Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, or Yugi, or Yami, or any other aspect of this anime... sniffs sadly Yay! I got reviews!
Flashback
Even a month was too long… He shuddered to remember the thirty-one days spent at Pegasus's Castle. Only Yami knew what had really happened, and he had been lucky that Yami had rescued him in the first place. He shouldn't have bothered. I'm not worth it anymore.
End Flashback
They reached the school doors and went in. Immediately people converged on Yugi. The first one was Anzu, a mildly pretty girl with lank brown hair and cerulean eyes.
"YUGI!!!! OH MY GOSH IT'S REALLY YOU!!!" She bounded over to them and glomped Yugi.
He groaned inwardly. The only thing he hated more than Anzu's whiny voice was the words that came out of it, and her touchy-feely mood was really making him jittery. Jou growled and tried to pry her off Yugi, but she wouldn't budge.
"Hello Yugi, Jou, sweet, sweet Anzu. You are so pretty Anzu. Did anyone tell you that you smell of blood?" Yugi swayed, remembering that very smell, before turning to meet the speaker, Marik.
Anzu squealed and ran off, casting hunted looks over her shoulder.
"Hello Malik, Marik." Said Yugi. "Thanks for the help."
Marik laughed. "No problem. Hey, where's the Pharaoh?"
/Yami? Where are you?/ Called Yugi into Yami's mind.
"I'm here, aibou." Said a voice over Yugi's shoulder. He looked up to see that Yami had joined the group, along with Otogi, Mai, Bakura and Ryou.
"Hello, everyone!" Said Ryou excitedly. Bakura glowered, but everyone knew that he had changed a lot since he fell in love with Ryou. The two were looking sleek and tanned, results of the vacation in Egypt that had gone on for much of the summer.
Everyone walked to their first class, one that they all shared. Inwardly, Yugi was glad that he had at least one friend in all of his classes. Sometimes it seemed that bullies flocked to him.
Yami's POV
Yami dropped into his seat for the last class of the day. Lunch had been uneventful but so far he hadn't seen hide or hair of his boyfriend. Hopefully Seto would be in this class.
Yami cheered to himself when Seto slunk in late, classic trenchoat immaculate, state-of-the-art laptop in hand. He wrote a quick note, crumpled it up, and threw it into the young CEO's lap.
Seto read it quickly, glancing at Yami once before nodding his head a tiny fraction. Yami knew that Kaiba had just agreed to meet him in the park in a few hours, after he walked Yugi home.
Yami waited expectantly until the bell rang and then he was the first out of Sensei Kikyo's (A.N. Atleast the name's Japanese, right?) class. Yugi had just shut his locker door when Yami found him and they walked out in a companionable silence.
At least it might have seemed companionable to Yugi; Yami was busy scanning the area to make sure no one was any danger to his hikari. He had lost Yugi once and if he did it again Yami feared there would be nothing left of the boy he loved.
Wait a second! Love??? Where did that come from? Yugi's like my little brother! It's just wrong for me to like him!
A niggling voice in the back of his head reminded Yami that Ryou and Bakura had hooked up and there was nothing wrong with that, or with Malik and Marik for that matter.
Well, there's definitely SOMETHING wrong with those two! He snickered.
/Yami? What's so funny?/ Asked Yugi curiously. / /Nothing, little one./ / Replied Yami.
He companionably slung his arm around Yugi's shoulders, mentally cursing himself when Yugi froze for a second, but the aibou relaxed and leaned into Yami. Yami wondered why it hurt so much that Yugi was wary of him, and asked himself why it felt like his heart was being ripped in half.
Seto's POV
Seto Kaiba sat back against an oak tree at the park. Wind gently carressed his face and the sun shone in a cloudless sky, but nature was ignored as he thought deeply. How the hell do I tell him? He has the right to know.
He still hadn't answered the question to himself when Yami came striding over. "Sorry I'm late, Seto. I wanted to make sure Yugi got home safely."
Seto noticed a sad look pass over Yami's handsome features but he decided to get strait to the point. "Yami-"
"Seto, I know." He interrupted. "It's alright. You and Jou make a better couple than you and I do. He'll make sure you don't work too much."
Seto gaped, mouth hanging open, but his brain worked furiously. Yami had found out. And he actually wasn't mad. So what did that mean? Could Yami have feelings for someone else?
Yami laughed at Seto's expression.
"Seto, we both knew it wouldn't work out from the start. The sex was good, though!"
That penetrated Seto's whirl of thoughts and he chuckled. "It was, at that. But I'm sure you'll meet someone who can give you better, if you haven't already." Again the head of Kaiba Corp noticed the sad expression pass over Yami's face.
"Yami?" He asked suspiciously. "Is it Yugi?" Yami turned a shocked look to Seto.
"Yugi? What do you mean 'is it Yugi?' It's all Yugi. He is my aibou, after all. It's my job to protect him, and-" Yami realized that he was rambling and he jumped up. "Err, bye, Seto. Have fun with Jou! Give him my blessings!"
He ran off into the city, leaving Seto alone with his thoughts. Yami and Yugi? There's an idea…
Yugi's POV
Yugi was looking up terms for English class when Yami slammed the door. He could feel his darker halves' feelings of confusion and depression all the way from upstairs, so he abandoned the homework with a grimace.
"What's wrong, Yami?" He called down the stairs.
Yami came up to meet him, a slight frown plastered on his face. Yugi could tell that the frown was just for his benefit, that if Yami were alone he might be throwing things, not just sitting there looking mad.
That had happened before, and even if they lived on their own now with no Grandpa to get mad, their vases and lamps did not deserve a premature death that Yami could give them.
"I broke up with Seto today." He said slowly. "Seto deserves the true love he has found. He and Jou will do well together. I might miss him, but Jou will be perfect for him, if Jou can just get Seto to let him to be seme sometimes."
Yugi knew that Yami didn't know what he was saying, that he was focused on his own thoughts, but Yugi replied anyway.
"Seto and JOU? I never saw that coming!" He laughed weakly. "Well, sorry about that Yami. I'm gonna take a shower now." Yugi fled to the bathroom before Yami could say anything.
Words kept flying in his head. "Let him be seme…" "…Will do well together…" He retched.
How could people believe that sex was wonderful or fulfilling? It was black and dark and filled with monsters, monsters that would leap out at you, monsters that were disguised as humans!
Yugi felt his heart rate increase, until all he could hear was his own heart beating.
He mechanically turned on the shower, so Yami wouldn't get worried. Stripping off his shirt, a purple tanktop, his eyes brushed the mirror.
Yugi crumpled, his knees hitting the tile floor with loud cracks. It was just like his soul room, there were more of him, all broken and scarred. He felt so ugly, so hideous.
All the scars… He whimpered. The memories were coming, and he felt the smooth sheets covering his body.
"Don't make a sound…" A voice whispered near his ear. "You're mine!" Moaned another by his head. "You'll never leave me…" "Gods, you're so fucking tight!" "Wasn't that fun, Yugi Boy?" "I'm the only one who cares, you know." They kept coming, kept repeating, all the voices, never stopping, just tumbling over each other, cartwheeling…
Tears dripped down Yugi's face but he hardly noticed them as they made tracks down his cheeks, pooling together under his chin before dripping onto his bare chest.
Everything is wrong! He screamed to himself.
He didn't even hear the door burst open until Yami was holding him carefully, rocking him gently, wiping away the tears. Somewhere in a corner of his mind a voice said that Yami was too close, that close could be dangerous, but he blocked it out. This was Yami, his protector.
But will Yami want to protect me anymore? He can see the scars. He can see the ugliness.
The thought brought fresh tears to Yugi's eyes, but he tried to ignore them. He was so tired, tired of being alone, tired of the bruises inside him.
Yami's POV
Yami was lost in his own thoughts until he heard a wimper through the soul link. Fighting back panic, he found Yugi's location.
He was in the bathroom, apparently taking a shower like he had said, but the pain coming from his end of the link made Yami want to sob. He yanked open the door and scooped up his hikari, cradling him until the tears subsided and Yugi was silent.
A wan smile crossed Yami's face when he realized that he was asleep, face relaxed into the innocent expression Yami knew so well. He carried him into his bedroom, depositing him carefully on the bed.
Yugi looked like a fallen angel, so beautiful and forlorn, and Yami softly traced a scar on the angel's chest. There were so many scars, long and short, wide and skinny, designs and lines.
Perhaps… An idea surfaced and Yami concentrated the power from himself to Yugi.
When he opened his eyes some of the scars where gone, at least half. Yami grinned triumphantly, glad that at least the physical hurts could be healed. If only he wasn't so…tired…. Yami curled up next to his smaller counterpart and fell asleep.
TBC