Disclaimer: WookieeBeta does not own Yuugiou, or anything else that may be mentioned in this fanfic.

A/N: This is the sequel to another short, Not Quite. Both are Alternate Universes; therefore little in these fics is based in any detail on the series or manga. Basically, Yuugi solves the Millennium Puzzle and awakens the Pharaoh within, but Yami is considerably less tender than one might expect. Ryou Bakura met and befriended his own yami well before Yuugi finds the Pharaoh, and it is largely through the Tomb Robber's help that Yuugi survives the meeting. This fic takes place a few months after Not Quite. (Sorry about switching from American to Japanese names; they fit this version better. At some point I'll fix Not Quite, but not right now.)


Hateful Love

By WookieeBeta


Chapter One: Weak

Crimson eyes glared out of the black abyss, catching him with the force of a blow. The inevitable stroke followed, the lash of Shadow energy that made his side erupt in agony and sent him tumbling down the three flights of stairs only to roll, half-paralyzed, into the small hallway at the bottom and give a weak moan of pain.

"Please…please," he murmured. But to no avail. The eyes moved forward out of the shadows, and Yuugi could only look up in fear as the ancient Pharaoh strode toward him.

"Little light begs for mercy already," the former ruler sneered. "Little light is weak. He must learn to be stronger, or he will be a slave forever."

A single scalding tear found its way out of the corner of Yuugi's eye, and he curled into a tight ball, refusing to meet his darker half's gaze. It was always like this. He'd come home late in the afternoon, exhausted and bloody from being attacked by bullies on the street, and try as he might he wouldn't be able to avoid the spirit's notice; when he finally gave in and explained what had happened Yami would punish him for not being able to take care of himself. By the end of it he would barely be able to move. And then something inside the spirit's more-than-slightly scrambled mind would click, and he would spend the next several hours tending to the boy's wounds and fairly tripping over himself trying to apologize in his mangled speech. Yuugi would have to stay out of school for a day or two to recover, and then in another week or so the same thing would happen all over again. It was always like this.

"Please," he whispered again, "please don't do this…it hurts…god it hurts…" White-hot fire was ripping through his side. He couldn't move his right arm. The blackness was already beginning to crowd his vision.

"Stand."

Yuugi whimpered. He could hardly move his head; he certainly couldn't stand up.

"Stand! Little light does not ignore the Pharaoh!" The young teenager cringed as he heard the spirit's almost inaudible footsteps descending. Strong arms grasped him under the arms and hauled him upright. His head spun; he took half a step back, stumbled, and collapsed again. This time the spirit did not bother trying to make him stand. He just grasped the boy's feet and dragged him bodily up the hard wooden stairs, ignoring the many sharp cracks of his head hitting the corners. Yuugi's head screamed in protest, but he didn't dare to cry out.

Centuries later they reached the top landing. Every inch of his body hurt; he felt strangely light-headed. The spirit set him on his feet again, and this time he somehow managed to stay mostly upright.

Wham! Stars exploded in his vision as the former ruler's fist collided with his cheekbone; he heard an audible snap and gave a low cry of pain. He stumbled backwards.

Yami stepped forward, closing the gap between them, and his next blow caught Yuugi in the stomach. He doubled over, gasping for air. The world began to go black. Another rock fist in his face, and then he was falling, falling, falling forever, and there was a patch of light and a pair of brown eyes and someone was shouting and shouting – maybe his name, he wasn't sure, he couldn't hear, his ears were ringing and he thought he was going deaf – and then black.

Ryou landed on his butt in his soul room as his own yami took over, leaping from the door to where Yuugi's broken and unconscious form had landed in one long jump and taking the boy's body in his arms.

"Yuugi," he called softly. "Yuugi, wake up – wake up, don't be dead, wake up, please wake up…" There was no response. Yami no Bakura glared up to where the one-time Pharaoh was still standing, silent, at the top of the stairs. The Ring around his neck flashed dangerously.

"How could you," he whispered. "How…how could you deliberately harm your light, beat him so cruelly and then smile? How?! Tell me, dammit!"

"Little light is weak," the Pharaoh said simply. He shrugged, then turned and disappeared into the shadows of his room. The tomb robber stood to follow him, but a low moan of animal pain and fear from somewhere by his feet stopped him. It was Yuugi.

"How do you feel?" Ryou asked as he regained control and knelt by his friend's side. He ran a gentle hand over Yuugi's forehead and wiped away some of the blood.

"R – Ryou? Is that you?" Yuugi's voice was weak; his hand groped around feebly, and the British boy took it in both of his own. "I…I think I'm…I don't…it hurts, god Ryou, it hurts…"

"No," Ryou said fiercely. "No. Just hold on a little longer. I'm calling the hospital, they'll send and ambulance and you'll be better in no time. Just hold on – please, Yuugi, just hold on!"

The injured boy gave another weak moan, and his slight grip on Ryou's hand failed. Ryou pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Within moments he had someone on the line; they said they would try to be there in less than five minutes.

"Just get here as soon as you can," Ryou begged. He terminated the connection; he was good at multitasking, yes, but he couldn't hold a conversation and save a life at the same time.

As he wrapped his light jacket around Yuugi's shoulders and used his shirt to sponge away some of the blood he realized the duelist was saying something.

"What? I didn't hear you."

"Don't…let Yami get taken," Yuugi whispered. "The police…investigation…want to put him in jail for…abuse… He doesn't mean it, doesn't know what he's…doing… Don't let him get in trouble, please…" Ryou was silent. He understood that Yuugi didn't want his darker half to get on the wrong side of the law, but then again he also understood that if something wasn't done he could very easily end up losing his friend. Yuugi wouldn't lift a finger against the spirit even in self-defense. "Please, Ryou," Yuugi repeated.

"All right," Ryou sighed. "I'll call Jou and Honda and get them to go with you to the hospital. Then my yami and I can go clear him with the police. Okay?"

Yuugi just gave him a weak smile. He winced; his body relaxed, and his eyes closed, and he fell into unconsciousness.

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Jounouchi, of course, wasn't exactly pleased when he heard the news. Bakura had to threaten to use the Ring on him in order to get him to calm down and not run off to strangle the Pharaoh with his bare hands.

"Look, you dumb mutt," the spirit snapped in an uncharacteristically nasty tone, "I'll deal with the Pharaoh. You just look after Yuugi. The ambulance just left; they'll be expecting you to show up at the Emergency Room, I already told them you'd come." The voice changed as Ryou took over. "And you might want to take Honda, for moral support if nothing else."

With his mind less muddled by rage now, Jou caught the tone of this last comment and it made him worry. "What do you mean? What exactly happened?"

"He, ah…well..." Ryou hesitated. He hadn't told Jou just how hurt Yuugi really was. "The Pharaoh doesn't really realize just how strong he is, or how weak his better half is…and, well, Yuugi's in pretty bad shape. There's a chance – " a shuddering breath, a few rapid blinks to dash away the tears forming in his eyes " – there's a chance he may not make it."

Silence. It was Jou's turn to take a long steadying breath.

"All right," the blonde said finally, "I'm on my way. Deal with the spirit and tell Mouto-san, and then meet us as the Emergency Room. I'll call Anzu and maybe even the Kaibas once things call down a bit."

"Bye, Jou."

"G'bye. And Ryou…"

"Yes?"

"…thanks. Thanks for helping him out."

The British boy gave a sad smile. "It's the least I can do. See you later."

"Later." There was a click, and the line went dead. Jou wiped away the infuriating tears, snagged his coat off the door, and then he was gone, running down the block to Honda's house to enlist his second-best friend's help, and they took off together towards the hospital. Fortunately it wasn't all that far away. They arrived only a moment after the ambulance.

"He's doing okay," the nurse informed them. "Your friend acted quickly and responsibly. Had he not been there, young Mouto could have died – as it is his condition is stabilizing, and the doctors think that with some recovery time he should be fine."

Jou heaved a sigh of relief he hadn't known he was holding. "Thanks," he told the woman. "Can we – that is, do the doctors think it's okay for us to go see him?"

"Give them a few more minutes," the nurse said. "This is still only the beginning. I don't want to worry you, but if there's internal bleeding or a head injury we don't know about there's still a chance things could go wrong – I know you don't want to take any chances. The doctors will let you know one way or another in about half an hour, I promise." Jou thanked her again, and Honda half-led, half-dragged him to a chair by the window, into which the blonde immediately collapsed.

"I should have been there," he murmured to his knees. "It should have been me that found him, not Ryou. I'm a terrible friend."

"Don't say that," Honda snapped at him. "It was just the luck of the draw. There's no way you could have known. It's not your fault, so don't beat yourself up for it."

The blonde shook his head. "That's just it, Honda. I should have known. I should have realized it long ago. Ever since he got the puzzle he's been…I don't know…different. There was that whole black-out thing for a while, and then when he disappeared…and afterwards, he was all right for a while, but then he started missing school and turning up with all sorts of weird bruises and broken bones and stuff. He tried to blame it on those bullies that beat him up every day, but I've heard them talking at lunch – apparently he ('he' being Yami) pays them to do that, and they never do more than bruise him. I should have known then and there what was up."

"You still couldn't have done anything about it," Honda said.

"Maybe not. But at least I could have tried."

There was a long silence.