inonebasket | (no subject)

With his other looking like he's going off to the frontlines, Yami felt significantly more tense as Sugoroku stared down at the two of them. He became acutely aware of the fact that his toes were going numb, and wondered if it would be all right to sit a different way for this. Or maybe it wouldn't matter, because more than likely they'd be headed downstairs to that Mrs. Mutou could be included in the discussion.

Oh God. They were going to have to discuss this.

Yami decided to take the lead and turned to Sugoroku, bowing his head and pressing his hands to the floor. The old man made a noise of (amused?) surprise but Yami chose to ignore it in favor of keeping his head straight so his words didn't come out sounding stupid or arrogant. "I apologize for the intrusion. It's a pleasure to meet you." ...though they'd met before. Were kind of even sorta related.

Yugi relaxed himself as Sugoroku walked into the room and even smiled for him. He'd only give himself away if he looked tense and ready to fight. Yami started it politely, but his grandfather wasn't didn't look suspicious or surprised. It was more... amused? The expression rattled his determination just a little, but once Yami was finished, he gestured to him to tag himself into the battle.

"Grandpa, this is..." What should he say? "Yami" and "Mou hitori no boku" were nicknames, but he had to come up with something quickly. "... Yami. He's a close friend of mine, and he-"

"So you're the pharaoh who lives in that puzzle!" Sugoroku exclaimed, cutting Yugi off and completely destroying the boy's unshakable defense.

"... Eh?" Everything Yugi was about to say suddenly vanished in his mind.

WHAT.

"I- no, I'm- You just-" Yami was almost never at a loss for words; he always had something to say, and it was (almost) always coherent. But with their carefully -read: shoddily- constructed lie already flipped onto its head he found himself up the proverbial creek without a paddle or a canoe.

Then he sat back on his heels and desperately wracked his mind. How in the world did Sugoroku know he was a pharaoh? The spirit thing, yeah, Yami can believe he'd picked up on it. But...pharaoh? Had he just concluded that because the puzzle had been found in his tomb? Yami had no memory of meeting with Sugoroku outside the pretenses of being "Yugi," so he had to have guessed.

"Yes," he said, rather dumbstruck. "I suppose I am."

"Well," Sugoroku placed his hands on his hips and gave a wide, welcoming grin, "It's quite an honor to have you here! I was wondering when I could meet you this way!"

He seemed to have decided that Yami would be staying here. In fact, he rounded on Yugi, who stared dumbly with a slack jaw, and fixed him with a determined expression as he declared, "Yugi, we need to think of a good lie to tell to your mother."

Yugi himself was absolutely speechless. When- Why- How did his grandpa know about this? Sure, Yugi wasn't exactly discreet when it came to hiding his other self's presence, but he never called him pharaoh or anything! At least, not in front of his grandpa! Well... He did discover the puzzle and give it to Yugi years ago, but did he really know that much about it?

It took a moment for Sugoroku's statement to register, and once it did, Yugi blinked hard and replied, "Eh, uh... I mean... Y-Yeah, we do. I... guess. I mean, we kind of already came up with something... A, uh, fire. That destroyed his things."

Yami dropped his face into his hand, shoulders shaking.

Sugoroku's expression flattened and he gave them both a somewhat reprimanding look. "No no, that's not nearly enough. Your mother, she likes the dramatic effect Yugi. We'll need to think of something much more complicated."

Yami hunched over and covered his mouth with both hands, barely able to muffle his laughter.

Yugi shot Yami a look at that - This was serious, and he's laughing it away! But then he turned back to his grandpa, suddenly on the spot. A fire destroying Yami's home was absolutely dramatic! But he was right. His mother did love the dramatic things. She does love to watch soap operas, after all...

"... His house got robbed, he tried to catch the thief, but a fire broke lose in the house, and then an avalanche buried it and made him lose his memories?"

Maybe all of their suggestions in one explanation would work. Or just sound silly.

"Hmmm...dramatic, but a little too unbelievable. She's awfully good at drawing the line." Sugoroku padded over to the bed and had a seat on the edge of it, a hand on his chin.

"What if I hit my head and I just don't remember any of that?" Yami supplied unhelpfully after sitting back up and controlling himself. He wasn't sure he was going to keep their ridiculous story straight if it got too ridiculous.

Yugi, realizing that he was the only one standing, decided to sit cross-legged beside Yami as he tried to think. At his suggestion, Yugi glanced over at his other with a helpless little smile; it was a nice attempt, but... "Then we'd skip out on everything she wants to know. I... guess I could be there, and that's why you're here. Mom likes acts of kindness."

Yugi cupped his own chin, mirroring the movements of his grandfather as he threw out another suggestion. "An earthquake? No, we would've felt it too... Some kind of rescue that went wrong?"

"You're making me out to sound like some sort of puppy, Aibou." Yami raises a brow as he glances sideways at Yugi. He was found and taken home, and now Yugi has to beg his mother to keep him. It makes him feel awkward, embarrassed, pleased and a little humiliated all at once.

"Well...we could always tell the truth." Sugoroku leveled Yugi with a questioning look.

Yami, you practically asked for it there. Yugi gave a cheeky grin as he reached up to ruffle Yami's hair, as if doing so to a dog. Yugi would never do this to his other friends, but, well... He felt like he could do most anything with Yami and get away with it.

But with his grandpa's statement, he stopped and balked, even backpedaled a little bit on the floor. "What?! I can't do that! She wouldn't believe something like that!"

"Not if we show her the puzzle, and not if I give her the facts." Sugoroku gave a mild shrug; he was sure Yugi's mother would believe her son, especially if he backed him up. Yugi, however, feared that should would find it all too ridiculous to have under her roof.

Yami batted Yugi's hand aside, though Sugoroku's suggestion made him recoil a little bit as well. Tell Yugi's mother that he's a long dead Egyptian king that's been possessing him and getting him into a hell of a lot of trouble. Yeah, he can't see that blowing over very well.

At that moment, the door swung open and revealed the object of their indecision. And she didn't look very pleased. "I guess the truth would've been a little too much to expect, huh?" she asked, arms folded and leveling all three of them with a glare. "You must think I'm pretty stupid."

Oh shit.

At least, that's what Yugi would say if he said such words. Instead, he reared himself back, but then moved forward so that he could get between her and Yami, almost defensively so. It was him that she should be mad at, not his partner.

"Mom! Uh..." He glanced around, hoping to find something that could help him explain the situation to her. "It isn't like that, mom; I think you're really smart! It's just that this is kind of... difficult..."

"Settle down, Yugi." Sugoroku stood from his place and walked to her side to set a hand on her shoulder. "Let me explain..."

Yugi's mother didn't really look like she wants to go quietly and she nudged Sugoroku's hand away, attempting to get a better look at Yami around Yugi's shoulders. Which isn't that hard to do.

"What exactly is the truth? What's going on? Yugi, tell me who that is!"

Yami couldn't let this go, not seeing her as angry as she was. He stood and attempted to step around Yugi so he could explain. It wasn't Yugi's fault; it was probably his, even if he didn't remember it. And he couldn't let Yugi take the blame for something like this (or anything, really). "Please, don't be angry at him. It's thanks to Yugi that I'm even alive right now."

"Wait, mou hitori no boku," Yugi stood then and placed his hand on Yami's arm, hoping to convey that he wanted to do this, even if it meant taking the blame. He sighed, then, and turned his head towards his mother, though he kept his gaze on the floor. It was hard to stand up to an angry parent.

"Nine years ago, Grandpa went on an expedition through an Egyptian tomb. There, he found this." He held the puzzle in his hands, and while Yami wasn't in there anymore, he still held it as if it was his most precious treasure. "Only... It was completely broken apart. It was a puzzle, Grandpa said. The hardest one that's ever been made. It took me eight years to complete it, even though I worked on it every night." Yugi looked up at Yami then, a small smile on his face as his confidence started to return to him. "His spirit was sealed inside the puzzle for thousands of years, and when I solved it... It let me act as his host. I didn't even realize it until a few weeks later, during that tournament I went to. You know, the one Pegasus held?"

Finally, he was able to meet his mother's gaze with his fists clenched. "Mom, he's been my best friend ever since then. You wouldn't believe how much he's changed my life! And I think I might have changed his, too... But just this morning, we woke up like this, him with his own body. That's never happened before... But please, let him stay here! Or if you want to kick him out... I'll go, too!"

Yami was silent and let Yugi speak his mind, but at the last sentence he couldn't help but groan and cover his face with his hands. It was...it was flattering, yes, that Yugi would go as far as to leave with him, but the last thing he wanted to do was estrange Yugi from his loving family for his sake.

Luckily, Mrs. Mutou didn't seem like she wanted him out of the house that very moment. She gave Yugi a Look, folding her arms. "...so those times when you were behaving strangely...I was speaking to him." She gestured to Yami, then seemed to realize she was being rude and corrected herself. "To you."

"Yes," said Yami, lifting his face and attempting to look as confident and sure as ever. Not in all the duels they'd had, with souls on the line, had he ever been this nervous for himself. For Yugi yes, but not for himself.

"You know," Mrs. Mutou said as she swung around to fix her gaze on Yugi instead, "I could tell something was going on. I never thought it was something like this," and for the first time she sounded unsure of herself, "but I knew it was something. I know how my own son behaves." She touched a hand to her forehead. "...why didn't you tell me before, Yugi? What did you think I would do?"

"Because! Because..."

Why did he keep Yami a secret for that long? From everyone? Sure, people might have thought he was crazy. But he could've trusted his friends, right? At the realization, he sighed and lowered his head, unable to look at his mother anymore.

"Maybe I thought no one would take me seriously. Maybe they'd think I was crazy. But... I think a part of it was just selfishness. It was my secret, and it just... felt nice, thinking of it that way. That I had something special that no one else had.

... I'm sorry."

Yugi's mother, obviously a sucker for her son being adorable, pressed a hand to her mouth before moving forward to wrap him up in a hug and coo. Yami backed away awkwardly to give the mother and son some space, deciding to have a seat next to Sugoroku (who was shaking his head in affectionate exasperation). "Is she like this a lot?" Yami whispered to him, and the man nodded.

"Yugi, you don't have to be ashamed," Mrs. Mutou said, pulling back and holding her son's face. "It must have been very confusing for you, and you kept it all to yourself. If something happens again though, I want you to tell me or your grandfather. Or..." She cast a glance at Yami, still wary but willing to try and accept this bizarre new turn of events, "or someone else you trust. Though I'd prefer you come to me. But don't keep it to yourself, all right sweetheart?"

"Mmfah..." How embarrassing, being hugged like this in front of everyone. But if there's one thing Yugi knew about mothers, it's that they do not care about public embarrassment and will only be hurt by resistance, and so he hung his arms and let her hug and coo (coo, for heaven's sake) over him.

And now she was holding his face in her hands, mothers. But he still listened with a little smile. He probably shouldn't have kept his other self a secret all for himself, one that his friends found out only when it had to be done, but it had become a force of habit now. "Too late for all the secrets now, huh..."

"Okay." Yugi nodded, his smile growing. "I'll try not to keep so many secrets from now on."

It was a bit of a white lie - everyone had secrets. But it wasn't worth it to try and cover it all up with lies and more lies, like he'd often do with anyone asking about Yami, especially during their first few months together.

"So..." He glanced over at Yami, returning the train of thought to the problem at hand. "He can stay?"

Yami was smiling by the time Yugi looked over. I think it's safe to say she's all right with it.

"Yes, he can stay." Taking pity on Yugi Mrs. Mutou straightened and rested her hands on her hips, pivoting on her heel to address both of the boys. Yami stood up and approached Yugi's side hurriedly, so she wouldn't have to switch between looking at the two of them. "You can stay. But I'd like to talk with you -without Yugi- and get some things straightened out. There are rules you'll need to know if you're going to live under our roof, all right?"

Yami nodded. His pride flared up a bit but he firmly squashed it back down with an irritated twinge. There were times to flaunt it and times he shouldn't and now was most certainly not one of those times. Thankfully, over the pride is a swelling sense of relief and excitement. When Yugi's mother drew closer, though, he almost took a step back before reminding himself not to move. She took his chin in her hand and he desperately reigned in the urge to get away from her as she examined his face.

"Hmm. Egyptian, huh? I guess you look like my Yugi because of the whole 'host' thing."

"Yes ma'am."

"What's your name?"

Yami's eyes flicked over to Yugi before meeting hers again. "I don't remember." When her eyes gained a sympathetic light he hastily moved to explain himself. "Yugi calls me 'Yami' as a sort of stand-in name. That's fine with me." The last thing he needed was her fretting over him.

"Well, all right," she conceded -reluctantly- and finally gave him some space. Pointedly ignoring his sigh of relief, she glanced at Yugi. "I need some time to really take all of this in, and Yami is going to need some clothes. I'm going to give you some money, and you two go out and get him some; he can wear something of your father's, I'm sure we have something in my dresser of his. When you get back, you're to help your grandfather with the store and I'll be having a talk with you, Yami. Do both of you understand me?"

The rules of living under this roof, huh? Yugi couldn't help but look away a little to hide the amused smile that threatened to break through. Still, thinking about it... It would be weird. Him in one room and Yami in another - It seemed like a silly thing to linger on, but it'd be the first time that happened ever since he solved the puzzle. Willingly, at least.

Yugi snapped back to attention when he felt his mother's eyes return to him. Again, addressing that they'd be separated. He kept a perfect blank face and shooed away the insecurity that came with such thoughts. Instead, he nodded and replied, "Yes, ma'am." He glanced at Yami, who nodded in kind, and then, wanting to get away from the situation as much as possible, he grabbed onto his other's wrist and started to drag him away. "You can get the money, I'll find some of dad's clothes!" Yugi called behind him, already out the door before Mrs. Mutou could call him back.

Out of ear range, Yugi let out a long, relieved sigh. "We made it..." He murmured, as if he had just run across a war zone.

Yami sighed as Yugi did, so the sound was in stereo. Yugi's mother was a wonderful woman, really, but she made him nervous in ways he didn't ever recall being. It was strange. Whether it was residual feelings from Yugi or just that natural respect a mother demands, Yami didn't know. But she had presence.

A lot of it.

Yami wriggled his wrist in Yugi's grip to hold his hand instead, and let himself be led into the room to find some clothes that would fit him. Unless Yugi got his height from his father -which Yami doubted, considering Sugoroku's appearance- he was going to be swimming in just about anything they found until they could get clothes more appropriate for him. He was bigger than Yugi, yes, but still pretty short for a boy his age.

...what age was he, anyway? The same as Yugi? He wasn't even sure how to measure it. Sometimes he felt like a teenager, and sometimes he felt older than time. It was a fluctuating thing.

Are we going to tell her about our link? Yami asked as Yugi bustled about locating his father's clothes.

Maybe later. Mom might know something about it already. I mean, I have sometimes talked or laughed with you in front of people... Yugi replied as he opened the closet door, then let go of Yami's hand to push some of his mother's clothes aside. There they were... Five shirts in all. When was the last time Yugi had seen the man? More than a year ago, at least. He kept silent as he looked at each one, trying to picture how Yami would look in each of them. His father was rather tall, especially compared to them, so Yami would look ridiculous no matter which one he picked.

Finally, he chose a plain black button up shirt and held it out for Yami to take. "This one will have to do... I, uh, don't think we have any pants."

And even if they did, he'd look even more ridiculous with pants that were much too large for him.

As Yugi sifted through the clothes, Yami folded his arms and leaned against the dresser. Despite all the time he'd spent with his counterpart, he knew next to nothing about Yugi's father...and he suspected that Yugi wasn't much further in the know than he was. Which was depressing, and made Yami resent him a little bit on Yugi's behalf.

A black shirt was tossed his way, and then Yugi broke the news to him none to gently. As Yami shrugged out of the pajama top and slipped on the shirt and left it open -not buttoning it, because he won't be doing that silliness unless he has to- he gave Yugi a rather flat look. "So I'm going to have to go out like this. I suppose there's no way around it."

"Sorry... Just for now. Don't worry, you look nice like that!" But not really. The shirt was close to falling off of Yami's shoulders, and combined with the pajama bottoms... Once he realized that Yami wasn't planning on buttoning up the shirt, Yugi raised an eyebrow and gestured to it as he suggested, "Can't you button that up? It might keep falling off of you if you don't."

No he did not want to.

...but fine. He couldn't help it; he felt much more comfortable with his torso bare and that probably had something to do with his previous life. And who was he to shun his roots? That's right, he wouldn't. Unless Yugi told him to. So reluctantly he obeyed, obviously not pleased about this but recognizing that there was little else he could do and he would look stupid enough in pajama bottoms and a giant tent of a shirt without leaving it wide open as well.

He also knew that he didn't look "nice," but thanks for trying.