At the End

By Evil Windstar

Summary: Jou is still nursing a broken heart when Yami makes his move on him…

Notes: And so we go off to the beginnings of the plot- zoom! Watch out, it's going to be a very bumpy, emotional ride for us all.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

And you never would have thought in the end
How amazing it feels just to live again

It's a feeling that you cannot miss

"Blue and Yellow", The Used

Chapter 1: Gone

"Hey, YUGE! Over here. Man, you're really late. I thought we said at 4:00?" Jou grinned widely to show he was joking when he saw the panic look on Yugi's innocent face. Yugi grinned back slight as he scratched his head, looking awfully like a young child of twelve years old with his slightly chubby cheeks and small stature.

"Hey, Jou. I'm sorry. Grandpa wanted me to do some more inventory before I left, but he gave me some new Duel Monsters cards to look over." A big grin. " I'm going to get something to drink. Want something before I go stand in line?"

Jou shook his head in response, raising his eyebrow as he watched his friend bounce away to the line in front of the register. Sometimes he could swear that Yugi was younger than he looked, but who was he to judge?

With his friend's presence away, Jou was once again plagued with thoughts of Kaiba. He brooded, stirring his cup with a small spoon. He closed his eyes sorrowfully, as much as he loathe to admit it he missed the carnal touches he would be given along his inner thighs. He blushed faintly as he remembered his response when Kaiba first did -that-.

Jou snarled into his cup as he took another sip from his coffee, taking care not to do the same thing twice (He already burned his tongue when he began to think. That's why he rarely, if ever, thought about things. He never paid attention to his surroundings when he was thinking.) Then he would really feel like an idiot. He mechanically put his cup down on the table; sure there was a brooding look in his eyes. He could really hate himself, hated the hold Kaiba seem to have over him even after what all that have happened.

A hand settled in his shoulder, giving him quiet reassurance. He glanced up, surprise on his lean face from being pulled out his dark hole of self-pity, and gazed into amethyst eyes that were self-confident, and arrogance lurked in there too like Kaiba. Jou blinked and shook his head and looked at Yugi again, wanting to make sure he wasn't going insane because of his lack of sleep.

He was quite sure he wasn't seeing things that weren't really there. Yugi seemed darker, haughtier than he usually was. Then there came an onslaught of memories that had occurred in Duelist Kingdom to Jou. He recalled how fierce and ruthless Yugi was when he was battling opponents, totally the opposite from the timid boy he met and when he wasn't dueling for Jou's honor. He seemed to change his personality; he became a totally different person when he was fighting for what he believed in. His cheeks burned on how Yugi was forced to duel for his dignity in that the ridiculous game of Dungeon Dice Duel Monsters with Otogi. Now he was really sure that his cheeks were crimson as he remembered the dog suit he was forced to wear, something he was also sure that Kaiba had something to do with., he wouldn't put it pass him. The sadistic bastard.

His friend sat down in the chair in front of him, blocking his view of the busy street outside. He had a cup in his hand, settling it down on the table and calmly putting sugar in it and then stirring it. He had an amused smile on his now-not-so-chubby face.

"What's wrong, Jou?" he said in a deep and much older voice when he caught sight of the flaming flush face before him.

"Remembering unwanted memories," he mumbled, lowering his face in embarrassment. His hair covered him completely, now he was really glad he had protested when Kaiba wanted him to cut his hair. Oh, gods. Even now, he couldn't escape from him!

"Which ones?" came the dry reply. Jou's head snapped up, his blush now gone, and stared at the grinning face of his friend.

"Very funny," Jou sniffed as he brought his cup and drank from it. His eyes studied inquisitively at his friend from the top of his cup. His eyes feasted on the much leaner face than Yugi had and narrowed watchful eyes that did not belong to his best friend. Yes, he was sure now. This was not Yugi, the one he had befriended. Because what he felt around Yugi wasn't the same when the dark spirit came out. "So..."

"Yes?" An elegant eyebrow was raised. He faintly wondered if Jou had already figured it out. He knew the blonde could be quite intelligent when he chose to be, which wasn't most of the time he noticed. He couldn't help but feel a deep fondness for the blonde that was akin to what a lover would feel.

"I know now your real name, Yami," Jou said slowly as he played with the cup in his hands, hesitant to say the words for the fear that he was wrong with his deductive reasoning. "I know you have dwelled within Yugi for quite sometime now, after I witnessed the internal struggle that Yugi had after battling Kaiba. I thought that Yugi had lost it, I mean the trauma of losing his grandfather's soul to Pegasus really made him angry."

"Yes, it did," he answered softly, looking at the blonde with a tender look in his eyes. His slender fingers played with themselves on top of the table. His own mind was in turmoil after he had talked to Ishizu. His mind swirled with questions demanding to be answer about his long ago past. His eyes stared at Jou's face, noticing faint lines around his amber eyes indicating that he hadn't been sleeping well in the past few months.

Yami raised his cup to his lips, saying conversationally, "You look like crap, Jou."

Jou stared at him blatantly, his eyes not revealing of how much he suffered since his separation with the thick-headed idiot. "I'm ok. It's just the whole damn thing of school and shit from my mother not letting me see Shizuka." Now it was Yami's turn to stare, his eyes saying he did not believe him.

"Anzu told me you were a pharaoh when you had your own body," Jou said swiftly changing the subject, afraid of the look in the spirit's eyes, all that concern for him. They were different from the look Kaiba used to give him, the hungry look of want and lust in the luminous pools of blue eyes. He shook himself again to rid of himself of all thoughts of Kaiba.

Yami gave him a strange look as he did that. He gave his trademark grin to tell everything was all right, no need to worry about him. He internally sighed in relief when his friend backed off, he did not want anybody pitying him for his mistakes with Kaiba.

"Yes, I was. It is quite strange knowing I was a ruler of a great empire and knowing that I saved the world from darkness. But I hate not knowing anything of what I did and how I came to power," Yamu finished frustrated, happy venting out his questions to another ear that did not belong to Anzu or Yugi.

"Well, you must have been the eldest son of the previous pharaoh or you were the favorite subject of the pharaoh. That's the only way you could have been pharaoh of Egypt," Jou said quietly, surprising even himself with his spout of sudden knowledge.

"Really? I suppose you are right," Yami said thoughtfully, even though his very faint memories told him otherwise that he gotten himself to the throne in a much more sinister way than Jou could ever imagine.

Yugi was playing in his soul room, not really paying attention to the conversation Yami was having with Jou, when he had jerked up in surprise after hearing Jou's previous lines of wisdom.

/Wow! So he does pay attention in class!/ he mindspoke happily to Yami.

"Mind you, I only pay attention to history. It's the only class where I don't fall asleep," Jou chuckled softly.

With that said, he burst the bubble of Yugi's happiness. /Ok, never mind. Just ignore me from now on what I say about Jou./

Sure, I'll keep that in mind,Yami mindspoke back wryly.

"Hmm, I know what you mean. I fall asleep too when Yugi's in class," Yami responded out.

"That is so cool! I wish I could do that," Jou exclaimed as he launched into a tirade of how much he hated school and among other various things that had nothing to do with school.

Yami smiled at the apparent happiness of the blond, his heart much lighter now he had made his beloved more cheerful. He had noticed the sadness that seemed to cling like a wet cloth around the blonde's pale face when he thought nobody wasn't looking at him in school. His eyes would firmly be set in his food and his lips would tighten whenever there was a mention of Seto Kaiba. If he didn't know any better, Yami would say that Jou was suffering from a broken heart, but that was preposterous. Wouldn't Jou say something if he was dating his rival? No, he wouldn't, the spirit thought uneasily.

As the ancient pharaoh was dwelling within his own thoughts, he did not pay much attention to what his body was doing. It seemed that Yugi had gain control of the upper part of the body for he had put his own hand on top of Jou's as he babbled on and on. Yugi knew of the growing affection that the spirit felt for Jou. He also knew that the spirit would never gain the courage to confront Jou about this, so he did something only a friend would do in a situation like this: give him a push in the right direction. So he held Jou's hand, waiting for Jou to at least notice the physical contact. When Jou made no move to withdraw his hand, Yugi came to the conclusion that at least Jou felt something for the spirit too.

Jou cursed at himself as he let himself run his mouth off, carefully watching himself not to reveal anything too embarrassing. This what he often done, distract his audience with his tales of idiocy and watch them with sharp scrutiny. So he was surprised when the ancient pharaoh's face and actions came unguarded, so like Kaiba yet so different. Both were just as ruthless and vicious, though Kaiba was more ambitious of the two.

Jou's mind analyzed the things that were going around him. He wasn't ready to deal with this, not when his wounds were still raw from the hurt Kaiba had thrown at him as Jou was leaving him. "I was going to get rid of anyways, mutt. Thank you for beating me to it and for being such a great fuck I'll grant you that. At least there's something you can be proud, unlike your inferior dueling skills. I used you, you know. The sex was great but I no longer have any use for you. I found myself a bitch better than you," Kaiba said softly, with absolutely no emotion in his tone of voice or in his eyes. No what hurt more was the lack of emotion that Kaiba had displayed, or more accurately hadn't displayed. In fact, Jou would have been happy if he had at least yelled at him but no, Kaiba didn't even give him that.

He was about to withdraw his hand from the warm grip when his head challenged his heart. His head pointed out that this would provide a distraction from his self-pity and depression while his heart quivered under the hurt it would surely receive if he dared to be coy with the ancient pharaoh. But both mind and heart were overruled when he saw how Yami looked at him so tenderly, so lovingly that Jou realized that he craved to be loved by another that would surely return his own love. His body responded with a fierce passion, here was his chance, his chance to redeem what he had done wrong with that baka Kaiba. His opportunity to be like one of the couples that had a beloved to be with and to love, something he had always denied himself for the fear of being rejected or used, like Kaiba had done with him. His eyes prickled with tears as he squeezed his eyes shut, no more idiocy fell from his lips, making the spirit look at him with apparent worry in his eyes. He paid no attention to the sudden silence that had fallen between them.

He willed them away, what was the use? Tears would not make Kaiba come back to his arms, nor would it solve his problems. Finally the months of exhaustion of being in denial caught up to him.

Under the lid of his eyes came a single tear, followed by another and another soon a flood of liquid crystals flowed down his face. Inside his mind, he laughed at himself, taunting himself of how weak he was, nobody needed him because of his weakness. Look at him! Finally breaking down in a public coffee shop when there were people to witness this, to laugh at the sight of tears! He buried his head in his arms, trying to shield himself from the cruelty of the world. His soft sobs escaped the cage of his throat. He instinctively tried to silence his whimpers, they would laugh at him more if he cried out loud!

He flinched when he felt a hand grip his chin, making him raise his face to the world, to see his shame. His shoulders trembled with fear as a hand caressed his tear-stained face, gently wiping away the evidence of his shame. He opened his teary eyes, catching sight of two blurry floating lavender eyes. Somehow, the spirit had gotten much closer, trying to soothe him. He then realized fingers were moving in his blond strands, massaging his scalp, and a voice tenderly singing under his breath in unknown tongue.

"Jou what's wrong? Shh, don't cry. I didn't think holding your hand would warrant for your tears," Yugi said soothingly. He has quickly changed places with Yami because the spirit was at a lost to what to do. Yami knew many things but he did not know how to comfort a crying young man.

"I'm sorry," Jou finally croaked out. His eyes were red and puffy, his nose slightly watering. He sniffed and rubbed his face.

"For what?"

"For making you see me like this," he sniffed softly. "You always come to my rescue. I don't want you to worry about me, I'm not worth that much." The last comment came out bitterly.

Yugi frowned. "I'm your friend. By that alone, I have a right to worry about you. And so does Yami, Honda, Anzu, and Ryou."

"I know but I don't want to be a burden. You have to understand that I have learned to only depend on myself, to get my ass outta trouble."

"You sure do that a lot, especially with Kaiba in school," Yugi chuckled good-naturedly. "But as always Kaiba manages to weasel himself and you out of detention."

Jou's face darkened at the mention of Kaiba, who let him go so easily as if he didn't care. He snarled, "Don't remind me." Finally, his tears had dwindle down because he had a reason to burn with self-righteous anger to who was the cause of the angst.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Good thing I don't leave you and Yami alone with Kaiba. I have this feeling you two would gang up on him and hide his body without me there."

"I think Kaiba can hold his own. He doesn't need you to protect him. Not to mention he knows how to throw a good punch. Anyways, why are we talking about Kaiba? The cold bastard doesn't deserve to be the center of our conversation." Jou was eager to drop the subject as soon as possible, the faster the better.

Yugi nodded. "At least that made you stop being sad. Won't you tell me what's wrong?" Jou shook his head. "You know you're my best friend and everything but some things are meant to keep under wraps. I'm sorry."

A sigh, "It's ok, Jou. I respect your wishes but Yami fully intends to hunt down the person who made you cry when he finds out."

Jou smiled slightly. "So he wants to be my knight-in-shining-armor? He can take it, the position is wide open to anybody who cares." Again, bitterness crept into his voice.

Yugi bit his lip. /What's wrong with him, Yami? I've never seen him like this. I don'r know what to do./

Aibou, I think he's suffering from a broken heart. That's the only explanation.

/I think you're right. But it was either very brief and intense and Jou's mad because he can't get anymore or Jou liked- no, loved this person very much./

But whoever it was will feel my wrath.

/Oh? Really? Well I would hate it if I was YOUR enemy. Hmm, we might never know because Jou knows when to keep his mouth shut when it suits him.

Jou raised his eyebrows when he saw the blank look on Yugi's face. No doubt he was communicating with the spirit. He found himself thinking wistfully for the spirit to replace Yugi for a while. No. He wanted Yami to come out, he realized. He wanted Yami, wanted Yami to be his constant companion. He could no longer deny it. He wanted him for a long time now. The way he was so confident and arrogant that appealed to Jounouchi in a way that Kaiba could have never done, or hope to achieve. With a start, Jounouchi wondered if what he saw in Yami he saw in Kaiba which made him initiate the relationship in the first place or had he confused the two? Had he confused Yami with Kaiba or Kaiba with Yami?

Then he felt the persistent warning that a migraine was going to come if he did not stop thinking so much, like he ever did, Jounouchi snickered at himself, not noting the bright flash that took place in the coffee shop.

He raised his eyes from the table, to look at Yugi, Nope, it was Yami. Jou allowed himself to feel an ounce of immense pleasure.

"AHH! Stop that! Half the time I don't even know who I'm talking to," Jou mocked-whined as he grinned. Yami stared at him, a perplexed look that refused to dislodge from his face.

"Ok..." the deep voice rumbled out from the cage of his throat as a smile graced his thin lips.

"Sometimes I really wonder about your lack of sanity." Jou threw back his head and laughed good-naturedly then he preceded to give as good as he got. A game of wits, you might say, and yes, Jou can be intelligent when he wants to, NOT when he has to. How do you think he managed to survive for so long in Duelist Kingdom?

So the two friends spent their whole entire afternoon in each other's company.

This was nice, Jounouchi reflected as he sipped his second cup of coffee and teased the hell out of Yami, who could only sputtered and turn red when Jou's unedited vulgar tongue. But of course, Yami could only think of better things for Jou's tongue to be doing, to him, for him. If anything, this caused Yami's cheeks to turn an embarrassing scarlet as his thoughts turned more dirty and Jounouchi could only seize the opportunity to tease him even more mercilessly.

Finally, he relented and gave a last hearty laugh, crumbling his cup and aimed at the piling trash by the dark corner. "Well done, Yami complimented, smirking slightly, whether on his shoot or his teasing, Jou wasn't quite sure. He turned to look out the window and to his surprise, it was raining. Oh no... He gave a glance to his non-jacketed self, he had brought nothing warm to wear, thinking it was going to be a nice day but apparently that wasn't going to happen anymore. Man, he really wasn't looking forward in ducking in alleyways and stores to avoid being rained on. Talk about bad luck. "Don't worry Katsuya. I know how to share," Jou whipped around to stare at Yami's soft smiling face. "See?" He waved his umbrella that had little Dark Magicians imprinted on it and placed it on the table. "Let's go."

Jou followed him outside to the downpour, shivering as the blast of wind forcefully hit him with its icy coldness, surrounding him, consuming him, drowning in the blue eyes that had such fear and alienation too far gone for anybody to save the owner of the blue eyes. 'He expected you to catch him when he fell and you dropped him like a diseased rat....' He reached out a hand to bring him back but it was too late. The wind was gone and so was his Seto. He laughed in his mind, a cold cynical voice told him: 'Your Seto? He was never yours to begin with. Kaiba Seto belongs to -no- one. And you forgot that.'

He flinched when he noticed a cold hand was holding the hand he had reached out to Kaiba in his mind. He faintly heard Yami saying that he would be more than glad to hold his hand but first he had to open the umbrella... He forced himself back to reality, a reality where Seto he knew was gone and replaced by Kaiba, it could never be, it was never meant to be, the failed relationship between them was testament enough. So why was he looking for another to replace the deep chasm within him? Was he that lonely, or did he want to forget everything that took place between them? Was he really that pathetic?

"Oh... Yami, this isn't going to work. I'm too tall for you," He grinned down at his partner, doing anything to take away the pain. Yami promptly mocked-punched him on the shoulder, nothing like Honda gave him.

"Shut up. It's not my fault I'm short and you're so tall. It will work, ok," Yami insisted, looking real determined for them to share the umbrella, or was it something else that Yami wanted? Imagine his surprise when Yami grabbed him by the waist to pull him closer, not letting go, after he was handed the umbrella. "See? We huddle together so the umbrella can cover both of us and we preserve body heat at the same time." Now who could argue with logic with that? Not Jou. He wasn't going to pass this opportunity to press up against the pharaoh and the sweet thing was that Yami was looking for it.

Jou laughed, "If you wanted me to be close to you, couldn't you just have ask me?" He glanced at Yami and was surprised to catch some faint pink on his cheeks as he turned away. He had meant to just tease but... this was coming too close to home. "Ummm, let's start walking shall we? Heh-heh."

The two walked silently and it was killing Jounouchi. He twitched and fidgeted as they approached his run-down apartment building. He had to do something. Yami had to do something! He didn't care what it was, as long as it was something! 'Gah,' he thought. 'This is getting absolutely ridiculous. I know he likes me and he knows I like him. So why isn't he doing anything? By now, Kaiba would have ravished me and fucked me three times by now.... Fuck. Why can't I stop thinking about him? This is not fair. The bastard is probably going on with HIS what-he-calls-a life. And here I am, still brooding about him while I'm practically being held by another guy that acts almost like him when he's dueling. But this is so sweet, walking me to my apartment... Kaiba never did that...'

They stopped on the corner, waiting for the light to turn green. Yami's arm was wrapped around him firmly, providing ardor and familiarity that Jounouchi never experienced. He couldn't help but lean in the warmth, basking in it and going to unknown reality he never gone to, a place where he was loved and appreciated.

"Katsuya..." a faint whisper, Jou turned and was startled to see Yami so close to his face, with both arms now around his waist. He blinked at him and raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm sorry... but I..."Yami stood on his toes, hands grabbing his hips firmly and pulling himself to his height, specifically to his lips. Soft, hungry lips touched his own and Jou couldn't stop his own natural reaction to kiss back, closing his own eyes to accept gladly the darkness that would soon engulf him. They danced, they kissed, and they dueled for supremacy with their tongues and lips, hands caressing each other.

Feeling exhilarated, Jounouchi moved his hand to settle on Yami's shoulder but as it soon landed on its attended target his hand burned as if it was touching fire. His eyes snapped open, expecting to see Yami's closed eyelids, and with shock he could hear whispers and echoes of voices in his mind. Images of people flashed in his mind, people he knew... There was Anzu, standing right next to Yami's throne! A dark-skinned man was settled on his knees, head perched on Yami's lap, back turned to the world. Bakura was lurking in the shadows and Honda was standing next right to... him? What was this?

A/N: Now what's going to happen next? Read on! Please? puppy eyes