Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Newton's Third ❯ Farewell ( Chapter 7 )

NEWTON'S THIRD by Kiraya

~*~*~

Night fell, and morning followed: Sunday.

Leaning against his bedroom wall, Yami wondered if he could hold to the resolution he had made yesterday. It'll be difficult, he told himself, but I think I can manage. I hopeI can manage. At least for a little while...

But what if, when you approach him again, he rejects even your friendship? whispered the voice in the back of his head. Or what if he accepts it and wishes nothing more than that? What will you do if he does not return your feelings in the way you desire...?

The former pharaoh shook his head. I... I don't know.

A small mumbling intruded on his thoughts. He turned his gaze upon a cocoon of blankets on the other bed and smiled slightly; the only way one knew his light was in there was by the coverlet's steady rise and fall - and by the tri-colored hair that peeked out. I love him so much. He's always there for me - whether in body or in spirit. His companionship would help dull the pain.

But it would not be the same.

No, he agreed, his smile fading, it would not. He sighed. I love Yugi like the twin people think he is to me - very much indeed. But it's nothing like what I feel for Seto. Both emotions are so profound as to be beyond full comprehension - but while one is brotherly, the other is passionate...

It would not be the same at all.

He brooded over it for a while before dozing off again.

~*~*~

"Hey, Yami. Wake up - or are you not planning on breakfast before you go to the airport?"

"Airport?" he mumbled, looking up at his aibou, who was shaking him gently.

"Yeah," Yugi said. "Kaiba's leaving for his big meeting in San Francisco today, and you said you'd go and see him off." He grinned. "Don't tell me you don't remember - you've only been mentioning it to me at least once a day for nearly a week."

"Ah. Yes, I remember." He sat up. "I'm not going," he declared firmly.

His lighter half rolled his eyes. "You do realize that you're being ridiculous, don't you?"

"I'm not being ridiculous," the King of Games replied, even though the other's words stung a little. "I mean to hold by what I said yesterday. I'll see you downstairs in a bit," he concluded, crossing the hall to the bathroom and firmly closing the door behind him.

<You shouldn't draw away from him, you know. The two of you have to talk about it - the sooner, the better,> hikari told yami through their link.

<<No. It really would be in his best interests if I just stayed out of his life for a while,>> came the stubborn reply.

Yugi's eyes narrowed. <I don't think this has so much do to with Kaiba's best interests,> he observed shrewdly, <but rather your own. You're the one who doesn't trust yourself to stay in control around him anymore - you're the one who's going insane wondering if it'll happen again.>

Yami's only response was an injured silence.

The smaller boy shook his head in exasperation and headed downstairs to help his grandpa make breakfast.

~*~*~

Yami moved with deliberate slowness that morning, ignoring his mind's desperate urgings to hurry as he took his time completing his morning routine. He even lingered long over their morning repast, though he only picked at his food.

Though Yugi frowned at him across the table, he would not meet his light's challenging gaze.

The former pharaoh finally laid down his fork and rose with a sigh. "I'm going for a walk," he announced. "I should be back in two hours at the most."

"Dress warmly," the elderly Mr. Mutou said without looking up from his crossword.

His little grandson simply smiled.

~*~*~

Seto Kaiba put down his novel with a sigh. He'd be boarding the plane shortly, thankfully. The flight should give him an opportunity to clear his head, and perhaps sort out his feelings...

"Rows five through nine, please."

He stood up and retrieved his carryon from under his seat. Last in line again, he noted sourly, glowering.

There were only a couple people left ahead of him when a sudden warning tingling from the back of his neck made him turn.

~*~*~

Yami peered at the sign next to the rapidly diminishing line of people. Flight 117, to San Francisco. He growled at himself. I shouldn't be here. Why in the Afterworld did I come here-

And then the final person in line turned and looked back.

Equally startled, wine-hued eyes met deep azure.

For a long time, they simply stared at each other across the terminal, Yami's gaze nervously questioning, Seto's unreadable as conflicting emotions flickered across his face. The young CEO opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but then closed it, shaking his head slightly as he turned, giving the flight attendant his ticket and boarding the plane.

Yami's heart sank as he turned and walked away. It was very cold, and a long way home, but he didn't feel like taking a taxi right now.

~*~*~

"Did you enjoy your walk, Yami?" Yugi asked knowingly as his darker half came in, shivering.

"Not at all," he growled irritably, stamping his booted feet to warm them. "I kept slipping." He showed his light a rather bruised arm.

Yugi blinked. "Um. Don't tell me you forgot to look out for patches of ice again."

The King of Games smiled to himself mockingly. "Couldn't. I was too busy regretting that we ever met Seto Kaiba."

A long pause.

"Would you care to tell me what happened?" Yugi asked delicately.

"Not really, no. Let's just keep working on that history project, shall we?"

The culture they had chosen was, unsurprisingly, ancient Egypt - an extensive topic, but not at all difficult, especially when one was lucky enough to have a former pharaoh as one's partner. Yami insisted on doing an entire sub-report on the Shadow Games, but Yugi didn't mind - he was utterly fascinated by the subject. They worked in relative silence, every one of the shorter boy's tentative mental inquiries rebuffed, firmly but not ungently, by his brooding companion. Nothing changed after they took a break for lunch, and Yugi grew increasingly disheartened as afternoon progressed to evening. He had just suggested stopping for the day, a proposition that Yami readily agreed to, when Yugi's grandpa entered.

"Would it bother you boys terribly if I watched the news?" he asked, settling himself in front of the television.

"`Sokay, Grampa, Yugi assured him. "We were just finishing up for today anyway."

They all watched in silence for a while until the aggravated Mr. Mutou was called away to the kitchen by the oven buzzer.

Yami had gotten up and begun gathering some of the various materials they had been using when his aibou frowned suddenly and said, "What plane was Kaiba on?"

The King of Games told him. "Why?"

"Oh, shit," muttered the smaller boy.

"What is it?" his darker half asked suspiciously, slightly startled by his light's language.

Yugi simply gestured to the TV, his expression grim.

The blood drained from Yami's face as he collapsed back on the couch. His mind reeled as he stared blankly at the screen, listening in shocked disbelief to the anchorwoman's voice.

"...went down late this afternoon about a thousand kilometers northwest of Midway in a sudden, violent storm. American Marines are assisting in the as-yet fruitless search for survivors..."

~*~*~

To be continued.

Kiraya: Would I be so cruel as to kill him off? Would I? Would I so mercilessly snatch away Yami's highly delectable beloved when he has only just begun to look at the King of Games in *that way*? Would I so utterly devastate our most appealing pharaoh by-

Rhaithe: Don't toy with them unless you're planning to eat them, dear. It's impolite.

Kiraya: (sulks) Fine. But I must insist on leaving you all with nothing more than this. Until the next chapter, zhai'helleva.