Missing, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Title: Missing

Author: Kat1132

Beta's: This has never been beta'd, so if anyone's interested, let me know. Help?

Disclaimers: I do not own Yugioh or any of its characters. This story is not intended to infringe on any copyrights by the makers of Yugioh and it's owners. No profit is being made for this piece of fiction. I do not own any of the songs listed below, nor do I hold any legal right to print the words. All below songs are property of the bands and their record companies, I make no profit from any of these songs.

Summary: Yugi's had enough. Since the yami's were granted bodies, nothing has been the same. Things are worse now than they have ever been. How can he make his friends see him again? Is redemption even possible? Warnings inside.

Warnings: SLASH. Very AU. Yami/Anzu. General bashing of characters. Graphic violence, language, non-graphic rape, anorexia, and a slew of other things. If there is anything I forgot to mention please tell me so I can list it hear.

AN: Yes, it's back. Thank you all for being patient with me. I'm sorry it hasn't changed at all, but I think I've lost my passion for this particular story. If anyone has any idea's or wishes to see this end in a certain way let me know. Perhaps I'll feed from your thoughts and finally finish this thing, credit will of course, be given for all help. If anyone sees any mistakes or needs some clairification, I'd be happy to clear them up. I will finish this, eventually, perhaps not for a long while; just letting you all know so you don't get your hopes up. There should only be one more part and perhaps an epilouge, but they will probably be shorter than this.

Dedicated to Trickster-Yami07 who has patiently been waiting for me to finish this and convinced me to repost.

Part One:

As dusk was descended on the city of Domino, a tired figure made his way through the streets swarming with busy people. He was traveling alone with a backpack slung over one shoulder, a bleeding hand gripped it tight, afraid to let go of his only belongings. He slowly made his way through the river of people, limping slightly. It didn't matter to the boy he was later than usual. He had no where in particular to be.

To passersby he seemed to be a boy no older than eleven. He was short with a child-like face and innocent violet eyes, but he was in fact 17 years old. Even he wasn't sure how he had kept his innocence.

Two years ago this depressed boy would have been surrounded by people he once called friends. He, believe it or not, once had a spirit living inside his body and mind. The spirit he had named Yami now had his own body. He had got all of his memories back and now had all of Yugi's friends and the affections of his grandfather. Yugi was no longer needed by Yami and was pushed aside.

The only interaction Yugi had with his grandfather was when Grandpa wanted him to do something or he got blamed for something, usually something he didn't even do. There were no smiles or embraces for him, only Yami. Yami had even got his old room. Yugi moved into the basement.

Yami had also grown distant. Their mind link was in fragments. Yugi's half was almost always blocked. Yami had started to insult his younger half. He was colder to Yugi. He was also going out with Anzu. That didn't settle well with Yugi. Yami quit listening to him though, so he could do nothing.

Yugi was fading. He had stopped eating. He wasn't sleeping well. On top of all that his old bullies were back. Nearly everyday he came home a bloody mess. Not that anyone cared though.

The only thing that seemed to improve was his mental health. He started reading rather than going outside. He was unusually pale from lack of sunlight because he never went outside anymore. He stayed in the library for lunch, and all breaks, for that matter. The only time he did go outside was when he walked home.

He learned how to play guitar and bought his own. He had a job now. It was the only way he could get anything, other than food, that he needed. Everyday at lunch he would go to the band room after he left the library. He left the library so the librarian wouldn't ask about his eating habits.

He did other things with his money. In fact none of his friends would even recognize him. He didn't even look like the former pharaoh anymore. Yami's hair was crimson with golden bangs. Yugi's used to resemble Yami's very closely but no longer. With his money he had his hair dyed sapphire blue and silver. He got his left ear pierced and had changed his attire. He usually wore a black baggy t-shirt under his uniform. Out of school he wore baggy sweatshirts and shirts all in black. He also wore baggy jeans with chains and such. His eyes weren't all as childish as before but still managed to maintain innocence, along with anger.

He still liked his spiked chokers, but never wore the millennium puzzle anymore. It was hidden in his hiding spot, a hole in the wall in his room, Tristan, he remembered, had made when he was trying to hit him with a bat and missed. He had covered the spot with a poster of a favorite poem by Robert Frost, Nothing Gold Can Stay. As far as he knew, the puzzle was still there. He certainly didn't take it held too many memories that were now painful. His "memento of Grandpa" became something he didn't want anything to do with.

When Yugi arrived at his destination he looked up at the familiar sign of the "Kame Game Shop." He sighed, shook his head, and took his key out. He walked to the back and unlocked the door. Rather than wait for the greeting he knew he wouldn't receive, he went straight towards the stairs to the basement. Just as he was about to go down the steps he heard the sound of laughter and a warm greeting met by several others.

He sighed again and went down the steps to his room. He looked around as he arrived.

He had a laptop he had gotten at a discount for helping the manager, of the store that sold them, once. Kaiba had been teaching him a lot about computers. He seemed to have a knack for fixing them and working with them.

He bought a Cd player for himself with the money he made at his job at a small diner. He had multiple Cd's. He got some ideas for his music from them. It was his research, and honestly it helped him find what he liked to hear in music and what he didn't.

He had hoards of books scattered everywhere. He looked and saw his guitar sitting on its stand waiting for him. It was a sleek black electric guitar with little streaks of lightning blue every so often. He resisted the urge to go play it, and rather changed out of his school uniform and into his work clothes, grabbing a coat as he exited his room.

He walked back upstairs in his new attire and walked right passed Yami and Grandpa. They were in a discussion. About what, he didn't really care. They didn't care about him, so why should he care about them?

Who was he kidding? He cared so much it hurt.

They had forgotten him long ago, but he still remembered. He still recalled the times when they were kind and caring. He wished he could talk to them, but he knew he couldn't. They would ignore him like all the other times he tried to talk to them.

Neither of them had noticed he had moved out of his old room and into the basement. Instead the two of them had turned it into a study type area where Grandpa kept all his finds from his expeditions.

Even more shocking, neither one of them had noticed his change in appearance. It wasn't like they were subtle changes! I mean hello! His hair was a different color and his ear had a silver hoop dangling from it!

He sighed again. During his ranting he had made it to the front door. He went out, locked the door behind him and walked to work.

Hours later, he had finished his shift and headed back home with no intention of actually hurrying. He wasn't in the mood to go home just to get yelled at. He stopped at the park. He looked around for anyone who might be looking for him, or any of the old crowd who might want to make fun of weak little Yugi.

None of them had noticed the changes in him either. At least not the people he thought would be the first to notice. Bakura, Ryou, Malik, Marik, Seto, and Mokuba were the only ones who had noticed.

Now that he thought of it that was a lot of people who had noticed him, six in fact. But that was to be expected. They were all in the same band. It was called 'Light's Shadow.'

Seto and Mokuba managed it and worked locations and such. Ryou always had a knack for the keyboard. Bakura had found he was a pretty good disk jockey, or DJ, from when he worked at one of the nightclubs he frequently visited. Marik liked to hit things, thus was perfect for the drums. Yugi played lead guitar and Malik the base. Seto would play along on occasion. He was the guy who played all of the odd instruments that they used in their songs. If they needed a unique sound they would find what they were looking for and Seto would pick it up and learn how to play it. Seto probably knew about fifteen different parts on fifteen different instruments.

They met in the band room everyday. It was when Yugi felt truly happy, when he felt he had friends, but he knew it wasn't going to last.

Summer was fast approaching and they would split. Ryou and Bakura were going to England in a few days when school let out for the last time for them. Ryou's father had invited his son and his boyfriend Bakura to go to a convention there with him. Malik, Marik and Ishizu were going back to Egypt for the summer before coming back for Malik and Marik to go to college together with the gang. So that just left Yugi, Seto and Mokuba. Even then Yugi was alone. Seto was the head of a company for crying out loud, and Mokuba was the new vice president.

Yugi paused his walking to look out at the sun set. His breath caught as he watched the last of the light submit to the darkness and fade. It seemed to have retreated, run away, until another day when it would come back to face the darkness once again. This time to triumph! To defeat the darkness, end its reign, and bring forth a new dawn, with the light came the time when all things prospered and grew. He decided that's what he would do as well.

Yugi pulled his jacket around him, not so much because he was cold, but more to try and get some comfort out of its confines. He might try retreating for now, for the summer. But he would return to go to college with his band here in Japan. He would return an prove to the darkness that was Yami that he didn't need his support, nor his friendship. Light could be alone and still shine. He didn't need Yami.

And besides, Yami hated him. He told Yugi on more occasions than the boy cared to remember that he hated his light. Yami was going out with Anzu, and it killed a little more of Yugi's heart every time Yugi saw them together. Yugi was in love with his own darkness. He would admit it to anyone who asked, but he couldn't take it anymore. He had finally given up on Yami. Yami would never dump Anzu, who was once both of their dream girl, especially for his pathetic light.

At first Yugi had been happy for them. He was happy because Yami and Anzu were happy. Then Anzu had started acting differently around him. She was the first one to insult him and strike him. Now they all hit him, even Grandpa and Yami. They had become the very bullies they had once tried to protect him from. He knew Anzu was a slut. She was cheating on Yami with a football jock. Although seemingly invisible he wasn't deaf. He heard the noises that came from his old room, now Yami's that floated down from the rafters. It was sickening to lie in bed trying to sleep with that going on above you. On occasion he had to get up and go to the restroom to relieve his stomach of its contents. He disliked them immensely.

Despite all the changes he underwent, hate never entered his vocabulary. If he ever learned to hate he would kill himself as the light. Light was pure. Light didn't hate. He was about as close to hate as you could get though with out crossing the border, towards his friends.

He would never hate Yami though. For all Yami had hit him, lied to him, and insulted him, he could never hate him. He still loved him. He had just given up on Yami ever loving him back or even noticing him for anything other than having him do something for him or Grandpa. No more. He was ready to leave the cold world Yami, Grandpa, Jounouchi, Anzu, and Honda had thrown him into. It was time for a vacation.

He decided then and there that he would leave Japan for the summer. In fact, he would leave on the last day of school in ten days, his birthday. If someone other than his band remembered, he would stay. If not, he would leave for the summer without a backwards glance. He nodded to himself as the last of the sun's light gave into the darkness. If he was going to leave, the least he could do was tell his band he was leaving. After all they'd done for him it was the least he could do for them. He wouldn't abandon them after what he had gone through with his old friends. Determination shining on his face, Yugi ran home.

He didn't really notice how late it was. Sure he saw the sunset but his mind was on other things rather than the significance it had towards the time. The game shop area of the house was closed with the lights off. As was now usual, they hadn't waited up for him to close down the shop.

Yugi went in the back again. Rather than go to his room right away, he went to the kitchen to retrieve the phone. Yami and Grandpa were eating already. Grandpa had again only cooked for two. Yugi rolled his eyes at the scene. They were chatting away as though Yami was the grandson and he was the only one who ever occupied that role. Yugi remembered when Grandpa and he would talk over dinner like that.

Sighing, Yugi turned away. It didn't matter anymore. In two weeks, if no one cared anymore, he'd be gone. He went down to his sanctuary, closing the door behind him. He shrugged off his coat and hung it on the end of the banister.

Once he had the phone he called the Kaiba's to ask if he could hold a band meeting there. Kaiba had said that whenever he needed to, he could hang out there so that's what he'd do. Seto and Mokuba said it was fine. Next he called the Ishtar's and relayed the message of the meeting. Malik and Marik promised to be there A.S.A.P.

Just as he was calling Bakura and Ryou, his door banged open. Yugi's shadow was standing at the top of the stairs glaring at his light.

"Who are you talking to?" Yami snarled.

"Just a friend from school Yami…"

"You don't have friends."

"We're doing an English project. I was just wondering when we would get together."

"Hurry up. Anzu will be calling soon."

"Okay," Yugi said meekly only to grumble as soon as Yami left, "I'll be sure to take my time then."

While Yugi was talking to Yami, Bakura was listening. He was outraged at the other yami's behavior. Sure he never liked the pharaoh but Yugi was alright and Yami was treating him like dirt. Yami was the very same person who talked about being there for one another.

Now that he thought about it, Yami and the friendship bitch made the perfect couple. They both preached crap and then did the thing they were supposedly against. It was enough to make anyone sick. Yugi had changed a lot, and they still thought him the same. He chuckled when he heard the end of Yugi's reply. Oh yeah, he'd defiantly changed.

"Hey Bakura," Yugi said when he heard the laugh. "Would you and Ryou mind meeting me at the Kaiba's?"

"No not at all. What's up Yugi?"

"I'll tell you when I get there. See you in a few Kura." Yugi hung up and proceeded to change his clothes once again. He wasn't going to a meeting with his friends in his work uniform. Rummaging through his closet he pulled out a white under shirt, pulling on a black one over it. A white message reading 'Keep staring, I might do a trick,' was scrawled across the front. Pulling on a pair of decent pants he pulled on some of his favorite sneakers and grabbed his bag. He never went anywhere with out it anymore.

A few weeks ago he had left it in his history classroom. When he came back for it during lunch, he found all of his stories, which he had been working on in private for the past year, ripped into pieces, including some of his newer songs. The sketch pad he always carried was torn apart. The book he had borrowed from the library was damaged and he had to pay for a new one. On top of all that, his homework was in shreds along with his textbooks. Needless to say, he hadn't gone anywhere without his bag since.

Sighing and knowing he was avoiding something he really didn't want to do, he grudgingly headed up to his old room. Yami was sprawled on the bed fast asleep moaning. Yugi wrinkled his nose. He knew that noise almost by heart, though it was burned into his mind. Yami was dreaming of having sex with Anzu. He quickly placed the phone in Yami's open hand before it clenched closed again. He left the room before Yami woke up and yelled at him.

Yugi had grabbed his jacket off the coat rack and left, slamming the door behind him. Yami jerked in his sleep. He bolted up screaming, "Yugi!" He woke up holding the phone. His eyes darted about for his hikari.

He looked at the clock it was about nine; maybe Yugi would still be home? He looked at the phone in his hand. Anzu would be calling soon.

Despite what he did, Yami couldn't stand her. He decided he loved Yugi almost three years ago. Shortly after, he decided to distance himself from Yugi. How could light love dark? He ignored Yugi hoping the feelings would disappear.

Sometimes they did.

Sometimes when he saw Yugi he lost his temper. He even hit him a few times, after he was always consumed with unbearable guilt. He would cry for Yugi but never apologize. Most of the time he ignored Yugi though; it was easier.

The phone rang. He sighed forgetting his beautiful hikari and engaged his 'girlfriend'.

Yugi ran through the streets of Domino. He was about halfway to Kaiba's. He stopped, hands on his knees panting. Maybe he should have asked Seto for a ride? Na, he didn't want to be any more of a problem. Besides, Seto's driver got off about two hours ago now. Yugi looked around. He was in a bad neighborhood. He stood up and walked forward. About 5 blocks later a pair of hands shot out and grabbed Yugi slamming him against the wall, pinning him to it with one hand around his neck; his face pressed into the wall.

"Well, well, looky what I got here," the man holding him was big and obviously drunk. He smelled Yugi's hair while his free hand traveled up his side. His hand moved to the front of Yugi's pants. "We're going to have fun you and me."

"No, please. Let me go." Yugi cried as he began to struggle fiercely.

"Guess I'll have to beat the fight out of ya." He said, slamming Yugi's head into the wall. He followed through as well.

He beat Yugi's fragile body until it hurt to both breath and scream. Yugi let himself go limp. He submitted to the man behind him as well as the pain. He had been trying to get Yami's help through the link. His desperation had broken through all of his dark's carefully constructed barriers. He tried to get Yami to listen to him, but Yami slammed him out saying he was busy talking to Anzu, and then resurrected his old barriers nearly twice as thick to prevent Yugi from getting back in. He kept pounding on Yami's mental wall; if he didn't focus on that, he'd have to face what was happening to him.

Tears of agony ran down his cheeks. As the man, Yugi noticed they were both unclothed now, slid into him he let out one final scream, ripped from his very soul, before unconsciousness embraced him.

Hours later he woke up alone in the alley way, the man had mercifully left him alone and alive. He gathered up his clothes and painfully redressed. Snatching his bag from where it had landed some time during the assault he limped all the way to the Kaiba's mansion. He must have fallen six times before he got there. He barely made it to the gate.

Yugi pushed the buzzer. Mokuba's voice drifted through the intercom.

"Hello?"

"Mo…kuba…" Yugi managed weakly before collapsing.

"Yugi? Yugi!" Mokuba was terrified by Yugi's hoarse weak voice. He ran to the room where Seto was sitting with the other band members.

Seto, noticing the distress on his little brother's face, walked briskly to his brother's side and knelt down in front of the boy.

"Hey Mokie, what's wrong?" Seto had started using Mokuba's old nickname after becoming better friends with Yugi. Yugi had helped him improve his relationship with his brother, and Seto would never forget it.

"Yugi…" Mokuba paused to catch is breath and gather his wits, "Yugi's outside. He sounds terrible. He…he…" Mokuba couldn't finish.

"Calm down. We'll go get him. You stay here." Seto said firmly, waiting just long enough to see Mokuba nod his head, before standing. The five other members of Light's Shadow left the room.

Bakura, Marik, and Seto were ahead of the lights and saw Yugi's form on the ground first. Bakura and Marik turned and restrained their trembling lights as Seto ran to Yugi's prone body.

The first thing he did was check for a pulse. After a moment he found it, but it was too faint for comfort. He scooped the teen up, ignoring the blood that began to coat his chest and arms. He headed back to the house cradling Yugi gently.

He set Yugi on the couch. Seto looked at Ryou and Malik both of whom were weeping in their yami's loving embraces. He sent Ryou to call both an ambulance and the police. Ryou hastened to comply.

"He's burning up. Malik can you go get a wash cloth from the bathroom, and Marik can you go get a bowl full of water from the kitchen?" Yami and hikari nodded and rushed to do their respective tasks. Seto looked at Bakura who was shaking with barely suppressed rage. Seto walked up to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong Bakura?"

"Yami…" Bakura managed to say this one word without the wall he built to hold off his anger breaking.

"What about Yami?" Seto pushed knowing it was better to let Bakura explode now rather than later when Yugi woke up.

"He should have been there for Yugi! Yami is so caught up with having fun that he's completely forgotten about his light!"

"We can't change what Yami does."

"But to Yugi of all people," Bakura cut in. Yugi had helped Ryou and him work out the mess they were in and learn to love each other. The happiest moments of his life and afterlife came with Yugi's help. It killed him to see Yami and the others put him through hell. The same was true for Marik and his hikari.

"You saw what Marik and I did to our hikari's. No matter what we do now, they will never be the same! But even after all we did to them; we never let them be mugged and raped! If Yugi went through this then he would have called out to Yami through the link! Yami obviously didn't care enough to come to help him! Yugi is lying there…" Bakura couldn't find the words so he just stated the obvious, "He's been raped Seto! He was also beaten! Either it was Yami, or when Yugi called him he didn't answer. Either way it's Yami's fault. Yami and those other bastards don't deserve him and we all know it."

"But what can we do?" a quiet voice came from the doorway. Seto and Bakura both jumped and whirled around to face Ryou. The pale hikari had tears coursing down his cheeks.

"We can't really do anything." Marik said, also stepping into view. "As much as I would like to go knock some sense into those jerks; we can't. It would upset Yugi." The group was interrupted by the screech of sirens. Seto scooped Yugi up again and carried him out to the stretcher.

They all piled into Seto's car after retrieving a distraught Mokuba from the game room. They tailed the ambulance and police cars all the way to the hospital. Yugi was rushed in and the other "Light's Shadow" members went to the waiting room.

After about two hours a doctor came in.

"Yugi Mouto?" Seto, Bakura, and Marik all stood up, careful not to disturb the little ones who were using them as pillows.

"Yes?" Seto said. Most of the doctors here were on his pay role.

"Well, I'm a little surprised he lived through that. There is sufficient evidence for rape. We recovered his attackers DNA. Yugi will need to be questioned when he feels up to it. He sustained some pretty bad injuries. I'm guessing his attacker threw him to the ground on some glass. His head was cut up probably from the same fall, or a similar one. He has quite a few fractured ribs; some might be from earlier as three of them looked to have been healing when they were broken again. His face is pretty bruised up. He took quite a beating. He's on mandatory life support. We're only allowing family to see him at this time. Do you want to contact them?"

"They won't care. We're as close to family as he's got."

"In that case you may go see him Mr. Kaiba," normally this wouldn't be permitted but seeing how it was the Seto Kaiba, he'd make an acceptation, "but I warn you, no rough-housing. He will be in a great deal of pain when he wakes up." The doctor said leading them to door number 381. Before they went in the doctor put a finger to his lips in the shushing motion before opening the door. The boys looked in and what they saw made their hearts wrench.

Yugi was the same color as the hospital sheets. His face was badly bruised and contorted in pain even in unconsciousness. He was wrapped in bandages.

The state Yugi was in tripled their hatred and thirst for vengeance. Yami would pay for allowing his light to enter this state.

They left for a moment to get the other lights and Mokuba. When the others saw Yugi a whole new barrage of tears poured down each of their faces. The three older boys just held them until they were in more control of their minds. The older three decided now was as good a time as any to talk to them about their plan to help Yugi.

The three older teens turned to the lights. "We have to leave for a while." Seto started.

"Where are you going? What could possibly be more important than Yugi?" Ryou demanded angrily. The thought of abandoning Yugi when he was in the hospital horrified him.

"We're going to knock some sense into Yami, and maybe his grandfather." Marik answered the angered hikari, not an easy thing to do when the one you love is glaring at you like there's no tomorrow as Malik was.

"Punch him once for me." Malik stated fiercely, no longer glaring at Marik. "No one should abandon someone just because they're weaker than they are. Yugi isn't even weak anymore."

"We know. It's time they knew it to." Bakura having said that turned towards the door, Seto and Marik following close behind.

Just as Seto reached the door he turned back to the hikari's, "Watch Mokuba for me?"

"Sure," Ryou said. The CEO let a smile slip and followed the yami's out the door.

The three angry teens piled into the car. The ride to the game shop was a quiet one. Each of them was thinking about how to extract revenge from the bastards who dared call Yugi their friend.

When they arrived at the Turtle Game Shop they saw all the lights were off. Yami and Grandpa hadn't even bothered to stay up for Yugi! They walked around back and started hammering on the door. After about ten minutes of this they decided that one of two things could be happening. 1) Yami and Grandpa weren't home or 2) they were both so deeply asleep that they weren't aware of anything in the outside world. Having decided this they used one of the spare keys Yugi had given each of them. They decided they didn't want to see the pharaoh or his elderly keeper and just went to Yugi's room.

As they arrived they looked around at the ordered chaos. Seto went to Yugi's laptop and shut it down, gently placing it in its case. He began to gather the books that were lying haphazardly on the floor. As Seto read the some of the titles of the novels that Yugi had read he was continually shocked by Yugi's high mentality. The books were all warn and obviously well read. They also looked to be second hand. Seto shook his head; he silently vowed to get Yugi all the books he ever wanted, if only the little light made it through this ordeal.

Marik got Yugi's guitar and put it in its case along with all of Yugi's music supplies including his spirals which he knew to hold lyrics to new songs Yugi was working on. Marik stopped when he found one that was lying open on the floor; obviously Yugi had been working on this one recently. He read over Yugi's song.

Ah ah ah ah ah...

Please, please forgive me
But I won't be home again
Maybe someday you'll look up
And barely conscious you'll say to no one-
Isn't something missing?

You won't cry for my absence, I know
You forgot me long ago

Am I that unimportant?

Am I so insignificant?

Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me?

(chorus)
Even though I'm the sacrifice
You won't try for me, not now
Though I'd die to know you love me
I'm all alone
Isn't someone missing me?

Please, please forgive me
But I wont be home again
I know what you did to yourself
I breathe deep and cry out-
Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me?

(chorus)

And if I bleed
I'll bleed
Knowing you don't care
And if I sleep just to dream of you
I'll wake without you there
Isn't something missing?
Isn't something…

[chorus]

It was pain filled words set to a drastic, yet interesting beat. The way Yugi wrote his songs both astounded and scared Marik. He had all of the parts written out including all of the instrumentals. Looking it over, Marik could tell that this particular song was a ballad. Yugi had titled it 'Missing' (1). Reading it, he saw a beautiful song that was eerie in how dark it was. Marik gently closed the precious notebook and gathered all of Yugi's picks and all of his guitar accessories.

With Marik taking care of Yugi's music and Seto his books and computer Bakura decided to tend to packing Yugi's clothes. He found mostly black things that not only might fit him, but were things he would actually wear. That was disturbing seeing that most things he wore were more accepted in night clubs. Not that he was complaining. What Yugi wore was great for the group image but it didn't much portray the innocence that he had once worn so openly but now could only be seen in his eyes. You could tell that things had changed for little Yugi just by his wardrobe.

After packing all of Yugi's things in three suitcases, two for clothes and one for all his personal items, they looked around the drab room once again. They noted with hard eyes the blood stains that were on the walls and Yugi's sheets. It infuriated each of them that Yugi's own family, whom he still protects, hit him hard enough to make him bleed.

They walked through the house looking for anything else that might be Yugi's. Seto went into the bathroom and gathered all the things that appeared to be Yugi's and stuffed them into the bag. Most of the stuff was Yami's though and he had to look to find any of Yugi's stuff as it had been pushed to the side, so much like Yugi himself.

Marik was walking through the halls looking for anything they might have missed. He felt it was a somewhat pointless mission, but you could never be too careful. As he was walking, he noticed something odd. None of the pictures in the whole house were of Yugi. He wasn't in any of them. Not one! The only people in these pictures were Yami and Grandpa. There was even a picture of Yugi's parents, but no Yugi. There was one with the entire gang, including the band members and Grandpa but if Marik remembered correctly, Yugi had been the one to take the picture. That had to be the last time they were all together with Yugi being included. It might have even been the day that Yugi had started to be excluded from the group. That was such a long time ago, yet he could remember the day perfectly.

They gathered in the entrance hall and took one last look around the house. Bakura with his thief's eye spotted something on the table. "Hey guys?" Bakura said pointing towards the table. The three boys walked over and found what had caught Bakura's attention. It was a note on the table. They got closer and they read he picked it up off the table. The note was short and surprisingly from Yami. It read:

Yugi,

Grandpa-gone, Egypt. Went to Anzu's-back tomorrow. Make breakfast -clean house.

Yami

"That's all he has to say to his light? He doesn't even know where Yugi is!" Bakura snarled slamming his hand down on the table as Marik stole the note from him. Marik too growled as he finished reading and passed it to Seto, who was waiting expectantly.

"I've had enough of this house. Let's get out of here!" Marik snarled as he grabbed one of the bags and left the game shop/house; Seto right behind him. Bakura wadded up the note and left it on the table.

Yami shot up from his position on Anzu's bed. He had been awaken from a nightmare he wasn't sure was his. He held his head as he was trying to sort out what it had been about. He remembered… and then it was gone. The only thing that he still had was an overwhelming sense of fear. And even that was fading fast. He looked around. Why wasn't he in his room? Where was he? Oh yes, he was in Anzu's room. And there was Anzu, gripping him like a vice. They were both topless. God he felt like he was going to throw up. It wasn't that she was deformed or weird or anything, actually she was normal for a 16 year old. Most any girl would kill to look like Anzu.

If he was interested in girls he would have been more than satisfied with her looks; if he was interested in girls. Since he wasn't, he felt as though he was going to hurl. The fact that the only way he could shut Anzu up was by granting her a sexual favor, was driving him insane! Not only did it stop her from babbling but if he didn't do what she wanted she would beg for it insistently, not stopping until he was ready to do anything, if only just to shut her up.

Now it had gotten to the point where it was expected of him to do something for her. It was driving him nuts. But it was a way to release his sexual frustrations without tainting Yugi. He would never forgive himself if he had done that, even unintentionally when he got drunk. Though it tore him to pieces to ignore his hikari, it was necessary. He didn't want to hurt him. He had almost choked when Yugi broke through the link.

How long had it been since he had last heard Yugi through the link? He couldn't remember. He was worried that if Yugi got far enough into the link he would catch the emotions that ran through Yami every time he merely heard Yugi's voice, let alone felt his presence. So he built a wall as strong and as thick as he could to keep the light out.

He had immediately slammed the young boy out. He didn't even wait long enough to hear Yugi out or even feel any of the emotions that Yugi was feeling. He felt really bad about it, but soon dismissed the thought. If he were to apologize then Yugi would start to think that he cared about him, and he did! He just couldn't let Yugi know how much.

He had calmed down by now, and settled back down to sleep. Thoughts of a dark alley way and a mysterious male haunted his dreams that night and for many nights to come.

The "Light's Shadow" band waited crowded around in Yugi's hospital room. It was decently sized. It had a T.V. DVD/Gaming system mounted on one of the walls opposite of Yugi's bed. There was even a couch that would fold out into a sleeper bed and a recliner with a foot stool. It also had a rocking chair and several comfortable chairs that people could sit in. Attached to the room was a bathroom with a shower toilet and sink. The window was to Yugi's left, and opposite the bathroom, the window, and thus the room had a lovely view of the ocean, all in all the room was nicely furnished with art work, drapes, towels, extra blankets and pillows, end tables, and plants to boot.

Despite the beautiful decor of the room, its occupants were bleak. Worry lines were on all of their faces, even Mokuba. Each was waiting for some sign that Yugi would be alright.

A forensics team had already started their investigation. The band had been waiting for Yugi to wake up for hours. He was still pale, but he looked peaceful now, rather than how he looked when he first arrived at the hospital. The lights had all fallen asleep along with their darks. Mokuba was sleeping on his big brothers lap. Seto was the only one awake. He and the darks had worked out a system. He would stay awake for a few hours watching Yugi, and then he would wake Bakura. It was almost time for Bakura's turn. Seto rearranged Mokuba so he could get up. He was just shaking Bakura when a moan woke him, and Marik up anyway. Both had trained their bodies, in their former lives in Egypt, to awaken to the slightest sound. They too rearranged their lights and got up.

They walked over to Yugi's bed. His eyes were fluttering open. Bakura went to wake up the still snoozing lights. He gently shook each of them.

When their eyes opened, he put a finger to his lips to keep them quiet. Yugi was on serious pain killers and would probably have a headache or at least wouldn't be ready for hyper hikari's. The still, temporarily, groggy lights wondered over to Yugi's bed and watched him wake up.

Yugi's eyes fluttered open. He broke into a smile despite the pain it brought to his face. "Hey, guys. Did I get hit by a bus?"

No one could suppress a small grin, grim as it was ,at Yugi's attempt at humor. "How are you feeling?" Ryou ventured to ask. He moved to sit beside the prone boy and took his hand.

"Like shit," was the blunt answer he received. Again everyone had to smile at Yugi. He could always do that, make them smile, without really trying. They were grateful. The lights especially, their darks and Seto didn't smile much except when it wasn't at their light, or in Seto's case, Mokuba. "When can I get out of here?" Yugi asked, not looking forward to spending much time in the hospital. Hospitals were full of hurt people. Yugi hated to see people hurt.

Bad memories were also associated with hospitals for him, but his friends would think only of the first reason and not ask about the other. He wasn't sure himself if he would tell them that he watched his parents die in a hospital when the doctors couldn't do any thing to help them. That was the worst birthday of his life. Yeah, it was his birthday when his parents died.

"Tomorrow. It's close to midnight. Do you want to have the meeting now?" Seto asked.

"That depends. How tired are you?"

"We've been sleeping in shifts and then we were all sleeping when they finally told us you were okay and we could see you. I don't really feel tired at the moment, but I can't speak for the others." Seto explained thoroughly. Yami and the old group had tried to keep things from Yugi. He saw how badly it had affected the little one, and he and the others vowed to never do that to Yugi again.

"Well I don't really care whether we have the meeting now or tomorrow." Yugi told them. He didn't want them to be tired.

"I'm fine to do it now," Malik assured him. The others nodded their agreement.

"Okay then, if you insist. I'm planning on leaving Japan for the summer. I'll leave on my birthday and be back in time for college. The only way I won't leave is if either Yami or Grandpa or anyone, other than you guys of course, notices me, heck I'm not picky. All they'd have to do is say 'hi' to me. I can't even remember the last time they did that…" Yugi trailed off in old, hard memories.

"Are you sure you want to leave? You still have us, you know?"

"Yeah I know. That's why it's only for the summer. I mean, you guys are all going somewhere, and Seto, you and Mokuba will be busy running Kaiba Corp. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to leave you guys after all you've done for me. It's just; I don't think I'll be able to stand living in that house one more day!"

"You won't have too," interjected Ryou smiling.

"Huh?" Yugi was looking at his friend's faces and saw understanding. It had been so long since he had seen that directed at him, it took him by surprise.

"Bakura, Marik and I went over to your house, and don't give me that shit about it not being yours because it is. You do all the work around that thing!"

Yugi had been known for denying that the place he was staying was really his house. He didn't really want it to be. Not to mention the fact that it had been snarled at him, so many times that he had lost count, that it wasn't his house, and that by the good of their hearts, as though they really had good hearts, Yami and Grandpa were letting him stay there rather than throwing him out on the streets.

Yugi would have often liked to point out that he was the only one who cleaned the house that 'they' owned. He even paid some of the bills out of his own pocket money; to the point that Grandpa decided that he didn't have any more money and thus stopped trying to guilt him into paying the bills.

What Grandpa didn't know was that Yugi had been working two jobs and now had cash to spare. He had enough saved up to buy the game shop they lived over, in his case under. Grandpa had emptied out his college fund so he'd have no where to go, and he, Grandpa that is, could have his little slave; unless of course Yugi managed to get honors and a scholarship. That was unlikely though in the eyes of Grandpa.

In the eyes of Grandpa, Yugi was a screw up who couldn't do anything. He was totally unaware that Yugi was taking all AP classes and his grades were better than Yami's; as though Grandpa would care enough to check Yugi's grades. That was unheard of. Grandpa didn't give a wit how Yugi was doing in school or anywhere else for that matter.

His friends didn't interrupt Yugi as they noticed he was reflecting on what Seto had said. When they noticed his eyes were back in focus after only a few seconds they waited for the nod. There it was.

Seto continued. "We decided that it would benefit you, and all of us for that matter, if you stayed at our," Seto motioned to Mokuba and himself at this, "house for the remainder of the school year, perhaps even over the summer as well? This way you can get away from Yami and your grandpa, and you won't have to keep sneaking out. Not that they'd actually care if they did notice you were gone." Yugi grinned at this even though it was painful, it was the truth, and it was useful at times, he had to admit. "Anyway," Seto continued again, "this way we can hold practices at our house and not worry about you having to go home."

Yugi was the only one who ever had to go home after practices or get home at a certain time. Ryou and Bakura lived alone as did Malik and Marik so they didn't have to go home if the practices got too late. "I was actually thinking we could have a really long sleepover of sorts, you know with all of us? As a going away/birthday party present to Yugi and ourselves of course, I mean this might be the last time we'll be able to see each other for quite a while," Seto managed to say this without sounding like a child, Yugi started to smile again, it was unlike Seto to do something so like Mokuba, it was funny to see him act like his younger brother over something so small, and yet pull off the air of a snob.

"I don't have a problem with it. Do you Bakura?" Ryou asked his lover. While he could have just gone by himself, he wanted Bakura's say in the matter. He knew Bakura would most likely agree, but then again--.

Ryou's thoughts were cut short when Bakura answered "I'm in." He smirked down at his light, who knew that Bakura had been reading his thoughts, and gave the boy a light kiss on the lips.

Malik and Marik just finished a conversation via their mind link as Malik spoke up with a shrug, "We're free till summer."

"Then it's settled! Tomorrow you can come home with us until you all leave for the summer," said Seto addressing all of them, as Yugi was due for release the next morning. The hospital could only do so much and it was this much and no more. Yugi was free to go as soon as the main checkout desk opened the next day.

Yugi was having the best week of his life. He didn't have to go home to Yami and Grandpa for one thing. Because of Seto's limo, he didn't have to walk home or to school, and avoided all the bullies that would normally beat him up. School seemed easier now that he could actually do his homework. Nightmares had left him alone for the most part, and when they didn't, none of his friends minded him sleeping with them for the comfort he desperately needed. He started to eat more, and hadn't felt the need to cut once.

He had already given notice at both his jobs. And his birthday was the day after tomorrow. He had never had so much fun in his life. It almost made him not want to leave, almost.

On Wednesday, Yami and the gang overheard Ryou and Malik talking about a party they were holding on Friday, what they didn't hear was that it was for Yugi's birthday. They waltzed up to the two hikari's. "What's this 'ere party for, guys?" Jou's unmistakable accent floated over to the hikari's and made them loose their train of thoughts along with any patience they had accumulated after Yugi's rape.

Coldly, Ryou replied, "A friend."

"Well then, who is it? I think we know almost every one. But you guys have been really secretive recently. So it must be someone we don't know. Why don't we get to know him? I mean if we don't know him then he must not have many friends." Anzu's screech came out an octave higher than the rest of the hallway's occupants, making it easily distinguishable.

"He's our friend. That's all he needs. Besides you all know him you just don't like him."

"Well then, who is it?" Anzu snarled.

"Yugi," Malik said glaring at them all.

"Why the hell are you throwing a party for him?" Tristan asked the stupid question this time.

"Like you'd care!" Malik snarled back barely holding himself back from lunging at the brunet. Ryou gripped his arm just in case.

"You're right, we don't care," Anzu took over again.

"He's not going anyway. Not if I have anything to say about it." This time Yami was the one snarling at the two hikari's. He smirked thinking he had just ruined their plans.

"I'd like to see you try to stop him pharaoh!" Bakura stalked up to them. Ryou had been contacting him through their mink link. "Tell me, do you even know where your hikari is?"

"What, you think I care where that weakling is?" Yami retorted.

"Exactly," Bakura grunted as he cocked his fist back and punched Yami square in the nose. "That's for being a damn hypocrite!" He all but growled at Yami who was now being held by his sluttish girlfriend. "You don't give a fucking shit about Yugi! You don't know anything about him! You don't have the right to call him your hikari!" With those hateful words spoken, Bakura, Ryou, and Malik turned and stalked down the hall still fuming.

At the end of the day Yami went home as usual but Bakura's words were stuck in his head. First off was why would they throw a party for Yugi? What was so special about the day after tomorrow? Yami walked into the game shop and found Grandpa at the counter.

"Hello Yami! How was your day at school?" Grandpa asked enthusiastically. "Oh Yami, what happened?" Grandpa asked when he noticed that Yami had a bloody nose.

"It's nothing Grandpa," at this Yami stopped. Since when did he start calling Solomon Mouto, Grandpa? Solomon wasn't his Grandpa. He was Yugi's. It made him feel worse than he already was. He decided to ask Grandpa what was so special about the day after tomorrow.

"I'm not sure, let's check the calendar." They went over to the door and looked at the calendar. Nothing was on that date. Not giving up, they checked the garage where they stored the old calendars. They each took a stack of them. Yami took the ones from four years ago and up and Solomon took the ones from five years ago and previous. Solomon was the first to come up with something. In two days time would be the day that Yugi's parents died, and he lost his son.

Yami struck next. On the calendar from two years ago was marked Yugi's birthday. Grandpa's was marked as well, but he got so caught up with the death of his son that he had yet to check the rest of the date.

"Yugi… Yugi's birthday… We forgot about it last year! And the year before!" Grandpa stated horrified that he could have forgotten something as important as his own grandsons birthday when Yami pointed out that .

"That's why Ryou and Malik were planning a party for him! We had forgotten all about it for the last two years." Yami said somewhat satisfied at solving the mystery, and somewhat horrified that he had forgotten his own souls birthday three years in a row.

"We can't change the past no matter how much I want to, but the fact remains that we did do all that to Yugi, and we need to make it up to him.

"I know! How about we throw him a party as well! For when he gets home from the one that Ryou, Malik, and the others are throwing. We can make him a cake, buy him presents and everything. It'll be just us," Grandpa said enthusiastically.

"That's a great idea! Hey, do you know if Yugi's home or not?"

Grandpa replied with a solemn shake of his head. Earlier that day, Solomon had no reason to watch for Yugi. They both assumed that Yugi was downstairs being quiet, as the last time he was too noisy they had both gone downstairs and beaten him.

Remembering this only made them feel worse, and more determined to set things right. They decided not go downstairs to check on him, wanting everything to be a complete surprise.

The next morning when Yami and Grandpa got up they expected to find some sign of Yugi. But it appeared that he had left early. In fact neither of them had seen Yugi as of late, but assumed that he was leaving for school early, or was just being 'good'. (3) Yami was a little disappointed that Yugi wouldn't be able to walk to school with their friends. (4) They too had been ignoring Yugi as of late.

As Yami was walking to school, Jou asked him what was up. At first he just shook his head signaling that it was nothing. But the gang wouldn't take no for an answer. Finally Yami caved and told his friends, "Tomorrow is Yugi's birthday."

"Oh shit," Jou cursed visibly upset. "How could I forget Yugi's birthday?" He didn't seem to remember the fact that they were the ones who had been so vehement about him not going to any sort of party on Friday, in fact, he had forgotten all about the argument between them, Ryou, Malik, and Bakura.

"We all did big brother, don't blame yourself," Serenity tried to calm her brother.

"You don't understand Serenity. I promised Yugi I would always be there for him, and what have I been doing? I've been beating him up again!" Jou looked ready to kill the first thing that moved. He was furious at himself; he had broken his promise to someone who had never let him down.

"You're not the only one who broke a promise to Yugi," Yami told him in a pained voice. Yami had been up all night trying to plan a party for Yugi but had a difficult time. It took him a while to decide that he knew very little about what his hikari liked now-a-days. He was very reluctant to admit this, even to himself. It took him all of three hours to figure out how very little he knew about his young hikari.

Jou paused mid rant and looked over at the depressed pharaoh. Yami's body was shaking with suppressed sobs. "Don't worry Yami; we'll make it up to him." Jou tried to comfort his friend, placing an arm around the pharaohs shoulders. Yami seemed to soak in strength from his friend and nodded. He pulled himself back together. The topic then turned to different ideas on what to do for Yugi's birthday. They tried to think positively. It didn't work.

The three of them made it to school where they were immediately confronted by Anzu and the rest of the gang. When Jou told them what he had gotten from Yami, as Yami was in no condition to tell it again, everyone but Anzu was really upset as well.

Even though they had all hit him they didn't really remember why or what Yugi had done to deserve it. He was just annoying to them at times, and it seemed like a good idea when they were doing it. Now they felt horrible. They had hurt the one person who had offered friendship regardless of what they had done in the past. They could only hope that Yugi would still be as understanding now that he was before this had all happened. Yami invited them all to the party he and Grandpa were throwing for Yugi, and they all readily agreed, well except Anzu. Yami couldn't figure out why. She had after all been Yugi's first friend. Now she just didn't seem to care.

Anzu was, in fact, trying to tell them that it was nothing. That they shouldn't feel bad for what they were doing to Yugi as he deserved everything they did to him. The group including Yami glared at her and left her standing alone in the courtyard wondering what she had said wrong.

All day they searched for Yugi, but as they were seated in a seating chart, none for them were anywhere near Yugi in any of their classes. Anzu apologized for what she had said in the courtyard and they welcomed her back accepting the apology. They looked for Yugi at the break but couldn't find him. They did find Bakura, Ryou, Malik, Marik, and Seto all hanging together and tried to go talk to them.

As they walked up the conversation between the five halted and they glared at the approaching group, even the lights were glaring at them with such a fierce hatred that they resembled their darks. Noticing the cold attitudes they were receiving, Anzu decided to ask what was up. Instead of getting an answer, the group turned around and began to walk away.

Jou stopped them dead in their tracks by shouting over at them, "Hey, you guys want to go to the party we're throwin' for Yug's birthday tomorrow?"

The five all turned sharply. "How do you know it's his birthday? You haven't cared for him in three years, why start now." Malik snarled sounding for all the world like his yami. They turned again and left as the bell rang. Hearing the words stung the gang deeply. Knowing something is true and actually hearing it are two different things. Anzu silently agreed with Malik. Why did they suddenly care about Yugi? She had been working so hard to get them to forget about him, and now that she was so close they had to suddenly care about him again. The gang hurried off to their next class.

At lunch they began their search for Yugi again. They didn't find him, as he was in the library like he had been on the break. They were in the main hallway during second lunch when they heard eerie music hauntingly drift through the corridor. They could guess where it was coming from as the band room was at the end of the hallway. After sharing a glance they all headed that way. Soon the words the vocalist took shape. They could plainly hear the emotions that fed his voice.

"Now I will tell you what I've done for you
50 thousand tears I've cried
Screaming, deceiving, and bleeding for you…
And you still won't hear me,"

Another person came in to sing the next line of the song. They couldn't tell who but they had amazing control. The voice sounded similar to the other one, only this one sounded electronic somehow.

"(I'm going under)"

The singer was back now.

"Don't want your hand this time I'll save myself

Maybe I'll wake up for once,

Not tormented daily defeated by you

Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom"

This time the voice sounded less recorded, but it didn't seem human either.

"I'm dying again!"

The music sped up to a much faster pace, the instruments joined the singer. Though it was still haunting in a way

"I'm going under

Drowning in you

I'm falling forever

I've got to break through

I'm going under"

The melody went back to the slow methodically creepy sound that it opened with.

"Blurring and Stirring the truth and the lies

So I don't know what's real and what's not

Always confusing the thoughts in my head

So I can't trust myself anymore

I'm dying again"

"I'm going under

Drowning in you

I'm falling forever

I've got to break through"

Just the tone of these last few lines indicated that the song was coming to a head. You could taste the emotions that were running wild throughout the songs.

"I'm--So go on and scream

Scream at me I'm so far away

I won't be broken again

I've got to breathe I can't keep going under!"

Everything froze as the singer paused.

I'm dying again

I'm going under,

Drowning in you

I'm falling forever

I've got to break through

The music seemed to blend together, more singers joined the haunting voice to

I'm going under

Going Under

I'm going under!

Just as the song ended, the bell rang. The group playing had some real talent with timing! The gang was only a few meters away from the band room door now. They were about to go in and see who was singing. Maybe even make friends with them or something. These people were good enough to get signed and make it big some day.

They were just about to come within range of the door when it opened. Yugi, of all people, came out with a guitar case on his back. At least they thought it was Yugi. He looked so different from the shy Yami impersonator that he once was. Now his hair was surprisingly a different color. Before it was the royal colors of crimson and gold, now it was a deep sapphire blue and silver. It didn't look any less majestic than before, it just wasn't the same. For the first time they noticed the silver hoop dangling from Yugi's right ear. His attire was a plain baggy black t-shirt under his uniform. He was still wearing a choker, that much hadn't changed, but he wasn't wearing the puzzle. It cut Yami deeply to think how long Yugi hadn't worn it and he hadn't noticed. It was another example of how far away he pushed his light; intentionally, to his disgrace. Now he knew why Bakura had called him a hypocrite. He was the one who was always telling his hikari about friendship and sticking together.

They continued to gape at Yugi's appearance as he was walking down the hall.

He didn't even notice them, to Anzu's furry. She liked it when she saw the pain in Yugi's eyes when he saw them together with out him, especially when they were either hitting him or she was kissing Yami. Kissing Yami was always nice, wonderful even, but it was so much more fun when she saw how much it hurt the little crybaby.

Yami was about to follow his hikari down the hall, when Ryou, Malik, Marik, and Bakura all came out of the band room as well.

"You!" Anzu screeched as she saw the boys come out.

The four groaned, "Not again. Do you guys think you could stop stalking us?" Malik said sarcastically. Just then Seto came out. He had heard Anzu's screech and Malik's retort. He silently placed his hand on Malik's shoulder to stop any other comments.

Seto followed the pharaohs eyes as they followed the short hikari down the hallway away from them; he stepped forward drawing the pharaohs attention saying, "Haven't you hurt him enough? What, are you going to pretend you care on the one day he will most likely believe you, and therefore is vulnerable, just to leave him again tomorrow? You all know that nothing would change. He might never even trust you again. And you know what? He'd be right.

"You all have hurt him too many times for any normal person to forgive. Yet, as you know, Yugi isn't a normal person. And I think that's what you are counting on. Well forget it. We're not going to let you ruin his birthday." With that said the five of them walked away leaving the gang staring after them, thinking on what Seto had said, and how true it was.

The rest of the day, the gang tried to corner Yugi to talk to him, but none of them even got close. Yugi was always the first one out of class and the last one in the room before class. In between classes, he disappeared entirely. It was maddening trying to find Yugi.

What they didn't know was that Yugi wasn't even present inside the school walls. He was on ships with pirates, meeting dragons, and discovering islands all with out leaving the library. He didn't even go to his locker, where the gang would try to find him, as he carried all his books with him to all of his classes. He didn't even want to think about the last time he had gone to his locker to put his books away. Someone thought it would be funny to stuff his locker with trash. The smell, as far as he knew, was still there.

Finally school was over. Jou, Honda, Otogi, Shizuka, and Yami raced to the game shop. Hours passed, and still no Yugi. They went down stairs to check on Yugi, see if he had managed to sneak home with out Solomon noticing.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs they stopped dead. The room was empty of everything but furniture, meaning a mattress, and bloodstains on the walls. They looked around and saw the extent of the torture they put Yugi through. They knew it was bad, but not this bad!

They looked around to try to find out if there was any indication that someone still lived there. Searching around the room for anything that Yugi might have left behind was futile. They looked at the room that they had tortured Yugi in for so long and grieved for the friend that they had destroyed. Yami walked around the room and silently cried. This is how he repaid the kindness of Yugi, who had freed him from the puzzle and yet refused to make him a slave. The innocent little boy had done something that Yami himself later proved incapable of, loving someone he had never met enough to let them be their own person and to help people with out any strings attached.

Yami ran his hand over the only poster he found. It was a beautiful poem. Yugi still surrounded himself with beauty, despite being thrown out of his room and into this hole in the ground. Yami remembered this; they had read it in that American Literature class Yugi had insisted on taking. Yugi was fascinated about this man who described something so simple and yet could show someone something beyond the words.

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower,

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay."

As he reread the words he found something new in it he had never thought of. Sure the poem itself described the turn of nature and how spring could never stay, and how each spring was different, but there was always that one you remembered and kept with you. But he could see something else in there too, innocence is the hardest thing to hold onto. Once you lose it it's gone forever and you forget; what was it like, to watch your first butterfly float gently about a flower? What was it like to see the wind blow across a field of grass, or sweep the treetops? Nothing stayed the same, and yet nothing really changed. Butterflies still flew around flowers, wind still blew, but the first time you stopped to look and be enchanted by the simple things is often the last time.

Yami ran his hand over the poster once again realizing that he could stand here forever thinking on this poem, but it wouldn't find Yugi, and it wouldn't bring him any closer to getting his hikari back. As his hand glided over the wall he paused, and brought it back, more gently, what was that?

It was like the wall gave way behind the poster in a hole of some sort. He pealed away the two bottom corners of the poster, careful not to rip it. There was a hole hidden behind the poster. A glint of gold caught his eye. His heart jumped into his throat, the Millennium Puzzle. It was the only thing that Yugi left behind in this whole room. He hadn't bothered to come back and reclaim it. Did that mean that he was unwilling to come back and didn't want it or what it used to represent anymore?

Yami, tears slipping out of his eyes and with a broken sob, slipped the chain over his head and felt the cold weight settle around his neck. It wasn't supposed to be cold. Ever since Yugi had solved the puzzle it had buzzed with warmth, now that the pharaoh had abandoned its owner, it had been set aside and had gone back to the cold dormant state. It no longer needed to work to preserve a bond that had snapped years ago.

After looking around for something else, anything else, and finding nothing, they decided to ask the other band members if they knew where the lost light was.

The last place they looked was the Kaiba mansion, for obvious personal reasons. They tried the other's houses to find them locked up tight and empty.

They knocked on the huge door, and the butler let them in. With a final disapproving glance he left them standing in the waiting room.

After about ten minutes, Seto Kaiba him self, came storming down into the landing. The group could tell from his demeanor and his facial expression, which was hard and accusing, he was not happy to see them. Seto deemed it unnecessary to say anything for the moment, just stood there calculating why these unwelcome guests were here.

"What do you want?" Seto finally demanded, despite how much he hated them for what they did to Yugi, he was still curious as to why Solomon, Yami, Jou, Honda, Otogi, Shizuka, and worst of all Anzu, were doing in his house.

"Do you know where Yugi is?" Solomon asked stepping forward.

"He's working his last shift at his job. But you wouldn't know anything about that would you? After that shift, he's packing to leave for the summer."

"If that's the case, we must stop him from leaving!" Yami insisted preparing himself to run out the door and find his light.

Seto leveled a glare at Yami that stopped him cold, "Just how much do you know about Yugi's life right now? Did you even know he has two jobs? Did you know, before yesterday of course, that he was in a band? Do you know where he is every spare second of the day? Do you know what he does to himself? Do you know what happens to him everyday? What happened to him a week ago?" The seven people across from him just shook their heads to all his questions, looking more and more distressed as more were named. "Since you know nothing about him, I suggest you stay here until you do. You've gone without caring for him for a year; you can wait an hour or so to learn more about him before you run off to confront him."

Yami tried to protest, "I have to talk to Yugi before it's too late! We need to leave right now and find him!"

Seto sneered, "So you know which of the 500 café's in Domino that Yugi works at?"

Yami paused and thought this through realizing that unless Kaiba told him where Yugi was, he would never find him on his own in time. "Now wait for a minute while I go get the others. It's better if you know the whole story."

"But-," Yami began to protest.

"He's not going anywhere without his bags, so make your selves comfortable. You have two years to hear about. Only when you know what Yugi's life has been like since you six turned on him, will we let you anywhere near him." The group went into the living room as directed by the butler, and sat down to wait.

Again Anzu voiced her protest to being there. She didn't want the others to go on a guilt trip when Yugi was so close to leaving them forever! She wanted them back to the way they had been for the past two years.

"If you don't want to be here, bitch, leave." Bakura's voice shattered the peace of the living room as he and the other band members entered.

"Fine then, I will!" Anzu stated standing up, she gave a pleading look to the others to stand up and defend her. None of them moved. "Come on Yami." Anzu screeched at her boyfriend.

"I think it's a good idea that you leave, Anzu. You obviously don't care for Yugi."

"Your right I don't. He's just a little fag who can't take care of himself and always causes problems!" Before Anzu knew what was happening to her, she was slammed up against a wall.

Marik, livid, had the bitch by the throat. That she could openly say those hateful things about Yugi in front of them proved not only that she had absolutely no sense, but also that she wanted to be killed!

"Take that back!" Marik growled.

"Why should I? It was the truth!"

Marik growled and lifted her off the couch. Putting up with her kicking and screaming all the way, he threw her bodily out of the mansion. She landed on the ground with her too short skirt hiked up, showing off her bright pink thong. Before he had to witness more of this horror, Marik slammed the door closed.

"Sorry about that," Marik stated happily as though nothing happened, he sat down. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing really, we were just about to start." Ryou said smiling at the yami who returned the gesture.

Yami and the other five guests were shocked by the exchange. Was this Marik? The same Marik who tried to send his hikari to the shadow realm, who purposely hurt Ryou and manipulated Bakura for his own gain? The man who didn't care who was in his way of destroying the world, as he was going to kill them with out a second glance, Marik? What had happened to him? Is it possible that this was all Yugi's doing? Was Marik actually being nice? And then there was Bakura, and Kaiba! What was up with them? These three were some of the cruelest people they knew and they were acting decent.

"I guess it started around two years ago…" Ryou started.

Ryou and Malik were at the park wandering around, not caring what they did for the day. They were just looking for a little entertainment and to get away from their yami's. Ryou stopped dead in his tracks. Malik, only a few seconds behind, ran into him.

Cursing loudly, he asked, "Why the fuck did you stop right in front of me Ryou?"

Ryou just pointed to the tree. Upon closer examination they had noticed Yugi. His clothes were tattered and stained with blood. He was shivering badly but was surrounded by books and papers. He had a guitar on his lap and was humming to himself.

The hikari's frowned, they distanced themselves from the others a few years ago. They didn't like how the others were so self obsessed. Not only that, but the group didn't even notice they were gone. The others didn't really trust them after all their yami's had done, so they hadn't hung around in a long time. And they never saw Yugi anymore.

The two hikari's shared a glance and walked over toward Yugi. As they sat down beside him, Yugi jumped, startled, and his tri-colored head shot up.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" asked Yugi, curious as to why they were over near him. Were they here to spite him more? Actually, he hadn't seen them around for quite a while. They never seemed to be around Yami and the others anymore, but then again, neither was he.

"Well we were just wandering around, saw you, and were wondering if you wanted to hang out with us?" Malik asked. Ryou nodded his agreement.

"Sure." Yugi answered. The three hikari's winced as they climbed to their feet, pulling on tender, healing bruises. Yugi knew why he was wincing. Yami and his friends had decided that he was in the way again, but why were the others?

"Hey Yugi, why are you limping?" asked Ryou. Yugi looked at him and sighed. He was wondering what to say as he picked up all of his stuff. He slung his guitar onto his back and walked with his fellow hikari's.

"Yami and Grandpa decided I didn't clean the house well enough today. They decided to punish me." Yugi said while pulling up his sleeve and showing the two hikari's the purple bruises. "What happened to you guys?"

Ryou and Malik wouldn't meet his gaze. "Our yami's have been beating us for quite some time now." Ryou supplied when it became obvious that Malik wasn't going to say anything.

"Oh," Yugi said realization dawning on his face.

"We were actually just going to hang out here for a while. But we have to be home sooner or later." Ryou said again.

"Do you mind if I hang out with you as well?" Yugi asked a dim hope shining in his eyes.

Malik looked down into those dull violet eyes holding a spark of hope in their depths. "Sure," he said with a smile, his first in some time. Ryou smiled as well as a grin lit Yugi's face.

They walked around the park for the rest of the day talking about nothing and anything that came to mind. Then Ryou noticed sadly that it was time for him and Malik to head home.

Yugi looked up at the two taller hikari's and asked if he could come as well. Malik and Ryou traded looks. They were both forbidden to talk to Yugi and Yami at all, but Yugi's eyes won him the small victory as the two nodded.

As they reached the small house Yugi noticed there were very few lights on. Ryou shared that both yami's preferred the dark to light and thus kept most of the lights off. Ryou and Malik bid farewell to Yugi and stepped inside the haunting house.

Yugi was about halfway down the block when he heard a scream. Without thinking of the consequences he turned and ran full tilt back to the house. He twisted the handle to find it locked. He rammed against the door for quite a while before the hinges finally gave way. Yugi couldn't leave Ryou and Malik alone in there, not when he knew they were being beaten. He dashed inside.

Bakura and Marik were standing ominously over Ryou and Malik who were both bleeding on the floor. Yugi didn't waste time asking questions. He ran in between the hikari's and their yami's just as the yami's were about to strike their counterparts again.

Yugi shielded Ryou and Malik from their yami's with his own body. He went down hard, his arms jarring from preventing his head from smacking against the hard floor.

The boy had to wait a moment before he got his wind back before he, wincing in pain, stood up again. He found himself facing two very confused, violent, yami's.

"What the hell?" Marik stated as he stared into determined amethyst eyes.

"If you want to hit someone, hit me." Yugi stated. He could tell at a glance both Malik and Ryou were unconscious. If the yami's continued hurting them, they might never recover.

"Why are you even here?" Bakura growled at the hikari of his arch rival.

"Does it matter? Now you just have a different punching bag." Yugi stated.

Marik laughed at the idiocy of the smallest hikari. He didn't know what he was getting into. "You asked for it." Marik stated as he drew his fist back. It landed on Yugi's cheek. Yugi let the momentum carry him to the floor. He shook his head and stood up again. Bakura took his turn. This continued for quite a while. The yami's eventually teamed up against Yugi and beat him together.

Yugi never complained. He just took it all. He never once cried out or screamed. And he never fell unconscious. Finally the two yami's were stated. They dropped Yugi to the floor like a rag doll.

Yugi stood up yet again. "Finished?" the word was so faint it could have been a sigh. It hurt to breathe. Blood was running down his face, but he couldn't lift one arm and if he didn't support his ribs he was afraid he would fall.

"You managed to take all the fun out of hitting someone." Marik grumbled.

"Why do you hurt your hikari's? Are they not good enough for you? Are they not perfect at everything? Are they weak? Are they your vent? Why do you do it?" Yugi squeezed out his last question more harshly than the ones previous to it. Bakura punched him again. He didn't even have the strength to throw his arms out to stop his head from hitting the ground.

"Do you know what it's like to want someone so perfect you know you'll never have them?" Bakura raged down at the gasping figure.

Yugi struggled to his feet and glared, not at Bakura in particular, but at something only he could see, more the situation than anything. "Yes. Every day I tolerate him bossing me around, beating me, and pushing me into the shadows. Yet," Yugi couldn't bare meet those fierce red eyes any longer, "I can't bear to say no to him. I can't tell him he can't hurt me anymore when it brings him so much pleasure. I don't want to lose the only contact I ever have with him because I couldn't handle it. I can't risk him ignoring me forever. It would kill me. I know your hikari's feel the same way about you. Stop ignoring what's right in front of you. They love you." This time it was Marik who knocked Yugi down. As much as he tried not to scream, a tiny whimper escaped him as his broken arm collided with the ground, but he was able to save his head.

"How can they love us? Look at what we do to them every day. How dare you try to fill us with hope! They could never love us, never!"

Yugi struggled to lift himself off the floor again. "You're wrong. If only you could see it…" He lost the fight and fell backwards, not only unconscious but barely breathing.

"Come on Marik," Bakura sighed as he looked down at all three of the lights. "Let's just go eat something." Marik nodded and followed his companion out of the entryway and into the kitchen.

Soon though, they both came back out each holding a washcloth. The two yami's carefully wiped the blood off of their lights and carried the smaller boys up into their rooms; wincing all the while at the pain they had caused the innocent ones.

About an hour later, the two went back to the entryway.

Yugi should have woken up by now.

They walked in and froze. Yugi was gasping for breath, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he spasmed. They watched as the intervals between each breath became longer and longer until finally, Yugi exhaled and stopped moving, breathing, all together.

Marik rushed to the young one and checked for a pulse.

He found one.

Bakura had already started giving the youth CPR. After about the third breath, Yugi coughed and began breathing on his own once again. Bakura scooped Yugi up and carried him over to the couch where Marik put a blanket on him. Yugi's face was red and he was sweating. He had a fever.

Bakura went back to the kitchen and found the wet rag he had used to clean Ryou off. He walking to the sink and squeezed the blood out of it. He tried to get the cloth as close to its original color as he could, and got it wet. He wrung the excess water out before he left. The last thing he needed was a wet couch.

Bakura went back into the family room and placed the wet rag on Yugi's head. Marik was nowhere to be found. Yugi was breathing somewhat normally again. Bakura watched him for about five minutes. Assured that Yugi wouldn't stop breathing on him Bakura headed upstairs. It was time to apologize to his hikari. He only hoped that Ryou would understand.

Marik had been seated by his light for nearly two hours, holding Malik's hand, before his hikari finally began to wake up. The boy's eyes clenched shut in pain and all movement stilled. The blond's chest barely rose. Finally, after Malik had finished taking stock of his injuries his violet eyes opened and darted around the room. Malik's entire body froze when the spotted his yami sitting next to him. Malik recoiled and managed to fall off the bed. A scream left the hikari's lips as he landed. Marik jumped up to try and help the boy. When he reached the other side of the bed he saw Malik making himself as small as he could against the wall.

Marik's breath caught, had he really pushed Malik this far? Where was that strong, fearless boy he had met only five years ago? He didn't realize that he was reaching out towards the young light until Malik whimpered. Marik sank to the ground. Tears welled up in the dark ones eyes for the first time ever.

Malik peaked through cracked eye lids to see something he had never thought to see. His ever strong yami was breaking down.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the only reason Malik could think of as to why his yami could possibly be breaking down was that it was his fault. Marik was obviously so disappointed in him that… He was crawling towards his yami, trying to offer some sort of comfort. He knew he and Ryou always liked comfort while they were crying. Usually they could only get it from each other. He reached, gingerly as his body was reminded of his bruises.

Marik reached out again this time to pull his hikari close. He ran a shaky hand through his hikari's hair as he tried to calm both of them down. "Shh, you did nothing wrong, nothing…" Marik kept babbling hoping to help calm down his now terrified hikari.

Marik calmed down first. He held his hikari close and continued to run his hand through Malik's hair. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, I love you Malik, I'm sorry." On and on he went. Once he had said the words, he found that it was easier. "I love you, Malik, I'm sorry," over and over it went until he noticed that the young boy was fast asleep in his arms. He smiled down at the boy; Malik was beautiful even while asleep with tear tracks on his face. He kissed his hikari on the forehead and held him for the rest of the night.

It was five in the morning when Malik woke up again. It was a strange feeling waking up to arms wrapped around him. He was thrown for a loop when he first woke up. It only took him moments though until he remembered last night. He looked up at his yami, remembering, but hardly able to believe, what had happened last night.

He pulled out of his yami's protective grip, doing so woke the fierce yami up from his sleep.

Marik grumbled under his breath and Malik, expecting the worst, clenched his eyes and braced himself for the impact of one of Marik's fists on his body.

Marik finally pulled himself out of his wonderful dream and looked up. He was startled to find that Malik was sitting there, curled in on himself. The young boy had his eyes clenched in fear. Malik's body was rigid in his arms, expecting a blow for waking the yami up.

Marik flinched. He pulled Malik close and began whispering in the boy's hair that he wasn't going to hurt him ever again. Malik, though surprised by the sudden comfort, accepted it. As he finally registered the loving words that were spilling from his yami's mouth, he broke down into sobs. Crying out all the years he had kept his feelings bottled up to be strong for Ryou and to not submit and kill himself.

Eventually he pulled away from his yami's comforting grasp; his eyes pleading for the yami to explain this unexpected, but not unwelcome, turn of events, and so Marik did. He told his light everything, his fear of exposing himself to his light and being rejected; both his and Bakura's mutual frustration with themselves and their lights.

When Marik got to the part about Yugi's sacrifice and words that had opened his eyes to the fact that he might still have a chance with his hikari, Malik jerked out of Marik's hold, eyes wide.

Yugi. Yugi had done this for him? Had allowed himself to be beaten so that— for them. More tears poured out of his eyes; he was so grateful to the little hikari.

Marik pulled the light close to him again and soothed him into another slumber. Malik's arms had wrapped around him tightly. He couldn't escape. Giving in to the inevitable, he fell asleep in his hikari's arms. Marik was thankful that he could finally hold his hikari like this without fear of being alone in his feelings.

Malik snuggled deeper into his yami's embrace and sighed, inhaling the very essence of his yami. He had longed for this for a very long time. Eyes fluttering closed he whispered a reply to the words that Marik had said to him last night. "I love you, too."

Ryou awoke surprised to feel eyes staring at him. He ceased breathing. Oh gods. What was Bakura doing, what did he want now? Ryou didn't remember much of last night; he must have been knocked unconscious again. If his yami didn't stop hitting him in the head he might get brain damage soon.

He felt a hand run through his hair in what could be called comfort, save the fact that it was Bakura who was doing it. His breathing quickened. He started trembling, Ryou was terrified.

As that fact crossed Bakura's mind, his eyes widened and he stopped petting his hikari's hair. Bakura bit his lip to keep the tears at bay. He would not cry! The tears escaped him anyway and landed on his hikari. He bowed his head as Ryou's bruised face came up and looked at him innocently, feeling the damp land on him.

Seeing the bowed head Ryou wrapped his arms around his yami and held him while he cried. Bakura didn't make a sound but his body shook with sobs anyway.

Ryou kept holding him, tightly. He was scared. If his yami was crying, there was something wrong, maybe with him, maybe with Ryou. No matter what it was, he was going to hold on to him. Bakura wouldn't cry alone; Ryou hated crying alone. Malik was usually the one to comfort him, but Malik wasn't here, Ryou was.

Bakura gripped his hikari tighter. How could anyone want to comfort their abuser? Why was Ryou doing this? Did he want Bakura to feel worse? It was working. Bakura couldn't believe that he had been hurting his little hikari for so long.

Ryou on the other hand couldn't believe his yami was in so much emotional agony.

Eventually after much coaxing from the light, Bakura confessed what was really bothering him. He told Ryou everything. Every thought and action and how it influenced him since his village was destroyed when he was nine.

Ryou was devastated at the knowledge of everything that his yami had been through. He had never known, and asking Bakura would have been akin to asking a knife thrower to demonstrate his accuracy, and twice as dangerous.

Finally as Bakura finished his story, Ryou had joined him shedding tears. He held on to his yami even tighter.

When Bakura got to his feelings towards his light, Ryou let out a happy sob when Bakura confessed that he loved the boy. Ryou let a happy smile decorate his face and he leaned in, burying his face in his yami's chest. Bakura wasn't finished. He continued to speak, telling his light of Yugi, and the boy's accusation which helped him confess. Ryou had never been more grateful towards his short friend. He inquired as to where the short duelist was.

Bakura's eyes widened as he remembered how he and Marik had left Yugi on the couch, barely breathing. The boy might not live to see tomorrow, might already be dead. Explaining to Ryou quickly, Ryou's eyes mirrored his counterpart's actions. The two relinquished their hold on each other and headed down the stairs. As they arrived in the living room, Ryou shed tears at the now clean living room. Bakura had confessed that he had not left the light's side, and having passed Marik's room, it was apparent that neither he nor Malik had left it in some time.

Yugi must have cleaned the living room for them. There was no telling how much time had passed between Ryou's unconsciousness and Bakura's confession, which in itself had taken an hour at least.

Bakura felt immensely guilty; Yugi was in no shape to clean anything, nor was it fair that the young duelist do it at all. Ryou was worried for his friend, but knew that he had school in an hour. He would see Yugi then, hopefully.

Ryou was scared that Yugi went home in such a state. Ryou knew firsthand how hard the yami's hit and what kind of damage they could do. Yugi should probably be in a hospital. Pushing his fears aside, he went to wake Malik up to head for school. Marik and Bakura generally didn't bother with school, but they were reluctant to leave their lights. Between that and their mutual worry for Yugi, they decided that they would go to school despite their dislike for it.

Waking Malik and Marik was an experience that Ryou decide that he would rather leave to his yami from now on. Marik had decided a just revenge for waking them would be to throw the dagger that he kept under his pillow at Ryou. Luckily for the light, Bakura deftly snatched it out of the air without it hitting either of them.

Dressing and getting ready didn't take nearly as long as it normally did. With the help of Bakura and Marik, the lights were ready for school, bento's made, with fifteen minutes to spare. They grabbed their bags, after a five minute hunt through the house to find Bakura's and Marik's, which were strategically hidden from view, and hurried to school.

As they were walking towards school they heard the scream that none of them wished to ever hear again. Bakura and Marik, after a traded look sped off to find the young duelist screaming in pain.

They found Yugi and his attackers in an alley only a few blocks from school. One of the thugs had his hand wrapped around both of Yugi's wrists, holding them above the hikari's head; the other hand was secured over Yugi's mouth. Yugi was struggling a foot off the ground, valiantly trying to use his feet, unfortunately for the hikari, his attackers had accounted for that by shaking him and beating on his ribs, forcing whatever energy the boy had, into breathing.

Yugi was drained, he couldn't take this. When he had gotten home he had accidentally woken Yami, who had come down and whipped him. He had recovered from his injuries from Bakura and Marik only because he had been storing energy in the puzzle (which he still wore), for the days his friends all ganged up on him. He was glad for it last night when he was able to fully heal himself, but it would take time to gather up that energy again. The whipping he wouldn't be able to heal for another week at least.

Suddenly the thug hitting him was thrown away from him, a black blur forcing him to the ground. Yugi looked up with tears in his eyes, he didn't think he'd ever been so happy to see Marik.

Marik was a sight to behold. He was menacing decked out, shadows surrounding him, his hair spiking in an invisible wind. Bakura guarded the entrance, his shadows blocking out the light from the street; Ryou and Malik flanking him. The teen holding him quickly decided that he didn't wish to tangle with these new menaces. He dropped a rag-like Yugi to the ground and turned tail. Malik and Ryou rolled Yugi onto his back, wincing in pity at the bruises they saw.

Ryou pulled the boy into his lap and gasped at the wetness that seeped through Yugi's jacket. He quickly replaced the boy onto the ground, pulling his hand away from the now stained shirt; his hand was red, covered in blood.

He screamed.

Bakura and Marik, seeing the blood, got their lights out of the way and tore off Yugi's jacket and black t-shirt. They stared in dawning horror at the bleeding whip welts that crisscrossed Yugi's back in some kind of perverse pattern.

The darks were still in slight shock due to the fact that Yugi bore no marks from their pounding last night, when Malik began cursing Yami to the depths of hell (much to the amazement of the dark ones). He and Ryou quickly disclosed the information about Yugi's new standard of living at home.

Marik suggested taking the boy to the hospital. Ryou and Malik knew it was a bad idea, since Yugi's guardian was responsible. If they took Yugi to a hospital, Yami and Solomon would be notified, and would most likely not be happy about it. There was a good chance that as soon as Yugi got home, he could expect the same if not worse treatment as punishment for going to the hospital at all.

It was Bakura who came up with Kaiba.

The four had been on amicable terms with Kaiba and Mokuba for a while now. But they knew that Yugi wouldn't be well received. Looking again at Yugi's back, they decided to risk it. To hell with school.

Bakura and Marik traded off carrying Yugi as they ran. The boy was hardly a hindrance to either, seeing as he weighed so little. They reached Kaiba Co. in twenty minutes.

Breathing heavily, they ran by the secretary, who screamed after them, and pounded on the metal-alloy door. When they didn't receive an answer right away, Ryou typed in the emergency key code Kaiba had given him.

Kaiba had known about Bakura and Marik's violent tendencies for quite a while. He had no way of helping the lights other than giving them a safe place to hide, which was more than Yami and his friends ever did.

Kaiba was just about to yell at the person who had interrupted him, when the door slid open. It could only be one of three people, and if any of them were here, it couldn't be good.

Kaiba was shocked to see not only the two darks in his office (with their lights, who looked uninjured for the most part,) but Yugi Mouto, lying limp in Marik's arms.

Then he saw the blood.

Not saying a word, he picked up his phone and made two quick phone calls, one for his personal physician to be at his house in the next twenty minutes. The other gave his driver instructions to meet him out front in less than two.

Two quick keystrokes and his computer shut down. He gestured towards the teens and indicated that they follow him. He led them swiftly out of his office and down to the parking garage. The limo was waiting for them.

Seto told them to get in first. They got situated, Yugi taking up only the seat behind the driver stretched fully with his head on Malik's lap. Marik sat next to his light, and Ryou sandwiched between the two yami's. Kaiba couldn't help but notice the arrangement.

It was a long drive. Kaiba extracted every ounce of knowledge the four knew about Yugi's situation. Seto had guessed that Bakura and Marik, having shown more violent natures in the past, may be abusing their lights, but hadn't pegged Yami for such actions.

As they arrived at Kaiba manor, they quickly made their way up to one of the guest suites. The doctor was already waiting for them.

After a quick, but thorough evaluation of Yugi's state. He immediately set to work. He ended up stitching together the broken skin on Yugi's back, thankful that his patient didn't awaken. Binding the ribs and wounds without agitating either one was a difficult task the physician never wanted to experience again. The boy had even woken while he was tying the first layer of bandages off. Yugi hadn't made a sound, or protested in the least, just lay there patiently waiting for the physician to finish. The man couldn't have asked for a better patient.

He finally took his leave, subscribing several pain medications and bed rest to the boy, after about four hours. Calling the day a loss for work, Seto set up rooms for the other teens through the servants. He had correctly assessed that they wouldn't wish to leave Yugi anytime soon.

Yugi was very animated for a while. Until he realized that he wasn't fooling anyone with his perceived happiness. Yugi couldn't help but smiling softly to himself when he saw the newfound closeness between the yami's and their hikari's.

Kaiba also found himself watching the pair's interactions with interest. Bakura would make an off comment about how much better he was than Yami, Marik would counter that he had come closer to beating Yami than Bakura ever had, Bakura would come back with the fact that Marik had still lost. Eventually these spats escalated to one of the lights, usually Malik, hitting one or both yami's up-side the head. But their antic's made Yugi giggle.

Time flew by, and soon Mokuba was home. He raced up the stairs looking for his brother but was surprised when as he found Seto, Seto's eyes widened, and then without any explanation, closed the door and locked it.

Mokuba in a fit of childishness, pounded on the door. What right did Seto have to keep things from him in his own house? All he'd wanted was to see his brother. He heard raised voices, but couldn't make out what was said.

The door was flung open. Seto Kaiba stood in blazing glory, glaring down at his younger brother. Mokuba stepped back under his brother's furious gaze. Kaiba didn't seem to notice his brother's fear as his hand shot out and gripped the younger boys arm in a vice like hand. Mokuba had no other option but to run as his older brother dragged him down the hallway.

When they got to Mokuba's door, Seto nearly broke it trying to get it open. He all but threw Mokuba inside before slamming the door behind him. Mokuba fell forward, unable to catch himself before he hit the floor. He pulled himself up. He didn't notice the tears that raced down his face until he found a sob escaping his throat. He felt where his brother had gripped him so forcefully and winced at the pain. Mokuba rolled up his sleeve and saw the red marks that would fade into bruises by tomorrow.

Mokuba got into bed and cried. His thoughts turned to his brother and how things like this had been happening more and more often.

Seto hadn't been able to make it more than halfway back down the hallway before he met up with Yugi leaning against a wall. Ryou was standing next to the boy, not touching him, but looking like he wanted to. Malik and Ryou looked as though they were arguing with Yugi, and as he walked forward he stepped into range so he could hear them begging Yugi to go back to his room to recover. Bakura and Marik stood off to the side, watching. Yugi was actually glaring daggers at Seto and refused to go back to his room.

"If you guys want me to rest, then help me," Yugi ground out frustrated.

Ryou sighed and moved to support Yugi's weight. But almost the moment he tried, Bakura swept Yugi into his arms.

"Don't forget, Ryou, you're supposed to be healing too." Bakura remarked. "Now, little one," he ignored Yugi's wince at the familiar nickname, "what were you planning to do?"

Yugi turned to glare at Seto. "I need to go make sure Mokuba's okay."

The younger boy's words had sparked some recognition of what Seto had done to his own younger brother not moments ago. And yet he couldn't bring himself to face the boy as he remembered his own behavior. He turned away ashamed. What he needed now was work. Work always solved everything.

Yugi had Bakura take him to Mokuba's room and put him down by the door. Yugi took a moment to steady himself and pushed open the doors.

Mokuba looked up half hoping the person opening his door was Seto. What he wasn't expecting was Yugi Mouto limping through his door. There was no way Seto would allow Yugi to have free reign of the manor, especially when the teen was limping as badly as he was.

He also noticed, Bakura, of all people, hovering in his doorway.

Mokuba turned when he felt the bed dip down. He looked up into large violet eyes and smiled at Yugi.

"Hey, Mokuba, do you mind if I stay the night with you. See I've had a rough day, and…"

Yugi didn't get to finish his sentence because Mokuba was nodding his head so fast Yugi half feared that it would fall off.

"Okay," Yugi lay down as Mokuba moved over to make room for him, "thanks Mokie."

Yugi winced as Mokuba snuggled into his side but wrapped the younger boy in his arms all the same. They both fell asleep smiling.

The next morning, for the first time in several months, Mokuba Kaiba awoke to the face of his brother Seto Kaiba staring down at him. He could still feel Yugi's arms around his waist. Seto pulled his brother out of Yugi's arms and into his own embrace.

He had realized only after he started trying to work, that it was impossible to focus. He had spent the whole night thinking. He had come to realize that work was consuming him more than he had ever anticipated, and honestly, he missed his brother.

Yugi slept on, a moment's reprieve from the pain. He would soon find out exactly how grateful Seto was towards him. Yugi's dedication to Mokuba, and making sure the boy was safe, alright, and unharmed, said more than words ever could. Yugi inspired Seto to take his responsibility to his brother more enjoyable for the both of them. And Seto would never forget it.

To be continued.

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