Bonds of the Soul

Separated

Yuya awoke in his bed, and immediately felt off. The daylight in his room looked as though it were in the evening, and he felt a bit empty. As though a part of him were missing. A big part.

A sense of dread and unease filled him, and he immediately tried to call out to his counterparts in his mind. But he didn't hear a reply back. This wasn't good. While Yuri and Yugo may occasionally be too busy arguing to reply, Yuto always responded immediately when Yuya called out to him. Which could only mean one thing.

"They're gone!" Yuya whispered in horror, tears filling his eyes. He jumped out of bed and ran out of his room. "MOM! DAD! THEY'RE GONE!" he wailed as he jumped onto the firepole and slid down. "I CAN'T FIND THEM! THEY'RE GONE!"

"What's gone?" Yoko asked from the kitchen.

"My counterparts! They're gone!" Yuya wailed.

"They're in the living room," Yusho reassured him.

Yuya blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

Then he turned to face the living room and saw Yuto, Yuri, and Yugo standing there. Yuya gasped and ran to them, tackling Yuto in a bear hug as he started sobbing in relief. "I woke up... and you guys were gone!"

"It's ok, Yuya!" Yuto murmured, hugging him back. "We're right here!"

"Can I get a hug, Yuya?~" Yuri purred. Yusho frowned at him from the kitchen doorway and crossed his arms.

Yuya ignored Yuri and hugged Yuto tighter. "Don't ever scare me like that again, you hear me?"

"Ok," Yuto said gently. He rubbed Yuya's back and carefully guided him over to the sofa. Yuto sat down in the middle of the sofa and pulled Yuya into his lap. "It's alright, we're still with you."

"Yeah, Yuri said this is only temporary," Yugo said, plopping down next to Yuto and Yuya. Yuri elegantly lounged on the other side of them and smirked, "Yes, we can only be separated from you for a maximum of seventy-two hours at a time before we have to become one again to regain our energy."

"So wait, then does that mean we can separate again afterwards?" Yuya asked curiously.

"Yes, that's exactly what that means~" Yuri said, reaching out and pinching Yuya's cheek. Yuya made a sound of discontent and batted his hand away. "You're smarter than Yugo, I had to explain it twelve times before that moron understood!~"

"Hey! It's not my fault you and Yuto inherited all of Zarc's braincells!" Yugo yelled, balling his hands into fists. Yuya winced and covered his ears with his hands. Fortunately, the blunana noticed and lowered his voice. "Sorry, Yuya..."

"It's fine, Yugo," Yuya reassured him.

Yusho was still watching from the doorway. He didn't like Yuya's Fusion counterpart after everything he did. The XYZ counterpart seemed to be very protective of Yuya, and Yuya seemed to be very fond of him too, so as long as Yuto didn't do anything to hurt him, Yusho felt he could approve of the edgy, eggplant-haired boy. The jury was still out on the Synchro counterpart though.

Yoko, of course, was already quite attached to all of Yuya's counterparts. She was very excited to have a whole heap of adorable Yuyas in her house. After they had explained things to her and Yusho when they'd arrived on their doorstep with the unconscious tomato, Yoko had insisted on taking the three boys in. After all, they had nowhere else to go! And they were still technically part of Yuya! Yusho had agreed to take them in, but he was still keeping an eye on Yugo and Yuri. Especially Yuri.

"Well at least my headache's gone," Yuya said, resting his head on Yuto's shoulder.

"Yeah, sorry about that, that was our fault," Yuto apologized. "We were building up energy to defuse with you, and it was hurting you. Yuri says that it shouldn't hurt you again though."

"Yes, as amusing as your pain was, that was a one-time thing," Yuri said, leaning back against the sofa lazily. "You won't get a headache from us defusing again."

"Good, cuz that wasn't fun," Yuya sighed.

"Dinner's ready!" Yoko called out from the kitchen. Yuya's face lit up happily, and he scrambled out of Yuto's lap and raced into the dining room. Yuto, Yuri, and Yugo followed to find what appeared to be a full on feast on the dining table.

"Eat up, boys!" Yoko said, smiling at Yuya's counterparts as they sat down. Yuya was already devouring his food. He loved to eat. And as someone who was very active physically, he needed a lot of food. Yuya took gymnastics classes, and burned more calories than most adults ate in a day, so his mother usually cooked a lot of food for him to stay healthy. Yusho sometimes joked that if it weren't for the money that his duel school made, Yuya would have eaten them out of house and home years ago.

Yuto, Yuri, and Yugo on the other hand weren't used to eating as much as Yuya ate. They ate as much as they could, but they couldn't finish all the food Yoko served them. Fortunately Yuya was more than capable of eating everything they couldn't. Yoko took notice of the counterparts' smaller appetites, and made a mental note not to make so much for them. It would not do for them to get tummy aches from eating too much, nor for Yuya to overeat trying to make sure their food didn't go to waste.

As the boys finished their food, Yuri felt something bump against his leg. He looked down, then gasped. "Puppy?"

A tiny shiba inu puppy was sniffing Yuri's leg. Yuya looked down at it and blinked. "Well this is a new one! When did you adopt her, Mom?"

"While you were at school!" Yoko said brightly. "Isn't she just adorable?"

"Does she have a name?" Yuri asked. Yoko shook her head. "Not yet."

Yuri got up and picked the puppy up. "I will name you Yuugou!" he said, cuddling the puppy. Yugo rolled his eyes, but the puppy seemed to like the name and licked Yuri's face. Yuri laughed a little and carried Yuugou to the living room to play.

Yuya helped his mother with the dinner dishes, and Yuto and Yugo did too, hoping to leave a good impression on Yoko and Yusho. It did seem to work, as the parents were both smiling.

After the dishes were done, Yuya, Yuto, and Yugo went back to the living room. Yuri was still playing with Yuugou, and seemed to be genuinely happy for once.

"Who's a good girl?" he cooed at the puppy. The puppy yipped and licked his face. As bad and cruel as Yuri had been in the past, Yuya couldn't help being happy that he was happy. He actually looked rather sweet playing with Yuugou. Yuya watched his Fusion counterpart from Yuto's lap on the couch for a while, before he was suddenly overcome by a wave of exhaustion. All four of the counterparts yawned in unison, feeling sleepy all at once. Yuya closed his eyes for just a moment...

* * *

Yoko walked into the living room thirty minutes later, to find the most adorable sight. Waving her husband over quietly, she pointed. There on the couch were Yuya, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri, all sleeping. Yuto was cuddling Yuya, who was still in his lap snuggling against his chest. Yuri was to the right of them, his head on Yuto's shoulder. Yugo was to the left, sitting a bit sideways with his back against Yuto's side. All four of them were snoring softly.

"Let's let them sleep," Yusho said softly. Yoko nodded, managing to resist the urge to coo over the adorable boys.