Chao- Yay! Next chapter is here!

"Talking."

"Thinking."

/Yami and Yugi mind link./

Chapter 2: Parasite

Yugi awoke the next morning feeling fine. He pulled the covers off of him and stepped out of bed. As he stretched, the teen greeted his friend, "Good morning, Yami."

He rested his hands on his lap waiting for a welcoming. There was nothing. The adolescent sighed in defeat.

"Why isn't Yami talking to me?" He changed into his school uniform, grabbed his Puzzle, and went downstairs. As the boy hiked down the steps, he felt a sharp sting once more. He grunted in pain.

"I should take some pain killers to get rid of this." He strolled into the kitchen and took two small pills. "I may not be hungry, but I should at least eat something small."

The teen placed a slice of bread into the toaster and later spread butter on it. He shoved it into his mouth as he tied on his shoes. He walked out the door and was on his way back to school for another day of mandatory learning. Traveling to school was lonely for the boy as he would usually spend the stroll talking with his partner. When he arrived at his destination, he just sat at his desk and looked at his pendant.

"Good morning, Yugi," Tea greeted her friend. Her cheerful mood changed when she saw her companion appeared so sad.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she took her seat. Yugi sighed and informed, "I'm not sure why but… Yami hasn't been talking to me."

The teen looked down at his pendant as he held it in his hands.

"Has he been out at all?" Tea asked needing more information to help out with the situation.

"No," Yugi replied, "He's just been in the Puzzle all day and night."

"When did this started to happen?"

"Um… I think yesterday… I tried talking to him after biology and he didn't respond. I continued to try and talk with him through out the day, but he hasn't said anything."

"You don't think something serious happen to him, do you?"

"I don't think so; I can still feel his presence."

Tea placed one hand on Yugi's shoulder. The adolescent looked at his buddy who smiled gently at him and reassured, "Don't worry; he will come out when he's ready."

The boy smiled back and the bell rang for class to begin. The stern-looking teacher marched into her classroom and instructed her class to quiet down or she'd pass out detentions. She also announced there would be a test soon and the class groaned.

Throughout the day, Yugi resisted talking with Yami as he did not want to bother his friend, who may be deep in thought. The task was difficult as the sun would reflect light against the gold pendant causing Yugi to glance down at his puzzle. Whenever he did, he would sigh but continued moving on.

At lunch time, he went outside to meet his friends over at their usual spot. He saw his two peers, Joey and Tristan, already there. While he walked over, Yugi stopped for a moment as he felt discomfort coming from his lower stomach area. He grasped his diaphragm and mumbled to himself, "Maybe I should ask Tea if she has any pain killers with her."

"Hey, Yug," Joey greeted.

"Hey, guys, there's something going on and-" Yugi began but was interrupted.

"Is Yami still not talking with you?" Joey asked with concern. Yugi looked at them strangely since that was what he was about to say.

"Tea told us about it," Tristan explained. The young teen with the tri-color hair clutched his treasure.

"I'm not sure if something is bothering him, but I'll just see if I can talk with him later on." Yugi explained his plan.

"Good idea," Joey agreed.

"Where is Tea?" Yugi asked.

"Here I am!" Tea announced right on cue, "Sorry, I was at the library."

As the group sat down on the ground, Yugi felt the same sharp pain once more.

"You ok, Yugi?" Tea asked.

"Yeah," Yugi grunted as he sat down, "But, do you have any pain killers on you?"

"Sure," the girl pulled out her bag and took out a small container that held pills. The small teen pulled a water bottle from his bag and sipped some water then took a pill.

"Thanks, Tea." Yugi said grateful for his friend's help.

"No problem," Tea replied.

When the school day had ended, everyone went their separate ways to do all of their work they had been assigned. Yugi walked straight home, greeted his grandpa, and went to his room.

He took his book bag off of his back and dumped all of his school supplies on his bed. He then placed his prized possession on his desk. The boy sighed as he lifted up his heavy textbooks and began his school work. The teen spent a couple of hours in silence finishing on worksheets, assigned problems, and reading texts. Through out the time, he would once in awhile wrapped his free arm around his waist where he was feeling discomfort.

After completing two sets of homework, Yugi wanted to take a break. He leaned back on his chair and stretched. His attention was drawn back to his puzzle that glisten against the light from his lamp. He figured since he was alone, he should try once more to see if Yami was ready to talk.

"Yami?" Yugi called out, "It's Yugi… Is everything ok in there?"

There was a pause. The boy waited anxiously but did not receive anything. He stood up with the Puzzle in his hands and begged, "Yami… Please come out."

Yugi tried to figure out what else he could say but at that moment, the teen felt a sting stronger than what he had been feeling before. He dropped the Puzzle on the ground and grabbed his waist as he fell to the floor. He landed on his knees as he grunted in agony.

"Ya… mi…" He whispered as he began to gasp for air. He soon found himself being held by a familiar feeling. The pain gradually went away and Yugi looked up to see Yami holding him.

"Yami!" Yugi cried with glee. He tried to stand up but couldn't.

"Don't move," the spirit ordered sternly. Yugi continued to kneel down on the floor, but he managed to ask, "Yami… is anything wrong?"

"I should be asking you that." Yami replied in a cold tone. The adolescent looked back up at his partner who said, "I know you haven't been eating much these days… That may be why you're feeling unwell."

The spirit assisted his light up. When he was confident Yugi could stand up, Yami pulled away and turned his back to his friend. Yugi wasn't sure what to say. He was worried about his friend. Even though the former pharaoh was quiet, he was still concerned about his partner.

"Yugi! Dinner!" Solomon called from downstairs. The young adult didn't want to leave as he managed to see Yami after waiting so long. However, Yami advised, "You better go downstairs and eat."

Yugi waited a bit but then decided to listen to the spirit.

"Will you be here when I get back?" Yugi asked anxiously.

Yami still had his back to Yugi but informed, "I apologize for making you worry, but right now I think it'll be best if I stay in the Puzzle. Go downstairs and make sure eat something, that way you can feel better."

Yugi reluctantly accepted the terms and left his room. After he left, Yami looked over at his partner's desk to see worksheets, notes, and books spread across in a messy style.

He sighed and mumbled, "I'm sorry for being a parasite, Yugi."

With that, Yami went back into the puzzle.

Xxx

After dinner, Yugi placed his leftovers in the fridge and threw away his trash. He then went over to a cabinet and took down a jar filled with pain killers. Yugi popped two into his mouth and swallowed some water. He went back upstairs to his room and as he walked up the steps, he secretly hoped to find his yami sitting on his bed waiting for his return.

Yugi open the door to an empty room. He sighed and took a seat on his bed. He glanced over at his Puzzle slowly being covered by dust.

He pulled his legs closer to himself and thought, "Should I take the puzzle to school tomorrow? Yami might be worried if I don't. But… I can't cause him anymore problems… He's already worried there might be something wrong with me… Maybe I'm just over complicating things…"

The teen went returned to his desk to finish up his homework. When he was done, he placed everything back into his bag and set it by his door ready for the next day. He walked down to the bathroom to brush his teeth but before he went back to his room, an idea struck the young teen. He went downstairs to where the house's phone was.

Before Yugi could dial any numbers, he mumbled as he shut off his link, "Forgive me, Yami."

He waited for the other end to pick up when he said, "Tea? It's Yugi. I have a favor to ask of you. Are you free after school tomorrow? Really? Great!"

The young boy hung up the phone and sighed, "I hope everything goes well, tomorrow."

He was startled when he heard his grandfather snicker, "Making a date with Tea on a weekday, are we?"

"G-Grandpa!" Yugi stuttered, "N-no! It's nothing like that!"

"Ho ho! Sure it is!"

"No! It's not!"

Xxx

The small boy was asleep in his bed with his plans ready to go. As he rested, a spirit came out from where he was and watched over his light.

The spirit had felt the disturbance of being cut off from his partner earlier and wanted to be sure all was well. He was content to see nothing was wrong, but chose to stay out for the rest of the night to be sure of that.

To be continued…

Chao- Ha ha! What did Yugi plan?

YChao- Well, you did managed to spoil what was wrong with Yami…

Chao- Or really?

YChao- Yeah, really.

Chao- Please review!