn't enough. And Yami's birthday was closing fast. If he was going to fully accept his ancient past, he had to tear down the wall inside his mind. And it would take more than a birthday card full of sweet, empty words to make that happen.

 

—Oh, dude, totally sad chapter. It's gonna get sadder the more we get towards the end. My goal is to have people tearing up just a little. If you don't like this chapter, I do apologize. First off, I'm kinda coming out of my writer's block phase. Secondly, it's kind of a necessary chapter so readers know where all the characters now stand and also a little bit of why the gods are doing this to Yugi and the Pharaoh. I promise the next chapter will explain the Egyptian gods' intentions in detail. Chapter 27 will reveal the motives of the gods more. And yes, Bakura is playing a part in this. But you won't find that out until either Chapter 28 or Chapter 29.

 

—Well, next update. Probably not until January 5. Holiday season, y'know and my family going on a big trip to Alaska this year. Heh, travel's gonna be murder, but it'll be worth it. (Btw, our trip to Alaska has nothing to do with that idiot Sarah Palin. No offense to my Republican readers).

 

— Next update: January 5 (I swear it'll be up! Or let me be struck by…a flying Christmas tree).