The Burning Crimson Rose

10. Closer Than You Think

Domino Castle
December 22, 2:43 PM

Yugi put on a coat and wrapped a scarf around his neck before pushing the double doors to the castle open only to see that the storm had stopped and all that was left was a blanket of snow covering the ground. The spiky haired teen grinned at the sight before him before stepping out of the castle, the snow crunching beneath his feet as Yami followed closely behind the boy.

"It's beautiful out here, with all the snow everywhere." Yugi commented.

"Yes, I suppose it is nice."

Yugi scanned around, until he noticed a relatively average sized pond toward the left of the castle, but it had been frozen over. He slowly approached the frozen pond, crouching down as he touched the surface only to find it really was frozen solid. Yugi gave a grin as he turned back to the dragon king. "Hey, Yami, look! This pond has been frozen over!"

Yami made his way over to Yugi, the snow crunching under his clawed feet. Once he made it over to the boy, Yugi smiled brightly. "It looks pretty sturdy."

"For what, might I ask?"

"For ice skating, of course!"

"Ice skating?" Yami then got an idea, perking up a bit as a grin formed on his lips. "Yugi, would you mind waiting here for a moment?"

"Oh, uh, sure, but what for?"

"You'll understand in a moment, just stay put, alright?"

"Okay." Yugi nodded as Yami turned and head back into the castle.

While Yugi waited, he crouched down again, but this time, found a small twig. He grabbed the stick and began to draw in the snow. Yugi gave a small grin when he finished his picture, which was of that man from his dream. He still couldn't shake the feeling that dream had given him, if it was even a dream at all. Suddenly though, when Yugi heard crunching snow growing closer to him, he quickly used his hand to brush away the picture before getting to his feet, dusting himself off as the dragon king approached him.

"That didn't take you very long. What did you go to get?" Yugi asked.

"Come sit over here and I will show you."

Yugi nodded as he followed Yami, who had him sit on the castle steps while he crouched down in front of the boy. It was then Yami slipped one of Yugi's shoes off, who raised an eyebrow, until the dragon king took his small foot in his large hand and slid it into a black ice skate. "You have ice skates?" Yugi asked, a bit surprised.

"Back when I was still human and it would snow like this, I would often ice skate on that pond you pointed out over there, though now that I am like this, these would suit you better."

"Well, thank you, Yami, I really appreciate it."

"Of course, Yugi. As I have said before, if there is anything you desire, all you must do is simply ask."

That becomes a bit difficult when what I want is sitting right here in front of me... Yugi thought to himself as Yami laced up the ice skates on his feet.

Once finished, Yami rose to his feet before holding his hand out. "Are you ready, Yugi?"

He nodded, but gave a bit of a shy grin. "Is it too late to say that I don't really know how to ice skate?"

Yami gave a low chuckle. "Worry not, I will teach you."

"Alright. I trust you." Yugi then grabbed ahold of Yami's hand, the dragon king pulling the boy onto his feet, but he began to wobble. "Whoa!" He gasped, Yami quickly placing his other hand on Yugi's waist to help steady him, but this caused the boy to blush a bit.