Yipes. Jumping back into this fandom after being in another for so long was quite the trip. I cannot even count how many messages I received on when this would be updated, so here you go. Happy New Years, guys :D

I'm still debating if I want to take down chapters one-twelve and redo them, I just don't know if I have the time right now.

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"If I had known he would turn my life this upside down, I would have never cared if he became my friend or not when I was younger."- Kega Yakusoku

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The Pieces of the Puzzle

Chapter 14: Reflections

The scintillating flames within the marbled fire place; elegantly bathed the sculpted figure slouched before them. How long had he been sitting in the same, disheveled position? Blankly staring into the fire? Many times throughout the whole evening, Arianna and Joey had wordlessly tipped toed into the area and checked on his status, but he had refused to budge. When he had returned from his meeting with the ex-Pharaoh, Kega was battling a strain of emotions, far too many for him to tolerate at the exact moment. Just who the hell gave the all high and mighty pharaoh to confess his feelings after so much time, so much pain? So much damn bewilderment?! This declaration of love had come late, far too late, and the idol wasn't sure how he was going to handle it.

A light scribbling to the side of him, resulted in a slight halt of his thoughts, and he furiously glanced over toward the source. "Do you have to do that now?" he snapped, causing the worker to pause in their writing and grace him with a perplexed yet jittery expression. Peering over at the letter the man was scripting against, Kega sighed and leaned back into his chair, "I'm sorry about that. I'm just a bit frazzled right now. Please, go back to responding to the fans."

Ah, damnit. Was the meeting with Yami really inducing so much consternation? After countless years of torturous pain, he had finally been able to move on, finally been able to start refreshingly new in life with someone who loved him in return. Yet, the ex-pharaoh had emotionally stirred him in more ways than he could ever imagine; had established a direct pathway to the channel of his heart like no other. And by god, did he despise it.

'It doesn't matter anymore', he reassured himself, cramming any of those lingering frustrations of the past that were trying to vitalize themselves into a barren trench. 'It's over and that's it. Why the hell should I care if he finally confessed he loves me, and the reason he acted the way he did, was he was afraid? Bullshit! He should have thought about my own feelings before selfishly acting the way he did!' His steel-toed boot contacted with the side of one of the end tables and with the harsh impact, sent a few pieces of wood soaring through the air and crashing into the wall. The abrupt racket startled the others out in the living area, and within seconds, his wife, Joey and Taichi had fled into the room.

"Yug!" the blond exclaimed, rushing to the idol's side when he noticed the chunks of wood scattered all about. "Are ya alrite dere, bud? We herd a loud bang!" His chocolate eyes shifted over to the alarmed glance of Arianna and the perplexed one of Taichi, before returning back to his friend staring blankly ahead of him, "Yug?"

Damn it all. His limitation had finally been traversed. The blockade he had so punctiliously constructed was beginning to deteriorate right before his eyes. Emotions he had sufficiently concealed for countless years, were involuntarily leaking right through the gaps. "I'm fine," Kega replied, his voice surprisingly fixed for all the turmoil he was currently experiencing, "I just accidentally knocked into the table." he lightly chuckled, hoping he had somehow fooled them with such a wavering pretense, but he knew Arianna was far from convinced. She was well aware of how he could shift into these uncontrollable fits, and this one was no exception. "Could…" he began with a slight sigh, knowing if he didn't expel this built up soon, he would only convert into a more fragile state. "Could you all leave for a second? I need to speak with Arianna alone."

Joey's eyes amplified, a bit wounded that his long time buddy was asking for his leave, but hesitantly nodded and retreated through the door with a puzzled Taichi. The worker then rose from his position, bowed his head and then he too was gone, shutting the study door with a soft click. With her multicolored eyes trembling, Arianna's watched the array of sentiments flash through her husband's eyes. Something was wrong; she knew that the second he returned from the meeting with the ex-Pharaoh.

"Why…" the idol suddenly whispered, his eyes circling her pale face and his voice beginning to stagger, "Why does he have to do this to me! For so many fucking years, I lived in pain. The shame of watching him date that sl-…Tea… and the horrible feeling of rejection when I was so in love with him, and I thought he didn't feel the same. Why, why now?! Why does he have to do this when everything I have is perfect?! TELL ME WHY!" He then collapsed to his knees, the leather pants briefly squeaking from rubbing against the polished floor, and a few tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes.

Kneeling before him, Arianna brushed at the bangs that had relocated themselves over his eyes, and then gradually cupped his chin, "Yugi," she began in her gentle tone, the one that he had fallen so deeply in love with, "Tell me. Tell me what happened with your meeting with Atemu…"

"I don't know," he groaned, his nose burying itself against the warmth of her neck and his trembling arms wrapping around the petite form. If anyone happened to ever catch him in such an inferior stance, he would be mortified. His reputation as the fiery band leader would be demolished, his career would be through. No one was allowed to see him this way; no one but her. "I just… he went on about how he's always been in love with me. He was afraid of how I would react, so he dated Tea and made it seem like he was attracted to her." He paused to shudder at the upcoming words, the ones that had been pestering him ever since Yami confessed. "… He faked the attraction to a point he would constantly be having sex with her. I don't understand that at all."

Her fingers soothed against his back and upper shoulders before trailing through his messy locks of silver, navy blue and black, "Is that all he said?" she frowned, realizing a slight wetness had dripped onto her shoulder and his form was violently quivering now, "Did he really just say that?"

"He wanted to fix everything," Kega muttered, breathing in her ataractic scent and pulling away just slightly as to obtain an unambiguous speaking pattern, "He seems to think just because he told me how he really feels, that I can just drop everything and welcome him with open arms." he paused to laugh, rather sarcastically, "He's such a dumbfuck if he thinks that's what's happening."

Gingerly smiling, his wife playfully tsked at his use of profanity before resuming to comb through his velvety strands, "What did you say in response?" she prodded cautiously, not for certain if asking him such a question at the precise moment, was the correct way to go about the fragile situation. When she felt him exhale deeply and then lift his head, she waited until his reddened eyes were facing her once again.

"I told him, that next time I saw him we would speak about this," he sighed, his crestfallen expression morphing into a scowl, "Next time, hah! I don't want to see him anymore!" Arianna blinked as he completely alternated moods as though the first few minutes never even happened, "Never. He never should have found me. Hell, I don't know how he did! I could have kept my fucking mouth shut," he paused when she cringed at his repugnant dialect, "Sorry. I could have kept my mouth shut and never said anything at the concert, but my god, the blood in me was boiling. I had to do something, some sort of revenge to not only him, but the others who neglected me as well! If I didn't, I would have never forgiven myself for dismissing such a grand opportunity."

Of course. It was just like him to want to be as spiteful as possible; the Yugi that had twisted into the famous Kega that was. "Well, that hasn't changed in you," she flatly replied, her eyes playfully rolling when he weakly grinned at her answer, "I understand, but maybe he came for a reason. He never knew you would be here, but maybe, just maybe, destiny is trying to tell you some-"

"Oh bullshit, Arianna!" he bellowed, startling her to a point she inched a step backwards, "Don't get me started on that shit. I had to deal with that for years when I first completed his stupid puzzle!" he glanced over to see she had recoiled from his presence and sighed, reaching a hand out to call her back, "If I had known he would turn my life this upside down, I would have never cared if he became my friend or not when I was younger."

She frowned, directly starting into his eyes which had once more hardened to their usual masquerade. "I doubt that's true. You're just saying that out of anger and you know it." She watched him flinch at the last of her wording and sighed, brushing her fingertips against his moist cheek, "Yugi, if you ignore this, it's not going to go away. You're going to have to do something."

"What am I supposed to do?" he grumbled, retreating from her embrace and dropping back down into his chair by the fireplace, "I mean, I just saw him today and everything was already a wreck. Why the hell would I want to see him again?"

Clasping her hands together, she walked over to where he was slumped in the chair and faintly smiled. "I didn't mean to face him that quick, silly," she teased, hoping it would somehow ease his mood as it always did. To her pleasure, it did as he chuckled in response, nudging his head for her to continue, "All I'm saying is, he's obviously not going to leave you alone. Eventually you'll have to face him, but you can choose when you want to. For now, why don't you just relax, plan more songs, relax with your friends who came here to see you!"

"You're right," he grinned, leaning forward to pull her into his lap and ignoring her surprised squeal, "And, you never know. I might be able to use this little mishap for inspiration; for a new song."

"Take all the time you need," she smiled, frowning when she heard a slight disturbance just outside the door, "Now come on, I think we need to hurry up out there before Joey consumes the entire food supply! You had to see how much he ate when you weren't here!"

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Time heals everything, what a fucking preposterous saying!

Two months. It had been two months since he had last spoken to or beheld any trace of his light. He knew Yugi was still in Japan; since Grandpa Mutou was always discussing plans for the weekend with him on the phone, but how did that solve anything? It wasn't that he wasn't thrilled to know the man was in a reachable area, hell; it made everything just a bit easier. Just, if he didn't want to accommodate some time for the ex-Pharaoh, this did nothing to ease his nerves. The thought alone sickened Atemu. He just couldn't endure that. Somehow, he would convince Yugi that he would never, never even wanted to, intentionally cause him any pain. There had to be some way.

"How long has it been since I've been out here?" he sighed, walking under the street lamp's glare. Every night since his parting with the great Kega, the ex-Pharaoh would roam the streets in search of him. He had no idea the exact location of where his light was at the time, but still, he had no intention of ever just sitting back and allowing destiny to fix everything. Destiny had done enough; it had brought them together, given them a wonderful bond, and he had been the one to destroy it. Him. Everything was all his own stupid doing. "This wasn't supposed to happen like this…"

He paused when headlights blinded his view and he peered through the dim light to see a vehicle pulling over. The buckling of a door handle was heard before it soundlessly swung open, and then a few sets of footsteps were heard. Yami watched as a man decked out in an all dark attire, stepped into a more illuminated area, his face mostly concealed by thick sunglasses. Why was this guy wearing sunglasses when the sun had long disappeared and night had fallen?

"Atemu Mutou?" he questioned, his stoic expression studying the ex-Pharaoh and impatiently awaiting a response. When Yami just wordlessly stared at him, the man sighed in frustration, "Are you Atemu Mutou or not?"

"Who the hell are you?" he questioned, his voice tinted with anger. Here he was walking through an unknown town and this guy before him happened to know his name? There had to be some explanation, unless… His eyes widened when the street light illuminated the car and he realized it was a limo that could put one of Kaiba's to shame.

Not sure why, Atemu nodded, confirming he was the one in questioning. A slight sigh of relief passed through the man's lips and he removed his sunglasses, pocketing them in his breast pocket, "Your presence has been requested by Mr. Yakusoku ," he paused, gesturing over to where two other men stood by the opened limousine door, "If you would come with us…"

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Hmm.