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 2: To Defy A Yami
Yugi awoke to someone shaking him the next morning.
"Yugi! Yugi, wake up!" He sighed and rolled over…to see Mokuba Kaiba.
"AHHHHH!"
"Yugi, it's just me!" The tri-colored boy sat up and stopped screaming.
"Mokuba? What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was on my way to school and I saw you on the bench. And I stopped and woke you and you screamed and - "
"I get the idea," he interrupted hastily. "Thanks for waking me. I'd better get to school." He stood tiredly and started down the road. Mokuba ran to catch up with him.
"Yugi, you don't have your backpack."
"I know," Yugi sighed resignedly.
"It's a three mile walk! You'll never make it on time!"
"I know."
"So would you like a ride or not?" the younger boy demanded. Yugi paused.
"I'm not allowed to even talk to you Mokuba. Yami would be furious if I took a ride!" Mokuba frowned, hurt, and Yugi stopped to look at him sadly. "Oh Mokuba, I really wish I could. I love you and Seto. But Yami will…ground…me if he catches me doing what I was told not to. He dislikes having rivals." The slightly smaller boy cheered up.
"Well, you don't have to tell him! I could drive you to your house and drop you off half a block from school! Yami won't have to know." Yugi considered it, looking at Mokuba's pleading expression.
"Oh, alright," he relented worriedly. "As long as Yami doesn't find out."
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"Bye, Yugi!" called Mokuba as his car drove away. Yugi waved and ran the rest of the way to Domino High School. He was five minutes late and received a warning, but apart from that everything was fine.
Yugi skipped lunch again and finished the previous night's homework in time for his afternoon classes. For the first time since it had begun, a few of Yugi's friends noticed his outcast position and frowned. Yami picked up on it and distracted them while sending a mental yell for Yugi to get out of sight and out of mind. The teen promptly vanished into the depths of the library and Yami told everyone his hikari was stressing about college next year and was busy cramming for all his courses. Yami of course had tried to talk him out of it, but how could he possibly say no to Yugi? They bought it. Well, except for Tea, who liked having Yami treat her like a queen, and Seto Kaiba, who listened in quietly from his own lonely seat and thought of Yugi's wistful glances toward the group. The matter was dropped and lunch continued, Yugi forgotten. Seeing this, Kaiba rose thoughtfully and left for the library to find the wielder of the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi was sitting hidden behind the very last desk of the row.
"Motou." He looked up. "How long have you been alone?" The boy looked furtively from side to side and checked that Yami was busy.
"Around when Yami got his body," he whispered.
"Why?"
"Please Seto, I'm not allowed to talk to you. Please go away."
"You tried to talk to me before," the billionaire pointed out.
"Yes, I know. And that's why I'm forbidden." Seto looked at him, and he elaborated. "You're Yami's rival. He really dislikes you, and he saw me talking to you. He doesn't want his pr – I mean, his hikari, consorting with 'the enemy' or with homosexuals, which is why I'm not allowed near Ryou or Bakura or Malik and Marik."
"But Yami hangs out with them."
"Yes, because he cannot control where they sit or who they consort with. But he can with me." Yugi looked away sadly. "And I'm not allowed."
"Do you always do what your yami tells you?" asked Seto angrily.
"Now, always." Kaiba snorted.
"Grow a backbone." Yugi bit his lip and watched wistfully as Seto left.
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"Yami, Yugi said - " Yugi sighed and turned to Tea from his homework.
"Fine, Tea, I'll make you some coffee. I just thought you'd be more capable of it yourself. Considering, after all, that I can't reach the coffee bean container." Tea stuck out her tongue from where she was practicing dance for her audition.
"Tough, Yugi. I'm Yami's now and I rank you. So shoo!"
"What happened to our friendship?" asked Yugi sadly, "You always had speeches on how we would always be friends; you helped and protected me from bullies, you were always kind and nice. Why do you hate me now?"
"It's not that I hate you," said Tea dismissively, "But you are a slave here and I am near to Yami's Queen. He is a Pharaoh after all. Therefore, why shouldn't I indulge myself? Now go make me some coffee before I take that whip to your sorry little hide." Yugi, still shaking his head over twisted logic, fled to the kitchen and spent the next half hour trying to reach the coffee beans. Tea was complaining from the other room as Yami came home, sending the powerful spirit into the kitchen angrily. He carelessly knocked over the precarious pile of assorted items that Yugi was perched atop, sending the little hikari toppling head over heels to the floor with a yelp of surprise. Yami hauled him up by the collar.
"Why have you not done as you were told?" Yugi gazed up at him, teary-eyed.
"I'm trying!" he protested. "But I can't reach that high - " Yami threw him onto the floor contemptuously – ignoring Yugi's hissing indrawn breath as his back hit – and kicked him.
"I do not want excuses! I am Pharaoh, and it's best you remember your place! Worthless, Yugi, you are worthless as a slave. You dare to deny the love of a Child of the Gods! Such a grievous error in your judgment is unforgivable, slave." The whip appeared in his hands (A/N: Duh, he's got magic powers; of course he can make it appear from wherever he kept it!) and he slashed down before Yugi could cover his face. With a crack, the milk-white check sliced open, and a long, bloody gash swept clearly across his visage. The whip came up again – Yami was ranting something – and Yugi curled up defensively; stuffing his hand in his mouth to muffle his sobs as the Pharaoh punished him, Tea watching on smugly.
After the beating was over, Yami and Tea made their own coffee and left for the bedrooms with a swift kick to incite Yugi to start supper. The hikari tearfully scrubbed the floor clean of his own blood and did as he was ordered. He went to his own room and changed his clothes (Yami forbade him the use of bandages), grabbed his homework and the whip, and left.
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Ryou opened the door to a quiet knock to see Yugi on his doormat, blood running down his face from a cut stretching from ear to jawline, across his nose.
"Yugi, what - ?!" The boy said nothing, but shoved an object into his hands before leaving. Ryou looked down at his hands as Bakura came up behind him.
"What did the brat want?" Ryou shook his head sadly and passed his yami a slightly bloodstained whip.
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The outside intercom buzzed.
"What?" snapped Seto, still glaring at the figures o his computer screen.
"There's a boy here," said the gate guard, "by the name of Yugi Motou. He wants to know if he can come in. I told him to take a hike, but he won't leave and I want to know if I should use force."
"NO!" said Seto, a bit too emphatically. He moderated his tone. "No. Motou can come in if he wants, but be sure to tell him that he better not disrupt my work."
"Okay," said the guard. "Oh, sir?"
"Yes?"
"You might want to let him see a doctor. Since he's a guest, I doubt you want him bleeding on your carpets."
"He's bleeding?" asked Kaiba sharply.
"Yeah, take a look." The teen pushed a few buttons on his control console and placed a video image of the front gatehouse on the screen. Yugi was sitting patiently outside the gate with a cut across his normally smooth skin. Seto frowned.
"Just send him in."
"You got it." Changing his computer back to the sums he had been balancing, Seto pushed another button on his intercom.
"Hey, doc, come up here with some bandages and antiseptic. I have a guest who's bleeding something vicious." He switched it off and went back to work. The doctor arrived ten minutes later.
"Master Kaiba?" he asked, confused. Seto glanced about.
"Yugi should have been here by now," he murmured. He began a systematic check of the surveillance cameras and found Yugi about halfway there, walking slowly and panting. "He's coming," said Kaiba. "He must have run here; he looks a bit winded." Yugi confirmed his argument a few minutes later, sitting gingerly on a stool as the doctor moved to his face. He tried to fend the man off, but when questioned, didn't have an excuse as to exactly why he refused bandages and so put up with them wearily, swearing silently to remove them before school tomorrow, or Yami'd kill him for direct disobedience – bandages and Kaiba Manor! – and he didn't want to anger the Pharaoh again so soon to his last beating. At least his yami no longer had the whip; hopefully Bakura would keep a closer eye on his instruments of torture in the near future.
Yugi sat quietly as Kaiba leaned back in his swivel chair to regard him curiously once more.
"So, what brings you here, Motou?" Yugi shifted and twisted the straps of his backpack, thinking of Yami.
"I told you I'd like to visit. I came to visit."
"And I said no."
"Yeah, so I found a way to get in despite that," Yugi said, slightly cheeky.
"And I could still throw you out."
"I think not," the teen announced, acting pompous and failing miserably. Kaiba hid a smile.
"And why not?"
"Because I'll raise a ruckus and Mokuba will know I'm here and I'll tell him everything." Seto blinked, and then frowned in slight admiration.
"You're entirely too clever for your own good," he informed the boy. Motou just grinned and let Seto return to his computer unmolested.
"DON'T interrupt me." Yugi nodded in accordance with the icy teen's wishes and pulled out his own homework; holding it awkwardly in his lap. They worked in silence for several hours before they were disrupted from a perhaps companionable stupor by the cheery voice of Mokuba over the intercom.
"Hey, big brother, it's dinner time! Come on, you've got to eat with me tonight!" Yugi pressed the send button.
"We'll be right there, Mokuba. I'll make sure your onii-chan eats."
"Yugi?! That you?" came the boy's voice joyously.
"None other."
"Great! But I thought you were no longer allowed to speak with us?"
"I'm not. Just don't tell Yami." He winked at a surprised Seto and turned off the intercom, motioning for the businessman to come to dinner. Grumbling under his breath, Seto reluctantly turned from his work and led the other boy to the kitchen, where Mokuba was sitting with assorted jars, breads, cold cuts, and a big grin.
"Seto! You're eating with me!" he crowed, jumping up to hug his older brother. Kaiba looked somewhere between discomfort and pleasure, but Yugi smiled softly at the little boy's happiness.
"Hi, Mokuba." The boy dropped off Kaiba and latched on to Yugi in a similar manner (albeit he didn't have to jump to hug the hikari, though Yugi had grown a few inches.).
"Yugi! What are you doing here?!"
"I asked your brother if I could come, and being the biggest, best brother you could hope for, he said yes." Seto gave Yugi the evil eye while the smaller boy stuck out his tongue cheerfully over the tangled black mane of Mokuba's hair, where the squealing child couldn't see.
"So, what's for dinner?" asked Yugi. Mokuba disengaged himself again and ran to the counter.
"Sandwiches!" he crowed. "Any kind!"
"Remind me," commented Seto, "exactly why do we have a cook?"
"To keep Mokuba under control?" suggested Yugi, eyeing Seto's little brother warily as the boy slathered jam onto a pickle-filled sandwich. "Mokuba, how much sugar have you had today?" The dark-haired boy paused in his assault of his triple-tiered sandwich.
"Um, lessee…Rebecca gave me a 100 Grand candy bar…Rody gave me M&M's…I bought a Snickers, Starburst, and Skittles…and I had coffee when I came home!" Seto stared at his brother in horror.
"No!"
"Yes!" Mokuba gladly declaimed. Kaiba just put his head in his hands and moaned. Yugi moved for the peanut butter jar and was opening it when his inactive mind link opened suddenly, making him yelp in surprise and sudden fear. Yami's angry voice exploded in his mind.
\YUGI!\
/Yes, Yami?/
\It's PHARAOH to you slave! Now, where are you?!\
/I-I thought you wouldn't want me to be around after I completed my duties, Ya - Pharaoh. I – you went upstairs with Tea; I-I thought you would like privacy…/
\Slaves are not meant to think, Yugi\ commented the spirit, though he sounded mollified.
/I'm sorry/
\Well, you might as well stay away then…\
/I – If I may ask, what is it you needed me for?/ asked Yugi timidly.
\Nothing. Tea wanted to punish you because you left her computer on, that's all\
/But it's MY comp - /
\SLAVES OWN NOTHING!\ Yami thundered. Yugi winced and cringed, barely hearing Mokuba and Seto's slightly worried dialogue.
/Gomen-nasai, Pharaoh/ he mind-whispered.
\Good.\ And Yami was gone. Yugi sighed thankfully and shut off his side of the link. No more mind-to-mind with Yami. It just wasn't safe. He shuddered to think of what his Yami might be able to do to him by messing around in his head. He winced at the thought.
"Yugi-kun?" It was Mokuba. "Are you okay?" Yugi nodded.
"That was Yami, right?" Another nod. "What did he say?"
"Oh, he just wanted to know where I was. Tea wanted to ask me something."
"Oh really? Then why were you wincing?"
"I just…she asked…about my past and it happened to be about…about when I used to be bullied…and I didn't really like remembering it." Silently, he congratulated himself on a lie well done. Seto considered him. 'That had too many pauses…but Yugi sucks at lying…he was telling the truth. Okay.' Shrugging, Seto accepted and deep inside, that acceptance made Yugi wilt. 'I've betrayed their trust…and they believe me…it will keep happening…and now they'll hate me when – if – they figure it out because I lied to them! I lied…'
"So, are you still free to stay for dinner?"
"Yeah." Yugi forced a sunny smile on his face. "I hope you don't mind."
*
A/N: Aaaaaaaaaannd, end chapter two! So whaddaya think, eh? I love this thing. I'm gonna write a quick author's note for Chapter three b/c I want to explain to you EXACTLY WHY YAMI'S EVIL IN THIS STORY, KAY? So, it's IMPORTANT! DON'T MISS IT!!!!
And, um, please review; it's my only savior right now…
Thanks.
IMPORTANT CWFF AUTHOR'S NOTICE!!!!!!!!!!!
WHY YAMI'S EVILE:
Yami is a clever Pharaoh, ne? So, in this story, when first released from the Puzzle he wanted to make sure his aibou was willing to help him get a body = nice Yami. Also, he beat up everyone who hurt Yugi because they might cause damage to his vessel's body and thus damage him. After he got a body he stayed nice, convincing the old and dying Sugoruku Motou to leave everything in his care until Yugi came of age, that is to say, 21 years. Now that Yugi's grandfather died (of old age; not Yami), Yami is working to get Yugi to become his slave in mind and then eventually sign a contract saying he belongs to Yami in the eyes of the law, as well as any and all possessions. So now he can show his true side to Yugi and be mean…but he doesn't know how resilient our little hero is, now does he?