Work Text:
Boredom should come with warning labels. Especially the ones where a kind grandfather tries to break it and by this point, Yami is absolutely certain his grandfather must have removed the tag of some sort. Or, he must have let it slip from his mind that boredom should not be broken. That boredom was natural when it was a rainy Sunday-afternoon and you had no homework left or a brother to play games with because he had left the house to play said games with friend. Yami hadn't want to go because Yugi's friends weren't exactly his kind of friends despite their kindness, but that meant he had forced himself to stay at home with his grandfather who was busy with the shop and couldn't use your help.
Thus, Yami groaned softly as he opened the latch to their attic because his grandfather had asked him to clean it up if he truly had nothing better to do. Covering his nose and lips with his hand, Yami couldn't help but try to think of something else while a cough escaped his throat as the pile of dust attacked him. What was it again? Curiosity killed the cat, right? He was no cat, but certainly a dead man if he would linger in this dusty plane of living for too long. How was it possible for so much dust to accumulate in such a tiny space that was their attic anyway?
Opening the small window in the roof wasn't an option as rain would pour in if he did and so Yami coughed again when his slight steps made the dust stir up towards his knees. He had signed his death wish, hadn't he? This was going to be horrible, wasn't it? Grandfathers should not be allowed to order their grandchildren to clean the attic. Not even to break their boredom. Not even if they wanted them dead... Though the pale teenager had to admit that he was partially looking forward to finding some of the secret treasures his grandfather had found during his trips in his younger years and Yami smiled as a box with his name on it caught his eyes.
Coughing again as he slowly walked towards it, crimson eyes gained a curious gleam as their owner tried to remember if he had packed this box himself, though as he uncovered his baby-clothes he figured he hadn't. Smiling nostalgically at the tiny clothes he had once worn, Yami felt himself grow warm as he found even more objects from the past: his first pair of shoes and drawings his grandfather had kept. There were some old photos as well and the young man blushed slightly at seeing himself stark-naked when standing in the tub surrounded by more rubber ducks than he wanted to count. Yugi was there too, covered in bubbles, though Yami quickly put the photo down to see another one. It was the same location and in the same tub with the same rubber ducks, though this time Yugi and him were throwing them at each other's heads... Good times...
Another photo was quickly hidden underneath the pile as if it burned him and Yami shuddered as he remembered that specific Halloween... Pink cat-ears and a tail because his grandfather had wanted to please Anzu, one of Yugi's childhood friends. Luck was on his side for not needing a psychiatrist after that event, Yami mused while he gently uncovered a few of his old reading books. Sugoroku Muto had pretty much raised him and his brother, which was why he was in all of their photos and had kept all of their things from the past. Only a few very old photos were with his parents, though in all of them Yugi was still a baby. Their grandfather had taken over after their deaths, though as Yami uncovered a book about 'puberty' the young man condemned his grandfather despite his love for the older man.
That book should have been burned, Yami mused as he covered it back up with the baby-clothes as quickly as he could so he would never have to see it again. He was sure someone laughed at him from their grave at seeing his embarrassment; even though he was nineteen. At least Yugi wouldn't laugh as he too had a book just like his. Perhaps he could hide his within Yugi's box if he could find it... Then he'd finally be rid of- Yami's thoughts stopped as his eyes caught a small glint of gold hidden underneath another book and slowly he lifted, only to have his crimson eyes go wide at the sight of the leather-bound book.
This was definitely not his. Yami was sure of it as he gently picked it up and studied the book. The straps on the leather were made of gold and the lock on the front was an intricate one. It looked as if something needed to be fit into it and Yami turned his gaze back onto the box to see if there was anything else unusual hidden within it. When he couldn't find what he was looking for, however, he gently placed everything back into the box and closed the lid, prior to leaving the attic with his new-found treasure. With said treasure, he sat down onto his bed to study it some more and as he glanced at the lock, Yami slowly tilted his head. Gently, he traced the shape with his finger while nibbling his lip. It was small, perhaps but an inch on each side and it had the shape of an upside-down pyramid.
He'd seen that shape before... That, he was very certain of as well and gently, Yami sat the book aside as he leapt from his bed and ran downstairs. His grandfather hid certain treasure in a cabinet. One Yugi loved going through it as if they were his own and Yami knew for certain he'd seen the shape of the lock within that cabinet before. Still, his grandfather didn't like it if they went through it and so, as he reached the living room, the pale teen listened intently to make sure his grandfather was downstairs in the shop, before he stealthily made his way towards the cabinet next to the television to open it soundlessly. Opening the second drawer, Yami smiled when he spotted it. A small pyramid-shaped artefact, turned upside-down and made of pure gold. A single eye was engraved upon it and for the moment it stared at him as if to judge his worth. He knew he shouldn't, but it was only to borrow, right?
Yami winced as he could almost feel his future spanking with his grandfather's ladle, before he gently took the artefact from its place and closed the drawer. Closing the cabinet as well, the pale teen quickly made his way back upstairs while knowing curiosity definitely killed the cat. At least it would kill him, though he prayed it wouldn't... Either way, curiosity killed something and Yami continued to pray it wouldn't be him as he glanced at the innocent book on his bed while the heavy golden artefact laid in the palm of his hand.
Shaking his head from the depressing thoughts, Yami gently sat back down upon his bed and laid the book back upon his lap. If this whole endeavour would turn into nothing than he'd admit defeat and confess everything to his grandfather, though until that moment, he wanted to enjoy his new treasure and thus he gently placed the artefact in its place. After, he gently turned it counter-clockwise once, before the lock sprung apart with an audible 'click'. Laying the artefact next to him, he turned the cover gently and stared at the unreadable words upon the first page. Turning to the second, the third and the fourth all the way to the middle, Yami almost glared at his 'treasure' while chastising himself for being an idiot. What good was a book if one couldn't read it, after all and why had he gotten himself into trouble for it too?
Baffled, angry and with a loud sigh, Yami glanced at the current page either way. It was far more intricate than the other ones he'd seen and tilting his head slowly he tried for the first word. Gibberish, his mind provided as he stupidly continued to read the elegant words. He didn't even know what he was reading. Was he even pronouncing the words all right? Coming to the bottom, he stared at it. Finally! A word he could read.
“Atemu”.
At the sound of his voice, the book trembled in his hands while the letters burned a bright gold and Yami gasped for air when a surge of something passed through him. Before it all stopped. Heaving for breath, the pale teen stared at the book which laid innocently in his lap, before his eyes caught sight of the sudden man- demon, Yami's mind corrected at the sight of a swishing tail and pointy ears, steadying himself against his desk. The young nineteen-year-old blinked once, twice and thrice to see if the hallucination would leave his sight because he needed prove he wasn't going insane.
It did not. Unfortunately.
Fortunately, his hormonal side told him, the sight was not unpleasant. Flawless tanned skin, leather trousers, noticeable muscular frame underneath a fitting black top, but they were not overly so and actually... the shown muscles were downright perfect. His hallucination was handsome and Yami had to swallow thickly as he felt a weird sense rush through his being. One he had never felt before and one he shouldn't feel because this was a hallucination with a tail which had a split at the end. The demon's hair was much like his own: tri-coloured with blond bangs framing a sharp face and going up spiky hair rimmed in a rose-red colour. That colour was different from Yami's hair, as his own was rimmed in crimson, much like his eyes.
Speaking of eyes: cat-like pupils nestled in rose-red irises were staring at him, before turning towards the book upon his lap. For a moment, Yami felt as if he was undressed as those eyes roamed over his slender frame that was nothing akin to the demon's handsome one, though a smirk still appeared upon lush tanned lips.
“Are you the one who conjured me?”, was the question breaking the silence, though Yami continued to stare as his mind raged with questions. Conjured? Conjured what? Him? A demon? Magic?
“Who are you?”, was the question passing his lips instead. His mind panicked at him, because why was that the first question he wanted to ask? The demon looked at him without judging his sensibility, however, and Yami swallowed again as the tanned man was still smirking too.
“You do not know? You've read the incantation, have you not?”, was the soft question while the tanned demon tilted his head slightly, though all Yami could do was gape at him. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but no word came forth. Not until the handsome hallucination pointed at the book and slowly, the pale teen looked down at his lap.
“What?! This?! No!! I didn't read this! I don't even know what it says!”, the young man exclaimed and he quickly closed the book to try and get rid of everything. Instead, the tanned demon started to chuckle softly and crimson eyes were drawn back to him as the latter came closer. The smirk was still there and Yami tensed slightly when the demon bowed forward and took his hand in his own. A blush spread across Yami's cheeks like wildfire when the demon placed a soft and tender kiss atop the back of his hand as a means of an ancient old greeting.
“I am Atemu, your new guardian and I will stay with you to keep you safe. Forever”, the demon said while his rose-red eyes gazed deeply into gleaming crimson ones. At his words, the blush died down as quickly as it had come and Yami's face turned a ghastly pale. He nearly flung the book from his lap as he pulled his hand from Atemu's and sprung from his bed to back away from the demon.
“Forever?”, he asked, his mind going into a new wild panicked frenzy. Forever? No, no, no, that could not be! He did not live forever! Besides, a demon who would be following him all the time. What were people going to say?
“Forever”, Atemu said delicately, though with a certain undertone that wasn't to be argued with. Yami broke his pacing to stare at Atemu once more. No, no, no, no-
“What am I going to do with you?!”, Yami exclaimed in panic at the same time he frantically waved his hands. The smirk returned to Atemu's face and the latter crossed his arms in front of his broad chest, clearly showing off.
“You could kiss me”.