((Author's Note)) Here's Chapter 2...I hope it clears up a few things. And I apologize ahead of time for any OOC-ness that goes on.

Also, FYI, Yugi is speaking persian.

Edit: No big changes in this chapter except a bit of dialouge change in the beginning.

Chapter 2

The fire burned my skin as I clawed at the door.

"کمکم کنید! (Help Me!)" I screamed, my fingernails leaving marks on the metal surface over the logo of the building.

"کسی ، لطفا ... (some one, please...)" I could feel the flames lick me as I cried.

"راهنما ! (Help!)"

I shot up from my bed. What the hell was that?! I wondered.

I laid my head in my hands. "That was really scary," I whispered. I started to feel a prickly sensation on my face and moved my hands to find it. Then I realized it was on my hands.

I moved my hands from my face to get a better look at them and gasped. Fur? I wondered as I noticed my hands and arms covered in dark teal hair. I then lifted the bottom of my tank top to see even more hair. What the Hell?!

I jumped out of bed to the bathroom where I had a full length mirror hanging on the door. Turning on the light, I moved to look at my reflection.

What I saw made me scream and leap back in surprise. I was covered head to toe in the dark teal fur. My night clothes, which consisted of a pair of boxer shorts and a pink tank top that said Puppy Love seemed a little tighter. What terrified me the most, however, was my face.

Like the rest of my body, it was covered in fur. It was also narrower and more angled. My nose had become doglike and my eyes, although still held their golden color, were more animalistic. Hesitantly, I opened my mouth and saw four large, glistening, white canines.

I screamed again and ran out of the bathroom. I crawled back into bed and tossed the comforter over my head, curling into a tight ball. "It's just a dream," I told myself. "It's just a dream. It's just a dream. It's Just A Dream. IT'S JUST A DREAM!"

There was pounding on my door and I could hear Mello's tired voice behind the wooden barrier. "Yugi, do the world a favor and GO BACK TO SLEEP!"

I began to cry. "Why won't this nightmare end?" I asked. "Someone, please...wake me up from this bad dream...It's starting to scare me."

"Yugi," I heard Near say. "You're not asleep."

"Yes I am!" I cried. "You're just trying to make me think I'm not!"

Suddenly the door swung open and the blanket was thrown off of me. I felt someone's hands grab my shoulders and shake me.

"YOU'RE NOT DREAMING, GOD DAMN IT!" Mello shouted, causing my ears to throb. "This delusion you put yourself in woke everyone in the orphanage, and you're sitting here, bawling your eyes out just because you suddenly look different?!"

"You try being half wolf and not understanding what the hell is going on," I said, my voice cracking, making my throat feel like sand paper. "I thought you'd at least be a little surprised when you barged in here and saw the monster in the bed."

Mello let go of my shoulders as I spoke. He then looked at the open door to see the other kids that we shared the hall with peering in, trying to see what was going on. "Get out of here," he told them, "there's nothing to see." The children slowly left the area and went back to their rooms. When they were gone, Mello turned back to me.

"Why aren't you at least shocked?" I asked, slightly suspicious. "Doesn't my appearance at least surprise you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Mello sighed. "You might not remember it, but it's happened before."

My ears twitched in confusion as I scratched my neck. The fur was starting to irritate me. "What are you talking about?" I asked. "And why are you suddenly being so civil toward me?"

I watched as Mello scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I was going to wait until morning, but..."

"But what?"

He closed his eyes as he muttered something even I couldn't comprehend.

"What?" I asked him, enticing him to speak a little louder.

Mello took a deep breath before he said clearly, "I want to offer a truce between us."

"A truce?" I deadpanned. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm not."

"Was this Matt's Idea or something?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you asking for a truce?"

I could see Mello grind his teeth in irritation. "Because I want to, alright?"

I rolled my eyes. But then I thought, Maybe it won't be so bad. I sighed. "Deal."

Mello's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"I said, it's a deal." I held out my furry hand. "Well? Are you gonna shake it or what?" Mello slowly nodded before reaching out and taking my hand in his and giving it a firm shake. I smiled slightly, my tail swishing slightly.

"Allies?" Mello asked wit a smirk. I nodded.

"Allies." I then pulled my hand away. "Now what did you mean when you said this," I gestured to the fur on my body, "happened before?"

Mello's smirk faded and he looked down. "It was about two years ago, when you came here. You had a breakdown like you just did earlier," he explained. "Only, you were so terrified that you ran down the hall and out the front door, scaring the shit out of Roger."

I laughed a little when he said that. I must have been a sight.

"When he and Near went out to look for you, they found you unconcious with a head injury..." Mello continued. "Apparently you ran into a tree and fractured your skull. You were out for a week and when you woke up, you couldn't remember the whole day. So Roger told us not to mention it in case it would scare you into another episode."

I was silent as he explained the event. It happend before...only two years ago...could it happen in another two years? I shook my head and yawned. All this thinking was making me tired. "Maybe we should get to sleep," I suggested.

Mello nodded in agreement before leaving, closing the door behind him.

I laid my head against the head board of my bed and looked out my window at the waxing half moon before closing my eyes. When I opened them again, the sun was shining. I slowly stretched before making my way back to the bathroom to start my morning routine. I was hesitant in the matter, though, due to the fact I didn't want to see that horrifying image again.

I managed to avoid looking in the mirror as I showered and brushed my hair. I couldn't dodge the bullet forever, though, and forced myself to look into my glass reflection. I sighed in relief.

The fur was gone; and my nose and teeth were back to normal. My eyes, however, still had the animalistic look and shape to them. I was hoping last night's events were a dream...but they weren't. My thoughts from only a few hours ago came back to the surface of my mind. Will it happen again? That's when I decided to look into the matter.

I changed out of my night clothes into a yellow halter top and green shorts before making my way to the closet where my laptop was at.

"Don't you look like a little daffodil?" I turned around to see Matt leaning against my doorpost with a toothpick in his mouth.

"What do you want, Matt?" I asked. "And I thought I told you that you'd have to try harder when it came to flirting with me."

Matt ignored that last comment and replied with, "Mells told me about you having some sort of mental breakdown last night."

"Did he now?" I asked sarcastically.

Matt nodded, his goggles sliding down his forehead slightly. "He looked a little out of it when he came back into the room, but he wouldn't tell me what it was." He then looked at me in the eye. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly..." I muttered. Matt shrugged before standing up straight.

"Well, do you mind if I walk with you to get breakfast?" he offered.

"Nice try, Matt, but don't you want to keep your dignity?"

"Who ever said I'd lose it?" he asked, taking a small step closer to me.

"Who ever said you wouldn't?"

"I did." He took another step.

"No you didn't."

"I implied it." By now, Matt had moved from the doorway to right in front of me. He was getting close...a little too close.

He brushed a piece of hair out of my face and got even closer. I couldn't take it anymore and I shoved him away. "What the hell are you doing?!" I asked, my face extremely red. Sure Matt has done his fair share of advances like that before, but it was the first time he's gotten that close to me...too much closeness for one morning, I thought.

Matt smirked before holding a small tuft of fuzz. "You had lint in your hair," he said calmly.

I didn't buy into his demeanor. "Could you explain why you had to get so close?"

"No." I sighed. "So, about that walk?" Matt asked.

Uh," I said, "Actually, I'm not that hungry."

Matt shrugged. "Suit yourself." He then turned to leave. "By the way, Yugi," he looked back at me. "I like what you did with your eyes." He then disappeared into the hallway.

What in the world just happend?

I shrugged it off and took my laptop out of my closet before making my way to the library. As I walked down the hall I thought of a few theories to explain what happened to me last night. The most plausible one being some sort of anthro-puberty...in a way it did make sense, cosidering it happened before, even if it was two years ago. When I opened the door to the vast room of books, I was surprised to see L talking to Mello.

I was shocked, mainly because I've never seen Mello come here, let alone read a book. Then again, I never really paid that much attention to what Mello did in his free time. Usually because I was too busy rigging his side of the room he shared with Matt to explode or something like that to really care.

"Good morning, Yugi," L said calmly, holding a cup of tea to his lips.

"Oh, hello, Ryuzaki," I greeted. "I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"

"Not at all," he replied. "In fact, I was just telling Mello about Some of my previous cases. Would you care to join us?"

"No thanks," I told him politely. "I'm actually here to do some personal research."

"I see," L spoke with his usual calculating tone. "If you change your mind, please feel free to join us."

I smiled in gratitude before glancing at Mello. He had this undescribable look on his face. Looking away, I went to find a secluded place at the other end of the room to begin my research.

((Author's Note)) Again, I hope this chapter cleared a few things up. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review.

Until next time...

Garden