Three Kings

The End

Well, this is it folks. Thanks for joining me on this adventure! There are things I'm proud of and things I wish I could have done better or go back to rewrite... either way, I hope you guys enjoyed the story with me! If you did or didn't, please leave me a little comment so I can know your thoughts!

These last chapters were difficult for me, after all this time (I published this in 2011 mind you...) I was really afraid to have the ending be a let down, so I hope you appreciate this ending with a heavy dose of sappy, lovey dovey bits at the end. I tried to wrap it up in a nice pretty bow for you all as a way of saying thanks. After all, I'm a sucker for happy endings!

Enjoy this last chapter!

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Chapter 23

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Yugi flopped down on his bed. It felt so good to be home. The events at the casino felt like eons ago, even though it was just a few days before. Atemu had left Egypt first with Seto and Mai before getting to say a proper goodbye. Mahado had decided to stay in Egypt. His life was there now. Atemu had made sure that Mahado was given an important job working at the Pyramids to make up for all the trouble. Mahado had tried to refuse, but Atemu insisted. Isis, Marik, Malik, and Rashid had also decided to stay in Egypt for a time. Jou, Bakura, Ryou, and Rebecca took the King's private plane home to Japan with Yugi. Bakura gave Yugi a debriefing on the plane ride over which included telling Yugi that Atemu had told his Grandpa that Yugi had been selected for an Italian Immersion experience, whatever that was supposed to mean. When Yugi arrived, Grandpa had asked how his trip was and Yugi had a hard time remembering the things that Bakura had instructed him to say had happened. The overly muscled bodyguard that had been left with Yugi's grandpa looked awfully out of place in a Game Shop apron. When Grandpa asked if Yugi had taken any pictures Yugi looked away from the bodyguard and back to Grandpa before letting out a quick 'Oh, my uh, camera broke.' and asking to be excused.

Laying on his own bed felt heavenly. He hadn't heard from anyone from the Kings since landing, but he assumed they would contact him soon. That week, Yugi went back to school but felt more out of place than ever. He had tried texting Jou but didn't get anything back.

A week came and went with nothing but radio silence from all the members of the Three Kings. When Yugi saw him at school, he asked Ryou if anyone had contacted him, but Ryou hadn't heard from anyone either. Yugi found himself searching recent news articles to see if the name of the crime family was in the papers but there was nothing. Even though the time that he had spent with them had been short, Yugi found himself missing his new friends. Worst of all, his dreams were haunted by Atemu. To have just been left behind with no word of when he'd see any of them again was torture. Senior year was bland for him. Anzu had asked him what had happened to him after the party, after all he had essentially disappeared from school after that, but he stuck as much as he could to the Italian Immersion story as he could manage. Seeing her again was an odd sensation for Yugi. Any crush he had previously had on Anzu had evaporated. Yugi knew exactly why.

When the second Friday without hearing from the Kings came around, Yugi started to feel desperate. Telling Grandpa he was meeting some friends after school, he had decided to make his way to the restaurant instead. It didn't take him long to find the Italian Restaurant where he had first been taken (kidnapped, really) by the Kings. Technically, he was still employed there. He gazed at the outside of the building. It felt like a lifetime ago. The sign hanging in one of the windows was flipped to read "closed." The windows all had curtains over them making it impossible to see inside. He thought about knocking. After all, someone might have still been inside. He worked up the courage and rapped on the door, but no one came. Yugi made a face at the door and resisted the urge to kick it. Feeling as though a weight was on his chest, he decided to give up and head home. After all, where else could he go to find any of them? He certainly wouldn't be able to walk up to Kaiba Corp and say 'Hey, I know your CEO is with the mafia and I'm trying to get in touch with them so could you pretty please let me in to talk to Seto Kaiba?' As Yugi made his way back towards the Game Shop, he wondered if that time in the hotel that Atemu had kissed him had all been a cruel joke. Maybe they all really thought he was just a kid. He felt a heat burning his eyes but he refused to allow the threatening tears to form. He was so consumed in his thoughts and memories from a few weeks ago that he didn't see the sleek black car that had slowed down alongside him, driving at a pace that matched his walking speed. A window on the car rolled down but Yugi didn't seem to notice it.