The Ten Things

TThe Ten Things

Disclaimer: I asked for the ownership of YGO for my birthday and I have failed to gain it. So as usual, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter Six

Atemu sighed as he continued with the weekly inventory. His mood had greatly decreased with the knowledge of Jou's affections towards Yuugi. The man never showed interest in Yuugi during their years in high school. Why would the lanky blond show interest now? Sighing for the fifth time that afternoon, Atemu finished counting through a box of Duel Monster's plush. He set his product lists to the side, taking a well deserved break.

Sugoroku was out of the shop again, the Egyptian man left in charge as per usual. Atemu was beginning to wonder where Sugoroku went on these rendezvous lately. Arthur usually tagged along, smiling and often caught holding Sugoroku's hand lovingly. It was not a surprise at all, especially after the scene he spied a few days prior in the kitchen.

Love knows no bounds. This statement held true to everyone it seemed. However, Atemu was beginning to feel that he fell flat on the line of this well-known statement. The one he truly desired was out gallivanting with that crude, lanky blond that drove him up the wall. Jou and Atemu never particularly got along during their high school days. The only reason he managed to deal with the blond was because of his cousin, Seto.

Seto and Jou dated off and on for a couple of years. Both men often found themselves in a love-hate relationship. They fought daily and ended up having sex as their truce of an argument. It was also their downfall. Seto had not mentioned Jou since their split. It was a stray thought that now crossed his mind. The spiky-haired shopkeeper ran a hand through his unruly hair, closing his eyes in deep thought. Jou was known for his rebound. Despite his apparent care for Yuugi and even his cousin, the man never settled for one person. He often traipsed between Seto and another person of interest until he finally broke the newer interest's heart and followed his trail back to Seto.

With his thought process finished, Atemu opened his eyes, feeling sweat drip down the side of his tanned face. He did not want Yuugi to fall for the blond's antics. The smaller male barely trusted anyone let alone his own grandfather these days. Something happened during his six year absence to make him hate companionship, trust, and relationships all together. Not that, Atemu was one to talk. He had faced his own fair share of problems and an addiction during Yuugi's absence. It was not surprising that both men suffered with the loss of their relationship and hell… even a friendship. Yuugi and Atemu were like magnets. Both held the same likes and dislikes. One would move, and the other would move in unison. They were in short… soul mates.

Fate, destiny, soul mates… All of these terms made the Egyptian snort and roll his eyes. He did not believe in anything of that sort. It was all a bunch of bullshit in his opinion. Relationships were based on trust and interest in care for one another. Without these key needs, there was no need to be with someone. When he dated Yuugi, they shared all of these characteristics. Neither of them felt uneasy with one another until three years into their relationship when the "list" was born.

The list was immature and juvenile. It was a dare so to speak given to their circle of friends. They were to write things down that they hated about the person they were with. It was conspired in a game of truth or dare. The results were easy to see with what happened between Yuugi and Atemu. This list made their lives a living hell. Rumors flew through their high school, some that lead to the deconstruction of Yuugi's reputation and even Atemu's. This is one of the reasons that Atemu planned on bailing out of attending his high school reunion.

Reliving the past through his memories caused the man to shake his head, a frown marring his chiseled features. Yuugi was everything to him and he was beginning to realize this more and more. Even through the tough couple of years he fought against his addiction to Vicodin, Atemu never forgot about Yuugi. Despite all the pain he knew that Yuugi felt with their failed relationship he wanted to start over. Even if a relationship was not possible, he wanted friendship in the least. Yuugi was too precious to give up regardless of what happened in the past. It was the reason Atemu was able to fight against his addiction. It took four years to end his dependence on Vicodin and two years that he now had under his belt for sobriety. Without Yuugi in his thoughts and his heart he would still be stuck with this problem and wondering why he was not dead yet.

At that moment, the shop door opened, the bell tingling as it closed. A heavy sigh was heard through the shop as Atemu's eyes widened. He normally did not have a customer during this time of day, especially on inventory day. Running a hand through his hair he walked out of the storeroom, finding a familiar mop of tricolor hair in his vision.

Yuugi leaned against the glass display case, face downcast. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he ran a hand across the counter, one of his fists clenched at his side. Atemu walked closer, seeing this. He felt his heart go out to the man as he leaned over counter, bothered by something. Taking a breath, Atemu stood beside Yuugi, gauging the smaller man's distraught state. Carefully he placed a hand on Yuugi's shoulder, shaking him gently.

"Yuugi, what's wrong?"

At the sudden question, Yuugi stiffened, startled by the sudden appearance of his ex boyfriend. Hunching his shoulders, Yuugi regained his sense of reality, lifting his head into view. He met Atemu's fiery gaze. His expression held a blank stare, one that masked his true emotion.

"Nothing, Yami. It isn't anything you should worry about. It's my own damn fault. Trust me."

"Anything that upsets you is a reason for me to worry, partner. You're very important to me, you know that."

Yuugi flinched at his "friend's" final choice of words. He shook his head and pushed his blond bangs back behind his ears. "You keep saying that and I keep falling into the pit of denial." He crossed his arms, and gauged Atemu's reaction.

"Yet you have little to no reason to feel denial. You are perfect, Yuugi. Anyone to have you is very lucky. I should know." He smiled genuinely.

"I think you're the only one that believes that, Yami. Trust me."

Yami leaned against the counter, gazing at Yuugi with a raised brow. "Why would you say that? You are perfect, Yuugi. There is no reason for you to be single."

"There is, trust me on this."

"Why do you not trust me and tell me what this applies to?"

Yuugi sighed heavily, resting his weight on his left leg. He gazed at the array of Duel Monsters Memorabilia throughout the expanse of the game shop. "Trust is a hard thing for me to give anyone, especially you." He paused, and then continued before Atemu could protest. "I do not trust easily, Yami. You know this. I finally allowed myself to trust again and it costs me another chance at a relationship or even friendship."

"What happened, Yuugi? You can tell me."

"Are you sure about that? I have a feeling that you would not want to hear this."

"Yuugi, just tell me. You know I care about you."

"Yes, you keep saying that." Yuugi repeated his earlier statement, shaking his head. "And I keep thinking you'll get the hint and realize it's a lost cause."

"You're never a lost cause, never will you be one." Atemu smiled down at Yuugi and took one of the smaller's hands into his own. He squeezed it tightly, placing a kiss on the small digits.

"I will fight for you, always. No one can stop me from doing this. Not even you."

"Atemu, realize that I'm not in the mood to discuss this right now. I've been through a lot lately."

"Yes, you tell me that a lot." Atemu said, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Well, I have been. You need to leave me alone for a while. I don't date and I've told you this numerous times. Besides, even a friendship between us is a lost cause right now."

Hurt and remorse crossed Atemu's eyes as he watched Yuugi leave the game shop and head up the stairs, giving him a final stare before he muttered something and ran off. The mumbled message remained unknown as Atemu walked back to the storeroom and held his face in his hands. Why was it that he could feel as if he and Yuugi had made progress and then one moment feel completely at a loss?

There was more to Yuugi than he knew.

Yuugi pounded on his keyboard, typing a new installment to his story. He felt his anger and confusion pour into this new chapter he was writing. He felt stupid. How the hell had he given into the advances of Jou? The man had always bullied him in high school. It only stopped once he started dating Yami.

Jou was using him, Yuugi figured out too late. The man wanted nothing more than a one-night stand and even a few other nights for a rebound against his ex. Yuugi sighed heavily and stopped typing on the laptop. He saved the document and closed out his programs. Love was fickle and foreign to him. He had not loved anyone since he had been with Yami. He was not sure that was even love. How did someone know that they were in love?

Yuugi groaned and turned his eyes onto the digital clock on his desk. It was a little after nine at night. His grandfather was already in bed as was Arthur. This was another problem for Yuugi. He felt jealous at all the attention that he was losing from his grandfather. Sugoroku begged him to return to Domino forever in order to help him cope with his problems. Finally after six months of the nagging, Yuugi gave in. Yet, with his return, he felt more alone than he ever had. Sugoroku was never around anymore. He was always with Arthur or doing something with other friends. It was times like this that Yuugi wondered why he returned to Domino in the first place.

The agenda of his life was falling short before he returned to Domino. He had lost his job due to the horrible status of the economy, and he had left his fiancée at the altar. Commitment and relationships were not worth the fight. He was slowly beginning to lose hope in this until he found Yami again. His hate was beginning to dissolve every day. Jou was no longer an issue. Yami was the winner in his heart. Yet, the realization would take time for Yuugi. He was a stubborn jackass. Telling Yami would take a while or it would complicate their budding friendship.

Was it worth the risk?

Atemu flipped through the television channels. He groaned as he passed another commercial for those vampire romance films. He hated shit of that variety. Annoyed, he continued to flip through the remaining channels, hoping to find something other than an infomercial. Useless products were not a fetish of his as they were with his friend, Bakura.

Twenty channels, five infomercials, three different versions of vampire movie advertisements, and cartoons, he finally gave in. Cartoons were better than half this garbage on TV this late at night. Sighing as a random cartoon played on the television; the Egyptian rested his feet on the coffee table, arms resting lazily in his lap. It had been a long day, full of kids wanting to meet Yuugi Mutou and buying Duel Monsters. Although, Yuugi was not available for autographs, the kids were just pleased to hear that their role model had returned. Yuugi was their hero!

During his flashback, a knock on the door echoed through the small building. Curiously, Atemu got up, looking out the window for any sign of the presence this late at night. No one visited after nine at night.

After spying a familiar shaggy blond from the window, Yami forced back a roll of the eyes. Jou was standing outside the game shop, tapping his foot in the warm night. Annoyed, he opened the door, eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing here?"

The blond jumped at the sudden appearance of his ex-boyfriend's cousin. He smiled somewhat, running a hand through his blond mane.

"Hey 'Tem. How are ya?"

"I'm fine, Jou. What are you doing here?"

"Well you see… I wanted to return Yuugi's jacket. He left it at my place earlier."

The elder of the two nodded slowly, eyes still narrowed. Atemu raised a brow and took the proffered jacket from the blond's grasp. He looked at it, remembering one of Yuugi's favorite jackets. The man would definitely want this one back.

"He usually does not run off without his jackets, especially this one. What did you do to make Yuugi leave so suddenly?"

Jou's eyes widened slightly, shifting uneasily in his stance. He was hiding something.

"What do you mean? He just forgot the jacket. It's no biggie."

Atemu hung the jacket up on the coat rack by the door. He turned his attention back onto the blond, eyes glittering in anger.

"Yuugi returned here hours ago upset. What did you do to him?"

"I didn't do anything to him! It was Yuugi that wouldn't do anything! He ignored my invites as friends with benefits. I told him I didn't want anything serious."

"YOU DID WHAT?" Atemu's anger grew wildly. He felt his possessiveness for Yuugi grow all over again. He could not believe that Jou would treat Yuugi in that way. Before he knew it, he punched Jou square in the face, hitting his eye with great precision. The blond went down, groaning in pain. He held his right eye and stood up, fisting his hands together in a fighting stance.

"You wanna play that way, Shorty? I'll take you down right now!"

Atemu rolled his eyes and pushed Jou out of the game shop's foyer and slammed the door in his face.

"You're not worth my time, mutt."

With that, he walked off, feeling slightly relieved that the confrontation was over. Physical fights were not his specialty and wanted to keep the conflict on the down low. They had enough damage control going on with the noise they presented with the constant arguments on a daily basis.

Atemu went back into the living and flicked the television off. His entire night was ruined with the Jou confrontation. All he knew now was that Yuugi was upset and he wanted to comfort the one he loved even if it meant another confrontation between himself and the stubborn man.