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Darkness Before Dawn	By : SangoHuntress1977 Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3356 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: YuGiOh and the characters thereof are the sole domain of Kazuki Takahashi and all rightsholders. I'm only borrowing them for entertainment purposes and am deriving no profit.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Saturday, May 14, 2005

Two young men with similar tricolored hair sat side by side on the city bus as it took them from the outskirts of town into the downtown area.

“Thanks for coming with me, Até. Grandpa’s been dying to meet you and now that we’re a couple, it’s a good chance for you two to get to know each other,” said Yugi.

“‘Dying to know me?’” echoed Atem with a smile. “What lies have you been telling your poor grandfather about me?”

“Nothing much, just that you saved me from some bullies and what a great duelist you are. That’s why I toldja to bring your deck,” explained Yugi.

“I see. You mean to pit me against your grandfather for your amusement,” grinned Atem.

“Something like that,” replied Yugi angelically.

“Hn!” grunted Atem before the two lapsed into silence.
Kame Game Shop…
“Grandpa’ll be running the shop by now, so we’ll come in the front,” explained Yugi as he led Atem up to the small, but respectable looking shop with its large display window, showcasing the different board and card games it carried.

Atem nodded and followed Yugi in through the door, which triggered a bell to ring as they opened it.

“Grandpa, I’m home! I’ve brought Atem!” Yugi called.

“Yugi! Welcome home!” called a voice from the back room as a short, chubby old man with a full gray beard emerged.

When Atem looked closer, he saw the family resemblance between Yugi and Sugoroku: the same wild bangs the three of them shared, no doubt blond in Sugoroku’s salad days, and the same twinkling lilac eyes.

Uncaring for social mores, Yugi and Sugoroku embraced each other warmly.

“So good to see you again, my boy,” Sugoroku murmured as he held Yugi closely.

“You too, Grandpa,” Yugi returned happily.

At this open display of affection between elder and younger, Atem felt his heart constrict painfully in his chest and blinked rapidly to keep the stinging moisture from pooling in his eyes.

Yugi pulled back from Sugoroku and, upon seeing the sorrow tinging Atem’s features, quickly set about the introductions.

“Grandpa, this is my boyfriend, Ishutaru Atemu,” Yugi said with a smile.

Upon hearing his name mentioned, Atem snapped out of his funk and bowed from the waist to Sugoroku.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” he intoned before rising.

“Atem, this is my grandfather, Mutou Sugoroku,” Yugi said.

“It’s good to meet my grandson’s savior and new Duel Monsters rival,” said Sugoroku, bowing from the chest. “Yugi tells me you’re quite talented at the game. Perhaps we might have a duel today?”

“I would enjoy that immensely, sir,” Atem returned promptly.

“For sure! I wanna see you two destroy each other!” declared Yugi, lilac eyes lighting gleefully.

“Yugi, where are your manners?” asked Sugoroku severely. “Atemu-kun is a guest here and as it’s 12 o’clock, I can imagine he must be hungry, eh my boy?”

“Now that you mention it, some food would be welcome,” Atem replied with a small smile.

“Right this way, young man. Yugi, since you’re in such a hurry to see me and Atem duel, you can help me serve lunch,” said Sugoroku firmly as he led them back into the kitchen.

“Yes, Grandpa,” said Yugi with a smile and roll of his eyes.

Ah, it was good to be home!
Lunch…

“Itadakimasu!”

For lunch, Sugoroku had prepared an Indian dish called masala bhindi, which consisted of okra, cumin and fennel seeds, finely chopped onions, ginger and a pinch of amchoor, covered in mustard oil.

In between bites, Yugi wriggled about impatiently, wanting to get the meal out of the way so he could see Grandpa and Atem duel each other. What he hadn’t counted on was Sugoroku and Atem striking up a conversation between them, as if they had known each other for years.

“I was barely able to keep ahead of that monster as it bore down on me. When I came to a huge gap in the floor, I had to snap my whip out and swing across, holding on for dear life!” Sugoroku recited as he regaled Yugi and Atem with tails of his younger days, the former rolling his eyes and sighing silently, the latter listening with rapt attention.

“C’mon, Grandpa! That was in Indiana Jones!” Yugi cried indignantly.

“Oh, Yugi. Didn’t you know that Indiana Jones was based on my life?” chuckled Sugoroku.

“You’ve never even met Steven Spielberg!” retorted Yugi.

“Oh, alright, Yugi. Perhaps I was exaggerating a bit. However, once when I was in Egypt, I fell through a trap door into a pit full of vipers. I really did get out by cracking my whip so that it wound around some rocks and climbed out. That’s Ra’s honest truth,” asseverated Sugoroku.

“Yeah, OK,” huffed Yugi, crossing his arms and looking away.

“I believe you, Mutou-san,” volunteered a smiling Atem.

“Why, thank you, Atemu-kun. It’s nice that some members of the younger generation believe in and appreciate the stories of my generation. Stories are part of what make life worth living after all,” said Sugoroku.

“Indeed,” agreed Atem.

“Whatever…” muttered Yugi, scowling at boyfriend and grandfather, who pointedly ignored him, wholly involved in their conversation with each other.

“I must say, Mutou-san, this is sublime,” commented Atem after they had eaten more. “Where did you learn to cook foreign food at this level?”

“Experience, my boy. When I wasn’t much older than you and Yugi, I traveled the entire world, digging for artifacts and also learning the cultures, religions and recipes of every place I visited,” answered Sugoroku.

“If you would be willing to share some recipes with me, I would be honored,” asked Atem.

“By all means, Atemu-kun. I’ll write down my top five favorites on note cards for you before you leave today,” replied Sugoroku.

“Thank you,” smiled Atem.

“Now, if you’re about finished, Yugi and I will clean up so we can have our duel. I do think the poor boy will die if he has to wait any longer.”

Atem and Sugoroku shifted their gazes over to poor Yugi, who looked about ready to tumble out of his chair.

“Eh, Yugi?” said Sugoroku.

“Ah!” cried Yugi as Sugoroku’s voice startled him and did indeed cause him to spill onto the floor with a thud. “Yes, Grandpa!”

While Atem tried to hold back his laughter, Yugi jumped to his feet and assisted Sugoroku in clearing away the diningware.
In the kitchen…

Yugi and Sugoroku stood side by side, washing the dishes and chopsticks.

“So… how do you like him?” Yugi ventured at length.

“Hm? Oh, I do! He seems like a very polite and soft spoken young man. It’s hard to reconcile him with what I was picturing after you said you needed to rescue him from his family home,” said Sugoroku.

At this, the light left Yugi’s eyes and he looked down at the plate he was scrubbing.

Seeing the change in his grandson’s demeanor, Sugoroku frowned.

“He… he’s trying so hard, Grandpa. I just wanna be there and help him through everything,” Yugi replied, blinking at the moisture that suddenly inundated his lower eyelids.

“Yugi, do whatever you can to help Atem if you love him, but also remember to take care of yourself,” advised Sugoroku.

“Yes, Grandpa,” said Yugi softly as he put his dried dish in the cupboard.

The two worked silently after that until they were finished.

“Now, let’s go see how well Atem’s dueling skills measure up,” smiled Sugoroku with a twinkle in his eyes.

With a sniffle and smile, Yugi nodded and followed Sugoroku from the kitchen.
With Yugi watching closely, Atem and Sugoroku sat across from each other and exchanged decks to cut and shuffle in silence. When each man had his deck in hand, Yugi flipped a coin.

“Heads!” called Atem.

“Tails!” called Sugoroku.

“It’s tails!” declared Yugi as he looked at the coin.

“My turn! I draw! I play Gazelle the Mythical Beast in attack mode and a face down card,” declared Sugoroku. “I end my turn.”

“My turn! I draw! I play Cursed Dragon in attack mode with a face down card. Cursed Dragon, attack Gazelle!” announced Atem.

“Not so fast, Atemu-kun. I play Mirror Force, thus negating your dragon’s attack,” said Sugoroku as he turned over his card, revealing the barrier card.

“Damn!” growled Atem.

The rest of the duel proceeded thus, sometimes with Sugoroku on top, other times with Atem seeming to have the upper hand.

It was thus one hour into the duel, each man having but 300 life points to his name.

“Well, young man, it would appear you have me in quite a bind,” admitted Sugoroku as he gazed at the field between them, showing Summon Demon on Atem’s side, poised to strike on the next turn.

On his side, there were no cards at all.

“Indeed,” smirked Atem.

“However, the game is neither won nor lost until the last move,” Sugoroku reminded the two young men.

“Of course,” agreed Atem.

“And for my final move, I set down these five cards,” said Sugoroku, setting down five cards that appeared to be parts of a larger whole. “And combine them to form... Exodia, the Forbidden One!”

“Ex-odia!” gasped Atem, who could only marvel in awe of this legendary monster.

“Exodia, Raging Hellfire!” commanded Sugoroku.

As Atem watched his life points drop to zero, he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his features.

“An excellent game, Mutou-san. I’d heard of Exodia, but never knew if it was a real monster or not. Now I know,” he said admiringly.

“You played a wonderful game yourself, son. You're the only duelist I’ve ever come across who’s on par with my grandson,” said Sugoroku, with a loving gaze Yugiward.

“Grandpa…” muttered Yugi, cheeks turning red.

“Atem…” said Sugoroku, recalling the Egyptian’s attention to him.

“Yes, sir?” asked Atem.

“The thing is, I’m getting on in years. I was already too far along in my life to duel in the tournaments when the game started out ten years ago. Exodia is too great a monster to just be used in friendly duels in musty old game shops,” said Sugoroku as he gathered up his Exodia cards and then... proffered them to Atem. “I was wondering if you’d be willing to look after him for me.”

“M-Mutou-san!” gasped Atem. “You would give me your treasured cards just like that? You barely know me!”

“After dueling you, my boy, I know enough about you to know that Exodia would be used well in your keeping,” said Sugoroku solemnly.

Atem looked to Yugi, who smiled and nodded.

“Very well, Mutou-san. I accept your generous gift with a grateful heart,” he said at last, bowing his head as he held out both hands, palms up, to receive Sugoroku’s treasured cards.

‘It’s heavy,’ Atem thought as he felt the five cards gently fall into his upturned palms.

“Now, how about we try some other games?” suggested Sugoroku.

“Yes, please,” smiled Atem as he slipped the Exodia cards into his deck.
Later…

Yugi opened the door to the room at the right end of the hall, revealing a room of memories with Duel Monsters posters decorating the walls and some Duel Monsters and anime figurines scattered about on different tables and shelves. There was the skylight that he used to stargaze through and the large window by his old desk, outside of which he saw the red leaves of a sturdy maple tree that he had used as a fire escape to sneak out of his room at night to hang out with Jou during high school.

“This was your room,” Atem rumbled.

“Yep. I had to leave most of my shit behind when I moved cuz I didn’t have a way to bring everything and didn’t wanna ask Grandpa to do it. He’s cool with me storing it here as long as I’m in school,” Yugi explained, shutting the door behind them.

Atem walked over to Yugi’s bed and looked at some of the Duel Monsters plushies residing on the mattress.

“May I?” he asked.

At Yugi’s nod, Atem picked up the Black Magician plushie and looked it over, before putting it down and looking at Kuriboh and Marshmallon.

The rest of the day was spent playing different board and card games as well as working puzzles, sometimes with Yugi and Atem playing against each other and both of them playing against Sugoroku. All through it, Yugi kept a weather eye on Atem, heart beating warmly to see how open and joyous Atem seemed in the safety of the little game shop, a place where nothing could harm, nor sorrow enter.
That evening…

As the bus rumbled quietly over the road back to the outskirts of town, two tricolors sat side by side, Atem staring thoughtfully out the window and Yugi staring thoughtfully at him.

“Wudja think of my grandpa?” he asked at length.

“Hm? Oh! He was such a jovial soul. I enjoyed playing against him immensely. I hope to do so again in the future,” replied Atem, turning to look at Yugi.

“Yup. My grandpa’s one in a million. It was so cool that he gave you his Exodia cards,” exclaimed Yugi.

“Yugi, perhaps you should take them. You’re his grandson, so they’re yours by rights,” suggested Atem.

“Nope,” replied Yugi with a grave shake of his head. “If Grandpa gave them to you instead of me, there’s a reason for it. I have plenty of cards and it’s so rare to draw the five cards needed for Exodia anyway, that I’m not worried about you having it.”

“Well, if you say so,” conceded Atem.

“That duel was actually kinda historical. Exodia’s the rarest of the rare. You never hear about him being used because it’s so rare to get all five cards in your hand. Grandpa was never able to use him against me. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to draw him in a tournament one day,” Yugi ventured cautiously.

“Yugi…” said Atem, stiffening a bit.

“Not this year or anything. Just, someday if you ever wanted to,” said Yugi quickly.

Atem regarded Yugi quietly for a while before replying.

“Perhaps… one day,” he finally said with a sad smile.

Yugi smiled as hope welled up in his heart.
That night…

Click click clickity click click click

Yugi smiled in accomplishment as eight more pieces fit together, showing about one third of the pyramid puzzle.

/
c 1270 BC
Waset, Kemet

Hebai’s eyes flickered open to see the lambent firelight of the torches casting dancing shadows on the walls of the Pharaoh’s chambers, where he was now sleeping. His eyes drifted over to the beautiful god sleeping next to him. When his eyes were closed and his face totally relaxed in sleep, he looked like the young man he truly was, instead of the god king Kemet needed him to be.

‘Oh, my Pharaoh, how much I love you,’ Hebai thought as he softly deposited a kiss on the bronze brow.

Atem smiled in his sleep, leaning into the kiss.
/
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Darkness Before Dawn