Genderbent

Chapter 7 ~ 10am

  In the morning Yugi felt worse than the time he was sick for a whole month. His eyes were held shut by a gathering of crust. He forced his eyes open, squinting at the gentle brightness of his room, light softly peaking through the blinds of his window. His blanket was on the floor but he felt oddly warm and...wet. He groaned, realizing the moisture was likely the result of a certain type of dream he had during the night. He couldn't specifically remember what the dream entailed, which sort of made him more annoyed. He'd have to take another shower. And wash the sheets.

  Did I dream about Yami? He wondered miserably, dreading even asking the question to himself. He sighed and glanced at the alarm clock that read 10:00am. Well. He couldn't sleep in even if he wanted to now. Unless he wake up feeling even more disgusting.

  Yugi got up and pulled the sheets off his bed and threw them next to his laundry basket before stumbling into the hall to the bathroom. He stood on the cold tiles as he sleepily disrobed himself. He had fallen asleep in the same clothes he got home in. Yugi turned the shower handle and held his hand under the stream until the temperature was to his liking. Mai's shower had a lot more room, even if not by much. She lived in an apartment, not a game shop, after all.

  Yugi scrunched up his eyes as he briefly let the water run over his face. What a weird life he suddenly lived. He was having a lot of fun, though. He never thought he'd ever have the courage to perform in front of a crowd, he'd never been one for the spotlight and always shyed away from public speaking, even dreading classroom presentations. Now he was dressing up and performing for hundreds of people he'd never met. And people kept paying to see it.

  Yami paid to see him every weekend. 

  No, not him. Yuki.

  Yugi sighed, closing his eyes and hugging his arms to his bare chest as the water ran over him.

  Wait. The card.

  His eyes shot open and he quickly turned off the water. He stepped out and quickly tried to dry himself off. He wiped his hands off feverishly with the towel and picked up his pants, digging through the pockets. Empty. He cursed to himself as his hair poured water droplets onto the jeans. He ran the towel through his hair again quickly and wrapped it around his waist, hurrying back to his room.

  He pulled some boxers out and put them on so he could wrap the towel around the soggy mass of hair still dripping all over himself and everything around him. He ran over to his bed, climbing on top of it to peer down the side against the wall. He looked underneath it. He lifted the mattress. He looked through the sheets, shaking them out when he still couldn't find it, but he saw nothing fall out. He looked all over the floor, checked back over the bathroom, dug into the pockets again.

  He fell back against the wall, his gut wrenching. His eyes watered. He let himself sink to the floor as he started crying uncontrollably, his chest heaving as he stifled his volume.

  He's going to think I didn't want to talk to him. He's going to think I thought he was creepy. He's going to think I didn't want to go. I'm never going to be able to talk to him again. I was so close. I could have reached out and touched him.

  Yugi's thoughts betrayed him as he cried, giving him more and more reasons to keep sobbing as he thought about all his deepest desires and fears. He tried his best to keep quiet, not to alert his grandfather. How would he explain sobbing in the bathroom, soaking wet, during daylight, in only his boxers. Yugi was glad he didn't bump into him in the hallway during his panic.

  He rationed his breaths until he calmed down. His heart was still a heavy knot in his chest, and occasional breaths would come out as sniffles, but he had stopped bawling. Picking himself up, his thoughts had quieted, though one came back in a pitiful echo: