Chapter 1

"Dammit!" Ryou cursed slamming his fist against the alley wall. Sharp splinters of rock broke off and quickly embedded themselves into his flesh. They didn't go unnoticed.

The white haired teen yowled and clutched his hand against his body feeling the blood well up under his fingers. 'Great more blood loss, that's exactly what I need,' Ryou thought bitterly as he closed his eyes against the pain.

This scene wasn't too rare for Ryou as he trudged home in the early morning hours. As soon as he had gotten home from school that day his yami had told him roughly that he was going out drinking tonight, and that was exactly what his yami had done despite Ryou's own protests. Plus to make matters worse sometime during his yami's drinking fest two thugs had dragged him out back saying that he owed them money. The two thugs were obviously dead now, their souls lying in the stomach of one of his yami's monsters, but Ryou's own body had not made it out of the fight unscathed. One of the thugs had a knife on him and in a surge of fear had turned it upon his yami, grazing it across their stomach in one clean arch. His yami had just laughed it off and kicked the guy in the face but the problem was that Ryou wasn't laughing it off now. His dark, having had his fun, just left Ryou with their injured drunken body and told him rather cruelly to fix it.

Ryou stumbled down the street that led to his apartment. His breath was coming in short sharp gasps and his shirt that had previously been a light blue was now a dark red, reflecting black in flickering street lamps. Luckily for Ryou his yami had been out drinking late and there was no one else but him wondering around the streets. He had no clue what he would do if a policeman were to show up. He could barely walk let alone run and hide. And they were sure to take him into custody with just one look at his bloody shirt never even mind the fact that his breath reeked of alcohol.

Ryou finally managed to get to his apartment complex and gave a small groan as he remembered that he lived on the highest floor, the third floor! Going up those stairs was going to be a hell in itself and he was standing right at hell's gates.

Ryou paused before the steps gathering up his determination and will. First he took one step, ignoring the pain that flashed through him, and slowly took another. By the third he thought his world was one fire as his torn ab muscles clenched and unclenched.

As he slowly worked his way up the stairs he was yet again thankful for the absence of people. It was a hard trek for him and even though he didn't touch a single drop of alcohol his yami had and he was drunk as a doornail. His feet kept slipping from underneath him and he would lose his balance at inopportune moments. By the middle of the third flight his world was a hazy red as it spun circles around him. Ryou knew he was going to pass out soon but he needed it to be in the safety of his apartment, not out here where anybody could find him, could ask questions he wasn't willing to answer. He slowly concentrated on just putting one foot in front of the other and before he knew it there were no more stairs.

He made it. He was at the top.

Ryou stood swaying slightly at the top of the staircase trying to focus enough to extract the information of where he lived from his muddled mind. He found the information he wanted but he could do nothing to stop the rest from coming with it.

He closed his eyes and clutched his head trying to stop the mad onslaught his brain was forcing him to see. Half-seen images swam through his mind. Some of him, some of his yami and through the madness he could hear a steady dripping noise. With each drop his reality wavered crashing through the images. The ceiling and floor were suddenly rushing up to meet him, closing in around him. He was going to be crushed, but at the same time they were rushing out from beneath him, expanding into an empty space; the void. The entire universe was rushing away from him, leaving him alone and small and helpless.

Suddenly, as if they themselves were protesting against the wild sensations, his torn stomach muscles decided to clench in a wave of nausea. Ryou couldn't help but gasp in pain as his reality returned to normal in a dead standstill. His hand instinctively went to clutch his wound and when he brought it back all Ryou could do was stare in a dull fascination. His hand was covered black and red and while he watched a drop of blood fell off leisurely.

Ryou slowly turned and was just able to focus enough to see the small path of blood that was trailing behind him. Nothing could be done about it now he just… had… to get… to his room.

Ryou leaned against the wall, using it for support as he trudged down the hall trying not to throw up. He didn't even notice the red smear he was leaving behind him. He finally managed to get to his door and sluggishly dug through his pockets for the keys. The wind suddenly whipped up and lashed out at him and to Ryou it seemed to be copying his yami's harsh words yelling at him to hurry up. Ignoring the wind (and his yami) Ryou finally managed to unlock the door and stagger inside.

One step.

Two steps.

He couldn't take it anymore.

Ryou collapsed to the floor and his whole world went black.