First of all, I'd just like to apologize for the long wait to this next chapter. My classes and finals and other stuff got in the way, but I wont be taking classes again until next spring. So yay, expect faster updates to this fic now! And thanks to the people who left me feedback. Really appreciate it! :)

For a good ten minutes, Yami wandered around Shinjuku looking for a place to eat. However, even though he made sure to study the Japanese language, he still didn't understand all of the kanji and foreign signs in the city, so he settled for what he actually could find. And read. No matter where you were in the world, the unmistakable, golden arches of a McDonald's could never let you down. There was mild chatter, the sound of a jingling bell as people walked in and out, and soft music playing in the background of the fast food restaurant. Once the whiff of food made it to Yugi's nose, it was as he had been summoned from the dead and the boy all but jumped out of Yami's arms to order an abundance of food. Yami immediately started regretting all of the decisions he had made so far as Yugi went to find a seat and left Yami in charge of waiting for the order to be finished. The novelist grit his teeth, tapping his foot on the floor impatiently before finally the food was done. He dropped the tray in front of Yugi before taking a seat in front of him.

Yugi quickly unwrapped the double bacon cheeseburger and took a bite, then a sip of his milkshake and the next thing Yami knew, he was balling up the wrapper and starting on another one while munching on fries. "Mmm, so good~!" Yugi beamed happily. "Arigatou!"

The light and color seemed to actually be returning to Yugi right before Yami's eyes. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that this was an entirely different person from the one he had picked up off the street just a bit ago. "Yeah... no problem." Yami replied. He checked his wallet, seeing that he thankfully still had a bit of money left over. But holy shit could this guy put it all away. 'Seriously... where does all that food even go?!'

Once Yugi had gotten a good chunk of his meal down, he took another sip of his milkshake and exhaled. "That hit the spot. I really needed that. Thanks, uh..."

"Yami."

"Yami!" He grinned. He then saw the look of displeasure Yami was giving him. "What? Something wrong?"

The novelist sighed. "No, its just... theres no way you're my new editor. Theres got to be a mistake..." A mistake other than Yugi's bad table manners anyway.

"Well, if you've got a problem with it, you'll have to talk to the higher-ups. And they've all already got their hands full. So, it looks like right now I'm the best thing you've got." Yugi smiled as if it didn't bother him at all. "And you're not bad looking for an American, too."

"Wh-what? Er, well... no I'm just average."

"But whats up with your hair?" Yugi asked, raising a brow. "Its all... spiky and colorful. Kind of reminds me of an anime character. Huh.."

"And yours is better? Ever heard of a hair brush?"

"Yeah well..." Yugi rubbed a hand through his messy ponytail. "I don't have time to look good. I've got deadlines to meet. As a mangaka, you probably only get two to four hours of sleep a day. And no, I'm not joking."

"What the? Isn't that illegal? They can't work you to the bone like that!"

Yugi sighed. "You don't understand anything do you? Typical American..." He picked up a french fry.

Yami's eyebrow twitched. The longer he sat in the other male's presence, the more irritated he got.

"Look, just show me what you've got so far. Its the end of my term until its time for my next chapter to be turned in. So I've got time to look over what you have done so far."

"Well... everything I have is still back at the airport." he muttered. "I'd have to go back there and get it from the locker I reserved."

"Ok. Then lets go." Yugi said, standing up and grabbing the remainder of his lunch. "I can look at it on the way back home."

"Wait-!" Yami walked after him. "Wouldn't it be better to actually just wait until you got back home? So you could sit down, relax, and properly view it?"

"Sit down? Relax? Pffft!" Yugi snorted. "I've got other things to do, you know? And the quicker I get your thing done, the better it'll be for both of us. I'm going to tell you one important thing you should know, Yami: the Japanese don't like to waste their time. You either get it done or you don't." He said with a snap of his fingers.

"Right..." Yami sighed. There was no point in arguing. He had already gotten a quick lesson about that from meeting the boss, Kaiba. He didn't want to challenge anyone with a steel mind like that, not even Yugi. Deciding that he should just roll with everything being thrown in his face, he walked en route with Yugi to the airport.

Once they were there, Yami grabbed all of his luggage, and handed his rough draft to Yugi. Surprisingly during the two month waiting period, he was able to put together a complete synopsis. Hopefully he could get it approved and then get on with the rest of his life and career. They then hailed a taxi with Yugi giving the driver quick instructions on where to go. Right after, Yugi started to read Yami's story.

Yami was anxious as the male seemed to read swiftly through the pages. Was he even reading any of it or just skimming? Did he like it so far? Yami couldn't tell. The whole while Yugi kept a straight, focused expression. There wasn't even a 'Hmm.' or an 'Oh, I see...' Just silence. Every now and then Yami would look over Yugi's shoulder and try to guess which line he was on. He grinned when he saw a familiar passage. It was the scene where the couple were in the park taking a walk together and enjoying nature. He was very proud of that part; he'd taken extra pride in describing every little detail. There was no way Yugi could give him criticism on that even if there was something wrong.

Eventually, the taxi came to a stop. Yami looked around and his eyes widened a bit. They were in a completely different part of town. Tall apartment buildings with tinted windows and cherry blossom trees surrounded them. In front of them was an iron gate, which he assumed actually lead to the inside of the apartment. Yami was actually in awe at how such a busy city could turn into something so ambient and serene. Come to think of it, just where were they? Yami could barely even hear cars on the road as they stepped out of the taxi.

Yugi just chuckled at his reaction. "Well, you comin' or should I just leave you out here to ponder?"

Yami snapped out of his daydreaming. "Y-yeah. Let me just grab my bags." After securing his stuff, Yami followed Yugi past the iron gate where they then stopped in front of a door. There was a security panel there that required some kind of pass code. Yugi quickly entered it before they continued their journey inside and on an elevator. Yami looked up, watching the number on the elevator steadily increase until it stopped.

"Alright. Now which key... Ah, here!" Yugi unlocked the door to his apartment and the lights automatically turned on inside to greet their presence. "Home sweet home~"

Yami dropped what he was holding in his left hand with his mouth hanging open slightly. "This is.. amazing." Yugi's apartment FAR surpassed his own in New York. There was a flat screen TV, two sofas, a table, and the kitchen right there. Literally just right there next to the living room he was standing in. Shiny hard wood floors which were only partially covered by books and papers but otherwise spotless. Something you'd think wouldn't exist from a person who was found half dead on the ground with a pungent smell.

"Don't mind the mess." Yugi sighed, trying to pick up a bit.

"Oh, its fine really..." Mess? What mess? Yami almost thought Yugi was making fun of him.

"Take a look around if you want. I'm going to shower and then I'll be right out to help you with your novel." With that, the male disappeared up a flight of stairs.

"Ok." Yami replied as he watched him leave. Not even a minute after Yugi had gone, he heard the water turn on. Yami couldn't help but find that amusing. Yugi was definitely right that the Japanese didn't like to waste their time. With an exhale, Yami decided to take up Yugi's offer and looked around. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that he was either staying in a world class hotel or dreaming. Maybe he really was dreaming. What if he'd fallen asleep on the plane and this was all apart of his imagination? He pinched himself. Nope. Still here.

He shook his head and kept looking. There were a few book shelves, each one stocked with books and manga. Curiously, Yami decided to take a peek at one. He flickered through a few pages of a manga categorized as shoujo. A light blush appeared on his face as he looked at a female character with huge breasts. She was standing in front of a school professing her love to a male character. 'Hmph. How original.' Yami put the manga back and reached for another one. This one was hentai. He swallowed nervously. Isn't this the crazy department he'd been assigned to? Cautiously, he opened the book.

Immediately, he was met with an even larger pair of breasts. This time the female character in question was dressed scantily, wearing a top that just barely covered her nipples. What was the point in wearing it at all? Yami kept skimming through the pages. His expression turned repulsed when he landed on a page where the woman was being assaulted by tentacles. 'Nope!' He put the book back. That was enough reading for one day.

Deciding he needed something to clear his mind, he opted to go look out the window instead. Needless to say, when he pulled back the curtains, he wasn't expecting a grand, sunset laden view of the city. Tall buildings silhouetted in the distance; and buildings with glass windows shimmered and sparkled in the remaining sunlight. There was a nice breeze, too, as trees swayed in the wind. Yami had no clue how many stories up he was, but it certainly was a more remarkable view than the sidewalk of his old apartment.

'My old apartment...' Nostalgia suddenly penetrated his chest. While his apartment wasn't much, it was still home to him. It was the first thing he'd ever bought with money and he had made it into his own unique place. But it was a thing of the past now. He had to move everything out and put what he wasn't bringing to Japan with him in storage; which was just about everything he owned. All he had with him now was his desktop, some paperwork, money, and a few other small but important things such as his cellphone and Ipad. He looked out the window again, touching it lightly with his hand and sighing. He wondered what apartment he would have to stay in now? Probably not as grand as Yugi's obviously, but there was no doubt he'd only be able to afford a slum right now. Suddenly feeling a wave of depression wash over him, Yami went to go sit down on the sofa. He pushed over a stack of books only to have them topple over. He then heard a surprised yelp. 'The hell?!'

He quickly started picking the books up, and as he picked up the last one, a little bundle of chocolate brown fur suddenly stood up and shook itself. Yami instinctively jumped back a bit. The bundle of fur then looked at him and barked. Oh it was just a dog. A dog that.. probably didn't like him. "Easy, boy..." Yami said, hiding behind the book in his hand.

"Don't worry, he wont bite~" Yugi said chuckling as he came from upstairs with a towel around his shoulders. He was dressed in a white tanktop and shorts. He whistled for the fluffy little dog. "Kuriboh! Who's a good boy?" He leaned down to pet the excited bundle of fur that ran to his feet and then picked it up. "He's a pomeranian. And my wittle source of inspiration, yes he is~!" Yugi nuzzled the dog.

"Oh, I see... heh." Yami smiled at the two. He noticed the dog had little green booties on its feet. Probably to protect the floor from being scratched up by its nails or something. Either way, it was pretty cute; the dog almost reminded him of a show he used to watch on television as a kid all the time.

"Alright, so..." Yugi sat down with Kuriboh in his lap. "I looked over your work. Even read through it again after I showered. And I just have one question: do you even know what you're writing or are you just putting words together hoping that it would be enough to pass?"

An imaginary arrow pierced through Yami. "E-excuse me? I..." He was almost at a complete loss for words at Yugi's response. "Well, I'm just giving the people what they want, right? Thats what they told me to write."

"Ok, sure." Yugi completely disregarded his answer. "Another thing about your writing is that you put more detail into the environment rather than the actual characters. I mean throughout this whole thing, I don't even get to know what the characters wear or what they look like. Do they have blonde hair or do they have blue? Eye color? All I know is that maybe one of them is American. But the other guy is an absolute mystery. They met in school and have dated ever since. And... thats it? Thats whats going to hold them up for the rest of this story?" He gave Yami a look as if this was the worst thing ever written since Fifty Shades of Grey.

"Well.. yeah. Whats wrong with that? A lot of people have dated since high school and went on to have a healthy relationship and successful life. Whats your point?"

"My point is its already been done. And done. And done. I can understand that this is supposed to be a spinoff of another one of your books, so it can't be helped that you already have this grounded into the characters. But there's so much more you could do. Maybe one of them got into college and the other didn't. How would that affect their relationship then? Would they be devastated or try to still support one another? Jealousy or maybe they go their own ways for a while?"

"I... I don't know. I mean, I never really thought about one of them failing or something."

"Exactly. You need to treat your characters like real people sometimes. Not everyone out there is perfect with the perfect partner and the perfect life. Right now, I feel like I'm reading some Gary-stu shit on fanfiction."

"What fiction?"

"Oh my god..." Yugi snorted. "Nevermind. The point of the matter is, your characters are a mess. And theres something else I want to point out: do you know anything at all about homosexuality?"

"Uh.. well.. admittedly, no. This is the first time I've ever had to write something like this. But it shouldn't matter. Its the same thing as writing a straight couple but just with two guys, right?"

"Uh, no. Its not. Just like not every straight couple is going to hold hands, not every gay couple is going to hold hands. See? You can't just compare or base the two off of one another. Thats whats called being unoriginal and lazy."

Yami huffed. "Fine! Then what should I fucking write to make them seem more gay?!"

"First of all, forget every stereotype you've ever heard about gay people. They don't all wear booty shorts and sound fruitier than a tropical island punch. And not all of them are insecure dandelions. Some gay people are very open with their sexuality. You should have one of the characters be that way and maybe the other one is quiet about it, but doesn't outright deny it. That'd be stupid to do if you were in a gay relationship, right?"

"I suppose..."

"Also, some gay people act no different than a normal person. You'd never even be able to tell they were gay on the surface unless you asked them. So try to pretend that you aren't writing about two guys being gay. Write about two guys that are really close who are just having fun. Or going through life struggles together. And yes, don't be afraid to have them get intimate. Kissing, cuddling, pillow fights, bathing together, having sex, etc. Although please do your research before you get into the steamy times. Make your writing something that people can actually enjoy but also relate to."

Yami rubbed his chin in thought, taking in all of Yugi's pointers and advice. If he were at his old company, all he would be told was that his writing wasn't good enough and to start from scratch. But Yugi was actually telling him how to improve and giving him proper insight. "Hmm.. alright. I understand."

Yugi exhaled and smiled. "Good! Sorry I had to be so harsh with you there but your writing really... sucks. Sorry."

Yami just gave the male an unamused look. "Yeah. I get it!"

"Alright, alright! Just making sure." Yugi chuckled. "Now that we've got that out of the way... do you know where you're staying tonight? They provided you with a worker apartment, right? I could give you some directions if you don't know where to go."

"No. I have to find my own place... Know any?"

"Seriously? Hang on." Yugi got up and walked into the kitchen. He picked up a cordless phone and dialed a number. After a few seconds, he started talking to someone on the other line. "Yeah, hello? This is Yugi Mutou. I've got this American with me. Yami Atem. I wanted to know if the company had booked him an apartment yet. ...Oh, I see. Well when do you thi-... What? ...yeah. No thats fine... ok bye." Yugi hung up and ran a hand through his hair.

Even though Yami already had a good idea of what the conversation was, he asked anyway. "So what did they say?"

"Well, since you were one of the last recruits to get here, they not only didn't bother to book you an apartment, but the apartment you were supposed to stay in has had all the rooms filled."

"So basically I'm homeless?"

"Well not exactly... they offered an alternative."

"An alternative?" Yami didn't think he'd get that at least. But hell, he'd take it! As long as it doesn't require him to stay in the streets.

Yugi bit his lip. "Follow me." He said, sighing as he walked upstairs.

Confused, Yami quickly got up to follow the male. They walked down a hallway to a room door which was locked. Yugi opened it with a spare key and then gestured for Yami to walk inside. "You're going to be staying here."

Yami walked into the room. There were more books and papers strewn about, as well as unlabeled boxes, toys, and other things. Beneath it all, he could make out a dust covered bed and a window hidden from view by a sheet. It was obvious that this was a room used for storage. And upon realizing that, he got what Yugi meant. "Oh."

"Yeah. Just.. throw out whatever you don't want in here and I'll put it all somewhere else. Whatever you own or buy later that you want to put in here, thats fine. This is where you're going to be staying from now on. Temporarily at the very least." There was a clear, distinguishable tone in Yugi's voice that made it clear he wasn't happy with this. And Yami could sense every bit of it.

"Well.. I'd hate to impose. I could just.. find another place."

"No. You can only stay where the company puts you or gives you permission. They said since you're my overseer and I'm your editor, it'd be perfectly fine if we stayed together and worked this way."

"I see. Uh, well then..." Yami turned to Yugi and gave a very curt bow. "Thank you very much. Please take care of me."

"Of course~" Yugi forced a smile, bowed back, and then walked back down the hallway to his own bedroom. "Geez... of course I'm going to be stuck with this American." Yugi muttered under his breath, resisting the urge to slam the door behind him but still closing it pretty hard. It was one thing to act all friendly and polite to Yami because of what his work required, but to seriously suggest having the guy live with him? All because they were too lazy to get things done properly? He groaned. He was definitely going to be getting an earful from everyone at the office when he returned.

After hearing Yugi's bedroom door shut, Yami sighed. 'Talk about a warm welcome.' If Yami were honest, he was neither expecting this turn of events nor was he super thrilled to stay here. This place was a bit too classy for his tastes and Yugi just kept giving him bad vibes left and right ever since they had met. There was no way this was going to work out. But he would have to suck it up and roll with it. Tiredly, he started clearing off the bed. He pulled the sheets off, and did the best he could to rid them of dust, then put them back on. Next he moved some of the boxes. 'Just what the hell is in these?!' They felt like lead as he carried them one by one into the hallway and dropped them there. Eventually, the room started to look more like an actual room. There was no life in it, but he was too exhausted to make it to his liking yet.

He fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He reviewed all the hell he'd had been put through today and rolled over, covering his head with a pillow. He needed to get some rest and seriously think about what he was going to do tomorrow. Maybe he'd actually go to the higher-ups and complain. Or just quit his job altogether. He didn't know. It took some time for him to finally doze off after not being able to hear the familiar sounds of cars honking and wind rattling the windows.