CHAPTER TWO
After what seemed like forever, the bell rang for the final time that day. Exhausted out of his mind, Yugi dumped his books into his locker before pulling out his backpack by the strap. Proceeding to smash the locker door shut, the boy sprint down the hallway, all too eager to leave the building and welcome with open arms the next two, school free, blissful days.
Aware that his friends were waiting for him by the gates, a new spring added to his pace at the prospect of spending the rest of the evening with them. Oh yeah, everything was perfect.
Well, at least until he rounded the next corridor.
A startled grunt made its way out of his lips, instantly chorused by the person whose head had collided with his. Unbalanced, Yugi's backside met harshly with the floor, effectively resulting with a second grunt sneaking up on him.
Moaning softly under his breath, the teen felt conflicted as to which part of his body to soothe first; his aching cheekbone, which was surely to form a bruise, or his stinging butt, which was sore from acting as a cushion for his fall. Deeming more insufferable the burning in his face, he hurriedly lifted a hand to massage the enflamed area, wincing lightly upon contact.
Movement from the corner of his eye caused his arm to pause in mid-movement. A glimpse at the figure rubbing their, without doubt, sore bottom had him springing to his feet in no time.
"Gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?" he gushed out, bending down and peering worriedly at the other.
Almond shaped, golden-brown eyes stared back at him, dazed if only for a moment before the boy blinked once, reassuming focus. And Yugi did too, recognition finally registering in his mind.
The boy smiled up at him, taking the offered hand in front of his face. Long, seemingly silky, white strands enveloped his face when he bent forward, and Yugi found himself strangely transfixed at the sight, finding it almost unearthly, before the boy straightened himself up and the trance was broken.
"No harm done." the other teen said softly, "If this was so easy to break, I'd be a goner by now." He chuckled lightly at his own joke, tapping his temple with his knuckles, presumably indicating his head, and then he promptly hissed as the pain rebounded with vigor.
Yugi winced in sympathy, closing one eye and peering at him through the other, allowing his lips to stretch out nervously at the sheepish grin the boy was offering him.
"You're Bakura, right? Bakura Ryou? We had Biology together this morning." he added helpfully at the perplexed expression the teen was sporting, and stretched out his arm again.
Ryou frowned, his eyes trailing from Yugi's own eyes all the way up to his hair, before his face lit up in realization. "Of course!"
Yugi smiled as the other shook his hand. "I'm Mutou Yugi. You don't have to bother with the formalities, just Yugi will do."
Ryou laughed, the now empty hallways of the school resonating with the sound, making Yugi feel oddly comforted by it, more at ease. "Then by all means, you can call me Ryou."
Tension relieving itself from his shoulders, Yugi let his now free arm dangle by his side. "I really am sorry about before. I should have paid more attention."
"Nah, it's fine." Ryou waved the whole thing off. "There's no need to-"
"Ryou," Both boys whirled around sharply, immediately catching sight of the source of the voice. Yugi watched as the other new student sauntered over to them, hands in his pockets and a stride so confident that the tri-colored haired teen couldn't stifle a spark of admiration from flaring to life.
The boy's violet eyes were hard when they locked with his own, raising within him a compelling urge to take a step back, cringing without his consent under that intense scrutiny.
The boy, Malik if he remembered correctly, turned his narrowed gaze towards Ryou, "You were to meet me right after school let out. We have things to do."
"I haven't forgotten, Malik." Ryou replied, his tone condescending. "I was just talking with Yugi here, and then I would come meet you."
"No, it's okay." Yugi said sheepishly, "I have to meet up with my friends too."
Malik's eyes not once strayed towards him, making Yugi shift from one foot to another. "It was, um, nice talking to you. I guess I will see you around."
The platinum haired boy was already making his way past before Yugi was done talking, the latter's eyes trailing after him with confusion. A sigh like sound caused his head to wipe to the side, where Ryou offered him a small smile, "Bye, Yugi." And with that, the teen went away, leaving Yugi to stare at their retreating backs with furrowed eyebrows.
Sighing, Yugi shrugged to himself, deciding to put the issue out of his mind and focus instead on the promising evening that was ahead. A wistful grin spread across his face, his feet reclaiming their previous hurried pace. He left for the school gates with a new vigor.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ryou watched the other boy's departure, turning ahead only when Yugi was out of sight.
"You know that associating with humans is a waste of time."
He couldn't possibly contain his eyes from rolling at the all too familiar comment, "You are human, Malik."
A half growl-half snort left his companion's lips. "Please. Comparing me to them is like suggesting an affiliation with slugs. Besides, we have far more important jobs than socializing, you know that."
Ryou's expression turned serious, "Where are we supposed to start? He will arrive soon and all we know is that it's going to be somewhere in this area."
"For now it's enough." Malik replied, eyes trailing the hallways for any traces of students, keeping his tone hushed even when he found none. "Marik says there's an upheaval amongst the ranks. Has Bakura sensed it too?"
"Yes," Ryou's tone was monotone, the seriousness of the situation apparent. "Marik may be the only one capable of tracking him down, but even the lower levels can sense that things are about to change."
"We must be prepared. Their restlessness will urge them to take action. It will make them more violent."
Ryou could only nod his consent.
Things were indeed going to get nasty.
*)&(*
Yugi cursed softly under his breath as he watched another street lamp flickering momentarily before going out completely. It was the second one doing that to him. Going to the Mall had seemed a pretty good idea to him, and visiting the Arcade had him on cloud nine.
But unfortunately, neither he nor Joey and Tristan had foreseen the possibility of Tea going crazy on them and dragging the poor boys from one shop to another. He had lost count of how many clothes she had tried on.
Those were probably the consequences of having a girl in the group. As it was, instead of spending the rest of his evening trying out every single game machine in the Arcade, Yugi had been granted the luxury of one whole hour before Tea dragged them all out. Literally.
Nighttime had always been kind of unsettling to him, wariness creeping into every corner of his mind the moment the first star would make its brilliant appearance.
His steps came to an abrupt halt, watching through wide eyes as every lamp ahead of him flickered once, twice and then went out with perfect synchronicity, like a rehearsed show. Heartbeat speeding up in alarming rate, he whipped around, changing his course and taking the alleyway to his right. The route was considerably bigger, since it'd take him all the way back to school and then make his way home from there, but he thought it'd be better to play safe.
He chanced a look upwards, frowning at the sight of the black sky that greeted him rather than the dark shade of blue it had been the last time he had checked.
From the looks of things, he'd be home a little before eleven.
A drawn out sigh left his lips, legs picking up their pace when the building of his school loomed over the horizon. Not really bothering to glimpse through the gates at the school grounds, Yugi only had eyes for the road up ahead, a relieved smile breaking onto his face.
He nearly lost his footing when a sudden explosion sliced through the silence of the night, causing him to turn doe like eyes towards the source. He watched horror-struck as the huge, round clock that stood high above the entrance of the school building was blasted off, landing a good few feet away towards the gates with a booming thud.
As in a trance, Yugi's eyes followed its movements dazedly, shifting slowly from the smashed clock to the debris and glass pieces that had accompanied its fall.
His head snapped up so quickly that the cracking sound it produced would have been disgusting to the least, had he not been transfixed by the flaming tongues that sprouted out of the hole the clock had left.
They unfolded high in the air, appearing strangely whip like. For a moment they just stood there, drifting from side to side like a peculiar asset of tails. Then, too swiftly for him to catch the movement, they dived downwards back into the hole. Mere seconds later, a blood curdling scream tore through the air, finally snapping Yugi back to reality.
His legs were already guiding him towards the building before he could even consent. Another explosion had him running at full speed.
The lights were out when he stepped through the entrance, the shadows bathing every corner in darkness. Breathing ragged, Yugi went up the spiral staircase where light could be seen coming from the vey top. He didn't stop to catch his breath, heart feeling like it was going to pummel right out of his chest every time another shuttering sound reached his ears.
As he neared the top, shouts and choked screams and even more eruptions wafted over to him, making his pulse race faster.
The stairs finally came to an end, and Yugi felt the blood drain from his face.
Deep crimson liquid marred every available surface in the near vicinity, the walls, the floors, the doors, the ceiling. The horrific, gruesome sight made Yugi sick to the stomach, causing it to churn and twist in the most unpleasant ways. The bile that rose to his throat sickened him further, and he felt nauseous just by the effort he put into suppressing it.
Shouts and screams were coming from somewhere to his left, deeper into the hallway, but Yugi barely heard any of it. The air reeked with the coopery smell of blood and something else that eerily resembled burnt flesh.
The mere prospect of that thought was enough to bring Yugi over the edge that he had been teetering all this time. Bending in half, he emptied all contents of his stomach, turning to dry heaving when there was nothing else to empty.
The sour taste that was left in his mouth made him want to throw up again, only barely achieving to stifle the urge.
A bit late, he realized that someone was crouched beside him, shaking his shoulder almost violently. Looking up through the bangs that had fallen over his eyes, he saw Ryou hovering over him. The boy's mouth was moving rapidly, his eyes darting from side to side frantically, but strangely enough no sound breached Yugi's eardrums. His own eyes were trained on a particular spot on Ryou's cheek where blood was smeared on the surface of the skin.
Scarlet trails were reaching all the way down to his chin, the mess the blood drops had left while sliding downwards.
Yugi scouted backwards at the same time that a scream left his lips. His back came in contact with the wall, but Ryou kept advancing closer to him. He screamed again when the other boy reached out to touch his forearm, drawing his knees up to his chest.
Ryou's mouth was still moving, speaking apparently, but for some reason the words failed yet again to reach Yugi. In fact, beside the explosions and the sounds of the battle, his hearing couldn't pick out anything else.
His breathing was far too erratic for his liking. The gulps of air he was taking were dirtied by the ash, making him feel suffocated, trapped. His eyes had watered from the smoke of the flames, which had gotten considerably bigger from the last time he had seen them. The entire floor had been set on fire.
Ryou was motioning something with his hand, and before long, another figure was kneeling in front of Yugi, and he resembled Ryou greatly. The two of them seemed to argue about something, Ryou gesturing wildly around while glaring at the other. Yugi watched through guarded eyes as the newcomer opened his mouth to yell something, his hard, brown eyes alight with another kind of flames.
Yugi drew even further backwards when Ryou pointed angrily towards him, anticipating a blow or something of the like. Instead, Ryou's look-alike seemed to shout something back before reaching out and latching onto both of Yugi's wrist.
Panicked, Yugi thrashed around, pulling at the other's hold and kicking his legs wildly. The boy, however, bared his teeth furiously at him, an action that had Yugi frozen in place and gave the other the perfect opportunity to yank the smaller teen forward and into his arms. Before Yugi had any time to voice his protest, the boy took off, so fast that it felt like he was flying down the hallway.
Yugi choked back a sob that threatened to rise from his throat and buried his face into the crook of the other teen's neck, closing his eyes shut when everything around them passed them in a red blur.
His head jerked back up when he felt himself being shifted around and then he was falling, his bottom connecting roughly with the floor.
They were inside one of the classrooms, the red finally giving way for black, and Yugi genuinely welcomed the darkness with opened arms.
The boy stared down at him, the upper half of his face shrouded in the shadows of the room. Illuminated by the moonbeam rays, his skin appeared ashen like, unnaturally pale but nearly grey with the layers of dust and ash on it. And his eyes…
Yugi crawled backwards when he realized that those brown orbs were, in fact, visible despite the darkness. They seemed to glow with a light of their own, peering down at him with clear disdain, and making Yugi want to shrink into himself.
He blinked slowly, once, and the boy was gone.
His eyes shifted all over the place, trying in vain to find a trace of human presence inside the room. But there was none.
Shivers wracked his spine, taking over his entire body. He wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to cease the violent trembling, but the sounds from outside made it rather impossible.
Yugi cupped his ears with his hands, shutting everything out except his breathing. He focused on that, fighting to fend off the hyperventilation.
He closed his eyes, mentally counting to ten and tuning it with his breaths. In, out. In, out. In, out. A huff of air was exhaled from his lips once he felt it beginning to work. He opened his eyes slowly, and promptly froze in place.
He didn't scream, nor did he scramble away. He just stared at the luminous pair of green eyes only inches away from his face. The lips of the person before him were pulled to one side into an ominous smirk, revealing a row of white, pointy teeth.
"What is a weak little human like yourself doing here?"
And then, Yugi screamed.
The man laughed; a distorted, maniacal sound that caused the hairs on the nape of Yugi's neck to stand on end.
Reacting instinctively, he threw out his legs, kicking the man with the soles of his feet square on the face. A startled shriek echoed throughout the room, but Yugi didn't wait long for him to recover. He bolted to his feet, pushing chairs and desks alike out of his way to get quicker to the door.
A hand latched onto his ankle, tripping him and sending him face first into the ground.
A shout was torn from his throat when he was dragged across the floor and back towards the towering figure. Yugi kicked his trapped leg to shake off the iron like grip, but to no avail.
"A feisty one," the man declared merrily, his wide grin turning lopsided, wicked. "It's been a while since the last time I got to play with someone like you. I shall enjoy killing you."
Wide, terrified amethyst eyes watched the other pulling out a dagger from the inner pocket of his jacket, the silver blade glimmering in the moonlight. The Armageddon that had broken out was still raging outside, but now, even though the explosions and the general ruckus was still drumming a headache in Yugi's head, the boy couldn't find it in himself to flinch. No, as he lay there, staring up at those insane filled eyes, all he could thing of was his impending death.
"Any last words, little human?" the man whispered, leaning in so close to Yugi's face that his breathing ruffled the golden bangs over his forehead.
Yugi stiffened, feeling the pressure of the blade against his throat. It should have struck how absurd this whole situation was, or the fact that this man had called him human in a way that suggested more or less that he himself was something above that level. But, surprisingly, none of those notions entered his mind, if only briefly.
The situation, however, did remind him of a similar one, in which the school's bully had him pinned against a wall and threatening to beat him to a bloody pulp before Joey and Tristan had barreled right into him and saved his ass.
For as long as he could remember, it had always been like that. Him in a dire situation and in need of rescuing. Like some bloody damsel in distress.
He hated that. Always relying on his friends. He wanted them to know that they could rely on him too. That he wasn't useless.
The man blinked, the predatory glint in his eyes diminishing slightly the moment Yugi held onto the dagger, green orbs moving from the curled fingers around the blade to the face of the boy, seemingly disbelieving of the resistance he was seeing.
Yugi opened his mouth, but before he could demand for the man to get off him, a kick was delivered to his head, sending him flying backwards and away from Yugi. Pained howls reached his ears, and seconds later, he was pulled to his feet and steered to the back of the classroom.
"I thought I told you to take him to safety!" Ryou shouted from behind him, carefully guiding him into a crouching position behind a desk, before mimicking him.
"How the hell was I to know that he'd be found here?!" someone shouted back and over the rows of desks Yugi could discern a white mane darting from side to side. "These low lives are like fucking cockroaches! You kill one, and another takes its place!"
"Just get on with it, Bakura!" Ryou yelled over his shoulder, arms inspecting Yugi for any kind of wounds.
"Would you shut the fuck up?! I'm trying to concentrate here. My dolls aren't working on autopilot, you know! Someone has to give the orders!"
"Yugi," Ryou muttered softly, catching the teen's attention. "It's okay now, relax. Everything's under control."
Had he seen the blanched expression on Yugi's face, or was he anticipating another outburst like the previous one? As if in response to his own musings, Yugi's eyes traveled to the dried blood on Ryou's cheek, fighting the urge to recoil at the sight of it.
"Shh, I know." Ryou soothed, drawing calming circles on Yugi's back, "I had a similar reaction the first time too."
A gasp suddenly left the white haired boy's lips, eyes locking on the cut the blade had left on Yugi's throat. His hands rose to ghost over the gash, before lowering again uncertainly. "Does it hurt much?"
Yugi shook his head, gaze trained ahead. The white haired boy that Ryou had called Bakura was dancing wildly around, avoiding with perfect accuracy the blows his opponent was delivering. His brown eyes were alight again, a feral grin upon his face. He was enjoining this.
But the craziest of all, was the mannequin that was maneuvering right and left. Or at least, that's what Yugi hoped it was.
Ryou followed his line of sight and scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Um, it's a kinda long story."
Yugi had no doubt it was.
"Bakura!" Ryou shouted exasperated. "Would you stop playing with him already?"
"Now, where the fun would be in that?" Bakura shot back, flashing a wide grin at his look-alike.
Ryou had the perfect retort ready, but a shout of his name had him glancing at his companion questioningly. The teen had a finger pointed to the front of the classroom, something that made Ryou furrow his eyebrows in confusion, before following the direction of the finger, his eyes widening.
Another man, this one much bulgier than the other, was crouched on all fours, watching them both with a hungry expression. His dagger was clasped between his teeth, the blade cutting his lips from time to time as he moved, but it didn't appear to bother him. Ryou joined Yugi against the wall, both of them gulping in unison as the man advanced.
"Um, Bakura?" Ryou called out, eyes darting momentarily to his look-alike but the other hadn't seemed to hear him.
Yugi grabbed his wrist suddenly, effectively making him jerk his eyes back just as the man got ready to pounce. "Bakura!" Ryou yelled, catching Yugi by the forearm and throwing them both to the side, barely avoiding the dagger from between the other's teeth.
"Fuck!" Bakura grumbled, letting the mannequin handle his opponent. He jumped on the desks, drawing out a dagger of his own and throwing it with swift movements at the huge man. It got the hand that the other had raised above his head, ready to strike down on the teens, forcing him to draw backwards, cradling his bleeding hand close to his chest.
The knife he had clutched in his mouth was dropped to the floor when he screamed, which Ryou was quick to take a hold of. He positioned himself in front of Yugi, taking a fighting stance just as Bakura joined him.
"Care to explain what the fuck was that? You didn't have trouble dealing with scum like this in the past." Bakura gritted out, pulling out another knife and getting ready for the next attack.
"What was I supposed to do? Yugi would have been left out in the open."
Bakura's eyes flashed viciously, and in the blink of an eye, he had Ryou in a chokehold. "Are you bloody kidding me!? You let yourself become a target for the sake of one filthy, little pipsqueak!?"
Ryou threw the other's hands off him, glaring heatedly. "We're not talking about this now, Bakura!"
Bakura seethed, growling under his breath before charging at the bulgy one, catching him by surprise and delivering a series of blows, punches and kicks that definitely resulted with a few broken ribs and bones, if that sickening, cracking sound was anything to go by.
"Ryou," Yugi started, unsure how to go about this.
"I need you to go, Yugi." Ryou said, exhaling deeply through the nose, his expression tight when he turned towards him. "I know you're confused right now, and I promise to explain everything once this is over. But for now, it'd probably be better if you got out. It's too dangerous."
You're standing in our way, was probably what he wanted to say, Yugi knew. It was true, though. The things that were taking place here were bizarre, to put it lightly.
Nodding mutely, Yugi rose slowly to his feet. Perhaps he really should get out. He was overwhelmed as it was. He made his way to the door, opening it after a moment's pause. An arm shot out the instant it opened, wrapping around his neck and drawing him against a hard chest. Another blade was pressed against his throat, for the second time, and effectively preventing him from producing any sound.
Yugi squirmed, the whole dagger thing beginning to get on his nerves.
"Going somewhere, weakling?" a deep voice drawled from over his shoulder, causing him to shiver in disgust. Eyes narrowing, Yugi deemed it worthwhile to obey his primal instincts. Quickly, he raised one leg before slamming it as hard as he could onto the foot closer to his own. The moment the man squealed at the unexpected shock of pain, Yugi spun around, kneeing him in the stomach with all the strength he could muster. The man doubled over, his breath leaving him, and Yugi stepped back, away from his reach.
Cold sweat was causing golden strands of hair to stick to his face, obscuring his vision slightly. Fear and adrenaline were racing through his veins, making his pulse beat alarmingly fast and his oxygen supply unsatisfactory.
"You little piece of shit!" the man growled lowly, slowly rising from his bent up position. His hard, resentful gaze nailed Yugi on the spot, pinning in place with the ferocity of it.
With a feral cry, the man charged forward.
Raising his arms in an attempt to shield himself, a startled cry was torn from Yugi's lips when he was pushed to the side, landing painfully on his side. Biting his lower lip to stifle a moan, he sat up shakily, eyes growing double in size. Ryou had engaged his attacker in battle, moving around him with fluid motions and effectively blocking his blows with his own dagger.
It was quite fierce, but pretty amazing at the same time.
Turning sharply on his heel, only barely avoiding a powerful punch, Ryou weaved around the man's outstretched arm and landed behind him. Not giving his opponent the chance to recover from the shock, he brought down his hand in a quick succession of movements, and hit the man behind both knees with the hilt of his weapon, sending him sprawling out on the floor.
The man cursed loudly, making to stand again, but Ryou was already one step ahead. Letting loose an aggravated shout, he used his feet to step on the man's ankles, twisting them to the side and emitting a sound that had Yugi cringing.
A gut-wrenching scream pierced through the air, the man thrashing wildly around on the floor, twitching and scratching at the bloodied tip of the bones that were sticking out of his flesh.
Ryou was by his side in a second's notice, hauling him up and steadying him when he swayed dangerously. "You alright?" the boy whispered, his breathing hard and fast as he gripped Yugi's forearms. "He didn't get you with his dagger, right?"
Frowning, Yugi took hold of the other teen's arms too. "I should be the one asking that. You're tired, I can tell. Did he manage to scrape you anywhere?"
For a moment, Ryou's grip went slack, his wide eyed look unsettling. Yugi's mental alarms instantly went off, concluding that Ryou wasn't unhurt after all, but before he could confront the other about the matter, his eyes landed somewhere in the back. It was an accident, really. He had only wanted to make sure that no more, whatever their pursuers were, had come through the door again.
So, when he caught sight of the man that Ryou had brought down lifting his arm, and the dagger flying in their direction, its sharp tip glinting as it cut through the air, Yugi's breath simply got lodged in his throat.
Taking notice of his suddenly stiff posture, Ryou started turning around too when Yugi flipped them over.
Gasping from the abrupt contact of his back with the ground, Ryou took a moment to realize what had just occurred. Once his mind finally provided him with an answer, Ryou was already sitting up, and then promptly freezing.
Standing only inches away, Yugi's legs were trembling from the force he was putting into remaining upright, his arms not faring any better. But what had Ryou bolting up, was the fine silver blade that was protruding from his stomach. Almost hesitantly, Ryou's gaze trailed upwards, visibly tensing at the image of those pained amethyst eyes.
"Yugi, you…" The rest of his sentence got caught in his throat, and yet, Yugi seemed perfectly capable of catching up.
The teen grinned shakily, a thin, red line making its way down from his parted lips. "I really hate bullies, after all. They always want to have the last say."
Shaking his head, Ryou closed the remaining distance between them, gently bringing his arms up to wrap around the shivering form of the boy. "You shouldn't have done that. Not for a person you met only today."
Yugi let his head fall on Ryou's shoulder, unable to return the embrace. His fingers had already gone cold. "It doesn't matter." he muttered to the fabric of the other's shirt. "I'm just glad I got to help at least one of my friends."
Ryou's arms tightened. "It's okay, Yugi. You'll be alright, I promise."
Yugi's eyes were beginning to water by now, small droplets materializing on Ryou's shirt when he blinked. "I always got into every kind of trouble because of my size and less masculine looks. Quite a favorite target of the bullies, actually. And every time, my friends had to come to my assistance. I never considered my self a coward, but strength isn't really on my side."
"Yugi," Ryou began.
"No," Yugi cut him off, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm sorry I won't get to see them again, but I don't regret what I did." The corners of his lips curled into a small smile. "I could finally protect someone too."
Ryou rubbed soothingly the boy's back, holding him close. "You'll see them again, Yugi. And you'll get to be of help to them too." Tensing when there was no answer in return, Ryou shook Yugi's shoulders. "Yugi?" he called out, grasping the boy's arms. "Yu-"
His breath hitched, wide, brown eyes staring from dazed, unfocused amethyst to the single, bright golden eye in the centre of Yugi's forehead.
"Bakura!" he yelled on the top of his lungs, head jerking up to catch his counterpart flashing him an annoyed look from being interrupted during his fight, before nearly identical brown eyes went wide too. As if urged by a chain reaction, all occupants in the room turned as one, each and every one of them bearing witnesses to this new turn of events.
It wasn't long before screeches replaced the silence, their opponents scurrying frantically all over the place. Blades were thrown carelessly to the ground, their owners nearly running into each other in their hurry to escape the room, some of them jumping right through the window, the glass leaving no traces on their skin as they landed with perfect precision on the ground below before scattering to all directions. More, similar figures followed their example, abandoning the building while they still could.
"Holy shit." muttered Bakura, his voice caring out in the nearly empty classroom. He made his way over to Ryou, watching with an awed expression as the Sennen Eye shone onto the human boy's forehead. Rapid movement captured his attention, and his eyes followed Ryou's hand, scowling when it reached behind the human to pull out a crimson stained dagger.
"He was hit?"
"By rescuing me, yes." Ryou replied, and Bakura's scowl slowly lessened when an all too familiar blue light was emitted from his partner's outstretched palm. Before their eyes, the bleeding wound slowly closed up, leaving only a slight bruise behind.
The golden eye grew in intensity, shining brighter even and illuminating every corner in the shadowed classroom, making it as if the night had ended.
"Bakura," The white haired boy turned, brown eyes colliding with a pair of violet ones.
"You felt it." It was a statement, neither a confirmation nor a question.
Spiky, platinum locks swayed as their owner nodded his head, eyes jerking over to the figure in Ryou's arms.
"Malik?" asked Bakura.
"Taking out the remaining trash. I've already informed him, he's on his way." Not once did his gaze stray away, hardening as they took into consideration the smaller boy's form. "There's nothing remarkable about him."
"Apparently there is." Ryou shot back, slowly lowering Yugi's unconscious form. "Guys," he whispered, a small ecstatic smile playing at his lips when he looked up, "We've found him, found them both."
All three of them looked down, having to shield their eyes when the Eye gave a particularly bright beam, before slowly fading away. The light diminished more and more and soon, the Sennen Eye vanished completely, leaving Yugi's forehead bare once again.
Simultaneously, the three boys' heads snapped to the side. To a spot a few feet away from Yugi, the moonlight illuminated the standing figure of another person.
Deep, bright crimson eyes stared back at them, scrutinizing each and every one of them fully, before they drifted lower. They finally rested on the unconscious figure, softening as they took in the sight.
And somewhere in the deep recesses of Yugi's mind, a second presence settled, biding its time and waiting for the young one's reunion with the world of the living.
TBC…
Sorry for taking so long!
Please review!