HealerOfLightAndDark

The Yuus made their way upstairs to change into some warmer clothes for their snowball fight. Their shared closet had plenty of warm clothes to wear that Yoko had recently bought for them.

“What should we wear?” Yuri mused, searching through his new winter clothes. Yuto smiled, “Something warm. Probably a sweater, jacket, scarf, and mittens.”

Yugo noticed a wrapped present hidden in the back of the closet. “What’s this?” he asked, reaching for it. Yuri immediately pushed the present back in the closet. “That is a surprise for later!” he said.

Yugo blinked in surprise. “Who is it for?” he asked. Yuri smiled, “It’s for you! But you have to wait until after the snowball fight before you can open it.”

“Ooh, I wonder what it is!” Yugo said excitedly. “Wait, what about Yuto and Yuya? Do they get surprise presents too?”

“But of course!” replied Yuri. “I just hid their presents somewhere else. That way if one present was found, the others would be safe from being discovered!”

Life as roommates was great, but there were still the occasional disputes amongst the four Yuus. Usually between Yuri and Yugo, or Yugo and Yuto, or Yuri and Yuto. Or all three of them. Yuya didn’t normally have a dispute with any of the others, though on a rare occasion he had a mild argument with Yuri. Most of the time he was a neutral mediator.

One morning Yuto and Yuya woke up to the sound of Yuri and Yugo arguing in the living room. It seemed that the two of them were arguing over who the slice of cake in the fridge belonged to.

“It’s mine!” Yuri said as he held the cake out of Yugo’s reach. Yugo scowled, “No, it’s mine! I had the chocolate cake!”

“So did I!” Yuri pointed out. “But mine had strawberries! Yours had cherries, remember!”

“Yeah, but there’s no strawberries OR cherries on that slice!” Yugo snapped. “There’s only the syrup!”

“Yuya! Yuya help us out!” Yuri called out, looking around for Yuya. When he saw Yuya and Yuto standing in the living room doorway, he marched over to the tomato-head, and held the cake out. “Taste the syrup and tell us if it’s strawberry or cherry!”

Yuya obligingly tasted a bit of the syrup, and then answered, “It’s strawberry.”

“See! It’s my cake!” Yuri told Yugo victoriously. Yugo pouted, “Then where did my cake go?”

“Did you check behind the milk?” Yuto asked, raising an eyebrow. Yugo went to the fridge and moved the milk to see if his cake was there. Then he lit up. “Oh! There it is!”

Yugo wasn’t used to the countryside, and it showed in his sleep that night. The quiet peacefulness of the country estate was a stark contrast to the busy city nightlife, and Yugo kept waking up to the sound of the frogs and crickets and owls outside.

Yuri was fast asleep when Yugo woke up again, though he stirred a little. Yugo tried to fall back asleep, but it was harder than it usually was to sleep.

The next time Yugo woke up, Yuri woke with him. “What’s wrong?” the cabbage-haired prince asked. Yugo pouted, “Too quiet…”

Yuri frowned, hugging him tighter. Then he had an idea. He got out of bed and walked over to a cabinet. He opened it and took out a music box. Returning to the bed, he wound the music box and let it play.

“Will that make it easier for you to sleep?” he asked. Yugo’s tourmaline eyes were already starting to close, “Mhm…”

“Good,” Yuri said, snuggling back into bed. “Now go to sleep.”

Yoko returned to Yuya’s room with soup to find Yugo sitting on the bed next to the sick tomato. He looked so worried that Yoko didn’t have the heart to lecture him about playing hooky right away. She set the soup down, and Yugo jumped and looked guiltily at her.

“He’s got a stomach flu,” Yoko told the blunana. “The doctor gave him a shot and some medicine. He’ll be alright as long as he stays hydrated and gets plenty of rest.”

“How will he stay hydrated?” Yugo asked worriedly. “He wasn’t able to keep water down this morning!”

“That’s what the shot was for,” Yoko explained. “Now, you should be in school.”

Yugo pouted. “I was worried about Yuya,” he whined. Yoko shook her head. “I understand that, but if the doctor had said there was something seriously wrong with Yuya, I would have pulled you, Yuto, and Yuri out of school.”

The nights passed, and before Yuya knew it, it had been two months since he’d been turned. One evening Zarc announced that there was going to be a grand ball the following night.

“Oh, grand balls are always fun!” Yugo said happily. “We get to dress fancy and dance and eat tiny snacks!”

“It sounds like fun!” Yuya said eagerly. Zarc smiled at his youngest brother, “Of course, you’ll need suitable clothes for the ball. I’ll have a seamstress come in tomorrow to get started on an outfit for you.”

Yuya frowned, a thought suddenly occurring to him. “How will the clothes be ready by tomorrow night?” he asked uncertainly. Zarc chuckled, “That’s just a perk of having witches make our clothes.”

“Witches?” Yuya was intrigued. Yuto nodded. “Yep! There’s a family of them that live about an hour’s run away.”

The family entered the house and was immediately greeted by a shiba inu screaming. The shiba inu ran up to them, and Yuri stopped to pet it. The shiba sniffed his hand and seemed to find him acceptable.

“Don’t touch my dog,” a young man said, glaring at Yuri. Yuya had to resist the urge to flinch, which the other Yuus immediately noticed. Yuto leaned over to him and very quietly asked, “That’s him?”

Yuya gave a barely perceptible nod, and the man scowled, “What are you two whispering about?”

“None of your business,” Yugo snapped. “Mind your own!”

“You’re rude!” the man said, stepping forward. Yuri, Yuto, and Yugo immediately formed a protective barrier between him and Yuya, and the man stopped in surprise. Then Yusho spoke up, “Just because I brought my family here doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you for what you did nine years ago. I won’t tolerate you laying hands on any of my sons.”

The man scowled and sat down. The shiba inu yipped, and Yuri petted it some more. The man’s scowl deepened, and he snapped, “Hatsune, come here!” The shiba ignored him, and he muttered something under his breath that sounded like stupid dog.

Yuya froze at his mother’s question. Then he gave her his most innocent look. “I don’t know what you mean?”

“Really? Because your eyes were black just now,” Yoko said, raising an eyebrow. Yuya looked away, and Yoko waited. Eventually, she realized that she would have to resort to drastic measures to get Yuya to tell her. She sat down next to her son and pulled his chair closer.

Yuya squeaked, knowing exactly what was coming. “M-Mom? What are you doing?”

“Well if you’re not going to tell me, I’m going to have to make you tell me!” Yoko said, before digging her fingers into Yuya’s sides. Yuya bit his lip, trying not to laugh, but it wasn’t long before the giggles came pouring out of his mouth. “Mohohohom! Stohohohp!”

“I’ll stop when you tell me what’s going on and why your eyes were a different color than usual,” Yoko said, tickling Yuya some more. Yuya squealed and squirmed, shaking his head frantically. “Ihihihihi cahahahahan’t!”

“Why not?” Yoko asked. Yuya giggled, “Behehehecahhahahahause!”

“Well, I’m not going to stop tickling you until you tell me!” Yoko told him. Yuya tried to escape, but Yoko pulled him back down when he stood up.

Finally, Yuya couldn’t take it anymore. “Ohohohokahahahay! Ihihihihi’ll tehehehehehell you!” he squealed. Yoko stopped tickling the tomato-head, much to his relief. The blonde woman waited for her son to catch his breath, before saying, “Alright, now spill.”

Shun was finding the whole situation very amusing. He sipped his tea as he watched Leo pick up the broom and storm off to his bedroom grumbling. Then the tomato-haired boy turned to him, and Shun noticed the massive grin on his face and the amethyst eyes. It was still Yuri.

“Well! That was fun!” Yuri said. Shun nodded in agreement, “Maybe you’re not so bad after all, Yuri!”

Yuri chuckled, reaching into the candy jar and grabbing a fistful of candy. “Yum! I love sweets!” he hummed. He held out the jar to Shun. “Want some?”

Before the boys could get started on their comment-reading video, Yuya’s duel disc range. Yuya grabbed it and checked his texts. It was from Reiji.

Reiji: Yuya, did you hear that the makers of Reality Bytes XII have been watching your videos?

Yuya: Really? I didn’t know that! That’s amazing!

Reiji: Yes, it seems that they’re fans of your dueling, and they want to meet you and your counterparts in person.

Yuya: Oh, I’d love to meet them! Reality Bytes is my favorite video game franchise!

Reiji: I’ll contact them and arrange something for you four then.

Yuya: Thanks Reiji! Love you!

Yuya turned to his counterparts with a grin. “Reiji says the devs watch our videos and want to meet us!” he said happily. Yugo gasped, “Really! I wanna meet them too!”

“Yeah, when can we meet them?” Yuri asked. Yuya replied, “Reiji says he’ll contact them for us.”

Zarc was scowling the entire time he and his Yuus were riding in the boat with Yusho. The father noticed his scowl and wondered what he had done to make the asparagus-haired boy so angry this time.

Zarc was distracted from his annoyance when Yuya suddenly pointed over the side of the boat. “Look!” the tomato exclaimed. “Dolphins!”

“What? Where?” Zarc asked, as he and his Yuus looked over where Yuya was pointing. There they saw a pod of dolphins leaping out of the water. Yugo gasped, “Oh, they’re so cool! I’ve always wanted to see dolphins!”

After the photo shoot was complete, Zarc checked the time. “Ah, it’s time for a lunch break,” he said. “Why don’t all five of us have lunch in one of the restaurants in the Phantom Corporation? What would you boys like to eat?”

“Oh! let’s try one of the new ones!” Yugo said eagerly. “Isn’t there one that just opened?”

“Yes, there’s that new burger place,” Zarc replied. Yuya lit up, “Oh, burgers are one of my favorite foods!”

“Excellent!” Zarc said. “Why don’t we have lunch there then?”

The next morning, Zarc checked on his boys before heading down to the dungeons to check on the prisoner. Akaba Leo was sitting in a cell looking like he hadn’t slept a wink. Standing outside the cell door guarding it were several shadow creatures.

“Did he try to escape?” Zarc asked. The shadow creatures nodded, and Zarc hummed. “I knew he would try.”

“Let me out of here!” Leo yelled. Zarc got a dark look on his face, “Nobody, and I mean NOBODY gives the KING orders. Who do you think you are?!”

Leo seemed to realize he’d messed up big time. He quieted down, but it was too late. Zarc was already angry. The king glared at him. “You need to learn your place. And I still want to know what you were doing in my palace in the first place.”

Leo didn’t dare say what his intentions were. There was no way he’d be avoiding the wrath of the king if he announced his intentions.

Zarc was in a wonderful mood as he led his pets through the forest. He knew what kind of hard lives they’d had before he’d taken them, and he didn’t like the fact that they’d suffered so much.

He glanced back at his Yuus, smiling. Yuto was looking up at the birds in the sky with a serene smile. A hawk screamed above him, and his face lit up.

Yugo was watching a pair of squirrels chasing each other through the trees, giggling like a maniac. He hopped around in excitement as the squirrels rushed past him.

Yuri was picking some flowers that he recognized, making a bouquet from them. He smelled the bouquet and something in his face softened ever so slightly.

Yuya was picking some wild raspberries from a bush, munching on them happily. He looked like he was having the time of his life.

As the Yuus were returning home, they passed by the duel school. Yusho was just stepping out and closing up.

“How did it go, Dad?” Yuya asked. Yusho shook his head, “It was interesting, that’s for sure.”

“What happened?” Yugo asked. Yusho replied, “Three people got seasick. I mean, I was expecting that and prepared for it, but it was certainly an experience!”

Yuri grinned. “Well, it’s a good thing we know now before we hired them!” he said. Yuto nodded in agreement, “Yeah, it’s probably better if we don’t hire those three.”

Yusho hummed. “What about you boys? How did your day go?” he asked. Yuri lit up, “Dennis, Sora, Serena, and I taught the Lancers how to fence! They’re all quite good!”

Yuya was still a little sulky by the time the family had finished picking out new clothes for the Yuus. He was also getting pretty hungry. “Can we get lunch?”

“Of course!” his father said, ruffling Yuya’s tomato fluff. Yuya cheered up significantly as the family made their way to the food court of the mall. There were lots of food stalls at the food court, and there was something for everyone.

“Yum! Tacos and hotdogs!” Yugo said happily when he saw the food stalls. “My favorites!”

Yuto made his way towards the sushi stall. “I love sushi,” he said, watching the chef prepare some spicy tuna rolls.

Yuri was looking around the food court for a vegetarian stand. He wasn’t a vegetarian himself, but he did love vegetarian food, especially if it was spicy. He smiled with satisfaction when he noticed a suitable stand.

Yuya made a beeline for a burger stand. After popcorn and cotton candy, his next favorite foods were burgers and pizza. “So yummy!”

Meanwhile, Zarc’s dragons were searching for the wicked warlock Akaba Leo. They were not happy that he had imprisoned a genie. Of course they weren’t! If Zarc wasn’t happy about it, then neither were his dragons!

The four dragons spread out, searching. One of them went east, another went west, the third went north, and the last went south.

The dragon that went west could smell Zarc’s scent getting closer as it traveled, and soon it stumbled upon a little elven cottage. Zarc was inside, the dragon could tell. The demon peered out of the window, smiling. “Hello, my dear.”

Yuto and Yuri looked out the window to see the dragon. Yuto raised an eyebrow, “Is that your dragon?” he asked. Zarc nodded, “Yes, that’s one of my four dragons. His name is Odd-Eyes.”

Yuya stirred in the bed, opening his eyes. When he noticed Odd-Eyes through the window, he lit up, “Oh, a dragon!”

Odd-Eyes sniffed around, peering inside the cottage. Zarc chuckled, “He’s not in here, dear. Try looking somewhere else.”