-Notes-
AO3 Account: 1_Weeb_Writer_1
I do not own Yugioh characters or franchise(s), Belongs rightfully to Toei Animations. Series belongs to Kazuki Takahashi (Yugioh Duel Monsters) & Shin Yoshida (Yugioh Zexal Author) & Naohito Miyoshi (Yugioh Zexal Manga Artist). English dubs belong rightfully to 4Kids Entertainment & 4K Media.
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It was like this was a dream that you never ever wanted to wake up from.
A dream you longed for instead of those dreams that kept giving you whiplash of trying to remember what was going on in them.
"(Y/n)" Yami cupped your face with his hands ever so softly and let his thumbs wipe away the tears that fell from you (e/c) eyes. You leaned into his hand, this time you were not overwhelmed or shy to pull yourself away like last time. Your eyes closed as you were drowning yourself in his warmth.
You hummed when he called you. Not caring about your tears that stained your rosy cheeks. "Who are Yuma and Kari?" Your heart sank to that question. Just thinking about them made your heart ache. Yuma wasn't here in the room with you to tease the living heck out of you for being too close for normal comfort of just regular friends with Yami.
You opened your eyes, taking your face away from his hands to turn your face away, looking down at the floor. "I wish I can tell you but . . . I can't . . . " You knew this was going to make you start being suspicious but it was the only resort for you to keep their existence safe. Even if you made a excuse, the future of them would be compromised. You are willing to take risks but their entire identity was the thing being gambled. It wasn't the right time to begin to tell Yami or everyone else this.
Especially the fact of you not being a part of this time period either. He did not try to ask you about them again. Yami only stared at you for a long while before he cupped one of your cheeks to turn back to him to meet his gaze. "May I at least know where you got this millennium dagger of yours?" He was asking a good question. A question you can actually give him an answer for that didn't have greater consequences. "I hope you're ready for complicated story telling." You lightly chuckled.
Yami took his hand off your cheek to lay himself on the bed, his upper body being faced to the foot of the bed. He supported his head with his elbow and hand. "I am all ears." You couldn't help but smile at his actions. You went back down on the bed to lay beside him. Laying on your back as you explained to him your dreams, the dagger appearing, and Jane. Not going to further details of the stuff you left out which are major keys of it: time traveling, Yuma and Kari, Astral's spirit, and your Duel Monster Deck filled that have a few monsters that don't exist and number cards. You even took the dagger out from your boot to show Yami so he could have a closer look on it.
"Where is this Jane now? Has she been here with us?" Yami asked you and you shook your head. "She gave us some privacy for now. I never tried to call out for her to come back after she goes and disappears on me. She comes back on her own." Yami thought to himself for a moment after you said that. "So like a regular cat?" You froze and laughed softly,"Yeah, I guess she does." It never even occurred to you before that Jane did act like an actual cat. Guess you just weren't thinking she did because of the way she talks and carries her little kitty self. Jane acted more like a human with you than a cat whenever she was with you but she does have a cat-like personality sometimes.
Yami smiled more when he heard you laugh, it brought joy to his soul. "If it is alright with you, I would love to meet her when she comes back." Yami brushed back a strand of your hair away from your face. He was curious about this talking cat, it was a talking cat, how could he not be? Well, for you it was different. She brought you here ish so you didn't exactly like or felt like being excited or curious when you first met her. Mostly was furious because she took you away from your home to be here but you also can't be mad too much. Yami was here to make that go away and you didn't hold a grudge against her at all. It was almost inevitable in a sense.
It's not like Jane had any control over how you even got you here in the first place. She told you that herself, if she had the power to send you back she would have done it a long time ago.
Yami told you about his little puzzle soul room and the labyrinth alarm system it had. Leading up to his own weird experience he had within it a few days ago. It sounded like a plot for a horror movie except he had to experience that without probably not knowing what a horror film even was. "With the help of your dagger, I believe the door will open for us. However, I haven't been able to reach the door ever since that day. The pathway to it is broken and no matter how much mental power I use to create a pathway, nothing happens. Let alone know how to be able to get you into my soul room." Yami sighs softly from the flashbacks of him trying to create those damn stairs. He would try for hours to get them to appear, even remembering back on those hours was starting to send a mental strain through his head. Yami stopped trying to think back about it.
"I think the dagger may relate to the millenium items but unlike yours. Yours possessed a soul and the others seem to have something similar. All mine can do is just warn of any danger near and turn into a weapon. Seems more fitting for a pharaoh like yourself than someone like me. You can just take it for the door, it isn't like I need it." You told him without really thinking anything behind it. It was something you felt you just had to say out loud. Even pressing the weapon that was in his hands back to his chest but there was not much force behind it. Offering the dagger to him, for him take it for himself and take it off your hands.
Yami shook his head side to side and pushed it back to your chest instead of his. "I am not suited for wielding such a weapon. My heart tells me it belongs only to you and is something to not part with it. It feels much too important to just hand it off like you are trying to with me. I only wish for your help as the daggers owner." You clench it in your hands and stare at it. It was the only thing that even got you to meet this man laying in front of you. Listening to one another's crazy supernatural stories. How could you just blindly and easily give up the thing that connects the two of you?
"Of course I am willing to help you. It's a benefit for the both of us, just let me know when you figure out how to get me in there and we can go from there." Hearing that from you was great news for Yami and Yugi. Yugi was not there but he would have been grateful to hear that from you. This was an accomplishment of both your goals of getting somewhere with both of your fates.
You held it close to your chest. "You are right Yami, I shouldn't have offered it to you so foolishly." You chuckle softly to feeling dumb for even thinking of doing such a thing.
"I must sound crazy compared to your story."
"I beg to differ (Y/n), you sound delightful to me."
Gosh.
This man just knew how to tug at your heart strings without a single falter to his words.
Yami placed a hand over yours that held the dagger close to your chest. "So delightful that I wish to hear more about you." He softly said that to you when he leaned his forehead against yours, it was barely above a whisper. "If you'll let me." You just prayed to any gods listening over this very conversation would just do you a favor and make sure he didn't hear the increase of your heartbeat. A small click sound perked your ears but you thought it might have been your mentality giving up on you.
Wait a damn minute.
Did he . . . Did he just ask you out?
Like out out?
Maybe just for a date to see where this weird relationship between you two will go?
Just as friends?
Or did he want it to be more than that?
Your poor mind was just screaming with this odd excitement and panic at the same freaking time.
"I . . . "
Yami was so patient with you taking your time to answer him.
". . . Can't . . . Yami . . ."
(A/n: I know the comment section is gonna be under fire after this . . . Oh well~)
Your voice barely was able to say that through it cracking up as it hurt. 'I'm so sorry Yami . . . If I were someone of your era I would . . . but I'm not . . .' Your throat hurt so much, it burned, it ached. It was trying to hold back the hiccups and the tears that started to fall down your face. Your heart was just mere minutes before it stopped beating from this pain you felt throughout your body from rejecting Yami. Rejecting this unknown deeper meaning of a proposal. It didn't matter in the end of what kind it was, you couldn't agree to it.
No matter how much you knew you wanted to.
Yami's expression towards you didn't change. He instead smiled effortlessly to you, not a glint of hurt or pain was seen in those captivating eyes of his. 'Stop it . . . Stop looking at me Yami . . .' You covered your eyes. Desperately trying to wipe away these rivers of tears that just kept coming. Him seeing you this way made you feel so vulnerable. This entire time you have been nothing but crying. 'Stop being so damn kind to me . . . It makes this even harder . . .' You bit the bottom of your lip. Trying to conceal the obvious pain you were feeling.
Yami pressed his soft lips against your forehead, long but gentle peck. "I understand (Y/n)." he whispered to you. Damn him and his kindness.
The sounds of footsteps running away from the door echoed on the floor outside of the room. You quickly turned to the door to see recognizable blue and pink round bracelets that vanished within a blink of an eye.'Tea!' You sit up and scramble out of the bed, to get on your feet again. You ran to the door and were going to turn back to face Yami but forced yourself not to. You grip the partly opened sliding door, parting your lips to speak but Yami beats you to it "Go (Y/n), it's okay." He was too kind to you. More than you felt that you deserved from him. Kind people like him easily get hurt from people like you, what you believed you were at the moment, a terrible person.
Within a split second of Yami giving you the green light to go after Tea, you slid open the sliding door and ran out.
Leaving the infirmary room wide open.
Leaving Yami behind.
»»--♡--««
Yugi's spirit appeared on the bedside, next to Yami. He was already expressing worry with his tender eyes towards Yami. Yami sat up as he stared off to the open doorway.
"Yami -"
"It's okay Yugi."
Yugi flinched at the pharaoh's quick response to Yugi. Yugi stared at the back of his partner whose eyes never left the doorway.
"(Y/n) has her reasons . . . Who am I to interfere with those reasons?"
The young teen silently gasped as he caught sight of a set of tears reflecting the light of the room from Yami's cheeks from where he stood. It was the first time he ever saw him acting like this for as long as he could remember from assembling the pieces of the millennium puzzle.
Yugi could feel what Yami was feeling without even asking him, even though he tried to earlier. He was only trying to be an open option for Yami to talk about what he was feeling. To comfort his partner.
Yami was lying, Yugi knew what he was really feeling and Yami knew he was concerned for him.
No words truly needed to be expressed between these two but the intense air was not helping. It only made Yugi feel nervous about what Yami's next actions will be because he doesn't truly know if Yami knows how to actually process this type of emotion. Hell, Yugi didn't know if Yami even had experience of this before considering he had no memory of his past. It must have hurt even worse with that additional thought.
Yami scooted himself to the edge of the bed and swung his legs over the ledge. Forcing himself up to his feet. "We need to meet up with the others." Yami flatly said to Yugi, the puzzle glowed a short golden light, and there standing in Yami's place was a rattled up Yugi.
Yugi looked down at the millennium puzzle he held in his small hands 'Oh Yami . . . I wish there was a way for me to ease your pain . . .' he pondered away from his sad thoughts. Walking out of the infirmary room to head over to the cafeteria Mai said that the others would have been at.
»»--♡--««
Soon as you stepped out of the infirmary room you caught sight of Tea turning the corner. You ran down the hallway as you wiped away the last set of tears from your face to see more clearly. "My lady, your eyes are puffy! What happened?" Jane appeared beside your running boots. She had only taken a quick glance up at you to have noticed your red puffy eyes but set her attention to running beside you to wherever you were running to. "I rather not talk about it now Jane." No one was in the halls currently so you were able to talk to her for the time being.
You finally made it to the end of the hall Tea had turned the corner for, turning a bit too quickly from making a quick running turn. Slamming to the wall of the corner you made the turn for. Startling Kaiba who was walking in the middle of the hall "What the heck?" Kaiba murmured. You held your right arm that throbbed a little. You pushed yourself off of the wall as you softly pant 'Damn it, I lost her' You huffed in your thoughts in frustration from the girl.
"Will you dweebs stop running in my -" He stopped mid-sentence as he saw your puffy eyes. Kaiba had this sudden rushing wave of distress wash over him from the sight of how you were at this moment. Kaiba was quiet for a moment before he spoke up when you walked two steps past him. "Tea went to the first room on your left at the end of the hall. You can access the room with your key card. " Kaiba nonchalantly told you with his hands in his long white coat pockets. He kept walking the moment you took to turn yourself around to thank him. "Get going, loser." he grumbled to you without looking back at you. You mentally note to yourself to thank him later, whipping yourself around, marching forward to the room Kaiba said he saw Tea go into.
Sure enough, there was a room. Kaiba didn't misguide you at all when you thought he might have to mess with you. Dumb but it was a precaution. "I had placed the keycard in your duel deck."Jane mentioned to you and you popped open your deck and it was the first thing on top. You slipped your deck back in your holder and closed it. You slide the key card on the machine to open the door. Tea was sitting on one of the blue sofa chairs that were around a coffee table with a bedroom in a separate room. She quickly caught sight of you with pure shock that shifted quickly into a look of resentment.
The door closed itself behind you. Tea didn't try to kick you out, it was going to be a pointless effort had she tried. You waltzed over to sit in the sofa chair across from her. Only the coffee table stood between the two of you.
"Why were you listening in on Yami a -"
"Don't call him by that name."
" . . . . . . . . ."
'Keep it civil (Y/n) . . . Don't move from this spot . . . You are an adult (Y/n), you will be kicked off this ship and sent straight to a jail cell if you fight this chick . . .' You tried to keep yourself from lunging across the coffee table to whack the living shit out of this damn teenager. Plus, Jane was sitting on the table to keep you in check as she sensed you were on the verge to claw this girl.
"Tea, was there something I did to you that is making you act this way?"
Tea remained silent for that question.
"If I frightened you with my actions at the pier, I am sorry. I couldn't think of another way to be able to save you at that moment." You watched Tea shift in her seat to sit further back in the chair. Pulling her knees close to her chest. "I know that (Y/n) . . . I am grateful for that, believe me but . . ." She didn't finish her sentence. Leaving you hanging with questions of what she was going to say next. Instead she rested her chin on her kneecaps with her eyes still not meeting yours.
". . . She is jealous . . . . jealous of your relationship with this Yami person."
You were lucky that Tea was not meeting your eye and that allowed you to look at Jane who had her body facing Tea.
"How do you know?" You mumbled to try to not let Tea hear.
". . . . A hunch . . . ." Jane answered you after finding the proper words to tell you how she knew.
You stared at Jane's fluffy black fur back for a good long minute. Shifting your (e/c) to Tea who was focused on her reflection on the glass of the coffee table.
"Are you perhaps jealous, Tea?"
Tea's head shot up and finally met your eyes after not having met them this entire time.
"I'm not jealous! What makes you believe I am?!" Tea was quick to anger as a protective measure for herself.
"Then why are you crying?"
A shaky gasp came from Tea and she finally noticed tears were dropping on her kneecaps. Tea shoved her face in her knees to hide her face. "I'm . . . . I'm not." She was in denial of her own emotions that showed it clear as day that she obviously was. Hearing you get up from your seat to walk over to her side and felt you had sat on the arm on her chair. She was surprised when you pulled her head to your torso, gently stroking her head.
You said nothing when you did this gesture to her. "You're not a terrible person for feeling what you feel Tea . . . but it is also not good to resort to anger to cope with them . . . I can tell you are struggling from being who you are but cannot help acting rash because it hurts . . . it hurts so much . . . eating you away the more you are trying to separate between being the friend and pursuing your feelings for him . . ." Tea only listened as she could not speak. "It overwhelms you, blinds you, confuses you from how intense it is to the point where you cannot handle it anymore and it shows up as you acting selfish when you really just care for him . . . Caring so much you're afraid that it appears too much and he will just go away because of that . . ." Tea let go of her knees as she leaned the side of her head against your torso.
"Yami won't hate you if that's what you fear, he is too kind of a person to hate you. Yugi is also too kind. Those boys are much too kind for their own good." You tenderly smiled down at Tea who lifted her head to look at you with her brimming teary face. You place your hand over hers and gently caress your thumb like Yami does across the back of her hand. "Letting someone go is not easy . . . It was never meant to be something easy to do . . ." You let a single teardrop escape down your left eye which you quickly wiped away from your already puffy eyes from crying earlier.
"Why couldn't you go with Yami, (Y/n)?" Tea asked with much hesitation behind it. It was not with anger, no malice was felt when she asked this of you. It was all genuine. "Because of reasons I cannot say to him, even to you Tea for your own good . . . It's why I can't . . ." Tea didn't have the heart to even try to crack down for your reason behind it. You were sad just like she was because of that reason you couldn't tell her or even Yami. It must have been a big reason to turn down Yami.
Tea gently took hold of your fingers that were wrapped around her hand "You are too kind for your own good (Y/n)." She said after a sniffle and a light breathless chuckle. "I know I was never going to be able to make him look at me the way you do . . . It is a look you can only see when he looks at you . . . No matter how much I love him . . ." Tea finally admits to you. Tea took in a deep inhale and a shaky exhale through her nose "I am sorry (Y/n)." her apology made you smile more. "Apology accepted." You chirped and ruffled her hair which made her laugh.
"God" Tea took her hands away to wipe her tears "I am tired of crying. Aren't you?" Tea tried her best efforts to lighten up the mood. You crack a small laugh "You said it Tea." You got off from the arm of your chair. Popping your back, relieving some of the tension you developed from all this emotional drama.
"Let's grab a drink (Y/n)." Tea said after she hopped onto her feet with a smile on her face. She looked much better smiling than sulking as she had throughout this entire time.
"I wish I could grab alcohol but I have tournament matches coming up anytime soon." You pout from not being able to chug down some alcohol beverage to ease some of the pain you were feeling inside.
Tea giggled and led the way out of the room.
Jane hopped off the coffee table to trot over to your side when you left the room. Tea walked in front of you, lingering a few steps behind her.
"Thank you for helping me with Tea." You whispered down to Jane, giving her a smile when you looked down to her. Jane was taken out of some deep thoughts she apparently was having before lifting her cute kitty head to look up at you. "I am glad I was able to help you from your sorrows, my lady." Jane and you shifted your focus back onto Tea. You jogged up closer to walk beside her to the lobby where soda machines were standing idly by against the wall.
Tea spends her own money to buy the two of you sodas from the vending machine.
There was a slight screech that came up on the overhead speakers from them turning on. "Attention all duelists, the finalist duels will begin momentarily. Please start making your way to the arena above the blimp within the next 5 minutes. Those who are not there within those minutes will automatically be considered disqualified from the Battle City Tournament. That is all." The speakers cut off after Seto's bodyguards finished up his little announcement.
"Looks like I am going to hold off on this drink for a little bit Tea." You hold your drink in your hand that Tea gave to you before the announcement.
"Let's head on over there." Jane states to you.
You walk down the hall with Tea to head towards where the finals are going to be held.
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- Notes -
I know, I know, [insert gasp here] Tea getting a minor redemption arc?
I know it is something not done often in fanfics of these but I wanted to.
I don't mind a little love rival with Tea but for what I plan for the future of this series, you are going to need all the friends you need.
We're gonna go downhill from here.
Hope you enjoyed it!