Just a Little Romance
by Josie
He stood there, staring at the store as though he were a fish out of water. He has got to be kidding me if he thinks that I'm going to step foot in there. He warily eyed the large, cartoon-like bears sitting on either side of the entrance, frowning deeply; his gaze then shifted to the center of the entrance, where a young boy stood with his hands on his hips, deep blue eyes glaring in his direction.
"If you don't hurry up and get in here, I swear that I'll get those bodyguards my brother has trail around after me actually do something and drag you in here!" he threatened, not changing his position at all. Crimson eyes, looked above the boy again, and he scrunched his nose in distaste at the neon lettering merrily twinkling the words 'KaibaBear Workshop' for all the world - or, at the very least, all of the people who had decided to shop in this particular mall - to see. His gaze shifted down to the boy again, just in time to see him raise a hand to brush some of his long, black hair out of his face with mild frustration; apparently Kaiba Mokuba was as easy to agitate as his older brother when one didn't do as the boy wished.
"I'm not quite sure that Yuugi will ... want this," he said finally, still not moving. Mokuba shifted before looking at him in confusion, turning his head to look up at the words of the shop sign that he wouldn't be able to read from his position. He blinked a few times before looking back at the young man who was still refusing to move any closer to the store.
"What are you talking about? Who wouldn't want a KaibaBear?"
He raised an eyebrow at the boy, crossing his arms over his chest as an amused smirk crossed his features. "You seem to forget the kinds of trouble and arguments that your brother has caused for us, Mokuba," he said, voice filled with amusement; he laughed when he saw the young boy stick his tongue out at him. "Calm down, I'm only joking. Well, partly." He winked, and Mokuba seemed to grow even more impatient. A sigh escaped him before he spoke again. "Fine, I'll come in. I suppose it won't do any harm to see what this ... place has to offer."
"You should be a little more grateful, you know," Mokuba retorted as Atemu slowly walked towards him - and, consequentially, the store. An elegant, ebony eyebrow raised slightly at the comment as Atemu turned fiery, blood-red eyes to him, and Mokuba turned and started to head inside, speaking over his shoulder as he did so, "You asked for help on what to get for Yuugi, and no one else was able to come up with any ideas. Besides, I think that it's the perfect gift."
"You would. Your brother did make these stores for you, after all." Mokuba turned to glare at him, but the former pharaoh just stood there eyeing him evenly. "Whatever, let's just get this over with already. This place gives me the creeps," he commented with a shudder, and the younger of the Kaiba brothers laughed.
It had been an adventure getting Atemu to actually go with him, if he was to be honest. The teenager had been adamant about not going to such a childish store to find a gift for his beloved, and had insisted upon practically begging his friends for ideas. Unfortunately for him, even Anzu had been at a loss on what he could possibly give to Yuugi as a return gift for White Day, and Mokuba's idea had eventually won out - mainly due to the fact that Anzu had mentioned that a stuffed animal would be a fairly heart-warming gift to receive from a loved one. Atemu had figured that, if any of them would know what a person - particularly Yuugi - would like to receive as a gift from his (or her) boyfriend, Anzu would. She had known Yuugi the longest out of all of them, after all, and she had allegedly received more than her fair share of return gifts on the previous year's White Day, as well as a number of gifts recently from a secret admirer. Or so Jounouchi had reported. Atemu was sometimes unsure of if he should believe the blonde's reports on the matter, however, as he seemed to insist that Anzu was in some secret relationship, as well.
The former pharaoh did have to admit - albeit a bit grudgingly - that the idea was better than some that had been suggested. For instance, Otogi's suggestion to have Yuugi's room filled with flowers had been both overdone and bordering on insane. When informed of Atemu's opinion on his suggestion, Otogi had snapped that if he didn't want to accept the advice, he shouldn't have even asked for it. Jounouchi's suggestion had been almost equally outlandish, in Atemu's eyes; he wasn't quite sure that Yuugi would appreciate the bold gesture of Atemu professing his undying love via skywriting. After all, his little one was still a bit on the shy end of the spectrum, despite some of his more vivid thoughts, and such an action would only serve to embarrass his partner, causing him to pull away more than Atemu would like. It could have been worse, he supposed; they could have all reacted the way that Ryou had; their poor white-haired friend had turned bright red at being asked for gift ideas, and was unable to stammer out an answer as he ducked his head back down towards the sheet of paper on the desk in front of him. No one had bothered to see who he was writing a letter to, although Jounouchi had again piped up with some speculations that it was bound for Egypt. The comments had caused Ryou to blush again, and he had smacked the blonde's arm quickly before practically diving to cover the letter.
Unfortunately, the ideas had gone from bad to terribly worse when Kaiba had proposed that he give Yuugi a tracking device so that Atemu would be able to find him regardless of where he was. He had looked at the young CEO as though he had completely lost his mind when the other had finished his statement and given him a look that just dared to have someone disagree with his amazing idea. The former pharaoh had been more than happy to comply; he was just exceedingly grateful that Mokuba at least had more human ideas than his older brother.
The only one that was still a mystery to him was, of course, Honda's proposal; mainly because no one had been able to hear what his was. He had mumbled it so low, so quickly, that the words had been little more than a hum. The only real indication that he had said anything at all was the deep blush that had formed over his cheeks as soon as he had finished; Atemu could have sworn that he'd noticed the brunette glance towards Anzu for the shortest of moments after he'd spoken - if what he'd done could be called speaking - but the movement had been so quick that he wasn't sure if it was just his mind playing tricks on him or not.
He was shaken out of the memories as Mokuba tugged on his arm, pulling him towards what he could only describe as deflated balls of fluff. He looked at them worriedly before Mokuba poked him and said, "Choose one." He noticed that the boy was pointing to the small shelves above the bins of deflated fluff, where filled stuffed animals had been placed; it took only a moment for him to realize that those were models of what the ones in the bin would end up looking like. He inspected each one carefully before one in particular caught his eye. It was a bear with soft 'fur' the same golden bronze as his skin; its eyes were even the same piercing, fiery crimson as his own. If one looked closely enough, they might even find that it seemed to have a self-confident smirk playing at its stitched mouth. He smirked, moving forward and picking up one of the unfilled shells for that particular one, knowing that it had to be that specific bear. No other would suffice, since he wanted this gift to remind Yuugi of him as much as possible.
Immediately, Mokuba was latched onto his hand again, dragging him off to the opposite side of the store before he could so much as form the slightest sound of protest. He found himself standing before some strange contraptions with windows that allowed customers to see endless mounds of white fluff. An attendant asked for the bear shell that he was holding, and he gave it up without protest, watching as the attendant then placed a small tube that was attached to the contraption into the back of the shell and turned on the machine, filling the little bear with its stuffing. When they closed it up and handed it to back to him, he was rather pleased to note that it was neither too soft, nor too firm; he decided that it was, in fact, just the perfect amount of filling for Yuugi to snuggle against whenever he wanted to.
His eyes quickly scanned the store after that, knowing that part of the purpose of these KaibaBears was that customers could dress the bears however they wanted. Indeed, there seemed to be a multitude of clothing in the back of the shop to choose from, with a variety of accessories, as well. He started to step towards that area of the store, only to once again be stopped by Mokuba, who was now looking at him with the most annoyed expression that his features could pull off. Needless to say, it was none too intimidating, but Atemu decided to humor him, raising an eyebrow in question.
"Don't even bother with those," the boy said, crooking a finger in a motion for Atemu to follow him as he started towards one of the cashiers. The former pharaoh wiped the confusion from his features just as they reached the counter, and the younger Kaiba looked at the young man behind it and said evenly in what Atemu would call a commendable impersonation of Kaiba Seto if he didn't know Mokuba quite as well as he did, "I trust that the outfit that I asked to have created is here." The cashier nodded and picked up a box from behind him, handing it to Mokuba. The boy looked inside and nodded in satisfaction before turning to Atemu and placing the box in the stunned teenager's hands. "That's what you'll be using."
He looked inside of it warily, not quite sure of what to expect. It took only one glance for his eyes to widen, before a smirk settled onto his lips once more. "It's perfect; exactly what this needs in order to be a gift worthy of Yuugi."
Yuugi sighed as he walked into school that day. Atemu had been acting strange since he had returned home the night before, hurrying into his room and locking the door behind him before Yuugi could so much as catch a glimpse at him. The elder teenager had emerged a few minutes later, after much thumping and cursing had been heard from within, pulling Yuugi into a tight embrace and kissing the tip of his nose. It had been unnerving, to say the least, and Yuugi couldn't help but wonder just what was going on with the man that he still found himself referring to as his other self, despite Atemu's insistence that there was only one Yuugi. Yuugi's response was always that old habits die hard.
The strange behavior had continued into the morning, when Atemu had greeted him downstairs with a very warm, healthy western-style breakfast that had left Yuugi more than just slightly confused; he had no idea when Atemu had looked into cooking, nor when he had decided to figure out how to prepare pancakes - which, Yuugi had noted, tasted very much like they were made from scratch and not straight out of some box with the ingredients prepared already. Along with the pancakes had been an almost insane supply of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries for him to place onto them, as well as syrup that seemed to be a blend of all three that he noted also tasted curiously fresh. Though, if Yuugi was honest with himself, what had been the most amusing to him had been Atemu standing there wearing an apron, with a small bit of the pancake batter smudged over his left cheek.
It had been positively delicious, Yuugi had to admit. However, it still made him extremely suspicious of the other's actions; it had only been as he was on the way to school that he'd thought to look at the calendar for any hints as to the odd behavior. By that point, it had been too late.
Arriving at his shoe locker, he opened it cautiously, only to find nothing out of the ordinary. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that perhaps he was merely overreacting to everything. Maybe I'm just reading into things ... he thought as he switched his outdoor shoes with his indoor ones, closing the locker before starting for his homeroom. He smiled at Anzu as they reached the door at the same time, complimenting her on the dozen rather impressive long-stemmed, white roses that she carried along with what looked to be a custom-made compact disc. He did not fail to note the blush that graced her features as he commented on the gifts that she received, and he noticed that she carefully tucked the card that he could only assume had come with them away.. As they turned into the room, Yuugi caught the briefest glance at the calendar. He was unable to register what he saw before someone squealed his name, causing him to jump and turn towards them. It was one of the girls in the class � Mizukoe Rieko, he noted � and she was yelling something that sounded like a demand to know 'who it was.' Yuugi was very confused, and he tilted his head to the side just as the crowd - comprised mainly of girls, he noted - that seemed to be gathered around his desk parted, revealing a rather extravagantly-dressed teddy bear.
A deep blush found its way to his cheeks as he stared at a crimson-eyed bear staring at him, wearing a very familiar crown on its head. He carefully stepped towards his desk, picking the stuffed animal up with the utmost consideration, eyeing the soft, cream-colored tunic that reached the sitting bear's mid-thigh, with a blue cloth coming down between its legs, fastened around the waist by gold bands. Similar bands were around the bear's calves and ankles, with white, closed sandals adorning its feet; a golden breastplate was covered by a deep, royal violet - Phoenician purple, he thought to himself - cape that flowed freely at the bear's back. A single gold band wrapped around each of the bear's "biceps," with similar bands around its neck, and intricately-detailed golden cuffs on its wrists. He also took note of the long earrings that seemed to clip in two places on each of the bear's ears, with a small loop off of the clasps that gave way to an ankh, which was attached to a detailed rectangle. And, of course, that crown; a golden crown with beautiful wings and the Eye of Horus at its center, seemingly representing the sun itself just as the man who had worn the one that this crown was a replica of had essentially been a representation of it. Atemu's crown; rather, it was Atemu's entire outfit from when he had been pharaoh of Kemet, merely miniaturized to fit a beautiful little teddy bear that was the color of his sun-kissed golden skin, with those enthralling crimson eyes and that confident smirk that was just so very much Yuugi's other self.
It was then that his mind finally processed what it had seen on the calendar, that it was March 14 ... White Day. Everything snapped into place, and of course he knew who it was from; how could he not, after all, when the bear was practically the stuffed animal version of the man that he loved, along with the fact that Atemu was the only person that Yuugi had given anything to for Valentine's Day? His eyes fell onto the envelope that the bear was sitting upon, and he reached for it, wanting to read it more for its content than anything else, although his classmates assumed that it was to find out who the gift was from. He felt someone nudge him from behind as he started to open the envelope, and turned to see Anzu looking at him with a knowing grin. He vainly fought down his blush as he pulled the card out, violet eyes scanning over the words as though they were food for his soul.
My beloved Yuugi -
I'll assume that, if you're reading this, you have received my gift to you. As much as I know that we have spent this past blissful month together, I felt that it would only be appropriate to give an official return gift for the wonderful gesture that you made to me on Valentine's Day. It is, after all, the custom, is it not?
I love you with the intensity of a thousand flames, and my love for you will never die out.
Forever yours,
Atemu
His blush deepened as he quickly closed the card before anyone could look over his shoulder to read it, hastily stuffing it back into the envelope and hiding it in his bag. Placing his bag on the hook at the side of his desk, he reverently picked the stuffed bear up from where it sat on his desk, smiling fondly at it before closing his eyes and nuzzling his nose up against the soft 'fur' of its face. I love you, Atemu, he though, willing the voice of his mind to get the thought to his boyfriend and other half; the soft touches of affection that he felt in return told him that his words had reached the other, and he smiled to himself as he slipped into his chair, placing the bear on his lap as some of the girls cooed over how adorable it was, and how it was just so fitting that Yuugi would get such a cute gift.
He continued to blush, holding the bear close, as his friends crowded around him, making small comments about how such a romantic gift seemed to bee almost out of character for Atemu. Yuugi brushed the comments off and stuck his tongue out at them, before Ryou commented quietly, "I think it's sweet that he went through the trouble, though. It must be nice to have someone that cares about you like that ..." He trailed off, blushing as he looked away before continuing, "But ... wasn't it so embarrassing to get all of that attention on you for receiving such a gift, Yuugi-kun?"
Yuugi tilted his head to the side for a moment, and then shook his head with a smile. "A little, I guess, but ... I don't mind too much. I mean ... he loves me, and that's all that matters, right?" Before anyone could respond, their teacher walked in, and everyone in the class had to take their seats as a day of lessons began.
The day had turned out interesting after that, to say the least; Yuugi supposed that he should have been ready for anything to happen when, during lunch, Anzu had gone up to Honda and kissed his cheek, causing the boy to turn an interesting shade of embarrassed red that Yuugi was sure even he would never be able to match. That had, of course, caused Jounouchi to immediately shoot up out of his seat, mouth opening and closing like a fish stranded out of water as he turned his head back and forth between Anzu and Honda, finally managing out, "You ... and ... and you ... you were the one who's been sending all of those gifts to her!" The words were followed by a quick whap to the back of his head as Anzu sat beside the other brunette.
"You act as though, just because you didn't know, I didn't know," she retorted, poking her tongue out before looking over at Honda, cerulean eyes sparkling some. "I just hid the cards because he didn't want everyone to know."
"What are you trying to say here ...?" Yuugi had almost laughed at the blank expression on Jounouchi's face; Otogi, on the other hand, had laughed outright, especially when Honda turned to him in frustration and practically barked out that he and Anzu had been together for the past three months. That had broken Yuugi's hold on his giggles - and, apparently, it had done the same for the rest of his friends, as they all collapsed into their respective laughter as the tension broke.
No one had noticed just how reserved Ryou's had been, however; their poor, perpetually shy friend had been plagued the entire day by the girls who had latched onto him when he had first transferred to the school back in the fall semester of their first year. The small fan club had, of course, sent him gifts on Valentine's Day, which he had been much too polite to give back to them. Thus, the girls had been dogging him the entire day, eager to know just who he would be giving a return gift to. For most of the day, he had been successful in avoiding them, mainly through hiding behind his friends at every chance that he could get.
Unfortunately, as the final bell for the day had run, and he was switching to his outdoor shoes, the girls cornered him, demanding to know who would be getting the return gift from him. He blushed a deep crimson, waving his hands apologetically - although his friends could tell that it was also his feeble attempt at protecting himself - as the girls bickered over just who among them deserved to be with the adorable Bakura Ryou.
They were cut off as someone much taller than them pushed past, carefully swaying slim hips so as not to touch a single one of the girls as pale lavender eyes looked at them in contempt before turning all attention to the nervous wreck that Ryou had become. A grin graced his lips, and one dark, perfectly tanned hand reached up, brushing platinum blonde hair over his shoulder before he slammed said hand onto the lockers, just slightly to the side of Ryou's face. Brown eyes widened considerably in fear before he realized just who this was that was leaning closer to him so intimately.
A muffled squeak escaped Ryou as the newcomer pressed their lips together tightly in a deep, soul-searching kiss. Everyone in the immediate area stopped dead, watching as the two boys shared a kiss that was so intimate that it truly belonged behind closed doors; anyone could tell that the blonde had managed to work his tongue into the shy, white-haired teenager's mouth and was busy exploring every last crevice.
The girls that he had so quickly disregarded seemed to make some strange, foreign squeaking noise before one of them erupted with a quick, "That's so cute! Bakura-kun really does have a boyfriend!"
That had, of course, caused Ryou to immediately pull his head back and stare at them, eyes impossibly wider than they had been when the blonde male had pinned him against the lockers. "Wh-what do you mean, I really have a ... a ..." He blushed again, looking to the left, then down. Can't look at him ... he might disappear ...
"Everyone's been talking about how you're so pretty, Bakura-kun, that you just had to be attached to a boy!" He flinched at how excited the girls seemed about that fact; granted, they were correct, he had been attached to a boy - a boy that he could have sworn was not interested in him until this very open display - but he had been so sure that he had hidden that fact so well from the public eye.
A rich chuckle met him, and he quickly snapped his head up to find himself staring into amused lavender eyes. "Attached to me, hm?" came a silken, accented voice, and Ryou felt himself blushing all over again as one tanned arm snaked around his waist, pulling him flush against the newcomer. "I would never have guessed it," he said, voice filled with mirth. "I mean, all of those letters couldn't have given any hints to me ..." He winked, turning Ryou's resolve into fine powder.
"Malik, I ..." He blushed again, resting his head on the Egyptian boy's shoulder. "Why are you here ...?"
"Someone gave me a tip that you might like to have me here today, since you sent me that crystal phoenix last month," he said mysteriously before looking over towards where Yuugi stood with the rest of their friends, and Ryou's eyes widened once more as a soft laugh escaped him before he could stifle it.
Yuugi looked at the two in confusion before a pair of warm arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him back against a firm body; lips pressed against his left ear, and he closed his eyes contentedly. "Atemu ..." he whispered, and he felt the other nod slightly. "You told Malik to come here, then?" Another nod, and Yuugi laughed softly. "Playing matchmaker, are we?"
"Well, I figured that Ryou deserved a chance at happiness," came the simple reply as Atemu turned Yuugi around and placed a soft kiss on the boy's lips. "Much as you deserve all of the happiness that the world has to offer, little one." He smiled as Yuugi wrapped his arms around his shoulders, brushing gentle kisses along the smaller teenager's cheek. "Did you like your gift?"
"Mm, very much so."
Atemu chuckled softly. "I suppose that I'll have to thank Mokuba for that, then." Yuugi raised an eyebrow at him, and he laughed at the confused expression. "I needed suggestions for what to get for you," he said sheepishly, "and Mokuba was the one who gave the best one." Yuugi wrapped his arms even more tightly around Atemu at the confession, only to be pulled into a kiss by the former Pharaoh. "I'm glad that I could give you a nice day, Yuugi."
"You gave me a scare, that's what you did," his partner retorted, smacking him playfully on the arm. "I had no idea what was going on with your strange behavior."
"Mm, is that so?" he asked, amused. "Perhaps I should make that up to you, then?"
"Does this mean I get more pancakes?" Rich laughter billowed out from the taller of the two, and all eyes turned to them; Yuugi ducked his head in embarrassment, burrowing himself as far into his other self as he could possibly manage. "I enjoyed them," he finished almost inadequately.
Gentle fingers brushed through his hair, and he purred softly, perfectly content in his love's arms. "I'm glad," Atemu whispered softly into his ear before lifting him up into his arms. "But, now we should be getting you home, little one. After all, our day is not quite over." Violet eyes turned to him in shock as Atemu began the trek home, Yuugi nestled safely in his arms.
It had been a White Day filled with more surprises than Yuugi and his friends had ever truly expected. However, they all had to admit, when all was said and done, that the surprises were all rather pleasant, and the day had turned out to be quite enjoyable, indeed.
Disclaimer: Yuugiou is the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi. I do not claim any right to the series or its characters, and I should probably apologize for the hell I'm likely to be putting them through in this story.
Author's Note: I had this image in my head of the events of the first scene for this, and I was just completely unable to shake it. That's partly where this entire thing came from, I guess you could say, but it's also to have a nice little White Day story for this year.