I know this is a new story and I really should be working on the others I have. I do have some chapters that I plan on submitting for my other stories. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one!

I do NOT own Yugioh. If I did I would be rich.

Love of the Dark

Chapter 1

"Close your eyes… so many days go by…" Dance with the Devil – Breaking Benjamins

He was going crazy, he just knew it. Or at least… he thought he was going crazy. Weird things were happening to him and he couldn't quite explain it. Things should be normal and quiet now, not… not how they were. It only started recently too. Nothing obvious or easily noticed if he wasn't looking for it. Just… little things. Like the picture of his friends being moved in a certain way that he was sure he didn't do. The deck of dueling cards that he carefully put away and no longer used would appear on his desk, the Dark Magician sitting innocently on top. The star pajamas that he used to wear but grew out of would make their way out of his closet into his room and he was sure it wasn't him or his grandfather that put them there. He couldn't figure out the why or the how of it, but there had to be some kind explanation for what was going on around him.

Didn't there?

Shaking his head, he turned back around and started walking again toward the game shop. It was his imagination, he decided. There was no way he saw him just now. He was on his way home after finishing school for the day. Joey and the others were all scheduled for their turns to help clean the school, but he wasn't. There was no point going to the arcade or out for food all by himself… He didn't really feel like going anyway, so it was probably a good thing that they were all stuck at school. It was a year to the day since he left and Yugi couldn't bring himself to even say his name. He still felt like there was an empty hole in his soul that was once occupied by the person he so easily called mou hitori no boku. Today, of all days, he felt the emptiness all the more.

He kept his eyes on the ground as he fought back the wave of memories that he felt wash over him. Every place he went nowadays only served as a reminder of him. It wasn't that he regretted everything that happened over the years. He was thrilled when he got his memories back! All of the things they did together… their adventures on Duelist Kingdom where he first realized there was another version of him, the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle… their troubles with Malik and the spirit of the Millennium Ring, Marik… even when they weren't involved in things that threatened their lives, they had so much fun. But now… now it was gone like smoke on a summer breeze. Life seemed painfully boring without him. He just couldn't say the words on his lips those last few moments when they were together… Not when he was so happy… Sure, he put on a brave face when he left, smiled and tried to look happy. Inside, he was dying as he walked through the doorway, a thumbs up his last message. His way of saying good bye. The very thought of it made Yugi's heart ache.

So it wouldn't surprise him if he was seeing things, searching for things where there was nothing to see. After all, what he saw was just a person walking around the corner. Yes, the hair style was similar to his. That should not be so strange. It was only a year since he retired from the dueling circuit. He wasn't exactly forgotten, yet. He knew a lot of his fans copied his hair style. That's all it was. A fan. He kept telling himself that so he wouldn't go crazy.

There was no way it could be him. He was gone to the afterlife. It was just too painful to even consider. He could not come back from the afterlife. No matter how much Yugi wished it could happen. The Gods held the power to grant many things, but he doubted they would allow for one of their most precious to come back to this earth after everything happened. Besides… Yugi couldn't destroy the peace his partner felt when he realized he was finally going to get his eternal rest. How could Yugi even think of destroying that?

Sighing, he pushed the painful feelings away and walked into the game shop, smiling at the aged face that stood behind the counter. No matter how painful it was for him on this day, coming home always made him happy. For years it was the only place that meant safety and love. His Grandpa looked up as Yugi walked in and grinned, "Yugi! Welcome home. How was school?"

"Same as ever now, Grandpa," Yugi chirped as he walked through the shop and swung his back pack onto the floor behind the counter. The was a bright, albeit a tad forced, smile on his lips as he watched his grandfather unpack a new game that was just sent to them. He rested his elbows on the glass display case as he asked, "How was the shop today? Did we get a lot of customers?"

"Same as ever now, Yugi," Grandpa chirped back at him, causing the both of them to burst out laughing. It was a small joke they began to share with each other shortly after he left them. Things were always changing when he was around, but now… the most exciting thing to happen were the little kids that came in asking for his autograph. He winked at Yugi as he said, "Lots of little ones came in for Duel Monster cards now that they heard the King of Games lives here."

"Please, Grandpa," Yugi said with a slight wince. That title brought back too many memories for his liking. It always meant him more than anything else did, save the Millennium Puzzle. Well, perhaps Egypt too, but it still brought back quite a few memories about their time together. He slid away from the counter as he said in a weary voice, "I haven't been that since he left. I'm just Yugi now."

"You will always be the King of Games to them, Yugi," he replied, his face serious. This wasn't the first time they were having this conversation. Nor, did he suspect, would it be the last time that they talked about this. Ever since he left, Yugi refused to have anything to do with dueling. He knew that if he knew what his partner was doing, disappointment would be the first thing that would come to mind. He rested his hands on his hips as he said, "No matter if he is or isn't here."

Yugi sighed and reached down to grab his back pack. This was a topic of conversation that he wasn't ready to handle. He knew one day he would have to talk about it, but for now he was more than happy to just not talk about it. He suddenly felt way too old for his age and he rubbed at his eyes wearily as he murmured, "I think I'm going to go take a nap, Grandpa. If you need me, holler for me."

"I will, Yugi," Grandpa said in a gentle voice. His pale violet eyes were sad as he watched Yugi turn and go into the house. Napping was one of the things he started doing recently. The closer it came to the anniversary of his leaving, Yugi seemed to draw more and more into himself and that worried him. He almost wondered, between the two of them, which one truly died that day…

His attention was distracted by a customer coming in the store and he greeted them warmly and cheerfully as Yugi made his way through the shop door to their apartment. He climbed the stairs up to their home and to his bedroom. Perhaps a good nap would make him feel better, he decided. His dreams weren't always as peaceful as he wished, but it was better than feeling the constant ache when he was awake. At least when he was a sleep he didn't have to think about him.

Tossing his back pack down onto the floor of his bedroom, he flopped down onto the bed face first. Burying his head into his pillow, he groaned softly as his thoughts once again turned to him. Would he never be able to live his life without thinking about him at least once every few minutes? Turning just a little so he could breathe, he whispered to the empty room, "Why can't I forget you…?"

His eyes fell shut and slowly his breathing evened out. His rest wasn't quite undisturbed, but the dreams would be forgotten when he woke up, happier than when he fell asleep. But for now he slept, unaware of the world around him dreaming of times much happier than they were now.

The afternoon sun slipped behind a cloud and the shadows in the room darkened. Long black tendrils materialized out of nowhere and a figure stepped out of them. It walked across the room, footsteps soundless as it approached Yugi's sleeping form. It stopped at the edge of the bed and gazed down at him, eyes glittering in the dim light. A pale hand reached down and brushed back a lock of blonde hair from his face as it whispered to the room, it's voice a soft baritone, "Oh, Yugi… you will never forget. I won't let you. He wanted me to simply watch over you, but I'm not content with that. Soon, Yugi. Soon you will be mine. Unlike him I will never let you go. You are mine."

The days passed slowly and Yugi almost thought he could believe that it really was a fan that he saw. Everything seemed normal. Or so he thought, anyway. He was a bit happier now that that day was past and it didn't quite hurt so much. Something felt like it changed… he couldn't place what it was, but like the strange things that were happening before, something was off. Not in a bad way, he decided… just weird.

He hung out with his friends after school, laughing and having a good time whenever his Grandpa didn't need him in the shop. He was enjoying life without the threat of dying hanging over his head at every moment. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the adventures they went on when he still had the puzzle, but life was much easier this way. His heart, while feeling a little empty, was still happy and he liked that. He was content.

Today was like every other day. He, Joey, and Tea, (the rest of the gang was forced to stay at the school for cleaning duty) went to the arcade to play a few games before going home. As always, Yugi managed to win a lot of the games they played. In the back of his mind, he could feel this twisted sense of triumph, but it was so subtle that he was almost sure he imagined it.

But he wasn't quite sure about that.

He waved good bye to Joey and Tea as he left the arcade to head back to the game shop. It wasn't very late in the afternoon and there were lots of people walking about getting shopping done and working. Deciding to take a short cut through an alleyway that ran near the game shop, he hummed to himself as he walked. He felt completely safe knowing that people were passing by both sides of the alleyway and he could see everything there was to see. He smiled as he remembered something Joey did at the arcade and laughed softly under his breath. Joey could be so funny sometimes…

"Well… what do we have here?"

He barely had time to register the words before someone was pinning him up against the wall roughly. The air was knocked out of his lungs and he looked up into bloodshot brown eyes. The man's breath smelled heavily of alcohol and Yugi scrunched up his nose as he turned his head to the side. For the moment, he fought against the urge to panic. It was daylight. He could yell and gain someone's attention if he couldn't get out of this himself. He tried to push at the drunk as he said, "Let me go."

"What a pretty little thing you are…" the drunk said as he turned his head and sniffed up Yugi's neck. He was too far gone to hear Yugi's requests, the alcohol and drugs flowing through his system impairing his ability to think straight. Yugi went rigid in fright and pushed harder against the man. Flashbacks of before he met him flashed through his mind, memories of being hunted by Ushio and other less friendly people. At least Ushio only wanted to beat him up… He bit his tongue and fought back the urge to whimper when the man dragged his tongue up his skin. He started pounding on the man's chest with his fists, hoping to force him to back away, but all that did was cause the man to pin his hands above his head. The drunk slurred a little as he said, "No fighting… now..."

Yugi opened his mouth to scream when the man clamped a hand over it, stifling any noises he might have made as he kissed his way down his skin. Yugi's body recoiled in disgust and he started to kick with his legs, trying hard to get away. His eyes scrunched closed, terror and revulsion coursing through him. This wasn't supposed to happen… He was stronger than this. He taught him to be stronger than this. To fight when he had to. This couldn't be happening…

His fear grew with each passing second and he began to flail even harder. His screams were muffled by the man's hand and he thrashed his head trying hard to free his mouth so he could scream. He wished for someone to see them, to hear what was happening and help him. For someone to save him… He was so far into his fear of what was happening to realize when his mind screamed out.

"YAMI!"

Without warning, the man's weight disappeared from on top of him and he slumped to the ground. Trembling, he heard sounds of fighting, but he wasn't sure if he dared to open his eyes. What if he did only to see his attacker win against whoever he was fighting? His fear made him think irrationally and he curled up as he tried hard to block out the sound of the scuffling going on. He was too afraid to think of what would happen if the drunk won… He knew he should run now while there was a chance. If only he could get his body to obey his commands of opening his eyes and making his legs move… A few moments later silence reigned in the alleyway, the only sounds coming from outside of the alleyway.

Slowly, he slit his eyes opened and gazed around him to where the scuffling came from. A sharp gasp left his lips at the sight before him. He knew someone fought the drunk off, rescuing him from what he knew would've been a very bad ordeal for him. But this… this was impossible. His trembling grew worse as he gazed with wide amethyst eyes at the sight before him.

Crimson eyes gazed in disgust at the drunk below him. His pale hands used a handkerchief found on the man to wipe the blood off. Oh, the drunk wasn't dead. Just a little bloody and bruised. He made sure of that so he'd remember what happened when he finally sobered up a little. If he sobered up, that was. Tossing the dirty handkerchief down onto the ground, he sneered in a silky baritone voice rich with loathing, "How disgusting."

"Atem…" a soft, sweet voice whispered in shock and confusion. Cool crimson turned and gazed into frightened, but confused eyes. They remained there for several heartbeats just gazing at each other. Amethyst wide with a mix of emotions, while his crimson were blank of everything but lingering anger. The air around the two was frozen, as if waiting for the right moment to move… a moment which came with the blink of mystified amethyst.

Golden hair mixed with ebony and red stirred in the breeze, making it all too apparent that this was no figment of Yugi's imagination. The figure in front of him was real. Logic tried to argue that it was impossible, but reality slapped logic upside the head and told it to shut up. He watched as the figure turned slowly and approached him confidently, but unhurried, knowing instinctively that Yugi was too shocked to run. He stopped just a couple of feet from Yugi and bent down a little, holding out a pale, tapered hand to him.

Yugi hesitated a moment, thinking this was surely some kind of hoax. It just had to be something out of his imagination and the moment he put his hand in the others... He was shaken when slightly chilled but most certainly real fingers wrapped around his outstretched hand. The hand he never realized he lifted. The figure before him helped him stand up and he smirked slowly and tilted his head, murmuring quietly before disappearing in a haze of shadows, "Not quite, Yugi. Not quite."

He stared at the spot for quite a while, unsure if he saw what he really thought he saw. It seemed completely impossible. He was gone from this world, so how…? And yet, how could he not believe it? The drunk was lying there, still unconscious and bleeding. That was real. So that meant… Yugi wrapped his arms around himself as he trembled. He stumbled out of the alleyway feeling cold despite the hot summer sun. It felt like it took forever, but he finally made it back to the game shop. His eyes were still wide with confusion and fear as he leaned against the wall of the shop. Staring blankly at the ground, he finally whispered, "It can't be… it just can't be…"

Don't forget to tell me what you think!

Jaa!