Invisible Me

Author’s Note – Once again, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted an update. Between problems with muses, a now dead computer, work, and illnesses, my life simply has been chaotic to the max. I’m getting transferred to another department at work, so the worrying about my seasonal contract ending has been postponed for another five months. Thank Ra for that! That’ll be one less worry for me. Let’s just hope I like this department better than I did the last one. The stress and the hours of that department were killing me. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for this one, shall we?

Wonderful thank you to all of those who have taken the time to review. You guys really know how to keep a writer’s spirits up, don’t you? I sincerely hope that you’ll continue to give feedback as this is how I know where to keep going in this. Honestly, I do read the reviews and take note of suggestions.

Another thank you goes out to my family – DracOnyx, ladywolf_terri, SilverShadowFire, and shy_leighc. You guys are the sisters of my heart and have kept me going when it seems I have no strength left to fight. Thank you so much for your love, friendship, and the occasional kick in the butt! You mean a lot to me and my hopes and prayers are with you all.

Disclaimer – I do not own YuGiOh! I sincerely wish I did because it would mean that I am a total genius, can draw, and would be able to afford to make things as I’d love to have them.

Chapter Seven – What’s in a name?

Amethyst eyes held a layered expression of concentration, pain, and sorrow as they focused on the paper resting on the desk. The pencil moved quietly as it circled, underlined, and labeled the various words.

This was the part of English class that Yugi truly loathed with every fiber of his being – diagramming sentences.

No matter how often he had covered this in his years at school, the task only seemed to become more difficult as time went by. Of course, the conversation going on behind him didn’t help him concentrate at all.

Yami had been on the phone for over an hour, either not realizing or not caring that his hikari was attempting to do his homework. He had ignored the small teenager since he’d gotten home and was now sprawled across his bunk, attempting to soothe his extremely irate girlfriend.

“Yes, sweetheart, I know it was horrible. I don’t know what happened. Just seemed like everything was out to get you today.”

Yugi ground his teeth at the endearment Yami had used on the worthless girl and kept his eyes trained on the paper, struggling to concentrate.

“Of course, I care, Sachi, but it’s not like I can do anything if I don’t know what’s causing the problem. No, I’m not being blind to the problem!”

There was a short period of silence as Sachi responded, and the small duelist managed to get another part of a sentence done before the next response from his yami completely shattered his concentration.

“Little one, you shouldn’t worry about it so much. Tomorrow will be a good day, and I promise I’ll make it up to you this weekend.”

That nickname had always been reserved for the hikari and hearing it used on someone other than himself simply deepened the cracks that had been forming in his heart. The pain was overwhelming and Yugi slammed the heavy textbook closed, the loud noise drowning out the whimper of agony that escaped him.

“Yugi, why the hell did you do that? Can’t you see I’m on the phone?”

The tri-color haired teenager didn’t respond to his yami’s furious question and quietly left their shared bedroom, needing to find someplace quiet so he could try to calm the pain before it could make itself known to his soul partner.

Solomon watched his grandson leave the shop, noting that the agony that had been written in the amethyst eyes had deepened. A flare of anger filled him, and he turned to the staircase.

“Yami! Off the phone! We have work to do!”

Yami came down a few moments later, hands buried in his jeans pockets. He didn’t seem too upset by having his phone call interrupted and in fact, was rather relieved that the older Mutou had decided to call him away from the telephone. Sachi had been rather insistent on ranting over her misfortunes today, and he was tired of hearing her whining about it.

“What do you need me to do, Grandpa?”

“Time to clean and inventory the storeroom. It needs to be done before the new stock arrives tomorrow.”

The crimson eyed yami flinched, knowing that would take up most of his afternoon and evening. With the three of them working, it usually took hours to get that chore done. Speaking of three of them, he looked around and noted the absence of his hikari.

“Where’s Yugi?”

Solomon quickly thought up a reason for his grandson’s absence, knowing that Yugi would not want Yami knowing why he’d left.

“Running errands for me. Come on, Yami, let’s get to work.”

Yugi headed towards the park and sat down under a tree, pulling his knees against his chest as he stared idly at the empty playground. His mind kept repeating the words he had heard, and the pain continued to wrack his breaking heart.

He simply couldn’t believe his yami would give someone else the nickname that had been used only for him up until this time. Despite his aggravations about his height and build, the young duelist had adored that nickname and had never fought with his yami about it.

Several hours slipped away as he sat there, struggling to regain his emotional balance. Once he realized that it was getting late, he trudged home and quietly joined in the work that was going on, unaware of the concerned gaze of his grandfather as he helped clean and inventory the stock room.

Solomon watched as his grandson played with his meal, barely eating anything before going upstairs to finish his homework. A soft sigh escaped him once he’d been left alone in the kitchen, concentrating on cleaning up after his two boys.

Yugi was not doing well, he knew, and sincerely hoped that the burden upon the too fragile teen would be lifted soon before he snapped from the strain.

By the time the elderly gentleman made his way upstairs, he found Yami at the desk, working on homework. When questioned about his grandson’s whereabouts, the crimson eyed teen gestured idly at the top bunk.

Solomon simply smiled and wished the former pharaoh a good night, realizing that Yugi had fallen asleep and definitely needed his rest. Yami smiled back and bade the senior Mutou a gentle good night as well before returning to his studies.

Plum colored eyes didn’t loose the worried expression as the game shop owner made himself ready for bed. The expression seemed to deepen as he looked at the picture of his wife, son, and daughter-in-law.

“I wish I knew what do to for him. I know he’s hurting, and there’s damned little I can say to reach him. It’s like he’s trying to deal with this on his own and won’t accept help, even when he knows it’s there.”

Gentle hands picked up the photograph, tracing the lines of the three people as he continued.

“I wish you were here. Yugi needs his family right now, not just an old man who doesn’t know how to reach a teenage boy. I have no idea if I’m doing the right thing with him or not, and that truly scares me.”
Solomon laid the picture back on the dresser and went to sleep, not knowing the object of his thoughts was still awake.

Yugi laid silently in his bunk, watching Yami as the former pharaoh worked his way through the assignments he had been given today. Amethyst eyes held a longing expression as he admired the beauty of his yami.

Yami continued studying, unaware of his hikari’s gaze and was still unaware when the teenager finally drifted off to sleep. He kept himself focused on his school work, wanting to finish before the hour grew too late.

Yugi heard the alarm first and instead of trying to go back to sleep, he simply climbed out of the bunk and headed to take his shower. He couldn’t even take comfort in his dreams anymore as visions of Yami and his various partners had flitted through them, tormenting him through the hours he was supposed to be resting.

The tri-color haired duelist simply grabbed a piece of toast and left without his yami, knowing Yami wouldn’t notice that he hadn’t waited for him. He so rarely noticed his hikari these days, which had also added to the heartache.

Bakura was the first to notice the slumped over hikari as he walked through the school gates. Obviously, he wasn’t the only one as he heard a low curse from Marik.

“Fucking hell.”

Duke’s eyes widened as he saw Yugi and was quick to curse as well.

“What the fuck?”

Mahogany colored eyes met chocolate and the yami/hikari couple quickly made their way to Yugi’s side, guiding him to a secluded part of the school yard.

“Okay, Yugi, spill. What’s going on?”

At the gruffly spoken question, Yugi looked up and, unable to hold it back any longer, broke out with the issue that had been bothering him all night.

“He called her little one.”

Ryou was the first to react, knowing exactly what those words meant to Yugi. He quickly pulled his friend into a hug, meeting his lover’s gaze as he held the shaking form of the small hikari.

-“That was the nickname Yami has always called Yugi. I can’t believe he called Sachi by that name.”-

-“Stay with him, Ryou, and make sure he gets to class once he’s stable. I don’t want him alone today.”-

Chocolate colored eyes widened at the tone in Bakura’s voice and was quick to question his yami.

-“What are you going to do?”-

-“Change of plans. We’re stepping up the damage and getting rid of that bitch once and for all. I’m going to talk to the others about it now.”-

Ryou simply held Yugi as he watched Bakura walk away, wonder what the others were going to do once they heard this news. He could tell that the tomb robber was extremely unhappy and knew he would have to wait and see what today would bring about.


Author’s End Notes – Not as long this time around but I think it’ll help push the plot along. I hope you guys enjoyed it even though it’s on the angsty side today. Hopefully, I’ll have more updates along soon. Thanks for reading and please, please, please…review!!!!