Falling

by Umimare

Yami had a precognitive ability...what will he do when he predicts Yuugi's death? lots of random people and such...suspended indefinately

Falling

***

A girl with short black hair lay in the middle of her empty room, tears streaming from her eyes, running down her face, the music from her computer

drowning out her sobs.

A boy with moon-kissed skin sat numbly on a chair, re-reading the note he had gotten from his almost brother, his slender amethyst eyes brimming

with unshed tears.

At the arcade, a small group of students played, laughing, not caring about events that were taking their toll on their most important friends in the

world.

And all the while, the sky shed tears of its own, bathing the earth in its purity, reminding those who knew, of the innocence of one very important angel.

****

Clipboards and pens. Tests. 'Can you do this?' white coats. test tubes. 'Give her back!' cages. the darkness. 'shoot it.' 'Project Physic' 'Experiment 01'

'We are going to escape.'

There were shouts, and a knot of children ran across a flat expanse of open ground, fleeing the large building behind them. Their breathing was labored, and still they pushed themselves farther. They took shelter in a small hollow tree. The blonde child with honey eyes ignored his aching muscles, and stood just inside the hole, holding a heavy barreled gun he had swiped from a guard. He turned back to see the girls, one with white hair and one with black hair, huddling together, whimpering, with a black haired boy hugging them in a paternal way, his blonde bangs sticking to his face. There was another boy, who was sitting apart, tears from his ocean eyes glowing in the moonlight as he hugged his knees. "They won't get you guys, I promise!" the honey eyed boy said protectively. The other children nodded, and he smiled. A man in a white uniform ran to them, holding his gun up, speaking in an odd language. The little blonde boy pulled the trigger. Screams rent the air as the group of children took off again.

They collapsed outside an old log cabin in the center of the woods. They woke up, and entered the building, searching of food. Instead, they found odd pieces of fabric, painted green, with faces of old men with white hair printed on them. An old man came running from the other room, and said, " Take what you want, and leave, I have no sympathy for trespassers and thieves the second time around." The children were frightened, so they ran. They accidentally brought over one thousand dollars with them, because, oddly, the man didn't seem to trust banks. Over a meal from Burger King, eaten in the woods, the young boy with blue eyes asked, "Why do we call ourselves 01, 02, 03, 04 and 05? Don't we have names?" This question caused the honey eyed boy to glance at him and whisper confidently, "02 and 01 are trying to come up with names, you'll see!" The little blue eyed boy went to the town, and stole a book of names from the bookstore. He brought it back, and handed it to '02', who smiled, her black hair falling in her eyes. The girls crowded the book as '02' spoke.

"Get the boy's and we'll all get names!"

They sat down by the river, and, after looking through the book for a name they wanted, they went go over to the water, and say, 'By the power of the spirits of the earth and water, I name myself." and spoke their names, to become official. The black haired girl chose 'Ryuu', the black haired boy chose 'Yami Atemu' The honey eyed boy chose 'Jounouchi', the blue eyed boy chose 'Seth' and the white haired girl chose 'Kura', and thus they were named.

Many Years Later:

****

The bells of the church tolled out as a group of people, no older than fifteen, wandered out of the forest, to the top of a hill. "Hey, Yami, is this the place?" a young blonde teen called, his honey eyes sparkling. A second teen, Yami, merely nodded, causing his very spiky head of black hair to bounce, which gave him a comical look, despite his stern amethyst eyes. The two girls in the group suppressed laughter as the first boy's stomach growled. "Goodness, Jounouchi, do you ever stop eating?" the oldest girl asked the blonde, passing him a granola bar. "For you're information, Ryuu, I didn't eat breakfast, because somebody wanted to leave at five o'clock in the morning." Jounouchi retorted. Ryuu smiled sheepishly at Jounouchi, hiding her face behind her mane of ebony black hair as he mock punched her shoulder, while Seth's stomach growled too. "Guys, running away from that... place before was easy, but what are we going to do now that we're here? This is gonna be hard." the last girl asked the group at large. "If Yami's vision showed that those people are here," She said, glancing around disdainfully, "How are we going to find them?" Ryuu sighed. 'Kura's always the practical one' she thought. Yami looked around. "Maybe, if we ask some people, or wander for a bit, we might find them." he said in a questioning tone. "Sure," Kura agreed, "We've got nothing better to do than wander anyway." Jounouchi gasped, "You mean, we won't get food any time soon?" he asked. "Don't worry, Jou." Seth said, his ocean blue eyes smiling. "I can steal some cash when we get into the city. Then we can pig out, ok?" Jounouchi smiled and nodded, racing down the hill after Yami, who had been walking away the instant Seth mentioned stealing. "I don't want to be caught up in your crap!" he called back at the three still at the top of the hill. They sighed, and followed the boys.

When they reached the street, they were set upon by a traffic cop, who asked, "Aren't you kids supposed to be in school?" Yami looked up at the man." We're home schooled, we're just on an errand for our mom. She needed us to go to the market." he lied easily. The cop merely nodded, and waved then away. "Too easy," Yami whispered when they were a block away, and continuing at a leisurely pace. "You can always tell just what to say to these people." Ryuu giggled, "Yami, Seth stealing is just as bad as you lying to the poor man." She joked. "Hey!" Seth shouted. "I heard that!" He ran back to the rest of the group with a satisfied smile on his face. "You might want to reconsider making fun of me. While you distracted that man, I managed to get his wallet. Now we can eat!" he exclaimed gleefully. The group smiled, and headed to Burger World, since it was closest. When they entered, the group saw a bunch of people about their age, wearing matching clothes. The boys were wearing blue pants and blue jackets, with white tee-shirts underneath. some wore the shirt buttoned, and others did not. They also had shiny black shoes. The girls were wearing blue miniskirts and pink blouses, tied with a matching blue ribbon. The also wore white socks and the same black shoes as the boys. "Yuugi, You know you can't tell you and him apart most of the time, don't ask us to do that!" an annoying voice said. Yami was intrigued, and turned to look where the voice came from. Then he pulled back in shock. There was the boy from his vision-his duplicate. The boy was only slightly shorter than himself. He had spiky black hair, with odd golden bangs framing his face. The tips of his hair were colored purple fading to red the closer it got to his neck. Unlike Yami, who was tan, his skin was a moon-kissed white, and his violet eyes were wide and innocent. He was also wearing the same blue uniform the other boys were wearing. 'This was too easy. Where is the catch?' he thought to himself as he turned to tell his friends. However, they were already at the counter. He took a step, and bumped into a tall person.

He stumbled, and hit the ground. " Sorry, man, are ya ok?" tall boy in blue asked, offering his hand. "I'm fine." He said, rubbing his back. Then he saw the boys face. He was also in his vision- he looked a lot like Jounouchi. He had blonde hair in a skater-boy cut, causing it to fall in his face. His honey eyes were slender, and his face was tanned. He was powerfully built, and looked very strong, and he had a protective air about him. He spoke with an odd accent, one that Yami hadn't heard before. He too was wearing the blue outfit. 'What the hell is going on?' Yami thought. "I'm Joey. And ya are?" Joey asked, offering his hand to shake. "Atemu Yami, but most people just call me Yami." he replied, taking the proffered hand. "Neat name, ya know..." Joey trailed off thoughtfully. "What?" Yami asked, confused. this blonde didn't look like he did much thinking. "Oh, it's nothing...I'll jus' call you Atemu." Joey reassured him. 'I see you have no sense of subtly! God, just call me Yami!' he mentally shouted at the stubborn, and, seemingly dense, blonde "Come meet my buddies." Joey offered. Yami followed him wordlessly, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

Suddenly, Yami found himself in front of the two he'd seen talking before. "Tea, Yug', meet Atemu." Joey announced to the annoying girl in the offending pink blouse/blue skirt combo, and his duplicate. 'Wow, another friend?yayforfriendship!doyoulikefriendship?Ilikefriendship!" The words came spilling out of her mouth all at once. 'Kura's gonna hate this chick.' Yami thought, as Yuugi apologized for the girl, saying, 'Tea gets like that sometimes, it's like a mental disorder...I think.', though Yuugi's apology was hard to hear through his massive yawn. Yami was about to ask Yuugi to shut her up with duct tape, when Kura came running over. "Yami-kun, we need to get more money, you know. Seth lost the cash." she said in a mock sweet voice. "Kura, whenever you talk like that, I assume the worst. Who'd you kill this time?" Yami half-joked, his vision slightly obscured by the girls wild mane of white hair. Yuugi glanced up, confused and shocked. Tea continued rambling about friendship, and Joey tensed to protect his pals if Kura went psycho. "It's ok, kid, I only kill for money." she joked glancing at Tea. "Though I might make an exception for her." she said, nodding in the direction of the friendship obsessed girl. "Yeah, I've been here all of two seconds, and I already can't stand her." Jounouchi complained, coming up from behind Kura. "Jou, do you want food? Then go bug Seth. I'm not here to feed you." Kura said, edge creeping into her voice. "Kura, If you kill someone here, there will be two much paperwork. Wait for later." Yami joked. The group at the table looked shocked, but Yuugi seemed odd. He looked way more harsh than he had a few seconds before. Tea's friendship speech ended abruptly, and she said, "Yami No Yuugi's here." Joey looked up at Yuugi and said, "'Sup?" Yami looked confused, but dismissed it, until Yuugi spoke, sounding a lot like Yami himself, "Joey, I'm fine. Hikari is...tired. I'm going to be here for a while" Joey nodded, and then, Tea did too. There was a shout, 'THEIF!' and Kura shouted, "SETH! YOU FREAKIN' BAKA, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" as said blue eyed boy pushed past the group. Then Yami, despite the questions he wanted to ask, ran off after Seth. The crimson eyes of Yami No Yuugi followed him as he vanished into the crowd of people. "That was odd..." He whispered, as he turned back to his friends.

***

Seth raced out the door of the restaurant and climbed to the roof before Yami had gotten two feet away from the group at the table. Yami ran out of the building and stood, looking around. Then he spotted the ladder connected to the side of the building. By this point, a large group had gathered outside of the restaurant. Yami climbed the ladder and dragged the protesting Seth back down to the ground. "Seth, did you forget to take your pills this morning? Stealing. Is. Bad." he said. Seth caught on, and said, "Sorry brother...I forgot." in a most apologetic tone. Yami frowned down at him. "Give her back what you stole." Seth looked dejected, and the crowd was gathering. "Fine." Seth said angrily. He handed the woman back her purse, minus twenty or so bucks. "Sorry about that," Yami apologized. "He's a kleptomaniac." the woman nodded, and said, "Because he returned it, I won't do anything, but keep a tighter leash on him in the future." She said. "Will do, ma'am." Yami said. "Seth, stay here, I'm going to get Kura, Jounouchi and Ryuu." Seth nodded, and sat down on a bench by one of the outdoor tables. Yami returned in less than a minute, his friends in tow. The crowd had dispersed, and the front of the building was deserted. "Thanks to you bakas, we can't eat here. Lets find someplace else to eat." Jounouchi complained, "Or I'll start eating you!" he growled at Seth, who intelligently backed away from him. "Shut Up!" Yami shouted. "I'm getting another headache!" Kura gasped, and Ryuu looked back at him, concerned. "Are you gonna have another vision?" She inquired, her voice laced with worry. Yami had no time to answer, before he slumped to the ground in a trance. "Yami!" his friends shouted, as he fell. Yami's vision went blank for an instant, before it was filled with color. It was only feelings at first, but then his eyes darted behind his closed lids, following things only he could see.

"You're Worthless!" "Who cares about you?" Flashes. A brunette girl. A blonde boy. Pain. "We certainly don't" More Pain "Yami No Yugi's much better than you!"

"Why are you still here?" "Go Away." "DIE." "We All Hate You." A new boy. Star-shaped hair. Crimson eyes. More pain.

"Hell, I Hate You, Aibou."

A group of teens sat, laughing. A ghost of a boy sat behind them, with them, and strangely apart from the group. He opened his mouth, and spoke, but was ignored.

"I should just die." "Mo Hitori No Boku hates me." "I hate me" "What did I do wrong?" soft pain. relief. cuts. warm. faint. fading.

'I did what you wanted...mo hitori no..boku...I won't be a burden anymore....'

A girl with black hair walked into a room, and a scream escaped her lips. The sky was painted with crimson blood. She picked up the phone, and pressed three buttons.

The group looked happier. The ghost of the boy was no longer with them. They walked past a grave-yard, and their smiles intensified as they walked near a grave stone.

Yugi Moto.

"Glad He's Gone..."

'My fault?' The boy with star hair looked at the ground. Remorse clouded his eyes.

A second group of teens came at the heels of the first. They laid flowers down at the base of the grave, and the oldest teen, a girl with black hair, mouthed, 'I'm sorry.'

A single tear ran down the cheek of the oldest boy, whose face was obscured, and the last two teens, a blonde boy, and a white haired girl, cried into each-others shoulders.

They were joined by a pair of boys with wild pure white hair, and they too had tears in their eyes. "We'll get Yami No Yugi for this."

Yami woke with a gasp. "I have to find that kid!"

***

Falling

***

Chapter two

***

Yami threw off the helping hands that his friends extended him, and, ignoring their cries of confusion, he dashed out of the alley. They tried to follow him, but they knew that it would be impossible to find him when he wanted to move quickly. One of his many gifts. He ran up and down the streets, combing the city. He was a tri-colored blur, startling passersby as he flew down the road.

He spotted the short boy sitting outside the 'Turtle Game Shop'. He was holding an odd triangular necklace in his hands, and his eyes were glazed. "Yugi?" he asked, walking up to him. "Are you ok?" He frowned when he got no response from the boy. "Yugi!" he said, louder. The small boy looked up, but it was the harder version of himself. "Yugi?" he asked. "What?" asked the gravely voice of Yami No Yugi. "You're not Yugi." he stated simply. "Or at least, you aren't the sweet one." Yami No Yugi looked up at him, then stood, saying, "What makes you think that?" Yami frowned. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you." he said, totally serious. Yami took a careful step back. "I don't think you should hang around my hikari." He said, in a warning tone. Yami took a step forward, closing the gap between the two. "You be careful what you say to that boy. He's more fragile than you can possibly imagine. I think you aught to stay away from your hikari." he added, snarling. "You're more of a danger to him than me. I wouldn't drive him to suicide, like you're going to." Yami no Yugi looked shocked. "Why would I hurt my Aibou?" he whispered. "What do you know?!" He shouted, grabbing Yami's shirt. "What do you know about me?!"

"That's what I'm talking about. Just think about that when you're doing this to him, when you're shunning him." Yami said, as he smacked Yami no Yugi across the face. "Fuck you. Touch me again, see what happens. You need to watch what you say to that boy, or you'll lose him. I've seen you. You're insensitive, and those friends of yours are not any better." Yami held up his middle finger as he walked away calmly. Yugi came back out, touching his stinging face. 'Mo hitori no boku? What did he want?' he asked mentally. 'Nothing, Aibou. he just wanted some directions.' Yami no Yugi lied. "Oh. Ok. I'm gonna help grandpa in the shop!" Yugi shouted, cheerful again. Yami no Yugi watched his Aibou walk away. "How would I hurt him?" he wondered.

****

Months later

*

" It only needs one of us, so I'm letting the seal take me instead." 'Aibou!' "I trust you, mo hitori no boku!" 'Aibou!' ''I'm always with you'' 'My Aibou....my hikari...is gone.'

A flash. Green light. Pain. Loneliness. 'Aibou!'

More pain. Tugging? Where? Rock. Dirt. Spiky hair? Mo Hitori no boku! 'Yugi?' "I wanted to see you."

Fight. Pain. 'I'm always with you.'

a boy held his twin to him as his body faded. A group of people descended into the earth. The twins stood apart from one. Necklaces glowed.

'Winners shouldn't cry'

"I don't feel like I won."

The older twin walked up to the door and spoke. "Atemu". A loud boom and flash of light. The elder twin walked into the light, his form changing. Purple cape. tan skin. Gold. The stone doors. Closing. The retreating figure gave the group a thumbs up. Rumble. falling rocks. run. 'RUN.'

Sorrow. Tears coursed down the younger twins face.

"Atemu..."

Yami woke in a cold sweat. "Atemu?" 'I can only see people who I have a connection with. Why does he look like Yugi? He can't be....The one I talked to that day.' he mulled over this new vision. "Yami, come here, you might want to see this!" Yami slowly extracted himself from the bed, and walked downstairs. "Atemu..." Yami gasped, watching the boy on the couch warily. "You know him?" Kura asked. "Yeah." Yami replied absently, twirling his bangs around his finger. "I've been having dreams about the past, so he's already gone. Why is he here, unless....! He's here to fulfill my other vision!" He turned to Kura. "We shouldn't let him leave the house! He'll lead Yugi to his death." Kura paled. Their group had gotten close to the Yugi-tachi, and didn't want to lose a friend. "What do you want me to do?" She asked, ready to move quickly. "We should... go get Ryuu. She can wipe his memories of us, and set him up in America, or something. We need to get him away from Yugi!" "Get who away from me?" Yugi asked, opening the screen door, and walking in. "Yugi, you need to leave. Now." Kura said firmly, tossing a blanket over Atemu, who was still passed out on the couch. Yami herded Yugi out the door, and locked it, drawing the curtains. "Now what?" Seth asked, stepping out of the shadowy corner. "We won't be able to get him out of here any time soon. Ryuu's out at the store."

'Crap. Seth, go get her." Yami said calmly, taking charge. "We need her here fast. I'll even condone you stealing a car to do it." Seth grinned, big and toothy. "A ton of people are going to lose cars over this." Kura groaned. She worked to tie Atemu's wrists and ankles. She carried him up to the spare bedroom of their borrowed home, and laid him on the bed.

"What the fuck are you doing to me?!?!?!" Yami heard Atemu shout as he awoke. "Shut up. You're gonna be a murderer. Is that what you want?" Kura's voice said, dangerously calm. Yami's face spread in a grin, as he envisioned the things he was sure Kura wanted to do to Atemu right now. "No..." Atemu said, releasing Kura from the Shadow magic's hold. "Good," Kura said coldly. "If you try to leave this house, however, you will find that I will not be so...submissive...when you use that magic." Atemu looked back at her, straight in the eye, but blinked, and looked away. Her eyes frightened him. "Why can't I leave? Are you some kind of nutter?" He asked, confused and slightly intimidated. "Remember what Yami told you? Well, that's why you can't leave. Yuugi's in danger if you do. We're waiting on Ryuu, she can sort this out better than I can." Kura said, voice devoid of any emotion, showing she was barely keeping her anger under control. 'Yami said...?' Atemu thought. 'What did he say?'

FLASHBACK

"You're not Yugi." he stated simply. "Or at least, you aren't the sweet one." Yami No Yugi looked up at him, then stood, saying, "What makes you think that?" Yami frowned. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you." he said, totally serious. Yami took a careful step back. "I don't think you should hang around my hikari." He said, in a warning tone. Yami took a step forward, closing the gap between the two. "You be careful what you say to that boy. He's more fragile than you can possibly imagine. I think you aught to stay away from your hikari." he added, snarling. "You're more of a danger to him than me. I wouldn't drive him to suicide, like you're going to." Yami no Yugi looked shocked. "Why would I hurt my Aibou?" he whispered. "What do you know?!" He shouted, grabbing Yami's shirt. "What do you know about me?!"

"That's what I'm talking about. Just think about that when you're doing this to him, when you're shunning him." Yami said, as he smacked Yami no Yugi across the face. "Fuck you. Touch me again, see what happens. You need to watch what you say to that boy, or you'll lose him. I've seen you. You're insensitive, and those friends of yours are not any better." Yami held up his middle finger as he walked away calmly. Yugi came back out, touching his stinging face. 'Mo hitori no boku? What did he want?' he asked mentally. 'Nothing, Aibou. he just wanted some directions.' Yami no Yugi lied. "Oh. Ok. I'm gonna help grandpa in the shop!" Yugi shouted, cheerful again. Yami no Yugi watched his Aibou walk away. "How would I hurt him?" he wondered.

FLASHBACK END

''Suicide?'' Atemu whispered, concerned.

***

"Ryuu! How have you been?" Shouted a very hyper Ryou, as Ryuu walked up to the register. "Hey, Ry, I'm good. How're you?" She responded. 'I'd forgotten that Ryou worked here. I'm glad I ran into him.' Ryou looked depressed, and said nothing. "Missing your Yami?" She asked, felling sorry for the poor boy.

"I'm fine…." Ryou said, smiling. It didn't tough his eyes, Ryuu noticed. 'You don't have to be strong. We wont judge you if you miss him. I can only imagine what it must feel like to lose your other half…." She reassured Ryou. Ryou nodded, and pulled her into a hug. "Ryou!?" She was startled, but leaned into the touch. "I miss him…Ryuu…I NEED him…" Ryuu sighed into his chest. "It'll be ok, Ryou. Shhh." She rocked him back and forth. 'I can't bear to see him like this…I've gotta do something…'

Her thoughts were interrupted by her cell-phone. 'When you walk away…You don't hear me say please…Oh baby, don't go..'

She chose to ignore it. 'Ryuu? We need you to come home. We have a slight problem. Get home.' came Yami's voice from her phone. "Crap! Ryou, why don't you take some time off and go home. You may be surprised at what you find there." She announced to Ryou. Ryou looked puzzled, but punched his clock, and ran out.

"Now, if I'm right, Bakura will be there…" Ryuu smiled. 'Good for him.'