Muwahahaha, be ready for major fluff! Yes people, I've finally found some time to put some real YxYY fluff into this all. Hope you all enjoy and R&R!

--: 04 :--

Yuugi whimpered softly, trying desperately to get to sleep again but failing. He'd slept only a few hours and he was still tired. His mind however refused to go to sleep again, once more swimming with confused thoughts about everything going on.

He was in a strange world with spirits, currently working in a bathhouse so he wouldn't be turned into a pig by some crazy guy with a haircut that could actually rival his in weirdness.

His grandfather had been turned into a pig and who knew what could happen to him. He could be eaten for all Yuugi knew. He needed to find a way to change his grandfather back but he really didn't know how.

And then there was the one person plaguing his thoughts most: Yami. Was he really trying to help? Or was he just following orders from Mariku to lead him into some sort of trap?

He was utterly confused and really didn't know what to do. He just wanted to curl up and stay here, trying to empty his thoughts.

The sound of a door opening behind him was heard and Yuugi froze for a second. He clenched his eyes and tried to stay as silent as possible so whoever just came in would think he was asleep and would just leave him alone. Footsteps came closer until a hand was put on his shoulder and Yuugi froze up even more.

"Meet me at the bridge, I'll take you to your grandfather." The hand was removed again and the footsteps left. Yuugi had recognized the baritone voice though. As soon as the he heard the door close again he jumped out of bed, trying to stay silent as he looked around for his regular clothes for a second but not finding them. He sighed in annoyance as he quickly put on the worker's clothes Joey had given him last night.

He ran out of the room and into an elevator to go down. He still didn't know whether to trust Yami or not, but the thought of seeing his grandfather – as a pig or not – made him run as fast as he could, as he descended all the flights of the bathhouse. He would just have to trust his crimson-eyed look-alike.

Besides, his hormones were screaming at him too. He wanted to see Yami again. He just hoped to see the gentle side, not the cold one.

He reached Seto's boiler room and looked around for his shoes and socks. Neither could be seen anywhere around and Yuugi stared in confusion. He left them here, so where were they now?

"My shoes…" The soot balls looked out of the holes in the wall of drawers as they heard Yuugi's voice. Seto was still asleep so they didn't have anything to do at the moment. They withdrew for a second to come with with Yuugi's shoes and socks. Yuugi smiled at the black creatures, before quickly taking the items and putting them on.

"Thank you!" He ran out of the boiler room, glaring at the stairs he now had to climb. He took a deep breath before starting to climb the rotten wooden steps. He got up without any steps splintering and resisted the urge to point and laugh at the stairs in victory. This of course would've been quite weird since the stairs weren't really trying to stop him.

At least Yuugi thought they weren't.

He quickly made his way to the bridge, but stopped in his tracks as he saw the strange mime-like person there once more. For some reason the mime creeped him out. After all, Yami had said no one could see him but the mime had looked him straight in the eye when they had crossed the bridge the first time.

A shiver briefly ran down his spine before he started crossing. He needed to get to the other side; Yami was waiting for him after all. As soon as he had passed the mime, he ran the rest of the way, wanting to be as far away from the creepy guy as possible.

Once on the other side he turned to look back and see if the mime had followed him or anything, but feeling eyes on him made him turn back. He found Yami already standing there, waiting for him.

"Follow me." The older turned around and started to walk back into the garden they'd passed through when going to the bath house. Yuugi swallowed thickly, remember that they'd also gone through a pig-pen at that point, and that that was most likely the place where his grandfather would be in his current state.

They walked in silence for a while until Yami slowed his pace a little to walk together with Yuugi, "We'll have to hurry. If someone finds us you'll probably be turned into a pig as well." Yuugi nodded, immediately glancing around nervously. No one was around though, so they were safe for now.

"Good, you must also never come here without me. It's far too dangerous. Understood?" Yuugi nodded once more, his trust towards the other growing a bit more. Yami was once more trying to keep him safe. So far, no traps or anything of the sort.

Yuugi mentally sighed, Yami was looking out for him and here he was, thinking up conspiracy theories for the other. He felt slightly ashamed of himself but the tiniest bit of apprehension stayed with him.

They entered the pig-pen and Yami stopped. Yuugi bit his lip before looking at the cage Yami was motioning to. His eyes widened at seeing a fat pig laying there, seemingly more dead than alive. Yuugi quickly ran over to the gate keeping the cage closed. "Grandpa, are you okay? It's me, Hikari!" the name didn't even sound strange to him even though it was the one he'd gotten from Mariku, not his real one. In fact, Yuugi's mind only registered the name 'Hikari' as his, not remembering any other.

No response came from the pig and Yuugi bit his lip. "Come on! Wake up! Grandpa!" Again no response and Yuugi panicked slightly. Was his grandfather sick or something?

He felt arms slip around his waist and pull him into a hug from behind. Yuugi looked behind him to see sympathetic crimson eyes look back at him. The last bit of doubt left Yuugi; no one could give a look like that and not mean it.

"What's wrong with him? Is he sick or something?" Yuugi leaned back into the hug, looking worriedly at the pig. Yami rubbed his stomach in a comforting manner.

"No, he simply ate too much and is sleeping it off now. It's up to you to remember which one he is though." Yami grip tightened slightly and Yuugi suddenly realized in what position he actually was. He was being held by a guy he barely knew and was considering a crush, and for some reason it didn't feel strange the slightest bit.

He shifted nervously a bit and Yami must've noticed as his grip loosened, giving Yuugi a chance to get away if he wanted. Yuugi didn't move, though, the embrace felt far too safe for that.

He looked back at the cage for a few more moment before sighing, "He better not eat too much or they'll eat him." Yami chuckled behind him before unwrapping one arm and using the other to guide Yuugi away from the pig-pen. Yuugi glanced behind him once more to take in the animal form of his grandfather, before turning back and focusing on walking wherever Yami was taking him.

Yami simply took him into the garden again though, letting go so they could sit down in the green, lush grass. Yuugi sat down with a sigh, pulling his knees to his chest as Yami sat down next to him.

Yami pulled something out of a bag he'd been carrying around and Yuugi looked up curiously, "Here are you clothes, keep them somewhere safe so you don't lose them again."

Yuugi eyes widened as he took the clothes from Yami and looked at them, "I thought they'd been thrown away." He happily fiddled with the clothes, glad to have them back. Something in the pocket of his jeans caught his attention and he pulled it out, revealing the goodbye card Ryou and given him.

"Ghe, my card's even still here." He read over the card again, frowning as he read the name at the bottom. "Yuugi…?" His mind tried to remember the name until his eyes widened, "That's my name! Yuugi, not Hikari!" he looked up at Yami to see the other smiling.

"That's how Mariku controls everything, by stealing your name and changing it. You must hold on to that card and hide it so no one can take it away. As long as you're here though, you'll have to call yourself Hikari so no one will suspect anything." Yami suddenly gained a faraway look on his face, as if remembering something. Yuugi cocked his head to the side thoughtfully.

"If that's true… then what's your name?" Yuugi could've sworn he saw Yami flinch at the question ever so slightly, but it was covered up in no time. He wasn't even sure if it had really been there or just his imagination.

"I've tried everything to remember mine, but I simply can't recall it, no matter what I try." Yami looked away at the ground sadly and Yuugi felt a pang of guilt at having asked. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around the other, trying to comfort him. Yami looked up at him again, smiling a little at the look in Yuugi's eyes.

"Don't worry about it, Little One. It's really strange though. I can't remember what my name is, but for some reason I remember yours while I can't recall any time we've met before. Just that we were both still little children."

Yuugi frowned at that but couldn't shake the feeling that they'd indeed known each other from before. Yami looked thoughtful for a moment longer, before snapping out of it and grabbing something else from the bag next to him.

"I brought you some food since I know Mariku isn't one to give that away a lot." Yami chuckled to himself for a second, "Though you picked a good friend in that department, Joey is really good at sneaking extra food out."

Yuugi laughed a little at that before taking the food offered but not taking a bite, "I'm not really that hungry…" He played with it a little in his hands before Yami took it from him.

"I put a spell on it to give you your strength back. You'll need it, trust me." He didn't offer it back to Yuugi and simply held it to Yuugi's mouth so he could take a bite. Yuugi smiled slightly at the childish gesture but took a bite nonetheless.

An arm was once more wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer and Yuugi rested his head on Yami's shoulder. The older smiled gently again as he continued to feed Yuugi. They just sat there for a time, watching the clouds above them go by and listening to birds – Yuugi hoped they were birds anyway – sing.

After some time Yami shifted and Yuugi pulled away from him, allowing the other to stand up and hold his hand out for Yuugi to take, "You should get back to the bathhouse to get some more sleep before they come to wake you up for work."

Yuugi sighed, not really wanting to go but knowing he really did need the sleep for the rest of the day. He accepted the hand and Yami helped him up, before they started walking towards the gate to the garden.

"I have to go for some time, but don't worry about it. Just try to keep out of trouble okay?" Yuugi pouted slightly at the suggestion that he'd get himself into trouble and Yami chuckled, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Yuugi in a short hug. He briefly kissed Yuugi's forehead before letting go and walking in the opposite direction.

Yuugi's cheeks heat up at the small kiss and he quickly turned away in case Yami looked back. He ran through the gate so he was out of Yami's sight before looking back. A black dragon flew through the sky and Yuugi briefly stared at it. He couldn't explain how, but for some reason he could feel that that dragon was Yami. He stared after it, a feeling of dread for some reason creeping up on him again as he watched the dragon disappear. For some reason, he knew something bad was going to happen, but he couldn't do anything about it.

Sighing, he turned back to the bridge and froze shortly at seeing the mime still standing there, but then hit himself mentally. The mime had not once done anything to him, he was just creepy.

Yuugi simply walked over the bridge, refusing to start running as he passed the mime. Nothing would happen. It was just another spirit from this world, no one special.

He walked down the worn wooden staircase once more, but calmer this time as if he was more confident now. The steps didn't splinter and he got down without any trouble.

Once down though he could feel how tired he really was after everything that had happened in the last hour or so. He hadn't had much sleep before this after all. He yawned as he entered the boiler room, the heat only making him more drowsy. After he'd taken off his shoes and socks once more the tiredness took over and he lay down without a second though, using the bundle of clothes Yami'd given him back as a pillow.

That's how Seto found him when the brunette woke up a couple of hours later. The soot balls were sleeping around the young boy and Seto couldn't help but let the tiniest of smiles creep onto his face – though he'd deny to any who asked.

Seto simply started up work, trying to stay as silent as possible so Yuugi could sleep some more. Joey later came down with breakfast and completely panicked until he saw Yuugi sleeping on the ground.

"So dis is where he went." He cocked his head to the side in confusion, "Wonder why he's down here and not in bed."

Seto shrugged as he took the bowl of food Joey had taken with him, "No idea, Pup. But make sure he stays upstairs next time, or I might have to buy a leash for the both of you." Joey swatted him playfully, knowing Seto's bark was far worse than his bite.

As a retort, Seto simply pulled Joey in his lap and kissed the blonde, making sure the bowl of food wouldn't fall to the ground. Joey eagerly returned the kiss.

Sadly enough for Yuugi, that's what he woke up to. Moans in the air and clothes not all in place anymore. Yuugi would never look at the two the same way ever again.


"So where did ya go? I mean ya weren't in bed and in da boiler room so you had to have gone somewhere." Yuugi looked away nervously, not wanting to tell his blonde friend that he'd been with Yami. It somehow felt strange for a low worker to be spending time with the right hand of the boss. Somehow Yuugi knew that didn't work well.

"No place special, just couldn't sleep so I went to look around." Joey frowned at him and Yuugi pointedly ignored his gaze, knowing his eyes were like an open book and Joey would see he was lying.

"You should watch out with dat, you could get inta trouble." Yuugi just nodded, keeping his gaze ahead of him as he kept walking to wherever he was supposed to work right now.

Joey didn't seem very convinced of his answer but dropped the subject nonetheless. The blonde guided him through the already crowded halls to the room they had to clean. Joey gave him a rag and simply pointed at a bucket of water with soap. Yuugi frowned at the primitive way of cleaning but just shrugged it off. It wasn't like he really expected any more advanced cleaning stuff anyway.

Most people kept a close eye on him as he started to clean the floor, obviously having no trust in a human. Yuugi was determined to show them he could do something however. It didn't matter to him that he was only doing this so he wouldn't be turned into a pig. He'd show these spirits what humans were made of.

Sadly enough his body seemed to disagree with his determination and he slipped on the wet floor as he went. Snickers were heard as Yuugi got up, grumbling to himself what a complete idiot he really was and that he really had to stop falling and crashing into stuff. Something told him that it would be very hard to stop doing that though, this world really seemed to have a bad effect on him.

He gave everyone around him that was snickering a quick annoyed look – which sadly did not faze anyone – before going on with his work. He managed to not fall anymore, and in the end mentally stuck his tongue out at everyone around him. There, humans were just as good as these people and Yuugi would prove it.

As the bucket of water had become too dirty to use and they were done with the floor anyway, Yuugi quickly took it and walked over to one of the doors leading outside. Rain was pouring down harshly and Yuugi was quite happy not to be out there. His mind briefly turned to his grandfather but he pushed it aside, assuming the other would be safe in his pen.

He quickly emptied the bucket, wanting to close the door and get back to the warmth of the bathhouse but suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine again. He looked up to see the strange mime looking at him from a distance and the shivering increased. Yuugi still didn't quite trust the other.

Nonetheless, the guy was getting soaked in the rain and Yuugi didn't want him to get sick – if spirits could even become sick in the first place. He nervously smiled, calming himself down as much as he could, "Hello, aren't you getting wet?"

He got no response as the mime just kept staring at him. Another shiver ran down Yuugi's spine but he once more tried his best to suppress it. "I'll leave the door open for you okay?" He quickly went back in, the mime still unnerving him greatly. He didn't even look back to see if the other came in or not, but he had a feeling the mime had. he tried to ignore the feeling though as he continued his chores.

"Bad luck, Joey. You and the human get the big tub." Yuugi looked up curiously and saw the woman Joey had been talking to when the blonde had first sneaked him to Mariku – Mai was it? – standing there with a slightly amused smile on her face. Joey's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Mai.

"Ya gotta be kiddin' me! Dat's frog work!" The blonde glared around him, trying to figure out who had made this decision. Mai in the mean time smirked and shrugged.

"Sorry, hun. Command from the higher ups." Mai petted his shoulder in a sympathetic, yet slightly teasing way, before turning around to do her own work again. Joey let out a frustrated sigh and glared at the ceiling as if it could really do anything about his situation.

"Uhm… what's the big tub?" Joey didn't say another word as he grabbed Yuugi's arm and started to pull him into a, to Yuugi, random direction. Yuugi had no idea what was going on, but he figured Joey was dragging him to the big tub to show him what it was. As they entered a large room, Yuugi's eyes widened at what he saw.

A huge tub was in the centre of the room, but it wasn't as clean as the rest in the bathhouse. Grime covered the tub on the inside as the floor around it was also covered in dirt. Yuugi stared at it wide-eyed, suddenly understanding Joey's disdain when Mai had told them about the big tub. It was quite obvious that this had been what the woman had meant.

"Dis is da big tub. We wash our filthiest customers in dis thin'." Joey pulled a face as he looked over the amount of sludge caked onto the sides. "Dis will take weeks to wash off, just look at it!"

Yuugi had to admit that it looked rather pointless to try and clean the tub, but an order was an order. He'd promised Yami he would try his hardest and so he would.

They started, Yuugi feeling slightly nauseous as he stood in the tub and tried to clear all the grime and sludge away. Joey muttered soft curses behind him, obviously not liking this any better than he did, and maybe even less. Yuugi sighed before looking behind him as Joey stomped on the bottom of the tub in frustration.

"Dis is no use, we need an herbal-soap token or we'll never get dis ta look even acceptable!" Yuugi cocked his head in confusion as Joey came over to him and helped him out of the bath. "Just go to the foreman and ask for an herbal-soap token okay? He'll know what ta give ya." Yuugi nodded before walking out of the room, wondering where the foreman actually was, and therefore where he was supposed to go to now.


For those who didn't understand yet since it's not that clear in the story, the mime is Strings. Since he's about the only character in YGO that doesn't say anything, I figured he'd be the only good character to replace No Face. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed and Review!