Chapter One

Disclaimer:

I'd love to own it, but sadly I can't.

By Evarinya

-

Yami Atemu Ahme-Ra hurried through the station, his hand clasped tightly around a big brown suitcase handle and in his other a train ticket. Gasping, he quickly boarded a train and handed the man standing by the door his ticket. The brown-eyed man surveyed his ticket and then punched a hole in it, giving it back to the gasping man and then shutting the door. The train whistle sounded out and the means of transportation started to move slowly forward. For a moment Yami thought he heard his father shouting obscenities from outside in the station, but he couldn't be sure for the train had left the station behind.

Regaining his composure, he searched for a seat and found one, sitting down gratefully. The old woman beside him gave him a thoughtful look before looking back outside the window as the city went by. Yami ignored her and sank back against the uncomfortable seat, putting his suitcase at his feet. After a moment at listening to the trains puffing and the quiet talk of the passengers, Yami glanced at his ticket for the second time he had ever seen it. The first time had been a glance as he hurriedly bought it, trying to outrun his father and his men. He had jumped on the first train he had seen, and he was lucky that he actually got onto the right one.

His ticket read: "North City". Yami's eyebrow arched as he read the ticket. North City was known for its ridiculous thing for unfairness. One part of the city was stupidly rich, while the other half was very poor. To him it was a ludicrous, stupid thing, but he just guessed that there were quite a lot of ludicrous and stupid people out there. He lent his head back and stared at the train's ceiling. The 'ruler' of the city was Pegasus, and Yami had heard that he was a strange man, but a very cunning one, unlike his brother. His brother, Milliard, although handsome, had no brains whatsoever to speak of. It was his manservant who did the thinking, apparently.

So, with six hours to kill, and nothing else to do but stare at random places, Yami just did what he could do. Stare at random places and think about random things. The first thing on his mind was probably the most important one. Was running away the right thing to do? Eventually his father would find him somehow (his father was just like that), and he would be dragged back home, be in huge trouble, and on top of that, still have to marry that stupid, ditzy, bitch of a woman. His eyes were crimson pools of fire. He wouldn't marry that bitch for anything in the world! He wanted love, real, passionate, sweet, beautiful, free love. Ever since he was little, he had yearned for a partner, the other half of his soul. He was set on finding the love of his life.

Blowing a stray strand of hair out of his eyes, he slumped down into the seat and sighed. His life was a mess, but hopefully he could start again in the North City. Find a sweet girl or boy and settle down for a few weeks before going out on an adventure. He wanted excitement, not a marriage to a ditzy idiot woman whose only concern was her hair and money. His eyes softened. A sweet, beautiful lover who really loved him. That would be nice.

A small smile made its way onto his handsome face as he sunk into sleep.

-

Yami woke to the sound of the train whistle and the slow sound of braking. He blinked blearily and realized that he was one of the last people still on the train. For a moment of shock he thought he had missed his stop, but then he checked the time and saw that he had woken just in time, for this was his stop. Placing a hand over his wildly beating heart, Yami stood and collected his luggage, waiting for the train's doors to open. When they did he quickly walked off, stepping into the crowd of the North City's train station. He was nearly blown away by the force of it, and struggled for a few moments, before he learnt to just follow a flow, and soon he was making his way through the city, avoiding the many overeager vendors and prostitutes as they hounded him. His eyes were rather wide as he looked at the many things that they sold. While some looked shoddy and overpriced, others shone with an eye-catching shine of a well-made thing. Stopping for a moment at a street vendor who sold tasty looking food, he bought some with the coins he had stolen from his father's rather large vault and hungrily gobbled it down. It tasted great.

Heaving a sigh of relief that he was free for the moment, Yami turned his tanned face up to the sun and smiled lightly. While not everything was so great, he knew he would learn to like it here. Finally beginning to brighten up, he began to search for a place that he could stay in. Some people were helpful and some were not, but he soon found a place named the Sparrow's Feather that many people recommend for its cheap price and quality. Turning a corner, he looked for the sign of the hotel, and not finding it, he turned yet another corner and suddenly- BANG!

-

Yugi hummed as he skipped to the market, an empty basket swinging on his arm and the jingle of coins filling the air. He was oblivious to the stares as he made his way, his long braid bouncing to his steps. He was beautiful, truly beautiful with his soft, feminine body and sweet, youthful face. But what really got people down on their knees was his eyes, his pretty, wide, amethyst eyes framed in the longest and thickest lashes anybody had ever seen. He drew men and woman alike to him like moths to a flame. Never a day went by when he didn't get a visit from an admirer or a gift. Already from the last week he had a sackful of presents he had no use for, so making the most of things, he sold them along with the games he had his Grandpa made.

"Yugi! Yugi! Over here!" Came a shout. Yugi paused in his skipping and looked curiously to the side, where two slightly bigger figures emerged from the crowd. Immediately, his innocent face brightened up.

"Ryou! Malik! Hi!" He yelled back and waved excitedly. The two boys ran up to him and greeted him also, giving him a hug and smiling. The boy with long, dusty pale gold hair smiled and said, "hey, is your Grandpa any better?" Yugi saddened, but he smiled painfully after he shook his head in a gesture of negativity. "No," he almost whispered, "but he should be getting better soon. But anyway, how is things going with Marik?"

Ryou and Malik frowned at the sudden change in topic, but Malik answered the question anyway with a playful smirk. "Wonderfully," he purred, "we've fucked sixteen times already in the last two days!" But then he scowled. "He's not very happy with my profession though. He's awfully possessive. I'm actually thinking of quitting being a whore and settling down with him. He's rather sweet, after all." Yugi and Ryou blushed horribly after the first bit, but they smiled, happy for their friend. Malik was a prostitute, for he couldn't find any other job that paid him enough. But a little over two months ago he had met Marik, and they had hit off immediately. Yugi and Ryou knew that Marik would treat Malik fairly and nicely, for even though he was rather insane, he was sweet and sentimental.

"That's great!" Yugi grinned and then turned to the shy, white haired boy standing next to him. "What about Bakura? Is he being good to you still?"

"Oh yes!" Ryou nodded vigorously, "he hasn't hit me for three months and even bought me cream puffs the other day!" And then he blushed.

Malik and Yugi giggled at the look on his face. "And…?" Malik ventured, prompting Ryou to carry on. "…And he k-kissed me just yesterday…" Ryou mumbled, his face flaring a brilliant red. Yugi beamed so brightly that he nearly blinded the people around him looking at him so contently. "Ryou! Oh, that- that's brilliant! Oh, I'm so happy for you! Tell me about it, all about it!"

"Yeah, Ryou! Details, we need details! And don't miss a tiny thing out!" Malik yelled, dancing on his feet happily. Ryou flushed even more and shushed him. "Do you want the whole city to hear you?" It was Malik's turn to blush and mumble. "Sorry," he said, and then grinned toothily. Yugi giggled and Ryou rolled his eyes. Ryou's brother, Bakura, had been abusive for most of Ryou's life, but lately he had stopped. Ryou, in love with his brother for so long, had jumped at the chance and his feelings, apparently, had been returned. Yugi and Malik were so happy it was as if they were bursting at the seams from the emotion. But both of them weren't as happy as Ryou, who had finally got his happy ending.

As Ryou talked excitedly but shyly about him and Bakura, Yugi suddenly remembered that he needed to get his Grandpa's medicine and get back to him as soon as possible. He reluctantly said goodbye to his friends and waved at them as he ran away. He looked up and checked the sun, and to his horror he found that he had been preoccupied for nearly forty minutes. In his rush to get to the doctor's store, he ran into somebody and knocked both of them over, dropping his basket and landing on top of the person.

For a moment he lay stunned, before scrambling up to stand. "Oh! I'm so sorry! Here!" He held his hand out the man, who seemed to have dropped his suitcase and was still a little bit stunned. He looked at Yugi's hand vacantly, before suddenly jerking and accepting the help. The tanned man pulled himself up and picked his suitcase up from the ground, taking a look at the boy.

Yugi's eyes widened and he blushed, silently cursing that he had such pale skin and that his blushes always stood out so much. The man was handsome, very handsome, with his slim athletic but strong, muscled build, and his sharp, exotic looking face. His eyes were slim and a deep, passionate crimson, and although he was just a hairs breadth under average height, he held himself like a king, proud but kind.

The man looked over him with approving eyes, and then bent down to pick his basket up and offered it to Yugi. Yugi look it with a blush, and then started when the man grabbed his hand and brushed a small kiss over his pale knuckles. Even though many people had done it to him before, this was the first time that his whole hand went tingly and his knees went weak. He blushed even harder and stuttered. He was so immersed in his embarrassment that he didn't notice the blush that had set into the man's sharp cheeks, and even if he did it was quite hard to see because of the man's deeply tanned skin.

"I am the one who should be sorry," the man said and released his hand. "It is partly my mistake. I wasn't really paying attention." Yugi quickly shook his head. "Oh no, it wasn't your mistake at all! I crashed into you, not you into me! I'm terribly sorry! Is there anything I could so for you?"

The man looked startled for a moment but then shook his head, his shoulder length tri-coloured hair following his movement. "It's fine, really. It was just a mistake."

Yugi deflated in relief and then glanced at the sun. "Oh my! I'm so late! Grandpa is going to be so angry!" He looked apologetically at the handsome man and began to run off.

"I'm still terribly sorry! If you want anything, just ask around for Yugi, the Game Master's grandson, okay!" He yelled and then disappeared around a corner, his hand still tingling mysteriously. The man stood still for a moment, deep in thought, before he smiled brightly and set off for a hotel.

Yugi quickly found the doctor's shop and purchased his Grandpa's medicine. He checked the sun again and hurried home, but once again, he bumped into somebody in his rush. Though this time, he wasn't going as fast because he was tiring, so he didn't make them fall over.

"Not again!" Yugi said. "I'm so sorry! I-" Smack! Yugi let out a pained cry and fell to the ground, his hand flying to his abused, bright red cheek. His large, amethyst eyes looked tearfully up at the armoured person garbed in the royal purple of the guards of Pegasus and his brother, Milliard. It seemed he had run into the ruler of the city, Pegasus himself.

His wide eyes grew even wider in fear and he shrunk into the ground, curling around the basket containing his Grandpa's medicine protectively.

"Now, now, Wilbur, no need to be so rough. Stand aside, so I can see my attacker," came a smooth, sly voice. Yugi whimpered as he heard it and tears fell down his cheeks. He was going to be killed! He was sure of it! Who would look after his Grandpa now?

"Well, look what we have here. Boy, look up." A shadow fell over him and the street had gone silent. Yugi trembled in fear and looked up slowly. He was met with the sight of a devious eye and long, white hair. Pegasus whistled as he looked at him.

"My! What a pretty one! Stand, come on boy." Yugi stood shakily and looked at his feet. "I'm sure it was just an accident, am I right?" He nodded and clutched the basket handle in both hands. "Good. Now then, run along, pretty one. Go on, before I change my mind."

Yugi didn't waste any time. He fled, not knowing that the grey, greedy eyes of Milliard followed him until he vanished from sight.

-

A/N: Hmm... Not quite sure where I'm going with this... But anyways, hopefully I'll get another chappy out!