Ray of Sunshine

Author’s Note – Sometimes it seems as if the writing urge hits at the worst possible times. Once again, I’m dealing with computer issues and lock ups that are so frustrating. This is why things have not been updated as they should have been before now. For that, I am most apologetic. I hate computers. Honestly, I think they hate me too. If you consider how many computers I’ve gone through in the last two years, I’m almost certain they hate me.

At any rate, I thank everyone for their wonderful patience and encouragement. For those who have tracked me down, you have my gratitude and hopefully, once things sort themselves out, I’ll be able to update at a pace that will appease my muses and you, the wonderful readers.

One other side note, I had to go back and make a change in the previously posted chapters. I feel so stupid. I kept changing Marik and Malik’s names up. So, for this story, Malik is the hikari and part of Yugi’s group of friends. Marik is a close friend of Yami’s. I do apologize for the mix up. At least it’s fixed now and no one can get confused. Weird what you find when you start reading back over things to get refreshed on what you’d done. I have to admit, this is the first time I’ve ever mixed up on character names before.

Love and hugs goes out to my heart family. Thank you for everything.

Disclaimer – I do not own Yugioh and do not make any money off of these characters. There’s times I wish I did though.

Chapter Seven – Waiting

Solomon Mutou moved through the hospital corridors at a hurried pace, wanting to reach his godson as quickly as possible. He made it into the emergency room waiting room just in time to see the doctor he’d requested slip into the room. The younger man moved towards the archaeologist, not bothering with the usual formalities.

“Solomon, I’m glad you made it. Your attorney just faxed in some papers authorizing you to make medical decisions, so that’s a huge help in getting the boy’s treatment started. We’re going to need some signatures from you fairly quickly. Yami isn’t doing very well at all.”

The elderly gentleman sank onto a chair and stared at the man he’d known for some time. This physician had been the one to treat Yugi after that disastrous archaeological expedition that had taken his grandson’s sight.

“How bad is it?”

Fingers raked through the dark hair as the doctor gathered his thoughts. Given the look on the older man’s face, it was obvious that Solomon cared very much about the teenager that was now under his medical care. Most of the time, it took forever to get authorization to treat a child for such a case as this but Solomon had managed to pull it off, getting temporary custody so that Yami could be taken care of. That fact alone told the physician that this was something very dear to Solomon’s heart.

“It’s very bad, Solomon. The boy has massive trauma to the rib cage and there appears to be a punctured lung. There’s also one wrist that’s broken, the other sprained, internal bleeding, concussion, and soft tissue bruising. Whoever did this to him didn’t hold back and was out to hurt him. We’re fortunate it didn’t kill him.”

Solomon winced, biting back fear for his godson and anger at the man who he once called friend. He didn’t say anything as the physician continued.

“We’re prepping him for surgery now to stop the bleeding and fix the damage done to his lung. Someone will come by in a bit with papers for you to sign. I’ll be out as soon as I know something, all right?”

“Just take care of him, please.”

Dr. Takahashi leaned over and touched his friend’s hand reassuringly.

“I promise I’ll do my best, Solomon. Just hang in there and keep praying for him.”

Plum colored eyes watched as the physician hurried out to scrub up and the older man sighed, waiting for the papers that were due to arrive. He could only hope that Yami would be all right. The amount of damage listed sounded horrible, and he cursed Kenichi for putting his son through this.

The paperwork arrived shortly and Solomon applied himself to filling them out, suddenly glad he’d sent instructions for Yugi. This was going to take a while and after everything, he wanted to make sure that he was there for Yami when the teenager woke. The last thing he wanted was for Yami to wake up alone.

While all of this was going on, Yugi went through his day, focusing on his school work and trying not to wonder about what was going on. The messenger that had delivered the instructions for him to go home with Seto had only strengthened his curiosity and his worry. There had been no explanation as to why he’d been told to do so and given what was going on, Yugi could only surmise that it had to do with the missing Yami.

He was at his locker, pulling out his books and listening to Ryou complain about a teacher when he heard a conversation going on not too far from his location. Yami’s friends were extremely worried about him. It was the dialog that was not said that triggered Yugi’s next action. He knew that there was a reason to worry and also knew that Yami’s friends knew it too.

Yugi moved towards the group with a shocked Ryou beside him. Gently, he called out the name of the one he’d spoken to once before.

“Bakura?”

Startled, the white haired teenager turned to face the two that were standing behind him. He hadn’t heard either of them come up, which showed just how worried he was about his absent friend.

“What do you want?”

A small hand adjusted the slipping sunglasses as he answered the gruffly spoken question.

“It’s in reference to the conversation we had last week. Given the absence, I called my grandfather and he’s checking into it.”

Mahogany eyes narrowed as he stared at the pint sized version of Yami. He knew exactly what conversation Yugi was referring to as this had been on the minds of all of Yami’s friends all weekend. The news that was reported surprised him, and he had no idea why the kid’s grandfather would be getting involved. Yugi seemed to sense the surprise and explained.

“As his godfather, he was naturally worried and said he’d make sure everything was taken care of. Grandpa sent a message to me a little while ago to go home with one of my friends, which means something has his attention. It could be related to that individual.”

That announcement shocked the group further, and it was Marik who best described their feelings with his usual eloquence.

“Fuck me sideways. You mean to tell me that your grandfather is his godfather?”

Yugi nodded. He’d been stunned as well when he’d found out about his grandfather’s relationship in regards to Yami.

“I found out this weekend during a business dinner with my grandfather and an old friend. That friend brought his son, my grandfather’s godson, with him. We were both a bit taken aback, I’ll admit.”

Joey shared a speaking glance with his friends before addressing the short teenager for the first time since Yugi had transferred to their school.

“So it’s being taken care of finally?”

Yugi nodded, answering softly but firmly.

“It’s being taken care of. Once he knows of a problem, Grandpa isn’t the type of person to let things just stay as they are.”

Ryou watched as that seemed to ease the group somewhat. To be honest, he typically avoided them because of their reputation. Apparently, they weren’t as cold hearted as they seemed because of their reactions to the news that Yugi had. The chocolate eyed teenager wasn’t certain who they were discussing, but it did sound very serious. He was startled when Bakura yanked the spiral out of the stack of books he was holding and scrawled something down on a piece of paper, ripping it out and handing the notebook back to its owner.

Yugi felt paper being pressed into his hand, and Bakura’s voice filling his ear as the larger teenager leaned forward.

“If that business is around him and your grandfather contacts you with news, call me. This paper has my number on it.”

Slender fingers closed around the paper securely and then tucked it into his pants pocket, making sure it would remain safe.

“I promise you, as soon as I know something, I’ll call.”

Bakura nodded and then answered him, knowing his unspoken response wouldn’t have been seen.

“Good.”

The group hurried off, chattering about the recent events, leaving the two friends alone. Ryou turned towards his long time friend, obviously confused by what had just happened.

“Yugi, what was all that about?”

Yugi sighed, knowing this wasn’t his story to tell. He hated keeping things away from his friends and wished he could unburden himself to them, but he couldn’t.

“I wish I could tell you, Ryou, but I can’t. Right now, I’m not one hundred percent certain on a few details and even if I was, I couldn’t say anything. It’s a private matter for the time being. Just trust me, okay?”

“All right, Yugi. Just don’t scare me like that again. That group doesn’t have a good reputation and has been known to do things for the hell of it.”

The amethyst eyed student laughed softly before answering his friend.

“They wouldn’t pick on me. It’s rather poor sport to torment a blind kid.”

“Yugi! That’s a horrible thing to say!”

The laughter continued as the heated exclamation reached his ears. The comment had diverted Ryou’s attention away from the prior conversation and that’s what he had hoped for.

“Maybe so, Ryou, but it’s the truth. Come on, we’ll be late for science if we don’t get a move on. She’s always in a bad mood anyway, and I don’t want to make it worse.”

That certainly did the trick and Ryou was quick to guide his friend towards their next class, not wanting to incur their teacher’s wrath over a possible tardy. Yugi went along with him, chattering as he usually did and wondering if Yami would be all right.

The teenager was on the minds of several people throughout the day, and Seto was quick to notice his friend’s preoccupation as they drove towards the Kaiba home. Knowing Yugi as well as he did, he didn’t push to find out what was bothering him and simply found activities to distract him.

Yugi practiced the pieces for orchestra class with Seto, grateful to have something to focus his mind on that would relax him. Once they’d waded through that, his friend had suggested they try their hands on something for fun and the amethyst eyed pianist simply grinned at him.

Mokuba wandered in after his homework was done to listen to the two friends as they went through the repertoire they had built over the years. Occasionally, he’d giggle as Yugi or Seto would make wry comments about certain pieces and find alternate ways to work though what they considered problem areas.

The music was a wonderful distraction for Yugi, and hours went by unnoticed as he and Seto continued to entertain themselves with their work. A part of him was still listening for the phone, hoping that the news that would come would be good news.

He hated waiting but for now, there was nothing he could do but that. So he continued practicing, fingers moving confidently over the piano keys in time with the classical guitar that was being played by the blue eyed teenager.

It was right in the middle of a rocked up version of Pachebel’s ‘Canon in D’ when the phone rang and Yugi’s name was called. His stomach dropped nervously and he took the phone from Seto’s adopted father, wondering what his grandfather would have to tell him.

“Hello?”

Author’s End Note – Yes, cliffie. I’m so awful about that, but this seemed a good way to end it for the moment. I’m going to keep plugging away at the stories and see if I can’t get more updated as quickly as this computer of mine will allow. I do not own Pachebel’s ‘Canon in D’, although I adore it so much. Probably one of the best pieces of music written and so gorgeous when played with a flute. I own an arrangement of it for flute and guitar, but I haven’t found a guitar player yet that can play it. And as I had to sell my flute some time ago, I’ll have to wait until I can afford another one to begin practicing.

As this story becomes more involved, more musical titles will be introduced. If anyone has any suggestions, I’ll be glad to take them under consideration. Thank you so much for your continued patience! See all of you soon! Please don’t forget to leave a review as this is how I get inspiration and ideas for following chapters!