Cheyenne: I had... I had to write this. It needed to come out. I don't... I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!. That's all you need to know.
Screaming.
By Cheyenne.
Emotional devastation is something many people have to deal with in life. It comes in many forms. Death, relationships, even break-ups with someone you love.
Yet, something that is repeatedly joked about—repeatedly mocked—is rape. A physically and emotionally devastating thing that people do not take seriously until it happens to either them, or someone close to them.
"Someone help! He's hurt! Yugi, oh, gods, Yugi!"
"Y-Yami?"
"I'm here, Yugi! I'm here! It's me! You're going to be all right, I promise!" Rarely shed tears stream down the face of the duelist known as Yu-Gi-Oh!, his crimson-eyed brimming with more of the salty liquid as he cradles the still, beaten form of his aibou against his heaving chest.
He used to joke about it with his friends all the time before that moment. That moment that changed his entire life. He made himself believe he was happy, that he was dealing with it okay, but one night, he just broke down.
Yami sat down his bed, his face buried in the comforter as he cried silently, tears streaming down his face as he tried not to disturb the rest of his sleeping family. Why? Why did this happen to Yugi? He didn't deserve this! Why was it him?
He sits up. He thinks he's under control. Then he thinks about it again. The despair, the lost hope, the utter feeling of emptiness... did Yugi feel these things, too? Soon the tears are back, worse than before, as he tries to vent his frustration without causing any physical harm to anything or anyone, including himself.
He never thought it would happen. That's the thing, isn't it? No one ever thinks something like this would happen to them or anyone they knew. And yet, sometimes fate picks the most undeserving victim. A sweet, caring, wonderful individual can have their entire life ripped out from under them with such a heartless violation.
Yugi didn't deserve it. No one did. No one does.
And yet, it still happens, and that person, their family, and their friends are left to pick up the scattered pieces that are left behind.
Yugi switched schools. He didn't explain why—in fact, only a few close friends knew what had happened to him. Yami could only watch helplessly and hope for news of him; hope that the small amethyst-eyed hikari would talk to him, instead of closing him out.
Yet, he didn't know how to act around him anymore. His partner, his aibou...
"Yami? Yami, are you all right?" Yugi said softly. Yami glanced over. Yugi's voice... when had it become so... empty? It still sounded like his voice, yet there was something there... or perhaps it was the something that wasn't there anymore that made Yami's eyes pool once more. Without word, he gathered the small hikari into his lap and buried his head in his hair. Yugi stiffened for a moment, and Yami was painfully reminded of how thin his aibou's trust must be.
"Yugi, Yugi..." Soon they are both sobbing, letting their cries of sorrow mingle in the otherwise quiet air.
Unheard.
Unheeded.
Jokes. Perhaps that was what was worse. The jokes he had to endure about it. And even though it hadn't happened to him personally, it still hurt; like a knife plunging deep into one's chest. Did they not understand? Did they not weigh their words—think of the consequences?
Every time someone joked about it, Yami wanted to pound their heads in. Once he had punched a guy straight in the jaw, something that had ended in a very unpleasant trip to the principal's office. He had only further frustrated them with a refusal to tell them anything.
And still the jokes went on. He wanted to scream; he wanted to tell them everything; wanted to express the pain he felt whenever he even heard the word "rape." He wanted to communicate his frustration, his fury... Why hadn't he been able to prevent this? To protect his innocent light?
Yugi...
It made him feel worthless. If he had been there, could he have stopped it? Could he have prevented Yugi from even leaving in the first place? No... that was only wistful thinking.
Perhaps that was what bothered him the most. The fact that there was nothing he could have done to stop it. Instead, all he could do was silently scream, and hope that someone would hear him.
Yami hung up the phone as his light's message played over the voicemail once more. Whether that was the third or fourth time he had listened to it, he wasn't sure.
Yugi wanted to see him again. Yugi trusted him. Yugi, who had trouble even looking people in the eyes, let alone come over to their house, wanted to get together again.
And all Yami could do was hope that he was worthy of the small gift his love was giving to him.