YD: Really, I'm so bored I could die. (sigh)
HS: (yawn) I should be asleep too.
YD: Okay… I present to you chapter ten.
Chapter ten, Apology… Unaccepted
Yuugi walked on, seething. He never looked back at all. But he knew Yami was staring at his back, just watching him walk away. He could feel Yami's sad gaze on him. Just feeling Yami's eyes on him made him want to turn around and forget everything.
But he couldn't. Not after all that Yami had done. Not even if hell froze over twice.
Back at the rented apartment, his friends were almost finished packing. Ryou was all packed up and was currently packing Yuugi's suitcase. Yuugi unlocked the door and stepped inside.
"So when are we leaving?" Likika turned.
"We're leaving today at eight PM. We are going back to England." Yuugi nodded and relieved Ryou of packing his suitcase.
About two hours later, the five friends were sitting in a circle. A game called Truth or Dare was being played and Lissa was about to give Yuugi his truth question.
"Hmm, is it true that… you cut yourself?" Yuugi flinched. Out of the corner of his eyes, Ryou coughed and Malik looked away whistling.
"Yes… it's true." The expression on Lissa's face was devastated. She had hoped Malik and Ryou weren't telling the truth. Hardly likely that the two would lie on such an important subject but…
"Would you care to explain why, Yuugi?" The game was forgotten and Yuugi sighed heavily.
"At first Yami would be my second shadow. He would always hover over me and keep me safe. I loved the attention because Yami always knew when enough was enough. But then he started drifting away. My ex-friends started hanging out with him and neglecting me. For a while it was okay but then the bullies started after me again.
Every day I went home with cuts and bruises but Yami never noticed. I learned how to care for myself because Grandpa was sick. Whenever Yami went to the arcade, I was at home, caring for my Grandpa. But his heath kept deteriorating. One day I had to call the hospital. But within two hours, my Grandpa passed into the next world. The nurses told me his last words. 'Be safe and happy, Yuugi and I will as well.'
Yami found me sobbing on the kitchen floor, clutching a coke. He comforted me a bit because Grandpa had taken him in after he had gotten his own body. But then he just left me there and went to the arcade.
The bullies just took the chance and pounced. They hurt me so much but what Yami did was a million times worse. He came home drunk and he beat me just as the bullies did. It broke my heart. It was the very first time Yami had ever intentionally hurt me, even though he was intoxicated. Since alcohol never had a lasting effect on him, he snapped out of it. He saw how I was sobbing in front of him. His fist was raised, ready to hit me. I looked up fearfully. I could see the confusion in his eyes. Then the truth hit him. He looked at me, horrified and ran out the house.
The next day, Yami ordered me to cook for him. He knew I could cook because I was still alive… I refused and he slapped me. Every time I refused an order from him, I was hurt. It tore me apart. Eventually I gave in just to live. I made bland meals and he never complained, thinking I was too stupid. He stopped making me cook and went out to eat with my ex-friends. The only person who didn't ignore me was Shizuka. Ryou and Malik were too preoccupied trying to stay alive as well.
After a while, Shizuka left saying she couldn't live like this anymore. She apologized to me and left. I've never seen her since. But since then, Yami has been so cruel to me. Whenever something bad happens in his life, Yami would beat me, hurt me, cut me. It was never the same but it always hurt. Eventually I started cutting myself to stay sane, to find some kind of solace. But I was never caught.
Ryou and Malik saw me being beaten up by bullies one day and helped out. I managed to get back on my feet because of them. After that, we became inseparable. We would always try to keep each other out of trouble. We knew that Malik was taking guitar lessons before school for extra credit orchestra. We took the class with him. Ryou and I had choir class and I also had dance class. Using our skills that were sharpened from the elective classes, we started a small band and played at Dragon's Heart. No one knew it was us and we made good money.
Yami still beat me but it was now bearable. But somehow, I couldn't keep the blade away from my skin. Once a week, I let my blood flow. After a while, I stopped. I haven't cut myself since the day we left here." Yuugi finished his tale and looked for any signs of disgust in his friends' faces. There was none.
Likika and Lissa were stunned. They had never known the whole story of Yuugi's past. Malik and Ryou were equally shocked. They had never known the depth of his past. The four crowded around their friend.
"But you've got us so there is no need for angst, right?" Yuugi smiled.
"That's right, Lissa. I have no reason to be sad because I have you guys. And I won't let Yami hurt any of you."
"We should um… get our stuff together so we can just grab our stuff and walk out the door later." Ryou suggested. Malik nodded and everyone went to their rooms and got their stuff.
In his room, Yuugi glanced at the place where he kept his knife.
"Are you coming?" Ryou asked. He shared a room with Yuugi.
"I'll just be a second." Ryou nodded and left the room. Yuugi reached into the drawer and grabbed the knife. The dimming sunlight reflected off the blade, making it shine. The hilt was beautiful. Yuugi had bought the knife after saving up. He had never killed anyone but he wanted it to feel secure.
Yuugi slid his finger across the edge of the blade and watched in morbid fascination as his blood dripped from the cut. A tingling feeling swept through his body. Yuugi's eyes widened. It felt… nice…
Not think of consequences at all, Yuugi cut up his wrists and let the tingling feeling wash over him. Not getting enough of the euphoric feeling, Yuugi cut his arms crisscross. The tingling returned but was replaced by dizziness.
"Yuugi— Kuso! Likika, Ryou, Lissa, get over here now!" Dazedly, Yuugi saw his friends worried faces swim before his vision before he collapsed.
Yami suddenly gripped his head in pain. He was right in the middle of a duel with Jounouchi. His vision swam before his eyes and his arms felt like they were being slashed continuously. Shakily, Yami placed his hand on his deck. Next thing Yami knew, he was flying down the street heading towards wherever…
Yami quickly pushed the door open. His vision had cleared but his arms still stung. Something was happening, but what? He heard shouts and many curses in Egyptian, Japanese, and English. The Dark followed the voices to a door.
He pushed it open and saw blood. Yuugi was lying unconscious in a pool of blood. His friends were trying, unsuccessfully, to wake the small boy up. Instantly, Yami reverted to the way he was before he had left his Light.
"MOVE!" He shouted. The four turned quickly and did as they were told. Yami picked up the limp body and closed the cuts quickly to prevent any more blood loss. How much blood had the boy lost? Yuugi was extremely pale. Was he even alive? Yami pressed his fingers to Yuugi's wrist. Nothing. Panicking, he felt for a pulse in his neck. Faint and getting fainter, but there.
"Bakamono!" Yami hissed. He placed Yuugi on the bed and straddled the boy's waist. Yuugi's friends hesitantly let Yami do his work. Breathing hard, Yami placed his fingers at Yuugi's chest and pushed. Jolts of magic targeted his heart, making the heart produce more blood without hurting the heart. Color slowly returned to the teen's face.
The people in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief. Yuugi was safe… for now. Yuugi regained consciousness slowly. The first thing he saw was Yami's angry eyes and the first thing he felt was pain.
Instantly, Yuugi was thrown into the past when Yami abused him daily. The teen's eyes widened and tried to curl into a ball. But Yami was sitting on him. Yuugi settled for whimpering pathetically and closing his eyes, waiting for more pain. Yami felt a wave of self-hate toward himself. He had hurt his little Light and drove him away. Yuugi had given him life and Yami returned the favor by hurting the little angel.
Yami's expression softened and he leaned down and hugged the little one that was trembling. He healed the cuts so that no trace of scars left. Yami buried his head in Yuugi's hair, smelling the shampoo that Yuugi used, strawberry vanilla. (StrawnillaHikari!)(Sorry, inside joke)
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Yami kept whispering his apology over and over again. Yuugi was tense and yet, trembling. His friends stood in the background, confused.
Yuugi, on the other hand, was scared and confused. What was going on? Wait… the events of the past hour suddenly hit him. Yuugi forcefully pushed Yami off of him and got off the bed.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Yami was stunned. One second Yuugi was as vulnerable as a newborn deer, the next, he was violent and murderous. What happened to the teen in the small two year span that Yami missed of his Light's life?
Lissa, Likika, Ryou, and Malik all nodded in thanks for saving their friend. They followed Yuugi out the door, leaving Yami all by himself to stew in his own thoughts. An incredibly sad thought crossed his mind.
This would be the last time he ever saw Yuugi as… a friend, sort of. But once Yuugi left, he would never treat Yami the same ever again. Yami would just be a fan and Yuugi would acknowledge him as a fan. Yami realized that once Yuugi left, they would not be Light and Dark anymore. Not anymore…
The Dark's thoughts kept spiraling downward. His gaze also did and he saw a knife. Its blade was saturated in blood. It was the blade which Yuugi used to cut himself. Yami wiped off the blood on the floor and erased the molecules of blood from the carpet.
If Yuugi was leaving today, Yami would try and get him back one last time. Perhaps his old friends could help a bit, providing that Jounouchi kept his mouth shut. Yami whipped out his cell phone and speed dialed Jounouchi.
After a few calls later, Yami had gathered up the old group. Unbeknownst to him, the little group had their own plans.
Yuugi stared out the window of the hybrid car. Likika was driving and Yuugi sat in the back with Ryou and Malik. He was lost in his own world. A world created by him, ruled by him, and just… all about him. Everything was normal in Yuugi's world. He was loved and he loved. It was a perfect world with one problem… it didn't exist. HONK!
Likika slammed the brakes, causing the occupants of the vehicle to lurch forward. Once again, obscenities in Egyptian, Japanese, and English were heard in the Toyota. Malik was mixing every language he knew and cursing quite creatively. Besides, if you live with people who know different languages, you tend to pick up a few things.
"I'm tired of being what you want me to be—" Yuugi sighed and motioned for silence. His friends did their best to comply but Malik still cursed under his breath. Without even looking at caller ID, Yuugi pressed the talk button.
"Hello?" Yuugi asked, bored. He was hoping to avoid a conversation about what had happened earlier. So far, he had no luck. Lissa kept looking at him strangely and Likika was doing the exact opposite, she was trying not to look at Yuugi.
"YYYYYYuuuuuuuugggggggiiiiiiiiii-buddy, what's up?" Yuugi grit his teeth together. Yami had given his cell number to that inu, (dog) Jounouchi.
"What do you want?" Yuugi's voice took on a poisonous tone. Everyone immediately knew, sort of, who it was.
"Now, now, buddy, don't get all violent on me." Jou said good-naturedly. Yuugi's eyes twitched in anger. He yanked the phone away from his ear and terminated the connection. He breathed slowly, trying to negate his anger. Yuugi really didn't want to unleash his fury on his friends. No, that would just be bad.
"Bad news?" Malik whispered. Yuugi scoffed and shrugged indifferently.
"What am I to do of the scum of the world?" He asked cruelly. No one supplied an answer.
The rest of the trip was in silence. Yuugi had turned his phone off so he would not be bothered by his ex-friends. No one had the courage to break the awkward silence.
By the time the group had arrived at the airport, everyone sighed audibly. They were all glad to be out of the cramped car. Yuugi stretched and his shirt revealed some of his stomach.
Arms grabbed him from behind and wrapped around his waist. Hot breath caressed his ear. Yuugi was frozen…
"Glad we made it before you left, aibou." Instantly, the freezing spell on Yuugi evaporated and he pulled away from Yami quickly.
"Are you my new stalker or something?" He hissed. Yami sighed. He was nowhere closer to regaining Yuugi's trust than the first day he came back.
"Look, aibou," Yuugi's eyes flashed angrily. Yami ignored it and continued. "We just want you to come back home."
"What home? My home is with my friends."
"We are your friends, Yuugi." Jounouchi, Anzu, and Honda stepped out from behind Yami. Yuugi's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"What friends? All I see there are back-stabbing idiots." Yuugi turned around and faced his real friends. He stood next to them.
"These are my friends. They've stuck by me through the times when you didn't." Jou sighed.
"We're sorry, Yuugi. Just please, come home." Anzu pleaded softly. Honda just looked down, unable to express his thoughts. Yuugi stared into Jounouchi's eyes, trying to find any hint of lies. Apparently, he found what he was looking for.
Yuugi's eyes darkened. Yami saw the shadow magics that were previously locked away. Now those magics were causing havoc in Yuugi's body, tainting what was left of his pure soul.
"Bullshit." Yami sensed that something big was going to happen… and it wasn't going to be very good. Discreetly, Yami froze time so that no one would be injured by Yuugi. Lissa stepped forward.
"Yuugi, please, stop. Let's just leave them and go home." Yami turned to her, eyes blazing.
"Stay out of this. It does not concern you at all."
"You leave her alone!" Yuugi shouted. He stood in front of Lissa. "If you harm any of my friends, I swear I will kill you."
"Come on, Yuugi. Find it in your heart to forgive us. We'll bring you back into the group." Jounouchi clasped his hand together. "Please!"
"I know why you want me back." Yuugi hissed. Jounouchi froze. "You want me back so you can use me to be famous. You think that I'd actually let you back into my life and you'd just leech money from me, don't you?"
Honda coughed unconvincingly. Yuugi's eyes almost turned black from the dark shade of purple.
"Isn't it!" Anzu flinched. Yuugi never yelled, only quietly disagreed. Yami just stood to the side, completely lost.
"Hikari…" Yami started.
"Yuugi…" Likika called.
"Come back." The two reached out to pull Yuugi towards them. Yuugi stood there. If he went with Likika, he would never be able to turn around again. If he went with Yami, it would risk killing his heart again.
"Goodbye, guys." Yuugi faced Likika and took her hand. A tear dropped from Yuugi's eyes and the Fallen Angels left. Yami felt a little part of him crumble. Yuugi didn't come back, he refused to come home. He had deemed their apology unacceptable. The two groups went their own way, probably never to meet up again.
People started moving again as Yami's spell wore off.
Yami's group met up with Marik and Bakura who had humbled up somewhat. The two looked at the group hopefully. Their faces fell when Yami shook his head. The three Darks knew they would never see their Lights again in this lifetime.
But as we know, Fate always cheats.
To Be Continued
YD: The week is finally over and I finally have time to update! Let's all cheer loudly. (crickets chirp)
HS: Well I'm happy. Sort of at least. But people, please review. I have about 1425 hits and 97 reviews. (sigh) Please review, I'm begging you.
YD: Until next update!