To the Point of Exhaustion

by Kaira-chan

COMPLETEYugi's been over-working himself, and all his friends know it. He says okay, but they stop believing him once he collapses in Gym class. What could be driving him this hard? And why won't he stop?

4. Chappy 4

Kaira-chan: and here is..the final chapter ^_^

Yami Kaira: *Snickers*

Kaira-chan: What's so funny?

Yami Kaira: oh... nothing ^_^

Kaira-chan: What?? .

Yami Kaira: I know the reason why it took you a month to update...

Kaira-chan: So do all my other muses...

Yami Kaira: Yeah, but I'm going to tell...

Pharaoh Yami: O_o;; it's not that much of a secret...

Yami Kaira: Yes, but it will tell the readers whether it's a happy ending or not...

Kaira-chan: O_O Then you'll say it after that chapter...

Yami Kaira: The reason it took her so long to update was~~

Kaira: *elbows Yami*

Yami: OW!!!!! *Rubs side* Kaira-chan doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh...

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yugi woke up, panting heavily, sweat dripping off of his brow. He looked around, only to discover that Jonouchi was no longer there. He clutched his pillow tightly, trying to block out the memories of the dream.

He wasn't really going to kill himself... was he?

'Aibou,' Yami's voice said soothingly, if not hesitantly through the mind link.

'... Mou hitori no boku?' Yugi whimpered back.

Yami because visible, sitting beside Yugi, though he was still transparent. "Are you okay?" he asked, rubbing a wispy hand on his other's cheek.

"I - I don't know mou hitori no boku. It's... I – do you think the dream was right?" Yugi asked, his eyes watery.

Yami pursed his lips together, then leaned back on the hospital bed. "Lay down, aibou," Yami commanded, and Yugi obeyed, lying down beside his other, and looking at him. "If you keep up this behavior, I'm sorry to say, but you probably will wear your self down so much that you just might end up killing yourself," Yami confirmed.

Yugi squeezed his eyes closed. "I don't want to do that. I don't want anyone else to worry about me."

Yami nodded. "Then, when you get better, you know what you have to do?"

Yugi nodded also, then let out a shuddering breath. With that, Yami disappeared.

Jonouchi pushed open the door to the game-shop, paying no heed to the closed sign that hung in the doorway, and ignoring the ever so familiar ring of the bell that signaled the door opening. .

"We're closed," Yugi's grandfather's voice rang out from one of the back rooms.

"I know," Jonouchi answered, allowing the door to closed behind him, and walking to the room in which Yugi's Grandfather was.

Yugi's grandfather looked up at him. "Jonouchi," he acknowledged.

"Do you know about Yugi?" Jonouchi asked. Grandpa's eyes focused on the ground.

"I know. They just called me. I was just going to go to the hospital. Would you like to come?" He offered.

Jonouchi shook his head. "Don't worry about it. They're not letting visitor's in right now."

Grandpa raised his eyes once again, to meet Jonouchi's. "Why are you here?"

Jonouchi bit his lip. How to approach this? He could do it the really cool movie way if he wanted, but... this didn't seem like the time.

"I – I wanna know if you know why Yugi's doing this to himself," Jonouchi sighed, and leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes.

Grandpa sighed. "I don't know for sure..." He started. "Why don't we go sit down somewhere?"

Jonouchi nodded, and followed Grandpa as he walked out of the room. Jonouchi sat on the couch, as Grandpa poured him a cup of tea which he had been making from earlier.

"Thanks," Jonouchi smiled, then cradled the cup in his hands.

Grandpa sat down. "Like I said before, I don't know for sure what's driving Yugi to do this, but I may have a rough idea," Grandpa said grimily. "A few months ago, Yugi went to go visit his father. I didn't really want him too, but you know, it's his father."

Jonouchi blinked. Why wouldn't Grandpa want Yugi to go visit his father? He stayed silent however, as Grandpa continued.

"So, when Yugi came back, he grabbed the phone, and called Kaiba, asking for work. So, I'm assuming that his father might have had something to do with his choice."

Jonouchi blinked slowly once again. "What would his father have to do with his decision?" He questioned.

"You see," Grandpa explained, "his father's in prison."

Jonouchi nearly dropped his glass of tea. He managed to not let it out of his grasp, but still succeeded in spilling most of it all over himself and the carpet.

"Why is his father in prison?" Jonouchi demanded.

Grandpa sighed, and looked at the ground. "I don't know the details," he answered, "and even if I did, I don't think Yugi would want me to tell you why. Though, I don't think Yugi himself knows why."

Jonouchi pursed his lips. "Listen, I want to know at least something about this. Yugi's worked himself to the point of collapsing. That can't be just any bail money. If I know what his father did, even if I don't get all the details, maybe I can talk Yugi into not working so hard, or maybe even stop him all together."

Grandpa sighed, and nodded.

Yugi's wide eyes were long since closed. He rolled onto his side, away from the window that insisted that it shone the sunlight into the hospital room. He was no longer plagued with the nightmares, Yami standing protectively just outside of his soul room, fighting off all the horrors that attempted to enter.

Yugi slept soundlessly for the first time in what felt like forever. He was content to know that his other was watching over him once again. Not that Yami had ever stopped, but to Yugi, it felt like he had.

He knew that what he was going to do as soon as he could get out of this horrid smelling building was going to be hard. But he also knew that having his other, his more confident and stronger (at least in his eyes) other there was going to take a lot of the threat away.

Jonouchi left the game-shop, and sighed heavily. He had heard of the death of Ryoko Suzuki. It was when he was younger, too young to remember, but it had been all over the news, and his mother had often talked about what a great woman she was.

Then, three years later, the culprit had been prosecuted. A Shinji Hayama had been found guilty of her murder. They had found the plans – many plans – of her murder in his attic. It seemed he had thought out ever aspect of the murder, every different way that he could kill the beautiful scientist.

Why he had killed her was a mystery to everyone, though quite a few people had their idea's. One was that the man had been jealous of her smarts, another was that he – another scientist – had been her partner in the project that she had been working on, and she didn't share any of the glory. The most popular belief was that he had simply snapped, had gone insane, and killed her for the sheer thrill of not getting caught.

It quickly blew over though, and Jonouchi had forgotten all about it.

Who would've thought that Yugi – innocent, quiet Yugi, was the son of Hayama?

Poor Yugi. He probably had no idea what his father had done. Jonouchi promised himself that the next day, he would go tell Yugi everything he had just learned right after school.

"Thank you, sir," Yugi said, bowing. The doctor smiled.

"See, all you needed was just a good night's sleep," he smiled.

Yugi nodded, then, with his grandfather, left the hospital.

He looked up at the sky. It wasn't yet noon. He sighed sleepily, still a little tired, and sank down lazily into the a bench by the subway. He smiled up at his grandpa.

"Can you go home without me?" He asked.

His grandpa looked at him skeptic. "Why? Aren't you coming home right now?"

Yugi shook his head tiredly. "I need to go visit someone before I can go home," he sighed. "I won't be able to sleep that well until I visit him."

"How are you going to go visit?" Grandpa demanded.

"I need to go see Father," Yugi said. He was forced to focus on the ground, unable to meet his Grandfathers disapproving gaze.

"Yugi, I won't allow you to –" Grandpa's mouth shut when Yugi looked up at him, his wide violet eyes pleading.

"Please Grandpa, I need to do this," he pleaded. Grandpa eyed him sternly, until the subway pulled up at their side.

The train ride to the game-shop was a deafening silent one. Yugi couldn't bring himself to look at his grandpa, who was studying him the whole ride.

Yugi moved to stand up, as the train came to a stop. His grandfather didn't look at him as he said two words, stepping off of the subway. "Good luck."

Yugi watched the buildings and tree's fly by as the train sped along. The sun told him that it was midday. Besides that, he really had no idea what to do. Yami wasn't answering his questions, or replying to his attempts at small talk.

He stood up as the train got to his stop, and he got off, trying not to notice how, once again, he was the only one who got off at the stop. He had a bit of a walk in front of him, and he was beginning to wonder if he really should've come when he was still quite tired. He knew, however, that he should probably get this over with as soon as possible. So, crossing his arms in front of him and bowing his head, he began to walk towards the jail.

After what seemed like an eternity, just when he felt that he was going to collapse again for the sheer fact of how tired he was, he got to the prison.

He gave the prison guard his name and purpose, and was soon escorted into the facility. He walked down the corridor once again, trying to ignore the eyes on him, and how his and the guards footsteps echoed.

He shivered slightly when he came to the door he had only seen once in his life, but had hoped to never see again.

"Can... I see him myself? Please?" Yugi asked quietly, focusing on the ground. If his yami had to take over to protect him, he didn't want to seem mental.

The guard nodded, and opened the door, closing it behind Yugi. Yugi jumped when the heavy door seemed to slam, then looked around, seeing his father sitting at a table not to far away.

"He - Hello dad," Yugi said, looking at the ground when his fathers eyes fell upon him.

"Hey Yugi. What's taken you so long. It's been nearly three months since I last seen you, shouldn't you have the money by now?"

Yugi shook his head. "Dad... I have something to tell you."

Jonouchi blinked at the receptionist. "What do you mean he was released this morning?" He demanded. "I have something important to tell him."

The receptionist tapped his pencil impatiently on the edge of her desk. "I told you, sir, that he was released this morning. His grandfather came to pick him up."

Jonouchi walked away from the desk, running his hand through his hair, only to turn around and walk back to her. "Thanks lady." He said, before leaving the hospital and heading towards the Kame Game Shop.

Jonouchi blinked at Yugi's Grandpa. "What do you mean he went to the jail place?" He demanded. "Does he even know why his father is in there?"

Grandpa shook his head.

Jonouchi cursed and quickly left the shop, catching the next subway.

"What do you mean?" Shinji demanded.

"Exactly what I said. I can't raise any more money for you. It's bad for my heath, and all my friends have been telling me that," Yugi said, so quiet that his voice was barely audible.

"Your friends? Your friends?! Your bloody friends are more important then your father?" He hissed, standing up threateningly and walking towards Yugi.

Yugi's eyes widened as he took a step backwards. He hated being so trusting. He had actually believed that his father had changed. How could he have believed that.

He felt himself being shoved into his Soul Room as his father took another step towards him.

"I suggest you stop," Yami commanded, and his father immediately noticed how full of confidence his sons voice was.

"What are you going to do, boy?" Shinji sneered.

Yami smirked. "I'm going to warn you one last time, that's what I'm going to do. If you do not choose to heed my warning, however, I will not be held responsible for my actions."

Mr. Hayama's step seemed to falter, but he just grinned. "You squirt," Yami's eyes immediately narrowed at the word, "what do you think you're going to do? I've spent the past twelve years here, lifting weights. What's a weakling like you going to do?"

Yami's eyes narrowed yet still. He couldn't attack this guy without playing a game. He never had. But - this man, more than any other, made him angry. It made him so angry, that he could barley think straight. He didn't know why exactly this man made him so angry, just that the blind rage was threatening to bubble up to the surface.

"I'll play a game." He managed to keep his temper. He had managed to propose giving the man even a small chance.

Yet, Yugi's father didn't like the proposition. He didn't feel like giving himself that small chance at living. "You want to play a game with me," Shinji laughed. "You've been spending too much time with your grandfather, boy. I always knew the man was crazy."

And then, the man rushed him, swung his fist at Yami's face. Yami ducked, feeling the knuckles clip at his hair.

He rushed to the far end of the cell. What was it that Shinji had told Yugi earlier? That the walls were double-sided mirrors, and they were being watched? He didn't want to get Yugi in trouble. Mortal's now-a-days didn't believe in magick. He had to be far enough away to make it known that he hadn't touched the man.

He flung out his hand, and watched in glee as the larger, bulkier man crumpled upon himself.

He didn't kill him. Of course not. They would think the man was mental, he had obviously done something wrong by being sent here and having such a high bail price. They would assume that the final thread had been torn. He smirked, hearing the mans insane babbling beginning already.

The door flung open, and a couple of guards ran in. The stopped, and looked around. Yami leaned against the wall and slid down it, sighing heavily.

"Are you okay?" One of the guards asked cautiously.

Yami nodded, swallowing deeply. "I - I'm fine," he stammered, then looked at his father. "Is - is he okay?"

One of the guards walked up to Yugi's father, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Shinji looked up at him, smiling gleefully, his insane mumbling impossible to make out. "He's... he must've snapped," the guard said slowly.

Yami blinked. "Is he - is he going to be okay?" He whimpered, making his voice shake, knowing full well that he wouldn't be okay. "He's my father. He'll be okay, right?"

The guard shook his head and shrugged. "No idea, but we're going to have to put him in an asylum. Why don't you go home?"

Yami nodded, and stood up on shaky legs, walking out of the cell, and walking with one of the guards, his escort, out of the building.

He found himself walking alone outside, and allowed Yugi to take control once again. Yugi blinked, asking Yami what had happened to his father, but Yami refused to answer. He was being ignored once again.

He jumped when he say something – someone running towards him, and smiled when he saw Jonouchi.

"Jonouchi, what are you doing here?" He asked, when Jonouchi had come to his side.

"I came here to find you," Jonouchi panted, then turned around to walk Yugi back to the subway stop. "What were you doing here? I mean, I know your dad's here, and you've been raising money for him but–"

Yugi blinked slowly. "How did you know, Jonouchi?"

Jonouchi grinned sheepishly. "I... I was worried about you, so I asked your grandpa," he explained. "But answer my question."

"I came to tell my father that I couldn't do it anymore," Yugi sighed tiredly. He had forgotten how tired he was until now.

Jonouchi bit his lip. There was no real point in telling Yugi about his father if Yugi wasn't going to be practically killing himself for his sake, was there?

He gave a start when Yugi stumbled, and caught him. "You really need to sleep more," Jonouchi laughed, and Yugi chuckled a little beside him. "Do you want a ride?"

Yugi looked at him questioningly.

"If you climb on my back, I can give you a ride to the bus stop, then to your house. You can sleep then as well."

Yugi shook his head. "I don't need to," he said, only to stumble again.

"Yugi, quit being so stubborn and get on," Jonouchi demanded, getting on his knee's, his back facing Yugi.

Yugi muttered something incoherently, but complied. Jonouchi stood up, and walked to the bus stop.

Yugi curled up in his covers, pulling them closer, before clutching the end of his pillow to his chest.

And this time, he wasn't plagued by nightmares. It wasn't Yami's doing either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaira-chan: Finally!! I'm done **Grins**

Yami Kaira: Can I tell them now?

Kaira-chan: Go ahead.

Yami Kaira: Well, firstly she didn't update, because she couldn't get in a good mood, and she wanted it to end relatively happy. Then she just couldn't write anything -.-;

Kaira-chan: S'true *Nods*

Yami: Thank Ra it's done though. One less story to worry about.

Kaira-chan: *Nods*

Pharaoh Yami: And please review.

Kaira-chan: And stay tuned for my Review replies, inspirations, dedications and thanks chapter, to see if you were specially thanked, and if you get anything ^-^

BTW: I don't know what could get a bail of that high, but after asking around quite a bit, I decided that 'the first degree murder of someone important' probably was the best...

~~~~REVIEW REPLIES~~~~~

titanic babe:

Wow O_o;; Someone actually liked a cliffhanger. I hope I didn't leave you hanging for too long.

Dagger5:

Lol ^_^ Yeah, 25 fics. Yes, I do eat and sleep... but I also have a fic or two that I haven't updated in the longest time ever -.-; I hope I updated soon enough (A.K.A I hope that my month of unupdatingness didn't kill you/have you hating me)

I luv Kai:

That's what he did XD

takuya:

Thank you? You mean in my bio? I'm sorry u.u I'm trying to only thank people who really helped me (such as beta reading or constructive critisim) because quite a few people review a lot of my stories.

Red Roses2-chan:

Lol ^_^ There, barely any Yugi hurtin' at all. I hope that pleases you ^_^

Jill:

That's what he did.

Starfire20042002:

Sorry it wasn't that soon u.u

Nightlight5:

Not really that soon, but thank you.

Crimson-Eyed-Angel99:

lol, I take it you don't like it? Lol ^_^;; of course he's going to regret it ^_^;;;

rox:

That's what he did. I'm sorry I didn't update that soon.

MysticDreamer673:

Sorry for confuzzlingness u.u

Kataya Motou:

Lol ^_^;; yeah... sorry for unupdatingism.

Misura:

So do I, come to think of it. Yes, he should listen to Yami. Yami is always right o.o... Hmm... his mother. Well, I tried to keep it close to canon *Shrugs* ... plus she shows up in the show, so I'd probably end up screwing over her character *Shrugs again*.

Mittens no Hikari:

Lol ^_^;; that seems to be the question on everyone's minds. ^-^ And there it is, being answered.

Yami Yugi3:

Here's more

Opal Shadow:

Lol, of course you're not always evil ^_^;; But yeah, I agree with you.

Aurora DeNeil:

There ^_^ all finished.

Aniu Hanyou:

Yesh... poor Yugi. O_O;; **Eyes Demon warily** I hope I updated soon enough.

YumeTakato:

Hope I updated soon enough.

DarkChaos1663:

Here's more ^-^ Hope a month is soon in your eyes.

A Watcher:

If you sat there for a month, then there will be ^___^ lol

WolfKeeper989:

Yay ^_^

Shadu:

Lol, not hard ^_^ I just stopped typing and uploaded it.

Mimiheart:

... Yeah... it means Kaiba called. I'll fix that A.S.A.P... -.-; It was going to be Jonouchi, but I decided Kaiba was better fit for the job. And I was hoping no one would notice T^T