Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Re-Discovering Innocence ❯ Day 3: Heartstrings part 1 ( Chapter 6 )

Day 3: Heartstrings Part 1

"Yugi! Hey Yuge!! You in there?"

"Oh!" Yugi exclaimed as he nearly tripped over the phone cord. "S-sorry, Jou. Was I ignoring you?", he said sheepishly into the receiver.

He heard a scoff on the other end, then Jou's voice. "Naaah!!! I bet you were just daydreamin'. Typical Yugi shtuff."

Yugi blushed. "Uhh...I'm glad you think so..?"

Jou laughed. "Dun worry about it, Yugi!" In a deeper and much more sly sounding tone, he added, "I bet you were thinkin' about Anzu, weren't ya?"

"Anzu..?!"

...Anzu...

Of course Yugi couldn't deny the fact that he was indeed thinking about her. He always did. But recently, his thinking had become worrying.

Yugi realized that she had tried her best to keep a smile on her face and cheer him on, when in actuality, her condition continued to get worse.

Yami had left late last night to check on her, but----

The mere fact of he not being able to do anything to help her was tearing him up inside.

"Yugi? Is everything okay over there?" Jou asked, noticing that everything had just gone silent on Yugi's end of the line.

Yugi dropped the receiver to the floor, as he fell to his knees. He bit his lip to do battle with the cruel sobs that throbbed in his throat.

...Anzu....

She hadn't called him yet. Why hadn't she called?

"...What happened....." Yugi muttered, his words soon becoming slurs of broken phrases and teary fragments.

"..What happened to her, Yami...?"

It was quiet. Too quiet, even for Yami's tastes.

He sat perched on a window sill directly across the room from Anzu's bed. To his relief and content, she was safe, and sleeping soundly. Instead of snoring, she breathed through her nose rather loudly, but that suited him just fine. Anything was better than her not breathing at all.

Yami's eyes narrowed at the thought.

He had found her nearly submerged in water in her bathtub earlier that morning.

Secretly, he had been watching her from the shadows to check on her. He had been doing that for two days now, ever since the first day she had become instilled by this illness. He could tell that her condition was gradually getting worse.

He had watched as she struggled to stay in control of her body that morning, but the reason he couldn't help her sooner was because the window screen on her balcony had been bolted shut.

He had banged on the screen, calling her name, but she couldn't seem to hear him.

He had paused to consider while trying to get her attention would result in waking someone up in the family.

Yami didn't want anyone else involved.

He would've came to her rescue a lot sooner, but, he had to break a few rules; some personal, a few moralistic, and smash through the window.

Needless to say, he was glad that he did. By the time he found her, her head and upper body were nearly completely submerged in the water.

Without any second thoughts, Yami draped an arm around her waist, and gently laid her across the floor. He apologized silently to her that the floor was cold, and immediately checked her pulse and her breathing.

Her respiratory flow was fine. It had been a little disrupted, but not by much.

Her pulse was regulating normally.

Her face was deathly pale, though, totally drained of all color.

This worried Yami. He quickly grabbed up some towels that were hanging around and placed them under her head, and gingerly wrapped the remaining ones around her frail body.

He had to admit, at this point, he was afraid of what would happen to her. But he had no choice but to shove those assumptions aside and carry her to safety.

After leaving the bathroom, Yami gently placed Anzu in her bed, but didn't bother with covering her up. Her body had already gone through a shock from being extremely hot, then immediately just as cold.

The outfit that she wore, an extra large t shirt and leggings, seemed to be an addition to her the heat that was taking its toll on her.

The thought of removing some of her clothing to release the tension the heat had on her body crossed Yami's mind. He had broken through enough private boundaries, already, and finding any pleasure in removing Anzu's clothing, or any girl's clothing for a lusty matter didn't interest him at all.

All he wanted then was for Anzu to be safe, and have her illness pass.

He didn't care who walked in her room at that moment. He confirmed to himself that he was going to stay there and watch over her, until she at least awoke from her slumber.

Without wasting any more time on lingering thoughts, Yami walked over to the window sill across from her bed on the farside of the room, and perched himself there, watching, and waiting.

And he was still there...watching her.

Her torso steadily moved up and down at a decent pace.

Her breathing was still fine. And she had already begun to stir a bit.

Yami chuckled as a smirk traveled across his lips. The towels he had wrapped her in were already draping over the edge of the bed, if they weren't on the carpet already.

Anzu was quite the wild sleeper.

/Yami..!!/

Yami nearly lost his balance on the window sill as the sudden call of Yugi tore through his mind.

Quickly, he glanced to Anzu, even thought he knew that she hadn't heard, and calmed his soul to communicate with his upset sounding other.

Aibou...I'm sorry..

/Anzu. Where is Anzu?/

Home.

/Is she--/

She's fine.

/Then--!!/

She's fine, Aibou.

Yami heard the sound of hesitance coming from Yugi, as if he were unsure of what to say, or do next. Yami knew this was a sensitive subject to Yugi, and from the sound of things, Yugi had been so worried, that he was most likely on the verge of breaking down.

And Yami couldn't allow that to happen. Not to the two people that mattered the most to him.

Softly, he hummed an ancient melody to calm Yugi down; a lullaby that one of his servant's back at the palace at sung for him to soothe his mind.

It worked. Yugi began to calm down. Although he was still a little uneasy about Yami just leaving him in the middle of the night to check on Anzu, and not even bothering to tell him the details of what happened.

But Yami had been there for Anzu in his place. And Anzu was safe and all right, right? That's all that mattered, right?

Yugi hoped so.

In the depths of his mind, he thanked Yami and asked him to come back soon to talk.

Yami agreed, and closed their connection.

His eyes drifted automatically to where Anzu lay, and much to his surprise, she was awake, sitting up on her bed.

She looked at him. He looked at her.

An awkward silence filled the room.

Yami...? Why was he here? And where was Yugi...?

What happened last night? Everything was a watery blur to her, and it hurt to try to remember.

Her body felt numb, and the dizziness soon returned to her, but she stood her ground this time.

Discreetly, she tried to speak, but her words came out in coughs instead.

Curse this illness! Why did heredity always have to step in and claim the best of her life?

She is a normal, athletic and healthy teenage girl! This should not be happening to her!

But it was something she had to live with. Lifting her head to try and talk with Yami again, Anzu opened her mouth, but no sound came out as she found herself directly face to face with Yami.

He was now sitting on her bed. Her breath was caught in her throat at the royal air coming from him. She wondered, did he really care for her?

He hardly ever smiled to her....

His expression was as serious as always.

Anzu quickly found herself getting lost within the gentle hues of his eyes. It was almost as if he were calling her, drawing her to him.

Breathlessly, she whispered his name, as exhaustion overcame her, and she fainted onto his chest.

Yami found his arms moving on their own, draping around her frail body, and bringing her close to him.

He just wanted to be there for her, now.

Though, he felt that Yugi should be here and be the one to do this--- but he was the one here. He couldn't just leave her all alone, could he?

Wordlessly, Yami gave her a tender squeeze, and rocked her gently to sleep.

-Mel