Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, have the intelligence to own anything as worthwhile as Yu-Gi-Oh!, so buzz off.
Warning: I have no idea where the story is going, but this WILL have SLASH! Yugi is a bit depressed, there may be a few inappropriate things, and of course, violence. I doubt I own a story without any of the above...
Chapter 1: How much do you know me?
Yugi tripped and tumbled down the stairs into the hallway. Snickers followed his ungraceful descent, and a large shape loomed over him as he sat up blearily at the end of his fall.
"Oh my, has little Yugi Motou tripped again?" sneered Altam (the looming figure). "Oh no, is he gonna cry about it? What will you tell your friends, Yugi? Amazing they've still put up with you long enough to at least try and drag you up from the bottom. I don't see why you bother. Everyone knows that when they get tired of you you'll just fall down again; just like you fell down the stairs. What would precious Yami think of you if he knew what a klutz you were? You - " Yugi stood up and bowed carefully during his speech.
"Thank you for the warning, Altam-chan, but I really have to go to my next class. I'll keep what you said in mind." The larger boy went red with fury and shoved him into a locker.
"You cheeky little bitch - "
"Hey!" Rescue came in the dubious form of Joey, who knocked Altam to the side. "Leave Yug alone, ya hear? Mess wid him an ya'll mess wid all of us."
"Thanks, Joey," said Yugi quietly from behind him, "but both you and I have classes to be in right now, and I don't want you to get into another fight on my behalf - "
"Oh, so you're together then?" sneered Altam – clearly the teen had no clue as to when to keep his mouth shut – "I knew Yugi must be a fag, but I never thought Wheeler would cheat on his own girlfriend with this squirt." Ignoring Yugi's cries, Joey launched himself at the slightly larger teen.
"You'll pay for dat comment - " A hand grabbed him by the collar; halting Joey's attack. He turned furiously to see Kaiba holding him. "Let go 'a me, you rich loon!" Seto Kaiba regarded him with cool blue eyes.
"If you're so eager to get in trouble, puppy, by all means continue your little dog fight. I, however, desire to walk in this hallway and you happen to be blocking it." Joey glowered but subsided as Yugi tugged insistently on his jacket sleeve, pleading.
"All right, all right," he grumbled. Yugi heaved a sigh of relief and gave Seto a grateful look. The other eyed him with an unreadable expression before walking off. Yugi and Joey ran to their classes, and neither was late after all.
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It was lunchtime, and Seto was sitting alone as usual, typing away at his laptop as he ate a ham and cheese sandwich. A spiky-haired shadow fell over his keyboard and he looked up.
"What?" he asked irritably. You'd think Motou would know by now to leave him alone. Yugi shifted uncomfortably.
"S-seto? Um…I was…wondering if you'd mind if I came over to your place after school today…" The teen gave him a disbelieving look and Yugi continued hurriedly. "I won't get in your way, honest! Please?" Confused, Seto nodded.
"What about your Yami?" (he'd had the whole puzzle thing explained to him)
"Well…um…Yami is…a bit…" He looked across the cafeteria and Kaiba followed his gaze until it rested on Yami with his arm around Tea in the middle of a group of Yugi's friends. There were no empty seats at the table.
"You're hanging with me because your friends abandoned you," he said flatly. Yugi's eyes widened with hurt and he turned away.
"NO," he whispered emphatically. "I had a different and better reason, but I guess there's not much point." He walked away stiffly. Kaiba shrugged. He hadn't known the boy had dander to be put up in the first place. So the wimp had some backbone after all. He glanced at Yugi with a mild interest as the small teen went outside with his books, sitting quietly working until lunch ended, whereupon the owner of Kaiba Corp. cursed at his neglect of his own work on the laptop, which had been interrupted when Motou came along.
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Yugi whimpered softly as Yami shut the Game Shop door angrily and whirled on him.
"What were you doing with Kaiba after lunch?" he snarled.
"We – we were just talking, Yami. Reall - "
"JUST TALKING?! The guy's a monster, Yugi! You should not have interfered when I nearly killed him at Duelist Kingdom. The world would be better off without him."
"Yami! That's a horrible thing to say!" Yami slapped him harshly.
"Do not presume to reprimand me, slave. I may have needed your body before, but I can go without your interference now." Yugi nodded quickly. "What were you 'just talking' to that thing about?"
"I – I wanted to know if I could…" 'Oh god,' he thought faintly, 'Yami's going to kill me…'
"Yes?"
"IaskedifIcouldgooverhishouseafterschool." Yami caught it.
"You WHAT?!" Yugi shrank back against the wall as the Pharaoh attacked. A blow fell across his shoulders and he curled up to protect himself. "No property of mine will associate with the enemy!" Several more blows, and Yugi could feel the bruises forming. "You will stay away from him! Slaves DO NOT go to the beck and call of another owner!" The beating paused, and when Yugi looked up the Pharaoh was gone. Wincing, he picked himself up and turned for the stairs. Yami appeared at the top of the flight, holding something. Yugi backed away cautiously, making Yami scowl. "You have been far too disobedient and I too lenient," he commented disapprovingly. "The punishment will be harsher." He tossed Yugi a bandanna, and the teen slowly gagged himself, trembling.
"Kneel," said Yami forbiddingly. Yugi did as he was told; wondering morbidly what Yami held.
There was a sharp crack and Yugi arched with a sharp scream into the gag. A whip! Where in hell did his Yami get a whip?!
"I stole it from the Tomb Robber," commented Yami idly as he struck again. Another crack, another muffled scream. Yugi broke down sobbing as Yami hit him until his back was covered in welts. The Pharaoh stopped after ten lashes and dropped the whip before the sobbing boy. "Clean the whip. Next time you disobey it will be fifteen instead of ten. I expect dinner in an hour." He walked calmly up to his room and shut the door as Yugi wearily obeyed.
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"Yugi, Bakura lost his whip. He thinks you've got it," whispered Ryou in class the next day.
"What does he use it for?" Ryou started giggling.
"He's got a competition going with Malik on who can assembling the largest 'instruments of torture collection' in a month. That's his only shark hide whip. Do you know what happened to it?"
"Yeah," said Yugi softly. Ryou turned serious.
"Then you better find it and get it to him. He's planning to terrorize you after school. I tried to talk him out of it, but…well, you've met my yami." Yugi nodded absently, trying to sit straight so his back wouldn't rub against anything. Boy, did he hurt.
"Trust me, I would love to give Bakura that whip," he muttered. Ryou sighed in relief and both boys turned their attention back to the sensei.
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Yugi dashed out of school only to be grabbed and yanked into some bushes close to the doorway. He found himself staring up into the murderous visage of Yami Bakura.
"Where is my whip, bratling?" Yugi backed away nervously.
"Ya – Yami stole it. I didn't know until last night!" he yelped as Bakura raised a threatening hand.
"I want it back!"
"I'll steal it back for you, Bakura! Just – don't!" The white-haired spirit grabbed him by the shoulders, snarling.
"You better - " Yugi screamed at the pressure on his shoulders and the spirit dropped him hastily. "What?!" Ryou dashed into the bushes; attracted by the scream.
"Yami! What did you do to him?!" Bakura looked at him innocently.
"I touched him! That's all! I swear, Ryou!" His hikari eyed him before bending down to Yugi, who was lying on his stomach, panting.
"Yugi - ?" He nudged the smaller boy's back. Another piercing scream rent the air and Yugi scrambled away, eyes wide. "Yugi?"
"I – I," Yugi stuttered, "I've got to…go home. I'll get the whip back, Bakura. I'm…gomen, I got to go!" He dashed away from the confused look-alikes, who exchanged a look and a shrug of confusion.
Yugi panted as he ran down the road. Yami would be so mad if Yugi wasn't home first…Luckily, it seemed that Yami had gone with their friends to the Arcade again, leaving Yugi to his own devices for awhile. Yugi hurriedly cleaned the house, made dinner, and started in on his homework. He was nearly done when he felt Yami returning. He quickly opened the door.
Yami and Tea came up to the Game Shop slowly, pausing to kiss and laugh. Yugi felt a slight twist of his heart, and sighed gently as he finally let his own crush on his yami fade to nothing. Yami pushed him outside after he and Tea entered.
"Go to someone's house for the night, Yugi. Tea and I don't want you here right now."
"Yami, may I get my homewo - " Yami pulled him up by his hair.
"No! Now go and spend the night somewhere else!" He released his hikari and Yugi fled, hearing him turn to Tea. "I think Yugi made lasagna for dinner…"
Fifteen minutes later Yugi knocked on Joey's door.
"Just a sec'! Yug! What are ya doin' here buddy?" asked Joey in surprise.
"Yami and Tea don't want me at home. May I spend the night?" Joey shifted uncomfortably.
"Well, Pops is out for the week an' Mai an' I sorta wanted ta take advantage of the situa - "
"That's okay, Joey," said Yugi softly, turning from the door. "I'll see you at school." Now where would he go? Tristan was away for the week, and Bakura and Ryou probably wouldn't want him in with them. Besides, Yami said that being gay was disgusting and he hated the Tomb Robber anyway. Yugi was forbidden to consort with them. Seto was definitely out of the question after yesterday, and certainly not Isis or Malik and Marik. And Yugi still had to get that whip to Bakura! Yugi halted, bewildered.
"So now where do I go?" he asked the air pointlessly. He sighed and started walking.
Three hours later he nearly fell over his own feet with exhaustion as he passed yet another row of houses in yet another neighborhood, though Yugi was still fairly sure he was traversing a circle. Another hour and he walked into a garbage can, sending it clanging down the street. House lights turned on and a door opened. A white head poked out.
"Yugi?!" It was Ryou. "Hey, Bakura, Yugi's outside!"
"So?" Ryou rolled his eyes and dragged Yugi in. The teen was too tired to protest as Ryou led him to the living room where Bakura was lounged on the couch. "Did you get my whip yet?" Yugi shook his head wearily. "Why not?" he demanded.
"Ya – Ya – (yawn) Yami brought…Tea…over…" Ryou shook Yugi's arm to wake him up. "Hmm? Oh…and he told me to sleep elsewh – wh – where (yawn) tonight."
"Then why are you not sleeping?"
"Joey and Mai…Tristan's busy…I'm not 'lowed at Seto's or Marik's…or here!" He woke up with the realization. "So – (yawn) rry. I…have to go." He turned to leave, but Ryou still had hold of his arm.
"Go where?" Yugi looked downcast.
"The park probably. I just have to get there." He wandered out the door, looking a bit lost. Ryou turned to Bakura triumphantly.
"I told you something was up!" he crowed.
"I wouldn't think you'd be so happy," replied his boyfriend sardonically, "considering your friend is hurt because of it." Ryou frowned as that hit home, and sank into an armchair.
"Oh yeah…" Bakura stood, stretching.
"Why don't you think about it tomorrow, aibou? Tonight…" He held out his hands and Ryou gladly accepted them, letting his darkness lead him upstairs to their bedroom.
*
A/N: So how is it for a first chapter? I wanted to try typing a story instead of writing it and this came out. I've got the next chapter going and I'm having fun, but I'd like any suggestions that you would care to offer, kay?
Now press the little purple button at the bottom of your screen and review for me!