Sheep: A week is how long I take to update this fic? Eeeh... That's not good... Well, summer's coming up, so I'll have plenty of time to update to work on this! ^_^

By the way, I don't own Linkin Park or it's song, Easier To Run.

~*~

"It's easier to run
Replacing this pain with something numb
It's so easier to go
Than face this pain here all alone

Something has been taken
From deep inside of me
A secret I've kept locked away
No one can ever see
Wounds so deep they never show
They never go away
Like moving pictures in my head
For years and years they've played

If I could change I would
Take back the pain I would
Retrace every wrong move that I made I would
If I could
Stand up and take the blame I would
If I could take all the shame to the grave I
Would

Sometimes I remember
The darkness of my past
Bringing back these memories
I wish I didn't have
Sometimes I think of letting go
And never looking back
And never moving forward so
There would never be a past

Just washing it aside
All of the helplessness inside
Pretending I don't feel misplaced
Is so much simpler than change

It's easier to run
Replacing this pain with something numb
It's so much easier to go
Than face all this pain here all alone..."

Easier To Run by Linkin Park... It says all the things I'm feeling right now…

Oh, it's raining. Look at that. Didn't even notice.

At least I didn't have to go out in that. That would only add to my problems today.

Probably EVERYTHING that could go wrong has gone wrong. First, I wake up to Grandpa singing, of all things, Spice Girls songs. That's a nightmare in itself! Then, after he goes out, Yugi drags me out of bed, even though I had one hell of a hangover from Jou's party last night.

After breakfast, Yugi, being the klutz that he is, pours a bottle of pop all over my favorite leather outfit and I had to toss my outfit into the dryer and was forced to wear something called "jeans". Yugi told me that he got it for his birthday a few years ago and it was too big, so he never wore them. I guess they aren't TOO bad... I still like my leather better, though.

What a depressing day this is... It always makes me so moody when it's raining. That's probably why Yugi's avoiding me. Ah, well. I could use a day of solitude. Peacefulness lets me think about what I need to think about. Like the future.

The future...

I don't want it to come. I don't want this stupid responsibility, this stupid fate. But you can't change your fate, can you? Nobody can. You can only set it.

Why am I repeating my poem? I think I'm losing my mind.

That's just perfect. Losing my mind when I have to save the world from a great evil that threatens to throw the world into the Shadow Realm.

Argh! Why can't I get this out of my head?! I don't want to think about this! How can I get rid of these thoughts? These thoughts of the future, of me and of what I have to do are torturing me!

Being unsure of the future is torture enough, but being unsure of what I do is almost unbearable. How can I know what I do will save the world? How can I know that what I do won't destroy it?

I can't do this. Not even with my friends' support. I can't save the world...

A noise outside distracts me from my chaotic thoughts.

...? Who is Yugi talking to?

I quickly threw on a shirt, but left it unbuttoned. I didn't bother putting on a shirt when I changed into jeans. It was more comfortable without a shirt.

"Hello, pharaoh."

"Kaiba?! What're you doing here?"

Seto Kaiba was in our home and soaking wet. It was kind of obvious that he was walking around in the rain for a while, but I couldn't help myself. Since when does Kaiba come to our house?

"None of your business. Just the same as it's none of my business about what you were doing alone in your room with no shirt on."

Oh, that bastard...

"Yami, he's wet and he's kind of lost," Yugi said as he got some glasses from the pantry. He must've learned how to recognize when I was going to kill. "Cut him some slack, will you?"

Damn him and his innocence.

"Fine," I sighed. I sat down at the table across from Kaiba. He looked at me straight into my eyes. Instead of the usual cockiness I saw in Kaiba's eyes, I saw a lost boy who didn't know what to do. Shocking, since he's usually in control of everything.

"What do you want to drink, Kaiba?"

"I don't know. Anything. I don't care."

Okay, something's definitely wrong now. He usually knows exactly what he wants and wants it exactly how he wants it.

"Kaiba, is something wrong?" I adopted a softer tone than usual and temporarily put my own confused thoughts aside.

He looked at me with a vague impression of his old icy self.

"Probably nothing worse than what you have, Yami. I don't have to worry about fighting a war and saving the world. I only have to worry about the war I have with myself."

What the hell...?

"Surprised? Don't be. First of all, it's pretty obvious what you're thinking about. Who wouldn't be thinking about consequences when the entire world is at stake?"

Well. Maybe Kaiba's not that much of a bastard after all.

"As for me..." He let his sentence hang with a sadness within. "I don't know who I am anymore. Who I've been for so long isn't who I am; I can feel it. I haven't been myself for so long that I don't know myself."

Yugi came with a few glasses of pop and looked at him with sympathy. Why can't I be more like him? Carefree, sure of what he has to do in his life, always kind, loyal and completely chaos-free. That's what I want in my life. But, I can't because of these goddamn bindings.

"I knew that you weren't really like this," Yugi said warmly. "I know that we've never really been to close as friends, but I'll do anything to help you find yourself again. And Yami'll help, won't he?"

Oh, great. Yugi's volunteered me again. Another thing to add to my list of Things Gone Wrong Today.

"That's right. I'll do anything to help you, Kaiba," I said. That took a lot of self-control and loss of pride, I can tell you that. "I promise."

He looked at us with astonishment. A light I've never seen in him before showed through his eyes. For once, he gave us a genuine smile.

Maybe the real Kaiba can help me afterwards. Maybe he'll help me break away from my chains and help me free myself if I help him break from his.

~*~

Sheep: Hehe. Yami in an unbuttoned shirt and in jeans... Interesting image, ne?

That song really reminded me of the helplessness that Yami has to feel about what he has to do. There's another song that I think that will really suit... someone... and I'll hopefully get a new chappie up soon.