Hunting Passion   von Atemue
================================================================================
                             Kapitel 3: Tousouchuu
                             ---------------------


Can you believe it? The next part of Hunting Passion is ready. ^^
Enjoy it!

Title: Hunting Passion
Part: 4/?
Author: Usagi [miakalikestamahome@hotmail.com]
Warnings: angst, slight lime
Genre: Romance, Angst, Supernatural, AU
Pairings: Yami no Yuugi x Yuugi
Criticism: Constructive criticism welcomed

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, I don't make money from fanfiction.

Description: They came at midnight. He didn't know how they were able to intrude
into his house, but somehow they succeeded. They were a male and a female. HE,
was the leader, obviously. She seemed to be some kind of apprentice to him. Not
that it really mattered. For they were both strong and deadly.

But when a young teen is able to run from the grasp of his captors, it is the
start of a long game of hide and seek. He finds a new side to himself he would
have never dreamed he had. And it helps him to keep the game to his advantage.
But he knows the game will never end, at least not before his death. Because his
hunter is a vampire.

Thanks to my betareaders Elsalhir and Deb for the usual quick work. ^^

Kyûketsu ki - Bloodsucking Ogre
Yoru - Night
Tousouchuu – on the run

***********

Tousouchuu


It was a beautiful morning in Bremerhaven, a small town in north Germany.
Teenagers were walking down the street, talking and joking on their way to
school. Right under them was a small built, young male, quite exotic looking.
Beaming, red eyes were focused on a tall, dark blonde girl whom he tried to talk
to in broken German.

Half a year had passed since the day his home had been raided and Yuugi still
couldn't believe the turn of events his life had taken since then.

That day when Yuugi talked to his jii-chan, the old Mutou offered to arrange a
foreign study place for him as cover. The old man had a very good friend living
in the USA who was professor at one of the universities.

Yuugi would get all the official papers he needed to cover his absence at school
as well as for his parents. His jii-chan told him not to worry about anything.
He just had to call home from time to time so his parents wouldn't worry and the
old Mutou and Jonouchi would know he was safe and alive.

After the most important points had been cleared, Yuugi slept for some hours to
get his strength back. He was so tired he didn't even wonder how quick the old
man had taken in everything. When he woke up his jii-chan had left for the
tour.

He'd left a note for his grandson with some cash and a bank ATM card. Yuugi
would receive money every month from his family. The old Mutou also wrote that
Yuugi was expected to call him immediately if he needed more money.

The young Mutou had taken the ATM card, the money and instructions and left the
hotel. To save his strength the teen took the train to the north-west side of
the isle. Only when he reached the sea did he change into a dolphin and cross
the sea to China.

He stayed in the country for some weeks, traveling in the form of an animal most
of the night and sleeping by day. The vampire was always on his trail, he was
sometimes able to catch a glimpse of him in the crowd when he was in a town.

But Yuugi adapted quickly to the game he was supposed to play. He'd memorized
the vampire's scent when he was in the form of a dog and started to cover his
own scent by rolling in the forest, fields and meadows.

Sometimes he made sure to travel the whole night in a river, because he realized
it was more difficult to track his scent then. Also, by changing his forms so
often, he unconsciously began to improve his magic strength. In the beginning he
was not able to hold his forms for longer than a few hours. After the first few
weeks, he suddenly realized he was traveling in his animal forms for the whole
night without feeling exhausted.

In the beginning, Yuugi sought the presence of humans to hide amongst. So he
traveled from one town to the next, until one night he accidentally watched his
hunter drinking from a human. That was the moment he realized that running from
town to town was making it easy for the vampire.

The male needed to feed, just like Yuugi couldn't live without eating or
drinking. If he stayed close to humans he was offering the vampire as much food
as he needed. Thus, he changed his strategy. He tried to stay away from humans
as long as possible. After all, he could partly live from the things nature had
to offer. But the vampire was forced to stop his chase after him from time to
time to find a village where he could feed.

In this way Yuugi was able to put space between them for a while. Whereas in the
beginning it took the vampire only one or two days to catch up with him, two
months later he'd had a hard time finding Yuugi again. Sometimes the teen had
some peace for weeks, before he suddenly smelt the now, familiar scent again and
was forced to come up with his next plan of how to get further away again.

In this long game of hide and seek, Yuugi first traveled through China, then
arrived in Russia, and now, after half a year of being on the run, he'd arrived
in Germany. He traveled his way up to the north. Bremerhaven was said to be a
good place to get a ship to England, which was his next goal to reach.

When he arrived in the new country he'd been able to put some space between
himself and his hunter again. That was a good thing because he was planning to
stay in a town for a while. It had been over a month since he called home, which
was one of the reasons he needed to go near people again.

Also, every time Yuugi noticed that the vampire had lost his trail, he used the
time to mix with people, trying to learn their language and visiting school so
he would have some education while he was away from home.

It was hard, but he was sure his mother would kill him on the spot should she
ever find out he had not been learning anything during his travels; bloodthirsty
vampire on his heels or not. One time, when he was able to talk with his best
friend Jonouchi, he told him about what he was doing. The blonde was shocked to
hear how hard he was pushing himself. Worried, he warned Yuugi not to overstrain
himself. But the delicate built teen just laughed and assured his best friend
that he was doing well so far.

Now that he was in Bremerhaven, he joined a school again as a foreign exchange
student. The school he enrolled in was an all-day-school. The people in his
class, fortunately were nice and helpful, something he was very grateful for.
Additionally, at the weekend, he took a course to learn German, because
unfortunately, not one of his classmates or teachers was able to understand his
native language.

He was just thankful that at home they had been taught English, so at least he
wasn't totally helpless with communication. Most of the German people he'd met
so far were good with the English language, a great bonus because past
experience had taught him that not every country was so persistent about people
learning the language of the world.

"Yuugi? Yuugi!"

"Huh?" the delicate built teen started out of his thoughts about the past when
his classmate, Jennifer, waved a hand in front of his face.

"I've been asking you for the third time if you were able to do the math
homework we got yesterday, but you seem to be lost in thought," the girl accused
and put a hand on her hip. Yuugi looked at her sheepishly.

"Uhm, sorry, I was just thinking about home," he explained, his words being
partly true. The girl's face quickly softened after hearing this.

"Oh, homesick?" she asked in sympathy.

"A little," Yuugi admitted just as they reached the school building. "To answer
your question, I tried to do math but I had difficulty reading the tasks. I am
able to speak about daily things, but something special like math terms are
still giving me a headache."

Jennifer laughed and grinned down at him.

"Believe me, it's giving all of us a headache and for us, German is our native
tongue. But at least with you being an exchange student, you have an excuse why
you didn't finish your homework. We, on the other hand, don't."

Now it was Yuugi's turn to grin and he still felt slightly amused when they
entered their classroom for the first lesson. The smile on his lips froze
immediately though when he saw who was standing beside his current math teacher
in front of the class.

"If I may have your attention for a minute," the teacher yelled, not noticing
Yuugi bonelessly falling down into his chair. The teen's eyes wide in disbelief,
his gaze never left the person by the teacher's side.

"People, this is Kyûketsuki Yoruno! He is a guest student at our school for
today. I expect you to welcome him as nicely as you have done with Yuugi and to
help him out if there is anything he needs help with. Understood?"

"Of course Frau Krause," some of the students answered in chorus, grinning.
Jennifer, who was sitting to Yuugi's left, elbowed Yuugi, a look of surprise on
her face.

"Hey, he looks a lot like you, Yuugi. Do you know him? Are you two related?"

Yuugi had to blink twice, before he finally overcame his shock and he looked at
the girl, shaking his head.

"No, we are not related, I am just as shocked as you are."

Again, a half lie. But they were not related as far as he knew and he really was
shocked about seeing him here. He just wasn't shocked about his looks like
Jennifer was. Mind already working furiously on what steps to take now, he
watched as the 'guest student' was instructed to take the free seat beside him.

Kyûketsuki obeyed without a second thought and sat down, right beside Yuugi.
While the teacher started with her lesson, Yuugi glanced over to his new
neighbor and raised an eyebrow in attempt to act calm.

"Bloodsucking Ogre of the night?" he whispered in his native tongue. "What kind
of name is that supposed to be?"

His look alike grinned, showing some dangerous canines, which were quite a bit
longer than they were supposed to be.

"As far as I know no one here is able to speak Japanese. For those humans it's
just an exotic sounding name."

Yuugi just shook his head in disbelief and turned back to the teacher to pretend
he was paying attention. He was still quite surprised about how calm he acted
around the vampire. The fear from their first meeting was long gone.

Maybe it was the fact that he had adjusted to his new lifestyle. The fact that
his life was always in danger had become routine to him by now. Or maybe it was
because he knew the vampire would never dare to harm him during the day. They
had met in daylight before; the only thing to happen was a short exchange of
words. The vampire always seemed to be a bit sleepy during the day. Maybe that
was the reason he did not bother to try and attack the shifter.

They were all sensible reasons, but Yuugi didn't know for sure what the true
reason for his calmness was. Though he didn't complain either. After all, it
helped him to keep his mind cool right now and think up a plan to escape again
as he had been found.

Busy with working out the next step in his mind, Yuugi got through the next two
lessons rather quickly. When it was time for the first break, he decided to seek
out a quiet place to think instead of staying with his classmates. Yuugi decided
on the rooftop. It was a silent place and he was able to overlook a lot of the
school and even some parts of the town.

The teen stood right at the edge, hands on the fence which was there for
protection. He hadn't been there long when he felt a presence arriving.

"Aren't you supposed to sleep during day?" Yuugi asked the newcomer, sighing.
The vampire, who stepped up beside him, shrugged his shoulders, unconcerned.

"I don't see you sleeping," he retorted. "And you are staying awake at night as
much as I do."

"True," the teen replied, shaking his head in a mix of slight amusement and
exasperation. Silence fell over the roof while both of them turned back to watch
the busy school grounds.

"I'll be forced to stay on the grounds for the rest of the school day, since I'm
an official, announced guest," the vampire suddenly said. Before Yuugi could
react, he was grabbed and pulled into a strong embrace, feeling hot breath
tickling the side of his neck.

The vampire grinned widely before closing the distance to touch the sensitive
skin softly with his lips. A hand found its way to Yuugi's face, stroking it
with surprising tenderness. Yuugi was too shocked, too surprised to even try to
move a muscle. The creature hummed contentedly against his neck, giving one last
lick to the skin before he released the teen from his embrace.

Turning around, the vampire started to walk away, but he glanced over his
shoulder to give the other a wide grin, showing deadly canines.

"You should use the time you have to your advantage," he added before leaving.
"Good luck."

Yuugi watched the other depart, eyes wide and a hand touching the part of his
throat were the feeling of the other's lips still lingered. He could only shake
his head in disbelief over what just happened.

"Game addicted," he murmured before deciding to leave his thinking place as
well. A runaway was about to take place and he needed to inform his teachers
that a sudden family emergency had occurred which forced him to cancel the rest
of his stay at school. He didn't like the fact that he had to lie to a person,
but in this case, lying was part of the rules and he needed to leave as quickly
as possible. It was time to turn his back on Germany and enter the next
country.

***

Night settled over the wide prairies of northern America. It was a silent summer
night other than the quiet sounds of various nocturnal animals. Here in the
middle of nowhere it seemed that humans were nonexistent. Only a small stable on
the edge of a blooming meadow hinted at people claiming the piece of land as
their own.

Within the modest building of wood, horses slept, just as peaceful as the area
around them. Rather suddenly the serenity of the night was disturbed when the
door to the stable opened with a jarring sound.

The horses jolted up their heads to look for the cause of the noise. Their
nervous eyes caught sight of a dark figure sneaking into the stable. It was
reason enough for some horses to jump up from their lying position. They snorted
nervously while others reached out their heads to smell the air.

Whatever it was their noses were able to detect, it caused even the laziest
horse to stand up and stomp the ground with fear. Every horse, except one.

A black horse with a dark red mane remained on the ground. Its eyes were closed,
breathing even. It was sleeping peacefully. This horse didn't belong in the
herd. It had just made itself guest for one night because it was dead tired and
in desperate need of a good rest. This horse was not a horse at all. It was
Yuugi, who had been in the form of a horse since he reached the prairies.

After he'd left Germany, half year ago, he'd traveled to England as he'd planned
to, but he didn't stay long. England, Ireland, Scotland, they were too small to
offer him cover for a long time. Not when the vampire had time to adapt his
hunting in a continent as big as Asia.

Thus Yuugi decided to journey to the USA, the country which was supposed to
cover his absence back at home anyway. The way to the next goal was a challenge,
even now when he was able to hold his transformations for more than days. The
travel alone took him weeks. He had to take as many breaks as he was able to on
small islands he passed.

Now he'd been in the northern part of America for three months. He had been in
towns, New York, Washington, LA and San Francisco, he'd crossed huge deserts and
countryside's which were deserted of any human being, and now his journey led
him south right to the lower part of the continent. 

The biggest problem though, was the fact that his pursuer seemed to be more
determined than ever to catch him after he'd caught up with his victim three
weeks ago. Yuugi had not been sleeping a lot since then. He had been running
like there was no tomorrow to put some distance between them again.  It had been
three days ago when he'd reached the prairie he was now on.

It turned out to be quite a difficult part to cross. Because he was in a hurry,
there was no time for him to hunt down something to eat. He had to depend on
transforming into herbivores like a wild sheep, a cow, a lama or a bison.

Lately, he tended to not become a bird because he noted that for the vampire it
was easier to make out his scent in the sky than on the ground. Instead, Yuugi
tried to change the form of one animal more often. The more different animals he
became the more different scents the vampire was forced to sort out.

But the huge number of different transformations, the lack of food needed by a
human body and the relentless running took its toll. When he found the stable on
the evening of his third day, Yuugi realized he was too tired to continue any
longer. He needed sleep and something real to eat.

Therefore, he decided to rest the night in the stable with the horses as cover.
He hunted some small animals he knew he could eat and discovered some vegetables
in a small garden which seemed to belong to the owners of the stable. The place
looked like a small outpost for whoever owned the horses. It seemed to be only
inhabited at night, in emergency cases or something like that. At least he was
sure that he would not be bothered the night he stayed.

After taking his meal, he transformed into a horse. Masking any scent of human
he might still possess by rolling around on the ground first, the shifter
entered the building of wood. The door was simple, it was no problem to open it
with his mouth and close it again that way. The horses, after some sniffing
around, had not done anything but accept him to their group. Happy about the
successful intrusion, the tired shifter fell asleep immediately, not hearing or
feeling anything anymore.

His sleep was so deep he did not even wake up with all the nervous horses around
him which were quickly backing away from the dark figure who was nearing the
sleeping shifter.

The vampire grinned when he caught sight of the unsuspecting animal in front of
him. He didn't care one bit for the other horses, his entire attention focused
on the sleeping shifter on the ground. Slowly, the creature of the night knelt
down right next to the calmly moving body, stroking through the mane lovingly
and touching warm fur.

For a moment, the vampire seemed content to just watch the horse sleep. But then
he licked his lips, gaze becoming hungry. He bent his head lower, searching for
the underside of the long neck and all of the sudden he bit down.

Yuugi was not even aware of what happened. He suddenly felt warm all over, his
blood seeming to boil and tingle under his skin. It was as if soft hands were
stroking and caressing him, causing small waves of pleasure to run through his
veins. He had never felt anything like this and he didn't want it to stop.

But then he started to wake up and his drowsy mind registered hands on his body.
He also could feel something on his neck and his blood being sucked. With a
sudden jolt of realization he understood what was going on and his body reacted
instinctively.

A loud neigh broke through the silence of the night, causing the already anxious
horses to panic. Yuugi was throwing his upper body into the air, the vampire
still hanging on his neck. He repeated his actions a few times, shaking his
throat, bucking and even kicking out with his back hooves. Anything to get rid
of the being attached to his throat.

After a few more rears, he finally succeeded and threw the vampire to the
ground. The creature of the night didn't seem to mind a lot though. Yuugi
watched in disbelief as the male on the ground licked his bloodied lips slowly,
his eyes showing pleasure and amusement.

Their gazes met for a second, burning into each other before the horse turned
around, breaking the door of the stable and left, not caring about the panicking
horses that were able to escape right after him.

The only thing he cared about was getting away. Yuugi was still able to feel his
blood boiling from a strange mix of panic and pleasure as he ran. His mind was a
mess over what just happened. But the shifter could not stop to try and sort
through his shaken thoughts. He needed to run, run as fast and far as possible.

The teen never took any notice of his surroundings. He didn't care about the
time. He galloped over open grounds until his shaking legs were no longer able
to keep moving. Yuugi broke down on the ground just as the sun began to rise in
the sky.

Everything was fuzzy for a moment. It took the teen some seconds to realize what
happened. That he must have collapsed and that this was now a dream. It couldn't
be anything else because his surroundings were quite surreal. Flickering black
and white and red were mixing together, wavering, flowing like water before
disintegrating again. It was strange to see.

He was in his human form again though naked and lying on the ground. He could
feel exhaustion. But he also sensed that he was not alone. A shadow was near
him, moving, rounding on him. A chuckle could be heard, it's echo resounding in
the air. It sounded surreal and strange as well. But Yuugi was able to tell who
the voice belonged to.

Not that it mattered anymore. He was too tired to care. With half lidded eyes
the shifter watched the shadow finally walk up to him, burning red eyes coming
into view followed by the rest of the vampire's handsome face and well built
body. The teen could not deny that the other was good looking. Handsome but
dangerous, deadly dangerous.

The creature of the night knelt down beside Yuugi, hunger and another emotion he
had never noticed before shining in those burning eyes. Now that he thought of
it, from such a short distance the eyes looked quite beautiful, not dangerous at
all.

The shifter shook his head. What was he thinking. He tried to get rid of the
drowsy feeling, but he gave up when he realized it wouldn't go away. Silently,
he watched as the vampire smiled at him. Suddenly there was no more space
between them. Lips pressed against his own and he could feel a clothed body
wantonly pressing against his naked one.

Yuugi drew in a sharp breath, though he was not able to get any air because of
the other's mouth still on his own. The vampire took the opened lips as
invitation and slid his tongue inside the surprised teen's mouth, calmly
exploring the foreign hole.

Fire broke out deep within the shifter's belly. It was almost the same feeling
he'd had when he was bitten by the vampire earlier. It was not unpleasant. Quite
the opposite. It felt good, no, more than good. When the searching tongue inside
his mouth stroked over his own, he couldn't help the small moan of pleasure
which escaped from this throat and was swallowed happily by the other.

A hand was suddenly added to the game, touching naked chest, stroking sideways
till it reached a nipple. Yuugi wanted to scream into the vampire's, still
demanding mouth. He felt his body moving, responding to the touch it received.
His skin heated up.

That was the moment he awoke with a gasp, finding himself in the middle of the
open countryside, the hot morning sun burning down mercilessly. He actually had
turned back into a human from exhaustion, but he was not naked. He still wore
his clothes, a T-shirt and long cord trousers he'd bought in England, the Sennen
Puzzle hung around his neck as always when he was a human.

His cloths clung to his skin, a sign that they were too warm for the current
heat the sun was causing. It could have explained a part of his strange dream,
but Yuugi was aware that his body was not feeling hot from the sun alone. He
shuddered, still recovering from the after effects of the dream and he was also
aware that he was half erect.

He groaned, feeling a slight, surprising frustration and the after effects of
the burning sun. Yuugi was barely able to lift himself up and crawl over to some
big bushes which were offering some badly needed shade. The moment he was lying
in cooling shade, the shifter passed out again.

When Yuugi awoke the next time, he was forced to notice that the sun was already
near the horizon. There might be about an hour left before night would arise
again. There was not much time to continue his journey.

The shifter still felt tired, sore and very, very thirsty, but he knew he
couldn't continue to lie around here forever. The vampire would find him soon
and that would be the end of the game. He didn't want this to happen. Also, if
he wanted to drink, he needed to find the next waterhole, lake or whatever.

Sighing and groaning quietly, the teen got to his feet and concentrated. Risky
or not, he needed to find water quickly and the best way was to be high in the
sky.

Within seconds the human body of the shifter changed into the beautiful form of
a proud eagle. Taking of to the sky he allowed the wind to ease his flight. His
body still felt very tired and he really wasn't sure how long he would be able
to hold on to his current form.

Fortunately he was not in the area of a desert, so it didn't take the eagle long
to spot a big lake. Feeling relieved he landed on the ground and became human
again. Greedily he dove his head into the water and drank, not caring how dirty
it might be. His unconsciousness in the sun had dehydrated his body
considerably.

Only when Yuugi was quite full with water did he sit down and start to order his
thoughts. He watched the water calming from the disturbance his touches caused.
When there were no waves left he realized he was able to see his reflection.

The events of last night came back into his head and carefully Yuugi bent
forward to take a better look at his throat. There, on the inside, right under
his chin he was able to make out two small marks.

Flashbacks of the biting came to his mind, but to his shock he did not remember
fear or horror. Instead his memory recalled the feeling of warmth, of pleasure.
Suddenly there were images of his dream.

With a gasp, the shifter pushed himself backwards, away from the mirror of
water. He lay on his back, breathing hard as if he'd just run a long way.

'What the hell was that?' Yuugi thought, shocked. 'Why do I recall pleasure? Why
did I dream of him that way anyway? Can he control my mind now? But that makes
no sense. He wants my blood. Or is this mind control part of his game? If he
does control me at all.'

But Yuugi didn't really feel like he was controlled. Neither his thoughts, nor
his feelings. Taking a deep breath the teen got up from the ground again.

Now full with water he felt slightly better, but his growling stomach demanded
something to eat and he had not much time left. The sun was already touching the
horizon. A long night awaited him and he needed all the strength he could get.

***

How Yuugi was able to survive the following night was still a miracle to him.
After transforming into a puma he had started to run without a destination in
mind. As darkness arrived over the land he reached a river.

It was the ideal route for his continuing journey. He changed again from puma
into a small fish. The vampire had always the most problems with tracking him
down when he was under water. Accidentally stumbling upon the river gave him the
time he needed.

The shifter swam the whole night and when the sun finally showed up again, he
reached a small town where he was able to book a hotel room and go to sleep for
the rest of the day.

He didn't wake until late evening and the first thing Yuugi decided to do was
call his jii-chan and Jonouchi. It would be morning in Japan so he was sure he
was not disturbing anyone's sleep and since it was Saturday his jii-chan should
be alone. His parents tended to go out at weekends. Sometimes they took him with
them, but mostly they went alone.

Since it was weekend, Yuugi was also sure that Jonouchi would be home. Grinning
happily, he sat down comfortably on the couch of his room and took out the
mobile phone he'd bought in California.

"Moshi, moshi, Kame Turtle shop," the familiar voice of his jii-chan answered
the phone right after the second ring.

"Jii-chan it's me, Yuugi."

"Yuugi!" the old man shouted, surprised before lowering his voice again. "How
are you? You haven't called for weeks. You have no idea how worried Jonouchi and
I are."

"Oh jii-chan I'm sorry," Yuugi exclaimed, feeling guilt growing within his
stomach. "I was out in the countryside of north America for weeks. This vampire
has become quite persistent since I arrived in this country. You have no idea
how exhausted I am right now. I've done nothing but run for weeks."

"But you got away and you are safe now?" his jii-chan asked, worried.

"Yeah, I guess so," the teen replied, a little uncertain. "I found a river last
night and I think it will take him some time to track me down again. Though I am
not too sure about that. I am thinking of leaving the country and traveling to
South America next."

"Maybe you should try and travel to the sea. You could approach south America
that way," the old Mutou suggested, knowing every detail about Yuugi's failures
and attempts to get some space between himself and the vampire. He was aware
that water had always been Yuugi's best choice to keep his pursuer at bay.

"I think I will do as you suggested," Yuugi agreed before becoming curious. "So,
how are things at home? My parents are well, I guess?"

"Yeah, your parents are fine, Yuugi, don't worry. Also my friend Professor
Hawkins sent a letter with the newest test results. He worked out what you sent
him last time and arranged it into new cover tests and your mother seemed quite
happy with whatever result you got there."

Yuugi grinned, satisfied. Shortly after he left Japan and visited his first
school in a foreign country, his jii-chan came up with the idea that Yuugi
should send anything he did in school to Professor Hawkins, a good friend of the
old Mutou.

Hawkins was the one who was covering Yuugi's absence in Japan by pretending that
he was currently visiting a college in the USA. Yuugi was supposed to send the
American man anything he was able to learn during his travels. The professor
then analyzed the information he got and created special tests for the teen.
These tests, would be corrected and then sent home to his family. This way, his
cover of being at a university in the USA seemed to be even more believable,
especially for his unsuspecting parents.

When his jii-chan had told him about the idea back then, Yuugi was surprised
that Professor Hawkins was willing to play along. He didn't even ask any
questions. Sugoroku Mutou explained that his friend was offering help without
question because they were really good friends who shared some common family
secrets.

Yuugi was never told what kind of family secrets, but his jii-chan hinted that
he would eventually tell him about it when the time was right. The shifter
agreed to that without question. After all, he had other things to worry about
than secrets of a family he didn't know of.

And now after nearly a year had gone by, a lot of tests arrived home, reassuring
his parents and even seeming to delight his mother when the marks were really
good. The things Yuugi sent to Professor Hawkins were never perfect after all
and the man used that to his advantage. The tests were more believable if they
came from Yuugi's real skill.

"Well, if my last marks were good enough for my mother to be happy, I guess I
got better in English after spending so much time here, eh, jii-chan?" Yuugi
joked. The old Mutou chuckled.

"I guess so, Yuugi. And your tou-san was praising you as well. As a businessman
he always believed that English is one of the most important subjects you are
supposed to learn."

"Don't remind me," Yuugi sighed. "Since I took English at school he sometimes
turns out more evil than mom and she is really scary when it comes to my marks
at school."

He shook his head, not very fond of his memories about how well his mother
expected him to do in school. Yuugi loved his parents dearly, but when it came
to interests in life, they were separated by worlds. Yuugi loved to play games,
everything which required skill, a quick mind and gambling instincts. His
mother, on the other hand, thought that her son should pay more attention in
school and get a good job like his father.

The teen sighed again while his gaze wandered over to the window. What he
noticed there caused him to curse, not caring for a second that his jii-chan was
hearing everything over the phone.

"Yuugi?" the old Mutou asked worried.

"It's sundown again," the teen quickly explained. "Jii-chan I am sorry but I
have to cut you short if I want to exchange some short words with
Jonouchi-kun."

"That's okay, I understand," the old man replied. "Please take care of yourself.
Be safe, Yuugi!"

"I will, jii-chan. Till next time!"

Yuugi ended the call. One finished there was only one more left and then he
would be on his way again.

TBC...

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