Small Note

Sakura: Thank you all for the reviews! I could tell people had plenty of questions so I hope this chapter will answer a few, but probably not all of them. As long as it doesn't give any thing away I will answer some questions so don't be afraid to put them in your review.

Chapter Two

Hard Beat

Yami sighed as he continued to mop the floor. It was days like this that he wished he could be more like his brother and get out of cleaning duty. Down the hall were a couple of his fellow students Joey and Tristan although they were doing a little less cleaning and more talking. If only Domino High had a full time janitor then students would not be volunteered to clean up after all the students had gone home. Their school called it community service, but Yami called it child labor. He would much rather be hanging out at the arcade with his friend Duke.

Another sigh escaped him as he looked down at the bucket of dirty water, picking it up he headed down another hall way toward the staircase. He would have to go all the way outside to dump the water and then use the spout outside to fill it again. Thankfully they were only in charge of one level of the school while other students he did not know worked on the other levels, but they had to clean hallways and classrooms which made the task that much longer. If it was only the hallways it would only take about an hour.

Since they were on the second level the trip down the stairs and toward the front entrance took no time at all. However he paused when he heard voices and peek his head around the corner of one row of lockers to see a sight that made his blood boil. Ushio, one of the most annoying upper classman Yami had ever met, was towering over the one boy in the whole school who made Yami question his sexuality. Yugi Mutou was the shortest in the school at only five foot, but he was the most adorable guy at school who had even in the girls jealous at his perfect looks. Joey and Tristan were only two of Yugi's closest friends so most likely Yugi had been waiting by the lockers for them when Ushio cornered him.

Even though Yugi had a close group of friends, Yami noticed he was still picked on by others older and bigger than him. However he always had a smile on his face and if his friends were around they protected him. Yami would love to be one of those close to him to protect him, but his crush on the boy held him back. There was word that Yugi was gay, but Yami never trusted rumors. He did not want to look like a fool, plus Yami never liked a guy before so he had no idea how to approach Yugi in that way.

"Please give it back!" Yuugi cried as he tried to reach for what looked like to Yami was an upside down pyramid with a rope that turned it into a necklace. It was something Yami always saw Yugi working on and by the looks of it Yugi had almost completed it.

"Why should I Mutou? You still owe me money and I'm sure this hunk of gold could fetch a pretty penny," Ushio sneered as he held the puzzle out of reach.

"Please, I'll get you the money tomorrow…"

Yami growled as he heard Yugi beg Ushio to give him his puzzle back and offer him money. This bully was always going around saying people owed him money when in truth they owed him nothing. The guy should have been kicked out of school long ago, but no one was ever brave enough to stand up to him. He would have gone after Yami for money when he and Seto started at Domino High freshman year, but Seto quickly shut the guy up. Not that Yami ever needed saving, but it was nice to have someone who had his back.

There was a cry of pain as Yami watched Ushio shove Yugi into the lockers and that was when Yami had enough. "Leave him alone!" Yami shouted as he rounded the corner having dropped the bucket but was still holding his mop. He figured it was best to have some kind of weapon.

Ushio simply laughed at him, "You standing up for the shrimp?"

"Yeah so give him back his puzzle or else…" Yami was pretty strong, but not as strong as Ushio. He had to think of a way to end this peacefully without Yugi getting hurt more.

"Or else what…?"

Yami smirked, "Or else you won't get your payment…" He knew money talked and it's not like he didn't have any. He reached into his back pocket pulling out his wallet to show Ushio he meant business. "You give Yugi back his item and I'll give you some of what he owes now. The rest you will get tomorrow…"

Ushio smirked, "200,000 yen is what he owes…"

Yami pulled some bills out of his wallet, "This doesn't even cover half, but I'll bring the rest tomorrow. But first you give Yugi back his puzzle or you won't even get this."

Ushio looked as if he was thinking out it, before he tossed the puzzle in Yugi's direction and went up to Yami. He grabbed the money out of his hand counting it, before he grinned down at Yami, "Bring the rest tomorrow Kaiba or I'll make your life a living hell."

Yami glared at the bully's retreating back, before he hurried over to Yugi. The smaller teen was sitting up holding the incomplete puzzle in his hands, however his eyes left the puzzle to look up at Yami, "Thank you, but you didn't have to do that…" He quietly said still not believing Yami was able to get his puzzle back for him.

Yami smiled at him, "I'll do anything for those I care about…" As soon as those words left his mouth, Yami felt like slapping himself in the face. How could he be so stupid?!

A bright red blush lit up Yugi's cheeks as he looked back down. "Care about?"

Yami rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Well you see… what I mean to say was… uhh…" Words had left Yami and he wasn't sure how to explain himself to his crush.

"I always thought Joey and Tristan were joking about it." Yugi said quietly to himself, but Yami could hear it and then Yugi looked back up at him. "Do you like me?"

It was Yami's turn to blush as he tried to look anywhere but at Yugi and failing miserable. "Well you see we've been in the same class since freshman year and I've see how you treat others. You have such a bright personality…"

A chuckle pulled Yami from his ranting as Yugi looked up at Yami in a bashful way. "I've always had a crush on you too."

"Really..?" Yami asked not believing what he was hearing. This was the first time he had been able to really talk to Yugi and finally Yugi was getting to know how he felt. "So maybe we could go out sometime? I mean it doesn't have to be a date, we could just hang out or something."

Yugi turned fully to Yami and smiled up at him. "I would love to go on a date with you." He looked down at the puzzle in his hands and then the puzzle piece he had kept tightly in his grip. Carefully he held out his hand with the puzzle piece, "Since you saved me do you think you could help me complete the puzzle?"

"You've worked hard on it, so you should complete it." Yami said although he couldn't tear his eyes away from the piece. Something about it seemed to be calling out to him. However Yami just figured he was tired after the long day.

Yugi shook his head, "I've done most the work, so I see no problem with letting someone else finish it."

Yami carefully reached out and took the piece. He felt the cool metal against his skin before he turned his attention to the incomplete puzzle. With Yugi holding it up for him between two hands, Yami reached forward to put the last piece in its place.

The air around them was cold as Yami continued to smirk at Ushio who stood across from him. It was midnight and with the start of a new day Yami was going to teach this bully a lesson he would not forget.

The pair took turns using a knife to stab a stack of bills but with each turn the bill got smaller and the player was more at risk of stabbing themselves. Finally when it was Ushio turn he had to fight against using all this strength in order to get the rest of the money. The bully then developed an evil grin on his face as he went to stab Yami instead. Yami was quick to jump out of the way.

"Penalty Game!" Yami pronounced as his smirk never left his face as he pointed a finger toward Ushio. "The Illusion of Avarice!"

The eighteen year old teen woke up in bed in a cold sweat as the dream he just had replayed in his head. 'No...' He thought all of a sudden, 'It was a memory, but that last part…' Yami could not remember the last part with Ushio. After he had helped Yugi complete the puzzle nothing happened, Yugi simply followed him upstairs to help him and his two friends finish the cleaning so they could all go home. After they finished their job at the school, they all went home. The last thing Yami remembered was going to bed that night, then waking up and going to school the next day. Sure some teachers found Ushio in the front of the school in a pile of leaves screaming the money was all his, but Yami figured he had just finally lost it.

Yami shook his head and looked at the clock on his night stand. His alarm was supposed to go off in a few minutes so he figured he might as well get up. Every once and a while Yami would have some strange dream so he figured his mind was probably just tired from all the college work. They got their first real English paper to write at the beginning of the week and it took most of the week to write it. He hadn't been able to hang out with any of his friends or his boyfriend. This coming up weekend was so going to be needed for some relaxation.

The tired college student reached down beside his bed and grabbed a shirt. He really needed to go over to his brother's place soon or he was going to run out of clean clothes. However when he looked at the shirt, he noticed it was too small. Looking around Yami finally noticed that the other side of his bed was unmade.

"Alright either my mind is still playing tricks on me or Yugi came over last night and I just don't remember…" He mumbled to himself as he tossed the shirt to the end of the bed and reached down to grab his shirt he took off before bed. Slipping it on Yami pulled the covers away before he got out of bed, stretching his aching muscles before heading out of the room in his shirt and boxers for the bathroom. Every morning Joey didn't get up until ten minutes before they needed to leave and Tristan was normally up and about ready to leave for work by the time Yami got up. It was nice having roommates he could get along with so Yami could get ready at his own pace. Although as far as Yami's brother knew he was living by himself, because even though Seto in his own way was kind to Yugi given Yami was dating him, Seto for some reason did not like his and Yugi's friends so much. None of them got along in high school especially Seto and Joey. If Seto found out Yami was sharing an apartment with Joey, he would never hear the end of it.

The sound of a conversation happening in the kitchen drifted down the hall before Yami could enter the bathroom. Judging by the snores coming from the room across from him he knew it couldn't be Joey. He wondered who Tristan was talking to this early. Deciding the bathroom could wait he headed down the hall and entered the dinning/kitchen area to find Tristan was seated at the table and finishing the last bit of his breakfast while Yugi was at the stove cooking.

They both looked up when he entered, but Yugi was the first to offer a smile along with a, "Good morning sleepy head…"

Yami rubbed his tired eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming before looking back at Yuugi, "You came over last night?"

Yugi nodded as he went back to the eggs on the stove so they wouldn't burn. "I came over after grandpa closed the game shop for the night. You were slaving over that English paper for most of the night it's no surprise you don't remember…"

"Oh…" Yami said more to himself as he tried to recall the night before. The only thing he remembered was typing away at his laptop, but that probably explained why he didn't remember Yugi being next to him when he went to bed. "Sorry about that, I really should finish my assignments in a more reasonable time."

"It's no worry, Joey and I played video games most of the night so it's not like I was bored." Yugi said as he turned back around with a plate for Yami. "Breakfast is ready if you want it. I know Tristan gets up early for work, so I got up early enough to cook for everyone."

"I gotta say Yami you are one lucky guy…" Tristan pointed out as he grabbed his empty plate and took it to the sink. "Yugi has some mean cooking skills, Joey will probably move in with you guys if you two ever get a place of your own."

Yugi blushed at the complement as he got his own plate ready and bought it to the table. As Yami and Yugi settled themselves at the table to eat, Tristan grabbed what he needed for the day before he took off out the door. "I'm surprised Joey's not up yet…" Yugi said as he took a peak down the hall. "He normally always comes running for food."

"He'll come when he finally wakes up…" Yami said after he swallowed his first bite. "Let's just enjoy the quiet for now…"

Yugi chuckled as he settled down to eat. It was never boring at Yami's apartment and if his mother wasn't so overprotective he probably would be living with Yami by now. However his grandfather and mother still needed him at the game shop for now, so he could deal with visiting Yami's place every now and then. It was like having a second home where he always felt safe and loved.

Lunch between friends was always enjoyable. Yugi watched as Joey pretty much stuffed his face with slices of pizza and everyone else who had different types of food ate with more manners. He was sharing a sushi plate with his lover since only a few bites were good enough for him. They still had one more class after lunch and then Yugi would be going on his usual Friday date with Yami. Thankfully their professor went light on the readings they would need to do for Monday so he could relax a little over the weekend.

As he looked around at his friends he noticed something off about one of them. Tomoya had been more quiet than usual in class and during their meal. Normally he and Duke were talking about the latest RPG games. Yugi would sometimes join in, but he was more into action and adventure type games along with Duel monsters. However, today Tomoya simply picked at his food with a worried expression on his face.

Knowing him as long as he did, Yugi decided to wait until he could get Tomoya alone. If something was on his mind he wouldn't talk about it in front of the others. Out of all of them Yugi was more similar to Tomoya in one ways than one including height.

"Last bite…" Yami said catching Yugi's attention back as he held it out with his chopsticks.

Yugi smiled and happily ate the last bite off Yami's chopsticks.

On the way to their last class, Yugi held back from the others and walked at the back of the group with Tomoya. Yami looked at him funny because of it, but Yugi waved him on. When they entered the building, Yugi took the chance to place a hand on Tomoya's shoulder. The teen looked at Yugi confused so Yugi offered him a smile.

"Can we talk for a minute?"

Tomoya nodded not sure what it was about. "Yeah, is something up?"

Yugi waited until he was sure the others went to the classroom, before he asked, "No, but it seems like something is up with you. Are you okay?"

Tomoya gave him a fake smile. "Of course everything is fine. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I just noticed you haven't been acting like yourself today. You know you can tell me anything."

"Yugi…"

"I mean it, we are friends and if something is wrong then maybe I or the others could help." Yugi urged him hoping he could confide in him.

Tomoya sighed as he checked the area around them, before he pulled Yugi over to the side out of the way of passing students. "If I tell you can we just keep this between us?"

Yugi nodded, "I won't tell the others if you don't want me to."

"Well, you know I've been living in the dorms to kind of venture out on my own," Tomoya said which got a nod from Yugi, "I thought things would be great, but yesterday I got cornered by one of the upper classman of the dorm. I've heard stories about him and that most of the dorm students stay out of his way especially the freshman. I tried to after all that happened in high school, but he caught me coming back to the dorm after studying in the library. At first I thought he was going to beat me up, but turns out he only wanted me to sell tickets," Tomoya paused to pull the ten tickets out and show Yugi. "I was confused, but he said that every month he has a show on Friday and he gets freshman to sell the tickets. Different freshman are picked each month, but if I can survive the year I'll have his respect and won't have to do it again. It was pretty obvious I didn't have a choice, as the look he was giving me were the same looks I got from the bullies in high school."

Yugi took the tickets from Tomoya to get a better look at them. If the bullies in high school were bad he really hated to find out what the bullies in college were like. The last thing he wanted was for one of his friends to relive the worst of their high school days. Honestly he thought when they started college they would be around more grow adults who did not pick on the weak. That was a complete fantasy.

He noticed the tickets held the name of a karaoke club and the name of the student who would be performing. "Do you know if he is any good? I'm not one for music myself, but if he isn't half bad I would go with you."

Tomoya cringed, "I don't think I could handle the night. He lives on the floor above me and our whole floor can hear him singing. It's not the best around and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."

"Oh so he is one of those who believes he can sing, but in real life he can't." Yugi said with a laugh and Tomoya agreed. Sadly Yugi had a date that night with Yami that he did not want to break or he would go and suffer with his friend. Quickly thinking of something off the top of his head he tried to figure out a way for them both to skip out. "How about I go to the dorm after class and drop it off at the front desk. I could say I found them by the fountain and figured the person may want them back."

Tomoya looked surprised at Yugi, "You would really do that?"

Yugi nodded, "Of course, I doubt the guy is going to let you give them back. He doesn't know me and I don't live in the dorm so he can't hold anything against me. He won't have any proof you did not sell them. For all he knows you sold them and the people dropped them."

"Are you sure?"

The tri-color hair teen simply smiled at his friend and pocketed the tickets. "I won't take no for an answer. I have a feeling this plan will work just fine." He put an arm around Tomoya and led the teen to their classroom before they were late.

The sun was just beginning to set as Yami sat in the family limo calling each of his friends on his cell phone. He and Yugi had split up for the day after their last class so Yugi could go home and help his grandfather in the game shop. Yami had plans to pick Yugi up later for their date however when he arrived he found out Yugi had not come home. Since the teen did not want to worry Yugi's family, he simply made up a little white lie that Yugi might have forgotten about their date and was hanging out or studying with one of their friends. He got back in the limo and told the driver to drive around the block for a minute while he made the phone calls.

Yami knew Yugi wasn't with Joey and Tristan since the two were back at the apartment when Yami left to come get Yugi. He called Tea and Duke only to find they haven't heard from him. Tomoya wouldn't answer his phone and when he finally tried to call his boyfriend it simply went to voice mail. This all worried Yami greatly because he had no idea if Yugi was in trouble or not. It was really unlike him to go somewhere and not tell anyone.

Just as he thought about getting some help from his brother, a vision of some kind flashed before his eyes. He saw a place he had seen downtown before, but what confused him was why he was thinking about a karaoke club. Thinking back he tried to remember if Yugi had said anything about the place, but nothing came to mind. There was a dull ache that developed slowly and Yami felt as if his mind was becoming cloudy. When his head finally cleared Yami informed the driver of where he wanted to go next and sat back.

The ride was quick and silent and once they arrived, Yami told the driver he would only be a few minutes before he got out. Going inside he found the lobby empty, but judging by the sounds down the halls some of the rooms were being used for parties or a get together. He went right to the front desk which had a petite blond behind it chewing bubble gum rather loud and reading a magazine.

"Miss, did a teen looking like me come here this afternoon?"

She looked up for a minute, before she pointed her finger down the hall returning to reading her magazine. "Down the hall, three doors down on your left…"

"Thank you," He said before hurrying down the hall toward the room. A bad feeling was settling in his gut and he hoped that Yugi was okay.

When he opened the door however his anger boiled to the point of pure hatred as he found Yugi sitting on one of the couches in the room with his hands tied by rope and headphones covering his ears. Tomoya was next to him in about the same state, but sadly he looked worst by the broken glasses and the few busies on his face.

Not caring about the guy on the stage singing horrible, he marched right over to Yugi and carefully took the headphones off both the teens. He then worked on untying Yugi's hands when the guy realized Yami was in the room.

"What's the big idea marching in here during my performance?" He sneered and Yami turned to give him an 'are you kidding me look?' before turning back to untie Tomoya's hands next.

"Hey I'm talking to you!"

Yami finally turned around to face the guy keeping both the teens behind him shielded. The guy was dressed up as some cheap Elvis pretending he was really something. "Performance…? Don't make me laugh. I just see a pathetic loser who results to kidnapping to get an audience." He looked over his shoulder at Yugi, "You and Tomoya get out of here."

"But Yami…"

"Don't argue with me!" Yami snapped, which caused Yugi to wince. Normally Yami would never snap at Yugi, but Yugi knew that Yami was pissed and there would be no calming him down until he got his revenge on the guy who put him and Tomoya in that mess.

Yugi put one of Tomoya's arms around his shoulder and helped the boy walk out of the room. Once they were gone Yami's smirk developed into an evil one. As he took note of the name on the banner behind the guy, he finally asked, "Sozoji let me ask you one question. Are you a coward?"

"Whaaat…?"

"If you aren't, then don't try and escape from the little game I'm going to start!" Yami said as he turned toward the table his hands turning a strange purple color before two clowns sitting on cans appeared, but Sozoji saw none of it. He placed them on table opposite each other, "I call it… The Silence Game!" He explained as he took his place sitting in front of one of the clowns. "This toy is called 'Sound Pierrot"-That's French for 'Clown'. By a strange coincidence there's two right here in this room. If you make a noise near it, a sensor reacts and it starts dancing. By the rules of the game after the signal to start neither one of us will make a sound. We must keep perfectly silent! That's why a Pierrot has been placed in front of each of us. The first one to make a sound and make the clown dance loses. Sound good?"

"What will happen if you lose?" Sozoji asked with an evil grin as he pulled his sunglasses down to get a better look at Yami.

"I give you my life…" Yami told him without a hint of fear. No he would win this game and teach this Sozoji a lesson about messing with those he loves. "But if you lose, you have to play a penalty game."

After Sozoji agreed to the terms they were both found sitting across from each other seconds later in complete silence. A scowled had settled on Sozoji's face and Yami had a feeling he knew what the brute was thinking about. However that scowl turned into a grin a minute later and Yami took note of where the guy's eyes had fallen. On Yami's side was a glass of water and the headphone jack had gotten stuck on the rim from when Yami pulled the headphones off Yugi's head and the jack was pulled out of the amp.

Without Sozoji realizing it, Yami got a grin of his own as he watched Sozoji practically begging with his eyes that the jack would fall and make a noise. The grip the guy had on his microphone tightened and his heart started to race. Another minute passed before out of the blue the clown on Sozoji's side started to dance. The wannabe singer developed a look of confusion so Yami decided to enlighten him.

"That's the sound of your heart!" Yami explained to him as he pointed to the speaker behind Sozoji which had the sound of Sozoji's heartbeat coming out of it.

Sozoji then looked down at the microphone in his hands in disbelief. "The mike and I put the volume to max…"

A third golden eye appeared on Yami's forehead, "Your habit of holding onto the mike no matter how much it annoys people has done you in! You lose Sozoji!" He then pointed a finger straight at the guy. "Penalty Game! Beat Festival!"

When Yami left the room he left Sozoji withering on the floor yelling for the noise to stop. He told the lady at the front counter that he believed some poor guy was having a heart attack before leaving the place and getting into the back of the limo.

The sight that met him was Tomoya laid out on one of the seats while Yugi sat across from him waiting on Yami to return. Yami asked Tomoya were he wanted to go, which he responded with his parent's place since he went there every weekend, before telling his driver. As the limo drove away from the club, Yami put his arm around Yugi and kissed the top of his head. He apologized for yelling at him to which Yugi simply waved off. After that like a few times before a weight seemed to be lifted off of Yami's mind and then he was looking around him for a minute wondering what had happened since only moments before he had been trying to find out the whereabouts of his Aibou. It was like a chunk of his memories were missing since Yugi was right beside him along with a hurt Tomoya.

However when he asked what had happened, Yami did not get the respond he was looking for as Yugi explained to him the whole story about how when he tried to return some tickets to Sozoji that Tomoya was supposed to sell Sozoji knocked Yugi out. Then when Yugi came to he found himself in the karaoke room with a hurt Tomoya and Sozoji getting ready for his 'show'. He then told Yami how about an hour later Yami arrived and set both of them free.

"What did you do to Sozoji anyway?" Yugi asked as he looked up at Yami. "You were in there for a good few minutes."

"I simply gave him a warning not to mess with someone who is close to me," Yami lied honestly not remembering if he did do anything to the guy. However based on what Yugi told him, whatever Yami did or did not do to the guy he probably deserved it. His missing memories became the last thing on his mind as he focused on getting Tomoya home and saving his date night with Yugi. A movie with popcorn at Yugi's place sounded like a good idea and if Yugi's mom went to bed early Yami could probably get away with spending the night.

Sakura: I love making Yami the hero off to save Yugi from the dangerous people in the world. I seriously think the Yu-Gi-Oh manga would have been even better if Yami had been given his own body.

Yumi: Please Review!