Main story warnings: A little bit of swearing
Story rating: Rated T

Chapter title: Juudai
Word count: 2.514
Chapter: 1/?
Chapter summary: Yami meets a little orphaned child
Chapter warnings: A bit coarse language
Pairings: YamixYuugi
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

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Chapter 1: Juudai

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Yami bit his lip as he watched the total rose higher and higher, doubting if he would even have enough. The beeping finally stopped and the clerk looked at him. "The total will be 4998 yen." She said with a smile.

Yami sighed mentally of relief. Just two yen under his budget. He handed her the paper bills and received the two one yen coins back. Usually he would've told the lady to keep it but at the moment, he was having difficulties making ends meet. The company he was working for wasn't doing so well and he might have to be looking for a new job soon. That is why he had made tight budgets to save money in case he would really need it.

The young man packed them in plastic bags provided by the pretty lady. She handed him the receipt, which he took for his personal bookkeeping, and bade him a good day. Yami smiled back, returned the greeting and hurried out of the supermarket.

He had to put the newly purchased groceries away, clean up his house then go to his first date with Yuugi. With Yuugi. It took him two years to get the male to go out with him. Two whole years. There was no way in hell that he could screw this up.

After checking the time, he smiled. He was right on schedule. Now, quickly get home and why was his hand feeling lighter? He whirled around and saw a small blur fleeing with his bag. Did he just get robbed?!

Without a second thought Yami started chasing said blur. "Wait!" He yelled as he dodged people. Damn, for something so small it sure was fast. It didn't take too long for the little thief to shake Yami off. Panting, he looked left and right to the busy streets. The blur, which he noticed was colored reddish and brownish, was nowhere to be seen.

Crap. He lost time and he lost half of his groceries. With a deep sigh, he turned and walked back into the direction of his house. He didn't even have time to clean up now. Only go home, maybe take a quick shower to get rid of the sweaty smell, change clothes and meet Yuugi at Burger World.

Yes, they were going to a fast food restaurant. It was a super casual date. Yami was partly glad at this. Burger World wasn't too expensive so he could afford a decent meal and not sit awkwardly as he sipped a glass of water and watched Yuugi eat.

Rustling in the background made him stop in his tracks. Fortunately, the street he was in, was fairly empty so he could hear it well. Could that be? Yami strained his ears to listen to where the sound came from.

Ah, smart blur. Yami couldn't belief he actually fell for that. The little thief had taken a sharp turn into an alley while Yami ran straight forward. Smart little blur. As far as he could see, the alley was empty except for a dumpster. The end was blocked by a chain fence.

Perfect.

He could corner the thief and get his groceries back. Then run home, skip the shower, spray his body all over with body spray, change clothes and run to Burger World and hope that Yuugi liked sweaty men.

Yami placed the plastic bag the thief hadn't grabbed softly on the ground. Fortunately, the rustling of the other bag was louder so it went unnoticed. He crept over to the dumpster. He could make out someone sitting behind it from the underside.

"Aha!" He screamed as he jumped to the other side, pointing an accusing finger at the thief. The thief yelped and dropped the bag, shielding his face.

"Please don't hit me! I was just so hungry…."

Yami's eyes softened up. It was just a child, no older than seven. He was wearing tattered brown pants with an equally tattered red vest. His tennis shoes were practically falling apart. His hair was brown and orange, and it was a horrible tangled up mess. It looked like it hadn't been washed and combed in ages. His face was just covered with grease and filth. His eyes were full of fear, on the verge of tears.

Yami sighed, looking the kid over once more. What was he doing here anyway? "You could've just asked." He scolded a little. The child's expression turned into a scowl.

"I did." He sniffed. "Many times." He furiously wiped at his eyes with his torn red sleeve. "They only chased me away."

Yami's heart sank into his stomach. This child had obvious malnutrition. How did they have the heart to shoo him away?

"What is your name?" Yami asked, crouching so he was to the child's level. The boy stopped sniffing and looked at Yami.

"J-Juudai." He stuttered out.

"Okay then. J-Juudai." Yami joked. The child pouted. "May I ask you why you stole my groceries?" He asked kindly. The child averted his gaze, playing with his fingers.

"I was hungry…." He repeated.

"Juudai… don't you have a home?" Yami asked carefully, even though it was quite obvious. This time the child did cry. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he shook his head. He was biting his lower lip so hard that Yami thought the skin was going to break.

"What about an orphanage?" Yami asked. There was no way a child like him could survive on the streets. Nights could get cold and alleys attracted the wrong crowd. Juudai could get raped or kidnapped! Yami had seen something on the news about children getting abducted to have their organs harvested. Or what about child pornography? There were enough sicko's in this world. This situation was starting to freak Yami out.

The boy sniffed. "I don't want to go there. The people at the orphanage are mean." He answered. Yami wiped the tears away with his thumb.

"It can't be as bad as on the streets… what if something bad happens to you?" Yami said, trying to coax the little child to talk.

Juudai stubbornly shrugged his shoulders and hid his face into his knees. A silence took over the both of them. Yami waited for Juudai to talk. Juudai did not talk, his stomach did. Yami looked at the bag to see that Juudai had gotten hold of the bag with mainly ingredients in it. In it were uncooked vegetables, eggs and other such things.

Yami sighed. He was going to screw things up with Yuugi but he couldn't possibly leave this child here all alone. He stood back up. "Come with me." He half-ordered, half-suggested. The child looked up, confusion in his eyes. "I am taking you to my house. You'll get something to eat and can take a bath." Yami told, holding a hand out.

The child looked at him with distrust. Whoever his parents had been, they had done a good job at teaching him about stranger danger. That made Yami think. Just exactly what happened to the parents of this kid?

The little stomach grumbled again. Juudai's distrust wavered as his hunger was stronger than his common sense. He took hold of Yami's hand and got pulled up. Yami noticed how light the child was. He lightly tugged him to the plastic bag that he had put down earlier. He rummaged through it and took out a packet of cookies.

"Here." He said, handing it to the hungry child. "Eat this for now until we get to my house."

Juudai gratefully took the package and tore it open none too gracefully. He practically devoured the contents of the packet. Yami suppressed a laugh as he watched the child's face turned into one of pure delight. The chocolate cookies were his favorite but sometimes sacrifices have to be made.

"Here we are." Yami announced as they stopped in front of an apartment complex. The building wasn't high; it had five floors, including ground level. Yami inserted the key for the building and waited for Juudai to follow him.

The stranger danger senses kicked in again and the boy stood before the threshold. Yami waited patiently, but as Juudai didn't show any signs of entering, he opened his mouth.

"Aren't you coming in?" He asked. The small boy shook his head. Yami sighed; he could not force the boy to enter. He held the door open with his foot as he rummaged through the plastic bag of groceries.

He took out one bag of chips and some sweet buns. "Here." The boy slowly took them from him. "These should last you for today." He then pointed to the doorbells. "I live on the third floor number seven. Should you need anything, you can come. Understood?"

The boy nodded, hugged the food products and then ran away. Yami shook his head as he watched the boy leave. This was just plain sad. To be living on the streets at such a young age. Yami removed his foot and let the heavy door close. He pressed the 'up' button for the elevator and waited.

Yami almost dropped his groceries as he looked at the time. He was supposed to meet Yuugi at Burger World in five minutes. There was no time to wait for the elevator! Yami sprinted up six flights of stairs. He ran the hallway to where his door was located, jammed his key into the slot and threw his door open.

Only the groceries that needed cooling were the ones he put away. The others he just left on the kitchen counter to put away after the date. Next, he ran into his bedroom to change his clothes. He was so happy he picked out the outfit the moment Yuugi said yes to the date. He doused himself in Axe body spray and put on the clean clothes.

After a quick phone, wallet and key check, he ran out of the door, remembering to lock up before rushing out of the building.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Mutou Yuugi sighed, tapping his finger on the table. The waitress had come twice to him to ask if he was ready to order. They probably thought that he was stood up by his date this evening. Yuugi was starting to suspect that too because Yami was thirty minutes late.

This was just cruel. The guy tried so hard for two years only to humiliate him. Very funny Yami.

Yuugi's attention was shifted to the front door of the restaurant as the doors slammed open, a figure in the middle, panting to get air in their lungs. He stood up and went to the person.

"Yami?" He asked a little uncertainly. Yami, who was bend over with his hands leaning on his knees, looked up, with a bit of a goofy smile.

"H-hey Yuugi." He panted. "Sorry… I'm late." He apologized. Yuugi just nodded and walked back to their table, Yami in tow. The waitress came again and Yuugi was glad that he could finally give his order.

"Why are you late?" Yuugi asked. It was not a demanding question, but it had an irritated undertone to it.

Yami scratched the back of his neck, his nervous habit. Would Yuugi even believe him? It was worth a shot.

"You see… after I was done with doing my groceries… one of my bags got stolen. I chased the thief around Domino for a little before I found them in an alley downtown. Appeared that it was an orphaned child. I offered to take him back home so he could eat and freshen up but he declined and ran away after I gave him some chips and sweet buns."

Yuugi's eyes had softened and he was smiling. "Yami… if this is true, it is the sweetest thing that I have heard of. If you are lying then you're just a big jerk."

Yami immediately shook his head. "No you can smell me if you like. I don't think the body spray covered all the sweat." He half joked. Yuugi laughed and shook his head. Happy that Yuugi was not angry with him, Yami finally relaxed.

"So, how was work?"

Yuugi hummed as he thought. "Busy." He finally answered with a chuckle. "There had been a traffic accident so that was an emergency, there was an elder man with a heart attack and someone had overdosed so yeah. It was busy."

Yami nodded as he listened. Yuugi worked as nurse at Domino Hospital. That was actually where they had met. Yami had gotten his tonsils taken out and Yuugi was still an intern then. There was a spark immediately but Yuugi had been too shy. Yami waited patiently till Yuugi said yes to the date. He had come to learn that Yuugi had commitment issues.

"Sounds rough." He commented. The waitress brought over their order. Yuugi nodded as he popped a couple of fries in his mouth. The rest of the date they made small talk and went to the park to have a walk. Yuugi had linked his arm into Yami's -much to the other's surprise- since it had gotten colder later in the evening.

He was glad that Yuugi had a good time. He did not get a good bye kiss after he brought Yuugi home but he did not complain. Yuugi was having a difficult time trusting people after his father got a divorce to be with a new young and fresh girlfriend right after Yuugi's mother had given birth to Yuugi's younger brother.

He leisurely walked back home, satisfied that the date went well after he explained why he was late. Yami came to an abrupt stop as he stood in front of the alley where he had caught Juudai. Without thinking he, walked in and looked behind the dumpster.

There he lay, the poor boy was already sleeping when Yami found him. The small body racked with shivers, curled up to try and stay warm. Yami took off his most favorite leather jacket and draped it over the small body of the child. Next he took off his vest and rolled it up as a makeshift pillow. The now empty packet of chips was next to him, and he had saved one sweet bun. Smart kid, leaving something for the morning.

Yami ran home, rubbing his bare arms, as he hoped to get warmer by getting his blood pumping faster through his body. He took the stairs instead of the elevator and immediately jumped into the shower once he got into his apartment.

Feeling clean, fresh and warmed up, Yami put on a pair of pajamas and dried his hair. During all this, he could not get the young child out of his mind. So cold and alone, in the dangerous streets at night. Even as the kid didn't want it, he was going to do something about it!

He couldn't just leave a defenseless child out there all alone! He decided, even if it is by force, that he would take Juudai to an orphanage.

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Author Notes: SHOCKER. I AM UPLOADING A STORY THAT IS NOWHERE NEAR DONE!

I feel like I didn't upload anything big in ages, only drabbles etc. I have kinda been struggling with chapter 7 of this story for a while now. The chapters got quite long at chapter, no idea if all chapters will be as long as 6 and 7.

This story was inspired by my headcanon. That is that the spin-off protags are the children of Yami and Yuugi. I mean… look at Yuuya! The color, the jacket, the eyes! YuuYa. This will be have quite an amount of fluff in it. I have finished the story outlines. Just the thing is, I have been feeling a bit low lately, not even able to climb out of bed. Seriously, my parents had to drag me out of my bed to go shopping with me. And they suddenly suggested that we go to Italy for a couple days! I have always wanted to visit other European countries but they were never really interested.