Small Pieces of Forever

by lilyflower666

Yugi has just had his children, and couldn't be any happier with his life. His focus in life is them, and his aspiration to become a teacher. With everyday being a new adventure, who's to say how it will all turn out? But one thing can be said for certain, there is more love in the air and plenty more to come between our favorite leading trio.

10. The thoughts of an Instinct

Alright, this chapter might seem to be a little up and down, but that's just the way it happened to come out. So, I do not own Yugioh or any of the songs used in this story. [YUGI, YAMI, and ATEM]

Chapter 10

"Yeah, I know I asked, but I'm not sure anymore," Yugi said holding onto the seat belt as if his life depended on it.

"Let go, you stubborn human!" Yami demanded trying and failing again to peel his fingers back from the seat belt without breaking them.

"Yami, he's weaker than normal. How hard can it be to pry his fingers loose from the belt?" Atem asked pulling on his ankles again.

"That's kind of the problem, Atem. He is weaker, so I'm afraid I'm going to break them if I pull back too far."

Marik, Isis, and Seth were watching just outside of the giant doorway. From their point of view, Yugi wanted nothing to do with being here. No one apart from Mutou Sr. had any idea that he'd actually asked to come home.

"Well, we have a small audience, so we need to find a solution quickly."

"Fine, here it is," Yami said grabbing both ends of the seat belt and yanking on them. He held up the now broken seat belt, and with Atem moving backwards jumped out of the truck.

"You cheated," Yugi accused as he was set on his feet, "And owe me a new seat belt."

"Okay," Yami said kissing his cheek. Reaching behind him, he grabbed Yugi's bag, and then kicked the door shut.

"Ready?" Atem asked.

"No. What if everyone hates me?"

"There're three people over there that don't hate you," Atem said pointing.

"Huh?" Yugi asked looking over the front of his truck. "Oh! Isis, Marik, and Seth!" Yugi shouted running towards them. He barreled into Isis, giving her a big hug, and the other two patted his hair and shoulder.

"Hey, why'd you bring him back?" Marik asked as soon as the other two were close enough.

"He asked if he could come home," Yami responded.

"Really? You expect us to believe this after the display we just saw?" Seth asked.

"He's telling the truth," Yugi mumbled playing with Isis's dress.

"He is?" they all asked looking down at him.

"I-I asked to come home. And at the time it seemed like a great idea until we actually pulled up. Then it seemed like less of a good idea, and more of a bad one."

"Alright, well enough stalling, let's go," Atem said the doors opening. There was a huge crowd gathered in the front foyer. This was something no one had been expecting.

Yugi's entire body tensed up, as he tried to turn around, and go back to the truck. Yami grabbed him though, turned him around, and forced him to walk forwards. There was a mixture of looks aimed at him. Hate, shock, anger, relief, sneers, and joy.

"My King, why have you let this vermin back within your walls?" Someone shouted.

"He isn't vermin, he's our mate. And because this is his home as much as it is ours."

"My Prince, it's so good to see you again," someone said breaking from the crowd towards him. "Though, I do wish you looked better."

Yugi slammed his back into Atem's chest before trying to make a break for it. Two separate hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back to be in front. Marik was in front of the young man who had been running towards him, stopping his progress.

"Please, everyone, stay back. The Prince is very skittish right now," Seth ordered.

"Good, he doesn't belong here!"

"How can you say that? He has as much right as those two buffoons behind him!"

"No he doesn't! He abandoned our King and Queen! Starved them even!"

"No! He came back! It was they who threw him out!"

"He deserved it!"

"He did not! He was trying to make amends!"

"Clearly they didn't care!"

"Which is why we should've overthrown them when we had the chance!"

"That's treason talk!"

"Their actions have been treason!"

"So, how did you not know about this mutiny against you again?" Yugi asked looking up at them.

"It never came up in a meeting," Atem said in stunned voice as he watched his people bicker.

"Actually, that's what the meeting had been about," Seth said. "The one Caleb interrupted."

"Oh," Yami said, "that explains why we didn't hear about it. The meeting had only just been called to order when he stormed in."

"We should probably move while they're distracted," Isis suggested quietly.

"Agreed," they all said.

Using one of the side hallways, they made a grand escape. Once they were in the clear, they went separate ways. Atem, Yami, and Yugi to their room, and Seth, Isis, and Marik to theirs.

"Welcome home, Yugi," Yami said opening the door. He and Atem walked in to sit on the bed. Biting his lip, Yugi took a step in and was nearly knocked back down the stairs by a small ball of white fur. Who knew Koneko could have so much energy? She was making a very odd noise though. She kind of sounded like she was purring, but growling at the same time. Like she was happy that he was home, but angry that he'd been gone so long.

"Ha ha, I guess you missed me, huh?" He asked picking her up and walking into the room.

"Are you kidding?" Atem asked. "She growled and hissed at Yami and I every time we walked in the room. She bit, and scratched us. Destroyed our personal belongings. I think it's safe to say that she more than missed you."

"Aww, did you take revenge for me?" Yugi asked holding up his cat. He kissed her forehead. "Good girl."

"Hey!" they shouted together. Yugi just laughed.

Then he looked at the bed, the color had changed to this rich red color. It looked like blood. As well as a pale blue. Like the moon, when it was shining through silver curtains. They patted the spot in between them, but Yugi looked away and walked over to the balcony doors. Opening them he went out to peer down at their garden. Most of the plants were dead, but it was winter after all so he wasn't sure what he expected. Heading back in, he sat at his desk, rubbing his hands on the smooth wooden surface. Then he went into the nursery. This too had changed. They'd changed it back into a second bedroom. The color scheme of the room was a peach and gold color. Geez, did everything they'd done recently have to do with desire? He came back out and went into their closet just about collapsing. All of his clothes were gone, and only Atem's and Yami's remained. It was no wonder now as to why they'd insisted that he bring some clothes along with him. Where were all his clothes?

Koneko rubbed the top of her head against the underside of his chin. He smiled, and kissed the top of her head. Then he came back out of the closet to see Mahad in his room, conversing with Atem and Yami. Yugi just stared at the man, afraid he was going to try to rip his mates from him too.

"Yes, I know we've been ignoring our duties for the past two weeks. Now's not the time to be worrying about meetings though," Atem said in a hushed tone.

"Oh? And when will this time arrive?" Mahad hissed back. "When his Highness decides he's capable of living without you two for more than two seconds?"

"That's not fair, Mahad!" Yami hissed back. "We went to him this time. He didn't come to us."

"A mistake in my opinion," he replied turning his head away.

"You saw those pictures, Mahad! He looked terrible!" Atem replied in a heated tone.

Pictures, Yugi thought, as in plural? More than the one Yami showed him? One had been bad enough, but there were more?

"And did it ever occur to either one of you that he let himself fall to that state on purpose? Just to get your attention?"

"That's not what was happening, Mahad. Our bond had broken, and he was dying!"

"Well, it's good to know at least, that my Kuriboh worked to some degree of it. You were better off without that dirty little rat in your lives, and I was trying to help you get rid of him."

Yugi dropped Koneko. She meowed and pawed at his leg, wanting to be picked back up. "Your Kuriboh?" Yugi asked. All heads whipped in his direction. "You sent that to me? With a note saying 'meet us at the airport, we need to talk'."

"That's right."

"I think you should go to the meeting with him. I have a checkup with Isis anyway that I'm late for."

"Yugi," Yami said gently trying to get his attention. They did not like that dead tone that his voice had become. Like he was holding back tears from falling.

"Well, it finally seems that he's decided to not be so needy anymore," Mahad said in a haughty tone. "A rather smart choice, wouldn't you agree?"

Soft fingertips brushed his cheek, "Yugi, look at me," Yami said in that same gentle tone, but there was a smidgen of fear thrown in now too.

"If you have destroyed everything we've accomplished in the past week, then Sakura isn't going to have a husband to come home to," Atem said in a rather frightening voice.

"N-no!" Yugi cried out his head jerking up. "Don't hurt my sister!"

"He won't, Yugi, I promise," Yami said wrapping his arms around him, and pulling him into his chest.

"But if he kills Mahad, then he is. I've never seen her so happy before, as when she's around him. If Atem does something to Mahad, then that happiness will go away. Please, Atem, please don't hurt him." Try as he might, he couldn't keep the tears back, and few slipped down his cheeks.

"I won't, Yugi. You have my word."

"Go, to your meeting, go," Yugi said gently pushing Yami slightly. "You need to keep up with your politics. You're the leaders of your race. You can't just abandon them to comfort me. I won't let you."

"Alright," Atem said somehow swinging himself over the bed to land in front of him. "But, I want you to go to Isis and come straight back. No dilly dally shilly shally. The Palace is not safe for you right now."

"You got it…Tem."

Atem closed his eyes, before kissing his brow. He grabbed Yami's hand, but the latter was unmoving. He just stood there, staring at Yugi in shock. He'd just called Atem, Tem.

"I'll see you soon, Ami. I'll be alright, go," Yugi encouraged giving his other hand a squeeze.

"There and back again," Yami said repeating what Atem had already said squeezing it back.

"Of course."

Yami nodded turning to Atem, and the two tried to walk off, but Yami's hand was still held captive by Yugi's. They both turned to look at him, but he was looking at the ground. They stood there for 30 more seconds before Yugi released Yami. Yami smiled, leaning down to kiss his forehead, before they all left. When Yugi lifted his head though, Mahad was still standing there, looking at him in a very haughty way.

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Yugi screamed at him pointing towards the door. Mahad's body swiveled around, and he vanished out the door.

Yugi collapsed on the bed a moment later. Breathing in the scents of cinnamon and foreign spices. So potent, and so fresh. It was like they'd just been sleeping here. Every breath he took in all he could smell were those two scents. This was why he hadn't sat on the bed when he first came in. He had wanted to breathe it in, and knew it would've looked odd to the other two.

Finally though, he pushed himself up from the bed, and left the room. After telling Koneko to stay, like she was a dog, six times. It still hadn't worked, and he now found himself carrying the small ball of snow white fur.

Walking into Isis's chambers he saw her sitting on a bed talking to Molly. She saw him first and jumped to her feet, covering her mouth in horror. Isis stood up, turning around.

"Yugi, it's Friday night. Now, why did you tell them we had a checkup appointment today?"

"They needed to go to the meeting," he replied shrugging.

"Alright then. Come here," she ordered softly holding out her arms.

"Oh Kami, you look like a walking skeleton," Molly said slowly lowering her hands.

"Yeah, I know. I'm trying to work on that," Yugi replied handing her Koneko. He then undressed himself and let Isis poke and prod at his body. He couldn't help but notice how her fingers seemed to linger over a particular area on his neck though.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Hm, no. Nothing at all," she responded moving her hand away and motioning for him to get dressed.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, simply a trick of the light. Or perhaps my own wishful thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing, Yugi. Just some vampire politics."

"Alright," Yugi said nodding as he took Koneko back from Molly. "I need to get back, but um, if you see anyone can you ask them to bring me some food?"

"I'll do it, Yugi," Molly volunteered. "It's just too hard to tell who's on whose side these days. Someone might take it as the perfect opportunity to harm you."

"Right, but by doing that, they'll also be harming the King and Queen."

"I don't think their thoughts will reach that far," Isis responded kindly.

Yugi nodded, she was most likely right. They wouldn't. They'd only see the here and now.

"I'll be in my room, Molly."

"Okay. I'll be up shortly."

"Thank you."

Yugi left the chambers and started to head back to his room. Molly's words repeating in his head. Koneko's small growl was his only warning before he was kicked in the back. Yugi grunted as he went down, one hand out in front of him, so he didn't land on his face, or crush his cat.

"Run, Koneko," Yugi said quietly putting her on her feet. Her back arched and she hissed, swiping with her paw at something above him. "No, Koneko, just run," he said again giving her a gentle push. She rubbed her head against his for a second before running off. "Good girl," he sighed before trying to stand back up, but his attacker wasn't having it, as they stepped on his right hand, crushing several fingers.

Yugi cried out in pain as he clutched the fingers to his chest using his left hand. He propped himself against the wall, and tried to look up. A fist punching his gut prevented this though, and Yugi coughed as he felt some of his lower ribs crack. Another punch in the same spot and they broke. He didn't feel any pierce his lungs though, so at least he could still breathe.

"Stop," Yugi tried to command, but the word came out too garbled for anyone to understand. Three different voices laughed above him, before a foot slammed down on his right one. Yugi screamed in pain as he felt it break in more than one place. Then they just started to hit and kick him where ever they could reach.

"This'll teach you for thinking you can come back you little heathen!" One of them shouted.

Yugi lay curled up on the ground, trying to protect as much of himself as he could. Trying to protect his head. They snapped his right arm, collarbone, and shoulder. Then they gasped, and all three ran off.

Supporting his entire right arm with his left, Yugi tried standing up, but as soon as he tried to place his broken foot on the ground, he found that it could take no support. He fell back down, on his right side, breaking a few things further. He screamed in pain.

"Prince! Prince Yugi!" two different and unfamiliar voices shouted. Two pairs of feet came running up to him, and Yugi rolled over onto his back to look up at them.

"My Prince, what has happened to you?" one of them asked with fear in both their eyes and voices as they kneeled down next to him.

"Lockdown the Palace," Yugi ordered looking him dead in the eye. He nodded and vanished to go complete his task. Yugi's eyes travelled over to the other. "Help," he simply said.

"Yes," he replied throwing whatever it was that he was holding to the side. Yugi couldn't tell what it was, his vision was shaky at best, and carefully picking him up. It took a few tries, but he finally found that under the knees, armpit, and cradling his left side against his body was the best option. Then he ran with Yugi to where he knew his mates were.

The doors were opened for the one carrying him, before they even arrived. Must've seen them coming down the hallway. Atem was in the middle of saying something, shaking his finger at someone, when his face just dropped. It went from shock to horror to sorrow all in the course of 10 seconds. Yami slowly stood from the throne and started to come towards them. His arms were out held towards the one holding him. And seeing his intention, he put Yugi down on the edge of the table in a sitting position.

"Okay, now you can take him," he said. "But, make sure you grab him under the knees and armpit. Also, make sure you're cradling his left side. His right is…it's broken."

"Why?" Yami asked in a broken voice.

"I'm sorry my Lord, we found him like this."

"But why?" Yami asked again carefully picking him up as instructed.

"There's been much underground talk around the Palace of people getting revenge for you if he were to ever come back again," the man said shifting from foot to foot looking nervous. "I think someone, or a group of people, might've actually tried to extract that."

Yami looked down at him with teary eyes, before leaning down to lick his top swelling lip. He healed the cut there, sealing it.

"Well, that's one down, only about 20 more to go," Yugi said in a raspy voice, trying to make a joke of his injuries.

Yami didn't even smile, he just closed his eyes turning his head away. Then he reopened them, and turned to Atem, shaking his head as tears fell from his eyes. The man was speechless. Atem just nodded, his eyes no longer filled with sorrow, but seething rage. You could just see the tips of his fangs protruding from the top lip.

"All Palace personnel will report to the ballroom immediately. No exceptions."

As one the entire room got up, and started to move towards the doors. As soon as all of them were gone, Atem was at their side. He gently cupped his cheek, so gently in fact that Yugi barely felt it.

"Don't cry. Either one of you, please don't cry," Atem begged as he started to cry.

"H-how? Atem, how?" Yami asked with such a lost voice.

Yugi let his arm go, sucking in a sharp breath as it fell to a painful angle. Then he used his left hand to reach up and cup Yami's left cheek. Using his pinky he tried to wipe the tears away. When it became apparent that the man just wouldn't stop crying, Yugi pulled his hand away. Shifting slightly, which was very painful, Yugi reached up, and cradled Atem's right cheek. He used his thumb to try to wipe the tears away. Atem turned his head slightly to kiss his palm. The pain that his right arm was creating though, made it impossible for Yugi to keep his free hand there. He pulled it away, and pulled his arm back up. Squeezing his eyes shut as tears wanted to spill from his eyes at the immense pain that this caused him.

"How is it that you can be so strong?" Atem asked.

Yugi looked up at him with lost eyes.

"Yugi, you're the only one that should be crying, and yet you hold the tears back just because I asked you to."

"I'm trying to make it easier on all of us."

"I don't know what Deity made you," Yami started, and Yugi turned his eyes to him, "but they made you strong. They made you to last."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Very, Little One, very."

"Atem, everyone is gathered in the ballroom now," Seth said coming into the room. "However, I'm just curious as to wh-what happened?"

"Isis is there?" Atem asked wiping the tears from his face.

Seth nodded with his eyes full of shock, and his mouth slightly ajar.

"Good, we're going to need her." Atem left the room swiftly.

"C'mon, Seth," Yami said nodding his towards the door.

"Why would anyone…? Oh, Yugi, why you?"

"C'mon."

"This is horrible," Seth said walking out of the door with his hand over his mouth.

Yami faced a bit of a problem when he reached the ballroom. How to get down all those stairs without jostling him too much. In the end, he was left with only one option. He carefully sat on the railing, and slid down it. Atem was looking less than amused when he stumbled off at the bottom.

"We need to put in an elevator," Yami said as he walked past him to the dais. Atem just rolled his eyes and joined him.

"Hey! Why have we been called away from our duties?!" someone shouted in the midst of the crowd.

"The answer is simple really," Atem said in a very calm voice.

"Which would be?" they prodded.

"Someone, or a group, saw it as their personal duty to punish our mate for daring to step forth back into the Palace. His own home. All we want to know, is who? If someone will just share this information, everyone can go back their duties."

"Well, he would've deserved it!" someone else shouted.

"And how is this your decision to make?"

"Why's he so calm?" Yugi asked, confused.

"He's not. I've heard him talk in that voice four times in my life. When he finds the ones who did this to you, they're dead," Yami answered back.

"There were three if that helps."

A group of three?

Yes. Why're we using the mind link?

So Atem knows too.

Kay.

Understood.

"My King!" a voice cried out from the top of the stairs. Everyone looked up to see Konner, Marcus, and Zane standing there with three struggling people. "We found these three trying to escape out a south window."

"Let go!" one of them shouted.

Well, he's one of them. Yugi sent the thought, and then hid his face in Yami's chest. If only he could cover his ears as easily.

"Well, bring them down," Atem said.

"Move!" Konner ordered.

Yugi heard a lot of struggling, the noises of it growing closer and closer until it sounded as if it stopped right in front of them. There was no sound, but Yugi felt Yami's chest rising and fall a little more quickly. Yugi couldn't resist, he took his face out of Yami's chest to see what was going on.

Atem, he wasn't looking at the three at his feet. No, he was looking into the crowd. Then he looked back at them, licking his lips. Yugi saw Yami shake his head at him. Atem yelled in frustration, slamming his fist into the floor. His fist created a small crater in the floor, with jagged cracks coming out of it. Kind of looked like a sun to Yugi.

Atem snorted and started to laugh. Yami wasn't far behind him. The two just laughed, and the crowd of people in the ballroom moved back. They probably thought the two deranged or something.

"Alright, Mahad, Seth, Isis, Marik, Gavin, Ilsa, Rachel, and you six can stay. The rest of you, get out," Atem said once he had calmed his laughter enough.

Why all those people? What was going on? Had he missed something? Everyone left, except for the ones he pointed out. He did notice one thing that was very peculiar though, Mahad was staring at the three people on the ground, and he looked very angry.

"Isis, heal his injuries."

"Of course my King," Isis sighed.

Finally. I thought this hour would never come.

"Mahad, front and center."

"Hold still, Yugi."

"That's easy. It's moving that causes pain."

"Please stop trying to make jokes. Your current injuries are not funny."

"Yes, Doctor."

"I ordered you to stay away from the Prince," Mahad growled.

"Hmph, you go on and on about how he doesn't belong here, but won't do anything about it! We aren't cowards! Not like you, Master! We did something about it!"

"I was trying to save your lives, but it seems you have no respect for them."

"Is this blood on your hand?" Atem asked lifting one of their hands. He sniffed at the small amount on his knuckles. "Hm, I know this scent. It's my mate's." There was a sickening snap after that and Yugi could only assume that something was broken.

"Oh my, look at this. Bruised knuckles. All of you seem to have them," Yami said.

Yugi looked down at the lap he was sitting in to find it missing. Now he was in the hard chair. How did he not notice Yami put him down? Let alone move him?

"I told you not to move. I guess I should've told him too," Isis sighed.

Yugi pressed his lips together as he tried not to laugh at Isis's exasperation.

"So, Isis, what's the verdict so far?" Atem asked.

"Would you like it in broken bones, or just bruises?"

"Both."

"I don't have one."

"Bones."

"About ten."

"Bruises."

"Still counting. They're kind of layered on top of one another."

"That response will do, thank you."

"So, Mahad, they belong to you," Yami said in a conversational voice. Yugi had a feeling it was anything but though. "You created them. How do you feel they should be punished?"

"Why not ask the Prince? He's the one who's been injured."

"I'm asking you."

"Why? Afraid he'll say they should be spared."

"Atem won't allow it," Yugi said. "Neither will Yami. You already know that. It's why you told them to stay away from me, right?"

"And what? You're not even going to try to fight for their lives? So much for the compassionate Prince."

"Yes, I think your life should be spared, Mahad."

"My life isn't on the line here!"

"You sure about that? You're their Master, creator. They attacked me going off of your hate. Why do you think Atem punched the floor so hard it left a crater that looked like the sun? He doesn't want to kill his best friend. But your subordinates…they're expendable."

"Hmm, he makes a point," one of the females said.

"What do you mean, Rachel?" the one he assumed was Gavin asked.

"It really does look like the sun."

"Hey!" Atem snapped his fingers, "let's pay a little more attention to the situation at hand, huh?"

"Sorry."

"Who here concurs with the Prince?"

"That Mahad should be spared?" Ilsa asked.

"Yes, that one. Raise your hand if you agree."

Everyone raised their hands. Atem and Yami did not vote.

"Okay, and his subordinates? Raise your hand if you think they should be spared."

Marik, Konner, Isis, and Marcus raised their hands. Everyone else's remained down.

"Seems you're indeed expendable," Atem said. "Put them in the torture chamber."

"We have a torture chamber?" Zane asked while Yami fell over with laughter.

"Uh, I mean the prison cells."

"Okay."

The three guards looked at one another before dragging the three back out of the ballroom. They waited until they were gone, before rounding on Mahad. Atem just punched him.

"What's that for?" he asked getting back up.

"You're lucky, so damn lucky, Yugi actually cares for you," Yami hissed. "If it were up to us, you'd be joining them."

"But that'd make Sakura really sad. And besides, Mahad might be a bad babysitter, but I still consider him to be a friend. I mean, he is my brother-in-law."

"There, all done. You can move again if you want."

"Thanks Isis," Yugi said giving her a hug. "You're the best doctor in the world."

"Yeah, I know."

Yugi went up to Atem and Yami, grabbing their hands, "come on," he said tugging them.

"We're not done here," Atem said.

"Yes, you are. Come on, please."

"Yugi."

"Please, just come with me. I don't want you to beat up your best friend. So just come, come with me."

Atem closed his eyes, before he and Yami allowed Yugi to pull them from the room. He led them back to their room. Koneko was pacing, but the minute she saw him, she stopped. Yugi let go of their hands to pick her up, and pet her.

"Good girl. Good girl."

"Why'd you spare him?" Yami asked.

"Cause it's who I am," Yugi said crawling onto the bed.

"Are you tired?" Atem asked.

"Very."

"Have you eaten dinner yet?"

"I was going to, but I never made it back to m-our room."

"Alright, I'll go get you something."

"No, you're both going to stay right here."

"I don't think so. You're eating."

"Couldn't agree with you more," Isis said from behind them. "Here you go, Yugi."

"Thanks Isis," he said taking the tray from her.

"Anytime. Once he's asleep, I will be back. We need to discuss something."

"We didn't take any," Yami said. "We simply bit him, and then sealed him."

"Is that a fact?"

"Yes."

"Well then, I suppose there's no reason for me to come back."

She left, leaving Yugi to look flabbergasted as he looked between the two vampires. He felt his neck. He didn't feel any bite marks. So, how did she know what they'd done?

"It's something only a vampire can see. Especially healers," Yami said.

"Uh, okay." Yugi picked up his fork and started to eat the mac and cheese.

As soon as he was done, he put the tray outside the door, and then changed into his night clothes. He crawled into the bed, and just stared up at the two of them. They stared back, before finally seeming to get the hint, and crawling in with him.

"So slow," Yugi teased.

"Just go to sleep."

"Shame that still works," Yugi whispered as he fell asleep.

"Not for us it isn't."

[Time skip]

Yugi's eyes fluttered as he woke up. There was an odd smell in the air, like old gas, and fresh urine. It wasn't a very nice smell. Especially not mixed together. The sheets felt all wrong too, they were very scratchy, and he was slightly cold. He opened his eyes all the way to find himself not in his bed. He wasn't sure where he was, but it definitely wasn't the Palace.

Yugi sat up. The room was dark, but he could still see every color clearly. The walls were a dark muddy brown, with stains on them that were more than questionable. Tossing the scratchy blanket off of himself, he put his feet down on a very cold cement floor. He pulled them back up, and then put them back down slowly.

"We can't leave him here!"

That was Yami's voice. Yugi turned towards a common black door. His voice, it was behind that door.

"It's as close to the conference as we can get."

And that was Atem's.

"It's not secure!"

"Yami, listen to me. If we put him in a high class hotel everyone will know that we brought something special to America with us."

"So what? We brought our food source with us. So what?"

"Did you forget what this conference was about?"

"No, how could I? Can't we at least put a guard outside the door?"

Yugi stood up, walking towards the door. There was no way they'd actually been able to move him while he slept. It wasn't possible. They had to of drugged him.

"And draw more attention? Everyone is already wondering why we rented a room at a place like this dump."

"So? Let them wonder! I refuse to lose him again, and this is one of the worst places for him to be in America. You know what they do to humans here. It's why we're here."

Yugi opened the door, "so, tell me why y-mmph!"

Atem had covered his mouth, picked him up, and zipped back into the room. Yami was quick to follow, shutting the door behind them. After looking both ways in the hallway to make sure no one had seen them first.

"Ra, Yugi, why do you have to be so reckless?" Atem asked sitting him on the bed.

"Uh, opening the door and voicing a question is reckless?"

"It can be. Think of yourself, right now, as like the sweetest meat in the lion's den," Yami said from his position against the door.

"So, why am I here?"

"You're not safe without us," Atem said.

"I don't seem to be very safe with you either."

"Ugh, that's beside the point."

"So, how did I get in America? I find it really hard to believe that I slept the whole trip."

"We kept suggesting that you slept?" Yami said with a nervous grin.

"It's amazing how agreeable you can be when you're only half awake," Atem said with a far off look on his face. "I imagine we could've suggested anything, and you would've agreed to it."

"Oh? Like what kind of things?"

"Use your imagination," Atem whispered before he kissed him.

"Atem, no. We can't carry his scent," Yami said pulling him away before Yugi could kiss back.

"Right, I'm sorry, you're right."

"Why are we here?"

"There are some regulatory problems going on in this city. We're here to take care of them."

"Atem, it's time. But please, may we at least put a guard at the door?"

"Fine, if only to put your mind at ease," he conceded.

"Thank you."

"Alright, now Yugi. Do you remember when we took you to the Palace because we had that meeting we needed to attend?"

"You mean the first time?"

"Yes."

"How could I forget? Dartz declared war on me that day."

"Right. Anyway, I need you to not move. Stay in this room, try to move as little as possible, and above all else, do not talk. Your voice is too easily recognizable."

"And how long are you going to be gone?"

"A few hours."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

"Don't worry," Yami said, "we'll punish ourselves if we're not back in two hours."

"Alright, but only if I get to watch."

"Deal."

"You better go. Can't have their Highnesses being late, now can we?"

"Indeed not."

They gave each other an uneasy look, before leaving. Yugi sighed flopping back onto the bed. The door opened a moment later. Yugi sat back up.

"Oh, did you forget something?" Yugi asked.

"No, but they did," a new voice said before something was covering his nose and mouth. Something with a terrible smell, that made him drowsy. Oh, chloroform.

[Time skip]

When Yugi woke next, it was to hushed whispers of fear and anger. He opened his eyes, and even though he could feel the blindfold, could still see. There seemed to be two slits in the blindfold directly over his eyes. How odd.

Gi…Yugi. Yugi! Can you hear us? Answer please! Yugi!

Stop your yelling. I can hear you just fine. Oh, hang on, I seem to be tied up. Yep, those are ropes around my wrists behind my back, and around my ankles. How uncomfortable.

Are you hurt?

I only have my boxers on too. They stripped me. How rude. I was certain only you two had that right.

Yeah, he's fine.

What gave you that impression?

"He's the Prince! I'm sure they already know he's missing!" someone hissed.

"Know, yes. But can they do anything about it? Absolutely not. I masked his scent with mine," an arrogant voice responded.

"So?" Yugi asked. He heard what sounded like a chair clatter to the ground.

"You're awake," the arrogant voice said in surprise.

"Well, yeah. Chloroform does wear off eventually."

Yugi looked around the room, well what he could see of it anyway. The room was dark, but he could still see the dark brown walls. Wait, was he in the same room as before? No, that wouldn't make sense, but perhaps the same hotel? That was actually kind of clever, even he had to admit it. Why on Earth would someone hide the one they took in the same place that they took them from? It was stupid, but very intelligent.

"Then perhaps you need another dosing of it."

"Oh, what? You don't want to converse with me?"

Where are you?

The same hotel as before, I think.

No, that's impossible. Who would be stupid enough to keep you in the same place as you were taken?

Exactly.

"And what do you want to talk about?"

"You and your thievery."

"I'm a thief?"

"Yes, and do you know how to catch one?"

"No, how do you catch a thief?"

"It's simple really. You just put a highly coveted priceless item within reach, and then you sit back and wait for them to show up and take it."

"Oh, and are you that priceless item?"

"Do you see any other too-selfless-for-their-own-good humans around?"

"No, I don't."

"Okay then. Yes, I'm that priceless item."

"So, they put you up as bait. How foolish. What if they never get you back?"

"I don't think Yami even knew."

"You're not going to cry are you? I hate criers."

"No, I'm not going to cry."

"Good. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Uh, yeah, let's talk about my daft mates."

"Okay, sure, let's talk about the King and Queen of my race."

"Your race? Oh, so you're a vampire?"

"Yes."

"Untie me.""Who's never met their King."

"Eh, it was worth a shot. So, what would you like to know about them?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, too bad. Let's talk about their finding capabilities."

"Their what capabilities?"

"Finding. Like for instance, no matter where I am or what I may be doing, they have this uncanny ability of being able to find me."

"That won't be happening this time, so get it out of your head."

"You know, they're kind of like my Knights in Shining Armor. And I, their Damsel in Distress."

"Oh, I get it. You're the Princess locked in a tower, and they're the brave Knights who come to save you."

"Precisely," Atem said his voice colder than steel on ice.

"Doesn't everyone know that you're not supposed to let your captives talk?" Yami asked. The blindfold on his eyes was untied, and it fell to the bed.

Yugi looked up, as Yami was untying his hands and ankles. "So, just how long have been standing in the doorway?"

"Don't worry, Damsel," Yami said scooping him up into a bridal hold, "your Knights in Shining Armor are here."

"I don't see any white horses."

"Huh?"

"A Knight always has a white horse. Didn't anybody ever inform you of this? So until I see a white horse, I suppose you're just going to have to settle for being the King and Queen."

Atem just shook his head at the two of them, a small smile on his face. Before grasping one of the two men in the room by the throat, and squeezing slowly.

"It was a brilliant scheme, truly it was," he said. "But how long did you think it would last once we got involved in the affair? I mean, transporting them in trucks that had been painted bright red and orange, was very clever. Who was going to notice the most obvious thing on the street? And holding the humans in relatively the same place from which you took them? My mind is still trying to grasp that one. Why look in the same place? Surely, you wouldn't be stupid enough to keep them nearby? All in all, you lasted much longer than any of the other black market blood traders, but at last, your reign has come to an end."

"Um, Atem?"

"Yes, Yugi?"

"The one climbing out the window is in charge."

Both vampire's heads whipped around to see the other in the room with half a leg out the window. He froze though, as soon as he felt all attention on him.

"How do you know that?"

"Because he was angry with the arrogant one. I mean, why get angry if it's not your show to run?"

"Huh, so the rumors are true," the other one said pulling his leg back inside. He dusted the dirt off the pant leg, and stood up straight.

"What rumors?" Yami asked.

"That the Prince is brilliant. I was hoping they were just rumors. So I could get away and restart my trade in another country."

"I see," Atem said throwing the now dead vampire to the side.

"No wonder," Yami started, "that this has been going on for six months now. We all thought you were our informant, but really, you were pulling all the strings."

"Well, if you want to know your enemies business the best way to do it is to get in their corner."

"Wow, that's almost poetic," Yugi said.

"Heh, putting your own mate up as bait, that's sick."

"We knew the risks," Yami said.

"Huh?" Yugi looked up at him. "You…knew?"

"Yes, Yugi, I was in on the plan."

"Oh, there's going to be hell to pay for this."

"As long as raw sugar or lima beans aren't involved, we can handle just about anything."

"How about popcorn and eggplant?"

"We'd enjoy it far more than you would."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Pretty sure, yeah."

"I was going to put him back," the other said.

"I have a hard time believing that," Atem said moving towards him.

"I'm not an idiot. Not like him," he said glaring at the dead vampire. "He got cocky, and thought he could prove himself to be the best of my organization. He should have chosen a more high risk target. Instead he chooses the lowest of all lows of targets."

"Huh?"

"Okay, so a prostitute is considered high risk, because they live a high risk life. A suburban Mother is considered low risk, because they live a low risk life. Understand?"

"Yeah, I get it. So, you're basically saying that the Prince lives a very low risk life?"

"Precisely."

"You clearly don't know him very well," Yami said in an offended tone. "He's constantly getting himself into trouble."

"Hey!"

"Yami, take Yugi to The Lair, while I take this criminal to the High Lords of this country."

"I'm not sure if he'll be comfortable there."

"I'm not comfortable here, so how different can it really be?"

"Well…"

It was like walking into a hotel that had taken the term gothic to the next level. Everywhere he looked, he saw eyes appearing out of rippling shadows. He didn't even know that shadows could ripple. Here they were though, walking up to the front desk of The Lair, with eyes upon eyes appearing out of the dark to stare at something you didn't often see in a vampire coven. A human.

Yami had such a tight grip on his shoulder though, many of the eyes turned away, fading into darkness almost as soon as they appeared. Only the more curious ones stayed glued to them. Yami requested the Usual Suite, and the vampire on the other side of the counter handed a key to him. Thanking him, he was guided over to an elevator. There was only one other person inside, an elevator operator.

"What's the Usual Suite?" Yugi asked looking up at Yami.

"Silence," he said in a cold tone without sparing him a single glance.

"Y-Yami?"

"You dare address the Queen so informally you half-wit?" The operator snarled raising a hand.

Yugi flinched, raising his hands to cover his face. No hit came though, only a soft smack. Like a gloved wrist being caught in a bare hand. Yugi lowered his arms to see that that was exactly what he heard. Yami was still staring straight ahead, one hand on his shoulder, but the other was grasping the operator's wrist.

"Are you unaware of what a hand upon the shoulder means? Especially when directed at an inferior species?"

Yugi wanted to protest the insult, but at the same time he knew he shouldn't. Something was off, with the way Yami was acting. He'd been in all vampire establishments before, and they'd never acted like this. Something was wrong, and he should just play the part of obedient human. For now. Yugi saw the ghost of a smile on Yami's face as this thought passed through his mind, but it was gone in the next instance, so it could've been his imagination too.

"No, I have been made aware of it."

SNAP!

"Then your pain is your own burden, and no fault lies with the human. Am I clear?"

"Yes my Queen, you are clear."

"Good. Do not make that mistake again, or shall break more than just your wrist next time."

"Your floor."

"Move," Yami ordered giving him a soft shove.

They walked across the hall to the only door in the entire hallway. Yami opened it, and guided him inside. Shutting the door behind him he smacked his own face. Yugi just stared at him, mouth slightly ajar, as he placed a finger to his lips.

"Don't ever address me thus again, human. You have no right to speak so informally to me. Now, go sit in that corner until my mate gets here, and we decide what we should do with your insubordination."

Yugi turned to do as he said, but Yami put a vice grip on his shoulder again. He didn't understand. Why was he acting like this? Yami had his ear pressed against the door, and then he grinned before pulling Yugi into his chest, and kissing the top of his head.

"Good job, Yugi, good job."

"What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry, it's just that some of the vampires here are very old fashioned. But we stay here every time we come to this city, they'd of considered it an insult if we hadn't of come when we were here."

"How often do you come to this city?"

"Every time we're in America."

"I bet that's one of the reasons you don't want me coming with you."

"You're safer in Japan, Dear. Under the watchful eyes of your guards."

"Can you turn the lights on?" Yugi asked changing the subject before it could turn into a fight.

"What do you need those for? I was sure you could see in the dark as well as you do the light?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"No, of course not," Yami replied with a knowing look before walking over to some maroon curtains, and flinging them open. "Is this better?"

"Much. Um, can you make me something? I'm hungry."

"Sure," he replied walking into another room. Yugi followed him, climbing onto a stool at the island. He watched as Yami started to pull different things out of the cabinets, and fridge.

"So, is this the Presidential Suite?"

"No, the Royal Suite. We're the only ones who stay in it."

"When's Atem coming back?"

"Why?"

"I feel nervous not seeing him."

"Yami," Atem's voice said in a scolding tone, "Yami, where are you?"

"Kitchen. What?"

"Was it really necessary to break his wrist?" Atem asked coming into the kitchen and throwing Yugi's backpack onto the stool next to him.

"He was going to hit Yugi. I already had a hand on him. That should've been message enough."

"So, how did we punish him?"

"Oh, I was going to let you decide. Cause that's just the kind of mate I am."

"Great. Thanks. Now I have to come up with something, because we both know he's going to ask."

"You could starve me."

"Went to bed without lunch or dinner, perfect. So, what're you making him?"

"Lasagna."

"Mm, sounds yummy," Atem said putting his arms around Yugi's shoulders.

"It better be. Lasagna takes a long time."

Knock. Knock. "My King, may I speak to you a moment?"

"Close the curtains, and put him in a corner."

"Hide the food."

Before Yugi could even grasp at what was happening, he found his back in a corner, with him facing the room. A very dark room. Yami was brushing some grated parmesan cheese off his sleeve, and Atem was at the door.

"My King, is everything all right?"

"Just fine, why do you ask?"

"There were a lot of noises?"

Yami nodded at Atem, and he opened the door. Yugi couldn't see who it was, but his entire demeanor just deflated at the sight of the person standing there. "Oh, it's just you. False alarm."

"Yes, just me. May I come in?"

"Of course. Yugi, you can move about."

"Uh, thank you for the permission?" Yugi mumbled back as he walked over to the curtains and reopened them. Then he followed Yami back into the kitchen where everything had already been taken out, and he was working on the lasagna again.

"Ha ha, the operator told me he was being punished. I must say, this is some punishment I'm seeing."

"Yeah, yeah, just get in here."

"Of course."

"How're you doing Vermeer?" Yami asked from the kitchen.

"Smashing, just smashing."

"Have you been watching British shows again?"

"I can't help it. Their language, their way of speaking, it fascinates me."

He was looking at Yami when he said this, but then his eyes shifted to the right. They fell on Yugi, and he gulped. This man, this vampire, Yugi had never met before.

"So, this is Yugi. This is our beloved Prince."

Yami walked around the counter to stand in front of him blocking him from view.

"Oh, right, I was staring my apologies."

"Maybe you should talk with Atem now."

"Right, of course."

"Unless, the only reason you're here was to confirm whether or not the Prince was actually in our room," Atem said.

"Oh, no, no, I just came to see if everything was to your tastes. Or if you needed more light."

"We will when it grows dark outside, but for now, we are fine."

"Of course. Do call the front desk if there's anything you need."

"And just so everyone is aware, he will be going to bed without lunch or dinner."

"He is?" Vermeer asked looking into the kitchen where Yami was obviously preparing something on the countertops. Then he gasped, seeming to catch on. "Oh, right, of course he is."

"You'll take your leave now?"

"Yes, good day to you all. My King, Queen, and Prince. You know, you should bring him around more often. He creates quite the stir." He started to move towards the door.

"What kind of stir?" Yugi asked poking his head out around Yami.

Yami and Atem winced for some reason though, the moment the words started to pass through his lips.

"Oh," Vermeer's eyes went wide as he breathed the word out. "The kind that creates a lot of chatter." And then he left. Atem shut the door and locked it, with his magic.

"That should keep everyone out."

"Do us a huge favor, Yugi, and don't speak around anyone else at this hotel."

"Why not?"

"Most people aren't used to hearing the voices of angels on earth."

"Whatever," Yugi sighed. "Hey, I have a question."

"Yes?" Yami asked.

"It's just something Isis said awhile back. She mentioned that when six months went by you'd never be able to drink from me again. I thought either you or I had to be dead for that to happen. Or turned, or I had to be turned for you to no longer be able to drink from me? Is that wrong?"

"Well, in a way, what you just said is true. That's what happens in most cases anyway. However, they're extremely rare cases that when the vampire doesn't drink from the human for six months, then they can never drink from them again."

"Why? And why six months?"

"Because it is a sign, I suppose, of the vampire having lost their taste for that particular food source. Six months is how long it takes for the blood of the human to completely vacate the system of the vampire."

"Oh. I'm not sure whether to consider it lucky or not that you haven't lost your taste for my blood yet."

"You'd still be the Prince, either way."

"Yeah, probably. Can't you make that lasagna any faster?"

Yami rolled his eyes before grabbing something off one of the counters and tossing it at him. "Here, have an orange."

Yugi ducked, and Atem caught it instead. He handed it to Yugi, and appeared behind Yami smacking him upside the head. Yami threw some sauce at the back of his head. Yugi muffled his laughter into his hand.

"Thanks, Yami, now I need to go wash this out," Atem complained. As he was walking by Yugi, he reached out and grabbed his hand. "Come with me. I don't want you getting injured by stupidity."

"Hey!"

"What? No!" Yugi pulled at the hand dragging him across the lavish rooms. "No! Let go of me! I don't want to take a bath with you! I don't want to! Let go!" Yugi yelled throwing the orange at him, and latching onto a curtain with his now free hand.

Atem stopped, and turned to look at him. His face was sad, but puzzled too. He let go of Yugi's hand, who now clung to the curtain with both.

"Who said anything about you joining me? I simply don't want Yami chucking anything at you, and you getting hurt."

"No, I won't. You can't make. I won't," Yugi said looking up at him with pure fear in his eyes. None of Atem's words were getting through to him. So he just nodded and walked off. A door closed somewhere in the suite a moment later.

"Yugi?" Yami asked carefully approaching him.

Yugi's head snapped towards the approaching vampire. He squatted down in front of him, and held out another orange to him. Yugi reached out a shaking hand and took it. Yami sighed, before getting up, and going back into the kitchen to finish the lasagna.

Standing up, he took this time to investigate the rest of the suite. There were six bathrooms, two living rooms, a small book room, and four bedrooms. After determining which was the biggest, he took little time in claiming it for himself.

The room was painted a dark purple color, very similar to his eyes when they darkened with lust. The floor was made of a lush black material. The bed spread was the same color as the walls, and the gossamer curtains the same as the floor. The bed wasn't a four poster one like at home, but was more open as the curtains were held up by ceiling, not the bed. The bed looked like two King sized ones thrown together.

When Yugi sat upon it though, he sunk in a little. Like a water bed, but this did not feel like water. Nor did it feel like foam. It felt like…like…like a cloud. He felt around for a seam to declare that it was two King sizes thrown together, but he couldn't find one. So, this bed was specially made it seemed. And oh, it was so comfy too…

"Did you find him?" Yami asked.

Yugi blinked his eyes open. Had he fallen asleep?

"Yeah. I knew he couldn't have gone far. I locked the door more to keep others out than him in though," Atem responded.

"So? What room is he in?"

"The Masters of course. Humans always go for the biggest rooms. Greedy little things."

"Well, that bed is the comfiest, as it was made to our specific design. So, can you really blame him?"

"Not just the bed though, the room too."

"Atem, what were you thinking earlier when you said that? Suggested it even?"

"I wasn't, Habibi. The only thing I was concerned about was you hitting him with a piece of food. I wasn't suggesting he join me in the bath. Only that he get away from you before he got hurt."

"Well, we clearly need to be more careful with our words. Joking about side effects seems to be okay."

"Yes, but no actual implications of seeing him bare before us. You know, he didn't even eat the orange? It's still sitting in his hand. Like a splash of color amidst all the dark gloom."

"Ha ha, typical Yugi behavior. He never eats when he's upset."

"So, how're you planning on getting that down his throat?"

"Through force, if I have to. I'd rather not though. Things go much more smoothly when he just eats the food we provide willingly."

"Yeah, I know. So should we take this to him, or drag him out here? Though, I suppose it doesn't matter either way we're going to have to wake him."

"Let's take it to him. The last time he was being dragged he freaked out."

Yugi scrambled up the bed, and pushed himself into the many pillows at the head of it. He grabbed one of the larger ones, and held it in front of him like a shield. Like it could protect him from the oncoming doom heading his way.

"Oh, Yugi, wakey wakey," Yami sung practically dancing into the room. He stopped short though when he didn't see Yugi immediately. "Well, there's the orange, but where's…Yugi." Yami's eyes travelled the room, before finally locating him among the pillows. As if they were a fort, instead of a means for decoration and comfort.

Sighing, Yami walked further into the room, setting the tray down on a dresser before going back out. Yugi looked over at the tray to see lasagna, carrots, and a piece of apple pie. Licking his lips, he climbed out of his fort, and snatched the plate off of the tray before going back to huddle in his pillow fort.

"What did you do?" Yugi heard Yami ask from the kitchen.

"Huh?" was Atem's response.

"What did you do to him? We were making progress damn it! And now he's squeezed himself between the pillows like they're some kind of fort. With a pillow held in front of him like a magical shield. Fear ripples through his eyes like the waves of the ocean on a stormy night."

"Crap," Atem sighed before soft footsteps started to make their way towards him. He was in the doorway a moment later.

Even though Yami had told him exactly where he was, it still took his eyes a moment or two to find him. When he did though, he sighed, and walked towards him climbing onto the bed. All the while, Yugi was pressing himself further and further into the headboard behind him. He didn't try to pull Yugi out of the pillows, just held up a hand towards him.

Yugi looked down at the plate in his hands, before back up at him. He angled it away from the vampire. Atem just sighed.

"I don't want the food. It's good to see that you're eating it. I just want your hand so I can help you out of there."

Yugi shook his head.

"Why not?"

Yugi shook his head.

"No, give me words."

Yugi shook his head.

"I want words, Yugi."

So, Yugi gave him one. "Yami!"

"What? What's wrong?" Yami asked standing at the edge of the bed.

"He's being mean, and won't let me eat in peace."

Yami snorted, "Alright, I'll remove him," he laughed as he hooked his hand into the collar of Atem's shirt and pulled him from the bed and room.

"You're not helping," Atem complained.

"I think Yugi would disagree with you. Oh, and Yugi," Yami said popping his head back into the doorway. "When you're done eating, do freshen up. Your smell, it's putrid."

"Well that's what you get for putting me in a backwater place of a room!"

"Just take a bath."

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you want me to take one?"

"Because you need one," Atem said leaning against the doorframe without a shirt. Yami looked from him to the one he held in his hand, before throwing it over his shoulder.

It was silent as Yugi eyed them suspiciously. Almost like he was expecting them to try to take advantage of him the moment he let his guard down. That wasn't happening though. He wouldn't let it. He wouldn't let them.

"Yugi we won't climb in with you."

"But…you always…do."

"Do you want us to?" Yami asked.

"No," Yugi said shaking his head.

"Okay, then how about we make a deal. We won't join you until you come to us and tell us you want to bathe with us? How about that?"

"Yeah, like when you told us that you wanted to come home. Same principal."

"Promise?" Yugi asked a glimmer of hope in his eyes. It was faint, but it was there.

"Promise," they agreed.

"O-okay," Yugi said maneuvering out of the pillows to sit in the middle of the bed. Both turned to leave. "Do I really?" Yugi asked.

"Yes, Yugi, you really do reek of something awful. Plus that mixture of chloroform is just over heightening to our sensitive senses," Atem said.

"No, I meant do I really always not eat when I'm upset?"

"Yes, always. It's like leading a cattle to slaughter with the cow pulling on the other end of the rope. Usually anyway."

"Oh, then I'll just go take that bath now," Yugi set setting his food down on the bed. "I don't want to disturb your sense of smell any longer."

"No."

Yami was just over him, pinning him to the bed. Yugi barely felt his head hit the pillows it was so unexpected. He started to shake under Yami, scared of those predator eyes looking down at him.

"You're eating first and then taking a bath. Don't worry about our sense of smell. It's fine. Eat for us, Yugi, we need you to eat."

"You just want me healthy so you can run off again. So you can abandon me. I don't want to be abandoned. I don't want to be alone."

"We won't, Yugi," Yami said pressing their foreheads together, his eyes squeezing shut. "We won't leave you again. Not again. None of us would survive it."

"I don't want to be alone. Not alone. Don't leave me alone."

Yami blinked, his eyes opening. He stared into Yugi's fear filled ones, crystalline tears forming at the edges of them. There was a riddle here, and if they didn't figure it out now, it would be too late later. What was it though? What were they missing?

"Please don't leave me alone. I don't want to be alone."

"Atem, go prepare a bath. Now."

"Are you nuts?" Atem asked.

"Just do it!"

"Fine."

"And make sure you put something in it to make the water go all cloudy."

"Why?"

"It'll help."

"NO!" Yugi shrieked starting to thrash. Yami scooped him up, pinning his arms to his sides, and sitting on his legs. He rocked back and forth, trying to calm his mate. It was no use though, Yugi was completely consumed by his fear as he continued to cry and scream. To put him to sleep right now though, that would be the worst thing they could possibly do. Atem walked back into the room a couple of minutes later.

"Alright, baths prepared. What now oh intelligent one?"

"We put him in it."

"Oh? That simple huh?"

"Actually yes, it will be. He's already exhausted from the day, and has worn himself out even more by thrashing about."

"Right, two flaws with your plan."

"Which are?"

"He got in a two hour nap, and he's scared out of his mind. Fear gives strength to humans. Makes them more alert?"

"Doesn't matter," Yami replied shaking his head. "We have to do this."

"Why?"

"Because he doesn't want to be alone."

"Yeah, I got that."

"No, you're not."

"What're you talking about?"

"You're not getting it."

"Yami, I really don't think this is a good idea," Atem sighed.

"Then think of it like the first feeding. It's something we're uncomfortable with, but must do."

An image flashed through Yugi's mind. He saw the edges of it, but then it went all blurry and hazy. What was that? Then he realized that Yami was off of him. He tried to spring off the bed only to have his entire left arm jerk him backwards. Looking behind him, he saw that Yami had a firm hold on his left wrist. Yugi cried out, aiming to hit Yami with his free hand, but Yami merely grabbed the wrist of that one too.

"Grab his legs."

"Yami," Atem said warningly.

"Just do it. This needs to be done."

"Yes wise one."

Atem had his legs before Yugi could even draw them away from him. Together they lifted him, making him feel a bit like the livestock that was already dead. All they needed was a long pole to tie him to.

Yugi squirmed and wiggled in their awkward hold. Anything to try to break free. Then a thought hit him. Even if he could escape, where would he go? Atem had locked the main doors, and he doubted this fact had changed. Besides, would he want to? This place, this part of America, he was sure he'd never been in before. He wasn't even sure what state he was in. Not to mention his English was awful, so what would he do once he got out anyway? Hail a taxi and then be unable to tell them where to go? Yugi slumped in defeat as they entered the bathroom.

He was set on a small stool. Both vampires turned around. Yugi stared at their backs, not moving a single muscle.

"Get undressed, and get in the tub," Yami ordered with that scary predator voice.

Yugi didn't even need to think about obeying, he just did. The tub was very deep, more like a pool. It could easily fit at least 20 people in it with all of them being comfortable. Yugi sunk down into it until the hot water was up to his chin. You could see nothing of his body, the water was too cloudy. Atem, he'd done a really good job on that.

"So, now that he's in the tub of water, salts, and oils, what do we do?"

"You stay here, and I'll go fetch his food."

"What?"

"You helped make this problem. You can help fix it."

"What problem?"

"Figure it out for yourself," Yami growled before he left the two of them alone.

Atem sighed in aggravation, before spinning around and plopping down right next to the edge of the tub. He stared at Yugi, and Yugi stared at him. Slowly, Yugi started to move back from him, to the far reaches of the tub, where he felt a small ledge upon which he could sit.

"So, is the temperature to your liking?" Atem asked.

"It's fine. Could have been a little hotter, but it's fine."

"If it had been any hotter, it would've burned you."

"That's alright."

"No, that is not alright."

"What do you care? You're both going to abandon me first chance that you get."

"No we're not."

"I don't want to be alone."

"Yes, you've already said that."

"No, I don't want to be alone."

Atem lifted his head off of his arms, and stared at Yugi with a furrowed brow. He didn't want to be alone? But he wasn't alone. They weren't going to leave him alone. They weren't going to abandon him. So why? Realization dawned on Atem's face, as he dropped his head back onto his arms.

"There, now you see," Yami said coming back into the room with Yugi's plate. He set it onto a tray that floated, and sent it sailing over to Yugi.

"We're idiots," Atem grumbled.

"You're only now figuring this out?" Yami asked grinning slightly.

"They handed us the answer years ago, and we completely forgot about it."

"Oh, my King, you and the Queen are so bad!"

"Yeah, there's only two ways to fix the mistake now."

"One being much quicker than the other."

"First option! You get to have sexual intercourse with him."

"Second option! You get to remain in constant contact with him."

"Yeah, and that doesn't mean a few phone calls either. That means you have to be with him every second of every day for the next six months."

"Even when he needs to use the loo, you have to be with him."

"The Queen too. You both have to."

"Right, cause if one of you leave him for even a moment, like say when he's asleep and he wakes up alone, than he could become really sick, probably like he is right now."

"And a sick human is never a good human."

Yugi remembered that conversation too. It was when they were in London, trying to settle a dispute between werewolves and vampires. He didn't understand though, what did it have to do with right now? He wasn't sick.

"No, Yugi, you're not sick," Atem said, "not in the way you were before. Question is, how is that possible?"

"Don't you know?" Yugi asked. "Once a sickness has passed through a human body, the body creates an immune system to it. If it survives at least."

"This wasn't a sickness you could create an immune system against though," Yami said. "Yugi, did you get sick like before, and somehow hide it when the bond was breaking?"

"No, because it wasn't breaking. It just broke."

"No, the bond has to deteriorate before it breaks. That's how the bond works. Did you hide it?"

"You know I couldn't. Everyone saw right through it directly to the pain I was trying to hide," Yugi said as his vision started to go fuzzy around the edges. The sound coming into his ears was kind of like he was at the opposite end of a long tube.

"Did you get sick? Did you throw up blood at all in the past four months?" Atem asked impatiently.

"No. Not once."

"How? How is that possible?"

"Because my instincts were trying to keep me alive," Yugi said in a voice that was like his, but at the same time wasn't.

Atem and Yami looked at him. Really looked at him. His eyes were dark, too dark, and very very blank. They'd seen this look in his eyes before, and it scared them.

"What do you mean?" Yami asked cautiously.

"There were no items around me in which I could've used to keep myself stable. I had nothing with your lingering scents on it. It would have been irrational to put myself in that kind of danger. Just like it's irrational for you to think you have to be in my constant presence."

"Why is that irrational?" Atem asked.

"Our bond is healed to a degree where it's quite stable."

"But you don't want to be alone. That's what you kept saying. 'I don't want to be alone.'."

"I don't trust you to not leave is what I meant. I wonder if I will ever again?"

"Tell us, are we speaking directly to the instinct that was created with our bond right now?" Yami asked.

"You are."

"We're sitting right here, so why take control?"

"You are bakas. And as such, understand so little about our bond. I've come to educate you. Like for instance, that whole treat me like prey thing," the instinct rolled Yugi's eyes, "is your only way of getting me to trust you again."

"Really?"

"Yes. The bond will heal faster too. After all, when you find prey you tend to stay very close to it, don't you? Want to know where it is at all times?"

"Yes."

"However, putting me up for bait? Bad move on your part. No wonder I don't want to be left alone. Another bad vampire might try to lay their hands on me."

"We're sorry."

"Sure you are."

"Well, it was like you said. Want to catch a thief? Put a priceless item in an easy to reach place, and then just sit around a wait. What could be more priceless than the Prince of the Vampire Kingdom?" Atem pointed out.

The instincts hissed at him, baring his teeth like an enraged vampire. That's when they realized it. That's what the instincts were. The manifestation of a vampire, living in a human body. No wonder it was highly suggested that you transform a human if you were planning on mating with them. Because even a vampire's life would run out eventually. Most could only live to their 30,000's. But what about a human? What could they live to?

"Why are we still acting like we're talking to Yugi?" Yami asked.

"He can still hear. He can still see. He can still talk. He just can't move. I have complete control over that." the instinct lifted Yugi's hands out of the water as if to prove it.

"Is that why you did it?"

"Did what?"

"Erase his memories of murdering Dartz?"

"Well, all that was in sharp and clear focus. He was fighting me for control, he just didn't realize it. Nor how to take control. He still doesn't. As clever as he is, there are just some things he's better off not knowing. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Why kill him at all? And why use Yugi to do it?" Yami asked.

"Because where you're bound by your laws, he isn't. He is bound by a different set. Being unusually, almost unmorally, selfless is one I've actually grown quite fond of."

"You're fond of his selflessness?"

"Yes, very much so. Did you know, that outside of his innermost friend group, he defended your honor against those who tried to sympathize with him?"

"What?"

"Oh, yes, he claimed it was his own fault that he was in pain. All his fault that the three of you were in pain. And that if he could, he'd take your pain away, and carry the burden all by himself. It was what he deserved. Like I said, almost unmorally selfless."

"This burden is not his alone," Yami said with venom in his voice.

"Well, duh. Here he was, trying to be kind, and help you find your lost kin. He failed, but when he came back instead of open arms, you toss him out like he's common trash. Twice. I sent him the second time. Made it a priority on his list of things to do. I foolishly thought you'd calmed down enough to breach your gap. Instead you hurt him in more ways than one. Muhtaram was picking gravel out of his wounds for hours. This had to be done before Isis could heal him. And all the while, he didn't cry a single tear."

"What?" Atem asked his throat constricting.

"You heard me. He just sat there, staring at the ground. As Muhtaram pulled piece after piece of gravel from his face, hands, and arms. Being right there in your oh so precious bond I could feel it trying to deteriorate, but I could not let that happen. So I held it together, had been holding it together until that Kuriboh popped up on the doorstep."

"It wasn't from us."

"No kidding. I thought it would be safe to separate myself from the bond again. So I did. After all, you were going to fix it, so where's the harm? Then you said what you did, Yami, and I couldn't move fast enough. Snap! Gone, a piece of it, right before my senses. There was nothing that I could do but watch after that. Watch all of my hard work go to waste."

Atem closed his eyes, turning his head.

"Don't you dare look away from me!" The instinct snarled at him. "I screamed over the mind link, emotional link, and bond for you both to look around the corner! I screamed! And you just ignored me. You almost let him die! Does that mean anything to you!? Does it?!"

One of Yugi's eyes came into sharp focus, and then faded back into that dark blankness. The instinct closed the eyes. He stayed like that for a little bit before the eyes reopened, but there was still that blank nothingness to them.

"Apparently my words are out of line. A piece of advice though, follow all of your instincts. Goodbye."

Yugi's eyes came back into a sharp focus. His pupils dilated a little before going back to normal. He turned his head to the side and muttered a few words that sounded like so and weak.

"Furthest thing from it, Yugi," Yami said.

"I can't even fight off my own instincts," he said before taking a deep breath, and sinking lower into the water. Only his eyes could be seen over the cloudy surface.

"Yugi, don't do that. Come here."

He shook his head making Atem sigh. He held up his hand, and a kind of purple smoke started to flow all around it. Without even realizing it, Yugi pushed off the edge of the tub, and started to make his way towards them.

"What're you doing?" Yami asked.

"Well, if he won't come willingly I was thinking we could use a little help."

"I'm not so sure that'd be the best of ideas."

A pale hand reached out grabbing Atem's wrist, and pulled it further over the tub. "What is this?" Yugi asked.

"A human's curiosity is something that can always be depended on," Atem said with a small smirk.

"Shut up," Yami said snatching Yugi's wrist as the purple smoke dispersed.

"I was sure I'd mentioned shadow magic to you before, Yugi."

"Only in passing."

"Alright," Atem replied pulling his wrist free.

"Uh, I need to eat. My food is over there."

"You also need to bathe, but I haven't seen you start that yet either."

"I'm not going to wash myself with the two of you watching me."

"Why not? We've seen you bare a thousand and one times. What makes this one so different?" Yami asked in a very casual voice.

Yugi splashed him with water. Yami looked a little like a drowned rat. Shaking the water out of his eyes, he asked what that was for.

"What do you think is different?"

There was so much venom in his voice, it made both men pause. Yami opened his eyes, narrowing them at Yugi. The latter did not back down though, his gaze was as hard as theirs. Yami released his wrist, stood up, and just left. Atem looked between them, before getting up and walking out too. Big surprise that that was to Yugi. He was always consoling his first mate. Pushing off from the wall, Yugi heard the front door open, and then slam shut.

He blinked. But Atem had locked the door originally. No one could override his lock. He was King. So, he'd just left? Taking no one's side, like Akeifa had done so many times, but just left? Maybe the impossible was happening, and he was learning from past mistakes? No, it was too irrational for him to think that. Vampires, especially ones as old as him, did not relearn things. They did not change their habits of old.

Yugi grabbed the floating tray, and ate all that was left on it. The food was cold, but he was hungry, their cooking was excellent, and he didn't care. Then he washed using the soaps that were present. They were all peach scented. Wait, he knew he already smelled like peaches to them so why…? Right, they must've missed him, and more than they were letting on too. Yugi dropped one of the bottles, letting it sink to the bottom of the deep tub, and cried, as quietly as he could.

After about ten or so minutes, he wiped the tears away, and washed his face. Then he climbed out of the tub, and dried himself off with a towel. However, now he was in quite the predicament. All of his clothes were in his backpack, in the kitchen, on the other side of the suite. Wrapping the towel around his body like a woman would, Yugi walked out of the bathroom and stumbled on something. It was his backpack. Sighing in relief, he just grabbed it pulling it into the bathroom.

After putting on some clothes, his night ones had disappeared when he'd been kidnapped, he went outside into the living area. Yami was making a point of ignoring him, as was obvious by the way he kept flipping through the channels on the TV. Yugi wasn't too keen on talking with him either.

So, he walked into the kitchen to make himself tea. Imagine his surprise when he found some blood tea. Vampires drank tea? How odd. Shrugging, he made a cup. Maybe he could use it as a peace offering. But which one first? Atem could be who knew where by now, and Yami was just sitting there.

"Want some tea?" Yugi asked holding the cup out to Yami.

Yami spared him and the tea cup a glance before looking back to the TV. "No," was the short reply Yugi received.

"Um, alright, I'll just leave it here in case you change your mind," Yugi said putting the cup down on the table before him. "So, where'd Atem go?"

"Nowhere."

"But the door-."

"He's sitting in the hallway."

"Oh. Well maybe he wants a cup of tea."

"Unlikely."

"Doesn't hurt to try."

"Here, take it to him," Yami said holding up the cup.

"No, that's yours," Yugi replied turning sharply on his heel, and walking back into the kitchen. Making another cup, he went out to face Atem.

The other looked up at him the minute he stepped into the hallway. It took Yugi a moment to locate him. He had figured he be on the opposite side of it, or at one of the ends. He would've found him eventually, but Atem decided to help by clearing his throat. This forced Yugi's head to look down to his immediate left.

"Can I help you with something?"

"Uh, tea, for you," Yugi said holding the cup out to him.

"I'm fine."

"Have it anyway." Yugi shoved it into his hand. The he turned to go back inside the suite. Quick as lightening, Atem had grabbed his wrist, pulled him down, and forced his head to rest on his thigh.

"Stay with me a moment. Let's just talk."

"About what?"

"Why you feel the need to fight back against, Yami."

"I knew it," Yugi growled trying to get back up.

"No," Atem tightened his grip on his shoulder, "no, we're going to stay here and talk this out."

"What's the point?"

"The point, Yugi, is that you were closer with Yami than you were with me. Now you're not. I even understood it too. You're Uke, he's half Uke; it made sense to me. Now though, it's like you're going out of your way to hurt him."

"I'll give you two guesses as to why we're not as close any more."

"I know, Yugi. I know he really hurt, and you felt a tremendous amount of pain. I understand-."

"No you don't!" Yugi said interrupting him.

"Actually I do."

"Really? He's said that he's hated you and wanted you to die?"

"No. Not as direct as that anyway. It was in his eyes though, and in every syllable he spoke. You remember the memory of Yami asking for his freedom from me?"

"Yeah, vaguely."

"Well, our entire journey back to Egypt he had no qualms about looking me dead in the eye or addressing me in a very informal manner. Hate coursed through every one of his actions. I can't really blame him for it though, he thought I was in on it. In on that woman's plan, but decided to pull at the last minute. Changed my mind."

"What happened?" Yugi asked sitting up.

"I'm too ashamed to speak of it, Yugi," Atem replied placing his forehead against the younger's.

"So don't speak. Show me."

"Mm, no," Atem replied kissing his brow. "There are some things you're just better off not knowing."

"But talking helps. No matter what the situation is."

"So talk to me."

"Mm, I hate opening my mouth and walking into things."

"Why are you intentionally hurting him?"

"Because I want to see him cry more."

Atem blinked, this was not the answer he was expecting.

"He doesn't know how many sleepless nights I spent crying over his cruel words to me. And I'm not just talking about the airport, Atem, I'm talking about all of them. I know, I know he thought I was being cruel, but I was only trying to help. I really was."

"I wasn't exactly the nicest of people either, Yugi. So why is it only Yami who has to suffer?"

"Because maybe I don't want to see his ugly mug around here," Yugi spat out before jumping to his feet and hitting the elevator button. It opened, there was a petite woman inside, and he walked into the elevator. It dinged saying it was going back down.

This seemed to shake Atem out of his stupor as he jumped at the elevator, slamming his fist on the doors that had closed ten seconds ago. What was he doing? What was that idiotic human doing? He wasn't just walking out of safety, he was walking straight into a colony of vampires. This entire region was stacked full of them. He didn't even have a collar on. The elevator dinged again, and the doors opened.

"Wow! That is so vintage," Yugi said taking his hand off of the bar that made the elevator go up and down.

"I thought you might think it was pretty cool," the petite woman in the elevator said. "Oh, your human," she said shoving Yugi straight into Atem's arms.

"Thanks, Marissa," Atem sighed wrapping a tight arm around Yugi.

"Mm-hm," she said back in a way that only a woman can before the doors closed again. The elevator dinged signaling that it was going back down.

"I told you to dry your pathetic tears when I should've asked if you were okay. How's that not cruel?" Atem asked jumping right back into their conversation. He'd scold him later for trying to run off. If he felt like it.

"Because I was being pathetic," Yugi replied with downcast eyes, pushing him away. "I promised myself that I wouldn't cry, and that I would be all smiles all night long. But I wasn't. I broke down. I never blamed you for thinking I was pathetic."

"Damn it, Yugi!" Atem shouted punching the wall. His exclamation caught him completely off guard. "I'm trying to put myself in a bad light here. Why won't you let me? Why must you insist on putting all blame upon yourself time after time? Again and again? Why won't you let any fall on us? Why?" He dropped to his knees, looking up at Yugi with an anguished confused face.

The door to the suite opened, "he has a point," Yami said. "Every time we do something wrong, you blame yourself. Why is that?"

"Because usually I've done something first to agitate you, and you're just lashing out."

The elevator dinged, and out stepped Vermeer followed by two other guys. "Oh, why're you all out here?"

Yami grabbed Yugi's arm yanking him back into the suite. He pulled him back to the Master's, throwing him inside, and locking the door. It left Yugi feeling a little like Cinderella.

After 20 silent minutes, the door finally opened again. It was Yami, who grabbed him again, and dragged him back out to one of the living areas. He was tossed onto a soft white leather chair, facing his two vampires.

"That's not always true," Atem said picking up where they left off.

"Name one time."

"I can't. At the moment. So, answer us this instead. Why did your instincts tell us that we should always follow our instincts?"

"Because they're connected to mine, aren't they? We share a bond, don't we? Ugh, this is so frustrating!" Yugi leapt his feet. "I feel as if I'm talking to a brick wall, or worse a child." He ran this hands through his hair, yanking it, pulling it in pure frustration.

"We used you as bait," Yami said speaking up suddenly.

"What?" Atem asked wondering as to why he was bringing that up.

"We used him as bait," Yami said turning to him. "That is a moment when he did not agitate us and we weren't lashing out." He turned to look back at Yugi. "Doesn't that make you angry, Yugi?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It makes me sad," Yugi replied in a shaky voice sinking to sit on the floor, his hands falling uselessly into his lap. "That my mates. The people I love the most with my whole heart would put me in such a dangerous situation as that. Especially after we were just starting to make up. I mean, how am I supposed to trust you if you keep hurting me? Keep poking holes in the thin layer I put down as I keep trying to trust you. I can't can I?"

Yugi looked up at them with eyes full of tears ready to fall. He seemed to be holding them back though, as he wiped his arm across his eyes. Pressing his palms against his eyelids, as he tried to control his breathing. When he finally had, he pulled his hands away from his eyes, and the tears…they'd evaporated.

"Yugi," Atem started, "it's okay. You can cry in front of us."

"No, it's not okay!" he shouted, and those tears came back full force. "I'm tired of crying! I want to smile again! I want to be happy! I don't think that's something I can be with you two anymore. I'm starting to wonder if I ever was. Or maybe it was all a delusion, the happiness I thought I had. Maybe Saki was right, and I really did think I was happier with you two. But I wasn't. I wasn't."

Yami sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, before getting up and walking over to Yugi. Sitting down beside him, he drew him into his side, rubbing his shoulder with his thumb.

"I cried too, Yugi. I cried for hours when Atem wasn't around because I couldn't let my own anger, hurt, and pride go to fix what I was doing to you. What I knew I was doing to you. I couldn't seem to stop though. Every time I looked at your young round face, I felt that nasty anger rearing its head, and I'd say something I ended up regretting later."

"You control your anger, Yami. It doesn't control you," Yugi replied trying to get away from him. Yami kept him clamped to his side though.

"We will make you happy, Yugi. Even if Atem and I have to bend over backwards to make it a reality, we will."

Atem cocked an eyebrow at that, but said nothing.

"You'll bend reality, just to make me happy?" Yugi asked looking up at him in disbelief.

"Absolutely."

"Yeah right," Yugi sighed looked down at the plush carpet.

BeepBeep. BeepBeep. BeepBeep. Beepbeep. BeepBeep. BeepBeep.

Yugi looked down at his watch. Strange, why was it going off? He hadn't set any alarms.

"Oh, come on," Atem groaned.

"We can't miss this flight."

"Would you at least turn off the alarm? It's really annoying."

"You do realize he needs to leave this place the same way he came in right? As in walking?" Yami asked turning off Yugi's alarm.

"Fine, but then what do we do about the smell of food on him?"

"Easy. Isis called."

Atem snorted, "I like it."

"I'll get his bag, and you grab the door."

"Come on, Yugi," Atem said suddenly pulling him to his feet and pulling him towards the door.

"I thought we were staying the night?" Yugi asked confused.

"No, we weren't. Just a couple of hours. I already explained all of it to the Manager when I called ahead of you and Yami arriving here earlier."

"Uh, alright."

Yami appeared at their side, and Atem hit the elevator button. It opened, with Marissa looking bored on the other side. Atem guided Yugi in with a hand upon his shoulder. Marissa offered the handle that makes the elevator move to Yugi as soon as all three were on. He grabbed it with a happy smile, and pulled it down.

Marissa laughed as the elevator blew past all the floors to come to a stop at the very bottom. Yugi laughed with her as the doors opened, and many vampires peered in curiously. She took back the handle from him, ruffling his hair in a fond way.

"Can we do that again?" Yugi asked her.

"No!" Both of his vampires yelled in slight fear, as they grabbed his shoulders and walked him out.

"Uh, bye Marissa!"

"Goodbye, Prince. Going up?"

"As long as he's not in control," Yugi heard one of the vampires say.

Yugi laughed as he was walked up to the front desk. He tried to shrug off their hands, but they weren't having it. So he just turned around to face the room while leaning back against the counter.

"Hey look! It's the Prince!" someone said.

"Momma! Momma! The Prince is over there!" a small child said pointing at him.

"Don't point. It's rude," their Mother chided grabbing their pointing hand and giving him an apologetic nod. Yugi nodded back.

"Hey, Prince!" a man called out waving at him. Yugi looked over tilting his head slightly to show he was listening. "Do you trust them yet?"

"Wow! How does everyone know about that? As far as I know, I only told these two," Yugi said jerking his thumbs at the two next to him. He lowered his head looking at the dark carpet.

"Because of the chip. It does pick up voices too, but only when the occupant is emotionally upset."

Yugi slowly raised his head, "What chip?"

"The one they had placed in you after your instincts took over, and you murdered Dartz. The chip is supposed to send out alerts to the homing device when the instinct is about to take over, and the homing device is 20 feet away. But it can also serve as a tracking and listening device if you're 200 feet within it. I mean, the chips are for the public, ya know."

"There's a chip in me somewhere?" Yugi asked feeling over his chest, stomach, and arms.

"Yeah, but I'm sure they've already told you where it's at. When you woke up from surgery?"

"I'm not sure they have," someone else said walking forwards. "I mean, just look at him. He has no idea what you're talking about."

"But it's the law to inform a human of when you plan to perform surgery on them."

"Actually, that's only a law in Europe and the States," a woman said looking off to the side.

"Uh oh," the man said looking up behind Yugi at the two towering vampires. Vampires which he had the undivided attention of one.

Yugi whipped around himself. Yanking himself from their slack grips on his shoulders. Atem looked ready to kill. Yami though, Yami was staring at him with unfiltered fear in his eyes. Yugi looked away, and over his shoulder at the one who had shared the knowledge about the chip.

"I think now might be a good time for you to disappear," he said quietly.

"Good idea," he agreed before vanishing.

"We have a flight to catch, yeah?" Yugi asked.

"Yes. Yami, take him to the airport, I shall catch up with you later," Atem ordered.

"No, we means all of us," Yugi said grabbing the front of his shirt. He snatched Yami's wrist, and proceeded towards the front doors. There was a lot of snickering around them.

"Uh, shall I have a car pulled around?" someone asked.

"Yes," Yugi hissed.

Someone snapped their fingers twice, and a car pulled up in front of the hotel as soon as Yugi walked out the front doors. He shoved one vampire after the other into the car, and then slammed the door behind them. He climbed into the passenger seat.

"Airport."

"Uh shouldn't you be-?" The chauffer started.

"Air-port."

"Right away, Sir."

Not another word was spoken from the chauffer as they made their way to a private airport. His mates though, they spoke in even soft tones, that rose and fell like a song would. He knew what they were trying to do, because they'd done it before. It wouldn't work this time though. No, not this time. He was too angry, too mad, too upset to let it work on him as well as it had the last time. So he was still wide awake when they reached the airport.

Yugi didn't have to manhandle his vampires this time. Nor would he let them manhandle him. He made it clear from the moment that he stepped out of the car that he could walk on his own just fine, and did not need any of their assistance. They'd provided enough of it anyhow.

"Yugi, please," Yami begged reaching for his hand.

Yugi yanked it away, curling it into a fist. He sat down on one of the couches. He was doing everything within his power not to flip on these two. And this baka vampire, Yami, he was making it so hard. Atem was just pacing back and forth in front of him. Yugi watched him. Waiting for any signs that he would become a threat. He wasn't watching closely enough.

Atem was sitting in his lap, straddling him, as lips pressed against his. Hands pinned his to the back of the couch. Hungry and savage. A man dying of thirst. So demanding. That was what this kiss was. All of those things wrapped up into this one continuous pressure upon him. And Yugi almost melted into it. Almost kissed back with just as much aggression as was being delivered onto him.

He was still angry though, that they thought they could do whatever they wanted with his body. Put whatever they wanted into it. No! They couldn't! It wasn't their right. It was his body and he made the rules where it was concerned.

Struggling he fought to free his hands to push this monster on top of him away. The one that was refusing to let him breathe. 30 seconds that's how long of a reprieve he had before those lips were upon his again. Yugi gave a cry of aggravation, trying with what little strength he had to free himself. Get off! Get off! Get off!

No. The word was cold, like ice in Yugi's mind. We told you, asked nicely, for you to not speak in front of the others. You showed dominance over us. Embarrassing us in front of a colony of 892 vampires. You need to be punished. You need to know who's in charge. You've seem to forgotten it.

Both of his wrists were locked in one hand, and the other trailed down his body, grasping his thigh. Fingers ticked on the inside of it, making Yugi gasp and squirm, trying to dislodge the other. A thumb, that was all it was, ran up and down the inner length of his thigh that wasn't obscured by the legs of the one on top of him.

Get off! Let go of me! Let go!

His struggles were in vain, he already knew this, but he still tried. He was just too weak though, and it was something that was well known. Maybe, he could dislodge Atem by rolling them over somehow? As soon as the thought crossed his open mind though, his arms tilted back at the wrists until they threatened to break at the elbows. It was pain like Yugi had only ever felt when dealing with Yami. The angle of his arms was all wrong, and it had Yugi pulling away crying out, with tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

"That hurts! Stop! Please, stop!"

"Good, it's supposed to," Atem growled fiddling with the button on his jeans before popping it out, and unzipping them. Atem grabbed him through the slit in his boxers, stroking him as he held his arms still in that painful angle behind his head.

"No!" Yugi screamed his voice almost sounding strangled as Atem pushed his arms further back.

"Make a beautiful sound for me, and I might just think about it."

"N-no. Get off. Stop." The tears flowed from his eyes like rivers. How was he supposed to make any sound of pleasure when he was in so much pain? His arms were not meant to bend back this far. They were going to break, his arms would snap out of their sockets, his shoulders dislocated.

"I won't."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I'm sorry."

"Hm, he sounds genuine," Yami commented grasping Atem's hand on his wrists, and pulling him free. Yugi wrapped his arms around himself for a moment, before pushing Atem off. He landed with a soft whump on the floor of the airplane. Yugi stood up holding his pants in place as he backed away from the two. He tripped and stumbled over something, but his back never hit the ground. Yami was supporting him, lowering him slowly to it. Yugi pushed his arm away, scooting back further.

"S-stay away from me. You have no right to touch me, either one of you!"

"Ah," Yami said hovering over him, his head and back softly hitting the ground, "but that's where you're wrong. Atem and I are the only ones with the right to touch you however and wherever we want."

"No! No! S-stay away! Away from me!"

"Never. You're ours, and ours alone. The sooner you come to grips with this the better off you'll be. You are our submissive mate. This is a fact that you'll never be able to avoid, Yugi. And besides, with all we have to offer you, why would you want to?"

His hand stroked his side, his thumb resting on his hip bone, rubbing circles into it. Yugi turned his head away, fear pulsing through him like a Trojan virus. Shame because of that fear flooding him like a poisonous substance. The soft pad of a warm tongue lapped at the water on his face, kissing his closed eyelashes. Yugi just shook, trembling from head to toe as he awaited the next sexual assault on his body. The next unwanted touch.

Yami.

Snap!

Yugi's eyes shot open. He was still trembling all over, but he was in an upright position on a couch facing Atem, Yami, and a man he'd never seen before. A man who was leering at him. Yugi tore his eyes away from him to look back at his mates, his knees curling up of their own accord to his chest. Wrapping his arms around them to keep them there.

"Satisfied?" Atem hissed towards the stranger.

"No. You should've kept the mental torture on going for another five minutes at least. He needs to know who's in charge, and who isn't. Quite frankly, the colony that's under my control is very confused as to who that is exactly. Who has all the control in your relationship?"

"You bastards!" Yugi shouted flying across the small space at Atem. Beating him with small pathetic hits on his chest. Atem made a very small attempt at controlling him by grabbing his wrists, but put no pressure on them, which still allowed Yugi to hit him.

"Quiet Yugi," Yami ordered.

"No! I ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-," he kept repeating it over and over again, until he collapsed against Atem, crying into the crook of his neck. "Why can't I hate you?" he asked.

No vampire said a word to this. Atem simply released one of his wrists to cradle his head instead. Rubbing his thumb against the back of his neck, his fingers dipping into the soft tresses of his hair, and massaging the scalp slightly.

"You hurt me, abuse me, play with my mind like a toy, take me for granted, kick me out of my own home, treat me like the dirt beneath the dirt of your feet, you've both been horrible to me, and still I love you. Why? Why am I so blind?"

"Never," Yami whispered into his ear, "with such beautiful eyes one could never consider you to be blind."

"Oh yes, he's so submissive," the other vampire said in a mocking voice, his eyes rolling in their sockets. "So submissive he lashes out, and calls you names. How pathe-" his words were cut off as Atem released Yugi's other wrist and slapped the vampire across the face.

"That is enough!" he roared. Yugi cringed at the tone of voice, squeezing his eyes shut, he pushed against Atem. The latter wrapped an arm around his waist though, a trap as inescapable as it was solid. "I am your King, and you will desist from talking to me in such an informal manner!"

"I am merely pointing out that he has you wrapped around his fingers, and plays with you as if you're his puppets. And you don't even see it."

"So?" Yami asked.

"What?"

"I said so. Don't you get it? We don't care. Let him play with his puppets. It's been so long since anyone even dared to 'play with us' that it's quite a refreshing change."

"He's our mate," Atem put in, "and that title demands respect. He's your Human Prince. He rules with us, alongside of us. The sooner you lower species come to grip with this, the happier you'll be, I guarantee it."

"No! He's human! They're an inferior species. Always have been always will be."

"Inferior? No, I don't think so. They're the stronger race. They've evolved, where we stay in the past. Afraid of change. And this one, the one Yami and I captured and ensnared, why he's the strongest of them all."

"Don't make me laugh. Everyone knows of his history. He's the weakest of his race."

"But he's not," Yami said sighing. "He protects his enemies, defends those important to him against others; no matter how right they may be, takes pain without a single complaint, and loves those who deserve nothing more than to be tossed to the side without a single thought."

"I sure hope you're talking about Sakura, and not us with that last one," Atem said turning his head towards him slightly.

"You wish," Yami muttered kissing his cheek.

"Let go of me," Yugi whispered.

"And just think if you do as he asks I'll have even more proof that you're unfit to rule us," the unknown vampire sneered.

"You know when you're doing something stupid, and you know it's stupid, but you do it anyway?" Atem asked lifting his arm and letting Yugi slip back across the small space to sit on the couch on the other side. "Despite any repercussions that may happen from your stupidity, and yet, you still continue to plow on with your task?"

"Where're you going with this?" Yami asked.

"That's how I feel when I listen to you talk, Armistead."

"What? All the words that come forth from me are pure logic," the vampire, Armistead, argued.

"Yeah? Then why is he looking at us like that?!" Atem shouted pointing at Yugi. "Why?!"

Yami sighed, his head falling onto Atem's back. "We've seen this look before, haven't we?"

"Yes, Yami, we have."

"I don't like it. I don't like it when he looks at us like he's unsure of what he's even doing here. Why he should stay."

Yugi looked away from them, turning sideways to lean against the back of the couch. He drew his knees up to his chest, and rested his cheek against them. Did they think he liked feeling this way? It was far from how he wanted to feel. Maybe, maybe he'd rushed things. Maybe they bit him again too soon. He should've waited. Just should've waited for the six months to pass, and then he would've been half rid of them. If it wasn't for their children, he'd feel no reason to stay with them at all. Not after all they'd done to him, and in less than 24 hours.

"I think I've come up with the perfect solution of how you can prove your dominance to the world," Armistead interrupted.

Yami slowly lifted his head from Atem's back, and rested his chin on his shoulder instead. Atem was glaring at the man. He didn't care for any more of his ideas. It would most likely be harmful to Yugi again in some way.

"What? Have them rape in public?" Yugi hissed.

"No, even better, have them make you watch those three men you condemned publicly executed."

"So? I've seen them rip out hearts before."

"Rip out a heart? No, that's too kind. Public executions are much more graphic. First they're burned, set afire. And then, when their screams have nearly died, they're staked with silver through the heart. Thus, their screams are renewed as their hearts slowly melt within their bodies, flowing through their veins like the blood of a human."

"Absolutely not." Atem's voice held no room for argument, but he still tried anyway.

"You're going to let your pet dictate how our government is run?" he sneered.

"I'm not a pet!" Yugi screamed charging at Armistead. Atem made a grab for him, but his hands barely missed him. One punch to the chest, and another to the jaw. They felt like taps, but that punch to the jaw was returned to Yugi in 20 fold.

CRACK!

Yugi flew towards one of the back doors, but Yami appeared before he could hit it, catching him. His back slamming into it instead, both of them sliding to the ground. Tears were already streaming down Yugi's face as he tried to keep his whimpering crying to a minimum. His hand was pressed against his right lower jaw. Almost like he was trying to keep it together. With a little coaxing, he was able to lift a few fingers to feel along it. Yugi's jaw, it was broken.

"You broke his jaw," Yami hissed.

"Hmph, it was less than he deserved."

Both vampires saw grey. An eerie calm settled over them, as Yami gently pushed Yugi to the side, and sprung at Armistead. He wasn't even able to brush his fingertips against his clothes, as a light weight seized him around his waist, and attempted at pinning him to the ground.

"No!" Yugi cried, letting out a choked sob, as the pain of saying that one word hurt like nothing he could possibly imagine to compare it with. In his haste though, to stop Yami, he momentarily forgot that he had two mates, not one. Two that would want to defend him, and since he'd been openly attacked in front of them, they had every right and cause to.

Atem hadn't even hesitated as soon as the words had left Yami's mouth. He shoved his hand into his chest, and grabbed the dead organ that lay there. He crushed it, without taking it out of his body. Then he took his hand back out, and watched as the hole healed. As far as anyone would be concerned, his heart burst. If only that were actually possible for a vampire.

"Get off of me!" Yami ordered. "He needs to pay!"

"He's already dead," Atem said in a happy voice.

Yugi gasped, his head snapping up to look at him. The movement let his jaw fall out of place though, causing him more pain. Wiggling an arm out from under Yami, he pushed his jaw back up into place.

"Oh, looks like we need to replace him then," Yami said sounding anything but torn up.

"Yes, with someone younger," Atem said coaxing Yugi up into a sitting position.

"Right, with ideals that're more fitting to the times of which we live in now."

"We should've brought Isis with us," Atem said scooping Yugi up, and carrying him to one of the back doors. Upon it being opened, Yugi found there was a small full bed in it. Atem set him down on top, and turned to leave.

Yugi didn't know why, but for some reason he reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt, tugging on it. Atem looked at him over his shoulder in surprise.

"You want me to stay?" He asked.

Yugi just tugged again on his shirt.

"Okay," he agreed, sitting down next to him, and running a hand through his hair. Yugi tugged on his shirt for a third time, and Atem finally caught on.

"Yami, come here," he called softly.

"What?" he asked leaning against the door frame.

"Go lay on the left side of him."

"Huh?"

"Just do it," Atem said laying down on his right. Yugi let go of his shirt.

"Uh, okay," Yami said laying down on Yugi's left side, spooning his back. "Now what?"

"We stay."

Atem kissed his forehead, brushing a tear away with his thumb. Yami draped an arm over his waist. Yugi stared at the bedcovers, unaware of why he'd done that whole tugging on the shirt thing. He knew, deep down, he didn't want to be alone, but why seek comfort from them? Probably because they were there, and he needed to be touched and held with love. And they…they were just there.

"Yugi, go to sleep."

I can't. My mouth hurts too much. There's nothing else to focus on but the pain. I can't sleep.

"Alright, let me get some ice," Yami said.

No, stay.

"I'm coming right back. We just need to keep the swelling down until we can get you home to Isis."

Am I even welcome there?

"Of course you are."

Are you sure I'm wanted there?

"You're wanted by us."

"I don't believe you," Yugi whispered through barely parted lips.

It shocked all of them. Those four words, he might as well as said that he hated them for all the damage they did. They were the truth though, Yugi did not believe that he was wanted at the Palace, his home, by anyone. Least of all them. Atem squeezed his eyes shut, pressing his lips to Yugi's forehead, and then wrapping his arms behind his back pulling him into his chest as gently as possible.

"You were getting ice," Atem reminded Yami who was more still than a statue.

"Right," he said shaking himself and leaving the small room. He was back seconds later, and trying to coax Yugi's hand from his jaw.

The ice he'd brought, it felt nice, but it did nothing to completely quell the pain. It merely soothed it, as arms wrapped loosely around his hips, Yami's chest pressed into his shoulders. What they'd done was stupid and childish. The repercussions were vast for their actions. They'd already lost his trust, and now his faith. Last was his love. Would they try to destroy that too? Who knew?

They'd once told him that he was a rollercoaster of emotions. They were wrong though. It wasn't him that was the rollercoaster, it was them. Up and down and from side to side. He felt as if the ride was never coming to an end. He wanted off of it. He really did, but there were no emergency exits. No emergency breaks. The ride was on a loop, with no one at the controls to stop it. No one…to let him off.

When the plane landed, Yugi barely felt it. It was smooth, like water atop of silk. Atem lifted Yugi slowly, carrying him out of the plane. Isis was standing there looking furious. Marik looked torn, and Seth looked disgusted.

"Save the lecture, Isis, and just heal his jaw okay?" Atem asked.

"Why? What's wrong with his jaw?" Isis demanded as she moved forward and healed it.

"Armistead punched him."

"And where's he?"

"Oh, his heart exploded in his chest. Must've been fear," Yami said in the least convincing voice possible.

"Hmph," Marik said rolling his eyes.

"There. He's healed. But what were you thinking? Taking him to that colony?"

"We were trying to keep him close," Atem whispered putting Yugi onto his feet. He gave him a gentle shove. Yugi looked questioningly over his shoulder at him.

"Go," Yami said.

"You're kicking me out, again?" Yugi asked tears springing to his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

"No," Atem said shaking his head, "but we're not going to keep you on this ride any longer. If you don't want to be here, with us, then go. We won't keep you against your will."

The entire area seemed to be still, even the wind fell silent, as it waited with baited breath for his answer. A step towards them or away. Everything in time and space was waiting for his decision it seemed. And then old words sprung to the forefront of his mind, and he took a step.

"Yugi, you're seventeen. You can't possibly know what love is," Sakura said softly.

"I know it's making sacrifices and changes for the person you care about. I know it's feeling happy even when you're angry. I know it's about acceptance, no fear, and imperfections. Love is something that can be described a million different ways, and it will still mean the same thing. Unconditional. They say if you love something you should let it go, and if it comes back to you, you know it was meant to be," Yugi explained as best as he could.

"Something you'll never have to worry about, because those two will never let you go."

"Of course they would," Yugi said back though he wasn't exactly sure if they would or not.

"Just like that? You'll let me go?" he asked taking another step back.

"Yes, just like that."

"Yami? You're going to let me walk away?"

"If that's what you want. Yes, I will," Yami agreed.

"It can't be this simple."

"It really is that simple. If you don't want to be with us, then you're free to go."

"You're not going to fight for me to stay?"

"I'm exhausted with trying to explain to you why you belong with us," Atem sighed looking away. "And I'm sure you are too. Exhausted with being hurt by us every time we seem like we're getting very close. We throw a knife in the heart of our relationship, severing it."

"You're right," Yugi agreed looking away, "I am. Perhaps this is for the best."

Yami gave off a choked gasp. Yugi's eyes shifted to him out of the corner of his eyes. He made no moves towards him, neither of them did.

"Then you need to do what's best for you," Yami said looking at his feet.

"Okay, I will," Yugi whispered turning on his heel, and walking away. When he got to the three cars that sat waiting for them, he paused and looked once more over his shoulder. They hadn't moved an inch. Then…they meant it. They were really willing to let him go, so he'd no longer be hurt, by them most of all. He faced forwards again, and got into the car.

"To the Grey Stone Palace, please."

"Huh?" the driver looked surprised as he turned to him.

"Drive."

"Yes, Sir," he said turning the car on and driving away from the airport.

"So, that's it?" Yami asked looking up at Atem. "We just let him go? We don't even fight? Just let him walk away?"

"It's all we can do," Atem whispered pulling Yami close. "What would you rather have? Him walking out on us, or us letting him walk out?"

"Neither, I want him by my side. This is all my fault. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Yami. We still have our kids to connect us. Who knows, it might just be enough to bring him back into our arms."

"Atem, Marchelle already tried that. It didn't work then, and it most certainly won't work now."

"Then we have to let him go. It's what's best for him," Atem said looking over his head at their friends and cousin. "Yami, we never asked him if he wanted to be in a relationship with us. We forced him into one. That was wrong. We should've given him a choice. We didn't even know if he swung our way before we kissed him that first time. We've always been so arrogant in this relationship; it's no wonder everyone says we don't deserve him."

"So you think that if we just let him go, it'll fix everything?"

"Not a chance. I'm not that foolish, Yami. I'm simply trying to show him he has a choice. A choice of whether or not he wants to be with us. I am hoping he'll come back, but I know it's foolish. If I had his choice, I'd never come to us."

Yami broke down crying, knowing he'd do exactly the same in Yugi's shoes.

That was the problem though, wasn't it? They were nowhere near being in Yugi's shoes.

[Time skip]

Yugi got out of the car and walked up the steps of the Palace. He walked through the front doors and was greeted with the silence of the crowd in front of him. Then there was pandemonium. People who wanted him there, and people who didn't. Yugi raised his head high, and walked forwards.

They moved, whether they were conscious of it or not, out of his way. He took no shortcuts to his destination, simply walked towards it. Guards stood outside the stairwell to the prison cells. He ordered them away. They laughed at him at first, but a single look from him, the one that always had Atem and Yami rushing to obey, had them scrambling to obey as well.

Walking down the steps, he came across the three cells that held the prisoners. He opened all of them without a single word, and motioned for them to come out. Not a single one moved. He motioned again, but they still didn't move.

"Oh, so you want to die? I see." Yugi spoke at last.

"Why? Why're you releasing us?" one asked.

"They wanted repercussions," Yugi replied simply. "I will give it to them. Now move, we don't have all day."

They gulped, before moving cautiously out of the cells. Like they were expecting Yugi to laugh, and shove them back inside them. When they were out though, Yugi pressed a button and their doors closed behind them. Then he turned on his heel and started to walk away. They made no move to follow.

Yugi sighed and made his way back down the three steps he'd already taken up. "Look, if you wish to die, then by all means stay here. Wait for my mates to show up. I guarantee, you won't find the same mercy you're getting from me."

"But why? Why're you doing this?" Another asked again.

"There is more harm that you can do to your enemy with kindness than with cruelty."

"Are you saying that kindness makes a lasting impression?" the third one asked.

"Absolutely," Yugi nodded. "Especially when given to your enemy. So, are you coming? I won't ask again."

Yugi turned and walked up the steps. He heard their soft footfalls behind him. Smiling slightly, he walked along a path through the palace that he knew not many did. Soon they were at one of the backdoors, so to speak anyway. Opening it, he stepped aside, and waited for them to fly out towards their freedom.

"We beat you within an inch of your life, and you're just letting us go?" the first one asked.

"Within a few conditions," Yugi reasoned leaning against the frame of the door.

"I knew there was a catch."

"Yes, but one you'll be able to live with no doubt."

"What do you mean?" the third asked.

"You're to leave Japan, and never step foot on any of its islands again. If you do, you're to report to my mates immediately. I will not save you again. Your death will be of your own doing that time, and will not be on my hands. Are my orders clear?"

"Crystal," they all replied.

"Good. Now get lost," Yugi said shoving them out into the open cold air, and shutting the door behind them. He sighed, his back against the door, head bowed. They'd wanted repercussions, or rather Atem had. He just hoped they liked them.

Yugi walked up to his room, and plucked his cat off of her scratching post, before going to sit on his bed. It felt weird, knowing it was a Sunday, and knowing that they weren't going to eat today. Still though, all he needed to do now was wait for them to return. Only then could the real fun start.

It was rolling on six before he heard them. He set Koneko on Atem's pillow, and folded his hands behind his head. Let the show begin.

"Only one other person would have the compassion to do it he says," Atem scoffed banging the door open.

"Well, at least we don't have to wonder too much about who that would be," Yami reasoned coming into the room after him. Neither looked towards the bed.

"Come on, let's just go into the other room. I can't stand to lie in his empty bed anymore."

"Right," Yami sighed grabbing his hand. He looked at Yugi's bed and his jaw dropped when he saw the man of the hour sitting there. Yugi winked at him.

"Come on, Yami," Atem said tugging on his hand. Yami didn't budge an inch. Atem tugged again, before turning to him. "What's wrong with you?"

Yami didn't say a word, just lifted his hand to grasp his chin and turn it in the direction of the bed.

"What?" Atem asked in a whisper his eyes going wide, and his jaw dropping.

"Did you like my repercussion?" Yugi asked. Their jaws dropped further. "No? Oh, well, punishments aren't supposed to be enjoyed, remember?"

"But we thought…" Yami trailed off, at a loss for words.

"I'm well aware of what you thought, Yami," Yugi said dropping his hands into his lap. "I just thought that you would've understood by now."

"Understood what?"

"That no matter how many times you push me away; I'm just going to keep coming back stronger than before."

"Oh," Yami dropped to his knees, tears pouring down his face.

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be huh?" Atem asked. "Gonna throw our words back into our faces!"

"I'm not throwing anything," Yugi argued. "Merely making a point."

"Which would be?"

"I'm not going anywhere."

Atem had a stunned look of astonishment on his face, before bending down and picking up Yami to put him on the bed. Then he climbed on as well. Yugi expected them to try to touch him, but they didn't.

"Yugi…," Yami trailed off. Yugi didn't say a word, just waited for him to gather his thoughts so he could speak. "Yugi, we forced you into a relationship with us. You don't have to stay because you feel obligated to. We won't make you."

"Obligated? You think I feel obligated to stay with you two? You probably think I feel obligated to feed you too no doubt, if that's the case." Yugi sighed. Now he needed to gather his thoughts. Great. "Yami, what I feel has nothing to do with obligation. I want to be here, with you two, why can't you just accept that? I mean, I could've gone back to my apartment, and never looked back. I'm sitting here because I want to, not because I have to."

"Are you sure?" Atem asked. "I mean we wouldn't-"

Yugi growled in frustration before covering Atem's lips with his own. One hand seized his shoulder, the other his hip. Yugi wasn't sure if he was trying to pull him closer or push him away. He ended up doing neither, and just let Yugi kiss him. Yugi pulled away leaning his forehead against Atem's.

"I want you and Yami. Don't you want me too?"

Sharp teeth plunged into the right side of his neck at the same time that another pair plunged into his left. Yugi was frozen solid. No, of course they didn't. Only his blood. It was what they'd been after from day one, and he couldn't believe that he'd actually been foolish enough to forget it. They pulled out, sealing him up.

You have no idea how personal and sexual the bite of a vampire really is, do you?

What do you mean?

Do you know how a vampire gets married, Yugi?

Of course. You have sex with both of you taking the other. Thus the bond/mating thing is formed.

And drink each other's blood while having sex.

But I thought that that was-

Anti-helpful to both parties?

Uh, yeah. That's what you said before anyway.

Oh, it is. Just not during the marriage, because we're drinking each other's blood at the same time. It flows back and forth through the systems.

All the more reason as to why I shouldn't marry you. I can't drink your blood.

We wouldn't expect you to. Honestly, it'd be quite disgusting. Besides, your biting skills will do the trick well enough.

Yugi sighed, turning his head away. He spotted his backpack on the ground, and got up to get it. He swayed violently as soon as he was right side up. Hands caught him, and pulled him back onto the bed.

"Easy, Yugi, you lost blood, remember?" Atem asked.

"Weren't supposed to take any. Isis's orders."

"Do you have anything that's due tomorrow?" Yami asked in an uneasy voice.

"No. The paper in that class isn't due until next week. You got lucky." Yugi was silent for a moment before chuckling slightly. "I guess Ryou was right."

"About what?"

"It really is a sexual thing."

Atem and Yami just rolled their eyes. Then Yami's eyes just seemed to focus in on him, narrowing slightly. Yugi shifted, looking away. Yami's eyes though, they seemed determined to drill a hole into the side of his face. And a stare like that could only be ignored for so long.

"What?" he snapped.

"I can feel a tick in the back of your mind. You have a question you want to ask. Something's holding you back. What's the question, Yugi?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"What is it?"

"I don't have a question, Yami."

"What is it, Yugi?"

"You're delusional!"

"Okay, we can play this game all night, or you can just tell us. What's it going to be?"

"Koneko! Attack!" Yugi ordered pointing at his mates. His cat lifted her head, blinked once, put her head back down, and flicked her tail at him. Clearly, she was going to be of no help. Typical cat behavior.

"We're going to play this game all night then."

"It's a question I've already asked, alright? It's just worded differently now, that's all."

"And it is…?"

"You wouldn't actually…just to prove…would you?"

"I feel as if I'm missing some words in that sentence."

"Sex sault dom," Yugi muttered so fast they almost didn't catch it.

"Huh?"

"We wouldn't actually sexually assault you just to prove we're more dominant, would we?" Atem supplied.

"How'd you get that?" Yami asked.

"I listened."

"So did I!"

"Not closely enough."

"Why you little!"

"Ahem. So?" Yugi called attention back to the situation at hand.

"Do we really look that stupid to you?" Yami asked his hand still clenching Atem's shirt.

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

"No, it's not."

"Then yes. Very much so."

"It's a rhetorical question."

"You can't change your mind just because you didn't like my answer!"

"Yeah, Yami, that's cheating. You know how he feels about cheating."

"Tch, seriously though, would you? I mean…that dream thing was very vivid," Yugi said as his muscles tightened. He wrapped his arms around his legs, placing his cheek on his knee. "I just can't help but wonder if things were ever to get really out of hand, that either one of you would force yourself on top of me."

Atem opened his mouth, but Yugi wasn't done.

"I know, it's ludicrous to even think that, but you put the thought into my head, and now I can't stop thinking about. You've never…forced me, and have said you won't. Still though, what if someone else can convince you to do something worse? I don't like that that vampire was able to influence you so easily. You, Atem, even said it was a bad idea, and you knew it to be, but you still plowed on. Why? Why would you hurt me like that? And what if someone else can convince you to do it again? To hurt me in an actual physical way, instead of just mentally. I don't know what I'll do if that happens. I don't know if I'll be able to survive that kind of assault."

"Yugi, can we get a word in please?" Yami asked gently.

"You only need one? Because that sentence held more than that."

"Ha, funny, words then. Can we get some words in?"

"If I can get some answers."

"You will."

"Alright then."

"You know, from our shared memories, that I was abused before I came into Atem's care. It took him half a year to convince me what a bad touch was, and why this certain touch was wrong. And even after six months, I still didn't believe him. I still believed that one day he would call me to his bed, and use me in the way that all the others had."

"Which was stupid," Atem muttered.

"Hush you," Yami said putting a hand over his mouth. "It wasn't until he put me in the care of some farmers I thought that he might actually care. For me. As more than just his servant, but maybe a friend, or something more, if I was lucky. It was at that point that I realized I might care for him as a friend too."

"I'm sorry, but this little story isn't answering any of my questions, Yami."

"Yeah, probably not, but it does answer one."

"So Atem will never force me. But what about you?"

"Yugi, I was raped several times a day. Do you think there's even the ghost of a chance that I would ever force that upon someone else?"

"Sometimes the victims become the bullies themselves."

Lips crashed onto his, and his head softly hit the pillow. Despite the suddenness of the kiss, it was quite gentle. Soft, coaxing, searching for something. Yugi could never tell what it was Yami was searching for, but his kiss always seemed to be searching for something. He wondered if Atem ever felt that in Yami's kisses too? It would definitely be something to ask him sometime. Yugi pushed him away before his body could break out in the trembles he felt building up inside.

"What're you trying to prove?"

"I love you, and I would never hurt you."

"That remains to be seen."

Yami yelled in aggravation, slamming his fist into the bed, and making a hole in the mattress. Literally, there was now a hole in their mattress. Which had Yami cursing, and sending an apologetic look at Atem.

"Don't look at me like that," Atem said turning his head away, "I'm not the one who you need to be apologizing to."

"I'm sorry, Yugi."

"You nearly took out my right shoulder!"

"But I didn't."

"No, instead you put a hole in the bed where my back usually goes. For that, I'm going to sleep in the tub tonight."

"Pfft, no you're not," Atem said hooking his arm around his waist. "We have a second bed, or maybe you forgot about that?"

"No, I'd seen it. I just don't think it's big enough for three."

"It's the same size as this one," Yami said rolling his eyes.

"Uh, then, um, you, uh, I, um…" Yugi scrambled looking for an excuse and coming up empty handed.

"C'mon."

"I can still sleep in this one, and you two can cuddle in the other."

Atem and Yami shared a look, before Atem bent down by his ear. "Go to sleep, Yugi."

"Baka," he mumbled and was out quicker than a light.

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to do that anymore," Yami said scowling.

"He was being difficult!"

"Atem."

"We'll send him pleasant dreams."

"How about the time electricity was first introduced to us in the form of a light bulb?"

"Deal."

"Just sit here, and don't touch anything, okay?" Valon asked walking into the next room.

"Why does he always tell us not to touch things?" Yami asked.

"Clearly he thinks us incapable of handling this new age he lives in."

"Look," Valon said coming back into the room, "the windows, the elevator, the stove, the faucet, and the washer machine, I can handle those things. They're easily replaceable. Well, most of them were. The elevator I'm still not sure about. What I can't handle is you blowing up my bike and house along with it."

"Well, how were we supposed to know that such a small object could create such a large fire?" Yami asked in an indignant voice.

Valon couldn't even speak as he made odd noises of pure anger, dragged his nails down his face, and stormed out of the room. They noticed that his face had started to turn an odd shade of purple, and a couple of the veins on his neck were more visible than normal.

"I think he's legitimately upset with us," Atem said in incredulous wonder.

"Huh, that's a first. I'm starting to think that anger and sadness are at the core of all human emotions."

"When directed at us they are."

A sudden and bright light flaring on their left, made them jump, and clutch one another. They looked over to see an oddly shaped object, with what looked like a heated wire in the middle of it. For some reason, this heated wire was making light. Atem reached out towards it.

"Don't touch it!"

Atem retracted his hand, and they both turned to look at Valon, who was taking his hand off of a button on the wall.

"It might be evil."

"It's not evil. It's a lightbulb. It creates light. So that people like me, who have bad vision in the dark, can see better. Now, I am going to go create a meal on the evil contraption known as Stove. Don't. Touch. The lightbulb." Valon spun on his heel and walked into a different room.

"Should we touch it?" Yami asked as they both turned their attention towards the lightbulb.

"I don't know."

"It think we should."

"Why?"

"To make sure it's safe for our food source."

Atem nodded in agreement so Yami reached out and touched the lightbulb. He retracted his hand just as quickly, as if he'd been burnt.

"Did it hurt you?"

"No, it's just warm, like when Stove is heating up. They must be made of the same material."

"It's a danger to him then. Ra, they have so many dangerous things around them, and they just embrace them. As if this kind of thing is normal. We must protect him."

Atem held out his hand, and it filled with purple swirling smoke. Once a decent sized ball formed in his hand, he threw it at the lightbulb.

"Hey, I was wondering if you guys-NO!" Valon started to ask coming into the room. Once he saw what was happening though, his legs went into overdrive as he tried to get across the room before the purple smoke could hit the lightbulb. He almost made it, almost.

The purple smoke reached the lightbulb first, and it shattered in Valon's face. Bits of it landed on the drapes, and carpet. Both caught to flames instantly, as Valon shoved off the ground, grabbed a suitcase by the door, and fled. He ran down the halls banging on doors, and shouting 'FIRE' at the top of his lungs.

He shot out onto the fire escape at the end of the hall through a window. He jumped from one floor to the next using the fire escapes as his entrances and exits. Running through three hallways, and telling as many as he could about the fire on the top floor.

Making it to the ground floor, he was able to quickly find a fire alarm, and pulled it. Disregarding the black ink on his hand, he ran to the kitchens, and pushed people out. Maids, servants, butlers, any worker he saw he was pushing to the nearest exit as quickly as possible.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, he was out of the burning building too. Huffing and panting across the street as Atem and Yami screamed his name. It had been five minutes since the first spark of flame, and the firefighters had already arrived, being able to put out the blaze quickly.

Atem grabbed his arm, pulling him up straight, before crushing him to his chest. Valon wasn't having it though, as he jammed his elbow into his gut. He shook himself loose, and walked over to an officer once the blaze had completely been quenched. He asked if anyone had been hurt. The officer told him no, that they'd been lucky, very lucky.

Valon nodded in relief, before going to sit on his suitcase, and looked up at the slightly charred hotel. "All this, because you thought the lightbulb was evil. It seems that no matter how many times I tell you not to touch things, you're going to regardless. So, how do we overcome this curiosity? Please, help me to solve this, because I am at my wits end of what to do with you two."

"Uh," Yami said looking away.

"Uh, is not an answer. How about this? If I explain the fundamentals, including how it came to be, of the objects that scare you will you attack them less?"

"They don't scare us," Atem said.

"Then why do you keep attacking them?"

"They're dangerous, and you need to be protected!"

"Yeah, from your stupidity."

"Hey! That's not nice!" Yami complained.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright? But we need to find an even ground, before you destroy my hometown. So, what do you say? I tell you all about the new objects of this world, and you don't try to blow them up? Deal?" Valon asked holding out his hand.

"Do we have a choice?" Atem asked.

"Not if you want to eat."

"Deal."

"Good. Let's start with lightbulbs."

Yugi sat up, smiling slightly. That was worse than the snow. Still though, something was bothering him. How did he see what Valon was doing if that was from their point of view? How did he see that? And then he realized it, because it was. It was still from their point of view. They'd been watching him, trying to catch him, but just missing every time. Then they lost him, amid all the staff, and that was why he'd appeared on the other side of the street huffing and puffing.

Looking around, he found himself in his apartment's room. They really needed to stop moving him while he slept. He glanced down at his outfit. Well, at least that hadn't changed. Yugi yawned and threw off the covers to go to the bathroom.

Atem was leaning in the doorway. Yugi noticed that he looked far from amused, if anything, he looked pissed. What had he done now? They're the ones that kept moving him while he slept. Yugi raised an eyebrow before ducking under his arm and going to the bathroom. When he came out he saw Yami sitting on the couch clutching his ear, and glaring at him. Seriously, what had he done?

Marcus was laughing in the kitchen. Bent over their island sitting in a chair just laughing. "I don't think he remembers it boys. If he did, you know as well as I that he'd be babying Yami by now."

"Remember what?" Yugi asked. "What's wrong with your ear, Yami? Why're you holding it like that?" he moved closer to him. Marcus fell out of the chair he was laughing so hard.

"You should know," Atem said in a hard voice, "you did it."

"Uh, did what?"

"Was it tasty?" Yami asked.

"Was what tasty?" Yugi asked looking back at Yami.

"My ear. You're the one always saying how you don't want pierced ears, but have no problem giving me them."

"Stop being such a baby," Marcus said from the floor. "He barely chewed through the skin, and it's healed already most likely."

"Pah! That's not the point, Muhtaram! The point is that he did it!"

"DID WHAT?!" Yugi shouted.

"I woke up with you straddling me, and chewing on my ear like it was gum or something!"

"I didn't do that! That's gross! Besides, only Atem likes that kind attention to his ears."

"Oh! That's it! He thought you were, Atem!" Marcus said like he figured out the entire mystery.

"Yes you did! Atem was making breakfast and you were chewing on me!"

"Nope! If I don't remember it than it can't be true!" Yugi said turning on his heel and walking back into his room.

Atem snorted, and try as he might, just couldn't hold back the laughter. "Are you laughing?" Yami asked.

"At you? Never. Your predicament? Always."

Yami hmphed and turned his head away from Atem. He just ended up making Atem laugh more, and continue to tease him. That was how Yugi found them. He came out of the bedroom fully dressed to ask what was for breakfast, and found Atem kneeling before Yami, trying to get him to look at him.

"Come on, don't be like that. If I could I'd chew on you too."

"You have, plenty of times."

"Ah, there see. So why is it such a crime that Yugi wanted to try it out too?"

Yugi shifted uncomfortably before going into the bathroom to brush his teeth and comb his hair. After, he went back into his room, got his bag, and went back into the living area. Atem was still trying to catch Yami's eye, oblivious to everything else. Yugi waved at Marcus, who waved back. Then he left.

Atem barely caught Marcus's wave in the direction of the door. He looked at Marcus, and then in the direction that he was waving to see the door just shut. "Enough play, we have to go, Yami."

"Why?"

"Because Yugi's trying to skip out on breakfast again."

Yugi walked down the hallway towards the elevators. He heard a door open and shut behind him, but barely gave it two thoughts. Why? Why did he have to see that? He was such a third wheel in a relationship that was already well established. Like that little kid brother that was always following his older brother and his friends around.

Arms wrapped around him, pulling him back into a chest. Yami's by the feel of it.

"Never," Yami whispered into his ear. Yep, Yami's chest. "You will never be a third wheel in this relationship. I'm sorry we make you feel that way sometimes, Yugi. But you're as much a part of this relationship as we are. You hold half of our hearts. Why can't you see that?"

"It's just hard right now, to see anything, that's all."

"Take your time."

"I'm sorry about, um, trying to eat you. I suppose Atem wasn't making breakfast quick enough."

Yami let out a loose chuckle, before kissing Yugi's temple. "Apology accepted, Little One."

"But I don't believe that I will ever stop being a third wheel," Yugi said shoving his arms away. "You two have a standing foundation for your love of one another, and I just get in the way of it more often than naught. It'd be better for all of us if we just stopped pretending that this wasn't the case."

Yugi walked away, even as he could smell the sweet scent of hot food wafting through the hallway. His stomach gurgled, but he just ignored it. He didn't have time to be hungry; all he needed to do was just walk away. Stopping before the elevator, he pushed the button, and it dinged open. Atem was standing in the elevator already, looking bored, a rolled up tortilla on a plate in his hand.

"Wha-? Bu-?"

Yami shoved him into the elevator from behind, making him stumble slightly. Yugi leaned against the wall, eyeing both men with apprehension. Atem merely offered him the plate, and Yugi took the burrito off of it. Taking a bite, all the flavors of the food exploded in his mouth.

"Poo!" Yugi spat it out onto the elevator floor.

"Is it too hot?" Atem asked feeling up the burrito. "I was sure I had it at the right temperature."

Yugi dropped the whole thing, as if it had burned him. Fear filled eyes looked up at them both. Realization set in on their faces, as they both licked their lips. One looked away; the other sighing in frustration.

"You're going to have to start consuming it again at some point, Yugi. What's wrong with that day being today?"

"I…I don't…"

"Yes?" Yami prompted looking back at him, "You don't what?"

"Want to…take it."

"Yes, we can see that," Atem sighed bending down to pick up both pieces of food and put them back on the plate.

The doors dinged open, and Yugi was out of them before anyone could say anything else. Glancing behind him when he was halfway to his truck but didn't see either vampire. That alone made him more nervous. When he reached his truck, he finally found one of them.

Yami was sitting cross legged on his hood, examining his spark plug. Of course he was. Used his super speed to get there first, didn't he? Ruddy cheater. He looked up though as Yugi slowly approached him. A smirk was on his face, amused by Yugi's thoughts.

"Atem is making a new one. You will eat it."

"With or without?"

"What do you think?"

"Do I really have to?" Yugi whined.

"Yes, Yugi, you really do."

"Why?"

"Because Isis is starting to monitor your blood again. This is easier for her if you're taking the drug FBR-18. If you don't take it, then it'll be harder for her to monitor when we can freely drink from you every week like we're supposed to."

"Freely?"

"That's right."

"No," Yugi said taking a step back from him his eyes filling up with fear. A plate was put in front of him, as his back hit a firm, warm chest.

"He didn't mean it like that, Yugi," Atem whispered in his ear, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "He simply meant that we'd be free to drink from you once a week like we're supposed to."

"But that'll mean that I'm healthy again!"

"Yes, it will."

"No, I don't want to be!" Yugi cried smacking the plate away. Yami was snatching both from the air before either could touch the ground. Atem spun him around, and pressed his face into his chest, just letting Yugi cry.

"We won't abandon you, Yugi. We don't make the same mistakes twice."

"I wish I could believe you when you say that, I really do, but I don't. I've seen you repeat too many mistakes when it involves me."

"Not this one. Never this one." Atem tried to assure him hooking his chin and forcing him to look up.

Yugi just stared at him with sad eyes though, and said nothing. He didn't need to, his eyes said it all for him. Gently pushing Atem away, he walked over to Yami and eased the burrito out of his grip. He ate it, every bite exploding in his mouth with an unnatural enhancement of flavors. It was humiliating, being forced to eat something he didn't even want against his will like this. So, humiliating.

After he was done, he climbed into his cab, as Yami replaced his spark plug. As soon as the hood was shut, he patted the spot next to him in the cab. Neither vampire made any moves to join him though. So, Yugi nodded and backed out of the parking lot. As he started down the highway though, he heard two thumps in his truck bed. Looking in the rearview mirror, he saw both of them sitting in it.

Turning on his flashers, he pulled over to the side, and sat there. Eventually they took the hint and climbed into the cab with him. It sure did seem to take a long time though. It gave Yugi an idea, a very vivid idea.

"Don't even think about asking her, Yugi," Atem ordered though his lips were twitching in a way that said he was suppressing a smile. "With the state she's been in these last couple of months she'd most likely take you up on it."

"Oh, now you've really made me curious. I have even more of an urge to ask her now if it's possible."

"You're horrible," Yami sighed laying his head against the dashboard.

"What? What's so wrong with seeing if you really do have brains and not dust where they should be? I mean you're old enough that it could be dust by now. Poof!" This last word was accompanied by an image of them with their skulls split, and a puff of smoke coming out of the hole.

"You do realize, that if you were to cut us open, there'd be blood right? And lots of it?" Yami pointed out.

"On second thought, never mind. I don't need to know anymore." He let out a small chuckle.

"Yugi, what're you doing?" Atem asked.

"Trying to find a parking spot. You know, you two could help."

"That's-" he paused before continuing his sentence, "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Heh, I got him to say it," Yugi said smiling over Atem at Yami. "But yeah, I know what you meant."

"So?"

"Is it really so difficult to believe that I don't want us to fall into an awkward state? One so deep that's there's barely a hope of us ever climbing out of it again?"

"We're already in an awkward state," Yami pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. That's the problem. I seem to be the only one trying to climb out, and neither one of you are trying to help. You could at least be looking for a vine like rope. I keep throwing them, but you just keep tossing them back. What's the matter? Not strong enough for their Highnesses?"

"One wrong pull and we could have an avalanche of rock and dirt coming down on top of us."

"I'm willing to take that risk if you are."

Atem and Yami shared an uneasy look. Then they looked at Yugi. He knew this look. They had something they needed, not wanted, to tell him. Neither of them knew how to say it without upsetting him though.

"We'll talk after class, alright?" Yugi sighed hitching his backpack up to his shoulder as he opened the door. "You have until then to think of a way to say it. Whatever it is. I can't promise that it won't upset me however. If you're this wary to tell me, then it probably will."

"We'd much rather get it out of the way now," Yami groaned.

"No, after all classes. That includes the little kid's club."

"Are serious? That means you're giving us until 8:00 pm to stew over this predicament."

"Plenty of time to think how to word it properly I would've said." With those words he climbed out of the truck, and started to head towards the building. He'd barely made it through the doors when several students ran up to him.

"Sensei! Sensei! Sensei Mutou!"

"Uh, yes?" Yugi asked hitching his backpack up a little higher.

"We know what we're doing for karaoke tonight, and you're not allowed to sing!" one of the girls said excitedly getting in his face as much as she could.

"Uh, okay. It's your club so whatever you want."

"Yes!" they all cheered before running off.

"And why don't they want to hear your angelic tones?" Yami asked with narrowed eyes.

"I have no idea. We'll find out later in any case."

"So, to class?" Atem asked.

"To class," Yugi nodded leading the way.

[Later]

BANG!

Yugi stormed out from the auditorium, but got no more than three steps before he leaned against one of the walls, and slid down it. What horrible little monsters they were. Didn't want him to sing they said. More like make him incapable of it. Of all the songs to choose they just had to pick Human by Christina Perri.

Tears fell like raindrops from his eyes, splashing against the linoleum floor. A hand touched the back of his head in a soothing gesture. Atem. There was no doubt in his mind. This hand belonged to Atem. It cupped the back of his head, and pulled his face into a broad chest.

Both of his hands reached up. One was angled to push away, the other to pull closer. Not knowing which he really wanted, he left them as is; pulling and pushing. And cried, just cried into Atem's shirt.

Ten minutes later, Yami came out of the auditorium walking backwards. They had shifted their position with Atem leaning back against the wall, and Yugi curled up into his lap still crying, but on his shoulder now. Yami looked affronted as he looked down at the two of them

"Okay, I have no doubt now that their intention was to get him out of the room."

"What makes you say that?" Atem asked pulling Yugi closer.

"I mean, they were even nice enough to announce the songs they were singing so I would know who they were by. As well as have an inkling as to what they could be about."

"Yami."

"They started off with Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus, followed by Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding. Then there was Stickwitu by PCD. And now we have Back to December by Taylor Swift. Only they took the liberty of changing one of those words to September. Back to September."

Atem sighed, his eyes closing, as he shifted both himself and Yugi. Next minute Yugi was be lifted from the ground and handed off to Yami.

"You hold him," Atem said as he passed him, "I have a question for them."

"Which is?"

"Who they think they're hurting more. Us, or their favorite Student Sensei."

"Atem."

"Hm?" he asked turning back.

"Just cancel the rest of their karaoke instead. We need to get him home. I mean why drag out the pain? It's better to just rip it off as quickly as one does a band aid."

"So, you want to tell him then?"

"No."

"Guess you're making dinner then."

"I don't want to do that either."

"Well those are your options. Tell him the bad news or make dinner."

"Suddenly making dinner doesn't seem so bad."

"No, don't leave me," Yugi whined pulling himself closer to Yami.

"How did he…?" Yami asked in trailing off sentence.

"What else could we possibly be so reluctant to tell him about? He's too clever, Yami. Always has been always will be."

"Tell those kids to go home, and then we'll do the same."

Atem nodded going back into the auditorium. It was silent for a few seconds.

"What?! Why?! That's hardly a reasonable excuse! Whatever Mr. Party Pooper!"

All of the kids came out grumbling about how the bloody vampire was being a sore loser. Or something to that affect anyway. Yugi didn't catch all the words, but did hear something about a bloody vampire and sore loser. It wasn't too hard to fill in the lines.

"Were they trying to be funny?" Atem asked shaking his head as he locked up the auditorium.

"Nah, they were just tossing a pun around," Yami said in a strangled voice as Yugi pulled himself closer to the vampire. Quite a feat this was too, considering he was already as close as both vampires thought he could be.

"Don't leave me. S-stay."

Atem sighed, "come on." Wrapping an arm around Yami's waist he led them both out of the school. The radio played softly as Yugi sat in Yami's lap, begging and pleading for them to stay. Yami couldn't even look at him as he stared out the window with hardened eyes. Yugi was even being nice about it, for once, and playing fair. Well, mostly anyway. His tears could hardly be considered fair, but nothing could be done about them. He was playing fair by not using affection to get his way. Or P.D.E.O.D.

Atem saved Yami, by pulling Yugi off of him when they reached the apartments and out of the truck. Carrying him back to the apartment he received the same fair treatment, which surprised Atem slightly. He'd expected for him to start using affection by now. But no, he was still just whining and crying. Marcus looked up when they entered the living area.

"I see you told him early," he said.

"No, he figured it out on his own," Yami replied in a short voice.

"Yeah? Which part?"

"That we're leav-," he paused, "No, going away for a while."

"Surprised he's not using affection to get his way yet."

"He's not going to either. He'd be using it by now if he was."

"Yami, just get started on his dinner. I'll be in his room with him." Atem nodded at them and went into the room, shutting the door slightly behind him. Falling backwards onto the bed, he let Yugi sit on top. Yami was right, he would've started off with the affection if he was going to use it.

Yugi sat on top of Atem, his hands kneading his shirt like a cat does when it purrs in happiness and love. Yugi wasn't looking at Atem with love though. No the only emotions in those eyes were fear and sorrow. Rising ever so slowly like lava in a mountain.

"It's only two days, Yugi. Two days, and two nights. By the third morning we'll be back."

"It should be none. No days, and no nights. I need you here with me."

"We have to. We've ignored this…crisis long enough. It's high time we acknowledged it."

"What's wrong?"

"You already know," Atem replied running a hand through his hair. Yugi moaned, leaning into the touch. "You saw it firsthand. High Lord Vampires that we left to rule over colonies are treating your race like trash. It's not just him though. Many of the High Lords are this way. Like I once was."

"What?"

"I once thought I was not only above your species but better than it. I was so wrong, and am so sorry. You and several others have taught me this. There's a reason that your species has risen far above our own. Your inner strength is so vibrant. Where we falter, you continue to plow on. It's time we tried to do the same. So, I shall be going against my council's very wishes, but Yami and I are going to try to expropriate the old Lords, and put new young ones in their place. It might cause a mutiny, but I'm willing to take the risk."

"You need to help them trust humans again."

Yugi dropped his face into Atem's chest. Fisting his shirt, he pulled himself closer to the man, nuzzling his nose into his neck. The tears never stopped. They continued to flow like rivers.

"Call me," Yugi said in a soft voice. Not conceding the fight entirely, but giving up most of it.

"Huh?" Atem asked surprised. He expected a longer fight than this short version of it. All of his instincts said it was going to be a long night.

"Every day, twice a day, I want you to call me."

"Now Yugi, do you remember us discussing once or twice about how some meetings needed our undivided attention?"

"In the morning and night."

"I know you recall the conversation."

"You have to."

"Yugi," he sighed the name into the young one's hair that was tickling his chin slightly. "We can't. We need to keep this meeting going for two days and two nights non-stop. By the sunrise of the third day we'll be back. I promise you. Even if we have to just get up and leave an hour before sunrise, we will be here on the third day."

"But I need you more."

"One call."

"Two."

"One."

"Two."

"Why do you need two?"

"I need that deep and soft baritone echoing in my ears. My ears, Atem, not my head."

"Wait, who has the deep baritone?"

"Yami of course."

"Liar."

"Then why're you asking if you already know the answer?"

"I wanted to hear you say it."

"And boost your ego? No way, not a chance."

"Hmph, my ego needs a little boost. It's been deflated too much by a small human named Yugi Mutou. So come on, who has a deep baritone?"

"Marcus."

"Can't argue with that."

Yugi sat back up, wiping at his face. "Who was it?"

"Who was what?"

"Who made you distrust humans so much that you wanted to punish them even if it was a subconscious effort on your part at the time?"

"There was nothing subconscious about it, Yugi."

"Tell me."

"Why should I?"

"Fair point. I mean you have no reason to. Nor do you actually need to. I'm merely trying to sate a curiosity with my question. It's something I've always wondered about though. Who made you and Yami distrust humans so much that you can't even trust me?"

"It's a different person in both of our cases."

"Oh."

"Her name was Linnea Engstrom. She was a Swedish woman. Who was experimenting on Vampires. Pureblood Vampires. Linnea was trying to discover a way to turn them back into humans. She killed thousands of us, Yugi, thousands. She failed to understand that the gene was already in the child, and had been dormant until they were 16. They were children, Yugi, only children, and she destroyed thousands of them. I was only in my third millennia when I found her." Atem paused, and Yugi saw a short woman in her early thirties flash across the link.

"Atem-"

"Give me a moment."

"No, I was just going to say that you didn't have to tell me anymore of you didn't want to."

"No, I want to. I did something terrible to her, Yugi. I did what she feared the most from our kind. I turned her into one of us, and then stood by and watched her starve herself to death. I never lifted a finger to prevent it. This was shortly after we were forced to leave Valon. I stopped trusting your kind then."

"And you never started to trust again either?"

"No."

Short and bitter. That 'no' that Atem gave him. Did this mean he'd forgotten how to trust, or didn't trust himself to trust anymore? If only in fear of disappointment? Yugi didn't know. Nor could he continue to speculate. His mind was such an open chasm, it wasn't safe for secret and private thoughts anymore. This…this was definitely one of these moments.

"Do you think you could ever trust me?" Yugi asked looking away.

"With my life."

This answer had Yugi blinking, his eyes wide open in shock as his head flipped back to look down at him. With his…life? Then why didn't he ever show it? Why? Yugi didn't understand. How could he answer it so simply, but never show it?

"I only came to this conclusion recently, Yugi," Atem replied answering the questions running through his mind. He cupped his cheek, pulling his face down towards his.

Yugi turned his head away at the last moment. His entire form was trembling. Atem released his cheek, eyes widening. It appeared that more damage had been done with their little trick on the plane than they'd originally thought. Sighing, he yanked him down to his chest instead.

"I'm sorry."

"You've nothing to apologize for, Yugi. Nothing at all."

Crash!

"Yami!" Marcus shouted. "What're you doing?"

"We've ruined everything!" Yami shouted back before a door slammed.

Yugi felt Atem shift under him. "Go ahead, go after him," Yugi said making to move off of him.

"No," Atem held him in place. "Marcus! Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid!"

"Uh, yeah, okay!" Marcus shouted back before the door slammed again.

"You always go after him though."

"I know. That's kind of the problem though, isn't it? I go after Yami, but leave you all alone with your feelings."

"So? Mine don't matter."

Atem pushed him away, grabbing his face between his hands, and forcing him to look him in the eye. "Yes they do," he said with a little heat behind his words. "Don't you ever say that they don't matter!"

"No, they can't possibly," Yugi said back his eyes slanting down to the bedspread. Atem may be able to hold his head in place, but his eyes were free spirits. They could roam wherever they wanted to. "If they did, we wouldn't even be arguing right now. You'd be calling me twice a day, and that'd be the end of it."

"Don't use my words against me, Yugi. That's not playing the game in a fair manner."

"I'm playing fair enough. I'm not using affection, am I?"

"Can you?" Atem asked with a small smirk. Yugi must've heard it in his voice, because he looked up at him.

"Of course I can!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it."

"I don't have to prove anything to you two losers! I'm trying to be nice."

"I was not being stupid!" Yami yelled as the door banged open.

"I disagree. I consider playing chicken with cars to be incredibly stupid. You're either going to cause an accident or be an accident. And as your former babysitter I can't allow you to be so reckless."

"Marcus babysat Yami?" Yugi asked.

"All the time. He's my best guard. Of course I was going to put him in trusted hands when I wasn't around. But back to the topic at hand." His hands dropped from his face to his hips.

"The one where you two will call me twice in a 24 hour period of time?"

"No, I was talking about how you're not using affection because you don't want to, but because you can't."

"Well, whose fault is that?"

"Ouch, a little harsh no?" Yami asked coming into the room.

"No, pure truth. Hurts doesn't it?" Yugi asked glaring at the man over his shoulder. He was holding a tray with some kind of chicken on it. "And I'm not eating that."

"Oh? And why not?"

"You dropped it on the kitchen floor. Do you even know when the last time we washed it was?"

"No, that was a glass of milk actually. Food was safe on the counter."

"Not eating it."

"I think that you will. It's Dejon Chicken."

Yugi gasped before looking back down at Atem. He was chewing on his bottom lip. Dejon Chicken? That was really good. Especially when Yami made it. Atem's specialty was steak, and Yami's chicken. There were six meals altogether that Yugi would eat without complaint. Dejon Chicken was on that list and they both knew it.

"Mmm, smells tasty doesn't it?" Yami asked waving the plate under his nose.

"You have to call twice, or I'm not eating it."

"Once," Atem said rolling his eyes. He'd already seen that little arrangement coming.

"What's wrong with twice?" Yami asked.

"Yami!"

"What? One of us calls in the morning hours, and the other at night. One wakes him up, and the other puts him to bed. I think it's a great idea."

"We are trying to compromise here, not give him his way."

"Oh, but giving him his way is so much easier. He'll eat the chicken, and we get two 20 minute breaks which we'll need anyway."

"You're not helping."

"No, I think I am. More than you anyway. I mean the meeting will still be going on, but with only one of us being there."

"No, I don't like that idea," Yugi argued.

"Why not?"

"Because I want both of your voices twice a day. Not one at each side of it."

"Well, I guess we're compromising then."

"I don't like compromising."

"Why?"

"Cause it's an agreement where neither party gets what they wanted."

"Too bad. Here's your offers. You either get two calls with only one of us a day per call, or one call with both of us on the phone. Either way, any call from us will last approximately 20 minutes. Your choice."

"I'm coming with you."

"No, that wasn't an option."

"But I need you," Yugi whined putting his head back down on Atem's chest.

"Ugh, I see what you meant by long night," Yami sighed sitting down on the floor. "Yugi, you either choose an option or we'll pick one for you."

"But I didn't like them."

"Yeah, I got that."

"So can't you make new options?"

"No."

"But I want one."

"You need to eat."

Yugi held out his hand for the plate. Both vampires sighed in relief as Yami put it in his hands. He ate the food albeit greedily. Who could blame him though? He hadn't had this chicken in months. He'd tried making it, but Marcus had banned him from the kitchen ever since. It wasn't his fault it caught fire. It was the oven's.

"No, you just have really poor cooking skills," Atem said shaking his head.

Yugi frowned at him before grabbing his milk, and dumping the entire thing on Atem's face. The vampire jolted up, coughing and hacking, as Yugi stood up on the bed, and plopped down next to him. Yami was rolling on the floor with laughter. He asked Yugi if he wanted more milk.

"Oh, yes, I'd love some, thank you, Yami."

"What about you, Atem? Do you want some more?"

Atem glared down at a grinning Yami, before smashing Yugi's mashed potatoes in his face. "No, but I do think Yugi would like some more potatoes. He seems to be out for some reason."

"No, I'm good. Thanks though."

"Here, you need milk to do that," Yami said throwing a glob at Atem's cheek.

Yugi laid back over Atem's legs to look at Yami upside down. "Thanks for the chicken, Yami. It's as delicious as ever."

"I'm glad you liked it, but Yugi, we still need a decision."

"Yeah. I suppose…"

"You have until four am, so take your time," Atem said moving his legs out from Yugi.

"Can't you just stay?"

Yami sighed, reaching up to fiddle with one of his bangs. He leaned in slowly, kissing his brow, before placing his own against Yugi's lips. Yugi closed his eyes turning his head away.

"Yami," Atem sighed before Yugi felt him be pulled away. When he opened his eyes neither vampire was in the room.

Geez, what was so wrong with him that he couldn't even accept affection from the two people he should never have a problem accepting it from? That he needed to turn his head away when it was offered or given? He said he needed them here with him, but what did that really mean? Showing affection before hadn't been this much of a problem it was only after… Yugi curled up in a ball, choking on his own misery. Only after the plane ride that it became a sudden problem for him.

A body pressed against his back, curling around him, as tears fell onto his neck. Atem, the chest was too broad to be Yami's. Yugi trembled from head to foot.

"We really screwed up this time, huh?" Atem asked in a trembling voice. "You don't have to forgive us, Yugi. You never have to forgive us. We'll understand if you never do. I know I've said this before, but I'm going to say it again anyway. If you want to leave us then you can. If you want to walk out of this relationship the option will always be there."

"I don't though. I want this relationship between the three of us to work. I want to get back to the old days where we were silly in love. I don't regret going to Andorra, Atem. I don't think I ever will. I only regret losing you two. Perhaps forever. If I could go back and change that moment where I walked out that door I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't. It was something I felt I had to do. I never meant to hurt either one of you. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry that I did. That I still am now."

"Yugi, you're not hurting us," Yami said from somewhere in the room. "We're doing that all by ourselves. And look where it's got us too! You don't trust us, believe us, or even want us to touch you or vice versa! And you still apologize as if it's your fault. None of it, do you hear me? None of it is your fault. The only two bakas in this room to blame are of the supernatural race."

"Then why do I feel so terrible inside if none of the fault belongs to me? Why Yami? Why?"

"What other choice have we given you? Open yourself to us again only to get hurt? Is it not better to feel terrible all the time then to leave yourself open to another hit on your heart? As if we haven't caused enough damage in that area already."

"Then why aren't you trying to fix it? Why are you holding a hose instead of a match?" his body stopped trembling.

"Tell us what to do," Atem murmured into his hair.

"The same thing I've asked for all along. To love and trust me as I have you. There's nothing I wouldn't do to keep you two anymore. But it seems as if there's everything you'd do to push me away. Don't push me away. Keep me. Keep me for forever."

Yugi opened his eyes at last, filling them with the sight of Yami. Tears were brimming on the edges of his eyes, but weren't falling. Atem pulled him closer, burying his face into the back of his head. Yami took a step forwards and then three back, turning around so he was no longer facing the two of them.

"Just call me twice a day, okay? I don't care how or when. I just want you to call me twice a day. I need to hear your voices, because I can't go back to silence. I need noise, your noise. I need to know that you care and are there. I really need you two. Can you please pretend that you need me too? Just so I can feel a smidgen of love? Cause right now I feel like I'm worth nothing. I just need you to pretend until you actually do. If you can't do that, then when you walk out that door tomorrow morning, don't bother coming back."

"Yugi-" Atem started.

"No, Yami's right. What other choice have you given me? Get hurt more? Or try to move on even though I know it'll be impossible to? I mean, what better men can I ask for then the ones right in front of me?"

"Heh, men?" Yami asked in a shaky tone. "No, Yugi, we're not men. We're more like old rulers who expect the world to just agree with them. The only man in this room is you."

"A man wouldn't hurt the ones he loves."

"Exactly. And how many times have we done that to you? We're not men."

"No you don't."

"Excuse me?" Atem asked.

"You don't love me. You just say you do. And it's okay I understand, I do. I'm a weak pathetic loser who's incapable of being loved by anyone. I mean why would anyone take the time to, right?"

Lips covered his. Yugi's hands were immediately trying to push Atem away. He may as well have been pushing against a brick wall.

I. Love. You. I'm not pretending when I say that, Yugi. I mean it. Every day and every time I say it, I mean it. I don't say it just because I can. I say it to remind you how important you are.

Yugi pushed again, but with his lips this time. Those words were just what he needed to hear. He needed to be reminded how important he was to these two. Because for a moment there, he couldn't remember if he ever had been. Atem pulled away from him, wiping his face of both of their tears. The bed pressed down, and Yugi looked over to see Yami kneeling by it. His hands reaching out for his. Yugi gave him one.

"We're so lucky, Yugi. Lucky for you to have walked in on our lives. You change it every day. Most of those changes you never see, but the vampires under our hands do. This change we're about to do not many are going to like, but if we have you in our lives I know we can make this change effective.

Please Yugi, don't kick us out. I need you just as much as you need us. I love you, and will spend the rest of my life trying to prove that to you if I have to." He bowed his head over their clasped hands, kissing Yugi's fingertips. "I'm sorry I ever made you feel as if you weren't loved, especially by me."

"C'mere," Yugi said giving the hand in between Yami's a gentle tug. That seemed to be all the persuasion he needed as he climbed onto the bed, and crawled closer. Freeing his hands and arms, he wrapped them around Yami. He didn't kiss him, just pulled his face into his chest. Yami finally broke down in sobs that wracked his body.

"I'd never kick you out of my life. Either of you. I just don't want to be hurt anymore. That's why the door is open for your use too. If you need to use it at any time go ahead. Just let me know first, so I don't wonder why. I'll show you the same courtesy."

"You really don't care when we call?" Atem asked choosing to ignore the final sentence of that short speech.

"If you get me kicked out of any of my classes then you're going to be in trouble."

"So you do care when we call."

"I mean it, Atem. Big, big, trouble if you get me kicked out of any of my classes."

"What kind of trouble?"

"We have a couch here. Though, it's not big enough for two, so you better be good, Yami."

Yugi felt him smile against his chest slightly. The sobbing lessen, as his body stopped shaking. Yugi massaged his scalp with his fingers.

There we go. That's better.

Yami looked up at him slowly. He had an odd look in his eyes that Yugi couldn't pinpoint.

Atem, I think I found him. I found, Yugi.

Yeah, me too. I just hope he's still around when we get back.

What do you mean you found me? I've been right here the whole time.

Selfless loving, Yugi. Yami whispered the words in his mind before placing a gentle kiss on his lips. He didn't try to make out with him, just pressed his lips against his. To Yugi, that simple expression of love held more meaning than any words did.

This would all be so much easier though if you just stayed.

"Please don't start that again," Yami requested pulling away.

"Well, I'm not going to drop it."

"Oy! Are you planning on putting this stuff away or leaving it out all night?" Marcus asked.

"I got it," Atem said getting up. "We thought maybe you could put it away."

"Do I look like the maid?"

"Not yet, but Yugi knows a place where we can get some costumes."

"Pfft, those aren't costumes. They're lingerie."

"Do you think he'll be okay on his own?"

"If you keep your two call promise, maybe."

"That answer isn't exactly confidence building."

"Well, what do you expect me to say? That he's going to be all peaches and cream while you're gone? Fat chance."

"Just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Stupid? What on earth could you possibly be talking about?"

"…."

"Oh, you mean like not sleeping? Drinking water? Eating? Or maybe trying to drown his liver in alcohol again? None of that could possibly be stupid by your standards, could it?"

Smack!

"Watch your tone! I'm still your King."

"Poo! You may be my King, but in no way do I respect you anymore. You or that pathetic mark you call a Queen."

"He's not a mark!"

"What's a 'mark'?" Yugi asked looking up at Yami.

"It's an old term used by vampires to refer to someone like me. It's an infatuation with someone of a lower class than you. You don't hear the term in most conversations these days because no really uses it anymore. Only the really old vampires, like Muhtaram, still know of it, and use it."

"So, it's degrading?"

"Yes, it is."

"Does that make me a 'mark'? I mean, I'm a commoner by your standards."

"And I was a Slave."

"No, you were a Servant. Atem's Personal Servant. Not much better than a Slave, but you had more freedom than one."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"Why can't you just stay? Have the meetings here. In one of the University's Conference rooms? I wouldn't miss classes, and you'd be within reach of me."

"And where will everyone stay?"

"There're several Hotels nearby."

"Everyone's already at the Palace."

"Just change the location. Not the date of the meetings. Just the location of them."

"It's not several meetings, Yugi, it's just one."

"Please, I need you."

"We're done with this conversation. We're leaving at four am tomorrow morning. We will be back Thursday morning. We're going to call you every day, twice a day. Do you have homework?"

"Yes."

"Then go do it."

"Whatever you say, Grandpa," Yugi sneered before stomping over to his desk and getting started on his homework for this week, and the few papers from last.

Atem chuckled at Yugi's behavior as he walked back into the room. He sat down on the bed with Yami. Yami, whose mouth was agape, looked over at him.

"I like his idea though. We'll keep it in mind," Atem said quietly.

"His idea?" Yami asked.

"Yes. To monopolize one of the conference rooms at TU, and hold the meetings that will take place in two weeks there. We can even get pallets for everyone to sleep on again."

"They'll be thrilled to be sleeping on a hard floor."

Try as he might, he just couldn't seem to ignore the conversation going on behind him. To think they were going to leave him again. And in such a short span of time too. Weening him off of needing them so much. Wasn't this too soon though? He'd only just gotten them back, and already they were trying to desert him again. He wasn't even healthy yet.

What a fool he was. Of course they hadn't meant to wait until he was healthy again. That could take months. They weren't going to wait months. No, they weren't even going to wait one before abandoning him. Was he that much of a problem that they couldn't even stand to be around him anymore for longer than two weeks' time?

Helpless. It was how he felt right now. Helpless to stop what he was feeling. Helpless to his physical aversion to being touched by them. Helpless to stop them from leaving him. He just felt so helpless. They didn't even know though, how helpless he felt. Didn't know, or didn't care. What was the point in sharing his thoughts on his feelings though? He'd just be shut down. Leaving them right back at square zero.

"Yugi," Atem's soft voice penetrated his thoughts, "you are aware that your mind is still an open book to us, right?"

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

He felt a thumb press something on his back. His eyes rolled up into his head, as he flopped forwards onto his desk. There was nothing after that.

[Time skip]

"I still don't understand why you're going through his computer," Yami whispered.

"I just want to see how long it is now," Atem whispered back.

"Why do you care?"

"Because his thought bothers me. Didn't it bother you?"

"No. So, it's gotten longer. By what? 10, maybe 15 songs?"

"Almost 100."

Clatter!

"What?"

"There's almost 100 songs on his Lonely playlist."

"Oh, I thought you meant there was almost 100 added to it."

"Yeah, I know. What time is it?"

"Two am. He should be waking up again soon."

"Who? Yugi? Or Marcus?"

"Yugi. Who knows about Marcus? I clocked him pretty bad."

"You shouldn't have done that, Lover."

"He called you a mark, Habibi. That's not okay."

"That was so low," Yugi said in tired voice.

Both stiffened and whipped around to see Yugi watching them with wary eyes.

"Well, since he listens to you now. Perhaps you can punish him for it?" Atem suggested.

"Huh? Oh, no, actually I meant attacking my pressure point to knock me out was low. I had homework, and by doing that you were preventing me from getting it done."

"Go to sleep, Yugi," Atem sighed turning the chair back around.

"No! I want to know what makes Yami a 'mark'. I mean, you're both Purebloods right? So wouldn't that put you both on the same Hierarchy level in the vampire world?"

Both vampires looked at one another before looking at Yugi with such confused faces, it was almost cute, almost. He could practically see their gears trying to work out his question.

"Why would you think that?" Yami asked.

"Uh, cause that's how most writers write it out. All Purebloods are an equal, but dying race."

"They are?"

"Yes?"

"You read too much fiction."

"No, Yugi, we weren't on the same Hierarchy level until he became my Husband. He was a Servant and I was a King."

"So, what does that make me to most of the Old Vampire race?"

"A Prince," Yami said with a cheeky smile.

"Pfft, more like a Mistress. Or Slut." His eyes slid away from them and down onto the blankets.

"Concubine, actually, but the name was quickly squashed before it could reach sensitive ears," Atem said in an offhanded voice. When Yugi's eyes snapped up to his though, they were anything but offhanded. He was glaring at him in that way that Yugi so liked. "Do you enjoy putting yourself down? Do you receive some kind of sick pleasure out of it?"

"Enjoy? What's there to enjoy in our lives anymore?"

Yugi wanted to continue by throwing those same words back into their faces, but what was the point? He was so sick of fighting. He just wanted to make up already, but he knew he couldn't even have that. His heart just wouldn't allow this one to be forgiven so easily. They really hurt him, and were still doing so. Couldn't they see that? He wasn't the only blind one in this relationship. They had plenty of spots in their vision too.

Fingers interlaced through his as a soft forehead was placed against his. A soft sigh echoed in his ears. He back was pressed down against the bed, and he just flipped. Thrashing and kicking he tried to dislodge the one on top of him. Scared and afraid of being attacked again. Whether in his mind or physically it didn't matter to him. He was scared of an attack on his body that he didn't even know was actually coming or not. Either way, he didn't want to provide any opportunity for it.

An arm locked around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides at the elbows. A hand grabbed his wrists in a gentle but firm grip, holding them in front of him. Two hands seized his ankles, and held them to the bed. There was an urgent whisper in his ear. What? What was that?

"Shh, shh, calm down, Yugi, calm down. We're not going to hurt you. There's no reason to be scared. There's no reason to be scared. Please don't be scared. Don't be scared of us, please."

"I can't help it. You put the fear there. You're going to have to find a way to vanquish it. I can't…can't handle this. I want you to touch me, but am scared of every one."

"I wonder if what I did to you would work on him?" Atem questioned out loud.

"I don't think teaching Yugi what a bad touch is will help us, Atem."

"No, not that. You're right, it wouldn't help. I was actually talking about how I would touch your hand, shoulder, or arm in an absent minded way. Non-threatening touches."

"You can…run fingers through my hair. That's non-threatening too," Yugi suggested in small mumble.

"Oh?"

"I didn't freak out, did I? Earlier I mean."

"No, you didn't."

"Soft kisses are non-threatening too."

"If you say so. But how do we know you won't try to turn your head away?" Yami asked.

"Only one way to find out, really."

Yami and Atem shared a look, before Atem dropped his wrists, and grabbed his chin, angling it upwards. He lowered his head down into a kiss, their lips barely brushing before Yugi's entire body tensed. Atem sighed, making to pull away, but Yugi's hand came up, holding Atem's head there.

"Just give me a minute."

"Yugi, forcing it won't help you."

"I'm not though, you don't understand how badly I want to be touched by you two, do you? I want you to touch me, and I want to be able to touch you. You're my mates, the ones I love, and should therefore never fear being touched by. Please, just give me a minute."

Atem pressed their lips together, and released his arms to place his hand on his side. Yugi moaned, pressing back against him. Languid and slow, with tongues rolling on top of one another. Curling, massaging, moving in ways that were both familiar and foreign. Yugi tasted Atem like it would be the last time he'd be able to. The last thing on his mind was air. A thought his lungs were starting to protest heavily.

"Uh, hey, are you two going to breathe today? I'm pretty sure the human needs oxygen at some point."

Completely overrated.

Atem pulled away, glaring down at a Yugi whose eyelids were heavy and hooded. Yugi ran his tongue over his top lip, before trying to kiss Atem again. The latter cut him off by placing a hand over his mouth.

"I thought you were playing fair? Nice even?"

Yugi removed the hand to reveal a devilish smile curling about his lips. "I decided to give up that strategy. It wasn't giving me what I really wanted." His eyes darkened even more on the word 'really'.

"Oh, crap," Yami groaned.

"What about you, Yami? Do I get a taste of you, or shall I be denied?" Yugi asked giving him a highly seductive look.

"Uh, I'm not sure that I- I mean we should actually, um, engage in any such provocative activities."

"Oh?" Yugi asked flipping onto his stomach, and then onto his hands and knees. "Why not?"

"You know exactly why not."

"Refresh my memory?" Yugi asked as he crawled down the bed towards him, his hips swaying from side to side slightly.

"Um, cause we, um, in about 90 minutes, um, yeah," Yami's words barely made sense as they came out of his mouth. Yugi pressed their foreheads together trying to eliminate as much space between them as he could. Yami, he was so much easier to seduce than Tem had ever been.

"90 minutes huh?" Yugi asked nipping at his bottom lip. "A lot can be done in 90 minutes."

"What're you suggesting?"

"Yami!"

"Follow me and find out," Yugi replied in a breathless voice.

"No, no, no, we're not doing this right now," Atem objected grabbing hold of Yugi's hips and pulling him back to the head of the bed. Yami still followed.

"Why? What's wrong with right here and right now?" Yami asked kissing Yugi as Atem continued to pull him back.

"Because if we get undressed and he gets undressed, then no one will be leaving this room for days and you know it."

"But he's being so free with it? Why pass up a perfect opportunity?"

"Because what we're trying to get done today and tomorrow is very important. We've avoided the conflict long enough."

"Hmph, well, can I at least kiss him?"

"No, I'm not in the mood for kissing anymore. I do still expect two calls today though."

"Realized you weren't going to get your way with affection?" Atem asked smirking.

"No, I already knew I wouldn't. I simply wanted to see how far you'd let me go. Tongue only. How disappointing."

Yami smacked Atem upside the back of the head, making Yugi laugh. He grabbed Yami's hands and pulled him off the bed. He paused his movements to turn a random song on his PC song list on. Unfortunately, for him, it was Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On. Shaking it off though, he pulled Yami closer, placing a hand on his shoulder and the other in his hand. Yami needed no prompting as he pulled Yugi closer by placing his hand on the small of his back. He guided him around the room in slow circles.

"What's wrong with your emotions, Yugi? They keep fluctuating sporadically."

"I've been depressed so long, Yami, it'll take a while before I can get them stabilized again."

"Alright. Take as much time as you need."

"By the way, where exactly is this chip that you have in me?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"My body."

Atem snorted, "Your left arm. Not going to tell you the exact location of it though."

"Did I ask for it?"

"I'm sure it would've come up eventually."

"Who made you distrust humans, Yami?"

"My owner before Atem. That's all you need to know."

"Your owner before…?" Yugi looked over at Atem. If he recalled correctly his owner before the Pharaoh was a spoiled Princess. Yami was right he didn't need nor want to know the details of what she did to him. He knew she abused him, but…that's all he needed to know.

Yugi rested his cheek against the cool cloth of Yami's shirt. Yami tried spinning him out, but Yugi wasn't having it, as he gripped the fabric tighter. He squeezed his eyes shut, fighting against the turmoil of emotions he felt with the approaching time that was slipping away.

"Promise me, that you'll come back. That you won't abandon me again. Promise me."

"As often as we need to," Atem murmured wrapping his arms around the two of them from behind.

"No, say it. Promise it."

"Yugi, we promise that we won't ever abandon you in any sense of the word ever again," Yami said with a firm conviction in every syllable he spoke.

Yugi sighed in contentment as he turned into gelled liquid between them as he fell asleep. Atem poked his cheek, turning his head slightly, but received no response.

Anytime. Anywhere. Anyplace.

That is so not right!

He's a treasure, Atem, and all ours.

We have an hour. What do you say we crush Mr. Beautiful between us until we have to leave?

Sounds good to me.

[Time skip]

I am sitting in the morning at the diner on the corner
I am waiting at the counter for the man to pour the coffee
And he fills it only halfway and before I even argue
He is looking at the window at somebody coming in

It is always nice to see you says the man behind the counter
She is shaking her umbrella
And I look the other way as they are kissing their hellos
And am pretending not to see them-

"Who is this?" Yugi asked in the way of a greeting as he finally located his phone.

"Good morning to you too," Yami said back.

"Morning? Which morning? The first or second?"

"First."

"Why can't it be the second?"

"Because we only left six hours ago."

"That excuse is lame and I don't like it. Make time go faster."

"Would if I could, Yugi, but no one can control time."

"Why not?"

"It's just one of those things that can't be controlled."

"I think you should learn how. Quickly."

"Whatever you say, Dear. By the way, how does one fall asleep so flawlessly like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"One minute wide awake standing up, and the next out cold but still standing."

"Well, I had a really good support system, so what was the problem?"

"A good support system?"

"Yeah, to keep me upright."

"Heh, oh, Yugi, what're we going to do with you?"

"Hopefully keep me."

"Forever and always."

"My Queen," a new voice sounded a little ways off from where Yami was standing.

"What?!" he snapped back.

"We have an urgent meeting going on that we need your assistance in. Whoever you're talking to, it can wait."

"No, it can't. Kingy and I made a promise to an adorable little human. We're not willing to take a chance and go back on it. I don't want to know how that's going to affect him."

"Seriously? What did he have you promise him? Call every hour?"

"Oh! Oh! I like his idea, Ami!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you do. Not going to happen. We're still only calling you twice a day. Once in the morning and once at night. Both calls lasting approximately 20 minutes. Remember?"

"Unfortunately."

"Good. Oh, and Atem wants you to inform him through the link when your class is over tonight so he doesn't get into big big trouble."

"Your Highness! We need you in here now!"

"Go rot in a graveyard you old windbag!"

"Oh, do you not like that other vampire?"

"Nope!"

"Why not?"

"He's one of those high and mighty types that thinks he's above everyone and every rule."

"I do not!"

"Liar!"

"Ami, he's ruining us time. Make him go away."

"Ha ha ha, cover your ears."

"Why?"

"Okay!" Yugi didn't cover his ears, just pulled the phone away from them.

"ATEM! GET THIS STUPID FOOL AWAY FROM ME!"

Yugi heard a few struggling sounds after that, and what sounded like a large heavy door slamming. He could only assuming that the demand was executed quickly and successfully. He put the phone back to his ear.

"Uh, is he gone?"

"Yes, Atem dragged him back into the meeting by his tie."

"Can you re-enact it for me when you get back?"

"Uh, sure, but I call playing Atem. I most certainly don't want to be playing tie guy."

"Ha ha ha."

"Hey, Yugi, we were wondering what you wanted to do for Valentine's this year."

"Nothing."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, Yami."

"Uh, why?"

"Because that's a holiday for lovers, not fighters. None of us have been particularly loving over the past couple of months. I think we should just avoid the 14th okay?"

"Not really."

"Well, do whatever you want then. Just don't include me in yours and Atem's plans."

"Alright, we won't include you in any plans that we make together."

"Thank you."

"So, what're you planning on doing with your day?"

"Well, I'm going to have to see if my guard is still alive for starters. Then work on all the work I should've been doing for the past couple of days. Time to get it out of the way, ya know?"

"Don't worry. Atem just socked Marcus. He's still alive."

"Hmph, I've yet to hear his voice this morning, so this remains to be seen."

"He's alive. He was moving about when we left this morning."

"Yeah, about that. I didn't get a proper goodbye from you."

"Oh? How so?"

"You didn't kiss me goodbye like Atem did."

"Hm, well, I can kiss you hello."

"Right."

"Yugi. We are coming back."

"So you say now, but we both know something will come up to delay you. Something always does."

"And we'll be getting up and walking away from it."

"Right."

"Urgh, why do you have to be so frustrating right now?"

"Yami!"

"What!?"

"It's been 25 minutes already."

"No, it's been 19 for the past six. You need to get your watch fixed, Atem."

"19 for the past six he says," Atem's voice grumbled as Yugi heard footsteps approaching the phone.

"Love you, bye," Yugi said softly before he hung up. Geez, why'd he always have to be the adult? He so did not want to adult.

Love you too, Yugi.Hmm.

We're not done with that conversation we were having.

Yeah, sure. Have a fun meeting.

Don't forget to tell me when you get out of your class.

Whatever you want, Seme Seme.

Yugi could feel the ghost of a smile pressing against their mind link. It was a sad smile though, which in turn made Yugi kind of sad. Sighing though, he got up to find his guard. Where he found a note on their island saying that he was a big boy and could take care of himself. And that was the polite version of what was on the piece of paper. Yugi broke down into quiet laughter.

He had half a mind to send the letter to Atem and Yami. Provide some amusement for the latter. He shook the thought away though, as he recalled that this meeting needed their undivided attention. One of their attention spans would definitely be divided by it. Shaking his head, he pulled out his phone and dialed Marcus's number.

"What? You can't tell me you got in trouble already?"

"No, not in trouble."

"Then what?"

"Are you still planning on picking me up after class tonight?"

"What part of you being a grown ass man did you not get?"

"All I wanted to know! Bye!"

"They're gonna kill you," Zane said before Yugi hung up.

Shaking his head, he grabbed an apple off the counter and went into his room to start on his work.

[Time skip]

Yugi hitched his backpack higher, as he walked out of the school and towards his truck. True to his word, Marcus was not there. No one was actually. But he'd parked right under one of the lights just in case. It was going on 11:00 pm, and he could feel, actually feel, Atem getting antsy. Like the same sensation you get when you hop from one foot to the other as the time on the clock never seems to move.

Two papers. He had two papers, both four pages long due next week for this class. Man, the Sensei must've been in a really foul mood. Usually he gave them at least a month to get long papers done. Not this time though. One week. Less, if he didn't get started on it tonight.

He knew though, the minute he said anything to Atem, the latter was going to call right away. Not only that, but their intentions had been very clear with these calls. Wake him up, and put him to bed. If he said anything the minute he got home, then he wouldn't get the chance to work on the paper tonight. This sucked!

It felt like the whole world was against him and his mates getting back together. Like the Universe was purposefully keeping them apart. But for what purpose? He just didn't understand. Was certain he never would. I mean, it wasn't like he could just go like, 'hey Universe, any reason you're making my life difficult at the moment?' But hey, if he could…think of all the questions that could be answered. Like why is the Earth round? What makes that the perfect shape? Why not an octagon or rectangle? An octagon shaped Earth…cool.

Yugi contemplated this thought as he got out of his truck and made his way into his apartment building. He brought it up to Marcus the moment he entered the apartment. Marcus blinked a couple of times before they both got into an animated conversation of why the Earth was round, and why it couldn't have been a different cooler shape instead. Yugi could almost feel the sweat drops over the link at the thought process going through his mind. He could already see the logo for this one too. 'Only our Human'.

Marcus cut off the useless subject abruptly by asking him when he was going to tell the King he was done with class. He was tired of his phone buzzing every five minutes asking if Yugi was home yet.

"I can't," Yugi sighed, "he'll send me to sleep at the end of our 20 minute conversation. That night Sensei is a jerk. He gave everyone two papers, four pages long, single space, and both sides of the pages have to be written on. If I don't get started as soon as possible, I'm not going to be able to get it done in time. It'll still look rushed, but that's what he gets for signing us the papers, and only giving us a week to do them."

Yugi huffed in annoyance before making a tuna sandwich and going into his room. He sat at his desk, and got started on the papers. He was starting to nod off around 3:23 am, when it seemed that Atem was tired of waiting for him to give the okay, and just called instead. You'd think, he would've figured it out sooner, what with the octagon Earth thought process earlier, but whatever.

"Mm, yeah?" Yugi asked in a way of a greeting as he fought down a yawn.

"Please tell me you just forgot," Atem said.

"Okay, I forgot."

"Yugi. I don't understand you. You say you want to talk to us, but don't tell me it's okay to call without getting you into trouble. Why?"

"Would've sent me to bed right away."

"And that's wrong because…?"

"Sensei's a jerk."

"How so?"

"He gave the whole class two papers to do within a week's time, being single space, front to back writing, and four pages long. I had to get started right away."

"And now it's going on 3:30. Think maybe you can take a break to get some sleep? You do have an all-day class tomorrow. It'd be bad manners to sleep through it."

"Isn't that why you're calling though? To put me to bed?"

"Something that won't be that hard with how much exhaustion I feel coming over the link."

"Can I at least get in bed first?"

"Sure. You want me to say the magic words now?"

"Has it been 25 minutes yet?"

"We agreed on 20."

"What? Your watch can't get stuck on 19 for six minutes too? Or maybe longer?"

"Ha ha, well, someone has to adult today. And since you and Yami don't want the honors, I suppose I'm going to have to take them."

"Adulting is no fun."

"What was so amusing this morning?"

"Oh, just Marcus being Marcus."

"He wrote a note telling you you could take care of yourself, didn't he?"

"What? How did you know that?"

"Should've seen it written in hieroglyphics. And on a tablet no less. I think I still have it in my study somewhere. Oh, my Father was furious."

"And you? How're you?"

"You made it home okay, didn't you?"

"Yeah, safe and sound."

"I'm good."

"That's good. I can't afford to lose my roommate. Where would I get all my entertainment then?"

"Thanks Yugi! Good to know you just keep me around for the entertainment!" Marcus shouted from the room next door.

"Oy! This is a private line!"

"Nothing's private when vampires are involved!"

"Private line!"

"Yugi," Atem called softly.

"Times up already?"

"Afraid so, Beautiful."

"You don't think I'm ugly?"

"Those were Yami's words not mine. Take up your saltiness over them with him."

"Nah, I'll just let them go. It's not worth fighting over."

"I love you, Yugi. Go to sleep."

"Love you too, Tem. And Ami," Yugi whispered back as he ended the call, and fell asleep.

[Time skip]

Don't wake me
'Cause I don't wanna leave this dream
Don't wake me
'Cause I never seem to stay asleep enough
When it's you I'm dreaming of
I don't wanna wake up

"When did you change the song?" Atem asked in a way of greeting as soon as he pressed the talk button.

"When we were talking last night."

"Huh. Why?"

"I didn't like the other song as much. And I've been listening to Skillet a lot lately."

"Skillet? You've been listening to a pan? Why?"

"Ha ha ha ha! No, no, Skillet is a band, silly."

"Um, okay. Why did they name their band after a pan?"

"I don't know. I never met them. If you ever do I want you to ask, and then tell me the answer."

"What do I look like? An errand boy?"

"It's not an errand. It's a request."

"Yes, because that makes it so much better."

"And yes, you do."

"Gee, thanks."

"So, are you having fun?"

"No. It's never fun when you have to put new laws into effect. Sometimes though, it just needs to be done. This is one of those times."

"They're all blaming me, aren't they?"

"Most don't even know about it yet. We decided to handle those who are tired of ruling over these colonies first. Ones who want to retire, before tackling those who don't."

"The path of least resistance?"

"Okay, I know where your thoughts are going, and this is not the same."

"That is so you two."

"Yugi…"

"Well, if you travelled down the path of most resistance first, then the rest of these unruly High Lords would just follow in line, and give up their titles without it seeming like you were stripping them of them."

"I suppose that would seem like logic, but it really isn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, look, times up."

"What do you mean?"

"That's how a tyrant would think, Yugi. I am far from it."

"No, that's how a King would think to handle unruly subjects. Are you sure you're one of them?"

Yugi asked this question right before the phone was cut off. Not because he hung up, but because Atem had. He supposed he'd deserved it for his comment, but still. The man could be just as immature as him sometimes. Baka Vampire. Sighing, he started to get ready for another day. Today though, the science club was meeting after school.

[Time skip]

"So, somewhere on your left arm is this little chip that you want us too magnetize so it'll stop working?" the kid asked as he held up the vial of some kind of green liquid.

"That's right."

"But you don't know where it is?" another asked as he dropped a tweezer's measurement of white stuff into the vial. Nothing happened. Wasn't something supposed to happen when you mixed two ingredients together in a chemistry experiment? Oh, who was he kidding? He could make explosions without even mixing ingredients together. See: flour sifter.

"That's right."

"Okay, Ryan, you're a vampire. Where would you put it? Wasn't this supposed to turn blue, Ricky?"

"No. Last time it turned blue, Sasha, it got really hot and burned a hole through three floors remember?"

"Oh, yeah, Sensei was pissed."

"Um, let's see," the one dubbed as Ryan said grabbing his left arm and sizing it up. "Width, length, size, strength. Ah! I'd put it right here! And lookey that! There it is!"

Yugi wasn't sure what he was feeling in the small portion of flesh between the bone of his elbow, and the crease of skin when he bent his arm. But hey, if he said it was there, then more power to him.

"Then let's rid myself of this little sucker, shall we?"

"Fee?" Ryan asked

"How bout I don't hand out your names?"

"Extortion is mean."

"So is expecting payment for performing a good deed."

"Well, until you pay us, we won't do it," a young girl said hopping off a desk. Crap, he didn't have her name.

"Okay, here, oh-nameless-one," Yugi said handing her a hundred.

"Thank you! Now stand still," she said pocketing the money in her bra.

She turned to the desk to her right and started to work on a bunch of wires on it. After about five minutes of Yugi just standing there, bouncing from one foot to the next, she turned to him smiling. She clipped one wire to a battery box, and the other she clipped to the end of a metal rod. Putting a pair of gloves on she turned back to him.

"You sure about this?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright." She picked up the metal rod, and pressed one side of it to the spot that Ryan had pointed out. Yugi felt a tiny shock, and then he went flying back. He was caught out of thin air, and looking up he spotted another one of his elusive guards.

"Stupid girl! You made me blow my cover!" she shouted.

"Not really," Yugi argued.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Next time you all hold a guard meeting, don't do it outside my bedroom door."

"Clever my ass. More like a cheater."

"It's okay Hannah aka Hana. Don't you want to see Marcus actually lose a bet for once?"

"You better make a show of it."

"You got it! And I have no idea who you are."

"Yes you do. My fellow guards will catch your scent on me, and then that'll be the end of my shadow days."

"Well, I still have three right?"

"Right."

"Also, I think she used too much power. I can't move my left arm."

"Well, that's what happens when you take out the chip that's been planted into your nervous system. It takes out the nervous system with it."

"Sounds like the chip needs to be removed."

Hannah just laughed as she helped him to his feet. Once he was stable, she walked over to the girl who had sent him flying and forcibly took the $100 back. Calling it medical fees. Yugi slipped four $20's into Ryan's hand behind her back. He smirked and pocketed the money.

We'll have a house party
We don't need nobody
Turn your TV off
Break that boom box out

We'll wake up all the neighbors
Till the whole block hates us
And the cops show up
Trying to shut us down

If you're going to be a home body
We're gonna to have a house party
If you wanna be a home body
We're gonna have a house party

Yugi didn't pick his phone up, just turned up the sound, as he grabbed Hannah's hand and spun her around the science room. The kids laughed as the tune continued playing. Hannah and Yugi weren't dancing erotically, they were dancing in fun and silliness.

Yugi, pick up the damn phone.

No! It isn't bed time yet! It's not even dark yet!

Fine, then answer me this. Why have mine and Atem's right arms gone numb?

Oh, yours too, huh? Thought it was just mine.

Is this a side effect?

Would you like the truth for an answer, or a lie?

What did you do?

His phone stopped singing. Must've gone to voicemail.

What makes you think it was me?

Yugi…

I killed it okay? I killed your little chip. Now our private conversations are just that. Private.

Why?

I didn't have anything else to do for my 45 free time minutes. Seemed like an excellent use of time.

Alright, this is another thing we're going to be talking about later.

Not much to talk about. The deeds already done. In the meantime, mind sending me Isis? I have a feeling, that if I have this chip removed I'll get free use of my arm again.

Correct. However, no. We're keeping her. You can suffer with only have one arm for the next several hours.

But…I thought you loved me?

We do. That's why we're keeping Isis.

I'm sorry, but how is that loving me exactly?

Snort.

Stop laughing, Atem! It's not funny!

Ah! Yelling.

Look, Yugi, you and Yami can talk more later. Right now he needs to be paying better attention to the meeting at hand.

Tomorrow morning though, you'll be here?

Promise.

Right.

I'll call you later, Dear.

Yugi sighed heavily, before picking up his phone off the table. He gripped it tight before thanking the kids, nodding at Hannah, and then leaving. He walked from the building, and climbed into his vehicle on the passenger side. Marcus was already sitting in the driver's seat.

"I was ordered to chauffer you around for the rest of the day," he said simply.

"I thought you told me that you weren't going to allow then to order you around anymore?"

"Yeah, well, the King, put it into an actual command. Not his usual order of only half-heartedness. When only half of his heart is in it, it's an easy enough order to ignore. When he puts a powerful backing behind it, not so much."

"So glad I'm not a vampire then."

"Ha! Says the human that likes to embarrass Advisor Mahad with such commands."

"Heh, my sister told me when they were dating that that was her job. I wasn't allowed to do it anymore."

"Still didn't stop you from trying. I mean come on, Shockers, really?"

"Yeah, that was after the Shocking trip, as she started to call it."

"Well, one can definitely say that that side effect has a little bite to it."

"You know, now I want Shockers. Thanks."

"Anytime. We can go pick some up if you want?"

"Nah, maybe another time."

"Alright, back to TU then."

Knock. Knock.

Yugi and Marcus both looked out his side window. Hannah was standing there holding his backpack up. Yugi looked around his feet. Oops! Guess he'd forgotten that. He gave her a sheepish grin as Marcus rolled the window down.

"Thanks, Hannah," he said.

Yugi smirked, his eyes glittering as he thanked her too. "Yeah, thanks, Hana! I'd be screwed without that!"

"Wait, he knows you?"

"Well, someone had to pick up your slack."

"Arthur had it covered."

"Yeah sure, as he flirted with another pretty blonde."

Marcus's grip on the steering wheel made the leather squeak under his palms slightly. Yugi's attention turned to them. The grip he had on his steering wheel had turned his knuckles white. Yugi reached forwards, and touched the back of his hand. Marcus jumped, and accidently smacked Yugi across the face. His nails digging into the flesh below his eye.

Touching his cheek, he pulled it away to find blood smeared on his fingertips. He looked up at Marcus in shock. Marcus was staring at his hand in horror. Like he was seeing his whole long life flash before his eyes.

"What have I done?" he asked. No one answered him. "What have I done?!"

"Calm down. It's just a little blood," Yugi said wiping his sleeve against the cut. When he looked up again, the truck was surrounded by the rest of his 'outed' guards.

"He's right. Alana and I will go and tell his Professor's he won't be in his classes tonight," Hannah said. The two girls vanished.

"You get yourself cleaned up," Konner said.

"I've been given a direct command to chauffer him around," Marcus replied in a hard voice.

"Fine, but I'm coming with you."

"Fair enough. Zane, and Samuel, cut Aden loose."

Both nodded, not a single emotion etched in any line of their faces, nor shown in their eyes. As one they turned to the man between them. Arthur, looked as confused as Yugi felt. What did that mean? To cut someone loose? Oh, maybe he was losing his job? That made sense, since he hadn't been doing it.

"What's that mean? I've never heard that term before. What does it mean to 'cut someone loose'?" Arthur asked as backed away from Zane and Samuel.

"You'll find out," Konner said before he climbed into the back, and Marcus pulled out, turning the truck towards home.

"You guys just terminated Aden's job, didn't you?"

"Yes, he wasn't doing it. So there's no reason as to why he should continue on this detail," Marcus replied in an honest voice.

"Is someone going to replace him?" Yugi asked.

"No. Throwing a new equation into our little community now would be anti-helpful."

"But I thought you needed ten of you to keep up with one of me?"

"Ha ha ha," both vampires were laughing though Yugi's intention had been to get only a particular one of them to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Technically we need only three," Konner answered. "Though, it does seem a little pathetic, now that you mention it, that you do have ten."

"Nine now."

"Sorry, nine."

"You'd think I was a handful or something."

"More like you have overprotective protectors."

"Thought they were my lovers."

"Well, isn't that what you do with a lover? You protect them?" Marcus asked.

"Sure," Yugi replied in a short tone getting out of the car before Marcus could pull to a complete stop. They were five miles out from TU. Konner hopped out of the back and ran after him.

Yugi dashed up the steps to their apartment, knowing Konner was on his heels. He slammed the door in the other's face as he locked himself in the bathroom, and started to clean himself up. Which was a little more difficult with only one hand accessible to him. The cut wasn't too bad. Most of it had dried, but there was a clear track going down his face, pooling in the collar of his white shirt. Well, he wouldn't be wearing this one again. He'd be burning it. He'd have to get rid of the bandage before tomorrow morning, and hide his face for a couple of days. It would all be worth it though, if he didn't lose his roommate.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Yugi! What the hell did you think you were doing jumping out of a moving vehicle like that!?" Marcus shouted through the door. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No."

"Then what were you doing?"

"Were aren't lovers. We're nothing."

"Don't say that."

"Why not? It's true. The whole world knows it's true!"

"I said don't say that!"

Yugi yanked open the door, facing the vampire head on. "Why?"

"They love you."

"Right, sure they do. Tell me, Marcus, would you mentally torture the one you loved just to prove you were more dominant? Would you?!"

"Oh, Yugi, what did they do to you?" Marcus asked reaching out for him. Yugi shuffled three steps back. Marcus dropped his hand. Yugi's eyes kept switching from Marcus's face to his hand that remained at his side. Marcus just sighed, turning and walking away.

"Something they shouldn't of," Yugi answered leaning against the wall outside the bathroom.

"But what did they do?"

"They put me in a trance, and then…I-I don't want to talk about it."

"Then perhaps you'll talk about it with your best friend," Konner stated a phone at his ear, "here he is, Malik." The phone was handed to him. Yugi took it with a reluctant hand.

"Look-"

"Out with it," Malik demanded cutting him off from whatever excuse he had intended on giving.

It was all the invitation he needed really. Yugi retreated to his room, closing the door with his foot, and spilling everything to Malik. From the beating at the Palace to the bait trick to the hotel to the plane ride to the last couple of days. Malik didn't say a word. He just listened. Only when Yugi was done did he finally speak.

"Sounds like hell. But, Yugi, they're not going to not come back this time. They'd be fools if they made that mistake. I'd have Marik do something to them again."

"No, Malik, that was just wrong. You can't turn Yami's best friend against him again."

"Hey! Even Marik agreed that Yami was being unreasonable about the whole thing."

"I'm sure he would've agreed to anything you said just so he could eat at that point."

"Don't throw logic in my face! It's my job to do that to you right now."

"You're not doing a very good job."

"Tell me about it. Ryou was always the best at that. Still though, Yugi, you're not going to be abandoned this time. From what Marik's told me, he's never seen those two be so gentle with you before. When you've been sleeping, they've been depriving themselves of it so they don't miss a second of holding you. It's the way he described them holding you though that struck him to his core. Like you were a porcelain doll, and they were so afraid of breaking you."

"They should be, with how skinny I've gotten."

"Yeah, I made the same comment, but he said it was more than that. Like they were afraid they were going to break you, and not in the physical way."

"Too late for those sentimentalities. I tremble under their hands every time they lay them on me."

"I'm not sure what to tell you then. I suppose we're just going to have to wait and see how this all pans out. But Yugi?"

"Yeah?"

"If they're not there at daybreak tomorrow, call me?"

"Of course. What if they are though?"

"Then don't call me."

"You should expect a call. Just saying they always say one thing, and then do the complete opposite of it."

"Alright."

"Hey Malik, do you want to help me with my monster homework assignment?"

"Not unless you want to write my thesis."

"Bye."

"See ya."

Yugi spent the rest of his night in his room, listening to Red, and working on the rough draft of one of his papers. When he was finally done with one, his eyes were drooping and it was rolling on 2:16 am.

We'll have a house party
We don't need nobody
Turn your TV off
Break that boom box out

We'll wake up all the neighbors
Till the whole block hates us
And the cops show up
Trying to shut us down

If you're going to be a home body
We're going to have a house party
If you wanna be a home body
We're gonna have a house party

"Hey, Cutie."

"No, no, no, I am not the cutie in this relationship. You are." Muffled laughter could be heard in the background as a door shut almost too quietly to be heard.

"I think you could pull it off."

"Alright, I'm going to chalk this up to you being super tired, and not knowing what it is you're saying."

"Of course, Kitten."

"I am not a kitten!" Yami shouted. Yugi could hear laughter through the door.

"I don't know about that. I mean you're soft, cuddly, and like to be held. Kittens are like that too. Especially Koneko. Actually, she's still like that."

"Please stop comparing me to the cat."

"Okay. What would you like to be compared to?"

"Uh, nothing."

"What about Atem? Should we compare him to something?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright, Atem…he's a stallion."

"Why does he get to be a stallion and I have to be a kitten?"

"No, not just any stallion, Yami, a wild one. They're hard to break you know."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Oh, what was the question?"

"Why Atem gets be a wild stallion and I have to be a kitten."

"Cause you're cute and cuddly."

"Yugi, go to sleep."

"K…" Yugi faded off, but not before throwing a mind link thought into it.

Operation distract Yami from talking about subjects later was a complete success.

Damn it!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

[Time skip]

"We're not going to murder you, Marcus. If you say it an accident I believe you," Atem was saying. Yugi gasped, flying up from the bed. Weird, he didn't actually remember making it here last night.

"I've already sealed, and healed it. We just want to know how it was an accident."

"I was lost in a thought, and he touched the back of my hand. I just jumped, before I even knew what I was doing. My hand smacked him, my fingernails raking under his eye."

"Also, we had no choice but to cut Aden loose," Konner said.

"What? Why?"

"He was doing off duty tasks while on duty again. That chip on the table would still be live if he hadn't been."

"I see," Atem said.

Yugi raised his left hand, moving it. They hadn't put a new one in had they? He sure hoped not.

"Who gave the order?"

"I did," Marcus said. "He left me with no other choice. I'd warned him before, and he failed to listen every time. I was tired of warning him. Action needed to be taken."

"Does he need to be replaced?" Yami asked.

"No, not this far into the game. The boy graduates next year. I see no point in adding a new player. This isn't like his sophomore year when we had to cut Amari loose."

"Maybe we should just stay away from male 'A' named guards. They seem to be a bit of a hassle for you, Marcus."

"Ain't that the truth?" Marcus joked back.

Yugi put his feet on the ground, and slowly left the room. He vaguely saw the sun starting to rise out of the corner of his eye. This barely processed in his waking mind though. Standing in the doorway, he waited to be noticed, and it didn't take long for that to happen.

They were all gathered around the island. Tossing, catching, chopping, pouring; just doing general cooking stuff while having a normal conversation. Atem looked up to respond to something Konner had said when his eyes flicked over to Yugi.

"Yugi!" he said his eyes lighting up.

Yami ducked back from where the fridge was located, a bag of shredded cheese in his mouth, his arms full of a thousand other cheeses. He shoved all objects into Marcus's arms, leaving the man to juggle them, as he rushed towards Yugi.

"You're awake!"

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Yugi shouted holding up his hands.

"What's wrong?"

"What day is it?"

"Thursday…morning," Atem said raising the blind behind him. The sun poured in at an angle.

"No, it can't be."

"Why not?"

"Cause you're here. Y-you're actually here. That means it has to be any day but Thursday."

Atem stopped whisking as he set the bowl down on the counter top. He moved slowly around the island to come stand by Yami in front of him. Then he got down on one knee, so Yugi was above him.

"Yugi, I assure you, it is Thursday, and we are here at first light just as we promised we'd be," he said slowly, grasping one of his hands.

"No, you always break that promise. Always. I have to call, Malik. I have to let him know you didn't come."

"Alright, go ahead, and give him a call," Yami said handing Yugi a phone.

Yugi took it, and dialed the number. After talking to the RA of his dorm, Yugi found himself talking to his best friend. It took him all of two seconds to jump to conclusions.

"They're not there?!"

"No, they are, but it's not Thursday."

"What're you talking about?"

"I woke up to them being here first light just like they said they'd be, but I know it's not Thursday. It can't be, because they're here."

"Yugi, do you remember that one time you called me at three am in the morning?"

"Yes. You were very upset that I was messing with your sleep patterns."

"Well, we're facing another one of those time differences right now."

"I knew it."

"You see it's five pm on a Wednesday here, which means it must be six am on a what there?"

"But…it doesn't make sense."

"I know. It doesn't make sense with their past history, but they are there on a Thursday morning, just like they promised."

"That's it!"

"What is?"

"They're here on a Thursday morning. Not the Thursday morning!"

"Wait! No, Yugi, I didn't-!"

Yugi didn't hear the rest as he hung up, and turned on his mates. "I have found the error of your plans!"

"Oh? Have you?" Atem asked like he was amused.

"Yes. Cause you see, if you were here on the day you said you were going to be it would be a Thursday, February 2, 2021. But I know it isn't! It's probably February 9, 2021. And I'm going to prove it, because all cell phones tell you what day it is as soon as you open them." Yugi laughed opening his phone to see February 2, 2021 staring back at him.

His breath got choked up somewhere in the back of his throat as he dropped the phone. He clutched his head, dropping to his knees. "No. No. No. No. No."

Someone sighed before collecting him into a pair of arms. They rocked him back and forth, uttering shushing sounds every now and then. It was awhile though before someone actually said anything.

"I thought he'd be happy," Yami said.

"It could be shock," Marcus said slowly.

"Shock?" Atem asked.

"Yeah, I mean think of it from his point of view. Most every time that you said that you were going to be back at a certain time or date, you've changed your plans last minute in some way. Today you kept them. To the 'T'. It's very possible he's going through shock, and he just doesn't know how to handle you two actually keeping your word."

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Are really real?" Yugi asked looking up at Atem from his position in vampire's arms.

"Yes, Yugi, we're really real," Atem responded cupping his cheek. He leaned down to kiss him, but Yugi flinched, pulling away.

Atem sighed, and just pulled his face into the crook of his neck again. Looking over his starfish shaped hair at Yami, he saw that he already had his head turned away from him. They should feel ashamed, that they could barely touch their mate without him pulling away or flinching at every touch. This was their fault, and only they would be able to fix it in the end.

Well, that was fun. Thank you to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review. Midnight ;p