A/N: Ah, so sorry for the freakishly late update. But thanks for the comments, and please enjoy!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Gripping his pen, Yugi clenched his eyes close, letting his head loll backwards as he felt his face heat up again as his thoughts wandered from the math homework he was supposed to be doing.

Why couldn't he stop thinking about the other day? What he did…being so dominating to Yami.

The day after he had acted up and did those things Yugi couldn't recall a thing. His mind was blank from everything that he had did except for the fact that he had fallen into his pirate state again. But at nearly six in the morning had Yugi woken up with a gasp, his actions and words clear as day to him.

Yugi couldn't believe that he had actually kissed and touched Yami in that way…thinking that he had all of the real privileges as a pirate captain. His face heated up in a blush every time he thought about it.

"Oh jeez," Yugi mumbled to himself in horror as the scenes played out in his mind for the hundredth time that day, making the teen blush despite himself even more. Biting his lip, he closed his textbook and set his pen down before getting up from the small work table he had.

He started pacing around the room, letting himself slide here and there against the linoleum floor since he had socks on. Yugi worried his lip even more as he thought on the embarrassing issue more and more.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door, startling the teen out of his frenzied thoughts. For a moment, Yugi panicked, thinking that it was Yami, but then took a quick glance at his digital clock, becoming relieved when it only read eleven-thirty.

Hoping that his obviously reddened face had calmed down, Yugi went to answer the door himself, surprised when his mother appeared on the other side of the door. Yugi noticed the saddened look on her face, and his heart rate immediately picked up. What could be wrong?

"Hey, Mom, what's up?" Yugi greeted casually, putting on a reassuring smile -- for both of them.

His mother offered a weak smile at him, stepping into the room, closing the door behind her. She followed her son into the room, taking up a seat in one of the two guest chairs while Yugi perched on the edge of his bed.

Yugi noticed that she wasn't looking at him, but instead at her clasped hands in her lap. She seemed tense, sitting absolutely still in her seat.

"So what's up with the visit today?" Yugi cautiously asked, "Is something wrong?"

The silence was thick in between them, and Yugi fidgeted, not wanting to press too many questions on his mother. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, his mother looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"We need to talk, Yugi."

He knew it. Just fucking knew it.

Making his way to the back of the classroom, Yami tried to ignore the stares and giggles sent to him. The noise of hushed laughter and heated whispers seemed to be slowly constricting him as he became more and more aware of each conversation.

Thankful that he sat in the very back of the room, Yami slid silently into his seat, glaring at the few students who continued to stare at him in amusement. Most of them took the hint and looked away, but Yami could tell that most of the class was sneaking glances at him even when class was in session.

Swallowing in discomfort when the class finally ended, the bully sent a couple of glares to his peers before getting out of the room as fast as possible. Unfortunately, the hallway was at least ten times worse than the classroom.

He was sure that he was just imagining it, but the hallway noise seemed to decrescendo from its usual volume. He could feel what felt like thousands of stares all over his back and front as he as casually as possible made his way to his locker.

As usual, Yami deposited his books, intent on getting to his lunch spot and out of the jam packed museum he was forced to be shown in. Unfortunately for Yami, he wasn't going to be able to get out of that fishbowl like he had originally thought.

A familiar hand roughly grabbed his shoulder, swinging him away so that he was facing who he already assumed to be Ushio. Yami resisted the urge to roll his eyes when he took in the madly grinning face.

"So how's your day been so far, Yami?" Ushio sneered, and Yami took notice that the hallway had gotten even quieter in hopes of a potential fight.

Glad that he hadn't actually grabbed any of his books, Yami took a defensive stance and folded his arms over his chest, shooting his biggest glare at the other. "And why the hell would you take sudden interest in my day, Ushio?"

Ushio chuckled at him. "Are you just plain stupid, or are you being a weakling and protecting yourself from the obvious?"

"Well, seeing as you can't even voice what you clearly know must mean something," Yami countered, getting a kick out of the other's suddenly angered expression.

"Hey, don't get smart on me now," Ushio growled.

Yami was quick to respond, "Oh, I'm sorry I'm getting smart, Ushio, can you not keep up?"

Ushio's hands had clenched themselves into fists, and Yami rolled his eyes visibly at how angered the taller bully could get. "Shut the fuck up," he ordered, but Yami would hear none of it.

"No, you shut up, Ushio. I don't understand why you're so concerned with all of this in the first place," Yami attacked verbally, not moving an inch from where he stood.

The bell that signaled most everyone's lunch sounded, but the crowd of students didn't budge, all of them still anticipating a fight to break out. A couple whispered about what was going on to others who were in the dark, while some softly chanted 'fight' in the hopes of one.

"It's wrong!" Ushio suddenly shouted, throwing his hands up, his frustration spilling out, and Yami shifted his footing. "How can you be so fucking clueless, Yami? How can you seriously have feelings for that…that…boy…?"

The crowd grew loud at Ushio's confirmed accusation. Yami felt his heart beat faster as Ushio unleashed his secret, and his stomach felt like it had dropped down to his feet into an uncomfortable position. As much as his brain told him to get out of there, the stubborn bully in him wouldn't let his legs move a centimeter.

"I'm allowed to like whoever I want," Yami simply replied, looking Ushio square in the eye.

Ushio shot him a disgusted look. "But it's wrong! Two guys shouldn't -- it's just not right!"

Yami realized that the crowd of students was listening on each and every one of their words. He had to choose his carefully. Then the most brilliant of brilliant ideas came to him, and Yami had to suppress a smirk for now.

"What, Ushio? Is that jealously I hear in your voice?" he taunted, watching as the other bully gave him a stupefied look.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Ushio all but roared back, embarrassment taking its hold on him now.

More mantra chants of 'fight' made itself known.

Yami took to leaning back against his locker, letting a smug look grace his expression as Ushio stared at him like a fish out of water. "Oh, I don't know. I just think you're jealous that I don't like you, and instead like Yugi. I've seen the way you've looked at me, Ushio."

The other bully was beat red, his nostrils flaring out of anger and humiliation. Yami expected him to say something more, but his next choice of action was almost as predictable.

Dodging the sudden punch meant for him and not the locker, Yami moved quickly to Ushio's right side, noting that the crowd had gotten closer together, not giving them much space to rumble in. Their chants of 'fight' had reached its peak, and Yami was extra careful not to get too close to the students for just in case reasons.

Because of his size, Ushio was reduced to throwing punches like an average brute, almost like a gorilla. Yami easily dodged all of them, thankful for knowing what kind of fighting strategy Ushio usually used.

"What? Are you embarrassed that I revealed your secret now? I think that makes us even, don't you think so?" Yami taunted again when Ushio had stopped for a moment to glare daggers at him.

"Fuck you, Yami," Ushio breathed out, but obviously not beaten yet. He suddenly charged in the small space provided, taking Yami by surprise and slugging him in the shoulder, sending Yami back into a couple of students and eventually onto the ground.

Pulling himself up from the cold floor, Yami could feel that no real damage had been done to his shoulder, and he rolled it just to make sure. When he felt that nothing was really out of place, he quickly came to his senses and moved out of the way when he realized that Ushio was rushing him again.

He nearly able to escape, getting a fist into Ushio's side, and receiving another blow to his shoulder. There was a sudden blur of motion then, with Ushio punching and kicking at him, and the crowd hastily moving to get a better view. It was when a loud voice that he knew all too well broke the frenzied actions.

"Break it up, break it up, BREAK IT UP!!" the one and only Mr. Futari shouted above all of the noise, but it only seemed to subdue the excited students. Yami pulled his crossed arms up above his head when he felt Ushio shift in such a way to get better punches to his face, and he grunted when his own arms were forced into his head.

Suddenly, Ushio was shouting, and Yami grunted when he realized the curses were because a couple of the teachers were pulling the taller bully off of him. He scrambled to his feet, feeling one of the numerous teachers take a hold of his own shoulders just in case he decided to lash out. He watched with some amusement as Ushio was restrained by at least five teachers while he had only one.

"All students report to your lunch or classes at this time -- don't make me repeat myself!" Mr. Futari said with a threatening tone, and murmurs of disappointment were heard, but nevertheless, the crowd of students did as told. When the hall was empty save the two bullies, needed teachers and principal, they all made a silent trip towards the main lobby of the school where the office was located.

Sitting in the plush chair Mr. Futari's office provided, Yami watched as Ushio sat in the one next to him. The principal told the teachers to return back to their duties, and then asked his secretary to call both their parents.

The man came back in, sitting behind his desk and clasping his hands on the shiny wooden desk in front of him. He gave them both a quick look over like he always did, and then leaned back, letting one of his hands go up to his lips in thought. The principal finally decided on leaning back even further, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes stony as he looked at the two again.

"Now, would you two please calmly explain what this fighting was all about?" Mr. Futari asked sincerely, his eyes still stony. "You can talk first, Ushio."

As much as Yami wanted to glance at his betraying friend, he didn't. Would Ushio really be so heartless as to tell this guy the whole story? Yami found that if he were Ushio, he wouldn't want to say anything. That'd be just plain awkward.

"He was hitting on this slut when I told him not to," Ushio quickly answered, to Yami's surprise; but where did this idea come from?

"Easy on the language," Mr. Futari reminded him, giving Yami a quick glance to remember that when he explained his own story. "Now why would this be a problem for you? Do you like this girl?" he asked smoothly.

Ushio chuckled, crossing his own arms. "Not a chance," he laughed again. "My mother looks better than this girl, and my mom would scare the hell outta you, sir."

"Get on with it."

"Well, with Yami being my good acquaintance and all, I've gotta look after him sometimes; you know how he likes be dumb in the head sometimes," Ushio carried on, and Yami silently glared at the desk's edge. "So he started messing with this really -- and trust me when I say this -- really messed up girl that I told him was doing all sorts of things like getting pregnant and doing crack and you know.

"So being who he is and all, he started messing with her, and being a good friend to him and all, I told him to stop, 'cause, you know, I care for my friends. But he said no, thinking I was getting jealous and stuff, and well, I can't quite remember who threw the first punch." Ushio leaned back in his chair, looking quite satisfied with himself, and Yami inwardly rolled his eyes.

At least it was better than the actual truth, no matter how close the storyline was.

Mr. Futari remained silent for a couple more minutes, running the story through his head, trying to figure out if it all could have really happened or if it was really just a big, fat lie. Finally, he settled on nodding in acceptance, but questioned Yami nevertheless. "Is this true, Yami?"

Putting on his usual act to keep appearances up, Yami dramatically rolled his eyes, leaned back and gave the man a skeptical look. "Futari, does it sound like he's lying? I'm crazy over that babe."

The principal gave him an odd look, but accepted the response too. "Then may I have the name of this girl? Just on account of hearing that she's doing drugs?"

"No," Yami quickly answered, not losing the act.

"And why not? She might need help," Mr. Futari questioned, a brow rising.

"Do you think I'm a moron, Futari?" Yami questioned with some venom. "I'm nuts over this chick, I'm not about to go spilling her identity, I promised her. Besides, she's not that bad."

"That's what you think," Ushio suddenly cut in. "You're blind to the truth, Yami."

"Shut up. I love her the way she is."

"Oh, how touching. She's not good for you, idiot."

Hands slapped subtly down on the polished desk, grabbing both teens' attention. "Boys, let's not let something else start a fight around here. I believe you both, though; I do recommend you try to get this girl off of whatever harmful drug she is doing, Yami. You seem to care for her very much, and I think it would help a healthy relationship for you two."

Yami rolled his eyes, and Ushio chuckled under his breath. The principal gave them both another hard look, obviously coming up with a reasonable punishment for them. He turned to Ushio first.

"Detention for a week and a half, helping the maintenance clean the classrooms. Understood?" Ushio nodded and then Mr. Futari turned towards Yami.

"This was your last week at the hospital, right?" he asked in what seemed to be a random question. Yami nodded, already seeing where this was going. "You'll be at the hospital for an additional two weeks. I'll call, so don't worry about telling anyone at the office."

Some part of Yami really liked the idea even though he was inwardly groaning in horror. That meant that he'd have to put up with Ushio and whatever this deal was to him for another two weeks. He was hoping that when this week ended, he'd just go back secretly to visit Yugi, but apparently that idea was going to be held back for now.

But at the same time too, Yami really could find amusement in how that ticked Ushio off even more.

"Fine by me, Princy," Yami replied after a minute, letting a smug look cover his face.

Although they had their parents called, they were merely notified of the fight and what it was about. Yami and Ushio were sent back to their classes, and at the end of the day, Yami was able to escape, somehow not really bothered by the obvious whispers that floated by him anymore.

So he caught the bus and headed toward the hospital, finally feeling a bruise starting to form in his shoulder from where Ushio hit him about half way through the bus ride. As usual, he when through the hospital doors, got into the elevator, punched the button for Yugi's floor and walked into the other's room.

The first thing he noted was that the lights were turned off. Yugi never had his lights turned off, but Yami brushed it off as he went deeper into the room, not hearing any noises that would signal that Yugi was in his pirate act.

However, he easily spotted Yugi in his regular spot on the window ledge, his back to him, looking outside at the gloomy scenery. It had been cloudy all day, though; forecasters had predicted no rainfall today.

Wondering what was up when he could sense no cheeriness that was usually radiating off of Yugi, Yami slowly made his way to the other, letting a hand lazily fall on the other's shoulder.

Under his touch, Yugi quit looking out the window and curled his legs up to his chest, hiding his face in his knees, avoiding who he knew was Yami.

"Is…is something wrong?" Yami asked after a while of trying to figure it out for himself, but when nothing that could explain the strange behavior came up, he decided to just ask.

Yugi shook his head against his knees in response, and Yami could have sworn he heard a sniffle. He sighed silently and hoisted himself up on the ledge so that he was facing Yugi and let one of his hands rest on Yugi's left arm.

"You know how stubborn I can be, Yugi," he said first, "And if you think you're gonna beat me at that, then you might want to think again. What's wrong?"

This time, Yugi obviously sniffled, letting out a shaky breath, but did not look up at Yami.

Sliding closer to the other, Yami bit his lip, hoping that he wasn't about to make a fool out of himself. He knew that he really liked Yugi; he admitted it to him anyway. So the teen slowly let his arms wrap around the other in comfort, and he let the side of his face rest on Yugi's left shoulder.

"What's wrong? You can tell me," Yami whispered, after a moment realizing that he sounded like some mushy lover or something of the sort. But pushing that thought aside, he kept his attention on Yugi, hoping that he'd come around and explain.

The silence lasted a couple minutes, but then Yugi mumbled something into his knees, sniffling loudly. Yami questioned him on what he had said, and Yugi murmured his response again, and with his patience already wearing thin, Yami sighed.

Unlocking Yugi from his hold, Yami let his hands reach out and tentatively caress the sides of Yugi's head, in hopes of coaxing him to lift his head so that he could hear him properly. It worked after a few tries and some odd reassurances on Yami's part, but Yugi did eventually look up.

Something jabbed at Yami's heart when he gazed upon Yugi's tear streaked face. Trails of wetness ran down his face, some snot leaking from his nostrils, and Yami hurriedly snatched a couple of tissues from the bedside table and handed them to Yugi who in return took them gratefully and wiped his nose.

However, the tears never seemed to cease no matter how many times Yugi tried to wipe them away.

The minutes passed by, and even though he didn't want to rush Yugi or anything, Yami was getting a little more impatient than before. After a while, he finally asked in a soft voice, "So what happened?" He knew Yugi wouldn't lie to him.

Yugi gave him this truly saddened look then, and Yami felt another unexpected jab at his chest that he couldn't explain.

"M-my…my parents ar-are divor-cing."

A/N: Oh the tragedy! You guys must hate me for that; especially since I took forever to update too. Oh well. =) Well, thanks for reading, and feel free to leave a comment!!