"Daddy!" A little boy jumps into his father's arms.
"Hey, buddy." Yugi Mutou picks up his seven-year-old son, Judai, outside the elementary school gates. He has a troubled frown on his face that makes Yugi concerned. "What's wrong?"
Judai looks away. "Yusei kept making fun of me again." He mumbles. Instantly, Yugi's protective instincts come forward. He kneels down and places a hand on his son's shoulder, ready to comfort his son, when Judai mumbles something unintelligible.
"What was that?"
"He -he kept making fun of you too and saying that his dad could beat you up so I said nuh-uh and said that -that you could beat his dad up and now he said his dad is gonna fight you," Judai says it all so quickly Yugi almost has trouble keeping up. When he processes everything however, he stiffens and gives his son a stern look.
"Judai Mutou!" Judai flinches. "You know fighting is never the answer! Why would you say something like that?"
"I'm sorry," Judai looks down and mumbles. Yugi sighs.
..
"What did you do?"
Yusei looks up at his father through the rearview mirror. "What?"
"You haven't looked at me since I picked you up and you've hardly talked. But you haven't complained about anyone or anything. The last time you were like this, I found out you dropped balloons filled with paint on the other kids in kindergarten." Atem's red irises connect with his son's blue ones when they reach a red light. "You did something and you're feeling guilty and you want to tell me. What is it?"
The light changes to green, the car begins to move again. Yusei takes a deep breath before answering.
Their car comes to an abrupt stop. Yusei lurches forward in the back seat, only stopped by his seatbelt, and his head whips up to stare wide-eyed at his father.
"You did what?"
..
The next day, Yugi drops Judai off at the front gates of the school. After a stern reprimanding at home, Yugi told his son that he in no way intends to fight with anyone else.
"I'll talk to his dad," Yugi says. Judai looks unsatisfied. "Violence is never the answer, Judai. I've told you that before. I'm not going to fight anyone; this can be solved with words. Do you understand?" Judai nods. "Good. Now, regarding your punishment... you get to help your aunt Mai at her salon all day Saturday."
Judai looks absolutely mortified and tries to object, but Yugi just ruffles his brown hair and laughs.
Judai tugs at his father's pant leg and points across the school parking lot. "There."
Yugi looks in that direction, but still taps his son's hand down and chastises him. "It's rude to point." He looks at the young boy with spiky black hair with blond streaks cupping his hands and whispering something to a man kneeling so the boy can reach him. The man's skin is dark and his hair is tied back into a bun; there are black, red, and yellow streaks in his hair and his face is framed by yellow bangs. They are both looking at Yugi and Judai.
They walk over and Yugi swallows his nerves. He won't fight, especially not in front of small children. But the man has a stony look on his face and judging by the muscles visible through his leather tank top, Yugi wouldn't survive a minute against him. He hopes he isn't showing any of his fear; people being able to read his emotions based on one look at his face would always be one of his weaknesses.
The man stops a few feet in front of him and, luckily, smiles. "Hello." His voice holds no malice; Yugi counts this as a plus.
"Hi." Yugi returns the smile and places a hand on Judai's shoulder. "Judai," His son looks up at him with fearful brown eyes. "It's alright, go on and play. Look, I see Asuka and your other friends." Judai hesitates for a moment before running off.
"You too, Yusei." The other man says.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Yugi speaks up. "So... I'm not going to fight you."
The man laughs. Yugi feels the tension leave his body.
...
"I'm so sorry for Yusei's behavior," Atem says. Yugi had invited him to his house and made them both tea. They're sitting on his living room couch. "He's had a hard time since his mother left."
"Oh," Yugi perks up, placing the teacup on the small table in front of them. "I'm so sorry-"
Atem waves his hand. "No, no. She's not dead." He shrugs and laughs as though the memory is funny to him. "She literally just up and left."
"O-oh, I see..." How does he respond to that? "I've been divorced for about two years, but it was very messy and I think it really affected Judai and his ability to form relationships. I won custody since she doesn't have a stable home yet but..."
A hand is placed on his thigh. Atem's gaze is sympathetic.
"But it's hard." Atem finishes.
"Yes." Yugi breathes.
They both know. They know what it's like to have loved someone and lost them so quickly. They know the feeling of hopelessness and having to hide under false confidence and false security because there was someone that counted on them. Someone that would come to their room in the middle of the night, shaking from nightmares and fear, and counted on them to hold them until it went away. Someone who needs them and vice versa. They both know, and at this moment, they both see the same thing in each other.
...
"Do you think our dads love each other yet?" Judai asks. He sits at a fold up table with a paper crown on his head. It's his tenth birthday and they're celebrating at his house with friends and family.
(And cake. Most importantly, the cake.)
"I think so," Yusei answers, looking up from his slice of pizza. His father and Judai's father are standing in the corner of the room, laughing and standing a bit too close to each other for it to be considered platonic. Both boys smile. "I heard him talking to my uncle Joey about love and stuff. It was pretty obvious who he was talking about."
Judai grins, his eyes shining with excitement. "Really? Awesome! My dad always talks about your dad to my aunt Mai and she always makes fun of him. Imagine having two dads! Wouldn't that be cool? We could sleep over and watch movies and go to the store together -and you could call Mai your aunt too if you want! I think she'll like you. She says that your dad-"
Yusei knows how long Judai's talks can be and how hard it can be to make him stop if he's been talking for a while, so he tries to stop him now with something he thinks would be unappealing enough to make him shut up.
"Then we would be brothers."
Judai stops and looks at him, but there's only more happiness found in his eyes. His grin gets even wider. "You'd be my brother!" He whispers excitedly. "Oh my gosh, I hadn't even thought of that! You would be such a cool brother, we could play outside together and eat dinner and-"
Yusei feels a lump forming in his throat at the sight of how joyful Judai is at the thought of being siblings. He expected disgust and an 'oh, yeah, never mind.' Instead, he found himself happy at the idea of a little brother and someone else besides his father to take away the loneliness.
He turns and sees that his father is grinning stupidly down at Yugi, his cheeks darker with a not-so-obvious blush. Yugi is laughing and holding onto his father's elbow, a more evident redness on his face. Yusei remembers the times Yugi has made him smile and treated him with kindness, even when his father wasn't around. Judai remembers the times where Atem has helped him with school and bonded with him over games.
All four think about family, and how big theirs have gotten.
I'm gonna be honest, this was pretty tough to right. I didn't have many ideas for this but I think it came out alright. Remember you can find this on Archive of Our Own at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15534444?view_full_work=true
