Bridled Deception

Yuugi was shaking. His heart had suddenly froze in his chest, leaving him utterly speechless. This couldn't be happening again. It simply couldn't.

They know he's here. That's why they're back. Gods, what are we going to do?

His trembling hand clutched desperately at Yami's sleeve, and he looked up questioningly, violet eyes pleading for an answer, or a miracle.

"G-go great them, Yuugi, lest something looks amiss," Yami's voice cracked. Yuugi nodded dumbly, swallowing a lump in his throat. Turning sharply, he made to leave the kitchen.

Wait. . .

The teenager turned sharply around, grabbing the demon in a sharp embrace. "I love you," he whispered in Yami's ear. And before Yami could respond he had turned and left.

'If I want to get out of this, I need to come up with a plan fast,' Yami thought.

Yuugi, in the meantime, was standing at the front door looking rather pale. A police woman with fiery red hair was looking at him with quiet green eyes.

"Is this the Motou residence?"

"H-hai, it is. Is something wrong officer?"

The woman frowned. "Is the adult of the dwelling home?"

"No. . ." what was she getting at?

"Well, I would have liked to talk to them, but perhaps you can relay the message. Down at the station we've been getting some strange calls of people asking how they can protect themselves from a serial killer that's been on the loose, and we have no reports of such an individual in the area. People said that a woman in a police uniform has been going house to house asking if they'd seen anything suspicious, then searching the homes without authorization. Have you had any problems?"

Yuugi was stunned for a moment. This was a real police officer? Not just some hunter out for blood? Yuugi almost felt like screaming with joy. Instead, he nodded his head vigorously in agreement.

"You have?"

Yuugi turned his head in the direction of the kitchen. "Yami, come here!" Everything was all right now. Nothing to worry about.

There were some odd noises coming from the kitchen, a few curses, and a figure emerged from the door.

This wasn't the Yami he had just seen a moment ago.

The demon's face was deathly white. A strange yellow liquid seemed to be squirting out from odd places, looking like puss from long infected wounds. There was red juice as well, looking like. . . .

Blood.

"Dear gods, what happened!?" Yuugi screeched. Yami seemed to be limping out of the kitchen and into the entryway.

"So you have been hiding out here all along! Sakuya was already here! How did you slip past her?" The voice was vicious, venomous, and angry. Yuugi turned wildly around to see a golden aura permeating the woman's body.

It was another ploy. Had the witch somehow done something to Yami to make him that way?

"No!" Yuugi positioned himself in front of the demon, arms outstretched in defense.

"Yuugi, get out of the way," Yami's voice croaked.

"Child, you don't know what you're trying to defend," the woman spat, swiping at the air with her hand and effectively throwing Yuugi across the room somehow. She turned her eyes back at Yami, slowly advancing towards him. "Look at you, demon. Too weak to defend yourself. I don't even need to call the others," she said with a triumphant grin. Yami's breathing seemed to be rather heavy. He kept looking at her with sunken red eyes, waiting for his end.

"I want to feel you struggle beneath my fingers after what you've done," she hissed with glee, arm outstretched.

The demon simply stood there, supporting himself on a nearby table, still. The only movements from him were the heaves of his ragged breaths.

Her fingers came within inches of the pale neck, and Yuugi could only watch as Yami would be slowly strangled to death.

Her fingers touched his skin, and the floor seemed to give way. A fiery light emanated forth from one of them, and a scream filled the air. The earth trembled beneath them.

Yuugi covered his eyes from the blast, waiting to see if everything would eventually go quiet.

Dead silence.

Afraid to look, Yuugi peeked through his hands where Yami once stood.

He was now kneeling on the floor.

"Yami!" Yuugi jumped up, leaped over the fallen woman, and landed next to the demon, now afraid to touch him. "Yami, what happened? I-I don't understand."

Yami smiled good-naturedly, giving a wink. "It's all right Yuugi. I'm fine. Just a little drained from that mental attack I just gave."

"Y-your. . .okay?" He brought his hand up to Yami's cheek, brushing at it slightly. To his surprise, a thin film came off, revealing dusky skin underneath. He rubbed his fingers together. "Flour?" He poked at a glob of yellow goop on the demon's arm. "Egg yoke?" The red liquid. "Ketchup?" He looked at Yami who was wearing a sly grin.

"You tricked her into thinking you were weak!"

"Left her defenses wide open for an attack." In his relief, the teenager wrapped the demon up in yet another powerful embrace. "I thought I was going to lose you," he sighed.

"Yuugi," Yami purred.

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

Yuugi lowered his head slightly, blushing. "Did I say that?"

"You did."

He grinned. "I'm glad I did, too. I meant it."

Eyes brimming with unsaid emotions, Yami wrapped up the smaller boy into a possessive hug. Yuugi loved him.

Him.

"Is it all right for me to come out now," the feeble voice of Ryou broke into their pleasant spell. Yuugi shook his head, jarring his thoughts back into order. "Yeah, it's all right now." He turned his head around as Ryou emerged, looking at the fallen witch on the floor, her face blank. "What did you do to her Yami?"

"She's fine for now. She'll wake up shortly with no memory. All I did was re-arrange her mind, so she no longer knows about her past. It's quite hard to do to a witch, due to all of the defenses they have around themselves."

Yuugi merely nodded.

"There'll be more of them," Ryou spoke.

"I know," Yuugi sighed. "What should we do?"

"Why don't we go and see if we can't beat some sense into that ass whom is affectionately known as Ryo Bakura? Maybe we can get him to realize what a mistake he's making." And with that, Yami stood, ready to get cleaned and head out the door.

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Gomen ne, every one. I know that this update took far too long. You see, we got a new computer, which didn't have Microsoft Word, so we had to make room downstairs for the old one, then I had to get a monitor, and then had to get it hooked up to the internet again, and. . . .