To be honest, I'm surprised I've gotten any reaction to this as fast as it did. It's not tons, but omg it still makes me very happy~

And since I'm planning on making this rather short, I figure to write for this faster than my other fics that require more planning and attention.

Anyway, please don't mind any mistakes I might have missed~

A few weeks had passed without any hospital stays, which was good news for Yugi. Less hospital stays meant life had been easy on him. He still had bad days, but he was thankful that they weren't too bad. Every once in a while he'd find a letter on his desk. Most of the time, they were letters of encouragement, other times they were letters asking how he was doing and the author hoped that they would see Yugi in school the next day.

Yugi still wondered who the person sending him the letters was. He doubted that they were from anyone who was popular. Yugi believed that the popular crowd never cared about him, which was always proven correct when one of them would ridicule him. Which was why Jounouchi stayed on high alert for days after the hospital visit. There was no way he was going to let anyone bully his pal and get away with it.

That was, until he wasn't there.

The day had finally come. The day that brought Yugi so much pain and suffering. The day always put Yugi in a bad mood. He'd wake up, try and ditch school but his conscience would be yelling at him to go. So, he'd drag himself to school, Jounouchi there, trying to lift his mood but getting nowhere. He'd sit in silence, trying to fight the tears that threatened to fall. He'd grow frustrated, the day seemed to just drag on and on. That seemed to be routine by now.

However, this time the day brought a surprise for the teen. He stayed a bit late after school, wanting to get some extra work done. Jounouchi insisted on staying with him, but Yugi told him he'd be fine. After much complaining from the friend, he finally agreed and went home. Truth was, was that Yugi just wanted some alone time. He didn't want to go home and have his grandfather try and cheer him up and he didn't want to wander around town and see people with smiles on their faces.

When he finally decided it was time to head home, a voice stopped him dead in his tracks. He was able to make out to the front gates of school, but that's as far as he could go. His blood ran cold and his heart started beating in his chest, the sound reaching his ears.

Ushio.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Yugi took a step back, wanting more than anything to just get away. Yugi really wished he never told Jounouchi to leave. He knew it was silly, but he hoped his friend would just show up out of thin air and protect him.

"What's a matter? Cat got your tongue?" The bully took a step closer to Yugi, his knuckles cracking under his palms, "You know, ever since your friend has been protecting you, I haven't be able to torment you, but he's not here, isn't he?"

Yugi couldn't find his voice. His legs wouldn't move. He was trapped. The teen had no choice but to take the beating. He shut his eyes, wincing when he felt the strong punch to his stomach. His legs gave out, causing the teen to fall to the ground. Yugi kept his eyes shut, not wanting to see what came next.

He waited for the next blow, but nothing came. Slowly, he opened his eyes. In front of him was someone he didn't expect to come to his rescue.

"You know, it's not nice to pick on people." The deep voice of a classmate reached his ears.

Yugi watched as his savior held Ushio's punch in his hand, a smirk on his face, "Yami?" His voice was no louder than a whisper.

Yami shot him a look before delivering a quick kick to Ushio's feet, causing the bully to lose his balance. Loud curses reached his ears as he turned and grabbed Yugi's hand, pulling the teen to his feet, "Come on." He looked at Yugi in the eyes for a spilt second before taking off, pulling Yugi with him.

When the two deemed it was safe, they stopped at a park, taking a seat at a bench. Yugi caught his breath, looking up the night sky. The stars always seemed to calm his nerves. Yami stole a few glances at his classmate, trying to fight the blush that burned on his cheeks.

"Thank you."

Yami looked to Yugi. He watched as the teen looked up to stars, a somber smile on his face. Yami cleared his throat, quickly looking down to his lap, "It was nothing," he looked back, "You okay?"

Yugi nodded, finally looking back to Yami, "As okay as I'll ever be."

Yami frowned at this, "I know we don't talk much, but you know if you ever need a friend, I'm available."

Yugi blinked a few times before looking down at his lap, "I'll keep that in mind." Yugi was happy to hear that Yami was willing to be his friend, but Yugi wasn't someone to just trust so easily. He didn't want to get close to someone. Getting close to someone meant that it was just another person who would end up hurting him. Jounouchi and Atem were the only ones he was able to open up to, but he often wondered why he couldn't do the same for someone else. He let out a sigh, "Today was awful."

Yami looked back to him, "How so? You know, if you don't mind telling me."

Yugi shrugged, "It's just that today has never been nice to me." Before Yami could say anything else, Yugi stood, "Anyway, I better get going. Thank you again though." He gave Yami his best smile he could muster, "I really appreciate it."

Yami just nodded, unsure of what to say. He let out a sigh, watching as Yugi walked off.

"So, you saved the guy from Ushio, huh?" Malik asked his friend while he pulled at a lose thread on his uniform, "That makes you a new member on his hit-list."

Bakura leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the desk, "I ain't saving your ass once Ushio beats it." He laughed, leaning his elbows on the desk behind him.

Malik clicked his tongue in annoyance, pushing Bakura's elbows off his desk, "I don't get it, why won't you just tell the shorty how you feel?"

Bakura dodged the hand that came at his face, "Yeah, what's the worst he's gonna do? Turn you down?"

Yami rolled his eyes at his friends' antics, "You mean how Ryou turned you down?" He asked, a smirk on his face.

Malik started laughed while Bakura's eyes went wide. After a few seconds, Bakura smacked his laughing friend before pouting in his seat, "Man, shut up."

Yami watched as his two friends carried on, the two annoying each other to no end. The door to the classroom opening quickly catching Yami's attention. His heart dropped at the sight. He watched as Yugi and Jounouchi made their way to their usual spot. Yugi looked horrible. He had bags under his eyes and it looked like he'd been crying all morning.

Malik and Bakura stopped their fighting to watch as the sight of Yami's affection took his seat. The two friends looked over to Yami, waiting for his reaction. Yami let out a sigh, looking down at his desk.

Malik was the first to do something. He nudged his friend, silently urging him to go talk to him. Yami just shook his head. The two friends didn't push Yami after that. Instead, they just watched as he stayed quiet for the rest of the class.

Atem watched through the small opening of the door as his brother wrote something down an ivory paper. He didn't want to make his appearance known yet, letting Yami write his letter in peace. Finally, when Yami folded the paper and stuck it in a matching envelope was when Atem decided to knocked at his door, "Yami?" He asked, opening the door a bit more, "You busy?"

Yami shook his head, sticking the letter under a book, "No."

Atem walked in, sitting at his brother's bed, "Can I ask you something?"

Yami stood up from his desk, sitting across from his brother on the bed, "Sure, but don't you have work soon?"

Atem shrugged, "I've got time."

Yami gave him a small smile, "But I don't think your patients do."

"That's why I left early. I wanted to have time so I can stop by."

Yami nodded, "Oh. So, what did you want?"

Atem tilted his head to the side, noticing how distracted his brother seemed, "Why do you look so down?"

Yami shook his head, "It's nothing." Truth was, he was still worried over Yugi, but he wasn't going to let his brother know that.

Atem wanted to say something, but he decided against it. Instead, he asked what he originally wanted to, "So, how's the crush going?"

Yami rolled his eyes, "That's why you're here?"

Atem just nodded, "Yup. Hey, if I gotta coach my little brother on the ways of romance, then I'm gonna do it."

Yami chuckled, shaking his head, "Okay then. But, I don't think you're qualified for that."

Atem scoffed, "And why not?"

"Have you asked Mahado out yet?"

Atem blushed, scratching his head as he looked away, "Shut up."

Yami smiled at his brother, "But honestly, I don't know. I doubt they like me back. Besides, they'll just turn me down if I ask."

"You don't know that."

Yami shook his head, "No. I'm sure. I don't think they care about a love life right now, anyway."

"And why is that?"

"I don't think I should say anything, actually."

Atem just nodded, it was good to know that he wanted to respect his personal life. After a while, Atem stood, "Well, I better get to work now," he ruffled his brother's hair, laughing at the reaction he received, "See ya."

Yami stood, "Hey," he started, causing his brother to stop and turn around, "Is it worth it? Confessing?"

Atem nodded, "I think so."

Yami looked down, letting out a sigh, "Okay," he looked up, a sly smile on his face, "Fine. As soon as I confess, you gotta ask Mahado out on a date."

Atem's jaw dropped, "Yami, you know that's different!"

Yami smirked, his arms crossed over his chest, "Is it?"

Atem crossed his arms, unsure if he should be angry or amused at his brother's proposition, "You know what, you little rat – "

"Well?"

Atem sighed, giving up, "Fine. Once you confess, I'll ask Mahado out. Happy?"

Yami nodded, "Delighted."

"Another one, huh?" Jounouchi asked Yugi, looking at the letter in his friend's hand, "If you ask me, this person should just come right out and confess if they like you so much."

Yugi looked down, "Even you think they're love letters."

"Well, isn't it obvious?"

Yugi shrugged, looking back up to his friend, "Maybe. Besides, I doubt anyone would like me like that."

Jounouchi shook his head, "Nope. Don't say that, Yug. I'm sure there's someone out there who like ya."

Yugi sighed, "If you saw so." Yugi looked back down to the letter in his hands. Letting out a breath, he finally decided to open it.

"Yugi,

I saw you yesterday, you okay? I hope you're doing okay, I don't like seeing you so down. I'm not asking you to just get better out of nowhere, I'm just hoping you keep fighting. It's tough, but I'm sure you can make it through. Remember, there's always something to keep living for. Even if it's something so small.

- Pharaoh"