Yugi was unsure which pain was worse - the shock of what happened, or the ache of what never will. He raised his forefinger, signaling the bartender for another round. 'Just one more,' he told himself, but that was four drinks ago... Or was it six? He couldn't remember. The more he drank, the blurrier his memory got, and the less he cared. Obviously, the answer was to drink more.

People always say that alcohol was an acquired taste - that no one ever likes it at first - but eventually, you learn to get used to the burn, and then you began to actually taste the flavor of it. What flavor, Yugi wasn't sure, but there had to be something good about it since people keep drinking it, right?

Or maybe it was less of "acquiring the taste," and more like plunging your hand in a bucket of ice water. It hurts like hell in the beginning, and then you go numb - and who didn't want a few moments of numbness once in a while? Yugi never understood the need to feel nothing before, but now he did. Sometimes, maybe you just needed a prolonged time of nothingness to collect yourself before jumping back into the fray of turmoil feelings. Maybe it was healthy to have a bit of nothing to figure out something. And so Yugi sat, getting drunker and drunker and falling more in love with just the idea of silence.

But the more Yugi drank, the more he also realized that, instead of going numb, he was simply just entering a state of aloofness. He felt his heartbreak, but somehow it was detached from him, like it was someone else's pain and he was watching it through a screen. Anzu didn't love him; he didn't care. Ryuji was dating her; he didn't care. Jou hadn't told Yugi Ryuji was back in town; he didn't care. Yami never said anything... suddenly, like it was the magic word to snap him from his blank state, Yugi cared. He cared so much that he felt as if he were about to collapse in on himself.

"Why din' he say an'thin' before now?" He slurred, setting his forehead against the cool surface of the bar. It was the one thing he really couldn't wrap his head around - why Yami would be silent and let Yugi find out in such a terrible way. He thought their relationship was better than that - that Yami could come to him for anything. How could Yugi have misjudged everything, from his trust in Yami to Anzu's availability, so horribly? Tears formed at the corner of his eyes. "Curs' yer sudden, yet inevit'ble betray'l." He muttered.

"All right, buddy." The bartender said, appearing in front of Yugi to clear away the glasses. "You're cut off."

"No, no." Yugi looked up at the man. "M'fine."

"Yeah, sure you are." The bartender replied, looking like he'd heard it all before. Well, working where he did, he probably had heard it before. At the beckon of another patron, the bartender left Yugi.

"Hey." A new, deeper voice said. Yugi looked over to see a muscular man sit down next to him. "Tough night?"

Yugi blew out a breath of air that lifted his bangs in the gust. "Y'coul' say that again." He bemoaned. "An' now I be - Cut. Off." He made a slicing motion over his throat with his hand for dramatic effect. "But I'm fiiine."

"Yeah, you look it." The guy raised a brow. "Do you have your cellphone?"

"Nah, I left that thing back home." Yugi giggled at his mistake. "Apparently, no one likes to tell me things, 'nyway."

"That's a shame. A catch like you?"

Yugi giggled again.
"Please."

"I'm serious." The man leaned forward. "But fuck 'em, right?"

"Yeah. Fuck 'em!" Yugi nodded fervently. "You're a good guy." The other man scratched the back of his head, messing up his dark hair, and Yugi thought maybe he was embarrassed. "I guess I should call som'one, though...yeah?"

"I suppose you could." The man grinned and slung an arm over Yugi's shoulder. "Or... you could stick around and keep a guy company."

Yugi blinked at the man.
"I should at least call Yami and let him know I'ma be out late."

The man blinked.
"Who's that? You got a boyfriend?"

"What? No." Yugi rubbed his eye with the heel of his hand. "Well, I though' he was my best friend. But, y'know... Shit happ'ns." He sighed. "Turns out he's been lyin' to me for a wh'le now." Yugi rested his head on his hands, leaning over the bar. "I wish I knew why he didn't just...speak up."

"Maybe it was just something he couldn't figure out how to say?" The man passed Yugi a bottle of water. "Maybe he just didn't know how to tell you without causing you pain. I couldn't say for sure, though. I don't know the guy."

Yugi thought about that, accepting the water. "Maybe." He allowed, sipping. "Probably." He took a swing of the water. "Now that I think about it... He does avoid hurting me." Yugi frowned, drank more. "But that doesn' excuse it. He basic'ly lied to me." He gave the bottle back to the man. "Thanks."

"Keep yourself hydrated." The guy said with an odd smile.

"How do you know when you can and can't trust som'one?"

Yugi had asked the question mostly to himself, but the muscled guy stared at the ceiling, mulling it over. "Well...I guess it's more of an instinct. Sometimes you can just tell who you can trust. Like, with animals." The man leaned forward. "You know how, with some people, dogs will growl and try to bite them? Because they can tell that the person is bad. Humans are like that, too. We don't listen as well as animals do, but it's still there. The weird, prickling feeling you get when something isn't right. And the calm feeling you have when it is."

Yugi was silent for a long time. What the man made sense, and, suddenly, Yugi wanted to go home. The longer he sat there, the more urgent his own prickling feeling got. But he couldn't figure out why. Or why the music seemed to be fading out. "Hey, m'sorry to ask, but can I borrow yer phone?" He wondered, looking at the man again.

He looked taken aback for a moment, like he hadn't expected Yugi to ask, but then smiled.
"Yeah, sure. No problem." He pulled a phone out of his back pocket and handed it to Yugi.

"Thanks again...uh, what's your name?"

"Kit." The man replied quickly.

"Right." Yugi nodded and took the phone. He looked down at the numbers on the screen and, before he could really think about who he was going to call, his fingers were already dialing the number. Because, even with the turmoil Yugi was feeling, or how he had possibly hurt the other before, there was one person who he knew would always be there.

"Hello?" Yami answered from the other side of the line on the second ring.

"Hey, Yami!" Yugi replied, trying to sound as sober as he could - and failing.

"Yugi?" There was relief in his voice. "Thank God. You left your phone at home, so I couldn't call you. It's been hours since you left! Where are you?"

"Yami..." Yugi repeated, trying to figure out what to say. He was not good on the phone, he needed to see the face - the pattern of eyes, nose, and the mouth. When people talked, they were meant to be face-to-face. With a phone, you said words, but you never watched them sink in. It's like you see them off at the airport, but you never know if anyone is there to greet them when they got off the plane.

"Yes?" Yami asked.

"She doesn't love me, Yami." Is what Yugi finally settled on as an opening. He sounded so small, so pathetic, that it made tears sting his eyes. "Ryuji's back...been back for months. She's datin' him. An' I didn't know it before. No one told me. I thought we would be together - I really believed she liked me, too." He held back a sob, and he almost choked on it. "I got upset with you earlier. M'sorry." Yugi clutched the phone in both hands, hoping Yami would somehow understand how bad he felt without actually saying it, because he couldn't find the words to describe what he was feeling. He wanted Yami to know how sorry he was that he got angry, how hurt he was that Anzu wasn't his, and how betrayed he felt that everyone seemed to know what he hadn't. And how, even though he'd been lied to, how quickly he was ready to forgive Yami.

"M'sorry..." He ended up repeating. "M'so sorry"

"Where are you?"

Yugi glanced around him. "In a bar. I don' know the name...but it's not far from the dance studio." He paused. "I think?"

"Are you drunk?"

"V'ry much so."

"I'll come and get you." Yami said. Yugi rubbed his face, removing any tears that might have slipped past, and Kit handed him a napkin. "Did you hear me? Stay where you are."

"'Kay." Yugi took a deep breath.

"And Yugi?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't drink anymore."

Suddenly, Yugi felt like laughing.
"I've alr'dy been cut off."

"Jesus." Yami groaned. Yugi did laugh this time. "It's not funny."

"Sure it is." Yugi giggled. 'What is wrong with me?' He thought, but he couldn't stop snickering. He tried to stand up, but he couldn't feel his legs. Something was wrong.

"Are you okay?" Kit asked, leaning close. Yugi could smell his aftershave, and he blinked slowly, looking up.

"I...I don't..." The world felt like it was tilted, and Yugi felt a little sick. He noticed that the phone wasn't in his hand anymore; his connection to Yami was gone. Where did it...? Had he dropped the phone?

"Here, I'll drive you home." Yugi's new acquaintance said, helping him out of his seat.

"Yami told me to...stay..." Yugi protested, slumping against Kit's body heavily when his legs didn't support him.

"I'll call him back and let him know you're on your way." He assured Yugi softly. Yugi felt cool air hit his face, and he realized they were outside. It was dark, and he heard thunder off in the distance. Wasn't he just inside? How did they get out here?

"Wha...time...?" He tried to ask, but his tongue was too heavy to form a complete sentence. Kit didn't answer, but Yugi could hear him breathing from somewhere above his ear. The walked for a while, and Yugi tried to recognize the surrounding scenery,but he came up with nothing. With a bolt of fear, he realized that Kit didn't ever ask him for his address.

"Here's my car." Kit said, Yugi heard the squeak of an opening door.

"Wait...you don't know...where..."

"You're not going home." Kit answered. Goosebumps rose on Yugi's skin. He had to get away.

"No." Yugi pushed away from Kit, stumbling back. "...away."

"Just get in the car." Kit said, grabbing Yugi's arm roughly, shoving him against the car. Yugi grunted as his knees impacted the metal frame. He filled up his lungs to cry out for help-

"Get your filthy hands off of him." A new, enraged voice called out.

"Mind your own business, man." Kit said back. "Or you'll get hurt."

"He is my business." The newcomer spat.

"Yami..." Yugi called meekly, and he wretched his arm from Kit's grasp.

"Don't you move." Kit warned him. Yugi gave him a nasty look.

"Fuck...you." Yugi wobbled on his feet, almost falling. There was something seriously wrong with his body. He could feel sweat rolling down his brow. "What did...you do to me?"

"Just a little pill to slow you down." Kit answered. "I couldn't have you wigging out on me before the fun began." There was a weird caress against Yugi's cheek, and he jerk back from the stranger's hand. "The crying is for later." The tone in Kit's voice made Yugi's insides churn.

"Yugi, has he hurt you?" Yami asked, his voice oddly calm.

"Other than the...obvious?" Yugi rolled his eyes with a bit of difficulty.

Kit laughed and pulled a small item from his pocket. Yugi saw the glint, and recognized it as a switchblade. Kit looked at Yugi.
"You stay put while I deal with lover-boy over here. Not that you can run, anyway. I'll be be qui-"

He never finished the sentence, Yami had seen his opening and charged at Kit. Yugi tripped over his feet as he got out of the way of the flying blade Yami had knocked from Kit's hand. Smaller and less muscular than Kit, Yami had an advantage in speed. He ducked under Kit's fist and aimed a jab into the assulting man's stomach. Kit bent over, wheezing, and Yami landed a kick to the back of his knee. Kit lashed out as he fumbled and fell forward, his fist catching Yami in the jaw. Yami stumbled back a few steps, off balance.

Yugi fell to his knees, running his hands along the wet cement, searching in the dark. His hand hit and closed on something sharp, cutting him. The blade. Yugi grabbed the handle, holding it up in front of him, ready to use it in his defense. But when he tried to stand back up, he couldn't lift himself. His limbs were too weak from whatever drug Kit had slipped him. There was a cry, and Yugi turned to look behind him, stomach flipping. Yami had Kit in a head lock, and Kit was flailing, trying to breathe.

To Yugi, who was under the influence of a few things, the whole fight seemed to last only an instant before it was over. Somehow, already, Kit was lying unconscious on the ground, and Yami was limping as he walked. Yugi felt water against his face; the rain had returned to wash away the evidence of their fight.

The first thing Yugi could think to ask was: "Is he dead?"

"No." Yami said, almost regretfully, panting as he leaned down to pull Yugi's arm over his shoulders.

"Are you okay?"

"We're going home." Yami said, ignoring Yugi's question, and they both started walking away.

"What just happened?" Yugi asked, trying to clear his head. The cold rain helped with that. He felt something in his hand, and he realized he was still holding onto the switchblade. He quickly dropped it, leaving it on the ground behind them. Yami turned to him at the clatter it made, and Yugi saw bruises blossoming on his pale face. "You're hurt." Yugi said.

"I'm fine." Yami replied, short. His eyes traveled from Yugi's face to his hand, and he abruptly stopped walking. "You have a cut." He lifted Yugi's hand to eye level, examining the long, deep slash on his palm.

"Ow." Yugi said, surprised. Yami dropped Yugi's hand and kept leading him down the road.

"We'll clean and bandage it at home. We're nearly there."

Yugi was starting to fully grasp what had just happened. "I was drugged." He said, almost surprised. "How did that happen? I didn't even - oooh..." Yugi shook his head, feeling stupid. "The water." He felt sick all over. He thought Kit had been a good guy. "I didn't even drink that much of it..."

Yami kept walking, silent, and all Yugi could do was laugh as if it were funny, instead of sad and true.