Appreciation
"See you tomorrow, Yami!" Yugi waved at his yami, who simply climbed in Kaiba's car without a backward glance. Ever since Yami had started dating the CEO, Yugi had found himself being ignored. No-no, that was wrong. It wasn't Kaiba's fault it was- Yugi cut off his mental train of thought. Now what? He'd already done his homework, had dinner, and he couldn't meet up with any of his friends because Jounouchi was out with Honda, Anzu was out with her girlfriends, and Yami had just left. Ryou and Bakura were staying home, but judging by the hickeys Ryou had been sporting along with his usual cream sweater, the two of them wouldn't exactly welcome his company. Yugi hated being lonely, something that he had been for a long time, because Yami, or Anzu, or Jounouchi, or Ryou, or just someone, was always there. But now they all had someone they loved more than they loved him. //Oh, stop it. Stop being petty and go do something, // snapped a voice inside his head. //The only reason you're alone is because you're too much of a coward to say how you felt-// Yugi clapped his hands over his ears, though he couldn't escape the taunts of the voice. He couldn't escape what was true.
"Ne, Yugi, do you have somebody you like?"
"Why?"
Anzu tapped his arm. "Because you look kind of down, like you're missing someone." Yugi shook his head. "No-no, I don't."
Holding his umbrella over his head, Yugi feigned deafness as Yami talked about his date with Kaiba. There was this-bubble-inside his chest that grew with every mention of Kaiba's name. Why did *he* make Yami so happy. Why couldn't Yugi make Yami light up with that 'I-love-him-so-much-glow'? //Well, let's see. Kaiba's cool, brilliant, rich, kind-to Yami, anyway- a excellent duelist who's only lost once-on his own-, self-reliant, sexy as hell, in other words, everything I'm not. // It seemed that Yami was so caught up in his description that he didn't notice the 'bubble' inside of Yugi growing, or the hot tears that threatened to spill over the rims of Yugi's violet eyes. He would have said something if he had, and to the small duelist, that was the worst thing of all. The 'bubble' burst, and Yugi took off down the street, abandoning his umbrella to the sidewalk, hot tears mingling with the cold rain.
"See you tomorrow, Yugi!"
//We were supposed to go to the movies...//
"I'm going out with Honda, see ya!"
//Can't I come? //
"I know we were supposed to go, Yugi, but I'll have to back out, it's not often Seto's home early, you understand, don't you?"
//You promised me...//
"We'll go another time, Yugi, Bakura just wants me all to himself, okay? Bye!"
//What if *I* wanted you all to myself...//
Yugi was asleep now, tears leaving their marks on his gentle face as he whimpered in his sleep. Once they were certain he was sleeping, a few cards slipped out of his deck and cast off a violet glow. When the glow faded, a brown puffball the size of a terrier with clawed paws, a blonde elf carrying a sword, and a mage with blue eyes and purple hair had all appeared in the room. "Yugi-sama cry," whined Kuriboh. "Yugi-sama lonely."
The Celtic Guardian nodded. "You're right. But what can we do? Yami-san seems to only have eyes for Kaiba-san. Yugi-sama will not confess his true feelings to anyone."
"And keeping up a happy act for everyone else is too much work." The Dark Magician removed his armor. "He needs us, now. People who already love him and know how he feels."
"Good!" cried Kuriboh, and he crawled next to Yugi on his bed. The Celtic Guardian sat on the floor, and the Dark Magician knelt by the bed and gently touched his master's shoulder. "Yugi-sama. Yugi-sama." A pair of tear-reddened eyes opened to look at him. Their owner sat up in surprise. "Dark Magician?" Yugi reached out to touch him then pulled his hand away.
"It's all right." The Dark Magician clasped Yugi's hand in his and brought it to his own face. "We are all here." The mage watched as Yugi's eyes passed over Kuriboh and the warrior.
"Why? I didn't call you or anything..."
"Because we love Yugi-sama!" giggled Kuriboh. "Because Yugi-sama is sad, and Yugi-sama loves us."
"So you all came...for me..." There was a group nod from the duel monsters. "Thank you. All of you."
"There is no need for thanks, Yugi-sama. Now, can you sleep?"
"Will you stay?"
There was nod from the elf, a giggle from Kuriboh, and the mage answered, "Of course." So Yugi spent his first restful night in nearly two months with Kuriboh by his head, the Celtic Guardian in his chair, and in the arms of the Dark Magician.
"Good morning!" A good sleep seemed to have done wonders with Yugi's spirits as he bounded down the stairs fully dressed. It appeared that the elf and Kuriboh were fighting over the remote-wait a minute. Yugi walked over to the couch and stared. The elf had slimmed down; enough to look like a normal teenage boy in Yugi's school uniform. He'd also shrunk his ears. Kuriboh, on the other hand, had much more bushy hair than a normal teenage boy, and was about Yugi's height, about an inch and a half shorter. "Uh...what are two wearing?"
"Doesn't this look more normal?" The Celtic Guardian asked, releasing the remote and adjusting his collar.
"You look fine, but Kuriboh, you need much less hair. Shorter and not so furry-looking." In a split second, Kuriboh had shortened his hair to shoulder-length waves, revealing big green eyes. "Much better-" Yugi's words died on his tongue as the Dark Magician walked in, shirtless. "I made breakfast, Yugi-sama. Kuri-kun, Kane-kun, your disguises are perfect."
"Kuroi-kun, you can't go to school like that. It's freezing outside." The mage shrugged and a shirt materialized, to Yugi's relief and disappointment. Kuroi handed Yugi a glass of juice and a breakfast sandwich. "Thank you." Yugi bit into the sandwich, which was rather tasty. "Mmm-good!" Four lunch boxes came floating into the room, two landing in the respective laps of Kuri and Kane, and the remaining two settled on the coffee table. Yugi, who had already polished off his sandwich, picked his up. "Oh, it's cute." Yugi smiled and set it back down. "Thank you, Kuroi." The elf could have sworn he saw the mage blush before he accepted Yugi's thanks.
Kuri had, at his request, dragged Yugi out of the house a little early, to 'make sure he could get to school', leaving Kane and Kuroi alone. "I thought the point of this was to make Yugi-sama happy, with Yami-san if possible. Not for you to satisfy yourself." Kuroi looked offended, but the elf continued on anyway. "Yugi-sama does not need your attentions to confuse him even more, Kuroi. He *is* very innocent, after all. One could even that he was naive." The mage didn't answer, grabbed his bag, and left, slamming the door behind him. Guessing that he had offended the other monster, Kane quickly followed, locking the door behind him. "Kuroi-."
"Do you think I would do such a thing? Seduce him? Is that what you think I want? Sex?" Kuroi was angry, but there was a ring of assent to his voice. So, he was admitting some attraction to their young master-and he seemed almost ashamed of his emotions. Clapping a hand on the taller monster's shoulder, he smiled. "It's all right. I know you wouldn't do that, no matter how attracted you were. Come on, we don't want to be late for our first day of school."
"Everyone, sit down. Sit!" There was a mass scrambling for chairs as the teacher reached the front of the room. "Today we have three transfer students from-uh, well, I don't really know, and it doesn't matter, as I'm sure they can tell you themselves. Come in, come in." Everyone started whispering as the three came in.
"Aww, all boys!"
"They're so cute!"
"Sexy!"
Kane smiled at the girls, who melted in their chairs. "Mono Kane. Nice to meet you."
"Mono Kuroi." Any girl who hadn't melted before did so now.
"Mono Kuri! Nice to meet you!" There was a general agreement of 'Kawaii!'.
The teacher raised an eyebrow. "Are you related?" All three shook their heads. "Oh." All three boys picked a seat without the teacher saying a word-Kuroi, next to Yugi, Kuri in front of Yugi, and Kane sat in front of Kuroi. The teacher simply shrugged, and opened his lesson planner.
"This is the legend of the demon of Re-Kari. In this story a demon and a warrior form a love triangle with a lovely princess and..."
"Is school always this boring, Yugi-sama?" Kane asked, unwrapping his lunch and popping a radish into his mouth.
"Not always," said Yugi, around a mouthful of noodles.
"You shouldn't talk with your mouth full, Yugi-sama." Kuroi commented.
Yugi swallowed and nodded. "Can you make lunch like this every day?"
"If you want."
"You made this lunch, Kuroi-kun? That's so cool. Are you good at things like that?" The question had come from the leader of a group of girls that included Anzu. "Sort of."
The girls all giggled. "You'll make someone a good husband." There was more giggling, then the girls grabbed Kuroi by his arms and dragged him away, leaving Anzu behind, and leaving Yugi, Kane, and Kuri with stunned looks on their faces. "Yugi." Anzu sat down next to him. "I wanted to tell you that I can't make it next weekend, you know, to help out around the shop. Mina-chan is having a party. Is that okay?"
Yugi nodded, and gave his now standard response. "Sure, that's fine." The girl smiled and walked off. Kane munched on his salad. "What kinda girl is that, who stands up a friend-Yugi-sama!" Yugi was now squeezing his chopsticks so tightly that they threatened to snap. Kuri quickly poked holes in a radish, giving it eyes and mouth, and made it dance on one of his chopsticks. "Be happy! Live with more variety! Go, Yugi-sama!"
"Kuri...."
"Yugi-sama...."
"Kuri...?"
"Yugi-sama...."
"Aibou?" Yugi turned to see Yami standing behind him. "May I speak to you alone?"
Yugi got up obediently. "I'll be back in a minute, okay?" Kane nodded and Kuri smiled, waving his radish-head.
"Why did you bring them to school? They're Duel Monsters; they don't belong here. What if Kuriboh changes back and someone sees?"
"What if someone saw you use your powers?" Yugi shot back. Yami blinked, surprised. Yugi hadn't challenged him since Duelist Kingdom. "I brought them because they wanted to come." //And because you and all the others are so wrapped up in each other that you don't notice me.//
"Yugi-sama?" It was Kuroi. "Lunch is over." Yugi nodded and left the room with the mage without a backward look towards his yami, who quickly left, not liking the feeling of being left behind.
"Homework too hard," pouted Kuri on the way home. "Give big headache!"
Yugi smiled at the smaller boy. "I feel that way too, sometimes. I'll help you if you get stuck, okay?"
"Yeah!" Kuri hugged him.
Kane and Kuroi both smiled at the smaller two. "Yugi-sama seems much happier today." Kane commented.
"Probably because we are here. He didn't spend the day being ignored." Kuroi commented, watching his small master fondly.
Kane noticed his look and smiled. "Not with the way you are looking at him. You are lacking in subtlety, Kuroi-kun. You *gotta* work on that."
"What's he got to work on?"
"Nothing, let's go home," said Kuroi, quickly. Yugi and Kuri exchanged looks and shrugged.
While Kuri and Yugi struggled over the last of their math homework at the table, Kane stretched and watched television. Kuroi was making dinner, he being the best cook among them, despite his protests. 'I am a mage, not a chef!' But Yugi's puppy dog eyes had beaten him in the end. Yugi had thrown down his pencil in triumph. "Finished!"
Kuri began chewing on his eraser. "Yugi-sama, check my answer."
"Fine, if x stands for the price of pencils, and you bought twenty-five and spend 125.00, then x is...where's the answer?" Kuri pointed to a very erased and smudged corner. "Five, right. But write it where's it's easy to see, or circle it, or the teacher will mark it wrong."
"Oh... Is Yami-san coming home tonight?" Yugi tensed at the mention of Yami. He shook his head and got up from the table. "Yugi-sama, don't go, I just finished-"
"I'm not hungry, Kuroi." Yugi knew Kuri hadn't meant to upset him, and so to keep from getting angry at the smaller boy-monster, he ran upstairs. Kuroi was tempted to hit Kuri on his ears. "Why'd you mention Yami-san?" Kuri drooped, ears flattened against his head. "It's all right. I'll go check up on him later."
When Kuroi came upstairs later, a tray floating in midair beside him, he found the door unlocked, but Yugi on the bed, sobbing his heart out into his pillow. "Oh, Yugi-sama..." He set the tray on Yugi's dresser and knelt next to him. "Does just hearing his name make you weep?"
"No...he's sleeping with Kaiba! Right now! I tried to talk to him, and he...they..." Yugi buried his face into his pillow even deeper. "He really does love him." Kuroi touched Yugi's back gently as it hitched with his sobs. "No one's ever going to love me like that. No one's ever going to think I'm special like that."
"Yugi-sama-."
"Look at me! I'm a crybaby, weak, short, not even a very good duelist without Yami holding my hand, and not at all attractive! No one's ever going to love me!"
Kuroi stroked his hair. "So, not belonging to anyone makes you lonely?" Yugi nodded, still crying. "It makes me lonely too." Yugi looked up, just enough to see Kuroi's face. "Do you know what happens to us when we're not in anyone's deck and cared for?" The boy shook his head. "It's like we're sealed in a glass box, never really loved, never really touched. I hated it. Then, one day, a boy came into the store that I was in. He was exchanging money, something of value, for me. I could tell the money had taken time to collect. And when I was placed in the boy's hand, I knew I had found a home with someone that I could serve with love, because this boy had a kind soul that could love me as well. That boy was you, Yugi-sama. And I prefer a kind nature and good heart to an expert duelist. And you're wrong about your level of attractiveness, you know." Uncertainly, as if he expected the boy to push him away, he wiped the remains of Yugi's tears away. "Please stop crying. A smile is your best expression."
Kane and Kuri poked their heads into the room an hour later. Yugi and Kuroi were cuddling, still clothed; Kane was relieved to note. Both were fast asleep. "Let's sleep in the other room, Kuri, and leave them alone."
"Okay." The two monsters left, both satisfied that their Master would sleep well again that night, even if he was not in the arms of the one he wanted.
Some miles away, the other half of Yugi lay awake, next to a sated Seto. While his body was satisfied, his heart ached for something that he felt he had misplaced but knew was *somewhere* nearby, if he could only see it. Yami sighed, closed his eyes, and buried his face into Seto's chest. As he fell asleep, his subconscious whispered one word: "Aibou..."
Notes:
Kuroi: Dark Magician, means 'black'.
Kuri: Kuriboh, doesn't mean anything, to my knowledge.
Kane: Celtic Guardian, means 'metal'.
I wrote this chapter in one day! This seriously came from nowhere. Please review, they make me happy.