Chapter 2: bad news

Jou had been in the infirmary for the last two weeks. The first three days he had been in a coma, but he pulled through rather quickly and his stamina was admirable. Yet three ribs were broken and his jaw, nose, and a small part of the bone next to his eye had broken and splintered. He would be fine however, so Yugi was relieved. That didn't diminish his own pain though.

Now that Jou was being treated, Yugi wasn't being protected anymore, and the other inmates knew that. He tried desperately to hide himself during showers, even asked the guards if he couldn't just not shower at all, but they were merciless and so were the prisoners. They raped him, one by one, pushed his face against the tiled wall and silenced him by tugging a washing cloth in his mouth. He could only do so much as cry, plead with his eyes to his so-called 'friends' who would just look away and decided not to mingle in the situation unless they wanted to end up just like Yugi. The days became unbearable, he got harassed every evening, and no one did a damn thing about it. Not the inmates, not the guards, not even the nurses who stitched up his ass. Yugi didn't know what to do anymore, he silently prayed every evening to just die then and there, anything was better than the life he was living now. He was sick of crying himself to sleep, sick of watching his back every second, sick of screaming his throat sore when they harassed him.

He never told his grandpa, however. He wouldn't worry the old man with that, so he always greeted him with a smile when he came for a visit again, even if sitting on the chair was awfully painful and nearly impossible to hide.

Yugi groaned deeply when someone slapped his ass while passing with his tray of food. The pain shot right through his spine and he shivered, nearly dropping his plate while the table just laughed. Yugi had gotten used to the humiliation, but it didn't mean that he wasn't affected by them anymore.

He sat down, rather carefully, on a table by himself, leaning more towards his left as to not put full weight on his ass. He heard his cell-mates snicker behind his back but ignored it, deciding to put his energy in surviving rather than getting by.

People looked up when two guards escorted someone in the dining hall. Upon seeing who it was, Yugi grimaced in utter fear. He had forgotten that Yami had been locked in isolation for a whole month, and was now back again. The guy's face looked drained and exhausted, his tanned skin paler than usual and almost seeming unnatural. Yugi had half-expected for him to charge right at him as soon as he laid eyes on the kid, but to his surprise, when Yami and Yugi's eyes locked, the serial killer just turned his gaze and walked toward his table, where Bakura was sitting along with other inmates.

Yugi found this behaviour odd. He could remember those crimson eyes itching to kill like it was yesterday, and yet all he had seen now was defeat. It was no secret that the shouting and yelling at night belonged to Yami, and although the isolation block was quite a distance and well-secluded, you could still hear him. But everyone who had been to isolation knew that, aside from utter boredom and literally no one who talked to you, they never harmed you. And yet it almost looked like Yami had been tortured in there.

Yugi turned around to have a better look at the man. Aside from phased and a bit pale, he looked healthy. Their eyes locked again, but this time, none of them looked away. Yugi found himself awfully engrossed in their staring-contest and couldn't turn his gaze. There was a slight second in which he could swear he saw fire burning in those crimson eyes, but it faded soon after, and Yugi pulled away. What he didn't know was that the man's eyes were still glued to his back, analyzing him in every form and way.


"Bend over, pussycat."

"Fuck off!"

Was it ever going to stop? Even if he fought back, it was going to happen again anyway. It wouldn't be even more terrible if everyone else wouldn't fucking watch it, but they all did nonetheless. They just watched, they watched as the smallest one among the group was forced against the wall and said nothing, didn't get a guard, didn't intervene, just watched. That's all they really did.

"Just leave me alone, please,"

Yugi bit his lip in order to keep himself from crying, but it was in vain. The uncomfortable position in which his body was pressed against cold tiles, one arm pinned on his back and his face squashed, made his body shake uncontrollably. He knew what was about to happen, knew how it felt, but every time he was still scared.

"Cute, but no," the man answered and smirked maleficently. He slammed Yugi's head hard against the wall again. "Now shut up or you'll regret it, got that, pussycat?"

The name pussycat had stuck after one of them had began purring and provoking sounds like a horny cat, and was now unfortunately a common nickname that referred to him. Yugi pierced his eyes closed, a pained grimace frowning his face while the man wiggled his cock between his cheeks and, without any warning, rammed inside. Yugi yelled, but the sound was muffled by the man's hand cupping his lips. If all but nothing, he managed to make it worse by slipping his fingers in Yugi's mouth while he laughed at the pained cries of the guy he was raping.

Although there was water pouring down from the shower heads, Yugi could still feel his own salty tears rolling down his cheeks. His ass was burning from the treatment while the man impertinently slammed back inside hard and quick. A wince escaped his lips when he felt the man's breath in his own neck coming closer, like a beast panting and high on tendency.

"You dropped the soap."

The man turned his head, busy fucking the kid's brain out while he heard someone address him. All of a sudden, Yugi didn't know why, the man stopped, his cock still inside though, but without movement. He tried to see what was going on but couldn't move his head. All he heard was someone talking to the other in an awfully blatant and passionless tone.

"What?"

"I said, you dropped the soap."

Yami smirked. He looked at the bar of soap on the ground, and the man's gaze followed, soon after his eyes filling with fear. The man, broader and taller than him, was completely frozen and couldn't utter a single word. He flinched as Yami leaned forward, bringing their faces closer together to continue their friendly conversation. "You should pick it up." He whispered, non-threatening, but every alarm was blaring off inside the man's head, and Yami enjoyed the display. He waited, one minute, two minutes, before impatiently tapping his foot signaling that he was reaching the end of his limit.

Yugi groaned when the man pulled out. He felt the restrain on his arm and head fade and collapsed on the ground like a bundle of old rope.

Yami nodded his head for the man to follow his instructions and pick up the soap. Slowly, but carefully, the man turned around, his knees shaking while bending over to get the bar of soap. Yami's eyes widened and his laugh broadened, baring his teeth.

As soon as the man's hand grabbed the bar of soap, a loud howl wavered through the showers and other inmates were watching in shock. Yami had rammed his whole fist inside the man's ass, pounding it hard a few more times and with every jolt, another scream escaped the man's lips. He dropped on his knees, still yelling even after Yami had pulled out. Without the slightest reaction, Yami circled around the man and eyed him, before picking up the bar of soap himself to excessively wash his defiled hand. Smirking proudly when the man winced and tried protecting himself with his hands, he walked away casually before a few guards barged in the shower room.

Yugi watched in silence as his rapist was collected of the floor to be brought to the infirmary. He saw Yami and some other men shrug when they asked what had happened, but no one spilled anything. After it became clear that they weren't going to get any information soon, the guards left.

Yugi got up slowly, his body still sore from the abuse. He tried desperately to meet Yami's gaze, but the man wouldn't even look at him. Bothered by this fact, Yugi didn't know what had gotten into him, yet he walked right up to him but before he even knew it, his back was smacked against the wall and an arm effectively pinned him down by the neck, lifting him from the floor. Yami looked at him, the same look from before with eyes so devious that Yugi gulped audibly. He realized that their naked bodies were ridiculously close to his dislike and that he felt everything but comfortable now that he had finally awoken Yami's attention. But he had to know why Yami had done that, he had to know why he had helped him, it just didn't add up, nothing made sense anymore.

He shivered when hot breath nestled in his ear. Yami's body was, despite the lute temperate of the water, exceptionally warm against his own bare skin. It almost felt reassuring, but Yugi tried hard not to let his naive thoughts get the better of him again. That was, until his eyes shut wide open and he felt a throbbing erection near his inner thigh painfully hard poking it.

While Yami was about to say something, he suddenly closed his mouth and became soundless. The silence in the room was nerve-wrecking and Bakura, who had watched the whole scene and was still observing his partner in crime intently, could feel it as well. There was a thick cloak of tension, before Yugi felt velvet lips caress his own in a kiss so chaste that it almost felt like those lips could never belong to Yami, but they did. Their lips touched briefly and softly, with Yami as inductor, and Yugi could feel himself leaning in and closing his eyes after the surprise. For a short moment, he felt completely at peace, but it quickly faded when Yami let go of him and Yugi fell through his knees. The man walked away, grabbing a towel and covering his obvious erection without much shame, leaving the scenery. Before he heard a voice talk in his head again. Before it told him to kill – again.


It was an odd reversion, and most inmates did not embrace it very much, not even Bakura was warm for it, but it had changed drastically nonetheless. After the whole 'spectacle' in the shower, the tides had shifted, and from that day on Yugi Mutou would follow them suit every minute of the day whenever he could. He sat silently next to Yami, not sharing a word, while Yami continued his every day life in prison as if still being surrounded by the same people. He barely acknowledged the younger one, only did so when he left briefly to go to the bathroom or get something to drink. The obsession radiating in his eyes for the little one was so disturbing that it even frightened Bakura, who couldn't understand a word of their relationship. It was evident that Yugi stayed by Yami's side as a means of protection, after all no one had laid a finger on him ever since. But how Yami was affected by the boy was what really bothered Bakura. He couldn't leave his eyesight for a second or he would glare daggers at him, and Yugi was supposed to follow him around at every given moment without any exchange in words. And for a very strange, unknown reason, the boy seemed to understand his demands, as if they had pleaded to one another in silence in a language that no one else understood.

Now that Yugi was 'protected' however, the inmates started to grow weary. The last one to have assaulted Yugi still hadn't returned from the infirmary and everyone was too scared to meet the same fate by that wicked serial-killer. But it didn't mean the hormones died down. They just retreated for now, until another opening presented itself.

Yugi was fine with this silent contract. He didn't really enjoy being in Yami's company, the man actually scared the living daylight out of him, but at least he would be safe until Jou would return. Yami expected him to do his bidding without so much of a word. Yugi brought him his food, walked him to the bathroom, even flipped over the next page of his book for God's sake. When Yami was eating or washing, Yugi was supposed to wait until he was finished, which was pretty much the same as a dog waiting for its owner to let go of the leash. It was humiliating, but anything was better than getting assaulted day in and day out. So Yugi would be fine – again.

As he came to spend more time with Yami, Yugi noticed the odd quirks the man visually exposed. He had a tendency of whispering to himself, as if hushing his conscience, and could stare at nothing without blinking for more than an hour. It freaked Yugi out, but he also found it interesting to observe. He noticed how Yami would tense up and sometimes growl at other people that came too close to his liking, and he also had the urge to do everything in a repetitive motion, especially during dinner. There was an obvious, repetitive pattern that only became evident if you paid any attention to it, but every day Yami ate the same way. He took one bite of his vegetables, one of his rice, and one of his meat or fish, and than he simple repeated the action. The repetition was so tedious and silly, but Yami needed it wholeheartedly as Yugi also noticed how Yami turned confused and even panicky when something other than that was served, for example a burger. He never touched his food when he wasn't able to repeat his pattern, just watched it turn cold for half an hour and said nothing.

Well, Yami never really spoke anyway. Yugi wasn't allowed to speak in his presence, but Bakura talked all the time. The only answers he got however were multiple hmms, some nodding, shrugging, and once in a while an 'I don't care' or 'whatever'. Their short-lived conversations held little meaning but Yugi could only translate them as if they were something more, but just not to be understood. Even if they barely talked, he was certain Yami and Bakura had known each other for a long time, it was just not clear if they were friends or enemies.

One afternoon, after working hours, Yugi was sitting on the ground cross-legged, next to Yami whom sat on a chair, reading. There was little to do since he wasn't allowed to read one himself, so these afternoons were quite tedious as were all the rest. But it was more promising than the others after all.

Whenever people walked in, it was a habit for all inmates to look up and see who was there. This time, most expecting eyes turned into smiles upon seeing Jou had returned from the infirmary after two months at last. He was greeted warmly by his 'friends', and Jou laughed at the sudden exchange of friendliness, but his gaze was obviously looking for someone else.

Yugi bit his lip, watching Yami from the corner of his eye who seemed unphased. He did notice the eyes of the little one lingering however, and looked up to see what had drawn his attention. Oblivious, he returned his gaze to his book, and Yugi smiled at that. It was his sign language of saying 'fine', only in a more complexed manner, so Yugi got up and walked over to Jou. When the two met, they offered each other a friendly hug, more to tell each other that they were relieved to see they were both still alive.

"You shouldn't have done that," Yugi smiled, letting go of his friend to talk to him face to face, "I don't want you to end up killed for the likes of me."

"Shut up, Yug'. I would do it again in a heartbeat." He smiled, but his eyes shifted to the sinister presence still sitting in the chair, his grip on his book strengthening in a trembling fury. Jou was aware that the attention he received from Yugi was setting the murderer on edge, but that was just it. He didn't understand why. Why was Yugi sitting next to him anyway?

"What the hell are you doing with that guy? I told you to stay away from him," he whispered, trying to keep their conversation private without letting the daggering eyes get to him.

"It's okay," Yugi spoke softly. He looked back to see how Yami was holding up, but by the looks of it he shouldn't draw it out too long. "He protected me," Yugi continued, and turned towards his friend again, "they stopped bothering me because of him. I owe him, Jou."

Jounouchi quirked an eyebrow. He could hardly believe that the man who had nearly punched him to death had taken it upon himself to 'protect' anyone at all.

"I'm sorry Jou," Yugi spoke, his eyes lingering to the ground in apology, "I should go back. I don't want to get into trouble. Thanks again, really," he smiled, "bye."

As Yugi walked back to his owner, Jou did his best to not look the serial-killer directly in the eyes, but failed on the occasion. Once they locked eyes however, there was only one thing he could read in those crimson orbs: he's mine.


Yami stared at nothing in particular. He tended to do that sometimes, or rather most of the time. It was a spasm every time he was bored, or when he was extremely distracted by something, but he never truly looked at whatever it was he was looking at. His eyes were pointing towards a certain spot, but his mind, complicated as it was, was somewhere far off instead. Briefly, silently, whispering to him, telling him to kill, telling him to kill everyone around him at this very moment, but he refused to give in. It might tear him apart from the inside, and the voices might escalate further and further every time he ignored them, until, eventually, he couldn't anymore and massacred the very next person that crossed his path.

"Yami."

Said person looked up to meet with his nephew's icy stare. Seto barely looked happy, even if he had pretty much everything in the world that he needed. A good job, a healthy brother, all the riches in the world and a man he loved so much he would die for. Nonetheless, even if the CEO never looked happy, Yami could tell he was pissed-off at this very moment, or at least largely agitated.

Seto Kaiba was probably one of the wealthiest men in all of the world, but just like his nephew Yami, their childhood memories of growing up were everything but pink-colored. He had never known Yami that well, after his parents died Seto went to live with his foster father in Japan, whereas Yami remained in Egypt with his own family. While they had spent an awful lot of times playing together when they were young, Seto had never heard of Yami's family once he had moved to Japan. Back in those days, Seto would've never thought what Yami was capable of. He was a happy, cheerful child, quite selfish since he had no siblings, and somewhat thick-headed. There had never been any signs of psychological issues, family problems or anything for that matter. Yami had a loving family and was very close to his mother. He would've done everything for her if it meant making her proud.

And then, at the age of 17, Seto was watching the news while reading through some files, when suddenly a face with hair he would recognize from a thousand miles appeared on the screen, involved in a yet unsolved homicide that later appeared to be a murder by none other than the teenager himself. Yami's parents, they had both been killed, quick and clean, by the only son they had ever loved and raised. No one knew why, no one knew how, and Seto was left speechless.

And now here he was, sitting in front of the same mess he had hid into cover for over five years, only for him to slaughter one person after the other, until they finally snatched him. Seto had done everything he could to protect his nephew, but Yami's case had been lost the moment he stabbed a knife in his own mother's back. The person he was looking at now was someone entirely different.

"Yami!"

Seto snapped, tired of his nephew's lack of attention. Those crimson eyes that used to scare him when he was a kid looking up. Funny how they didn't scare him anymore now.

"What?"

"I told you not to touch him!"

The CEO slammed his fists on the table as he had risen from his seat, beyond furious, blood boiling in his veins that turned him on edge. Yami remained calm behind the glass window, having lifted the receiver a few inches from his ear to not hear the full tremor of the shouting.

"I told you not to fucking touch him, you ungrateful bastard! You should be happy that he's still alive otherwise I would've put your face through this fucking window right now!"

Yami's attention however, had drifted far off again, to a place that only he could visit. He understood Seto's rage all too well, after all, he had promised him never to lay a finger on his puppy, but due to certain circumstances had been forced to. It had never been his intention to hurt Seto's significant other, but it didn't mean he wouldn't do it again if the mud intervened next time.

That kid was all he was after. Perhaps not at this very moment, but one day he was intent on killing him. He would kill that boy even if it was the last thing he'd do on earth.

"Yami! I'm talking to you, damn it!"

The serial-killer never responded though, too engrossed with the voices that called to him, too intent on his urge to stab those ridiculously large, violet eyes, to cut that perfectly porcelain skin, to break those delicate, feather-like fingers, one by one, all the more pain.

Seto sighed. He understood that Yami was no longer present. Whenever Yami was thinking, he stared off to nothing and his pupils shrunk into dots that seemed to tremble with either fear or desire. Seto had seen it all to often, but still it scared him.

Instead of getting angrier, he took his seat again and rested his head in his hand while the other reached for the receiver and replaced it next to his ear.

"Listen, Yami... Your case has been reopened. Footage has been leaked that there was tampered with the evidence, and once it comes out, I won't be able to protect you anymore."

This seemed to draw Yami's attention, even if it was only for a brief moment. "Reopened?"

"Yes," Seto continued. He barely heard anything from his nephew so hearing his voice always surprised him how masculine it sounded. As if he had almost forgotten he was talking to a full-grown man. "It means they're going to reconsider your punishment."

Seto hesitated to continue, but Yami's cold glare convinced him otherwise. "Yami, in two weeks they're going to reconsider your punishment, and it will be death-penalty."

Alas, the crimson-eyed man looked up at his nephew, emotions leaking out of his usually dull eyes. Seto grimaced poorly, unsure of what to say next. He was honestly afraid of Yami's reaction, and by the look of things he wasn't taking it lightly.

As if possessed by his inner demons, Yami stood up and tugged his hands in his hair, pulling it lightly, enough to inflict pain. He whispered the word death over and over again while trembling on his feet, looking around frantically as if he didn't know where to rest his gaze, what to do next. He heard Seto shouting from across the perspex but paid it no mind, or rather couldn't hear him anymore. Yami was in the darkness now, the voices from before yelling loudly in his ears, pulling at his arms and pushing him around, provoking him. He freaked and yelled, collapsing on his knees while covering his own ears with his hands as a means of shutting them up, in vain.

Yugi looked behind him, startled by the sudden outburst of yelling a few boots away from his. He heard his grandfather ask him through the phone what was going on, but didn't respond. As he looked right, he saw how Yami was sitting with his knees on the floor, hands in his hair and scratching the skin on his face, screaming like a lunatic 'shut up shut up shut up'. Two guards ran towards the convict, trying to restrain him, but Yami pushed them away and snapped, his previous agonizing temperament shifting toward pure rage that hauled to the guards. People around him shouted, Seto yelled through the phone and slammed on the window, other inmates ran away. But Yugi remained where he was, in his seat, oblivious to the many cries he heard from his grandpa.

Yami roared, pushing one of the guards dead on against the wall, smacking a large cap in his scalp that began bleeding. He turned his bloodshed gaze to the other guard who was reaching for his gun, effectively pinning him down on the floor. He yelled in the man's face as if beaconing his territory, receiving distressed pleas from his hostage that wanted to escape before the serial-killer would kill him. But it was too late, Yami tugged his thumbs in the man's eyes, pushing harder and harder until he bore his way through the man's eyeballs, burrowing right through the sockets. Once he had effectively squashed the eyes, he slammed the guard's head on the floor several times, all in the while yelling in rage while the man beneath him yelled in pain. A few more thuds and the yelling stopped, Yami breathed erratically, finally having hushed the voices in his head for now. He looked up, blood trickling down his face that had sputtered on him, watching as those amethyst eyes were still looking down at him, the boy frozen in fear in his spot.

He smiled at the boy, a grin with bare teeth, and Yugi recoiled at the display. Watching without much expression, Yami was shut in the shoulder and then restrained by a team of chaperons before they dragged him away, while the chaos remained where it had been left, people crying over the loss of their colleague.


Yami never returned after that. He was sent back to the SHU to cool down for another month, by then the news of his punishment having reached every country around the world. Yami was to be executed in three months, but they never got to do the job. Why? Because he had never returned after being put in solitary confinement, and the inmates had their own theory of why that was.

Yami had escaped. The staff wanted to keep it quiet, but it was the only explanation. To prove their speculations, Bakura had vanished as well. He had punched his own hand against the wall until it broke so he could go to the infirmary, but never returned either. It could only mean that his lapdog had come with him.

Life went on between the prison walls, but despite the most insane of them all having left the facility, Yugi had never felt less safe. Yami had been his guaranty ticket to get out of this hellhole alive and well, but now he was barely holding up. People constantly challenged Joey into fights, sometimes managing to strike him down, and in the process able to do whatever they wanted with Yugi. It happened every month or so, but Yugi was losing his sanity and growing suicidal thoughts, every day more tenacious.

About a month after the serial-killers' breakout, Yugi received a letter from an unidentified address. He opened the envelope only to find a single piece of toiletpaper. It was hastily written in a liquid Yugi could not guess, but that wasn't the point of it. The only thing that scared him was the message written across.

'I'll be coming for you.'