I in no way shape, shape, or form own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Inuyasha and their respective characters.

I retain all rights to the OC character Darren. Rights to characters Samara and Saidren are shared with Henka-chan.

This story is a stand alone. The only association between this story and Shattered Dream is Darren. Therefore, certain aspects of some characters and situations have been changed to suit the needs of this story.

I in no way gain profit from the production of this story.

This story is rated Mature for adult language and situations. Possibly some sex scenes later on, not sure yet.


Ch IX

"What's going on here?" Joey asked from where he stood at the entrance to the great hall. He'd gone to the garden and found Yugi had finally left it and went looking for his friend, only to find him and Saidren kissing. So naturally, his first thought was that the demon was making moves against someone vulnerable. "You bastard, why are you all over Yugi right after he lost his boyfriend?" He started striding forward, his hands balled into fists.

"Joey wait! It wasn't like that," Yugi said, hurriedly getting to his feet and standing in front of Saidren. "He was just singing me a song to help me relax and I kissed him."

Joey had never known Yugi to lie, so he stopped, though his gaze at Saidren still warned him against trying anything. "Yug, why would you do something like that?"

This time it was Saidren who came to the defense. "It was nothing more than being caught up in the moment. He was half asleep when he kissed me, no doubt he was partially dreaming that I was Yami. There is no blame to be placed here on anyone. It could have happened to anyone. Surely you've had similar accidents."

Red tinted Joey's face as he recalled the situation regarding his first kiss with Darren.* "Alright, alright. I'll let it go. But if I ever catch you making a move on Yugi for real..." His fists clenched again.

"I understand and am glad Yugi has a friend like you to protect him." Saidren didn't say anything more to either youth before he left the hall and went to wait out in the courtyard for the Bakura he needed.

Gods, his life was unfair. Blamed for sleeping with a woman he'd never touched, not the true mate of the one he had touched, and now he'd found his mate in a human who was with another. At times like this, he understood why some youkai hermited themselves away from any trace of civilization. It was a tempting notion, but he had far too much responsibility to have that luxury.

And right now, his highest priority was getting Yami back for Yugi and then sending them all home. For some reason, he had the feeling that once this was all over, he would never see his half brother and his friends again. This wasn't their home after all. Then there was the fact that technically he wasn't even part of the family anymore, so it was highly unlikely. So he'd be alone again, with nothing but his memories to haunt him once more. Only now, the agony would be worse.

Sighing, he shook his head to clear it as Thief King Bakura approached him, still looking put out about having to leave his lovers and friends. "Alright, so how am I even supposed to get to the continent?" the thief said bluntly, folding his arms over his chest.

"Worry not, I will provide you with a means of transport." He placed two fingers between his lips and gave a whistle. From around the far side of the hall a large tortoise, roughly the size of Kirara in her big form, came lumbering along. But other than its sheer size, the only other sign that it wasn't a normal tortoise was the fact it had six legs.

"You're kidding me! You want me to be back in about a year or two? That's a freaking turtle!" Bakura snapped.

"Now now, Hana is a rather special tortoise," Saidren defended. Once the tortoise joined them, he plucked an apple from inside his kimono and fed it to the beast. "She's actually a rather useful mount. See how her shell curves upward just above her neck? That dip makes for quite a useful saddle. All you need is a satchel of apples to keep her fed on the journey."

"So she's got a built in saddle, how does that help?"

Saidren waited to reply until after he'd fetched the satchel and handed it to Bakura. "Just get on and I'll show you." Once Bakura was settled onto the natural saddle of Hana's shell, Saidren stroked her head. "Up girl," was all he said.

Bakura almost fell off in shock as Hana lifted into the air, small clouds holding up her feet. "Just pat the side of her shell for which direction you wish to turn. And pat the tip to make her move forward."

Though he looked a little wary about riding a flying tortoise, Bakura prepared to get Hana moving when Saidren called up once more. "One last thing, take this with you." The thief shot out his hand to catch the staff that little imp thing, Jaken, had been carrying.

"That is Nintojo, the Human Head Cane. Aim the face of the old man at a foe and strike the tip of the staff against the ground to release a blast of fire at any foes. Once you retrieve the scroll I need, drop that into the ocean so that it may never again be used."

Frowning at the somewhat odd request, Thief King Bakura merely shrugged. "Got it." Not wanting to be delayed any longer, he tapped Hana's shell and the demon turtle took off, leaving him to grip the tip of her shell for dear life.


Jaken finally managed to return to Sesshomaru's castle. Saidren's rather rough ejection of him from his home had left the small imp dazed for several hours, and when he'd realized that Saidren was still in possession of the staff his Lord Sesshomaru had given him, he'd been more than little reluctant to return to his master's side.

He wandered into the castle and found Sesshomaru sitting on the steps that led from the courtyard into the castle itself. In his claws he was clutching the one piece of the Millenium Puzzle that he'd managed to hold onto. His golden eyes looked over the small golden trinket, a slight frown on his face.

"What is so damned important about this? What could drive my brother to come here just to retrieve it and the human who carried it?" Sesshomaru hated puzzles of any kind. Puzzles meant information he did not have, could conceal enemies he was unaware of.

Rin's death shortly after he'd first met her had been a puzzle. He hadn't solved it until he'd met Koga. And while he had some respect for the wolf, at the time he'd wanted to rip out the man's throat for being a part in the death of a child who'd never caused anyone harm and who's kindness had allowed him to begin unlocking the powers of the Tenseiga.

"My Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken exclaimed as he scurried over. "My Lord, I'm afraid I was unable to grab the other human you sought staying at your brother's castle. And Saidren has the Nintojo."

Sesshomaru paused in his musings to glare down at Jaken. The bumbling imp had begun to wear on his nerves of late. With Rin now in the protection of the human Kaede, what use was this little wretch to him anymore? The Tenseiga had been lost to him years ago, and all that endeavor had gained him was a severed arm. "You had best find a way to redeem yourself Jaken, or I will decide your usefulness to me is at its end."

"But My Lord, without the Ninjoto, I have no means to fend off your foes."

"Then I suppose you are no longer of use to me. Get out." Sesshomaru's tone brokered no argument. If Jaken stayed, he'd be killed, it was a simple as that.

The small imp whimpered and opened his mouth to protest regardless, but a swift glare from Sesshomaru's cold, golden eyes sent him scurrying back. With only a few whimpers, he bolted from the castle, likely never to be seen again.

"That wasn't very polite of you," a voice said just beside Sesshomaru's ear.

Turning, Sesshomaru saw Yami standing before him, albeit in a semi-transparent state. He'd seen this man earlier when Saidren had raided his castle for the smaller one who resembled the male before him. He'd been fully flesh and blood then. Interesting. "Who are you?"

"Given that we weren't properly introduced last time, I suppose it's only polite. My name is Yami. And that's my puzzle piece you're holding in your hand. I'd very much like you to return it to my lover," Yami said, trying to be civil. Though somehow he doubted that would get him anywhere with this demon. He could tell just by looking in Sesshomaru's eyes that he was nothing like his older brother.

Ignoring the request, Sesshomaru merely turned the piece over and over in his claws, examining it once more. "How are you standing before me? Are you projecting an astral form from Saidren's home?"

"When you stole that piece of the Puzzle, you severed my connection to the mortal plane and sent me back into its depths." Yami didn't answer how he was already guessing that Sesshomaru's demonic aura was what had pulled him here. Since his magic was based on shadows and darkness, it made sense that a powerful demonic essence could still call him forth even with the Puzzle as it was. And the Sesshomaru's piece being the most important...

"I will find out your secrets, and those of your lover. Power such as this should only go to those strong enough to wield it." As usual, Sesshomaru's mind was driven to become ever stronger.

"We'll see about that. You hardly seemed a match for your brother last time," Yami said with a smirk, folding his arms over his chest.

"He caught me off guard. I didn't expect such a swift response from him," came the defense. The daiyoukai's face looked more bitter than normal, hating to be reminded of his failure to fend off his sibling.

"Or maybe you just aren't strong." Yami merely chuckled as Sesshomaru struck out with one of his swords. As he was only partially there, the Tenseiga didn't do anything to the pharaoh. Seeing that he'd properly pissed off his captor, he faded back into the puzzle piece to await rescue.


With nothing to do now but wait for Thief King Bakura and to plan the next move against his brother, Saidren was taking a much needed soak in his hot spring. If he moved too rashly against Sesshomaru, the younger youkai would merely destroy the piece of the Puzzle that he had. If that happened, Yami would be lost to Yugi forever. And while his instincts roared at Saidren to be so bold and foolish, he couldn't bear to break the heart of such a kind soul who was already in so much pain. There was much a person could recover from, but he doubted Yugi would be able to heal even the slightest from Yami being destroyed completely.

His peace was interrupted by the arrival of none other than the object of his conflicted affections, Yugi. The petite young man stopped just before entering the water, his naked body completely red at being in front of the demon he'd twice kissed. "I-I could come back later," he said softly, taking a step back already.

Fighting to keep himself composed when right now he merely wanted to make the blush deeper by licking every inch of that very smooth looking skin, Saidren shook his head slowly. "Nonsense Yugi. We both need the soothing heat right now. Please, join me." Saidren released a breath he didn't realized he'd been holding once Yugi settled into the waters.

"Listen I wanted to apologize for earlier... When I kissed you," Yugi said, looking down at the water.

"It really was my fault for permitting the kiss in the first place. You were just so sad I couldn't bring myself to stop you," Saidren said to try and soothe the youth.

"N-not about the actual kiss," Yugi said suddenly, meeting Saidren's rather shocked eyes. "I mean for picturing Yami when I did it."

Saidren frowned a little in confusion. "I'm not sure I understand."

"When we kissed the first time under that waterfall, I knew who exactly I was kissing. I didn't pretend you were some one else. But in the hall, I know I was upset about Yami, but you didn't deserve what I did. You've been nothing but nice to all of us since we got here. And you deserve someone who kisses you and wants it to be you when they do."

Seeing Yugi was on the verge of tears in shame over how he felt he'd mistreated Saidren, the demon scooted closer and pulled Yugi into his arms, cradling the boy's head against his firm chest. "You did nothing wrong Yugi. This has been a very trying time for you. And as I told your friend Joey, I doubt you were fully awake when we kissed. There is no blame to be laid for you enjoying a dream. I long ago gave up on finding the one person I'm meant to spend eternity with, but I will be damned before I see you lose yours."

Slowly, Yugi pulled away from Saidren's chest and looked up at his host. A man like Saidren deserved every happiness in the world after everything he'd been through. But here he was all alone, and he'd be alone again once this was all over. As upset as he was over the current loss of Yami, Yugi's heart was breaking over the fact this man before him was going out of his way to reunite them and knew it'd probably hurt to see their loving reunion when he himself had no one in the world to share such love with.

So he made a decision as they looked at each other. Reaching up, he began pulling Saidren's head down once more.

But this time, Saidren stopped him. "No Yugi. Not again." He cupped Yugi's cheek, his golden gaze locked on the youth's lips for a moment. "As much as I want this, and gods know I want it in more ways than you could possibly imagine, I will not hurt you further by kissing you again. You've enough burdening your mind and I will not add to it." Without another word, Saidren rose from the spring and left to his chambers before either could say or do anything further they might regret later.

Left all alone, looking back towards the castle door Saidren and vanished through, Yugi whispered, "But this time it was for you..."


Author's Note: You guys can obviously see where I'm going with the relationship between Yugi and Saidren here. I know some folks are hoping I keep Yugi and Yami together because you don't want the pharaoh sad and lonely like Saidren is now. But worry not dear readers, I will not be leaving Yami out in the cold. I like him a lot better than I like Kaiba so you can rest assured everything will be fine.

Gotta tell you, I got a little misty eyed as I wrote that last interaction between Daiyoukai and modern young man. And I would love to hear if you guys did too as you read it. All comments are as always, much appreciated and welcomed save for flames.