Well, another chapter is up! :D

Lisa: About time! It took you what, a whole month to update?

.. Yes...

Lisa: What kind of author are you?

A busy one! Now leave me alone! -To readers- Tell me how you like it!

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Nor any of its characters, just my own

Chapter Two

I slowly rinsed the suds from my hair so that I could finish my shower. As I was doing so, I couldn't help but think about how soon after that day with Yami, I was starting to be ignored by him and everyone. At first, I thought that maybe Yami just wanted some time to get used to having his own body again. But after a while, I realized it was more. Every time I tried to talk to my love, he would completely ignore me and blow me off; giving me the cold shoulder. Every single time it was like that. It made me wonder, was it something I did or said?

Right when I realized Yami was giving me the cold shoulder, I called my best friend to ask him if he knew anything. This was before I found out they stopped talking to me too. But, when I tried to talk to Joey, he wouldn't talk back. Just like Yami, he completely ignored me. Even Ryou and Malik, the other hikari's ignored me too! No one would talk to me, not even Bakura who usually had fun in calling me names. I was alone with no one talking to me.

Finally done rinsing my body and hair off of all of the soap, I turned the faucet off and grabbed the towel that was hanging on the rack. I wrapped the fluffy, absorbent cloth around my small frame and hopped out of the tub. Immediately, I wished I didn't. The shower curtain was keeping the warmth from the water in and the cold out so when I stepped away, I pretty much stepped into the cold. Goosebumps appeared all over my arms and a light shiver started.

"I-I hate… winter!" I chattered as I tried to dry myself off as quickly as possible. With the mirror still fogged up, I was spared from having to see myself. I preferred it that way. I wasn't forced to look at all of the black and blue bruises that littered my body or any of the scars.

Gently, I dabbed the towel against the sensitive areas until it was dry and tried not to wince. Even after two days, the bruises were still fresh and did not want to be touched, even with the softest of hands.

Once I completely dried myself off, I dressed myself in the school's uniform and grabbed a comb from the cabinet. I ran it through my damp hair to ensure there were no tangles and then placed the small plastic comb back where I found it before grabbing my tooth brush and tooth paste and started to brush my teeth. Once my teeth were cleaned, I placed my items back and by this time, the steam from the mirror faded.

I stared into the mirror and found a teenage boy starring back. The boy was thin from not eating enough and with a result from the lack of nutrition; his hair lost some of its shine. Black circles were under his eyes and his eyes… his usual bright, cheerful amethyst eyes were dull and empty. His eyes that were always full of some many emotions were just… dead looking.

I glanced away from the depressing reflection that I knew was of myself and gathered my pajama's before leaving the room. I opened the door and turned the light off. Not paying attention, I bumped into someone.

"S-sorry," I automatically said and took a step back. It was always in my nature to apologize even when it wasn't my fault. But in this case, it was mine.

"Watch it," a deep, baritone voice growled, causing me to wince.

With my eyes glued on my feet, I waited until my look alike walked past me and then made a quick escape to my room.

"What caused him to change so fast? I whispered to no one but myself when I was in the safety of my room with the door closed. Tears filled my eyes once again but I kept them from escaping. I really needed to stop crying so much. "What did I do?"

I rubbed my eyes and tossed my pajamas over to my bed before going over to my desk. Homework was sprawled out all over the desk with textbooks and journals that you couldn't even see the table top. I started to arrange the papers in order so I could pack it in my bag. Because no one would talk to me, I had all of this extra time and I didn't know what to do with it. So, I started to ask the teachers for more homework whether it be extra credit or something to help me get better at the subject. After a while, with grades past the nineties, the teachers were running out of things to give me so they started to give me homework for the next day. As of now, I was three months ahead of all of my fellow classmates and still understood what was happening during class. With all of the homework I was given (the teachers doubled my homework so it would keep be busy. They thought it would take me a week or two to complete it all but I surprised them by completing all of it in three days so they gave me more), it helped keep my mind off of him.

I sighed and continued to pack my backpack. My thoughts started to drift off as I thought about the first day Yami snapped at me. It was something I was never going to forget.

Flashback:

I woke up to the feeling of being cold. The usual arm that was around me, hugging me to his chest wasn't there to keep me warm. In fact, I didn't even feel him near me. Uncurling from the form I had took to keep warm while I was asleep, I rolled over and found that I was by myself in my bed. I touched the spot where Yami slept and found the spot to be cold, like he hadn't been there for a while.

Mentally shrugging, I figured Yami just woke up early and got out of bed without waking me. He was really good at that, not once ever waking me up unless it was his intention too.

Since it was Sunday, I laid back down and closed my eyes, thinking I could get a few more hours of sleep. But, after a couple of minutes with my eyes closed, I realized my brain started to become restless as random thoughts filled my head. Thoughts that had no meaning to them, but just popped in my head.

'Might as well go and find Yami,' I thought and got out of my warm bed.

Exiting my room, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and descended the stairs. I could hear the TV on a low volume and knew Yami was down there.

"Morning," I said when I entered the living room. I found my love on the couch, already dressed for the day even though it was only nine-fifteen in the morning.

Instead of looking at me and bidding me a morning back, Yami simply reached forward and grabbed the remote off of the coffee table and clicked the volume button to increase the sound.

Being oblivious, I didn't take the hint that he was trying to watch his show. I sat down on the couch right next to him like I did every day. "So what're you watching?" I asked and brought my knees up to my chest and hugged them. With my chin on my knees, I watched the TV.

No reply was heard.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed my darker half scoot away from me, as much as the couch would allow before he ran out of cushion.

Turning to him with a frown, I asked, "Are you alright, Yami?" He has a scowl on his face and I knew from experience he was annoyed about something. Maybe he missed his favorite show? I've seen him get in a bad mood because he missed the morning show of Phineas and Ferb when it was supposed to be a new one. He stayed mad for half the day and it took a lot of kissing and sweet talk to get him out of him.

There was still no answer.

"Ya-,"

"Will you shut up?" Yami suddenly lashed out without and turned to me to give me a look of annoyance. He took me by surprise by his harsh tone that I flinched and just watched him as he returned his attention back to the TV.

"Oh… kay," I said, confused and a little hurt. Never, in the three years I have known him, had he ever used that tone with me before. Once or twice, he raised his voice but this, this was something different. Even by just looking at him, something was up. I tried our mind connection, seeing if everything was okay, but as soon as I tried, I came in contact with a barrier.

'I wonder if something happened earlier to make him like this. He's upset about something.' I thought and returned my attention back to the TV. I lowered my head back down to rest my chin on my knees. 'He never closes his link.'

For the longest time, it was quiet between us, probably the longest it had ever been.

"And we'll be back after this short break," The TV anchor said as the show went to a commercial. Yami stood up from his seat and walked towards the kitchen. Since I didn't want to watch the commercials, I decided to follow him and see what was up since nothing was distracting him now.

"Yami, is everything alright?" I asked and stayed standing by the door.

He didn't answer as he crossed the small room and pulled the fridge's door opened. He rummaged around, looking for something to drink and pulled out a bottle of water when he didn't find anything he wanted. He closed the door and walked back my way.

As he started to pass by me, I reached out and gently grabbed a hold of his wrist, growing concern by each passing second. "Yami -,"

Slap

My hand went immediately to my stinging cheek as I stared at my Dark with hurt eyes.

Yami trained his narrow crimson eyes on me as he snatched his wrist out of my grasp. In a voice so cold that made me want to shiver, he growled, "Don't touch me."

Tears welled up in my eyes and I barely nodded my head. I remained silent and watched him walk past me, back over to the couch. I didn't realize that was the last conversation we had.

End of Flashback

With my shoes already on my feet and the straps for my backpack already on my shoulders, I walked to my bedroom door and opened it. I dragged myself out from my warm bedroom and into the slightly chilly hallway before closing my door right behind me. After hearing the door close all the way, I started down the hall to the stairs, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

Once off the stairs, instead of going to the kitchen to grab a bit to eat, I headed in the opposite direction, going towards the door.

Ever since Yami stopped talking to me, I stopped feeling hungry, especially in the mornings. I lost a lot of weight and it showed, but I didn't care. The only time I really ate was during supper and I ate small portions. I guess it was because of my depression that I wasn't really hungry anymore. I was always more thirsty and drank at least four bottles of water, maybe five a day. I took a few vitamins so I wouldn't get sick and have a poor health condition, but that was about it. Food wasn't as important to me anymore.

Reaching the door, I took my bag off and grabbed my coat that hung on the rack. After slipping into it and buttoning it up, I bent down and slung my bag back onto my shoulders.

My hand touched the door knob and before I opened it, I called out, "I'm leaving," in a slightly louder voice so I could be heard. I waited for a minute, seeing if I'd get a reply. But, like everyday, I never received one. I sighed and twisted the door knob and let myself in into the shop part of the house.

The shop was dark with no light coming in. All of the blinds were covering the windows so no light was allowed to even come in. And with no sound of customers browsing around or the cash resister being opened and closed, it was silent.

I walked past the counter with the money box and the note grandpa left me and Yami a few months back. He was going on a six month dig and needed us to care for the shop. He left directions for us about which days to open the shop and for how long it needed to be left opened. But, ever since he left, it was always me who tended to the shop while Yami went off and hung out with our friends. Or should I say his friends.

Without stopping to check on anything, I continued on and exited the shop out into the gloomy winter day. Clouds covered the sun, turning what could have been a beautiful cold day into a depressing one. Without the sun's rays to warm the earth, the winter's wind chilled me right to the bone the moment I set foot outside. Immediately, I stuffed my hands deep into my coat's pockets and huddled deeper into it, wishing it would just swallow me whole so I wouldn't have to face the coldness.

"Oh, I really don't like the cold," I mumbled to myself as the freezing wind blew around me and right through me. I shivered and my teeth started to chatter lightly. Setting off at a fast pace, I headed towards the school. Thinking about the warm building did a little to stop my teeth from chattering but when the cold air nipped at my exposed skin, it came back. Goosebumps formed on my arms.

In fifteen minutes, I reached the school and wasted no time in entering it. Right when I did, the warm air hit my cold and red cheeks and I felt grateful for it. Now I just needed to get my teeth to calm down.

As I walked through the hallways, heading for my classroom, a few people who noticed me gave me small smiles before resuming what they were doing, whether it be messing around in their lockers or talking to their friends. I smiled back to them and waved to a girl.

When I reached my class, the chattering stopped and I wasn't shivering anymore. My body was adapting to the warmth the school was providing. I opened the door and slipped inside before closing it right behind me.

The room was almost empty except for four people inside. The teacher who was grading papers at her desk -she looked up and gave me a warm smile- and three students. I knew two of the three; Ryou and Bakura. Bakura was in his seat, turned back and was hunched over working on a paper. Most likely his homework. Ryou was helping him like he always did, even though he told his lover he needed to do his work earlier. When I had entered, they looked up and when they didn't see anybody worth talking to, they resumed what they were doing. I didn't mind as I ignored them (Which was still hard to do) and went to my seat, the desk in the back, next to the window.

The day that Yami snapped at me was the day I realized I had no friends. No one would talk to me, not Joey, who was my best friend, Tea, who I had known since grade school, not Tristan or Ryou, or anyone else. Heck, Bakura didn't even give me some snide remark anymore, which he always did because it annoyed Yami.

With them not talking to me, or even looking at me, it felt like I was invisible. Every time they looked in my direction, they seemed to be looking straight through me.

I sat down at my desk and shrugged my bag off of my shoulders. Laying it on my desk, I opened it up and brought my thick book of word searches out. Almost half of the book was done and there were over thirteen thousand puzzles. I had to keep myself busy somehow.

I was so engrossed in my search, I didn't realize fifteen minutes had passed by. It wasn't until the bell rung over head did I remember where I was.

From the time I wasn't paying attention, the room had been filing up. More students had made their way to class, including the people who I still considered friends. Tea, Duke and Tristan were all sitting around Ryou and Bakura. Duke was sitting on Tristan's lap as they were discussing their plans over the weekend with the other three. Every few seconds they would lock lips and then talk. Just walking in was Malik who was holding hands with his darker half Marik. It looked more like Malik was dragging Marik in then holding hands. Walking a few steps behind them were Joey and Kaiba, they were holding hands as well, but unlike the other two, they were holding hands and were softly talking to one another. For once, they weren't doing one of their famous arguments, but that wouldn't last for to long. And last by no least, walking behind the couples, was Yami. Quickly, I adverted my eyes back down to my word search.

Without even having to look up, I knew they went to their seats and started to talk. Kaiba would bring out his laptop out from his brief case he was always carrying and opened it up. He scooted it to one side and Joey sat on the desk that the laptop wasn't occupying. They always did this, no matter how many times the teachers would scowled them. Ryou and Bakura would by now be done with Bakura's work and were engaged in conversation with everyone else.

For a couple of minutes, The students chattered away as the teacher finished her grading and began a silent roll call. She would glance up every now and then to see who all was here.

"Mr. Wheeler," she said, not bothering to look up, "Find your own seat, please. And no, the table top is not a seat. Find your own desk." She added when Joey opened his mouth to protest that he was in a seat.

Kaiba squeezed Joey's knee as he hopped down and took the empty seat behind his boyfriend.

"Now, I would like everyone to take their text books out and turn to page three hundred and forty-seven." She instructed and the students all groaned. However, they reached under their desks and took their language arts book out.

I pulled my book out as well and turned to the correct page. I already did this assignment so I felt no need to pay attention. So, instead of looking down at the text, I turned my head and propped it on my hand with my elbow resting on the table. I looked out the window and let my mind wonder like I normally did. The teachers never minded, nor did they ever notice, so they never said anything.

It had only been ten minutes since the class started to read when I heard my name being called. I blinked and looked away from the window and over to the teacher. She was watching me with a patient look, as was everyone else in the class.

"I'm sorry, may you repeat that?" I asked, having not heard what she had just said.

"Please read, Mr. Mutou," She repeated.

I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment and I stumbled to stand up. I heard a snicker or two somewhere in the class from my clumsiness, but I choose to ignore it. I picked the book up off of my desk and knew exactly where we were, though I had no idea how. After a deep breath, I began to read in a soft voice.

"A little louder please," the teacher instructed and I did as she said.

When I finished reading, I sat down. No one was looking at me anymore, which I was thankful for. But, what the teacher said next had a few students cast me looks of pity.

"Mr. Mutou, please see me after class."

I barely nodded my head and returned my gaze back to the window. Though I could care less, I didn't really want people to see the embarrassment that was on my face.

An hour seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, the bell rung its loud shrilly sound. I looked away from the window and closed by text book with a slam. I placed it back underneath my desk and packed my belongings back into my bag. By the time I stood up from my seat, half of the room was already gone, including them.

I slowly walked up to the front of the class. I already had an idea why the teacher wanted to see me and would rather be on my way to my next class. All of my teachers have been asking me the same thing this week and it was starting to get on my nerves. It was nice of them to notice and care, but sometimes, I just wished they would mind their own business.

"You wanted to see me, Ms. Maki?" I asked when I reached her desk. I shifted my backpack straps so they would stop sliding off of my shoulders. Usually, when I was called up to see the teacher, I would fidget with nerves, but since this has already happened in other classes, I was normal.

Ms. Maki looked away from her computer and turned to me. From the way she leaned in and had her thin eyebrows knitted together in concern, I had to keep a sigh back. Here we go.

"Yugi, is everything at home going okay?" She asked with genuine concern. This was the popular question of the week.

I nodded my head, putting on my best puzzled face, "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"I've noticed you and Yami haven't been talking to one another in my class. And it's been like that for several months. You two used to be inseparable. Now..." Like her, all of my teachers knew me and Yami were going out and we would rarely leave each others side. They thought it was cute. And it took them long enough to notice and finally say something.

"We're taking... a break right now." It took me all of my courage not to start bawling as I said the word. It still hurt to admit that Yami wouldn't talk to me for god knows what reason.

I saw a flicker of surprise in her eyes. "Really?"

I nodded, despite having this conversation hurting me. "We're just working this out and it's taking some time."

Ms. Maki nodded, still surprised. She remembered the two happily going out like it was yesterday. It was like they were made for one another. Hearing this news, saddened her.

Then another thought occurred to her. "What about your other friends? I've noticed you haven't talked to them either. Are you having a fight with them too?"

I nodded my head. "It's really complicated right now. I uh... did something they didn't want me to do and they're still mad about it." That was the best I could come up with and still make it sound good. I didn't want to make it complicated, in fear that I'll forget something major.

I could tell the teacher wanted to ask more questions, but her next class started to arrive. She looked to the clock on the wall -having five more minutes to get to the next class- and returned her stare back on me.

Using a softer voice so no one would hear her, she said, "You know, Yugi, if you ever need to talk to anybody about anything, know that you can trust me."

I nodded my head in appreciation. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind." I tried for a smile, barely succeeding, and added, "Well, I better get to my next class before I become late."

"Of course. Have a good day, Yugi," Ms. Maki said and watched as I left the classroom. She bit her lip, wondering if there was anything she could do to help him. But, unless he came to her, there wasn't anything she could do.

The remaining of school passed by in a blur. One minute I was taking a history test scheduled three months from now to exiting the school as the day ended.

I knew I needed to get home as soon as possible, knowing my tormentors were lurking everywhere. I could walk home, but I knew my body didn't feel too good for a beating today. It never did, but today seemed like it would be the day my body would give out.

Or, I could ride the bus.

I picked the latter. If I could, I would ride the bus everyday after school so I didn't have to be beaten up. But, then I'd have no money. I only used my allowance money for emergencies and today was kind of like one.

Feeling to make sure I had my wallet in my back pocket, I hurried off the school's ground to where the bus stop was. I didn't have to wait for the bus because it was already here. I walked up the steps and handed the driver the correct amount of change before taking a seat in the front of the slightly packed bus. Luckily for me, one of the stops was only a few houses down from my home.

Leaning my head against the window, I thought about what I should do when I get home. I didn't have to open the shop today so I was in luck. I did have some homework to do, but it wasn't going to keep me busy all night. Maybe I could watch TV and make a nice dinner. That would be something productive.

I closed my eyes for a few minutes, wishing I could be hanging out with my friends and lover instead of planning what I was going to be doing on my lonely night.

XxxxX

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