A loud scream echoed through a small house in the city of Domino.

Everyone in the neighborhood had been asleep long ago, so no one was around to hear the yelling or pay attention to it. As the night covered the streets, the shouting slowly faded away.

A young man with spiky hair and tanned skin exited a small house in complete rage. His outfit consisted of a red shirt accompanied by a pair of jeans. Despite the fact of it being late, he seemed to be far more concerned about what was going on inside of the house. How could someone be able to get any sleep with such a racket? He eventually sat down at the porch's ledge, cursing lightly in annoyance.

"Why did I have to come along when it was all your fault," the tanned male asked in a loud tone so the other person who was following him out could hear.

"I'm getting bored of your whining, Atem." A more soothing deep voice said not showing any sign of rage but more content.

The owner of the new voice exited the house and stepped out on the porch to stand next to the other male. His outfit wasn't the slightest bit similar, instead he was covered in leather from head to toe and wasn't equally as tanned as the other. One could easily say they were brothers, or even twins. They had the same hair and even the same features. The only difference, however, was that the tanned, spiky haired male was about four or five years older and somewhat taller. The one who had just walked out held a Popsicle in his hand while completely ignoring what the older man, Atem, was saying.

"Yami, if you don't call our parents right now, I'll get REALLY angry with you!"

The other teen named Yami laughed in amusement while he bit the remaining pieces of his Popsicle and gulped them down whole. Staring at the bright lights that lit up the street in a gloomy mood was much more entertaining to him than listening to nagging. He seemed to be examining the area from left to right, finding the new change of scenery very thrilling. The darkness didn't scare him much. Instead, it felt very mysterious and welcoming.

"Come on, give your brother a break," he laughed, not even bothering to look at how seriously Atem took this situation.

Atem's rage seemed to amuse Yami, which only lead their little dispute to further shouts.

Atem had tolerated his brother's comments long enough for one night. He pulled himself up from his seat and grabbed Yami by the choker.

"This isn't the slightest bit funny! Thanks to you we're trapped here!" Yami raised a brow at his older brother not even fazed by the fact he'd launched himself at Yami in rage.

"Trapped? More like freed." He pushed himself away from his brother while he threw the stick from the Popsicle away in the bushes.

Yami was not concerned over what happened just moments ago. He wasn't going to give in to his brother. No, not ever. Even if Atem was his older brother, he shouldn't expect Yami to always give in to his commands. Especially not in situations like these.

"See you later, I have school to attend tomorrow morning." Yami smirked and patted his brother on the shoulder whilst walking back into the house.

The older male wanted to bash his brother's head in so bad for being stubborn. It was hard to tell if it was a curse or a blessing that the younger one of them never gives up on anything. Atem screamed out again in frustration, but luckily no one was awake to hear him. They had just moved in, after all, they wouldn't want their neighbors to think they're a bunch of wacko's.

Atem followed Yami back inside, sighing while turning to lock the door. All his hope had been lost of winning this argument or convincing his brother of calling their parents. The problem, which was their parents, seemed to be exactly what they were arguing about.

Atem looked down on his brother in defeat.

"Do I have to beg you? PLEASE call them and say you're sorry…"

"The hell I will," Yami was getting evermore agitated by the second. He refused to even look at his brother. All that he offered was a slow wave and a "goodnight". Yami headed up the stairs after that. His room was located right in front of the huge staircase on the top floor.

Despite them having a huge house, there were no paintings or decorations anywhere, at least not like most houses would have.

Atem followed him up and went into a room next to his brother.

"You're not going to last here. I give you two weeks."

Yami simply chuckled at his brother's comment. Atem's fury only seemed to amuse, not scare.

"Whatever you say, princess." Yami closed his door and that marked the end of their little dispute. Yami's room wasn't very decorated either. It was a small room, only large enough for a bed, desk, and small shelf for books or what seemed to be cards for him. There was a small window above his bed where the moonlight would shine through. He pushed the curtains aside every night to look at the outdoor scenery while he covered it back up whenever morning came. For someone who originally came from a very sunny and warm environment, he seemed to enjoy the dark better.

"Tomorrow, new school, new teachers, new… people. Yes, this is going to be just freaking FANTASTIC." Yami yawned. Sarcasm could only make one more tired this late at night. Jetlag didn't help, either.

"I just hope I don't make a scene. Well, I guess if I keep my mouth shut and stay low, no one will pay attention to me, as usual." For some reason, Yami seemed to plan out how to handle tomorrow's class. It was his first day in a new school, though it didn't seem to be a permanent change to him. This is why he had to plan out exactly what to do, to make sure he was left alone for the small amount of time he'd spend in Domino High. The Japanese language was a bit of a pain to understand, but that wouldn't be a problem in this school. Luckily, all teachers spoke English. At least that's what his father claimed, but who knows? The old man could have probably said that to mess with Yami. The exhausted teen lied down in bed without changing clothes and just fell asleep. Maybe tomorrow would be a more suitable time for thoughts and questions as of why he had to travel to Japan from Egypt in such a rush.


"Yug! Ey! Over 'ere!" A boy named Joey waved to a figure that was approaching the classroom at a slow pace. Joey was sitting on top of a desk, waiting for this 'Yug' to come and greet him like he'd done every day. He failed to notice that something was definitely unusual about this morning. A taller male was looking down at him, almost as if the blonde committed a murder.

"Get the hell off my desk, you mutt." The very tall male with dark brown hair and piercing green eyes threatened while he used his suitcase to knock the blonde down flat on his face. Anzu, who was another one of Joey's friends, walked towards Joey and helped him up, scolding the taller teen for hurting her friend. The cruel male didn't seem to react at all to her words.

"Honda, a little help?" She asked when she noticed her words didn't faze the other up tight teen. It actually only seemed to amuse him.

Honda, who was Joey's friend since childhood days, also decided to protect him by grabbing the brown haired one's arm and asked him if he wanted to be limping to school tomorrow morning.

The reaction that had come from the teen was a smirk and another smack of the suitcase, knocking Honda to the ground.

"Oh, please. Spare me your bickering. He had it coming because he sat on my desk." The male put his suitcase down and took his seat gently while crossing his legs. He wasn't affected by Anzu's words or Honda's threats.

His expression remained calm and unchanged during the entire argument or what would seem more like a beating from Joey and Honda's view.

"OH YEH?" Joey pushed himself up, waving his fist in the man's face, but he didn't seem to care much about Joey's little "threat" either. His green eyes scanned the blonde curiously, wondering exactly when he was going to shut up.

"Just who da hell do ya think ya are?" Joey continued only to receive a sigh as a response.

"The name is Seto. Seto Kaiba to be exact and I don't tolerate others who touch stuff that's mine without permission." SETO KAIBA? The amazing Duel Monsters champion, that Seto Kaiba? Joey was a bit surprised such a famous guy would be in the same class as them. Nevertheless, he was a jerk, so he deserved to be yelled at some more regardless of his status. Joey did respect strong duelists and he knew Kaiba really wasn't 'all talk'. His blue-eyes white dragon was to be feared, especially when they came in numbers. Even if Kaiba was probably the best duelist, Joey couldn't allow him to speak in such a way towards his friends or act like it, either.

A fight seemed to stir before the young boy Joey had called on earlier entered the classroom, only to see everyone yelling at Kaiba.

"Uh…Good morning?" He said smiling politely at all of them in confusion. Sadly, they were too occupied with Kaiba to notice that anyone had even entered class. Anzu was the only one who noticed another person walked into class and greeted him happily.

"Hi Yuugi!" she smiled. "… Don't mind them. They're just… being themselves." She then headed over to the shorter boy to chat. They hadn't seen each other in a long time since Anzu was busy rehearsing for a show her dance class would have in town. She'd invite Yuugi and the rest to come and take a look if she didn't know it took place on a school day, which would be impossible for them all to view. The last thing she wanted was for them to miss their classes, so she kept it to herself hoping that maybe they'd all see her perform some other time.

Yuugi looked around the classroom to see if he could spot Ryo or any of his other friends. He found someone that looked like Ryo in the far back, sitting with one of the more threatening bullies of the school, Marik Ishtar.

Soon Yuugi realized this wasn't Ryo, but it was another boy named Bakura that looked like his friend, only with more spiky and wild hair. The two guys sat next to each other and talked as if they were friends.

Once Yuugi finished gazing around to see if anyone else was present, he settled down in his own seat next to Joey in the far back. Yuugi always sat at that spot every year, so he was confused once he noticed that there was an extra seat next to his. He could have sworn it wasn't there before.

"Is there someone new coming to class today?"

Joey and the rest ceased in their fight with Kaiba to pay attention to Yuugi for a second.

"Oh hey Yug. Nah, I 'aven't heard anythin'… Why?"

Yuugi glanced at the new seat next to him. Maybe it was just his imagination.

"Uh…nothing." He smiled back at Joey.

Kaiba was showing no concern about Joey and Honda's insults. It only seemed silly for the other students how Joey and Honda dared to challenge the most amazing SETO KAIBA to a duel. Even Yuugi found it a little amusing since Kaiba was such a top-notch duelist compared to the rest of them. He admired Kaiba for his dueling strategies, but disliked him for his cold nature. The only person he'd ever seen Kaiba be friendly towards was his little brother, Mokuba. Not only that, but he didn't act that badly towards Yuugi at all. It was mostly because Yuugi also was a very skilled duelist. Much like Joey, Kaiba respected high-ranked duelists, yet he had a very high standard for 'strong' duelists.

Yuugi turned to look at the empty seat again, wondering if this really just was his imagination. Anzu caught him staring at the seat, which made her curious as well. Was a new student really arriving to Domino so suddenly?

Meanwhile, Kaiba only grinned in response to Honda's arguing and silly ridiculous threat attempts. He also couldn't take Joey's challenge seriously since the blonde was out of breath from yelling. During just a small amount of time, Joey had challenged Kaiba to a duel in the middle of class.

"Let it go, guys. This is not the time to argue." Anzu said while she pulled Joey down into his own seat next to Yuugi.

"I'll teach dat rich ass punk who da real mutt is." Joey mumbled under his breath, enough to earn a laugh from Seto as he sat next to Joey. It really couldn't have been worse.

It was easier for conflict between the two the way they were seated.

Anzu took her seat in front of Seto while Honda sat in the middle in front of Joey.

"Dude, calm down. I think Anzu's right. Let's not make any mischief during the first day of school." Joey hummed in agreement with Honda still slightly ticked off at Kaiba's nasty comments. How could someone be so hostile on the first day to a person they barely even knew? Yuugi was still staring at the empty seat next to him at the moment, wondering who the new student could be. Was it a girl or a boy? Was it a strong person or a weak person, friendly, timid, rude or anything alike? It wasn't every day that a new student would just drop by.

Joey noticed his friend's look at the empty seat and tapped him on the shoulder to wake him up from his daydreaming.

"I hope da next kid dat comes to this class won't be half as bad as dat twerp," he whispered to Yuugi as he pointed at Kaiba. Yuugi rolled his eyes at his friend. He really didn't mind who sat next to him, he was just eager to meet the other person and show them around Domino High. From experience with this school, he knew that being alone on the first day would be tough. There were multiple corridors and hallways that looked the same and could confuse one if they hadn't been around for a long time.

Marik and Bakura seemed to be plotting against the person already, because they were laughing and grinning whenever they looked at the empty seat behind them. The new student would have enough problems already just navigating through the maze of halls. They really didn't need Bakura and Marik to complicate the situation any further.

"Poor them…" Yuugi thought, smiling sheepishly.

He wondered if the new student would be a nice person, or maybe he would just be another bully that would join Marik and Bakura's shenanigans. He feared the thought of them gaining even more power in this school.

They were already strong enough as two people. Of course, they didn't always get their way. Ishizu, Marik's older sister, who was also at the school grounds, made sure that as long as she was around, Marik wouldn't hurt anyone THAT bad. It was a soothing thought. If anyone was ever in trouble with Marik, they just had to run to his sister and complain. That way, they'd be free from Marik, but that didn't stop Bakura from torturing the one who dared to go to Ishizu for help. That new student, whether he or she would be a target for bullies or an ally, was a question that would have to go unanswered for the moment.

After a while, the teacher walked in to the room, told everyone to be quiet and sit down. Soon after that, she waved with a swirly hand-motion at the door, which was half-shut. Someone seemed to be standing behind it this whole time.

"It's okay, you can come in now," she said, smiling, while she held up a piece of paper. Her words only seemed to make the other person more nervous or unwilling to enter. The teacher looked a bit worried at first but saw that the individual who was still behind the door wasn't upset at all. He or she had just not expected to be called into class like this.

"Calm. Don't say anything. Whatever happens, just walk, sit down and shut up. Walk. Sit. Shut up, easy enough, no? All right…"
Yuugi and Joey's eyes met out of curiosity.

"Ya think it is dat new student?" Joey asked in whispers so the teacher wouldn't overhear him. Yuugi nodded in silence while smiling. He was eager to make a new friend or enemy, depending on how well the situation went. Whichever it was, he hoped for the best as his eyes now focused on the door.

Once the door opened and the student stepped inside, all their jaws dropped. Joey was probably most shocked of all, his eyes widened in surprise.

The new student had the same hairstyle as Yuugi, aside from the fact that it looked a lot messier and brighter. He had golden bangs that extended across his black hair and down over his face. With sharp, dark, crimson eyes, more fierce looking and intense in contrast to Yuugi's round lavender ones. His figure was also somewhat taller and stronger looking than Yuugi's, but besides that they could pass off as brothers. It didn't help that he wore the same uniform either. Joey stepped up from his seat rashly and pulled Yuugi towards him, trapping his best friend into a headlock.

"Holy shit Yug! It's your long lost twin!" Joey chuckled and pointed at the new student who gave him a death glare from across the room.

"I didn't even have time to perform the first step of my plan. Never mind, I have a new and better plan. Target acquired, blonde weirdo."

Yuugi, in surprise, tried to pull Joey's arms off him but he was far too strong for Yuugi to handle on his own. "Enemy," Yuugi thought to himself as soon as Joey had yelled those words out loud. Anzu sunk down in her seat with shame as Joey made a fool out of himself, screaming that sentence out loud to the entire class. Everyone was probably already thinking the same thing, but did he have to emphasize it so much?

Seto smirked happily.

He was proud to see that Joey was doing his dirty work for him by humiliating himself both in front of the new student and the entire class.

The rest of the students looked at Joey in surprise as well as confusion. Some laughed and some just questioned why he bothered to mention such a thing out loud. The teacher shushed Joey and told him to remain in his seat unless he wanted to suffer a punishment.

The new student, though, simply sighed at the looks everyone was giving him after that little outburst. He pushed his golden bangs away from his face, revealing mad crimson eyes. He was definitely annoyed at Joey, or he'd had a very poor night sleeping. Maybe it was both.

"Class, this is Yami Mubarak. He's just arrived from Egypt. He'll be joining us from this day on. So give him a warm welcome," the teacher said with a smile. Yami's surname meant "the blessed" in Arabic, though he surely didn't feel blessed at the moment. The girls already eyed Yami and wondered about what sort of person he was. Some of them whispered and giggled to themselves. Others looked at Yami and winked at him. Sure, he was handsome, but far beyond that handsome in his opinion, yet this was a situation he felt himself be very familiar with and it was getting boring very quickly.

"Damn it. Not here too. Do they come with the package or something? Why do I always seem to encounter these sorts of people?"

He noticed what they were doing and shook his head in displeasure.

"Why don't I just tattoo 'not interested' on my forehead," he thought, raising a brow while his eyes shifted to look out the window. It didn't help that he hadn't brushed his hair or fixed his appearance since yesterday night. His look was quite messy and careless, not that he honestly cared what the others would think about him. A first impression wasn't in his list of worries. It was more of a personal preference. He didn't want to go around looking like a disgusting, dusty, ripped up rag the entire day.

However, his alarm didn't go off at the expected time and so he had to run to school, forgetting to clean up before going.

Not a really good start but at least he arrived on time.

The teacher pointed to a seat in the far back where he was told to sit.

"Oh no. Not with weirdo, doppelganger and company." He was thinking back to what the blonde male had done a few seconds ago with the boy that looked like him.

"I feel sorry for the kid." The guy must go through a lot of hell because of his friend's carelessness. He walked by Marik and Bakura giving them another death glare as if he expected them to trip him or anything alike.

He didn't trust the looks they were throwing him when he entered class. They were the only ones not laughing. After all, they were probably planning on doing something themselves. They caught on to Yami's little attempt to warn them and looked away, mumbling something incomprehensible.

Yami looked over at the blonde male and stopped in front of Yuugi's desk with his eyes clearly on Joey. The embarrassed blonde looked up at Yami in return while rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He was about to say something in the form of "Sorry, I messed up." but got cut off in his thoughts by Yami.

"Do you always act like an inept five year old?" The crimson-eyed male said with a grin.

Yami's look didn't give Yuugi the impression he was being mean-spirited, no matter how it was worded. It sounded more like a joke. Joey jumped up out of his seat for what seemed to be the tenth time today and yelled at Yami in response.

"EY! It was a joke!"

"The fact you're in the same class as me is a joke."

Now Yami was clearly insulting. Yuugi regretted thinking he was only joking. It really seemed like Yami was a serious person, after all, and he tolerated as little as Kaiba did. Speaking of Kaiba, he seemed rather amused with the new student.

"I like this guy." Well, now it was established. Joey equals enemy and Kaiba equals ally. Anzu threw a paper-ball backwards that hit Seto straight on the nose. He jerked forward out of surprise.

"You. Don't start any more trouble." Anzu hissed quietly.

"Seems like the mutt will take care of that for me."

The teacher told them to calm down and take their seats. She didn't pay attention to Yami's statement, but let it slide since no more trouble had to emerge at this moment and the lesson needed to start.

Yami took his seat with his golden bangs messily waving about. He was angry about not fixing his hair before going to school. Either this hairstyle looks good, or it fails badly. There didn't seem to be any in-between.

He put his bag on his desk and leaned against the chair with his arms folded across his chest, simply looking straightforward.

Bakura and Marik turned slowly to look at Yami for a short moment and wondered if he was a victim they could pick on. Sure enough, Yami didn't give them that satisfaction.

"Oi-" Yami said to both of them, causing them to jerk forwards, avoiding another glare even though Yami was not looking in their direction at all.

"The board is THAT way," he said, pointing with both his index finger and middle finger together while looking at the board completely expressionless. Marik and Bakura had now officially established that Yami wasn't someone to mess with, at least not YET.

The guy seemed to be surrounded in a negative aura.

"Dat's it, Yug. We're staying away from dat creep." Joey muttered.

Yuugi sighed as he reached out his hand to Yami's. Joey was surprised to see his friend was doing the exact opposite of listening to him.

"NYEH! Yug! What are ya doin'?"

"Hello, I'm Yuugi Muto. Nice to meet you, Yami." He said with a bright smile. Yuugi didn't want to listen to Joey, especially not after what he did to Yami. It was his first day in this school, after all, and Yuugi just wanted Yami to feel at home. Coming from Egypt to Japan must be frightening. At least it was in his mind.

Everything would be different, though Yami didn't seem to think so. He was acting as if he'd been here his entire life without even a single worry in mind.

Yami leaned forwards placing both elbows to rest on the desk while tilting his head sideways just scanning Yuugi with his eyes up and down. Yuugi's arm remained in thin air for a few seconds before Yami chuckled lightly. Yuugi was confused to say the least.

"How cute. You think I care?" Yami scowled, until he turned to face the board again, looking at the notes the teacher was writing down. Yuugi appeared to be a little discouraged. He pulled his hand back slowly in disappointment while he felt Joey's arm tapping on his shoulder yet again.

"Told ya he's an ass." He whispered in slight mockery. Yuugi honestly didn't want to believe it.

He thought Yami was just upset because of Joey's little act. Surely, anyone who was just trying to make a first impression would have their image tainted a little bit if the same had happened to them. It saddened him that Joey was always like this, very free and open-minded. He had a good heart and meant no harm but others could easily take his words the wrong way if they didn't know him like his friends did.

"Must you always be so-… you?" Yuugi smiled. He knew Joey only did this sort of stuff to cheer them all up, or make a funny joke, but he really couldn't be upset at Yami for taking it the wrong way. How was Yami supposed to know Joey was only joking?

He didn't seem like such a bad person, at least not as bad as Joey thought he was. Yuugi kept looking at the crimson-eyed teen in-between the time he took notes.

Yami didn't bother taking any notes but instead found the ceiling to be much more amusing.

"I shouldn't have said that. It was his idiot friend who did something stupid, not him." Yami pondered, sighing while closing his eyes to rest for a few seconds.

Once the teacher turned around to pick up some books and flip through the pages for information, Yuugi leaned closer to Yami. Sure, if the first attempt failed, surely the second must go at least a little better.

"Listen, I'm sorry for what Joey did, he didn't mean any harm, honestly. Joey is just... Joey." Yuugi smiled yet again. Yami turned to look at the younger boy next to him. He did look very similar to Yami besides the fact he didn't have a choker or leather pants on him. Now that he thought about it, it wouldn't hurt if the boy had some leather pants on, in Yami's opinion.

However, he didn't find Yuugi's 'act' amusing to say the least. He just rolled his eyes and returned to look at the board. Yuugi didn't seem like he wanted to take this as a response. At least getting something verbal would be suitable in a situation like this.

"I hope we can get along." Yuugi said while he grabbed Yami's hand to shake it as a sign of friendship. Suddenly Yami's eyes narrowed in anger and he pulled Yuugi off his seat until he fell on the floor. It surprised everyone that he'd managed to do that without even looking at Yuugi, not paying him an ounce of attention. The loud thud was heard across the room.

"Piss off and don't touch me." Yami growled, while he let go of the smaller boy's hand. His eyes were practically blazing with anger, however, mainly directed at himself. Inside his head were words along the lines of,

"Idiot, idiot, idiot, you should have accepted his apology, IDIOT."

He only wanted to pull his hand away from Yuugi's, but ended up pulling the boy down as well. How was he supposed to expect the guy to have such a hard grip on his hand? Most people wouldn't even bother to go as far as touching him after he acted so hostile.

Yami placed his hands in his pockets this time, to make sure this incident wouldn't repeat itself. If there was one thing Yami didn't like, it was physical contact with people. Especially people he didn't know well at all; regardless of how cute and friendly they may be, it just didn't feel right.

Yuugi laughed a bit before brushing the dust off his clothes and sat back down in his seat. To Yami's surprise, Yuugi didn't seem upset over the pull even if it was clearly done on purpose. He was confused over why Yuugi was laughing instead of being upset. Don't people usually get mad over this sort of thing? He didn't want to be a jerk, but the words sort of came out without any thought.

He had no reason to be hostile towards Yuugi. No, he didn't want to either, but as soon as Yuugi touched him it just came like a reflex or a very bad habit. To see Yuugi not reply to him in anger was shocking.

"You have got to be kidding me…what IS this kid? How can't he mind I did that to him? How can he just sit back down calmly without a word?"

The teacher on the other hand, seemed to mind greatly.

"Yuugi Muto! No more talking back there or it will be detention!" The teacher yelled. She wasn't one to take these things lightly. Yuugi gulped in fear. He never got detention in his entire life. Starting now wouldn't be good. He also knew that Marik and Bakura spent time there.

He'd be in for a very hectic day if he planned on joining them, it would be consumed in endless teasing. The blonde who had witnessed the entire event unfold was getting very impatient with Yami's behavior.

"Fuck, now ya got him in trouble too. Great going there, Yami," Joey whispered.

"He grabbed on to me. It was self defense." Yami replied, smirking.

"Self defense? Do ya know how low ya have to sink to claim Yuugi would hurt ya?" Indeed he did. Already from this short time he noticed this Yuugi kid wouldn't hurt anyone. He also, for whatever reason, didn't seem able to get mad easily. Inside Yami's head, he was cursing at himself over and over for being such an ass on the first day of school. Great. He didn't want any enemies, but here they come. Then again, the train was already rolling, so why not blow the whistle?

"So you're his anger container? Ah, now it all makes sense. You two balance each other out perfectly, if that's the case."

"I'll show ya anger! Ya'll feel the fist of the mighty Joey Wheeler!" Joey stood up and made a confident facial expression while waving his fists around aimlessly.

"All I hear is the whining from his big fat mouth!" Yami slammed his fist down on the desk and rose up from his seat like Joey had did. Yuugi just sunk down in his chair slowly of embarrassment from sitting between the two.

First Kaiba, now Yami, could things get any worse? He pulled his jacket over his head and just sat there waiting for their argument to be over. There really wasn't anything he could do to stop them. Whenever he'd open his mouth, it was as if it was a big red button that caused Joey and Yami to lose it. Yuugi just sat down silently, praying for it all to end without anyone breaking their neck or any other body parts. Even the teacher started to get upset at them, threatening to throw them both out of class. Meanwhile, Seto watched the entire event unfold from beginning to end as if it was a movie.

"I like this guy a LOT more now." He was practically doing Seto's work for him. Getting Joey riled up was enjoyable, and now he didn't even have to bother coming up with ways to annoy the blonde. All he'd have to do was talk to Yami and Joey would simply make a fool out of himself. Anzu turned around to flick Seto on the forehead, but earning no reaction from him at all, not that she expected it, but still.

"YOU. TROUBLE."

"I didn't cause anything. I am simply enjoying the show." Anzu hated to admit it but he was right. He could have made things even worse if he opened his mouth, but instead he chose not to, he knew when things got out of hand, and this was unarguably one of those times. However, during recess, it was fair game.

The teacher had to break them up and tell them both to leave the classroom if they couldn't stop their dispute.

Once all classes ended and they were all about to go home, Yuugi stopped Yami in the hall. He really wasn't willing to let Yami get a free pass at what happened in class. He wanted to ask him if he took Joey's joke seriously and if he could possibly forgive his friend.

"Hey Yami!"

"No, no, no, no. Didn't you get the message? Get away from me!"

He tried to run away but Yuugi was surprisingly quicker and caught up to him. He was shockingly strong as well for his size. As soon as he grabbed on to Yami's wrist he sure didn't let it go.

"What now?" He sighed at the shorter teen that was looking up at him with big bright lavender eyes.

"I noticed you didn't take any notes during this lesson. I wrote some of the most important ones down for you-" Yuugi pulled up a piece of paper from his book and held it out to Yami.

"-And sorry for Joey. He can be wild sometimes," Yuugi said, smiling once more at him as if that would change Yami's behavior. Yami felt horrible for what he did earlier to Yuugi but he didn't want the little one to spend time with him here at all, especially not after what happened today. He would much rather be by himself since time in Japan was limited.

"He probably already hates me. Come on, I insulted one of his friends and basically hurt him on purpose. I might as well continue being an ass. He'll give up sometime. They all do, eventually." This was what he was thinking at the moment. Sure. Being mean was the easy way out. That's what he learned when he did this in Egypt. Acting up was always going to drive people away… or so he thought.

"No. I don't want your stupid notes." Yami mumbled back at Yuugi. Though Yuugi didn't even seem to be saddened by those words. In fact, it only seemed to make him giggle.

"Ah…so you know where your next class is tomorrow?"

Yami gave him a skeptical look, quickly followed up by a worried look of confusion. Oh, was THAT what he was supposed to take notes for? The classes they had tomorrow? One might have just forgotten to do so.

"…Don't tell me he knew I was stupid enough not take notes. That's just creepy… and extremely nice. Ugh, come on kid! Leave me alone. COOPERATE!"

While Yami was occupied thinking, lavender eyes stared at him waiting for an answer. He had to say SOMETHING. One word could explain so much.

"No?" he questionably asked the younger one which seemed to burst out in laughter. It just occurred to him that they never received their schedules. Yuugi put the piece of paper he was holding in Yami's bag and told him that it was a guide for tomorrow's lessons.

They were a little late giving out the week schedule so that's why they told everyone where they needed to be tomorrow.

Something Yami should pay more attention too in general, the teachers.

He nodded at the shorter boy, trying to get out of this conversation as soon as possible and run back home. Yuugi didn't seem let him go, though.

Yami made an excuse that it takes him some time to walk home from school and that he needed to be home quick. As soon as Yuugi heard where Yami's home was located, he smiled.

"My grandpa's game shop is so close to that. Right near the Domino Park, right?" Yami cursed in his head. He should never have said where he actually lived.

"We can walk home together." Yuugi's smile only seemed to get brighter and that scared Yami to death. Yuugi honestly wanted to become friends since he believed there might be a softer side underneath. He also thought that hanging around his 'other half' would be fun. Yami, on the other hand, didn't like the idea at all. He couldn't understand why Yuugi was still trying to become friends with him. Hadn't he shown enough hate already? What was there this kid didn't seem to get that everyone else caught on to pretty quickly?

"No. Not after what I've said, not after what I've done. How can you still try to become friends with me?"

"Don't bother." Yami mumbled back at him in response.

"Give me a good reason not to."

Yami thought this one through before answering. He'd just wanted to yell at the boy-

"Because I almost freaking cracked your skull open a minute ago, give me a good reason NOT to go home alone!"

He was clearly over-dramatizing the scenario but nevertheless, he didn't want Yuugi to follow him along. Inside his head were several voices. A part of him just wanted to tell this Yuugi kid to back off and not bother him anymore, while another voice really wanted to be friends with the entire crew. He wanted to get along with Joey as well, if Joey actually managed to apologize for what he'd done. Yami listened to the voice that yelled the strongest. And that voice was…

"Didn't I already tell you to piss off? Or wasn't that act in class a clue enough?" definitely not the voice of reason. Mentally punching himself, he soon regretted his words. Not here, not now. This was something that was acceptable when the person would react like Joey did, but not Yuugi.

Yuugi would just smile and get back up on his feet happier than ever. Never had he seen this sort of person. Beating Joey up and being mean to him was less problematic because Joey himself was being a jerk. Yuugi was only trying to be friendly. That was why Yami had to get away from him, pronto. Once the hate wasn't mutual, it sort of killed the tactic.

"Please… Just, for your own sake. Can't you hear it? Aren't you mad? What's wrong with you?"

"I thought it was only an accident…" Yuugi had made up an excuse.

Even a blind man in Spain could see that what Yami did in class was obviously no accident.

"It's only a walk home. I won't stab you or anything like that. You have nothing I want." Yuugi laughed nervously, trying to keep his cool, but feeling that the air around them was getting slightly more uncomfortable by the minute.

Jokes were useless and to no help at all. It was harder to try and 'lighten up the mood' as Yami's facial expression didn't seem to change at all during the conversation. Yami thought for a second. A tactic. A sure bulletproof way of getting rid of this kid once and for all. What would he lose?

"If this won't get the kid off my back, then I don't know what will." He knew he'd regret saying it, especially to such a nice guy, but did he really need people following him around in Japan? Considering he seemed to be thinking, he wouldn't spend much time here anyways. Why bother at all with anything? He took a deep breath before uttering.

"I don't care for you, so get lost before you regret it."

Yuugi seemed to be more persistent than Yami first thought. Yuugi did look slightly hurt from those words, but he didn't mind them too much since he told himself Yami was only using them as a defensive wall. For whatever reason, he knew Yami didn't want any friends. He honestly didn't believe Yami would hurt him if he just followed along or asked him questions. Yami wasn't a bully, that's for sure, because Yuugi could recognize those kinds of people from a mile away. It seemed as if what Yami was doing was equally as silly as what Honda and Joey had been doing to Kaiba the previous lesson. Throwing useless, empty threats.

"Why can't we just walk home? Will it kill you?" Yami thought for a good microsecond or two. "Yes!" was a strong voice inside his head.

Being beside this boy while he had uttered such horrible things at him would just drive him nuts. Then again, he had no one to blame for these words but himself. He honestly thought Yuugi would just give up at this point, but the boy seemed more stubborn than what Yami was.

He gave up eventually, because he saw that Yuugi wasn't going to give in until he got what he wanted, also he had no good reply back that wasn't in the form of an insult.

Throwing insults would only make the way home more uncomfortable, once that was established, Yami could give in.

"Fine, I'll wait for you outside the school gate. I'll be there for 10 minutes. If you're not there by then, I'll go by myself," he said, turning around.

"I'll be there." Yuugi shouted, and waved at Yami with a smile. Yami managed to 'feel' Yuugi's smile through the massive crowd, even if he wasn't looking back.

It astonished him that the boy was still surprisingly happy after all those comments.

"How the HELL can he STILL try to befriend me after everything I've said?" Yami was humming a familiar tune to himself out of boredom while walking outside.

Once he reached the school's gate where he'd wait for Yuugi. He turned to look at the big clock, and counted down the minutes it took for Yuugi to arrive. Each second seemed to drive him crazy waiting. It was as if a bullet was about to fire around 10 minutes at full speed and he had no way to avoid it.

He thought he could apologize to Yuugi on the way home at least to clear things up, but would he manage to do that even if they were alone in private?

"Can someone just shoot me for real and put me out of my misery?" He looked back up at the clock again. 7 minutes. Time seemed to move so much slower.

Yuugi had opened his locker and put the books in while in a hurry to get back to Yami. The look-a-like clone of Yuugi seemed negotiable when he was alone.

"He's not that bad. He's probably still mad about Joey's joke…" Yuugi thought. He then looked at his books sadly and flipped through a couple of pages to find the notes he was supposed to bring with him.

"He's got no one here… He knows no one. It must be terrible being alone all the time. I hope he becomes a new friend in our friendship circle." He giggled a bit at the name Anzu had given their group. It was a long time back in the past when she would draw a happy face on all of their hands. The ink didn't wash off that easily now that he remembered it. He could almost see it on his hand to this very day.

The bond they shared was sacred and could never be broken. On that note, he shut his locker and turned around. Time wasn't something he could waste right now. He wished he could explain that to Ushio, who he had just bumped into. Yuugi gulped in fear as he stepped back slowly avoiding Ushio's stare. Ushio was heavy built and probably three times as big as Yuugi was.

His muscles were visible through his school uniform and his stare could even send Marik running away while shivering full of fear. He was the worst bully among all on school. Not even Bakura dared to go near him and Bakura was considered one of the worst bullies. "S-sorry Ushio." Yuugi waved nervously at him while he tried to step aside quietly.

It was far too late.

Ushio didn't like when people got away from him unpunished. He thought it would show that he'd gone soft on his victims and didn't have his 'touch' like back in the old days. Would anyone fear him if they heard a little kid escaped him without a bruise or two?

He couldn't allow that to happen. Not a single doubt would be flying around the school when they were talking about Ushio.

All the man wanted to hear from them was fear. Speaking of fear, he wanted to scare someone right this very moment. Unfortunately for Yuugi, HE was the closest victim.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?" Ushio laughed evilly while he grabbed Yuugi's golden bangs.

"U-Ushio! No!" Yuugi stuttered. He tried to push himself away but it only brought more pain, as Ushio's grip around his hair was super tight. He had no intention of letting go.

"What's the problem YUUGI?" Ushio taunted him with a wide grin. Ushio pulled Yuugi's bangs until he almost got lifted off the floor by the grip. "Could you not have found a more suitable time for torture?" Yuugi mumbled under his breath while he tried to reach for the floor. How Ushio could pull someone up this lightly was beyond his comprehension. All he cared about was how to get out of this and hurry back to Yami. How would he ever arrive on time if Ushio decided to smack him around?

"Such a weakling. You're so fun to pick on, you know that?" Ushio laughed as he let Yuugi go and punched him in the gut instead. Yuugi dropped down on his knees because of the impact. Ushio then kicked him in the head several times until Yuugi fell on his back with his nose bleeding badly from the kicks.

"Ugh…" He wanted to brush his bangs away from his face so he could see again only to have his entire hand covered in hot blood as well as his bangs. Usually, Ushio wouldn't get lucky enough to kick him until he started bleeding, but once the blood gushed out, it wasn't easy to stop it. He was wondering why no one bothered to come check by these lockers in a time like this. Of course… They were all probably home. Just his everyday luck and struggle. Joey had taught him to defend himself when someone would step on him during the years they were friends, but even then it was hard. Yuugi's body wasn't made to battle. He could handle someone his own size and also someone Joey's size, but he didn't stand a chance against someone like Ushio. Not even Joey could stand up against the malicious bully.

"HAHA! You're not even resisting! Useless piece of shit! Just pathetic!" Ushio was said to love tormenting people smaller than him because it brought him satisfaction. Yuugi was an easy target for bullies since his grandpa always taught him not to hit others. Something Joey had to smack right out of his head if he wanted Yuugi to survive this school's horrible bullies.

Yuugi was trying to position himself so he could push his body back up and run away, but it all failed when the pain in his gut came back and the blood ran down his face as it left stains on his uniform. There no possibility he could fight his way out of this, so the only option was to use verbal communication.

"Why are you doing this…U-Ushio," Yuugi stuttered, still trying to pull himself back up regardless of how dizzy he felt. Did he expect to get sympathy from HIM? USHIO? No way. Ushio was as cold hearted as a blizzard in Antarctica.

He couldn't care less if he killed Yuugi, which he was probably going to do if the bully landed more hits like this.

Ushio pulled him up by his hair again and punched him in the face causing Yuugi to cough up some of the blood running down his nose.

The teen couldn't resist or even try. He knew from earlier beatings that Ushio would only punch harder and step on him if he even tried to fight back. Was there any other option, though? Fighting back, or talking back was all equally as futile. There was no chance his small body could even compare to Ushio's.

"Please…Stop…" Yuugi cried. He hated the fact he could be so useless in situations like these. He also hated how the only option now was to beg. "Pathetic," the raven-haired man tossed Yuugi across the room. Yuugi's head collided with the wall causing him to scream out in pain. He tried to pull himself up but couldn't seem to see clearly. His vision got blurrier and the bully was getting more violent with each passing second. Soon, a voice emerged from a distance.

"You let him go, or I'll deal with you myself!" the voice was rather feminine and confident. The smaller child recognized right away who it was that came to his rescue and smiled.

Anzu.

Typical she'd always find him in the most embarrassing situations. Ushio looked up for a second, away from his prey, only to find a brown haired woman ready to slap him across the face if needed.

"Seems like your 'girlfriend' needs to protect you, you little crybaby." Ushio laughed and let Yuugi go before he vanished down the corridor. Even the most callous bully wouldn't sink so low as to hit a girl.

Anzu had stopped Ushio's little rampage for now, luckily.

She hurried and ran up to Yuugi yelling out his name in concern.

"Yuugi! Can you hear me? Are you all right?" Yuugi nodded at Anzu while he sat up straight. Anzu quickly unlocked her own locker and pulled out a bunch of tissues from her bag. She leaned down to Yuugi and wiped the bloodstains away from his face and uniform.

"What a horrible prick. I'll teach him a lesson about bullying," she said, while she continued to brush away the blood on Yuugi's face a bit harshly since she was so worried.

"It's all right Anzu. I'm fine…" He took the tissues from her and helped himself clean up the mess Ushio had made. Anzu checked to make sure he wasn't hurt badly anywhere else. She noticed a few cuts and bruises but nothing very dangerous. It's not like Ushio cracked his skull open.

"Are you dizzy?" Anzu asked as she was still scanning his head for damage.

"Uhm…" He was embarrassed to admit it but he still couldn't stand up. The blood hadn't stopped either, it just continued. A blow to the head, no matter how soft it may be would always leave him a bit light-headed. Ushio didn't just give him a punch in the head but tossed him into a wall, it was hard to stand up from such an impact. He felt as if he was going to pass out right there in the hallway. This feeling was something he hated, the feeling of being alone without anyone to help. If Anzu hadn't been there for him, who knows how far Ushio would have taken this? Suddenly, Honda walked down the hall and noticed Anzu and Yuugi sitting down next to the lockers. As soon as he noticed the bloodstains, he rushed over to take a look at what happened. Anzu didn't even have to explain anything for Honda to understand.

"That's it! Me and Joey are gonna KILL this son of a-"

"Don't!" Yuugi yelled.

"… Just kill him, a little bit. Ya know, maybe cut his hand off. Come on man… It's not fair." Anzu nodded in agreement with Honda. It wasn't fair.

"Honda, stay here with him while I go get some more tissues." and with that said, Anzu rushed off to the bathroom, leaving Honda and Yuugi alone.

"Kh… Yuugi, are you-"

"I'm fine!" He tried to say as confidently as possible with all the tissues pressed against his nose. Though there was no way he could say that sentence without sounding slightly muted and high-pitched. That immediately made it lose the 'confident' sound Yuugi had tried to put into it. He was regaining his cool. The bleeding was slowing down and his fear was vanishing. Honda sat down next to Yuugi and patted him on the back. It wasn't long before Yuugi could hear a small amount of snickering.

"…You do know you look absolutely hilarious with all those tissues in your face, right?" Honda said trying to contain some of his laughter.

"Hilarious? I'd like to say I look FABULOUS with all of this in my face." Yuugi joked and ruffled the huge amount of tissues that covered up his entire face.

"You SOUND fabulous too, Pegasus would be jealous."

"Haha, very funny."

There was really no way even this sort of situation could bring Yuugi down. Sure, the beating had been rough, but it was over. As long as he knew he had his friends, he'd always smile. Anzu came back with a bunch of new tissues at last. Once Yuugi removed the old ones, Honda wasn't smiling or laughing anymore. When he noticed how bad the beating actually was, he could freak out again.

"That's it! We're killing him! JOEY! Get your army!" Honda quickly rushed away from the scene and screamed out Joey's name several times while punching the air.

"Joey has an army?" Anzu raised her brows curiously.

"If you count a duel-deck as an army, yes he has one." After a few minutes Yuugi's bleeding had stopped completely. The brunette made sure to stay next to him the entire time. She knew he'd get easily dizzy from practically any hit to the head, so letting him sit down was the best option.

"Can you stand up?" Yuugi tried. He wobbled a bit before regained his stance.

"Yep. A bit sore still, but this honestly wasn't as bad as last time's beating was." Anzu hugged Yuugi and suggested they walk home together, just in case Ushio tries something else. This reminded Yuugi.

"NO! Yami is waiting! I completely forgot!" Yuugi gathered all of his stuff quickly before hurrying off with Anzu right behind him, running towards the exit. He stumbled every now and then, still woozy from the beating, but he just couldn't let Yami wait like that. He'd made a promise to meet up with him. It was a promise he had to keep, regardless of what happened.

Meanwhile about 30 minutes had passed and Yami was still waiting for Yuugi impatiently.

"I guess he just wanted you to stand here and wait like an idiot." A voice whispered in Yami's head while another wanted to shut that voice up. That voice was the reason Yami was even standing here to begin with. However, Yuugi was late. That was without a doubt true. Why he was late was a completely different question.

The odds weren't exactly in Yami's favor, so to speak. It was more likely that Yuugi left him to wait there as some sort of prank. Yet, he didn't know the younger boy well enough to reach a different conclusion. He couldn't judge him at all for he didn't know him. That's why his conclusion was wrong and he failed to see it himself.

"I give up. Nothing has changed. Different country. Same faces. I'm an idiot for thinking he actually was serious…Then again, I would do the same thing in his shoes." He walked away and headed straight for the park. Another voice in his head echoed loudly, a sad truth. "You have yourself to blame."

Yami used to take a shortcut through the park to get to his house, but this time he stayed in the park. He wanted to be alone, away from all social life. People were rarely walking around in the park at this time. It was mainly full of little children playing on the swings or at the playground. Near the swings, he could hear a few young kids talking about his favorite game, Duel Monsters. He wanted to approach them and brag a little bit. He was, after all, the champion in Egypt. He could teach them a thing or two. One wouldn't know if he would teach them out of kindness, or to show off for once in his life. This game wasn't played as often in Egypt, nor was it that popular. Coming to this foreign country was a happy event for him since practically EVERYONE played the game here. Duel Monsters was originally from Japan, so it was obvious it would be played more frequently here.

The park was very soothing and quiet apart from the playground. That was, unless it was nighttime. At night, this park got crowded with the wrong types of people. The sort you usually don't want to encounter, even on a sunny day. Yami wanted to get away from Atem and all of the phone calls his parents had made the first day they arrived in Japan. They were all worried if Atem and Yami were safe and sound. Why wouldn't they? It was their father's plane, after all.

Yami was currently sitting under a big tree while doodling in his notebook. When he flipped a page over, a note suddenly dropped out of the book and landed on the grass. It was the piece of paper Yuugi had handed him earlier today. He thought about why Yuugi had even tried helping him. It just didn't make sense. He remembered Yuugi's words clearly and that smile of his that Yami just couldn't seem to erase from his memory.

"Adorable, humble and friendly… So why the HELL bother being friends with ME?" He shook his head and grabbed the piece of paper angrily.

"I'll be there, he said. Tsk. Why do I still think about it?" He wanted to throw the note away but knew that he needed it. Throw it away. Just throw it away. It was a symbol that Yuugi cared, and that ticked the crimson-eyed teen off greatly. It would have been better if the younger kid didn't, in fact, care. It would make things so much easier on Yami.

Then again, he COULD probably throw it away if he remembered what was written on it. He grabbed the note tighter and unfolded it to see a wall of text and small drawings. This wasn't just some minor scribble Yuugi took during class. This was basically an entire schedule saying where he should be at what times and what books he needed to prepare. It explained what teachers held the lessons, and it also went to describe all rooms including corridors in the school. It was essentially a mini map in letters with tiny drawings. Yami just sat there, reading the schedule over and over again, time after time. He tried to understand WHY the note just didn't say 'Tomorrow, biology, English, etc."

They receive the same schedules almost every year with a few minor changes if needed, but… This was not necessary. Was it?

"He…Wait- what?" Yami took a closer look at the halls and classroom numbers. He recognized the history class as well as the math class, being that they were all accurately placed on the map. He assumed the rest was probably right, too. Had Yuugi really taken the time to write down all of this just for him?

Yami felt bad about leaving school now or even thinking Yuugi could have done something like this on purpose, just to leave him in the cold.

"This guy is far too nice for his own good..." Yami sighed.

"I wish my stubbornness wouldn't prevent me from apologizing..."

He took another look at the paper. There was a small note at the bottom saying the following: "let's both prank Joey once he's alone and give him a taste of his own medicine," with a doodle of something that looked like Yuugi giving him a thumb's up. It took some time for Yami to comprehend what the doodle was supposed to resemble, but once he saw it he laughed out loud pulling the paper closer to his chest. He lied down on the grass just snickering at the doodle Yuugi had made on the piece of paper.

"Oh good gods… His drawings are horrible." He tried to contain his laughter, but it would just return whenever he took a look at the note. A silence suddenly fell and his smile was gone. Yuugi wouldn't do such a thing to trick him. Then, why did he never show up? Yami folded the piece of paper together and put it back in his book, pushing himself back up and just wondering for a bit. He thought back at what Joey said earlier to him and how Yuugi reacted. Joey seemed to be more upset about this than Yuugi. Of course, if Yuugi were his friend, he wouldn't want his friend to get hurt. Could Joey have stopped him from coming along?

Yami smiled to himself. The blonde was only making a joke. It was silly to get upset over something like that. Would he only be making things worse by trying to say 'sorry'? It wasn't a word Yami ever used. During his entire life, he had never truly been sorry for almost anything. If Yuugi had flipped out and yelled at him, he would have regretted nothing, yet the kid only smiled.

"…So this is the feeling… The feeling of guilt?" He never experienced it before. All he had was regret, nothing like guilt at all. This feeling seemed to sit in quite tightly and not let go. Slowly suffocating one until they'd give in and try to make amends.

Suddenly, he heard voices in the distance overlapping his silent mumbling. He leaned to the side of the bushes and saw a grumpy guy that seemed as if he was from Domino High, judging by his uniform. The man had a big body and was covered in some bloodstains.

"Blood?" Yami leaned even closer to the bushes to peek at the brutes. He had shifted to a, as he would call it, facedown-defense card position, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. The man was standing and chatting with another fellow who wore sunglasses and had a beard. They were probably 'pals' of some sort. The other guy, though, didn't have the same uniform as him, so he expected he was from another school. These people did really look like the ones you wouldn't want to meet on a sunny day. He questioned what they were doing in the park at this time of the day. Their conversation didn't seem friendlier than what they looked like.

"Yeah, you should have seen the guy squirm. It was phenomenal." The man from domino laughed out loud while patting his friend's shoulder. It was almost as if he was hitting him by the sounds of the 'pats'.

"Heh. Who was this runt anyways, Ushio?" The other guy pulled up a cigarette and asked Ushio, who held the lighter, to light it up. Yami wasn't concerned about their little conversation. As soon as the talk was about something this pointless and violent, he just seemed to ignore more than provoke. Blood, violence, AND fire was definitely a bad mix. They seemed to be bad guys, but nothing important to pay attention to at all. That was, up until one of them had mentioned a name.

"His name is Yuugi Muto, I think. MAN, he was a lot of fun to beat the shit out of. His blood came gushing out like there was no tomorrow, just by four or five kicks to the face. HAHA!"

Yami suddenly sat there paralyzed in both anger and fear after he heard what they said. Had this 'Ushio' guy beat Yuugi up till the point he had been bleeding? Was the blood on his uniform Yuugi's?

He leaned down closer to the two men. The big tree shielded him from view. Yami was wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him. Sure enough, he heard Yuugi's name being mentioned again and simply couldn't believe it.

"You guys did WHAT to Yuugi?" His appearance had changed drastically from just hearing that one line. He wasn't calm anymore, but instead was fumingly angry as well as riled up. Yami practically wanted to set both of them on fire for thinking about hurting someone, especially a person who wouldn't do anything to harm them. What could cause these guys to joke about hurting an innocent kid while also taking pride in it? Nevertheless, a kid about 3 times smaller than they were. What POSSIBLE threat could Yuugi have to them?

"OH, MAN! I wish I were there to see it. Would have been a fucking awesome show." Ushio lit the man's cigarette. The guy tasted it before he inhaled and blew out dark smoke. Ushio then proceeded to throw the lighter away into the bushes.

"Useless lighter, it doesn't even work half the time." He muttered grumpily.

Yami couldn't stand to hear more of their yapping. How could he EVER think Yuugi would do something like this on purpose? There were no words for how badly he wanted to punish the both of them.

Yami curiously looked over at the bushes and saw the lighter, which Ushio had thrown, sticking out. Without a doubt, he crawled over to the bush and picked it up, holding it with his thumb and index finger. He then opened the lid and tried it out. Sure, the flame wasn't huge, but the lighter still seemed to work pretty decently. A small flame could still start a huge fire. That reminded him of something he thought about just seconds ago…

Grinning to himself, he stepped in front of the guys with the lighter in one hand and the other in his pocket.

"Oi. You two." Yami emerged from the shadows of the forest. His crimson eyes seem to glow in the dark, though it didn't scare the bullies a bit.

"Oh! Is this the guy you were talking about, Ushio? Fits your description pretty well. Shitty, spiky hair and thick ass mascara." The man laughed while he took another blow at his cigarette. Ushio had a confused look on his face. This guy resembled Yuugi by the school uniform and hair, but appeared to be a completely different person. He looked more mature and confident, not to mention his voice was also a lot lower. Yuugi would never approach them in that sort of manner. Yami chuckled at their stupidity. They had no idea what was about to happen.

"So you enjoy playing games with other peoples lives, eh?" Yami held the lighter in his hand. He flipped the lid down and threw the lighter in the air a few times, his eyes still locked on Ushio and the other buff man. The disgusting smell of smoke filled the air before Yami threw in the final line. "Then let me introduce you guys to my penalty game." He grabbed the lighter firmly and with those words said, he was going to regret NOTHING of what was about to happen.


Meanwhile, Atem was home watching TV, waiting for the phone to ring. It was as if all he did everyday, since their arrival in Japan, was look at the phone and wait for a call. Yami had been awfully late, and Atem expected him home much sooner. He felt uncomfortable in this country. It was like he was completely isolated from everything and everyone, except for his parents. The commercials and programs didn't make much sense unless they were in English. Even then, it was hard to understand everything, since English isn't his native language. How his little brother was coping with this was beyond his understanding. Yami studied English in Egypt, but he never thought Yami could use it this easily. The language barrier appeared somewhat broken, and he could practically talk to anyone in the new school. In Atem's opinion, his little brother was a lucky bastard. They found him an English school he could attend, where all teachers spoke English instead of Japanese.

Atem sighed and leaned against the couch. It was around 17.35, and Yami was nowhere to be found. Does he plan to stay out all night? He never ever did this in Egypt. If anything, Yami was the one who was expected to come home early. He never went out to parties or with friends, and preferred to stay at home alone. Why was it that he was late this evening when he should have been home about two hours ago?

Suddenly, the door shot open, and in came a very out of breath teen with his jacket across his shoulder. His hair was full of leaves and his skin was tainted with dirt. The teen, which appeared to be Yami, turned around and pushed the door closed before falling down onto his knees.

"What the HELL happened to you?" Atem asked in shock as he jumped in fear to the dramatic entrance. Yami simply smirked.

"Best day of my life, EVER." he said, while placing his jacket down on the ground, still panting. One couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or sincere. Atem rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure…" He muttered to himself, obviously displeased.

"Now, call mom and dad?" Atem looked up at his brother with the phone in his hands.

"It's not even been a day, and you're already squirming for help?" Atem got rather annoyed with his younger brother once he heard those words. It seemed like they were going to repeat the dispute they had yesterday all over again, only for it to end the same way.

"Yami! I don't understand anything! The language is full of weird signs that I can't comprehend! Why can't we just go back to Egypt? One word from you would allow us to do that!" Yami stood up and shifted his weight from one foot to the other in a playful way.

"Take a good look at my jacket, now at my hair, then at my skin, and back at me." Yami said, pointing up and down with his index finger at himself. Atem scanned his brother from top to toe, following his brother's finger. Messy hair filled with leaves, clothes completely filthy, small cuts here and there, and possibly little bruises on his arm as well as neck. What point was he trying to make?

"Yes?" The tanned male asked, unable to understand Yami's reasoning.

"THIS is the result of having too much fun to hear your complaining." Yami grinned and ran straight into the kitchen to grab a Popsicle. Clearly the scene from yesterday was now repeating itself, unarguably. How on earth Yami managed to ignore the injuries and have a Popsicle was stunning. It's like this happened all the time and he just didn't bother to care.

Atem gave up and threw himself facedown on the couch, completely exhausted.

"Jetlag is a biiiiiiiiiiiiiitch." He mumbled into the pillow.

Yami walked up to him with the Popsicle in his mouth, patting his brother on the head lightly.

"I know. Sucks when you don't get it your way for once." His voice was a bit muted because of the Popsicle. Yami then walked past him and headed up to his own room. Atem had no idea what his little brother meant but decided not to question it. They could both be jerks at times. That much was understood.

All the books Yami gathered during the day were thrown onto his desk carelessly, along with his school bag. He picked up the note Yuugi handed him from his pocket in slight disappointment.

"So that bastard decided to beat Yuugi up?" He sat down in his chair, leaning on the desk, while slowly sucking on the Popsicle. Was there a reason for the beating? He didn't even have to think for that answer. No, of course there was not. Yuugi wouldn't harm anyone, and that much was obvious.

"Ushio is such a pathetic piece of garbage." He bit the Popsicle and chewed down a few pieces before he leaned his head on one of his hands.

"At least his hair burns quick as hell." Laughter filled the quiet room.

No one was around to see them, hopefully. One quick throw of the lighter across Ushio's head lit it on fire as if it was easily flammable. Even the smallest flame could be useful. He never expected it to catch fire THAT quickly. The other man, though, wasn't as amused as Yami, and started chasing him. Yami had to go through dirt and what not to manage an escape. The man had caught him once, strangled and punched him in the face. Lucky shot, in Yami's opinion. Good thing he had a huge advantage by running faster than the two bullies.

Bored into oblivion, Yami looked through the note several times before he decided to doze off on his desk. He woke up after some time to throw his clothes into the washing machine and slip into his pajamas.

He quickly positioned himself back into his chair where he read Yuugi's note clearly, over and over again, chuckling when he reached his doodle. He needed to keep all that memorized. At least, that was, if he wanted to throw the note away.

"…I don't want to… but I don't think I've earned to be friends with any of them. I might as well forget them completely."

Soon, he fell asleep on the spot. Who knew running around and setting people's hair on fire could be such a tiring job?

Atem arrived in Yami's room later on around midnight, finding him passed out in his chair with a bunch of random books.

He carried his younger brother over to bed and laid him down to rest. The tanned male was a bit worried since his younger brother hadn't eaten anything almost the entire day, except sweets, but he couldn't wake him up now. Yami's expression changed drastically while he was asleep. Then again, his brother seemed to show a various amount of expressions when he really wanted to, though the one he had while sleeping wasn't really optional. He looked just like a little innocent kid, without a single care in the world. Once he would open his mouth though… that magic was gone.

"It's so annoying how you can be a jerk at times, but at others you're just too damn adorable." Usually these kinds of situations were rare. They never slept in the same room, or even in the same part of their home. Seeing Yami like this was a nice surprise, since they never got to spend too much time together. Atem placed a blanket over his brother and decided to go sleep as well. Who knew what would happen tomorrow? It was all still a big question whether or not they would stay here for long. No calls and absolutely no messages. At least things could only get better from now on, right?


The next morning, though, didn't seem to get brighter than the previous. It was as if history repeated itself. Joey was bickering with Kaiba, and Anzu was talking to Honda, same old story. Suddenly, Yami stepped into the room and it went dead silent. At least he was completely dressed up this time and didn't look as messy as he was on the first day, though he did not have his uniform on today. He had to walk to school in regular clothes since he ruined his school uniform from yesterday's chase, which he was honestly really proud of. Joey turned to look at Kaiba. Surprise struck him when he noticed Kaiba was grinning with his eyes fixed on Yami.

"Why don't you sit next to me this time, Yami?" Kaiba said and patted Joey's seat. As amusing it was to Yami to see Kaiba on his side, he really didn't want to start any fights again this time by just walking into class.

"Do people usually talk to others that don't seem to want and talk to them? What's wrong with people here? Also, why do I seem to start a bloody riot whenever I just walk into class?"

Joey yelled at Kaiba claiming it was HIS seat and his seat alone. Kaiba of course came prepared with arguments against Joey. He of all people knew how to counter someone and leave them speechless without a shred of doubt.

"Are you sure, mutt? Last time I checked, you claimed my seat to be your own. Maybe someone should teach you a lesson of what it feels like to have your possessions stolen from you." Kaiba was grinning evermore than before. Joey jumped on his back and attempted to pull his friend down on the floor to wrestle, but Kaiba was far too strong to get pushed over so easily. Instead, he pulled Joey off himself and pinned the blonde down to the ground, ready to take Joey up on his challenge. Yami sighed.

Could they stop getting HIM involved in all their little disputes?

Crystal clear blue eyes slowly gazed over at Yami in curiosity.

"Don't worry, they won't bother you today. I'll make sure of that."

Yami rolled his eyes at Anzu. He couldn't care less about them. What he did care about, though, was Yuugi, and if he was all right after last day's scenario. He felt sorry for the kid. Getting hit so absolutely brutally and mercilessly was something he couldn't imagine. Would Yuugi even be fit for school today? If so, how badly did Ushio's little act harm him? Honda suddenly woke Yami up from his daydreaming.

"Hey, man, it's alright if you don't like Joey. He's not with us, anyways." Obviously, this was a joke. Joey, though, snapped at Honda and decided to pick on him instead. Kaiba didn't seem to mind, their little wrestling game had to end, anyways. How could Joey not see that it was a joke? Even Yami could see that what Honda truly meant.

"This entire school is full of foolish clowns." Yami muttered, tiresome, while a voice in the back of his head wished that he could also join them and be a foolish clown. Their friendship really was… something.

"Finally, someone understands!" Seto raised his arms up to the roof, stretching from the fight with Joey.

Yami sat down in the same spot as yesterday and waited for Yuugi to arrive so he could apologize to him and then to his friends once and for all. He just wanted to punch himself for still acting badly towards them. Yami really didn't want to act hostile anymore, but he felt as if they would all wonder why his personality changed if he replied differently. It was complicated, to say the least. One simply didn't understand how to handle these people that some called "friends".

Instead of giving this topic more thought, he took a look out the window and was frightened when he saw his own reflection in the glass. He had a very visible bruise on his neck somewhere right below the ear. The guy in the park must have caused that minor injury. He pulled his choker up to cover the black mark, because it looked dreadful. Handling bullies with his own fists was a bit of a dilemma, so running was the best option. Yami was not stronger than Yuugi, despite their physical differences. Someone at his height couldn't possibly beat up two full-grown men. Especially not without something like, oh, I don't know, a mallet? Perhaps a flamethrower would work? Maybe something that could generate a huge amount of electricity and send out lightning bolts?

"Hm… Dynamite! With my money, I could probably set them on an island and blow them to pieces. Wait, even better, I'll nuke them. Would it be considered public service or murder if I got rid of the pests?"

Anzu whispered something in Joeys ear and sent him off to Yami in a hurry. "No way," Joey answered back, but was still pushed forward by the stubborn female. He stepped closer to Yami and twiddled his thumbs in a circle-motion, while looking away from the spiky-haired teen. Yami looked up at him questionably, waiting for the blonde to open his mouth and start a dispute.

"Here we go…"

"So uh…" He started blushing lightly.

"Some things were said yesta'day and… I just wanna say I'm sorry, 'k?" Joey managed to utter, even if he honestly didn't like apologizing for something that was clearly a joke, and nevertheless the truth.

This wasn't a person who was used to apologizing to strangers. This was Joey. Yami, on the other hand, knew an apology when he heard it. This felt more like mockery instead of a full downright apology. How would they have reacted if he apologized in the same way? Anzu could feel that Joey's comment didn't turn Yami's foul mood around. She regretted sending him off without knowing what to exactly apologize for. He probably didn't know what ticked Yami off so much, just like now.

"Oh, cry me a river." Yami's reply seemed like enough of a response to send Joey over the edge again. The blonde started waving his arms around, screaming. Yami was sulking for a brief moment. How could he be so stupid as to make them even angrier? Whatever he wanted to say wasn't really coming out.

"I'm not going to be here for long anyways, so why care?" Why care about others when he's just here for a short amount of time? Oh, right, because he was human. It would be impossible to live in this world if he honestly couldn't care for anyone. Even if he tried not to care, it would be far too impossible to ignore everyone. He knew that in the future, he'd care for Joey and the rest of the people that he was now fighting with. Yet, the path to get there was very rocky, as well as broken. Yami wasn't making it easier for him to get across it towards friendship, either. This only amused one single person in their entire class.

"This guy is phenomenal. I better buy him a drink or something."

"Kaiba!" That was the one word that Anzu found herself shouting out more frequently.

"I didn't do anything, I never do anything anymore… I don't have to."

Yuugi suddenly walked into the classroom, greeting everyone by saying 'good morning'. It was all too far from a cheerful morning. Joey was about to launch himself at Yami when one word stopped him from ever doing so.

"Morning." Yami said automatically without even thinking, but soon regretted it, as Yuugi seemed to notice he finally greeted someone friendly. The short boy smiled at Yami and walked forward to greet everyone else in the friendship circle, also to make sure Joey wasn't causing any more trouble for anyone. Joey was disappointed that Yuugi had to enter class right about now. The lavender-eyed teen knew his friend wouldn't be allowed to do anything violent with him around. If he did anything, Yuugi would probably step in and stop it. The entire class was a bit surprised that Yami would say that to Yuugi, of all people, and just looked at him to see the reaction.

Yami glared at them in response, and that was enough to get some of the staring to go away. He sighed once everyone had turned around to mind their own business. It was surprising to see Yami greet anyone. From what happened yesterday, they'd all say he dislikes Yuugi.

"Good. Now you don't only look like a jerk, but also an idiot."

Then again, didn't he look like a jerk from the first day on? Once Yuugi got closer, Yami noticed the bruises on the young teen's face, as well as a long cut near his throat. All of these bruises seemed to be left by Ushio. He wondered if there were more marks underneath that uniform. In that case, how much? Enough for Ushio to deserve another flame-thrower? This time, in a more suitable area perhaps?

He soon reached out his hand to greet Yuugi. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. Yuugi was a bit shocked by the sudden hand reaching out to greet him, but decided to greet Yami back anyways. It seemed fairly strange. In Yuugi's opinion, he thought Yami would be very upset from what happened yesterday, though he didn't seem to mention it at all. No matter. Greet first, question later.

Yami then pulled Yuugi's arm closer so he could have a better look at it. From Yuugi's point of view, he thought Yami was about to pull him down on the floor again. Good thing he was wrong. Yami noticed more bruises on the boy's pale skin, probably from Ushio's firm grip. There was a huge bruise near his wrist and one more on his cheek. He did a good job covering it up with his spiky bangs, that's for sure. One question came into mind at this point.

"Where did these cuts come from?" Yami said, his eyes now focused on Yuugi instead of his bruises.

"Ah." Yuugi moved away quickly and pulled his jacket over his hands. He didn't even think Yami would notice that. Why would he be looking for it? Anzu had helped Yuugi cover up some of the really bad cuts just to make sure Joey and Honda don't freak out and attack Ushio out of sheer rage. Though, the rest of the marks were visible. If he came into class without a bruise or two, his friends would know something was wrong, since they already knew about the beating. They had to keep it realistic enough to fool everyone. Yami, though, was a completely different person. Would he fall for the same tricks they used against Honda and Joey in order to calm them down and not attack the bad guys?

"I… accidentally bumped into a locker. Nothing important." He smiled innocently. It was about half the truth. Then again, Ushio was about the size of a locker or two. It wouldn't be a complete lie.

"Bullshit."

He couldn't believe it. He knew Yuugi was lying to him, but the question could now only be why. What reason would he have to protect the bullies from getting what they deserve?

"The bruises on your face and neck, then? Am I supposed to believe you hit the locker several times?"

Yuugi laughed a bit nervously while thinking up an excuse, avoiding eye contact.

"N-not really, but I was sorta' dizzy after that and fell down the stairs. Anzu found me and took me to the nurse. Um…" Yuugi tried to continue his sentence but seemed to be afraid to speak up. Yami's facial expression didn't make it easier on him. It seemed like he was ready to strike anyone if they dared approach him. Yuugi was merely stating half-truth at all times. He wasn't lying about Anzu helping him out, but was when he claimed he fell down the stairs. Yami was listening to his explanation, or more like 'excuses' in his ears.

He knew what happened, but wanted Yuugi to say it with his own words. He wanted Yuugi to be honest with him. Though, that wouldn't be rather likely. Yuugi knew how Honda reacted the moment he found him completely beat up black and blue. Telling Yami wasn't a good idea, since he also might do something to get back at the bully, even if he claimed he didn't care. The fact that Yami asked where the bruises came from in the first place was evidence he did care.

"Since I was with the nurse I couldn't come to meet up with you. I'm sorry… I really didn't mean to leave you there for 10 minutes."

"More like half an hour." However, he didn't feel like confessing that to Yuugi just yet, if at all. That might give him the impression that he cared, and the last thing he needed was for the boy to interpret it wrong.

The fact Yuugi lied ticked him off for real. Why was Yuugi making excuses for Ushio? Couldn't he trust Yami at all? From the way Yami was acting, he didn't see why he could be trusted, but he didn't expect the young boy to be such a liar. He crossed his arms and looked forward with a frown.

"Ha."

Yuugi seemed to think his little lie worked. Anzu, however, saw the doubt in Yami's eyes and tried to help the situation. If Joey managed to overhear the conversation, the air in the classroom would turn rather displeasing, especially if they figure out she and Yuugi tried to cover up the worst bruises in order to keep Joey and Honda out of trouble. Something had to be done. How could she stop Yami from ruining their plot?

"It's true, Yami! I found Yuugi and helped him. He really meant no harm." She technically wasn't lying, though Yami thought she was. He had no idea what had happened in school, and whether or not their story was true, but he knew for sure that those bruises didn't come from something as silly as falling down the stairs.

"This entire school is full of liars. I guess it really was too good to be true, they had to have some quirk." There was no reply from Yami, none at all. He just kept staring out the window as if Anzu was speaking to no one. Seto seemed amused at Anzu's speeches, even if she was known for making the situation better. She only made it worse when it came to Yami.

"Give up, woman, the man is not amused." Seto scoffed coldly.

Anzu didn't like his expression, but let him be for everyone's sake. No more arguments in the mornings. Their entire day would be ruined by these silly and insignificant disputes. She felt the urge to say something of great importance to Yami. By the looks he gave Yuugi earlier, he had Anzu worried that he might just snap and hit him. They didn't know what sort of person Yami was, so they might as well be cautious. Yami had shown violence towards others, while Yuugi was a person that approached Yami constantly. The last thing Anzu wanted was for Yami to hurt her best friend.

After their first lesson was over, a few girls walked up to Yami in the hall. Yami was simply standing by a few lockers, waiting for the clock to strike 9.00 so he could move on to the next class. It was at that time he least expected to be interrupted in his thoughts.

"Hey Yami, do you need a guide to show you around the school? We'll be glad to help and show you where all classes are." They asked with bright smiles. All of them appeared to be so happy and kind. That's exactly why Yami wanted to punch himself for the next sentence that was going to come out of his mouth. He knew it was coming, but he just couldn't stop it. "I'm not going to spend time with either of you, so just get lost."

He didn't want to be around them, because he knew what they were after. One didn't need to phrase it in such a cruel way, but it was practically unavoidable. This was the same thing people in Egypt would do to get close to him. He personally preferred to approach the ones he wanted to befriend instead of having people he had no interest in walk up to him and attempt to have a conversation.

Both girls stood shocked at those words. Yami presumed they'd expect a more civilized language, at least, one suitable for girls.

"We just wanted to be polite!" the shorter girl said, while clinging on to her friend's arm, appearing somewhat disturbed by Yami's words.

"Oh, please," he rolled his eyes, "-spare me your sentimentality and just vanish." Yami then waved his hand in a circle motion, which pointed towards the exit. He had quite a smug smirk on his face as he did that.

It was just to get these people off his back. Unnecessary baggage. Both girls glared at the crimson-eyed teen in anger and frustration. Did that guy really not care about what anyone said or thought about him? At least, that's the way Yami wanted them to think of him. Was he honestly a bad person? Inside Yami was a voice telling him to get away from everyone for his own safety, yet another voice pushing him to get close to everyone for his own happiness. It was a conflicting feeling, but the feeling of safety was stronger, so he ended up doing what made him feel safe and secure.

Yami had come to a conclusion that he would distance himself away from everyone, much like in Egypt. The girls stomped away in rage. They would leave Yami alone for sure now, he thought. He wasn't bothered at all, though some friends would be nice to have at some point in time. He knew what they were after, anyways, and wished he just had a 'not interested' tattoo on his forehead. Anzu who witnessed the entire conversation from a safe distance decided she would step up to confront Yami while no other person was in sight, to have a private conversation.

"Hey, listen for a while, will you?" She took a hold of Yami's arm firmly, but not brutally.

"Does everyone here always have to grab on to me? Do I need to hold up a sign saying 'don't touch' when I walk in a public place?"

"Hurt any of my friends, and I won't forgive you." She continued as confidently as possible, despite being nervous to the core. Yami eyed the girl skeptically. The brunette seemed to be serious, beyond serious, even. This was something he never had to deal with in Egypt. Confrontation. Whenever he'd insult someone, or fight, not a single person would stand up and say he dare not touch any of their friends again. He wasn't really sure how to handle this minor conflict.

"I won't harm them if they stay away. Also, don't freaking touch me." Yami hissed, shrugging the girl's arm off. He still hated the fact everyone in this school seemed so free that they could grab on to anyone without warning.

"What is your problem? Whenever you seem like a nice guy, you just reply with something cold. Do you want friends in this school?" Yami's mind was still clouded from his past experience with friends. "Will the people here really act the same?" A sad look spread across his face once he realized people were not different, no matter where they were on the planet. Of course they wouldn't act different, they'd lie and hurt just like the ones in Egypt.

"No," he sighed, disappointed. Anzu's eyes narrowed in disbelief and annoyance.

"I don't believe you, to be honest. I don't care, unless you stop acting so rudely. Mark my words, touch any of my friends, and I will be after you!" She pointed sternly at him before turning around to walking away. In her head, she sighed with relief that Yami hadn't started yelling at her or even punched her. She didn't know what the guy was capable of, but so far, she could tell that he didn't use violence in the form Ushio did. Maybe he was just a guy like Joey. Letting his words speak for him yet not taking action unless in danger. That would explain why both of them didn't seem to get along.

She should have seen Yami's little act the other day in the park. Her opinion would change drastically. Violence would seem like second nature in Yami's case. Then again maybe she'd also thank him for getting revenge on Ushio. Who knows?

"I think she cares a bit too much." Yami mumbled to himself. He picked up the note Yuugi had handed him and started walking towards the hall written down on the piece of paper. He then looked at the little doodle Yuugi had made at the bottom. It made him smile for some reason. Such a simple thing could really brighten up a bad day.

"Gods, his art really does suck. At least, he just wanted to cheer me up."

Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks.

"...But why?" He asked himself as he brought the piece of paper closer to his mouth, tapping it against his lips out of boredom. The paper had an unusual scent of some sort. He figured that it must be because Yuugi's books were different than his own, perhaps older. It was a scent he really couldn't put his finger on besides the fact it also smelled like grass. A scent of dry paper, though there was something else there definitely, something sweet and refreshing.

He raised a brow in confusion while pulling the paper away from his mouth, simply to take a closer look at it.

"Vanilla?" he flipped the paper from side to side, scanning it.

"Must be hallucinating. Probably got punched a bit too hard." He thought while putting the note back down in his pocket. The history room was not too far away, off in the distance. Once he reached the room he took a peek inside out of sheer curiosity. It was also to avoid the blonde and his weird overprotective friends.

Yuugi was sitting in the back as usual. Every hall seemed to have the same amount of chairs in it, and every one of them always sat in their normal spots. Yuugi waved at Yami to come and join him. Yami decided to withdraw the smile he had a while ago and just ignore Yuugi's invitation. Then again, he couldn't really ignore it. He had to sit down next to him at some point. He turned towards the window and refused to look in Yuugi's direction, finding the outside more amusing to stare at for the moment. Eventually, he sat down with his schoolbag placed on the desk, ready to endure a painful lesson in history.

Once the lesson started not a single voice was heard. Only the sound of dry chalk rubbing against a blackboard was echoing through their class. Yami messed up his notes and searched for an eraser in his bag, making some noise, though his classmates didn't appear to care much. They were too focused while taking notes.

"Just great." Yami sighed to himself.

"No eraser. My luck." He folded his book all together, bored to death. Listening to the teacher ramble on, and explain things was much simpler than taking notes constantly. These teachers seemed to teach their students by keeping talking to a minimum. It would help for concentration, but it would get boring really quickly in class without any sort of talking or music.

Yami leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to get some rest. The plan would have succeeded if it weren't for a familiar voice that whispered something in his ear. He looked over tiresomely at the boy next to him. What does he want?

"I thought you needed this." Yuugi smiled and placed an eraser on Yami's desk, right next to his books. "No. Stop. Stop right there. Stop being nice."

"How about, no?" Crimson eyes glared at the eraser and pushed it away, only to have Yuugi place it on his desk once more. This kid really didn't give up easily. Their eyes meet for a brief moment in silence. Expressionlessly, Yami let out a sigh and grabbed the eraser. "You didn't have to," he whispered back at last.

"I know." was Yuugi's only reply before his eyes returned to examine the blackboard and his own notebook. Yami hurried to erase the flaws he'd made to then re-write what was on the blackboard. After a while, the teacher told them they'd be watching a short clip. They rolled down the white screen and turned on the projector. Yami took this time to return the eraser to Yuugi. He looked over at the teen that was so completely lost into writing that he didn't notice Yami's wave. What could catch the boy's attention? Yami regretted the thought and action as he was doing it, but what else could be done? He simply poked Yuugi's arm.

"Thanks." Not even he could mess up by simply thanking the guy.

"Keep it. I think you'll need it more than me." Yami noticed Yuugi was only being friendly, so he didn't think twice about that statement. This kid didn't seem like the sort of guy who would enjoy making fun of others. The aura just wasn't negative. Nothing appeared hurtful, no matter how it was worded. It didn't help that the statement was true either.

"Lucky for you that I can't take you seriously. Not when you smile like that."

"Whatever." He held on to the eraser and placed it inside his notebook before looking up to view the short movie that was playing in front of them. He still didn't appreciate the fact Yuugi had lied to him about the beating. Nevertheless, Anzu lied to him as well partly to his knowledge. He was somewhat mad at both of them but realized he hadn't been a saint either and probably deserved all what Anzu threw at him earlier.

Once school was over, Yuugi looked up at Yami and asked if they could walk back home together this time instead of yesterday.

"This time I'm coming with you, so you don't run away." Yami followed Yuugi to his locker so the short teen could deposit some papers, and bring other important books home. Yuugi thought it was amusing that Yami was concerned he would run away, when he was the one suggesting they'd walk home together, anyhow, it allowed Yuugi to keep a closer eye on Yami so he wouldn't run away either.

Yami though didn't follow Yuugi because he was afraid of him running away, but was worried of Ushio coming back to pick on the guy since he seemed to know where Yuugi's locker was located. It surprised him at how many notebooks the young boy had in his bag when he turned to look in Yuugi's direction.

"How in the hell can you…carry all that?" Yami asked. He was now questioning himself why Yuugi didn't punch the ever-loving crap out of Ushio if he could carry that amount of books with ease by himself. The boy was rather petite compared to Ushio, but he still managed to carry so many books at once. Now that Yami thought about it, how could the boy RUN with that thing on his back? It probably weighed more than him.

"You get used to it after awhile." He said while pulling Yami's arm closer to the exit. That action seemed to tick off the taller one of them greatly.

"Fine! I'm coming, you don't have to… drag me." He yelled out, shaking Yuugi's arm off himself.

"It's getting very hard to yell at him and keep a straight face on. All those smiles just… just, why me?"

Yuugi realized Yami wasn't really going to treat him as a friend from the get-go but he could try making him feel more comfortable around Domino High.

On the way home though, their situation got way less than comfortable. Yuugi was talking to Yami about all the classes and that he needed to keep a good track of them from now on, because he had the real schedule to rely on.

"Is he for real? He's not even going to explain himself? How can he just lie like that? What's the harm in telling me he got beat up?"

All classes and all teachers Yuugi was talking about didn't interest Yami in this moment. Sure, it was useful information but it wasn't something Yami couldn't figure out by himself eventually. Every word that Yuugi said just seemed to annoy him until he reached his breaking point. He didn't mean to say it but it just came out like a bad habit.

"Does it look like I care?"

Yuugi was a little disappointed and remained silent after those words were thrown in his face. Yami decided that it surely was hopeless. Yuugi must have given up on him by now and if not, he was about to make sure Yuugi did give up. That was the final straw. He didn't want to be around the kid anymore. Not after all that he put him through or the things he said to his classmates. None of it could be taken back. The guilt was bringing him down and he just wanted to escape. Instead of removing that guilt with an apology, he could try and turn that guilt into hate.

"Why did you lie to me?"

Yuugi stopped walking and just replied with a confused

"What?" Could Yami have figured out what really happened?

"Don't act dumb." Yami said in a harsher tone. Yuugi lowered his head and stared at the ground, his golden bangs covered up his face, as well as some of the bruises. He knew that he had lied to Yami but he didn't want him to worry or provoke the bullies even further. He most of all didn't want to cause Yami any trouble because of something that happened out of bad luck. Who knows what Honda was doing in this moment? Probably planning on getting revenge along with Joey. The last thing he needed was for Yami to be targeted by the bullies too. Especially since he was a new student, he didn't need that sort of hectic life in Domino High. Though, what could be said?

"Those bruises on you, am I supposed to believe you'd be stupid enough to fall down the stairs and cause such harm to yourself?" It really didn't seem likely. Even if Yami didn't know of the beating, he would never for a second believe Yuugi fell down the stairs. Maybe get pushed down but not fall. He wasn't as clumsy as he made himself look like.

"Anzu helped me, I'm ok really…" Yuugi mumbled silently, looking away from Yami's eyes, which now seemed to spark with fury. Yuugi's answer didn't really address Yami's question, which was what made Yami even more upset. Just one straight answer, was that too much to ask for every once in awhile?

"Don't mistake me for your idiot friend. I won't buy that excuse."

Yuugi raised his head to look up at Yami. This was probably the only moment where Yami had stared deep into Yuugi's eyes for a long time. He looked the boy straight in the face with no fear or expression whatsoever. Yami's crimson eyes pierced through the young ones lavender ones.

"I don't want to be friends with liars." He grabbed the note out of his pocket and just held it up in front of Yuugi without removing his eyes from the boy. "Here, I don't need this thing anymore." He said while letting the note go so it hit the ground. Yuugi stared back at him in disappointment and reached out to grab the note off the ground. He held it in his hands tightly.

"Alright, I understand…sorry to have bothered you." He tried to smile to the best of his abilities, even though Yami had just acted so cruel towards him. This was another action his grandpa had always taught him. A smile would make everything better. Yuugi's grandpa clearly hadn't met this stubborn teen that was now accompanying his grandson. Yami turned around and didn't bother to look back, though he could have sworn he nearly left Yuugi in tears after that statement.