Chapter One

Solomon Mutou watched the last customer leave his game shop, giving the young man a wave before beginning to go through the steps of closing his shop. He pulled the money out of the cash register, counting it carefully before writing down the day's profits, in case his mind finally started deceiving him. He would record them in his books, but he had something more important to do first. Solomon smiled as he slid the register drawer shut, taking out his keys and locking it for the night. He slipped the money into an envelope, bending down to open the safe that sat under the counter to retrieve the money from the rest of the week. Tonight was the night that he would detour to the bank.

He stepped out from behind the counter, carefully sweeping out the shop, waving at the people that passed, most of them calling out their own greetings. But none of them stayed to chat, they knew what happened after Solomon closed his shop. The elderly man hummed to himself as he finished sweeping out the simple game store, replacing the broom before walking over to the stairs. He stood at the bottom, waiting for a while before cupping his hands around his mouth and calling up the stairs, "Yugi!"

Silence followed his shout for a moment, the house and shop that was attached to it remaining still for a while. Then, there was the faint sound of jingling, the sound moving closer to the top of the stairs. The jingling stopped for a moment before a dog peered around the corner, his mouth opening in a smile as he moved from behind the corner to the top of the stairs, his tail waging and his large purple eyes shining.

Yugi gave a happy little wiggle before bounding down the stairs, trotting to a stop right in front of Solomon, sitting on the ground and wagging his tail. The elderly man laughed, reaching down to scratch the Shiba Inu's perked ears, Yugi leaning into the sign of affection. "Ready to go?"

The dog gave a little yip, standing up and trotting over to the door, waiting with ill concealed impatience for Solomon to hurry up, his little body wiggling as he tried to contain his excitement. Solomon laughed, retrieving the leash that hung buy the door, Yugi standing up on his hind legs to speed the process of putting the leash on. He landed back on all four paws, eagerly bounding out the door before moving to the end of the leash, trotting back and forth over the sidewalk outside of the shop, sniffing at the concrete.

Solomon shook his head at the dog's antics before turning back to the shop, flipping the sign to closed before locking the door and slipping the keys in his pocket. He turned to find Yugi looking at him, the dog tilting his head to one side before wagging his tail, the smile appearing back on his face and trotting off in the usual direction of their walk, Solomon chuckling before following the young dog, adjusting his course so their daily walk would take them close to the bank.

He walked slowly, watching as Yugi darted from side to side, sniffing at the ground before settling into an even trot, the dog's tongue lolling. Yugi glanced back at Solomon once, wagging his tail before focusing on the sidewalk ahead of him, the elderly man smiling at the dog's antics. One would never guess that Yugi was four years old instead of the puppy stages that his behavior pointed to, but Solomon wouldn't have the little dog any other way.

He had purchased Yugi while he was still a little puppy, trying to find something that would ease the silence of the house around him. His daughter had grown up and moved away, happily married to her husband. They both worked in business, traveling around the world and spending all their free time with each other. And, while he was happy that his daughter was enjoying her life, he wished that she would return to visit him more often. Unfortunately, their jobs always came before visits home.

Solomon had asked about grandchildren once, more as a joke, but his daughter had glared at him for the comment, taking him aside to explain. "Neither of us wants children, Dad. I thought you understood that."

"You never said so outright so I assumed that it was under the category of later."

His daughter had sighed, shaking her head. "It's under the category of never, Dad. Eric doesn't want children and neither do I."

"If that makes you happy…"

"It does." She had smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for understanding Dad."

And he did understand, although it still didn't help. With children, his daughter might have been more inclined to visit him. But hoping would only get him so far. Besides, he had Yugi now, and the dog was enough for him.

With his daughter away on endless business trips, he only had Yugi for company and he had settled into life with the dog nicely. He would open his game shop and Yugi would lay behind the counter with him for most of the day, retreating upstairs during the rush hours to sleep and eat, always returning when it was time for his walk. In the evening, Solomon would catch an hour of the news before trying to find something else to watch on television, often ending up on the History Channel. Yugi would show up for this last bit, sitting at Solomon's feet and staring at the screen eagerly.

His daughter chided him for getting such a young pet in his old age, asking him what would happen to Yugi if he were to die suddenly. She had gotten more annoyed when Solomon pointed out that the whole neighborhood would try and take care of Yugi because they had all come to love the small dog. Of course, she had also been annoyed that he had bought the runt of the litter, always pointing out on the rare occasion that she did visit that Solomon should have gotten a larger dog to protect him instead of the small runt. But Solomon was happy with his choice and it appeared that Yugi was too.

After making the deposit at the bank, Solomon turned Yugi towards the park, the dog happily bounding ahead on the leash before he remembered his manners, settling back by Solomon's side. The elderly man smiled down at his dog, watching as Yugi leaned forward, wanting to walk faster to get to his favorite part of the walk but the dog remained at his side. "Good boy."

Yugi glanced up at him and wagged his tail before concentrating on the sidewalk ahead of them. Solomon glanced down at his watch, disappointed that he would have to cut Yugi's walk short to get back to the game shop before it became too dark out to see. These walks were the only times Yugi got to leave the house and fenced in backyard to stretch his legs and get rid of some of the nearly endless energy that the little dog seemed to possess.

They entered the park, Yugi immediately lowering his nose to the ground and sniffing at the gravel path and the grass, straying a bit from Solomon's side before drifting back. The elderly man allowed Yugi to have his moment of exploration, laughing as the little dog perked up as they entered a more heavily wooded section, Yugi forgetting himself and bounding around to investigate everything. "Yugi…"

He looked up at his name, his eyes widening before he shuffled back to Solomon's side, looking apologetic. The elderly man couldn't help himself, kneeling down on the ground and rubbing Yugi's ears. He stopped as Yugi tensed, standing up and looking around. Solomon remained kneeling on the ground, waiting to see what would happen. He was beginning to relax when he realized that it was just nothing, Yugi had probably just heard a squirrel when he heard a sound that he had never heard from his dog before.

Yugi was growling.

Solomon quickly stood up, looking around. Yugi never growled or snarled, the little dog was too mild mannered for that. He thought he heard something moving in the woods, but he was distracted from it by the appearance of the brown and tan dog in front of them. Solomon stared at the dog, shocked when Yugi tugged on the leash, growling more as he tried to pull away from Solomon. The elderly man scowled, giving the leash a short tug. "Yugi!"

The little dog didn't look back at him, continuing to growl and snarl at the dog. Solomon was about to pull Yugi back and scold him when he stopped himself. Yugi would have a good reason for doing this, he was just trying to protect him and Solomon trusted his dog. He began to back up, watching as Yugi glanced back at him before doing the same, the two of them heading for open ground.

Suddenly, something plowed into him, knocking him to the ground. Solomon let out a gasp of surprise, letting go of the leash as he fell. He got a glimpse of red fur before the thing that had hit him disappeared. He sat up, eyes widening as he heard a yelp, seeing Yugi pinned by the large black and tan dog. He scrambled to his feet, intending to go and help Yugi out when another dog, this one with a mottled red and white coat stood between him and Yugi, snarling. Solomon looked around, picking up a stick to use against the red dog when he heard a yelp, looking up in time to see the black and tan dog easily pick up Yugi from the ground and begin to run away.

"No! Yugi!" He saw the little dog biting at the larger dog that carried him, but Yugi was still too small to do anything. Solomon leaned on his stick as the mottled red dog raced away after the others, seeing another glimpse of red and then yellow as two more dogs joined in racing after the others. Solomon stumbled after them, his legs shaking as he came to the collar and leash that rested on the path, picking them up slowly.

He carefully held the black leather collar in his hands, staring at the golden triangle that hung point down, glittering in the dying sunlight, staring at Yugi's name engraved in the metal. He felt tears starting to fill his eyes before he shook them away, his hand clenching around the leather collar before he gathered up the leash so he wouldn't trip over it. He was going to get his dog back.

Solomon squared his shoulders before marching off into the woods, heading in the direction that he had seen the dogs running in.

Yugi was trembling by the time that the three dogs brought him into a blank room, watching in fear as a man with blonde hair walked in and quickly chained him to a post. Yugi whimpered as the three dogs and the man scurried out of the room, leaving him to shiver on the floor.

What had he done wrong?

He had just been enjoying his walk with the old man who shared his home with him when he had smelled the four dogs. None of them had come out directly, but had snuck around and, in Yugi's opinion, that had been wrong. So he had done the only thing he could think of, he had tried to be as fierce as possible. He liked the old man that he lived with, liked it better than when he was with his siblings. They had teased him, the old man had loved him.

Yugi whimpered and curled up on the floor, tucking his nose under his tail. What if he had done something wrong and hadn't known it? He tried to be a good boy, he liked it when the old man laughed and smiled at him. And he never got yelled at, just spoken to sternly. While he couldn't understand the language that the old man spoke, he could understand the tone.

As far as he could remember, he had been a good boy. He didn't deserve this! He just wanted to go home, play with his toys, watch the flickering box that showed different places and cuddle with the old man. He wanted his life back.

Yugi whimpered before letting out a little howl, stopping as the sound echoed around the room. His ears perked up at the faint hum under the echo of his howl, lifting his head to look around for the source before pain rushed through him. He cried out, writhing on the ground. Yugi was sure he pleaded with whatever was hurting him, but it didn't stop, just kept punishing him.

"I don't know! I don't know! Sorry!" He screamed out the words, hoping that the thing would understand him enough to know that he was being honest. If they would only tell him what he had done wrong, then he would never do it again. He just wanted to be happy.

Yugi was sure that he must have passed out at some point, beginning to come to as someone walked over to him. He tried to lift his head, giving a soft whimper at the pain in his neck. Was everything supposed to hurt like this?

The person knelt beside him, Yugi trying to lift his head again, only to get the same result. He resorted to his next plan, opening his eyes a bit to stare at the person who was near him. "H-help."

The person gave no response, looking him over before pulling a plastic collar from his pocket and attaching it around Yugi's neck. Yugi reached out with his paw, frowning when his muscles didn't obey, nor did his legs move in the right manner. The man just slapped his paw away, focusing on his task before standing up, motioning for someone else to move out of the shadows. Yugi was aware of a rough blanket being wrapped around him before he was lifted from the ground and carried out of the room, drifting in and out of consciousness.

He remembered being carried through the halls of the building. And then he was outside, shivering even with the blanket. Finally, he was placed down on the ground, the blanket torn from his quivering grasp before the person who had carried him out here rapped on the door, grunting out "Delivery" before shuffling off into the darkness. Yugi whimpered and reached out for the man, deciding to curl up as a cold wind blew over him.

He wished he were back home.

Suddenly the door opened, Yugi hearing the barking of other dogs in the background as a man leaned over him. The man prodded at him, checking his number before picking him up and carrying him into the building, Yugi still trembling as the building was barely warmer than the outside air. He was carried through more halls before the man opened a door, placing him on a cold steel table.

Yugi arched off of the table with a yelp, trying to get away, worried when his limbs wouldn't work properly. What was wrong with him?

The man easily caught a hold of him and pushed him back onto the table, reaching for something before lowering it to shock Yugi. He howled in pain, writhing on the table. At first, he registered nothing but the shock. Then, he felt pain again, dissolving into whimpers as bone and muscle twisted oddly, changing into another configuration. Yugi found that he couldn't move, lying on the cold table and whimpering. He barely realized that he had been carried from the table before he was place in a cage, panting for air.

There was silence for a while before he heard scrambling around in the cage beside him, Yugi blearily raising his head as he heard another voice from the cage. "Hey, are you alright?"

"No." Yugi sat up, his legs trembling still, but working. He whimpered, leaning so he could hear the voice from the other cage better. "I want to go home."

He heard a sigh from the other cage and the sound of a dog sitting down. "I know. I miss my owner as well. She and her mate need me around to protect her from bad humans. She's useless on her own, what is she going to do without me?"

Yugi looked around, searching for the answer to the question in the metal walls of his cage before sighing and lying down on the floor. They were both silent for a while before the other dog spoke again. "My name is Malik."

"Yugi."

Silence fell over them again, Yugi turning his gaze to the grate at the front of his cage. After long minutes of nothing happening, he stood up and walked to the back of the cage, curling up in a tightly and falling asleep, missing the normal sounds of his old man's house around him even more. He shivered before closing his eyes tightly, willing himself to fall asleep. It was for his own good, after all.

He woke slowly, sure that he couldn't have just fallen asleep, at the sound of scratching at the front of his cage. Yugi groaned before pulling out of his curl, staring at the white dog that was standing on its hind legs at the front of his cage, cursing as it reached up to bat at something before shaking its head and backing away. Yugi sat up, watching as the fluffy white dog looked around the room before changing.

He yelped as the dog shifted, limbs moving awkwardly to become some hybrid between dog and human before slipping into a complete human form, Yugi staring at the human as it rolled its shoulders and brushed off the skin tight clothes that it wore before moving back to the cage, laughing as the lock easily gave. "Alright, so opposable thumbs are a bonus. Damn, I lost that bet."

Yugi walked forward as the human moved to Malik's cage, quickly making his way around the room as the little dog watched him. The human made a complete circuit before walking over to the door and peeking out, glancing around cautiously before speaking. "Alright, the doors are unlocked."

"Hallways are clear." Yugi leaned forward at the accented voice that came from just outside the door, nearly tumbling out of his cage as he leaned too far forward. The human shot him a look before speaking again.

"We might need Seto or Joey in here, some of them can't walk." There were grumbled replies before the human laughed. "Hey, I did my job. And we want to get away quickly, right?"

No one replied on the other end, the human snorting in disgust before pushing away from the door and wandering back into the room. Yugi tensed as the human glanced over him, shaking his head before changing back into a dog. He couldn't stop staring at the white, fluffy dog that had been the fierce looking human, but he could still see the similarities. Both the human and the dog had those hard russet eyes.

Yugi hopped out of his cage, watching as Malik emerged from his cage, the sleek dog much taller than Yugi was. Malik glanced over at him and gave him a lopsided smile before inching towards the small white dog. Their rescuer waited impatiently in the center of the room, sitting down as the dogs that could walk cautiously approached him. The white dog seemed to run out of patience, grumbling something to himself before looking around. "We're getting you out of here, keep your mouths shut and do as we say. We'll tell you went to run for home, so hold yourself back until then."

The white dog glanced at the door, tilting his head to the side. "Anytime you guys are ready."

There was silence for a while before there was a curse from the door, all of the dogs straining forward to hear what was going on. "He did what? Damn it, Marik! Bakura, just get them out of there."

"Fine." Bakura glanced around at them before shaking his head, motioning for the exit. "The door is open, follow Ryou outside and stay together!"

A few of the dogs nodded, Yugi shifting closer to Malik before rushing towards the door, trying to keep pace with the longer legged dog. They rushed through the corridors, Yugi a bit unnerved by the lack of guards in the hallway. Why would they just be allowed to rush out if someone had gone through all of the trouble of collecting them? Yugi shook his head, yelping and trying to speed up as he fell behind the rest of the group. To his relief, they were slowing down, Yugi ducking through the group of dogs to get where Malik was in the front.

A white English Cocker Spaniel looked over them, blinking before nodding. "Alright, follow-"

"Move it!" They group tumbled to one side as two dogs rushed through, racing back towards where they had come from. The dog that Yugi assumed was Ryou didn't seem to be bothered by the shout, instead beginning to trot down the hallway. Reluctantly, the rest of the group followed, Yugi panting as he tried to keep pace with Malik. Thankfully, Ryou seemed to understand that some of them were faster than the others, keeping a steady pace until they reached a door that led outside.

The Cocker Spaniel nudged the door the rest of the way open before peeking out, turning back towards the group to say something when most of the dogs took the chance to run out, Ryou yelping and pressing himself back against the wall. Yugi and Malik were part of the few that remained behind, Ryou pulling away from his place on the wall and shaking his head. Ryou walked back to the nearest corner peering around it before hurriedly rushing back, the two dogs that had brushed past them before coming bounding back, Bakura right behind them.

"So the rest cut and ran?"

"Yes." Ryou shook his head with a sigh, tipping his head to one side. "I don't understand it."

"You can think later." The large husky growled out the words, managing to speak around the scruff of the dog he carried. "We need to get out of here now."

Ryou nodded, ducking out of the door before trotting across the courtyard. A nudge from the two larger dogs had Yugi following, the rest slinking out of the building after. Yugi tipped his head up to look at the sky, taking a deep breath of fresh air, trying to figure out where he was. He barely had time to pause when he heard the sound of motorcycles, spinning around to stare at the vehicles bearing down on them.

"I thought Atemu and Marik were distracting them!"

"Damn it!"

"Split up!"

Yugi gulped and looked around, realizing that they had all run off. He glanced back at the motorcycles before hurrying after Malik, hoping that he could get out of the way. Even running as fast as he could, they were still gaining on him. He whimpered, jumping into the nearby undergrowth and clawing his way through, deciding that he didn't care about the noise that he made, there was no way that the humans could hear it over the noise of their vehicles.

He slowed his frantic run as the motorcycles were suddenly shut off, now sneaking through the undergrowth of the forest as he listened for the sounds of humans. He froze in place as he heard laughter, pressing himself up against a tree. "Come out little dog. You can't hide forever."

Yugi shivered before looking around for a place to hide or something familiar. More than anything, he just wanted to find a way home. He remained still for a moment before shuffling forward, trying to be stealthy, but he had never practiced. He flinched as he stepped on a stick, freezing as it snapped. His head jerked in the direction that he had heard the humans, holding his breath. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a human burst into sight, Yugi yelping and jumping to the side.

"Hello little dog." The human reached out for him, Yugi stumbling backwards as the reaching fingers came closer. Then there was a blur of dark fur, the human screaming and falling back as a dog bit his arm, growling as it landed. The human glanced down at his bleeding arm before staring at the dog. "Damn you, Atemu."

Atemu just smirked, before turning to Yugi. The little dog froze at the red-brown eyes of his rescuer, lowering himself towards the forest floor at the gaze. Atemu shook his head and nudged Yugi to the side, moving forward at a fast trot. "Come on."

Yugi quickly threw himself into a run, trying to catch up with Atemu as they ran through the forest, his eyes widening as he heard the motorcycle start up again, looking up at Atemu as the larger dog cursed. Atemu stepped in front of him to stop his run, the two of them staring towards the sound. Yugi whimpered, pressing himself up against Atemu. "What do we do?"

"We-" Atemu was cut off as he was thrown to the ground by a large blonde man, changing into a human and pulling at the hands that were immediately around his neck. The blonde man laughed, easily holding down Atemu as he struggled.

"Got you."

Yugi snarled and barked, feeling useless. He glanced over at a fallen branch, blinking as he realized what he could possibly do. Maybe if he could get to that wrong state again, he could lift the branch and help Atemu. He lunged for the branch, placing his paws on it and searching for the change. He began to panic as he couldn't figure out how to do it, looking back to where Atemu was going limp under the large blonde. He whimpered, his focus completely on the man who had saved him, too busy to notice that he was changing.

He realized that something had happened when he felt his hands curling around the branch, glancing down at it before picking it up, swaying as he tried to figure out how to balance on two legs. Yugi growled to himself as he lifted the branch up, staring at the blonde man before swinging the branch, smiling as the blonde fell to the side, unconscious. Yugi grinned before he dropped the branch, carefully settling to the ground beside Atemu.

Atemu was panting for breath, his eyes partially open. Yugi whimpered and shifted closer, watching as Atemu coughed and slowly sat up, rubbing his throat. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." Atemu glanced at him before standing up and walking over to the blonde man, stripping the coat from him before throwing it to Yugi, the smaller human eagerly shrugging it on. It was cold without his fur. Yugi pulled the coat tightly around him, watching as Atemu patiently waited for him to be ready before offering him a hand to get up. "Thanks for that."

"I was just returning a favor."

"You didn't have to."

"I wanted to." Atemu stared at him for a while, Yugi wanting to look away but a hand on his cheek made him stop. Yugi shivered at the long look that Atemu gave him before the other looked away, walking through the woods at a fast pace. Yugi glanced around him before following, stumbling around on his two legs before Atemu reached out to steady him, his arm slipping around Yugi's waist. Yugi smiled up at him before snuggling close to his side, not noticing the way that Atemu stiffened with the move. He just needed the comforting feeling of someone close to him.

Atemu helped him through the woods, the two of them coming out close to a parked motorcycle, the keys still in the ignition. Atemu smiled before reaching for the helmet and putting it on Yugi's head, swinging a leg over the bike before motioning for Yugi to sit behind him. Cautiously, Yugi copied the movement, flinching as the cold leather of the seat met his bare bottom. He shivered and scooted closer to Atemu, plastering himself against the other's back.

Yugi looked up as Atemu turned around. "Where do you live?"

That simple question baffled him. He knew where he lived as a dog, not as a human. Even now all these different inputs to take in, all these different colors, thoughts and urges, were confusing him. How different would his home with the old man look now? Yugi shook his head, trying to concentrate.

"It's near a bunch of people, far away from the bad smells…city?" He tentatively tried out the new vocabulary. "Um…lots of tall leafy trees and children. I live in a place where people buy stuff to play with; toys I think." Yugi ducked his head as Atemu looked back at him, peeking up at the other through his bangs. "Sorry."

"No, that's enough." Atemu started the motorcycle, Yugi yelping at the sound and pressing himself closer to Atemu, not noticing when the other tensed for a moment before relaxing, kicking the stand back up before steering the bike out into the street. Yugi smiled and rested his forehead on Atemu's back, turning his head to absently rub his cheek against the other's back as a sign of thanks.

He clung to Atemu as they raced through the streets, Yugi pointing out things he remembered, back tracking from his walk earlier that evening until they were in front of the game shop. Yugi smiled and bounded off the motorcycle as soon as it had stopped, Atemu leaning over to stare at the controls, probably checking up on the machine. Yugi smiled at him before walking over to the door that led to the house, suddenly looking worried.

A hand landed on his shoulder, Yugi jumping as Atemu walked up behind him. "Change back into a dog. I'll explain things to him."

After a moment of no luck, Yugi was able to change back, Atemu promising that it would get easier the more he practiced. Atemu shrugged on the coat that Yugi had borrowed, quickly buttoning it up before picking up Yugi and knocking on the door. Yugi tipped his ears forward as he heard shuffling from the inside, straining forward as far as Atemu would allow him before pulling back as the old man opened the door.

There was a moment when the old man stared at him, probably not comprehending what he was seeing. Then the old man smiled and reached out to grab Yugi, holding the squirming little dog close as he laughed happily. "Yugi! You're back! Thank you, thank you for finding him."

Atemu shrugged, a smile on his face. "No problem, but you may want to tune into the news tomorrow morning."

The old man paused, seeming to realize that Yugi had another collar around his neck. He brushed his fingers over the collar that Yugi wore, Yugi shifting closer to the old man to try and comfort him. "What's this? What happened?"

Atemu looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back up. "There'll be a better explanation on the news tomorrow. Sorry, I can't help more than that."

Yugi whimpered and looked up at the old man, Solomon shrugging. "Well, you brought him home, and I am thankful for that."

"No problem." Solomon gave Atemu a last wave, Yugi trying to peer through the doorframe as Atemu strode off, Solomon shutting the door and setting Yugi down on the floor. The little dog wagged his tail at his owner before yawning, happily trotting over to the stairs and scrambling up them, moving into Solomon's room before curling up on the pile of blankets that made up his bed on the floor. He yawned again, sitting up to allow Solomon to pet him before returning to his previous position and falling asleep.

Atemu sat on the bike, slumped over the front taking in deep breaths of air. He hoped that the old man had gone into the house and gone immediately to sleep, because he didn't want any one to see him like this. He hated to show weakness, especially since that would have gotten him killed on the streets. He gritted his teeth before sitting up, pointedly ignoring the problem that had grown since he had rescued that little dog from Raphael. With the evidence throbbing painfully between his legs, he could no longer deny that he was attracted to that little dog…or the human that he became.

He shut his eyes, quickly opening them as the mental image of that dog, the one whose name he had yet to discover, came to fore. He gave his head a shake, reaching back for the helmet and jamming it on his head before turning the motorcycle on again. He would contact the rest of his team later. Right now, he needed to get his mind off that image of the dog's human form; the dog's completely naked human form.

Atemu growled and sped forward, trying to lose himself in the speed of the motorcycle and the wind. But his thoughts kept circling back to that dog and his human form and how attractive he looked both ways.

He cursed and steered the motorcycle into an alley, taking off the helmet and turning the bike off, stumbling away from it and leaning against the brick wall, panting. While he liked some of the things that had happened to him because of Gekkou Tenma's crazy experiment, number one on his list being the family that he lived with, he didn't like what it had done to his brain.

Maybe it was just his dose of radiation, or maybe some other outside source, but something had gone wrong in his brain. Something terrible and horrible for him because Yakou wanted them to behave as much like dogs as they could. He would allow that being able to turn into a human would be helpful to them, but cautioned them to do it only once and a while. Apparently, they could be lured away by the temptations of the human world and lose what it meant to be dogs.

Atemu swallowed harshly and resting his head against the wall, choking back a whimper. But, oh, how he wanted to give into this temptation. He wanted nothing more than to hold that human close and never let go, to kiss him, to mate with…Atemu shook his head with a growl, trying to get his thoughts back on track.

It was the fault of the radiation that he was like this, that his head was so messed up that it had convinced his body to prefer males over females. And the hormones that controlled this human body were driving him crazy. Atemu groaned, sinking towards the ground and resting his forehead on his knees. He didn't want this attraction to males, it just wasn't right according to the more dog-like portion of his brain. But the human half reveled in it. He would find himself pausing on walks with Mana to watch attractive males walk down the street.

And it was only a matter of time until the rest of his team found out and someone would report it. Even as much as they all depended on each other, they were not much of a team. After all, Raphael had once been on their side, along with Dartz, Alastair and Valon, but they had all decided to work for Gekkou. Since there, there had been this fear that your own teammates would turn you into that psychopath. Yakou himself did not look too kindly on the dogs that had lost their ability to retain their dog-like tendencies.

He didn't want to give up his family, the one that he had just acquired through Yakou. But how could he resist the chance to touch that soft skin again? To feel Yugi pressed up against him, underneath him, writhing and calling for him?

Atemu groaned, trembling as he looked up at the sky in search for answers. He couldn't think of a way out of this situation, and these thoughts weren't helping his little problem. The best he could do was hide if for now, like he had been before. But before, he hadn't known where one of his crushes lived. And it was so close to where he lived, just an easy walk down the street. It would be no problem at all to get to know him better, maybe find out if he…

He snarled at himself before reaching up to activate the speaker in the tag that hung around his neck, hoping that it would work this time. The technology was finicky, his being the only that worked almost all the time and Atemu feared that even that was coming to an end. "Everyone alright?"

"We've got them out if that's what you're asking." Atemu smiled at Bakura's annoyed tone of voice. "Damn it, Atemu, we nearly lost the whole bunch. I thought you were distracting them."

"Marik and I tried."

"Yeah well," there was a sigh on the other end, "try harder. I'm heading home. No, Ryou, I'm fine to sleep in my box. I'm perfectly fine without miniature humans climbing all over me."

Atemu shook his head, switching channels and waiting for the reply. "Seto?"

"Safe."

Another change of channels, his conversations with Seto were always short. He was worried if they got over six words long. "Joey?"

"Heading back now. Man, I'm hungry." Atemu laughed at that, Joey laughing along as well. If there was one dog he could trust on this team, it was Joey. The golden retriever would stick by him no matter what. It was a relief to know that much at least.

There was only one more dog to check, Ryou safely with Bakura. "Marik?"

"Quiet now, Atemu-pack leader. Marik is on the trail of pretty dog." The insane dog chuckled. "Such a pretty, pretty dog. And strong. Outran and out smarted the humans. Marik likes this pretty dog."

"Marik…"

"Atemu-pack leader, shouldn't growl at Marik. Marik knows he has the same problem as Marik. Yes, Atemu-pack leader does. Marik doesn't like the females like Marik should. Oh no, no, no. Atemu and Marik like the boys. Yes, very much so." Atemu's fingers tightened on the tag, staring dumbly ahead as Marik continued to talk. "But Marik won't tell. Marik knows to keep quiet. Marik knows that this is bad. Marik follows the pretty dog now. Pretty dog goes to nice home."

Marik was as close to humming as a dog could get. "Marik once had home, nice home, then got stolen by evil humans. Evil, evil humans. Marik wants nice home again, first home Marik can never get back to. Evil humans kill all Marik's family. But Marik is fine, Marik is over it."

"M-Marik, speak normally. I know you can."

"But it's more fun to speak like that Atemu. Besides, you believe me when I speak like that." Marik laughed, this one entirely saner. "You think that I'm some sort of mystic when I speak like that."

"It's just weird."

"Fine, but only around you. I'd rather keep the others off guard considering…Well, you have the same problem too."

"There is no problem, Marik."

"Of course not." Atemu could almost see the smirk on the dog's face. "But there will be. What happens when you can't hold back anymore, Atemu? What then?"

"That will never happen."

"Right. Well, this is where I get off. Get yourself home safe, Atemu." He heard the faint jingling of the tag as Marik picked up his pace before he shut the communication off, letting his hand drop back to his side.

It was surprising that, out of all of the members of his group, it was Marik that ended up understanding him the most. It was probably because Marik had enough to hide from the rest too. Although, Marik had established a way to get around most of that, everyone but Atemu still thought that he was insane. Marik had truly been insane for the first few days after his transformation, but he had managed to come out of that temporary insanity and hadn't let anyone know. He only had slipped up around Atemu, for reasons that he still had yet to figure out. But Marik was a force unto his own.

Unfortunately, Marik forgot that he could just hide under the cover of his insanity. Atemu, however, was perfectly sane and had no such excuse for him. He sighed and pushed himself up from the ground. He paused as the tag on his collar made a strange sound, Atemu activating it again and waiting for a sound from one of his teammates. When all he got was static, Atemu snarled, pulling the tag from his collar and throwing it carelessly to the ground. He stared at it for a while before walking out into the street and towards his home. Fortunately, Bakura had sent them out straight from their homes, so they hadn't had to dump their looser clothing and shoes somewhere. Atemu ran a hand through his messy tri-colored hair, shaking his head.

Because of Gekkou it wasn't safe to be a dog on your own, which was why they pretended to be humans outside if they were on their own. But now, it wasn't safe to be with a human if you were a dog. Raphael and the others had shown that tonight. They were running out of options, especially since they could never find Gekkou himself on the nights of their none of them were willing to let the dogs stay in his hold for more than a few hours, worried that Gekkou would try something else. Hopefully, the others teams were getting better results.

He pushed away from the wall to stand up, licking his lips and turning towards home. He would leave the motorcycle here for Raphael to pick up later. Atemu began walking down the street, carefully placing his bare feet on the sidewalk. While he was sure that his feet could survive the rough sidewalk, he didn't want to limp all the way home because he had stepped on a piece of glass. But, maybe that would be better than all of his thoughts concentrating on that little dog.

Atemu let his mind wander as he walked, reining it in whenever it ventured too close to the memory of that small dog. And those instances were increasing as he went on. He groaned and rubbed his hands over his face, relaxing a bit as he recognized his house, easily shifting into the form of a dog and shaking off the long coat before bounding towards the modest home. He circled around to the backyard and nudged the loose board away, sliding through the small gap before trotting over to dog door that would let him into the house.

He took a deep breath of the cool air of the house before carefully moving around the house, inspecting everything. The downstairs met his approval, nothing horribly out of place that would indicate that something was wrong. He turned toward the upstairs, climbing up the stairs and checking the two bedrooms, smiling as he saw Mana curled up in her bed, before walking to his own room. Officially, it was the office, the one that Akhnamkanon didn't use often, so he was allowed to call it his.

He jumped up onto the bed that was kept there, staring at the tangle of covers that he had made the night before. Atemu shook his head, sliding under the covers and curling up, leaving his muzzle out so he wouldn't suffocate. It was nice and warm under there, comforting. Atemu sighed, yawning once before falling asleep.

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