Title: The Black Tattoo
Author: SilverWing147
Part: 3/?
Rating: Yet to be classified
Warning: AU, BL
Pairing: eventual YYxY, YxA, other pairings yet to be realised.
Summary: He didn't know when it came, or where from, but he'd been cursed with a mark on his back. A tattoo of a pyramid with an Egyptian eye, a black tattoo. What some people call a hero, and others a menace, emerges under the name of The Black Raven, and Yuugi's life has never been more complicated.

A/N: Now for some odd reason, a part of the previous chapter was missing but yer, that was kinda weird, I just think doesn't like me or something. Maybe it wasn't even the previous chapter, I dunno, I don't re-read it once it gets on just to check, but if it's inaccurate, check out LiveJournal for more accurate retelling.

I'm sorry for the delay, lost my job, had to re-write some stuff, really just not been in the mood. Please forgive me. This is un-beta'd and for some odd reason, OpenOffice doesn't want to do spell check, so beware that too.

Anyway, moving on!


Chapter Three - Much Ado about Nothingness.

"Earth to Yuugi, come in Yuug'." Jounouchi called, somewhat bemusedly but a little agitated that his friend had invited him out for coffee and was now ignoring him in favour of staring at some indiscernible point with a completely and utterly blank expression on his face.

It was a little strange, and a little irritating.

This thought also crossed Yuugi's mind as his friend waved a hand before his eyes, snapping him quickly back to reality. Not so much that Jounouchi was staring into space but rather about the hand. Having a hand waving in front of your face tended to have that effect.

"So what are you breaking that genius mind of yours over now Yuug'?" He teased lightly.

Yuugi didn't even rise to it.

"Oh, nothing. Sorry Jounouchi." Yuugi replied sheepishly, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

Needless to say, Jounouchi wasn't convinced. "Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Not a thing?"

"Nope."

"Liar." He said bluntly.

"No, no Jounouchi." Yuugi said quickly. "It really is nothing. Nothing notable."

Now, he wasn't always able to read Yuugi at times, but the way his bottom lip looked slightly gnawed at, and that slight tint to his eyes that tended to give him away, was easy to find to expose the lie. Yuugi's hands shuffled nervously with a salt shaker as well; dancing it across the table between his two hands. Yes… definitely a 'Yuugi is lying about something that is bothering him' sign.

"Tell me." He demanded.

"What?" Trying to play innocent.

"Tell me about this nothing that you're thinking about." He explained.

"It's…" Yuugi looked away to the side, avoiding Jounouchi's eyes. "You're going to think I'm mad or something." Yuugi's face tinged with a slightly extra amount of rosiness.

"Yuug'." He replied, affronted. "Would I ever call you mad?"

"Yes." Yuugi replied bluntly, completely straight faced. "You've done it lots of times. Like when I agreed to help Grandpa do inventory of the stuff in the basement, or the time when I asked Onorei Yuri to lend me her pencil for a second, or the time when -"

"-Yeah yeah, get yer point. But seriously. When have I ever called you mad and actually meant it?" He asked sincerely.

Yuugi sighed, he knew that there wasn't a time when Jounouchi had called him insane or mad and truly meant it, but… he… did he really want… could he really explain to him that the conscious and supposed separate entity of the black tattoo, the personality he became when the tattoo was active, was talking to him? That last night he'd woken from the most terrible nightmare he'd ever had, to find the other sitting at the edge of his bed just gazing up at the moon through his skylight window?

They hadn't spoken very much at all, the other more than content to just sit in silence and watch the moon while Yuugi openly gaped at him. When Yuugi had finally managed to perk up the courage to speak to him, his questions hadn't been definitive to the realationship. Only small matters, like who he was, what he was doing, and why he was doing it. None of the answers had been very conclusive.

"Yuug'? You're zoning again." Jounouchi pointed out, once more breaking him from his trance.

"Sorry." He murmured.

"Look there's obviously something going on. So come on, share."

"I… I don't." He murmured. "I don't want to burden you with my problems Jounouchi."

"Look Yuug' I'm not askin' I'm tellin'. Burden me." He said kindly, coaxing his friend.

Normally Yuugi would decline, but that itch, that tug to tell someone, his defence against it was pushed with his friends insistence. He needed to ask for help. Needed someone to give him an answer, or at least pretend that by talking about it he could get one. "The… a thing that's… it's… well. It's just that… and I, gah! It's hard to explain." Yuugi said frustratedly.

Jounouchi leaned back a little, putting his hands up. "Take your time. Just start from the start."

"Okay." Yuugi exhaled, preparing himself. And in the next breath he explained it as best he could. Explained the separate entity that called itself Yami. Explained the crazy lady they fought, the agreement that he and his other had come to. How they would now have to work together. That he was conscious for it more or less. And finally, told him of the night before. "-He didn't say a lot. Just simple answers."

"So let me get this straight… you talked, to Yami no Yuugi who is an actually separate thing from you?" Jounouchi asked, dumbfounded by this new revelation.

"Yes." Yuugi said simply, nodding his head once to emphasis it. "But now I'm not sure what to do! I mean he's being civil, nice even, and he's never really hurt me, and he tells me that he won't hurt me or anything like that, and he actually listened to me during that fight, so I'm not sure if I should start trying to trust him, or just completely throw out that idea because it's stupid, and obviously a ploy to get me to trust him so he can take over my body full time or or do something really bad or something!"

Jounouchi nodded, taking it all in. As crazy as it seemed he had a point there. Yuugi's hands had stopped their nervous motions and lay lat against the table, stark energy consuming truth. He hummed, thinking quality as Yuugi waited for a reply to his outburst.

"Be careful."

Yuugi grew ridged fighting the urge to anime style face plummet to the ground. That was it? Be careful? What kind of advice was that! Catching his widened stare, Jounouchi continued.

"I wouldn't trust this guy just yet or on second thoughts, don't trust him at all 'cause he's obviously a deranged psycho or something. Maybe, you'll just have to wait and see Yuugi, until we can find a way to get that tattoo of ya back eh?" He said, mentally wincing at his very unhelpful words. Wait and see.

Yuugi smiled. "Yeah."

He faked his hope for the time when the tattoo would be removed. He was often optimistic, but this time his heart wasn't in it, shadowed over by the ferocity of the darkness that clung to his skin when the tattoo was activated. He knew it had him, and it was never going to be removed, this was the reality of his life, as harsh and glaring as a bare 100 watt globe. This was it, but turning off the light was far more frightening than any other prospect. "Until we find a way to get it off."

"You ever going to tell Anzu?" He asked, almost offhandedly.

Yuugi shook his head. "Not unless I have to."


Speaking with Jounouchi had been helpful in getting all this excess weight from his chest, that aching, quivering, pressure, that desire to tell someone that the world was spinning and he'd just noticed how fast.

So now… now he wasn't sure what to do.

"…And Mrs Irutsuka thinks that I'll do really well, so I was thinking of auditioning."

But listening to Anzu talking about her future dancing aspirations worked as a helpful distraction to all that. He always tried his best to remain attentive to her, especially considering how much he hid from her.

"So what do you think?"

He smiled, as bright and encouraging as his facial features and heart could ask him to be. "I think you'd be great!" He said with enthusiasm. "You'd be the star of the show!"

She flushed gracefully, smiling at him, her grip on his hand tightening slightly. His mind sung praise. Right answer.

"So what have you been doing these past few days? I haven't seen you in the shop whenever I'm driving past." She asked, tilting her head inquisitively, her auburn her swaying, sliding lightly across the gentle slip of her shoulder. It was a little longer than when they'd first started dating, but he liked it. Soon she'd start complaining that she needed a hair cut, and then they'd talk about his hair, and how when it was wet it almost looked completely straight; although it did take a lot of water to get it to lie down. That, a comb, and a vast quantity of gel. Though lately there hadn't been any talk of his abnormal hair style, not since his decline to stay with her, maybe it was a sign that something was wrong. Maybe she'd just given up on the idea of taming his hair.

He chuckled nervously. "Oh, I'm more of a behind the scenes worker." He smiled. "Grandpa tends the shop while I lift and move stock and things around, I wouldn't want him to hurt his back." 'As well as that I can do it whenever I want, think at the same time, and it's easy to catch up when I'm… unable to work for a few days.'

"Are you ever going to get a job Yuugi?"

He squawked indignantly. "Working at the game shop is a job! I'm learning the family business!" He cried, putting a hand to his hip and playfully narrowing his eyes at her in a mock repremand.

She smiled. He always could make her smile, just with his antics at times, antics that were not exactly childish, but relatively close. They were just so lively, bright and colourful like the pages of a children's book. Happy and carefree to the point of seeming naive, though… she knew that he was deeper than that, more mature. Older. Sometimes years too old for that energetic smile.

"Whatever you say Yuugi." She said.

"It is!" He argued.

She laughed, he sighed, and they kept on walking. They were doing a clichéd walk through the park, hands clasped, eyes wandering and souls at ease with each other. Just as they always did when Yuugi was restless and Anzu too excited.

They never sat at a park bench, or beneath a tree. They never lazed on the grass and watched children kick and scream and play and laugh and fall down. They just walked, hands clasped, the corners of their lips slightly upturned, eyes focused forward, talking.

But Anzu frowned slightly. She'd noticed something strange about her boyfriend today. She knew there was something bothering him. Something that was important. But there had been something for a while. There was often things on his mind recently, something distracting and bothering him. Things had changed just after she'd asked him to consider them moving in together. The decline still stung her, but… the answer she got was so… so Yuugi, that she couldn't find it in herself to hate him for it.

The explanation he'd given was that he worried about his grandfather living alone, and that he himself wasn't ready for something like that. It didn't mean that he loved her any less than he'd ever claimed or ever behaved; just that he wasn't quite ready for that kind of a commitment, and his grandfather might come to need him more now that he was becoming more and more aged.

But they all were. They were all growing up, the exceptioning factor being that Yuugi still had many of the traits he'd had when he was younger, looks and smile aside, especially the one of keeping problems and worries to himself.

"Yuugi?" She broke the silence, voice soft and inquisitive.

"Mm?" Yuugi replied, inclining his head in her direction and glancing towards her from the corner of is eye, catching that serious and gentle note in her voice.

"Is there… something going on that's bothering you?"

His hand twitched in hers instinctively. Flinching away from the question, about being found out so easily. Talking to Jounouchi hadn't eased his mind a great deal.

"No. I'm fine. Just a-"

"Don't, don't say that." His footstep paused briefly and he glanced at her for the interruption, sensing some distress, feeling it in her gently tightening hand, hearing it in the slight raise of pitch to her voice.

"Say what?"

"That excuse, Yuugi." She said, voice to the point of almost sounding aggravated.

Yuugi remained silent.

She continued speaking.

"It's always, 'I'm fine. Just a little tired.' or some other excuse just like it. You're always tired lately Yuugi! Always fine! You know I don't believe you but you lie anyway." She said, eyes bright in a way they only ever became when she was passionately objecting to something. Anzu was one of the few people he knew that really did shine with passion when arguing or declaring something. She lit up, everything about her became more vivid.

He cringed away from the sharp bite of those words. He didn't enjoy lying to Anzu, and some part of him recognised that she didn't always believe his excuses, but he blessed that she at least pretended to. He didn't think he could handle anymore than that.

She was smashing that taboo. The precious taboo that dictated that she never questioned what he wouldn't answer.

"I mean, I'm your girlfriend, one of the very last people you should lie to, and yet you always do. I'm the one you should be able to confide in, but you don't. You lie to me, telling me that everything's fine and great and you're fine and great, but it's not Yuugi... you're not." Her voice quietened, a slight tremor was detectable, but barely audible in her strong voice. He realised they'd stopped walking and her eyes wouldn't meet his. "I want to be the one you can confide in. I want you to be able to depend on me to help you; I want to help you; I want to be there for you; but I can't while you won't let me! Don't you trust me to be able to help you in some way? Don't you trust me to just be there?!"

He couldn't say anything. What would be adequate? Nothing could explain the tumultuous experience his life had been since that night that the tattoo had activated. How could he tell her that he was housing a murderous intent and shadows that hid light from the world?

"I've… I want to be there, when you need a hand. Yuugi," she turned, staring at him with intense and pleading eyes. "Tell me what's wrong!"

She watched with severe, penetrating, attention as Yuugi's eyes turned away. His hand loosened in hers a little, and he shifted lightly on his feet. He sighed, eyes staring far away from hers, his body language defeated as he turned back to face her, eyes still not meeting hers for an instant.

"Nothing. I'm fine."


It was quiet a few moments ago, but now his ears were filled with a steady pounding. His bearer's heart was beating as though it had leapt into his throat, his thoughts crowded and squealing like an excited mob.

Conflict.

Yami stretched languidly in the softness of the grey around him, hair cushioning his head on the ground, arms splayed on either side of himself as he stared into the blackness above him. It might've been a sky, or a wall, gravity had no mind here so he was unsure as to wether he was on the ceiling, floor, or wall of his container. Not that it mattered, once he occupied one, it instantly became his floor.

Distracting whispers of conversation floated into his containment from the mind of his bearer. It wasn't an argument he was having, but a conversation with heavy implication, heavy costs, and the power to become an argument if he ever voiced anything back in retaliation.

He didn't. He resigned himself to death and listened, hearing the distress of his girlfriend, and knowing that the truth would heal wounds but cause more problems. So he swallowed his own desires, and kept the secrets to himself. This made Yami smile.

He loved it when his host got worked up; when his emotion peaked, either with joy or conflict, sorrow, excitement, anything more than the usual level emotion; because he could hear it. He could feel it hum in the air around him. His thoughts became louder to get over the beating of his heart, and he could hear him. It quietened the pain of what seemed to be eternal solitude, soothing him like a cool lotion spread over his skin. Things became softer, calmer, easier; instead of the normal harsh, dry and unforgiving sensations he was used to. Though he much prefered the softness to the previous norm.

His eyes were slitted, still open though there was nothing worth seeing, lazily listening to the whispers of his other. He felt the weight his other felt, and was tempted to coo sympathy to him, but as it would only be taken as patronising or an attempt to create a false trust, he didn't. He stayed reclined in the dark, still and silent.

Since the defeat of the shadow mage, he'd felt better. He'd finally faced someone with shadows at their call, someone who offered the challenge of managing his own shadows, so that he wouldn't be defeated by theirs. Not that managing them was difficult.

He sighed breathlessly. Hundreds of years in the darkness, and the shadows had adopted him; seeped into his soul as blood seeps into a carpet. They considered him kin, a brother, a son, a father. He had given them all the experiences of his life before now, every emotion, every touch, every soft memory, every ugly one. They hade relished in the human experience, taken it gladly away from him, and took more and more of him as the time passed. He couldn't find it in him to care as he lost his name and everything he was, lost time and identity, the shadows were thankful which made them easier to deal with. They purred around him like temperate kittens, licking, kneading, and sometimes clawing. They could be cruel and punish their child, they could be warm and clasp hands with their brother, or they could be obedient and listen to their father.

His bearer was just the same. Yuugi had listened, ordered, cowered and asserted authority. He for his part was the same. Despite reassuring the boy, Yuugi still doubted him. It had been troubling his young mind, a mind that had become more troubled to find him sitting at the end of his bed, watching the moon. But it mattered not. Yuugi would eventually make up his mind, and if it wasn't in his favour he'd do his best to change it. He couldn't stand another hundred or so years in solitude, and Yuugi's light was so bright and warm and perfect.

It just gave all the time; creating all these small joys for him to savour. He could see now. His container was grey and not black, soft not hard, warm not cold. He could hear another's heartbeat, and when the tattoo was activated and Yuugi lost control, the sensation was incredible. To feel again. To be able to enjoy the caress of cold air and changing winds, so glorious and real. To be needed. To have purpose. To properly commence his penance.

'But Grandpa, you don't understand…'

Yami's ears pricked. He loved it when Yuugi couldn't tell he was broadcasting his thoughts. He hadn't learnt to control his mind so he couldn't talk to him at will, but by accident, or when Yami cared enough to pay attention.

It seemed that Yuugi had moved from speaking to Anzu, to asking his grandfather for advice concerning the matter. His bearer often asked the elder for advice on his girlfriend and how to deal with withholding information as big as the tattoo from her.

'…I can't… I can't promise anyone anything. I'll only disappoint them…what can I do?'

He hummed carefully to himself, listening to Yuugi's thoughts. His voice was soft and of fine quality, burning his ears with the sound of it. Sound. Something else he had Yuugi to thank for. Thank his bearer for his light creating sound in his chaotic world.

He enjoyed the gentle press of Yuugi's consciousness against the walls of his container. Enjoyed the stillness of his mind when he slept, but the nightmares unnerved him. The dark grew, flaring and dimming the grey. His container became harder, colder, unforgiving again as his bearers mind cried in fear from what it was creating. His heart pounded so loudly it was nearly deafening, and a gentle dampness swept in with the salty breeze of tears and sweat. Yami could barely stand it. This was what his container felt like when Yuugi became scared, threatened, afraid or sad, and he could do nothing. He couldn't wake him, couldn't enter the dream and fight, he couldn't do anything but push, and squirm and fight to escape the container.

It both frightened and bothered him. He could not help his bearer at that time, could not help himself if only in escaping his container. The riotous state of his container as it became an abrasive prison reminding him of something he wasn't quite sure he could remember, but it brought fear to his heart like only a phobia could. So he waited outside of it, heart still pounding, but safe. His nerves were unsteady and mind disquieted by the fact he could not help his bearer, but it was better than being within him while the nightmare happened. It was only recently they had become this bad, usually Yuugi was not in a large enough state of fear to wake himself up, or he was sleeping in the day and Yami was unable to come out without risking exposure.

But for the time being, all was well. His bearer wasn't exactly happy at though moment, although he stirred with this conflict, there was no depression. He was well.

'I'm dead. Grim Reaper take me now.'

Yami smiled. Yuugi was just so full of life.


"Art thou not going to askest my advice?"

Yuugi grunted, rolling onto his back focusing on the figure standing in the centre of his room, eyes slightly narrowed with amusement. Yuugi's eyes narrowed in return, though not with amusement. He rose to his feet, standing opposite his possessor.

"No."

Yami's lips turned up at their corners, amused at his bearer's blunt dismissal.

"Thou art hurting my heart with such cruelness." Yami said in mock sorrow.

He was not amused as he may have been with someone else, though it nearly threatened him. He couldn't find himself to be relaxed enough to find amusement in Yami's joking. He was dark, all of Yuugi's senses told him so, and thus he couldn't relax.

"What do you want?" He asked, blunt once again.

Yami glanced away, offhandedly answering. "I was offering assistance to my bearer. But thou dost not wish it. Instead I make a suggestion for thine bright mind to consider. The lady shadow mage we faced was a small fish in a bigger pond. The owner of that pond still waits while small fish squabble for offerings. If thou dost wish to continue pursuing these light eaters, I will be thy fisherman and bring these small fish to the shore to find their owner. All thou need do is askest of me, and I will act in thy wishes.

He bit his lip. Yami was right – and the emphasised 'we' hadn't escaped his attention either - that lady had mentioned about bringing him back to a house. There were implications, suggestions, that she worked for someone, and that someone was still out there, still gathering light from people. Kidnapping. It was plausible that those missing people weren't just the work of that one lady but two or three.

But that would mean becoming a subservant to Yami at his own will. That would mean giving up control, of his own will. Was that letting the shadows win? Giving them power over him.

He looked over to Yami, who was gazing out the window, but he must've felt eyes on him and turned back to face him, eyes a deadly glowing red, smooth lips upturned so slightly he could barely notice it. Yami took a step forward, and Yuugi's body tensed instinctively.

Yami smirked sinfully slowly. "The choice is in thy keep, I will not act unless thou dost desire me to."

He grimaced. "How can I trust you?"

"Have I ever given thou a reason not to?" Yami retaliated, taking another step closer. His hand twitched, his heart beat growing slightly harder as Yami drew closer to him. Having him sitting on the end of his bed was one thing, having him standing and advancing with deliberate steps was quite another.

Yami smiled, leaning in and whispering in his ear, without breath. "I leave thou to consider, my offer."

And with that he vanished before his eyes, a whisper of vapour clinging to his skin briefly before settling within him once again. Yuugi instinctively raised a hand to his chest, kneading it slightly, as though he could reach that ache in his heart and soothe it, but eventually faded as his body readjusted to Yami's presence within him, but he still felt as though his heart beat was echoing. Now he was more aware of him, he could feel him inside the cavity of his chest, and a gentle nudge in his mind.

He sighed, it was strange when Yami left his body and then returned. He felt better now, and that knowledge only hurt more.

'I offer my advice for thy lady trouble regardless. She shouldn't question what she doth not deserveth.'

Yuugi grimaced. Yami had it wrong. Anzu deserved truth, and he couldn't give it to her. Anzu deserved so much more than he could give, than he could be. Yami was wrong, he was the undeserving one. He had to try and give her compensation. He had to try make this work because he was the one lacking, he had to make it up to her.

He couldn't offer her an answer, he couldn't offer her anything more than he was giving her, but maybe just something to show he was trying, show he cared. Maybe that was the answer. Maybe he could make it up to her some how. Go out and get her something, apologise for his dishonesty. Yes… that was it.

He could fix it.


Ryou had recommended that he go visit Bakura, he'd be able to get him the perfect gift for his girlfriend. So it was with slight trepidation that he opened up the door to "Dave's Pawn Shop" and stepped inside. Bakura wouldn't hurt him or anything, if only because Ryou would never forgive him, but he did make his already stiff hair stand on end.

Deep down Bakura was a nice enough kind of guy, or he was to Ryou who managed to get that far down, to the rest of the population he was a menace. As Ryou's friend Yuugi wasn't at risk of being robbed or anything, Bakura was even tolerant of him (and that could possibly be because at times he reminded him of his Ryou), wether or not he'd help without Ryou standing next to him to help him convince Bakura, was another matter; but he was willing to give it an attempt.

"Hello Bakura-san." He greeted spotting the other behind the counter.

His white hair was just touching the countertop as he rested his head on his hands, eyes barely open and a bored expression on his sharp features. Bakura's face was filled with sharp characteristics, at some point in their high school years someone had accused him of filing his canines into the fangs they appeared to be. They weren't fangs exactly, but they certainly appeared sharper than you'd regularly find on a person. His eyes were a deep dark brown, with a frightening depth to them and a malicious spark that was often put to good use in enhancing his glare. Though at the moment he looked bored to death, the glare gone from his eyes, dulled with the tediousness of sitting behind a counter with nothing to do.

"Yo dwarf. What do you want?" He drawled.

Yuugi smiled, hiding his nerves as he came up to the counter. "I was just looking at getting Anzu a gift and Ryou told me I should come and see you, so here I am."

Bakura raised an eyebrow still bored. "Indeed?" He yawned, sitting up straighter and stretching his back. "Well I suppose this is something to do, it's so damn boring on a Tuesday." He groaned. "No one ever selling or buying."

"Mm, it's the same at the game shop." Yuugi replied.

"So what did you want to get?" He said, eyes still not completely open.

"Uh… I dunno." Yuugi scratched the back of his head nervously.

"You're fuckin' hopeless Yuugi." He observed. Yuugi just smiled sheepishly at Bakura as he sighed rolling his eyes and sliding off his stool.

He walked over to a shelf on his left, eyeing over a couple of things before selecting one and slinking his way back to the counter.

"Here." He said tossing over a necklace to the other, sighing as Yuugi fumbled it slightly before managing to hold it securely in his midget hands.

Yuugi clasped the chain letting it hang from his hand as he admired the pendant attached. The chain was light weight silver, and the centrepiece consisted of a glass tear drop, wire coiled around it, precious and glittering silver. It was simple, and beautiful, he could definitely see it as something Anzu would wear.

"Wow Bakura-san, it's… it's gorgeous!" He murmured, beyond the necklace to Bakura who was smirking in satisfaction.

"Yup. Now pay up." Bakura said, holding out his hand expectantly. Yuugi rummaged in his pockets, pulling out the required money, surprised when he still had notes in his hands after Bakura collected his money. He was about to comment when Bakura shot him a look and he just took the gift silently.

He turned to leave, the present for his girlfriend resting in his pocket, he looked over his shoulder to thank Bakura now he was closer to the door and able to make a clean get away, but he noticed a distant look on the others features. Puzzled he began to turn around, but paused when Bakura suddenly sneezed violently and then told him very politely to "get the fuck outta my store" something which Yuugi did.

It was best to just take things from Bakura in silence.


He was dozing when he felt it. It brushed against him lightly at first but with more urgency and energy with its second passing. He reluctantly opened his eyes to the grey, hearing a heart pounding, but it wasn't fear or at least the usual kind. To be more exact the air wasn't drenched with the fear that usually called for his summoning. No, it was his bearer's conscious brushing him. It was nudging him, trying, begging, and insistently calling for his attention.

Yuugi wasn't used to trying to communicate with him when he hadn't already established a connection. He reached out lazily.

"Bearer?"

Yuugi's voice echoed around him, panicked and pleading. "Yami! Yami you've got to help her!"

It was that woman, his bearer's girlfriend. She was in danger and Yuugi could see it. Yami groaned, he was being asked to protect her, when she was an obstacle to him, a source of jealousy. But his bearer was asking, imploring him to help, he couldn't deny such a heartfelt request from the one who was housing him. Whom he owed so much more than his life to.

"Yami! Yami please. I… I can't…"

He sighed, tensing his spiritual body, gathering energy to take over and activate the tattoo on his own. If he didn't no doubt his bearer would rush to defend her and get injured, so either way he'd be called, but this way Yuugi got to keep his secret intact. The secret that was gnawing at their relationship.

He grimaced; oh, his not-life was grand.

He murmured as the tattoo responded to him, and his container opened for him to be released, the body needed him to control the shadows.

Yuugi had already removed his jacket so that he'd have something to cover the marks on his way home, but his shirt hadn't been saved in the rush. It disintegrated against the tattoo until it was scraps at his feet, his wings flexing as he shot forward.

Anzu had been cornered in an alleyway by some thugs trying to take her bag from her, and from the looks it, trying to get something else as well. Their hands pushed at her body, they jeered, mocked as only a group of lust filled men could.

"Come on girl, give us a kiss!" One laughed.

He clucked lightly. Four men versus one woman. Prideless, honourless scum.

'Don't kill them.'

Yami shook his head even as he advanced on them. They were attempting to rob and violate his girlfriend and still Yuugi wanted them to live on. But he would obey.

He didn't warn them just grabbed them, threw them, cursed them. They swore and yelped as they were flung back into the walls, he didn't watch for what Anzu did, focused on his opponents no matter how pitiful, trusting she would flee as any sensible woman would.

They rose to their feet, grabbing anything they could use a weapon. Three of them grabbed chains. Yami smirked wickedly, feeling the shadows rush to him. Those sad little miscreants would rue this day. He soared forward, hardly using the shadows to enhance his movement, relying mostly on his bearers body and the thrust of his wings, he wanted to really feel this, wanted his bearer to feel it as well.

He landed the first punch, easily ducking away from the swing of chains, darting in and uppercutting the first thug of four, hearing a satisfying crunch and gasp of pain. His hand hurt slightly from the blow but it was easy to dismiss as he landed another punch to the thugs stomach, swinging to kick him aside.

The others stepped up and were as easily defeatable as the first. He smirked at them, using the chains that they had used as weapons to tie them together, gripping them and tossing the out of the alleyway. That had required shadow power, his bearers body far too weak to lift four grown men.

"Hey!" A voice called from the other end of the alleyway. Suddenly men were pouring out of the entrance to what had obviously been a gang lair. And it looked like he'd just beaten up some of its members. He grinned, 'Oh Yes' he'd have a chance to flex his shadows without killing any of these idiots merely due to the number of them. He began drawing the shadows close, feeling their chill against his skin, even as the tattoo marks warmed. His heart thudded slightly faster, body singing, and this was only the start.

"B-Black Raven." He swivelled. Gods his bearer's girlfriend was stupid. Why hadn't she ran, damnit!

"Run!" He demanded.

She stared in horror as the gang members charged towards them, not moving an inch. Muttering under breath he darted forward, gripping her by her arm and launching skywards. She screamed, her other hand rising to grip his arm painfully. He could have grabbed her around her waist, secure and easy, but he'd rather not; so he'd opted to raising her by one arm.

He smirked a little to himself, feeling his bearer sputtering and frowning at his amusement in the girl dangling bellow him. To appease his host he glanced down at her and then used both hands to hold both of her arms, to ease the strain on the one arm he had grabbed.

"Hold on." He said over the rush of air. He felt her grip tighten and he glanced over his shoulder back at the alleyway full of thugs. He could have defeated them all, flexed his magic, made it feel useful so they didn't grow so restless with disuse, the shadows would have been pleased with the opportunity to play, but no. He had to save the girl.

He took the long way back to the alleyway to retrieve Yuugi's jacket to avoid being spotted, followed and found out. Although taking the long way back had cost him more time he hadn't been slow about it, and so was somewhat disappointed to find the gang had gone, and the thugs he'd beat retreated as well.

He landed lightly on the ground, sighing with the quiet thud of his boots hitting pavement. He cast his eyes around the alley way, darting from dark corner to dark corner before he spotted his bearers prized jacket. He advanced on it, kneeling down to pick it up, feeling the fabric shift in his grip. Rising back to his full height and withdrawing his wings, he slipped it on feeling the fabric slide along his skin before settling. It gave off a faint aroma that he quickly dedicated to memory as he began gently handing the control back to his host, shadows withdrawing from his body. He felt a quiet grateful feeling wash over him, and a softly spoken thank you whisper in his ear during the exchange.

He smiled.

'Thou art welcome.'


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