What if nobody was searching for Yugi in the right places, or the right way? What if he was found by someone else? Is it too late to help him? Does he even want to be helped?

This is an alternate reality/universe of 'Broken'. And this is that story…

I woke up in the comforting darkness of my room to the sound of someone tapping on my door. I laid in my bed as the door opened, revealing the man who had taken me in when he could have left me in the hospital.

"Your doctor is here to see you, Izzack," he stated.

I nodded since I can't really speak above a whisper most times. My doctor said that it was because I was hurt pretty bad when they found me.

Izzack isn't my real name. Papa isn't my father, but he and Mama have taken me in and are caring for me.

One of the hired nurses helped me dress and sat me in the wheelchair that I was to use. The doctor came in and did his usual routine. This, as was everything else, was done in the dark, or near dark of the room. I can't stand the light. It felt like I was on fire, burning from the inside out, the first time a nurse turned on the lights at the hospital. After that, Papa came into the picture. He took over my care and ordered that no bright lights be used around me.

"Izzack seems well enough to attend school," I heard my doctor tell Papa. "Nell informed me that the placement tests have him placed at grade 12. How are you going to finish his education?"

"He'll go to the closest high school, Domino High. I have informed the school of his condition and they will allow him to wear what he needs to be able to attend. He is to begin today," Papa replied. "Perhaps someone there might be able to help him remember his past."

I was terrified! I hadn't left the darkness of my room in months! How could Papa say that I had to leave my dark room for the torment of bright light? Papa must have noticed my trembling, "Izzack, settle down boy. You'll be fine. I wouldn't allow you to suffer. You'll be fine son."

He handed me a pair of sunglasses and slid thin gloves onto my hands, "Now let's go and meet your student aide."

Papa pushed me towards the dining room.

Yami

Yugi had been missing for months, but we weren't giving up on our search for him. Grandpa was tired of my moping around the house on the days I wasn't able to search, so he signed me up to be an aide to a new student the moment he found out about it. According to the assistant principal, this kid, Izzack Garrett, was to be picked up and dropped off daily at his house with no deviations.

A maid left me in the dining room to wait for Izzack and his father. I sat in one of the ornate chairs and read my book until they showed up. I didn't have long to wait.

"Ah, you must be the student aide. I'm Martin Garrett," a tall man with dark hair greeted me as he wheeled a frail-looking boy into the room. "This is Izzack, my son."

"Yami Mutou."

I couldn't help but notice tha t the boy was wearing a black long sleeved shirt, a pair of gloves, black jeans, a light black scarf, and a pair of sunglasses. Mr. Garrett saw me staring, "Izzack's a bit photosensitive. Please keep him indoors as much as possible."

I nodded and, after being handed a list of things to do for Izzack, headed to school. I stuck to the shaded paths as much as I could while pushing Izzack's wheelchair. "So, how old are you," I asked him.

Izzack shrugged, "Dunno, can't remember."

"Anything you like to do?"

Another shrug, "Not really."

"Any games you like to play?"

"Guess chess, but Papa has to tell which pieces are which before play," he sighed.

My friends spotted us from just inside the gate. "Hey Yami," Joey greeted me. "Who's the kid?"

"He's the new student, Izzack Garrett. Izzack, these are a few of my friends; Joey, Tristan, and Tea," I stated. "You'll probably meet the others later."

Izzack nodded, "Ok."

"So what's with the dark clothes," Joey asked him.

Izzack flinched and stuttered, "I can't…Bright light make sick."

We headed for homeroom, Izzack was silent upon our entrance. I assume that he was terrified of the sight of so many new faces. The teacher entered the room and the class went silent, "Welcome back class. We have a new student joining us this year. Izzack Garrett, please raise your hand."

I never imagined that anyone could go as pale as Izzack did, but he was paler than the walls of the classroom! "Hey, teach," I heard a painfully familiar voice call out, "That pipsqueak next to Mutou is wearing clothes that are against the dress code."

She looked over in our direction and smiled, "There you are Izzack. Ushio, please stay after class for your rude behavior."

Ushio glared at us, Izzack in particular.

Joey

I saw Ushio glaring at Yami and the new kid. I promised myself to not let Izzack fall victim to his bullying. He looked like one hit would break him. I wrote a note and tossed it to Tristan.

We gotta look out for the new kid.

He tossed it back.

Why?

Ushio looks ready to seriously hurt him.

He looked over at Ushio.

I see. We'll have him eat with us at lunch.

I nodded and crumpled the note before tossing it in my bag. Three classes later, Yami pushed Izzack to the staff elevators and we headed down the stairs to the cafeteria. "So what are you going to get Izzack," I asked him.

Izzack shrugged, "Probably a sandwich or a fruit cup, no strawberries or pineapple, like bananas. Not really hungry."

Yami got Izzack a banana and peeled it for him since he couldn't do it himself. "So where did you move here from," Tea asked him.

Izzack shrugged, "Dunno. Papa got from hospital and took home. Can't remember before that. Some accident, guess." He played with the banana peel before Yami took it from him. "Tired. Go home?"

"Let's check in with the principal first, Izzack," Yami replied. "He might allow it."

We headed for the principal's office and waited for them to come out. Izzack looked upset. "He says that Izzack can't go home early unless I can be excused from class. Meaning that I'd have to stay since you-know-who hates to let students leave her class unless they're sick," Yami sighed. "Sorry Izzack."

Izzack sighed and lifted his sunglasses enough to dry his eyes. "We don't have to be to our next class for fifteen minutes," Tea pointed out. "Anything you want to see before we have to go there?"

"Books," Izzack replied.

We headed to the school library and let him wheel himself around to look at the titles. We sat at the table where we could be spotted by him easily. "So where'd you pick Izzack up at this morning," I asked Yami.

"That old Victorian house about a block from here," he replied.

Tristan paled, "The red one or the blue one?"

"Blue."

"That's where several kids heard someone screaming bloody murder a few months ago," Tristan stated. "They said that that place is cursed!"

I looked around the library and saw that Izzack was missing, his lap blanket the only sign that he had been with us. Yami panicked and we ran out in search of the kid.

Tristan

I headed to the back of the school and heard someone screaming in pain. I called Yami's cell and told him where I was and to get here in case it was Izzack. My fears were confirmed.

Ushio had removed Izzack's gloves, scarf, and sunglasses, "You broke school rules punk."

Izzack was screaming in pain and trying to get out of the light, but Ushio had the brakes on, making it impossible for Izzack to get away. "Make stop…Please…Burns!"

Joey tackled the bully while Yami threw his jacket over Izzack's head and exposed skin. "Tea, go and get the principal and the school nurse," Yami ordered over Izzack's sobbing.

I headed over and helped Joey keep Ushio pinned to the ground. I punched the jerk for good measure before Joey and I sat on his back. "Is he going to be alright," I asked Yami after he got Izzack into the shade, as far from the light as he could.

"I don't know, Tristan," he replied.

I watched as he removed the jacket from Izzack's pale hands. The poor kid's hands were very red. Yami handed Izzack his sunglasses, but when Izzack didn't move to take them, he carefully slid them on his face.

"Izzack, look at me please," Yami requested. He was to the right of the wheelchair.

Izzack looked to the left, "Can't see…Hurt…Burns inside…"

The school nurse and the principal ran to where we were. "Ushio, this is the last straw! As of today, you are no longer allowed to step foot on school grounds," the principal snapped. "We do not tolerate your type of behavior!"

Ushio growled beneath us, "What about that shrimp? He's going against school rules with his clothes!"

"Izzack has a medical condition and you have aggravated it severely," the nurse replied. "The school board has made an exception in his case."

She turned and headed to where Tea had joined Izzack and Yami.

Tea

Poor Izzack. His first day of school here and already he was hurt. Yami was trying to calm him down enough to let the nurse look him over. Unfortunately, Izzack was still upset. Suddenly he stopped crying and slumped over in his chair. The nurse had Yami pull him out of the chair and lay him on the ground with his jacket for a pillow. She took his sunglasses off and looked at his eyes with a dim light, "Thank god. He's just worn himself out. Yami, please carry him to my office. Tea, go ahead of him and turn the lights off in there. I need to wrap his hands and call his father."

We had been excused from the remainder of our classes to avoid any questions about what had happened at lunch. Izzack's dad showed up and saw that he had been hurt. "Izzack, what happened," he asked.

"Bully…bright light…burning…no more…stop…STOP! HURTS!"

He started crying into Mr. Garrett's suit. "Want dark, Papa. Dark safe…Light hurts…Want room…bed…"

"We'll try this another day," Mr. Garrett stated. "Yami, please bring Izzack's homework to the house until then. I'll compensate you for your time. Thank you kids for watching out for him. Feel free to stop by anytime to visit him."

Mr. Garrett carried Izzack out, using the sheet that the nurse loaned him. I hoped that Izzack would be able to get past this incident and come back to school.