With You

Hey everybody, here’s the third chapter and the few reasons I put it as
PG-13 (for the moment until I can think of something t


Kristen Rieger
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Kristen Rieger
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2003-07-17T15:42:00Z
2003-07-17T15:42:00Z
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Reeni
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9.6926





Hey everybody, here’s the third chapter and the few reasons
I put it as PG-13 (for the moment until I can think of something that puts it
higher. I wasn’t exactly going to have a lemon but if everybody wants one then
I’ll find somewhere to put it for you. And I promise it’ll be much better than
the last two you saw.)

 

~A few days later~

 

Honey colored eyes peeked around the corner of the game shop
and watched his best friend as he took out the garbage. Joey then turned back
to his friends behind him with a frown, “He sure doesn’t look as happy as he is
around other people.”

 

Malik felt like hitting the blonde upside his thick head.
“Joey, would you be cheerful and perky if you were taking out the garbage?”

 

Joey thought for a minute before a goofy grin spread over
his features. “No, I suppose not.” He replied in a joking voice.

 

Seto shook his head, wrapped his arm around his puppy’s
waist and held him close. The hurt and jealous looks that crossed over Malik
and Ryou’s face at the action went unnoticed.

 

Malik and Ryou were thinking along the same lines, pouting
in the absence of their yami’s. Both
hikari’s missed their other halves fiercely, and wanted nothing more for them
to return, despite the odds against them.
At the sight of Kaiba’s affectionate gesture, both boys were jealous and
extremely unhappy.

 

“I’m going to go for a walk real fast, Grandpa!” They heard
Yugi call from inside the game shop. Everyone’s eyes shot to the door as their
friend walked out, cheery face securely in place.

 

“Oh, hi guys.” Yugi smiled cheerfully. “I was just going to
go for a walk. Do you want to come?”

 

“Sure, Yu…” Seto pressed his lips against Joey’s to stop him
from finishing his sentence.

 

Ryou turned to Yugi with a small smile. “No thanks, Yugi. We
have some things to do for school and we want to get a head start.”

 

Yugi’s smile faltered slightly before it went up again.
“What kind of thing for school? Maybe I can help later.”

 

Ryou froze, he was an abysmal liar.

 

“It’s that school project for English, Joey and Seto are
working together and Ryou and I are working on it together. We’d like your
help, but you chose to do it by yourself. You understand we can’t have you help
when it’s our own grade, right?” Malik answered for Ryou.

 

“Oh yeah, I finished that project a few days ago. Good luck
then.” Yugi waved as he walked down the sidewalk.

 

Seto finally released Joey from his lip-lock, mockingly
glaring at the blonde. “What did ya do that for, Seto? Don’t you want to hang
out wit’ him?”

 

“You’re cute beyond belief, Joey, but sometimes I wonder
about you. If Yugi thinks he’s alone then he won’t act like everything’s okay.
He’ll act like he really feels, inside, about Yami leaving and the mig might be
able to help somehow.”

 

“Oh yeah. Sorry about that, I almost blew it.” Joey
laughed. Seto shook his head and
started to follow Ryou and Malik as they trailed Yugi from a distance.

 

They followed the bobbing, tri-colored hair of their friend
for about ten minutes before Yugi stopped in the deep part of the park where
nobody liked to go because it was filled with junk, and garbage was littered
around the place.

 

There they watched as Yugi lay down in the dirt and looked
up at the darkening sky. He gave out a long sigh as slow tears started to
sparkle in his eyes. Everybody stayed completely still in silence, not wanting
to disturb or startle him, no one wanted to see him put on his happy act.

 

“Yami, I miss you so much. It’s hard to believe I’m actually
forgetting what you look like when we look so much alike. Whenever I look in the
mirror, all I see is a weak, heartbroken little boy.” The amethyst-eyed boy whispered to himself, his voice close to
cracking with emotion.

 

Ryou and Malik looked at each other sadly and then back at
their fellow hikari. They knew how it was to feel like that. They understood
how Yugi could forget how Yami’s face, even though they looked so much alike;
the other boys were going through the same thing.

 

“Why’d you have to go so soon? That wasn’t enough time for
either of us. I couldn’t even keep the puzzle to remember you by. It isn’t
fair.” Tears slipped from his eyes and made mud of the dirt he was lying on, he
didn’t bother to wipe them away.

 

Ryou’s hands came up and unconsciously gripped the
Millennium Ring hiding underneath his sweater, while Malik’s mind wandered back
to his bedroom where he had tucked his Millennium Rod safely under his pillow.
This particular agony was something they couldn’t sympathize with, and it made
them feel all the worse.

 

~~

 

It had been dark for a couple of hours by the time Yugi
stood and wiped his face clean of tears with his jacket sleeve and dusted the
dirt off of himself. Joey and the others quickly hid behind trees so that Yugi
wouldn’t notice them as he walked by.

 

After they were sure he was gone they came out from behind
the trees and looked at each other, none of them sure of what to say. Deciding
that it would be better not to talk they walked out of the park and separated,
heading for home.

 

~A week later~

 

Yugi was standing on the docks looking out at the oranges,
reds and pinks of the sunset. He turned around when he heard footsteps behind
him and pasted a fake smile on his face at the sight of Joey and Seto striding
towards him.

 

“Hey, Yugi. What are you doing out here?” Joey smiled at
him.

 

“Nothing really, just looking at the sunset. Can’t get a
good view from the game shop with all the buildings around blocking it.” He
gestured behind him. Spotting his fellow hikaris he waved and added, “Hey,
Ryou, Malik”

 

The Egyptian and white-haired teens waved back but didn’t
say anything in response.

 

‘They look like something bad is about to happen.’ Yugi
wondered curiously. Shrugging inwardly he turned around and leaned against the
railing and looked out at the setting sun once more.

 

“Yugi, we need to talk to you about something important.”
Joey rushed out uncomfortably.

 

Yugi’s fake smile was replaced by a frown and confusion
spread over his face as he turned to look back at his friends. ‘What’s wrong
with them? They’re acting weird,’ He thought apprehensively, not quite ready
for what they had planned.

 

“It’s about what happened a couple weeks ago.” Joey added
quietly.

 

Yugi’s insides froze and his mind scrambled around for
excuses but he couldn’t find one. He had no choice but to stand and listen this
time. “What about it?”

 

Seto growled in throat and blurted out, not so smartly, “Do
you even miss him, Yugi? How can you say you love him and then he leaves and
you only spend one day mourning about it?
Ryou and Malik are still upset about so why aren’t you?”

 

Red closed over Yugi’s senses as he narrowed his eyes in
anger. “How can you say that?” He demanded, the hard edge in his usually gentle
voice making even Seto cringe. “I love him more than my own life! How dare you
even accuse me of not missing him?!” No longer able to stand the sight of his
friends anymore he stalked off, seething the whole way back to the game shop.

 

Everybody was taken aback by their usually calm and quiet
friend’s rather loud outburst. The whole gang watched as Yugi walked away from
them and disappeared around a street corner.

 

~~

 

‘How could they say that to me? I didn’t really think I was
fooling them with that stupid act. I don’t know why I did it anyway when I knew
they were going to see right through it, I thought they knew me better than
that, but apparently I was wrong about that too.’ Yugi thought half-mad and
half-heartbroken at having to relive his pain.

 

He rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling from
his bed. His hand came up and rested on his chest where the Millennium Puzzle
usually lay. ‘Not anymore though. Not since Yami left.’

 

Tears clouded his vision but he ignored them. He didn’t care
if his grandpa came up and saw him like this. He didn’t care if his friends
came over to talk about his outburst on the docks or even if they came to
apologize for what they had said. ‘What Seto said really, but the others were
there. I’m sure they were thinking along the same lines. Just because I try to
act like nothing’s wrong they assume that I don’t miss him or even love him.’
Yugi felt like screaming as loud as he coubut but he didn’t see how it would
help with his predicament so he settled with turning on to his stomach and
punching his pillow until the seams burst and feathers started flying out of
it.

 

Throwing his torn pillow onto the floor he collapsed on his
bed and closed his eyes, pulling the covers over him. Now that his friends knew
that his happy and cheerful act was a fake he had to find a new face by the
time he walked to school tomorrow.

 

##

 

Yami walked through the halls of his palace, bored out of
his mind.

 

‘It’s amazing how the ruler of all Egypt can be bored to
death while simple commoners have the time of their lives in the dirty
streets.’ Yami mused as he watched little kids running around laughing outside
his gates.

 

Sighing, he pushed away from the wall he was leaning against
and continued to wander aimlessly through the halls, trying to find something
that would hold his attention.

 

Hechedched curiously as he found his guards in the kitchens
joking with each other over some drinks. He turned his gaze to his kitchen
servants and frowned. ‘Even the servants and guards are having a good time. Why
can’t I ever find that pleasure?’

 

Continuing on he found himself in the throne room staring at
the heavy door that would lead to the cells that held Egypt’s best tomb
robbers. He couldn’t figure it out but somehow he felt as though he had
betrayed them.

 

‘No!’ He argued with the inner voice that had been nagging
him. ‘I did the right thing! They did something against my law so they need to
be punished.’

 

Still, in the back of his mind, he couldn’t erase the sick
feeling that he had just broken a big promise.

 

He walked forward and pushed open the door slightly to see
if they were having just a good a time as the rest of the people in the palace.
Tired laughter reached his ears and he pressed the side of his face to the
crack he made, some mumbled talking, and then more laughter.

 

He felt like screaming, but he would only bring attention to
himself and he didn’t feel like having people question what he was doing even
if he didn’t have to answer them if he didn’t feel like it. He closed the door
and sauntered over to another door and pushed it open, revealing the garden.

 

He breathed in deeply and sighed. ‘Those damned thieves are
as cheerful as ever, even if they get beaten. Is it because they have somebody
to share a happy moment with and I don’t so I’m like this?’

 

Shaking his head at his foolishness he walked further in the
patches of flowers and sat down on one of the benches. ‘That’s absurd. I’m
Pharaoh, the morning and evening star, I don’t need anybody.’ His heart
clenched tightly in his chest and he sighed sadlyhat hat a pathetic lie. I
can’t convince myself of that when I know that I’m bored and everybody else around
this place is having fun and laughing. Even the prisoners have each other while
I’m alone. I don’t even find comfort with my pleasure slaves, but they do after
they leave me.”

 

He turned his crimson eyes to the blue and dust-filled sky
and took a deep breath. “Am I so hostile that nobody could have a good time
with just me? Even when they’re torn up and unable to move anything except
their mouths when I’m done with them they can seem to smile when they’re
talking to somebody else?” He thought aloud, thinking once more of his pleasure
slaves.

 

He growled and closed his eyes to concentrate. “That’s even
more ridiculous than me needing somebody around me, who isn’t afraid of me, and
having fun with me. I’m comparing myself to pleasure slaves.”

 

Deciding to drop the argument with himself since he didn’t
seem to be getting anywhere, he stood and walked back inside. Walking to his
bedroom he collapsed on his silk-sheeted bed and closed his eyes to block out
the light.

 

‘For some reason I’ve been so confused lately and I can’t
seem to figure out why. It’s like for one period of time that I can’t seem to
remember when it fit in I was happy and never seemed to find the time to frown.
Now I’m back and bored out of my mind unable to remember how I had so much
fun.’

 

Rolling on his back he snorted at his idiocy. ‘I think I
would’ve remembered if I had that much fun and laughed that hard. I’m being
stupid.’ The young ruler was pulled from the thoughts that weren’t getting him
anywhere because of a knock on the door. “What?” He called out in a harsh tone.

 

The door opened and he recognized the girl who worked with
the pleasure slaves and cleaned them up. She bowed low and kept her eyes
trained on the floor as she spoke in the usual quiet voice most of the female
servants used around him. “Your majesty, I was just wondering if you wished for
a slave tonight?”

 

‘I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it anyway. Might as well not
bring somebody down with me, even if they are a mere slave.’ He thought
bitterly. “No, I’m not in the mood tonight.”

 

“Very well, your majesty. Should I send the slaves to their
rooms then? I had already lined them up for your inspection had you wanted to
pick.”

 

“Yes, might as well.” He waved her away. “You’re dismissed.”

 

She bowed against. “Have a pleasant night, your majesty.”
She added before closing the door.

 

Yami lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes as he
rested his head on one of his many pillows scattered over the bed. ‘A pleasant
night… that’s something I could hope for but get nothing for it. These thoughts
will keep at me, even as I sleep. At least I don’t have anything important to
worry about tomorrow so I might be able to sleep in.’

 

The Pharaoh shifted until he was more comfortable and pulled
the covers over him then fell into a restless sleep.