Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Re-Discovering Innocence ❯ Day 2: Dream ( Chapter 4 )

Day 2: Dream

Tuesday morning, at exactly 10:45 a.m.

Yugi lay spread eagle-wise on his bed, while staring up at the ceiling.

Since he and his friends had missed out on their classes yesterday because of what happened, Yugi came to the conclusion that they really didn't have to go back until that following Friday to take their finals.

Yugi's thoughts were immediately disrupted as a bright blue t shirt flew over his face. "Aggh!! Ya--ami!!", he cried, trying to pull the shirt off.

A soft chuckle came from Yami as he continued to toss outfits at Yugi from his drawer. "Hurry up and choose something to wear and get in the shower. Jounouchi's coming over today, remember? You wouldn't want to miss out on taking advantage of this 'free-day' of yours."

Setting the clothing aside, Yugi sat up on his bed, but his eyes went straight to the floor.

He was a bit drowsy from worrying about Anzu all night.

It felt like he had seen her the night before, be he disposed of that conclusion.

He did, however, meet with her this morning, or rather with her Aunt.

When he came to Anzu's door, Anzu's aunt answered it in her place, and said that Anzu was still resting and should not be disturbed.

Yugi told Yami all about it when he got back home, but instead of being even the slightest bit concerned, Yami was rather smug about the whole thing.

Yugi wondered, did Yami know something that he didn't?

"Hey, sleepyhead.", Yami called to Yugi, as yet another t-shirt got thrown onto his head. "Keep wasting time, and Jou will be here any minute."

With a drowsy hand, Yugi reached up and tugged the shirt off from his head. He sighed and tossed it emotionlessly on his bed. "..Yami...."

Sensing Yugi's lack of humor for this morning, Yami stopped raiding his other with clothing and closed the drawers back up. "All right. All right."

With a sleepy sound of thanks, Yugi finally got himself up from the bed, and stretched.

Just as he did, the sound of something solid clanking against the window got him to go over to it.

"What's that?" Yami rhetorically asked, already ahead of Yugi at the window. Looking down, he caught sight of Jounouchi. He was jumping up and down, waving his arms frantically to get the Muto's attention.

"What's he doing ?" Yugi uttered, while Yami opened the window and peered down to Jou.

"Heeey!! Yugi!!! Yami!!", he called upto them with his hands cupped around his mouth.

"Hi Jou!!" Yugi called back to his friend with a wave. "What's up?"

"Um...", Jou hesitated, swinging his arms to and fro. "Er...something came up, and I've got a few errands to run, so, I can't really come out today!"

"Oh..." Yugi mumbled, unknowingly to himself. 'I guess Jou's busy today.'

"I'm REEEALLY sorry, Yugi!!"

Yami looked to his Aibou as he called back to Jou with a cheerful expression, not dampened in the least. "Hey, hey, it's okay!"

With a sheepish grin and a deep bow, Jou apologized, then waved to his friend. "I promise I'll make this upto you, Yuge!!" Then with that said, Jou enthusiastically scampered off on his way to who knows where.

Almost TOO enthusiastically, Yugi thought.

With a shrug, Yugi waited until Jou was completely gone out of his field of vision, then he closed the window.

A question then came to him, and he slowly turned to face Yami with a puzzled expression.

"...Yami....?"

"Don't worry about it, Aibou. " Yami replied, as if he already knew what it was that had Yugi so perplexed. After a brief conversation, Yami gave his Aibou a reassuring look of hope, and disappeared into the Millennium Puzzle.

Finally arriving at his destination, a creek near the ice cream shop, Jounouchi came to a halt and leaned on a nearby wooden sign to catch his breath. "I...made...it..", he panted between breaths.

Once he had composed himself, he took a look around his surroundings The trees had the whole area secluded, and the distant breeze from the creek was a great addition to the place.

Yep. This was a great spot for two lovers to bond under.

"Thinking a little too far ahead, aren't you, Jou?"

Shocked that he was heard, Jounouchi spun around, holding a hand to his pounding heart. "Honda!! What are you doing here?!"

Honda scoffed and bopped Jou upside the head. "Don't be an idiot, stupid! You told me to come and meet you here!"

Dropping all threats, Jou paused and thought back. "Huh? Oh yeah!!"

Honda crossed his arms. "Well? Where are they?"

" ? Oh, you mean Yugi and Anzu? I told them not to come!!"

Honda comically fell over, and Jou just as cute, stared at him with an innocently dumbfounded expression.

"Wha?"

"YOU IDIOT!!" Honda yelled, giving Jou a little shove. "You call me at 5 in the morning to tell me to meet you at the creek no later than 11:00 because you found the perfect surprise spot for Anzu and Yugi to camp under--"

"Y...yeah..that's right..."

"--AND THEY'RE NOT EVEN HERE!?!!!"

"...Well, that'll defeat the whole purpose of it being a surprise, now wouldn't it!?"

"BAAAAAAKAAA!!!!"

"Ahh!!"

Once in the shower, Yugi stood on his tippy-toes to reach the faucets. Once the shocking cold wetness of the water made contact with his skin, he immediately leapt back , rubbing his arms.

Trying to confront the water again, he stuck his big toe out in it, to test the temperature of it before jumping in it this time.

It was still cold, but gradually it started to warm up. Once it was satisfying enough, Yugi stepped into the ring of clear water droplets, and let all his problems just fly away.

"Anzu.." A soft voice called from behind her door.

Anzu looked up from her workbook, only briefly, then, went back to work solving problems.

"Come in, Auntie."

At her permission, Anzu's aunt turned the knob, and slowly pushed the door open.

Anzu glanced back up from her books to greet her aunt. "Yes? What is it?"

"Oh nothing.", her aunt replied."Just thought I'd check on you." Anzu could tell she was being smug about something. She felt prompted to ask, but she was more interested where Yugi was.

He was supposed to be coming over today to help her with her studying.

Maybe her aunt would know?

"Hey, Auntie..", Anzu called, catching her aunt, just before she closed the door.

"Yes?"

"Um, have you seen a boy with spiky black hair with red streaks and.."

"Blonde bangs?"

Anzu gasped.

"Why yes, yes I have."

"You did?" Anzu pressed, already starting to get up from her placement on the floor. "When?"

"Oh, earlier today."

"What time?!"

"About...eight-ish....or was it nine? Either way, I told him not to bother you while you were getting your rest."

Anzu could hardly believe what she was hearing! Yugi came by after all? And her aunt just shooed him away!?

"How could you! That was Yugi! He was probably coming to check on me!"

Her aunt just looked at Anzu for a moment as if she had lost her mind "My dear, if he were coming over to propose to you and have the wedding right here in your room, I wouldn't have let him in. You have your responsibilities and you were ill! I couldn't let a stray just come in here and hinder your situation even further!"

"Yugi is NOT A STRAY! He is MY FRIEND! And he seems to care a hell of a lot more than you ever will!!"

"Anzu!"

"I've had enough of you and your smug little rantings, deciding what's best for me over my own judgment! You just don't know WHAT is going on! Yugi was supposed to come over to help me study today and you probably SCARED him away! Now move out of my way."

With that, Anzu angrily pushed herself past her bewildered aunt and shoved her door open.

Awestruck and feeling she got what she deserved, Anzu's aunt was left in her niece's room to wallow in her own guilt.

Not another thought passed her mind as the click of the front door opening, and then slamming shut struck something deep within her.

The water continued to pour down on Yugi, as he stood silently in the shower.

He had no idea of how cold the water had started to become, for his mind became flooded with thoughts and concerns of Anzu.

He had never seen her in such a weakened state before. He kept asking himself, would she really be all right? He even asked Yami, and the latter could tell you, if he had gotten 100 yen for everytime Yugi asked that question----

A sigh released itself from Yugi as his mind continued to reel back to the previous day. Even though Anzu was probably in pain, she still always managed to slip that sweet smile of hers to him to make him feel as if though he were on top of the world.

Then it hit him. He was supposed to meet with her today to study!!

"Oh no!!" Yugi announced out loud, and the moment his senses came back to him, did he realize that the water was now turning ice cold!

With a yelp, Yugi tried to jump back to be out of the way of the water, but, he lost his balance and fell over instead.

There was a dim flash behind the curtains, and just as it faded, Yami came rushing out of the shower like a mad man, rubbing his arms and hopping around on the floor.

"Cold cold cold cold!" he forced out through gritted teeth to keep them from chattering. "Cold cold cold cold! That's cold!!"

Anzu sneezed as she stood outside next to the lamppost near her house. Sadly she looked to her watch for the thirteenth time. It was getting late, and still no sign of Yugi. Where could he be? Anzu was sure that he hadn't forgotten. No, Yugi would never forget...would he?

Faster than The Flash on Speed, Yami zoomed around the room trying to freshen up and get himself dressed so that Yugi could meet with Anzu.

As he was doing so, he could feel Yugi calling him back, and tugging on his soul.

/Yami!! Let me be in control of my body, please!/

Oh, come now, Aibou, you know that I'm much faster than you! I'll get you to Anzu is no time.

/But Yami, that's besides the point!/

Yami froze as he listened to Yugi's words. "What do you mean...?"

/Yami...being fast or getting there fast has nothing to do with how I'm feeling right now. Anzu was supposed to meet with me, and I want to meet with her by myself and on my own, without your help!/

....Yugi...

There was another dim flash from within the Millennium Puzzle, as Yami retreated back to his Soul Room, and Yugi regained control of his body.

Clutching the Millennium Puzzle in his hands, Yugi hung his head and apologized to his yami. "I'm sorry, Yami. I appreciate your wanting to help, on my behalf, but this is something that I have to do on my own."

Yami understood everything perfectly clear. He was also proud that Yugi was becoming not only a stronger person, but a fine young man in the process.

All right, Aibou. So where are we going? To see Anzu?

Yugi wanted to say yes, but, remembering what Anzu's aunt said to him earlier that day lead his thoughts in another direction.

/No....No we're not./

With that, Yami became silent, as Yugi slowly finished dressing himself, then turned out his lights and left out the door.

"Come on, Yugi." Anzu silently cheered, praying for Yugi to meet up with her.

She check her watch again, then looked away from it in disgust.

The sun had already begun to set.

Great. It was almost nighttime, now. But still, Yugi couldn't have forgotten about her right?

Even Anzu's believe and faith in her friend started to waiver, now.

The day, like the previous ones, had been almost unbearably warm to her. The weather was way too outrageous for the Fall.

She placed two fingers to her forehead, and stabled herself against the lamppost. The abnormality of the heat in a frosty month was taking it's toll on her, making her dizzy and disoriented.

Sweat had already begun to form on her forehead. Feeling defeated, Anzu turned, preparing to go back into her house, but the scene between her and her aunt replayed back into her mind, rendering her to get a displeasing taste in her mouth.

She couldn't go back in there now. She refused to.

Wasn't there someplace not that far away, that she could goto to cool off?

The the answer came to her.

The Dream!

The Dream was the name of the ice cream parlor right down the street, close to Yugi's house.

Yugi....

Couldn't say she wanted to see him either. But she couldn't blame anything on him. It wasn't his fault.

Right?

Growing irritated from all the questions she knew that she had no answers to, Anzu deleted all lingering thoughts, and steadily made her way to The Dream.

Once the doors to the parlor slid open, Anzu had to shield her eyes from all the brightly flashing colors that emitted from a various number of neon signs that were laced like curtains across the whole place.

She could remember the times she would be used to seeing so many colors, but now, all because of her weakness to abnormal heat, she felt so--she didn't even want to say the word.

Pushing it all to the back of her mind, she made her way as normally as she could make it to the counter of the parlor.

Just as she plopped down in one of the stools to make an order, she caught a glimpse of black, red, and yellow from out the corner of her eye.

Turning her body to face the whim completely, she was almost shocked to see Yugi sitting at a stool all by himself in the far corner.

The look on his face was so sad and dysphoric, Anzu could already feel the hot sting of tears piercing at the back of her eyes.

But what was he doing here? Whatever the reason, Anzu was glad to see him, and to be so close to him after today....she had to get closer.

Forgetting about her previous doubt, anger and suffering, Anzu left all her hazards at the counter and floated over to Yugi on the balls of her feet.

Yugi, who was greatly overwhelmed by defeat and sorrow, kept his eyes down to his ice cream, of which he hadn't even touched yet, and didn't even notice Anzu's presence.

Anzu's heart was pounding like mad. She was so glad that she could be so close to him now! She thought that she'd never---oh forget what she thought! She was so overjoyed to be with Yugi again, she could barley keep her calm composure.

With a warm smile, she placed her fingertips on the table top and gently cooed his name.

"Yugi..."

At the mentioning of his name, Yugi absent-mindedly lifted his head. He met eyes with Anzu's, but thought that he was only dreaming, and retreated his eyes back down to his ice cream.

Then it hit him. He hadn't even been sleeping, so how could he be dreaming!?!! With a start, Yugi shot his head back up, as his mouth hung open in a gape when he realized that this was really Anzu! Anzu was really here with him!

"Anzu!! Ah--!"

"Yugi! oh...--!" Anzu closed one eye, for she couldn't bear to watch.

Yugi was so excited from seeing Anzu again, that he lost his balance in his chair, and tumbled to the floor.

"Ow....." Yugi groaned, rubbing his head.

"Oh, Yugi, are you okay?" Anzu asked, trying to pull him up.

Yugi didn't want to hinder her situation, if any, and got up slowly, without anything more but a touch from her fingertips from her.

Both of them sitting at the booth, now, they engaged in a light conversation. Plenty of sorries were interchanged between the two, both feeling bad about missing meeting with the other.

"I wasn't expecting to see you!" Yugi exclaimed with a bright smile. " And I'm so sorry about today, but your Aunt said that you needed your rest, and I thought I shouldn't come back because of that, and--!"

"Whoa, whoa! Yugi, it's okay! It's okay! We're together now, right?"

"Yeah! Um...I hope you don't mind me asking this, but, how are you feeling?"

"A little dizzy, but I'll manage."

Anzu knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. She really felt overwhelmed. She had nearly pushed herself to her limit; standing out in the abnormal heat while waiting for Yugi to come, yelling and getting cross with her aunt, already being weakened by the heatstroke and abnormality in the weather.

Mentally, she felt like dying, but one look at Yugi and those big plum eyes of his just changed the way she felt completely.

"Thank you, Yugi", she whispered. She could feel her vision starting to fail her.

Yugi blinked, unsure of why she was thanking him, but he accepted it anyway.

Just as the thought passed, the cashier motioned over to him from behind the counter. Without any second thoughts about why he was being called over, Yugi made his way over to him.

"Here.", the cashier said, as he slid a banana split across the counter to Yugi. "Give this to your girlfriend, over there."

Yugi blushed upon receiving it. "My girlfriend?"

The cashier chuckled and nodded. "Yeah sure! Life's full of fun when you're young!" Lowering his voice, he added, "Trust me on this, kid."

With his face turning as red as one of the neon lights in the parlor, Yugi had lost his voice for a moment.

Then he shook away any hindering of adolescence away and bowed to the man. With a polite thank you, Yugi left the counter and made his way back over to Anzu, who was now laying her head down on the table, supported by her arm.

A smile drew itself across Yugi's lips as he placed the dessert down on the table, and watched Anzu.

Sliding his fingers through her strands and a few split ends, Yugi leaned forward and planted a sweet and innocent kiss on Anzu's cheek.

"...You're welcome...", he whispered.

."mmm" was her reply.

Soundly, she slept, dreaming of him.

--

This chapter is dedicated to "Yugi-chan" Thank you and sweet dreams.