E.M.O.

Hear Me

He didn't know how long he'd been in the shower. The hot water beating like firey needles on his back and head. His tri-colored hair stuck to his shoulders, his blonde bangs falling infront of his eyes. He sighed shakily, wincing as his throat constricted painfully, the bruises of his father's large, rough hands from when he tried to choke and kill him. Yugi Motou lifted his small, shaking hands and gently caressed the bruised areas on either side of his slim, milky white neck.

"Damn bastard." He whispered softly and sadly as he leaned against the shower wall and the tears in his eyes sliding down his cheeks, taking the mascara with it. "Mother... I need you." He cried and slid down the wall and to the tub floor, pulling his knees to his chest. "I can't take anymore of this! I wanna be with you and away from this hellhole!"

With shaking hands, Yugi reached up to the shower rack and pulled down a knife he brought with him. With familiar sensations, he held the knife in his hand.

"Sorry Jii-chan... but I just... I can't live anymore. No one besides you wants me here." Yugi whispered, holding the silver, sharp edge to his fragile, thin wrist.

Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes and sliced along the vein in his wrist, knowing from his fellow emo friends that to cause more damage and die quicker, you cut along the vein. He winced and looked down, watching as his blood mixed with the slowly growing cold water. He let his wrist fall into his lap as he shifted so he was laying in the tub.

Sugoruko Motou fidgeted uneasily. After the bad fight with his father, Yugi had gone into the bathroom to take a shower. That was over an hour ago and Yugi's grandfather was beginning to worry. Slowly, as fast as his old bones would carry him, he walked upstairs from the shop and to the bathroom door. He lifted his old fist and knocked on the door.

"Yugi?"

Frowning when he didn't get an answer, he pressed his ear to the door. The water was still running. He sighed and knocked again.

"Yugi?!" He called louder, thinking maybe his grandson just couldn't hear him over the running water.

Frowning more, he opened the door, glad Yugi didn't lock it, and walked inside. The steam rushed into the hallway and made Sugoruko cough a little. He waved a hand infront of his face to try to get some fresh air into his old lungs.

"Yugi?"

He shuffled up to the tub and almost had a heart attack.

"Yugi!" The old man pulled his grandson out of the tub weakly and to the floor. "Yugi... Yugi!" When his grandson didn't reply, he felt his chest tighten. "No... come on child! Wake up!" He quickly wrapped Yugi's wrist to stop the flow of blood.

Grabbing Yugi's robe, he wrapped him in it and picked him up, grunting as he shuffled out of the bathroom and into Yugi's bedroom. Running, or at least as fast as his short, old legs would let him, downstairs, he picked up the phone and called for an ambulance. Once he hung the phone up, he hurriedly made his way back upstairs and into Yugi's room.

"Yugi... why?" He whispered, tears slowly sliding down his cheeks as he stroked Yugi's pale, thin cheek.

Voices... all around him. It was cold and he was laying on a hard bed. Wait... a bed?

"Mmn?" His throat still hurt from his father's rough hands.

"Yugi?"

"... Jii-chan?" His voice was cracked, he hadn't used it since he was in the shower. "Where...?"

"You're in the hospital." Sugoruko replied softly.

"The... hospital?"

"Yes. You've been asleep for two days." The old man sat on the edge of Yugi's bed and stroked the blonde bangs from his grandson's eyes. "Yugi... you scared me. Please... don't ever do anything like that again." Sugoruko whispered, bending down and hugging his grandson.

Yugi blinked. He tried lifting his hands to hug his grandfather back, but he realized one arm had an IV in it and the other was numb. "Jii-chan... why is my... arm numb?" The boy asked, fearing the answer his grandfather would give him.

"The... doctor says that... because of how you cut your... wrist... your nerves are permanently damaged. You'll have problems with the nerves in your wrist for the rest of your life." Sugoruko replied.

Yugi swallowed thickly, wincing as his throat constricted painfully again. "What... kind of problems?"

"Well... sometimes your hand will go numb, maybe your arm... you could... have problems moving your fingers sometimes. It can give you pain and can be made worse by activities such as-"

"Alright alright!" Yugi snapped, looking away. "I get it." He added in a saddened whisper.

Sugoruko sighed. "Yugi-"

"Just leave me alone." The student whispered even softer.

His grandfather frowned sadly and stood up off of the bed, and then turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

'I wish he'd of just let me die!' Yugi cried in his head. 'Then I wouldn't be going through this!' Hot tears of pain and depression slid down his cheeks and onto the pillow under his head. "Mother... why didn't you take me with you when you died? I don't want to be alive! I have no reason for living, besides Jii-chan! I have no friends, no true friends at least! Please... take me away!"

Atem Aknunkadin stood infront of his history class taking roll. "Yugi Motou?" When silence was his answer, he looked up from his paper, taking his glasses off as he looked toward said student's seat only to find it empty. "He's absent again?" He looked at the rest of his class. "Has anyone seen Mr. Motou lately?"

"No. No one likes him. He's just some emo kid with no mother."

"Muraki, I will not have that kind of talk in this classroom." Atem said, his crimson eyes staring dully at the student. He sighed. "Its been four days and not even the office has got a call from his father. Does any one know where he lives?"

"His grandfather owns a shop called Kame Shop."

"Thank you Ms. Mazaki." He looked back down at the paper and finished calling roll. 'I'll pay a visit to him tomorrow.' He thought as he put the roll sheet down and picked up his history book.

'You little piece of shit! I haven't eaten anything since you never came home!'

'I left a plate for you in the microwave! All you had to do was heat it up!'

'You didn't leave a note telling me that!'

'Are you too lazy to just look around?!'

'How dare you talk back to me!'

'You're... geh... drunk! Stop! You're... choking me!'

'Maybe this'll teach you to be a good little boy!'

Yugi winced, the burning pain in his side where one of his ribs were broken. He shifted, pushing himself deeper into the matress. He'd been in the hospital for five days. Days full off horrible food, little sleep and painful times of being awake. The doctor wouldn't give him sleeping pills because that would worsen his state... or something like that. He hadn't been paying attention. Instead, he was given morphin to lessen the pain and some kind of vitamin pills. His grandfather visited him as often as he could. Usually in the morning and then just before visiting hours ended.

'Damn... why have a dream about that now?' He thought bitterly, closing his eyes and letting his head relax against the fluffy pillow his grandfather had brought him.

Sugoruko had told him that his father was sorry and hadn't drank a single drop of liqour since he heard Yugi had tried killing himself. 'That doesn't mean I'm willing to forgive him for trying to kill me!' Yugi had told his grandfather. And he meant every word of it. He would never forgive his father for trying to kill him. He still had trouble swallowing liquid, food especially. Not that he ate much. The hospital's food tasted stale and cold when it was supposed to be hot. His grandfather sometime's snuck home-made food in to him.

The young boy shivered. His day nurse had opened a window to let in the nice breeze for him, but it only made him cold. Another sigh escaped him. 'Well... I don't suppose it can get any worse than this.' He thought sarcastically.

Atem walked up the sidewalk toward Kame Shop. He saw a short, old man sweeping infront of the door and walked up to him.

"Excuse me, are you Sugoruko Motou?" He asked.

Sugoruko looked up. "Thats me. And you are?"
"My name is Atem Aknunkadin. I'm Yugi's history teacher."

"Ah yes. Yugi speaks a lot about you. Well... when he talks." The old man sighed.

The teacher blinked. "He doesn't talk at home?"

"Well... no. He comes home after school, makes dinner, and then leaves with his gothy... punky friends."

Atem raised an eyebrow. "He talks to me a lot at school."

"Oh really? Thats good."

"We usually talk about Egypt and other ancient civilizations. He has what it takes to be a historian or archeologist." Atem smiled, but then frowned. "If only he would change the people he hangs around with and gain more self-esteem."

Sugoruko sighed."He has his reasons. Before his mother died, he was a sweet, caring, fun youngling."

"At any rate... is he home?"

"No. He's in the hospital." Yugi's grandfather replied.

"The hospital?! What happened?!" Atem asked, a little too frantically.

"He and his father got into a fight and... well... his father took it a little too far and Yugi tried to kill himself."

Atem remained silent.

"Atem-sensei... would you help me?"

He blinked. "Sure."

"Yugi... has never really had any true friends. Those... punks he calls friends... are a bad influence on him. Would you... help me with trying to bring the old Yugi back?" Sugoruko's shoulders slumped. "I miss my sweet, innocent and loving grandson."

Atem put a hand on the old man's shoulder. "I'll do all I can." He turned to walk away, but stopped and turned back to the grandfather. "Mr. Motou... has Yugi always been abused?"

"Only after his mother died and his father started drinking a few years ago."

"How come you never called CPS?"

"Yugi wouldn't let me. As much as he and his father don't get along anymore, he still loves him and doesn't want to lose another parent. I protect him as much as I can, but an old man can only do so much."

Atem nodded. "Give me his room number and I'll go visit him."

Sugoruko smiled and led Atem into his store, then wrote down the hospital and Yugi's room number. "Just tell the nurse Sugoruko Motou sent you and she'll let you in." He winked.

The teacher rose an eyebrow, folding the paper and slipping it into his shirt pocket. "Right." He muttered, then bowed and left. As he approached the door, a picture of Yugi caught his eye. "Is this..?"

"Yes. That is Yugi when he was fourteen, before his mother died."

"His... eyes are so bright."

The surprise in Atem's voice made Yugi's grandfather chuckle. "They are... were I mean. They used to hold such love and happiness. Now... they hold nothing but-"

"Sorrow and pain." Atem whispered.

Yugi lay in the bed, ear plugs in his ears and eyes closed. Kelly Clarkson's voice singing 'Hear Me' could be heard if you listened hard enough.

"Thank you." Atem smiled at the cute, blonde hair blue eyed nurse as she opened the door for him. The teacher walked up to the bedside and frowned down at his star pupil. He could almost see bruising on one pale cheek. 'If that's what the bruising on his face looks like, I can only imagine what the rest of his body must look like.' He thought, raising a hand and gently brushing the tips of his fingers over the brown blotch.

"Mm?"

The soft moan made Atem draw back and watch as dull purple eyes and look up at him.

"... Sensei?"

Atem smiled. "Hello Motou-san."

The student blinked tiredly. He reached up and pulled the ear plugs out of his ears and turned the MP3 player off. "What're you doing here?"

"I was worried about you when you didn't show up for a whole week." Atem replied, removing his jacket and sitting in the chair next to Yugi's bed. "So, how're you feeling?"

"Like shit." The boy replied, closing his eyes.

Atem stared at him in silence. His student looked at him when he didn't reply.

"Oh... sorry, Sensei."

The teacher sighed. "Its alright. Just... don't let it happen again." He looked around the room. "You must be bored here."

"You have no idea. They don't do anything for entertainment here."

Atem chuckled. "Well... this is a hospital."

"And I decide that hospitals stink and are boring. I'm surprised I was born in a place like this. I don't see how old people can stand being in places like this."

"Some 'old' people can't."

"Yeah. Like grumpy old men." Yugi grinned.

Atem laughed. "Exactly, Yugi."

Yugi blinked, the smile fading. "You... called me by my first name?"

"You don't mind do you?" Atem smiled kindly.

"N-no. Not really."

"Then, when we're alone like this, why don't you call me by my first name?"

Yugi blushed. "Really?"

"Why not?"

They smiled at each other.

"Okay... Atem-chan."

"Yugi-kun."

Through the next few days, Atem continued visiting Yugi when his grandfather couldn't. He would grade papers and help Yugi with any homework he had from other classes. They talked amiably as if they had been friends for a long time. Atem learned more and more about Yugi. Things he thought Yugi wouldn't be like when he really was. Yugi learned about Atem, though most things he wasn't that surprised about. Yugi learned how to play chess and checkers from Atem and Atem learned how to play BS from Yugi. They became fast friends.

"What was your mother like Yugi?" Atem asked, watching as Yugi tried to decide where to move his pawn.

"She was strong. Physically and mentally strong." The student smiled fondly as he moved his pawn.

Atem was sitting on the side of the bed, the board on Yugi's lap.

"She was beautiful. Her hair was like mine, only long and down her back. She had a pale complexion, but beautiful, like Snow White."

Atem chuckled.

"In fact that was her friends' nick name for her in high school." Yugi smiled. "We were happy together. Going out on the weekends when Dad was home. Mom always made my favorite cookies... every Friday for when I bring my friends home with me from school. She was friendly."

"What was her name?"

"Yumi Motou."

"Yumi... beautiful name."

"For a beautiful woman. Inside and out." Yugi said, closing his eyes.

Atem looked up from the board at Yugi. His eyes widened when he saw tears sliding down the pale, fragile cheeks. "Yugi-kun!" He thrusted the board aside and embraced his student tightly. "Shh. Its alright. Cry, Yugi. Let it all out."

The sobs racked Yugi's body as he gripped his teacher's shirt and cried into his shoulder. "I miss her. I miss her... so much." He sobbed.

"I know. Shhh." Atem rocked Yugi to and fro, stroking his hair and cooing soft words into his ear.

When Yugi continued crying after ten minutes, Atem laid down on the bed, holding his student close. He soon began to calm down, hiccuping cutely and clinging to Atem. The teacher sighed softly, his arms tightening around Yugi as he began to think about his own past. He looked down at Yugi's wrists and saw the scars. They had stopped bleeding and now just stood out like a sore thumb against Yugi's skin. He sighed, lifting a hand to take Yugi's into it. He held the small, weak wrist, gently rubbing the end of the long scar and felt his student shiver slightly.

"Are you cold?" Atem whispered. He felt a nod against his chest and he reached behind him for his jacket on the back of the chair he had been sitting in. He draped it over Yugi's shoulders and pulled him closer, feeling himself get tired. "I suppose we could both use a nap." He smiled.

Yugi smiled back and buried himself under the jacket and sheets against Atem's body, stealing his teacher's body heat. He nuzzled his face into Atem's neck, feeling himself start to fall asleep.

'It'll be alright Yugi-kun. I promise.' Atem thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Atem was woken up a couple hours later by someone gently shaking his shoulder. He blinked and looked up blearily and saw Yugi's night nurse.

"Sir, its past visiting hours." She whispered, noticing the patient sleeping.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Atem whispered back and tried to carefully pry himself from Yugi's hold. When Yugi whimpered, he stopped.

"Why don't you stay here for the night?" The nurse asked.

"I-I suppose I could. It is Friday." Atem said and relaxed back down on the bed and got comfortable again. He smiled up at the nurse, who smiled back and began to check the equipment and Yugi's heart rate.

"He's sleeping peacefully for once." The nurse whispered, looking at the two on the bed.

The teacher blinked, "'For once'?" He asked.

"Ever since he was brought here, the doctor has had to give him sleeping pills in order for him to sleep." The blonde nurse replied. "He's such a young boy... to go through so much pain must make him so..."

"Small and insignificant." Atem whispered, looking down at the fallen angelic face of his student.

The nurse paused in her movements, looking at Atem wide-eyed. "Well..." She cleared her throat. "Not exactly what I was thinking, but... I suppose."

"I know exactly how he feels... losing someone special and important to him." He sighed, putting his student's hand to his cheek and closing his eyes, leaning into the smooth, child-like hand. His heart, broken and giving itself out to Yugi, thumped hard and loud against his chest as a familiar feeling of pain struck his emotions. He felt a knot grow in his stomach, suddenly it was hard to breathe and his throat closed up. He heard the door close and he knew the nurse had left. So he let the tears slide down his cheeks and he instinctively held his small student closer as he buried his face in the soft hair that was so much like his own as he let out a small, broken sob. He carefully held in his sobs and controlled his shakes so he wouldn't disturb his sleeping student. He was glade it was the weekend, for he knew tomorrow he would probably not be in a very good mental state to teach all those students.

Yugi woke up around nine, still curled up against his teacher. He yawned and looked up into crimson red eyes. He smiled tiredly and got a similar smile from Atem. He blinked.

"Whats wrong, Atem-chan?"

"Nothing, Yugi-kun." The teacher replied, cuddling his student closer, the fingers of one of his hands sliding through Yugi's hair. He could feel his student's dull violet eyes that he knew used to be beautiful when Yugi was happy. "Nothing at all." He frowned at the dark clouds he could see in the sky through the open curtains of the window.

Yugi relaxed in Atem's hold. His teacher was probably the only person he would let hold him so close to their body. He didn't even let his own "boyfriend", Sam, hold him this close. The student sighed. Sam hadn't come to visit him at all ever since he was put in the hospital. Then again, he probably didn't know Yugi was in the hospital.

'I don't care if he does know.' Yugi thought bitterly. 'He never once cared about me. He only wants me for sex. He doesn't love me, and I don't love him. I love Jii-chan and Jou-ku...' He paused at that thought. 'Jou-kun. I miss you.'