New Review Responses:

Aniron Legolas: Lol... this is my first attempt at YY/Y/S so I hope you enjoy this as you did the other one's you have read ^^V

Wolfspeaker1: Thankies ^^; Glad you like it so much.

Sherry-chan: Yeah, I did have chapter 2... until someone said there was a list. Where? Someone tell me where, cuz I have been reposting as the same file as I did before.

SecretSoul: Heh, thanks, glad you like my writing ^^;

Shandrial: Nah, I always knew Kaiba wasn't that bad... well, in my own little world that is ^^; I don't want to make him too OOC, but a lot of people tell me that Kaiba being nice to anyone besides Mokuba is completely OOC.

Old Reviews:

Thanks Yami-Yugi, Nicky, lily22, Charmeleon, ChaosDragon, DarkMagicianGirl, Hikari Yamasa, ^_^ and YumeTakato for reviewing!

Charmeleon: Well, I wasn't really looking to impress people, but if you want to rate it go ahead ^^;; I hope you'll like it, tho.

Yami: -.-

Yuugi: -.-

Kaiba: -.-

Y-n-Y: What??

Yami: Let me at her!

Yuugi & Kaiba: ::hold ancient spirit back::

Yami: ::starts ranting about how the authoress is very very evil::

Y-n-Y: Yes, I know... u_u;;

Choices

Always a Savior

Chapter 2

Hours before the morning sun appeared, Yami had gone back into his puzzle and waited for Yuugi to awaken.

"Good-morning, Yami," he heard Yuugi say to his puzzle.

Yami's heart cringed and cried out. Yuugi was so hopeful and it pained him to not be able to come out and greet him.

"Yami?"

He knew that someday Yuugi would forget him. Yami would just have to put up with the guilt. The spirit closed his eyes and hid himself even further from Yuugi's mind.

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Yuugi lifted up Yami's puzzle and remembered. He didn't want to. He wanted to pretend Yami was there and hadn't left, but that was the reality. He felt himself crying again, his very soul felt empty without his other self there.

He put the puzzle back down and wiped his eyes. It was a Monday and he had to get prepared for school. He had to put Yami out of his mind, just for a little while. He took a quick shower and got dressed. He placed Yami's puzzle in his backpack and his own around his neck, hoping that the presence of Yami's puzzle would help him through the day.

He heard a knock at the door and knew it was his friends waiting for him. "I'm coming!" he yelled, pulling his shoes on.

Opening the door he saw his three friends with grins on their faces and backpacks over their shoulders. He smiled, too, welcoming their presence. "C'mon, Yuug' or we're gonna be late for school again," his best friend, Jounouchi, said jokingly.

Yuugi nodded. "Let's get going then!"

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Kaiba sat in his seat, watching Yuugi carefully. He knew Yami's disappearance had affected his boyfriend in the worst way. No one saw it and if they did, they kept quiet about it. He was trying to figure out why Yami would leave Yuugi. Was it because they didn't get along? Was it because Yuugi didn't love him back? Maybe a combination? And where would he go? Jounouchi's? Honda's? Anzu's? Surely they would tell Yuugi.

During lunch, Kaiba sat down with Yuugi and the others and saw Yuugi acting almost normal. He couldn't believe Yuugi would give up that easily. They were close. Kaiba was sometimes jealous at their bond, but he knew it was nothing more than a friendship closer than any other's. 'No, Yuugi didn't give up. If I ever see Yami again, I'll make him regret doing this to Yuugi.'

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Yuugi sighed when the school bell rang, glad his act could stop for a while. He packed up his stuff and got up from his desk to leave.

"Yuugi?"

Closing his eyes, he smiled and turned to Seto. "Yes, Seto?"

"Are you all right?"

'Could I lie to Seto?' He turned his back on his boyfriend and felt tears wanting to escape. "I... I don't know."

He felt a hand land on his right shoulder. "Come on, let's go to my place. Maybe we can try searching for him."

Yuugi nodded. "Thank you, Seto."

Yuugi walked with him to Kaiba's car and got in the front seat next to Kaiba. "Why don't we ride around a bit, maybe we'll see him walking around?"

Yuugi grinned. 'That's right. He's probably walking around somewhere, thinking; realizing that it was foolish of him to leave. That must be it.'

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Yami sat quietly in the puzzle listening to Yuugi's conversations and thoughts. He knew that he was letting Yuugi have false hopes. But he couldn't let himself be known. He had decided to give up his bond with Yuugi forever. He knew it was a rash choice, but that it was also the right choice. His decision was absolute.

Hours passed and Yami waited and hoped for the end of Yuugi's search. The hopeful thoughts Yuugi had made him feel like he was the greatest monster in the world. Yuugi was absolutely crying on the inside. Wanting to know what HE had done wrong. Yami had been very tempted to appear and yell at Yuugi for blaming himself. He wanted to tell him it was HIS own decision to leave and that he should stop the useless search.

But...

He couldn't.

The pain and suffering Yuugi felt, doubled in Yami's own heart. Adding the pain of his new sacrifice he made. He wanted to block the pain and hurt and sadness, of both his and Yuugi's, but he remained in his position.

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Yuugi sighed and stood up. "I'm going to get going, Seto."

"Do you want me to drive you? It's getting dark," the CEO offered.

"No, that's okay. I want to walk. Maybe I can clear my head a bit."

Kaiba bent down to place a kiss on his lips. "Be careful."

"I will."

Yuugi began his walk towards his home. Occasionally stopping; thinking he might have seen a shadow of Yami. He was two blocks away when he heard footsteps behind him. 'Oh, no!' He remained calm and tried to look as confident as he wish he felt. But the footsteps just grew closer.

"Hey, you!"

A big hand landed on Yuugi's shoulders, immediately stopping him. "Y-yes?"

The hand forced him to turn around. He saw not just one guy, but three others had surrounded him. "Now, you'd better hope you've got a lot of money on you, punk. The less money you have the harder we punch."

"B-but-I don't have any money with me..." Yuugi felt fear grip his heart.

"No money?" One asked.

"Isn't that a shame?" The one in front of him grabbed the front of his shirt. "'Cuz people with no money, usually had some problems breathing after we get done."

The other guys surrounding Yuugi came in closer. 'I... I'm going to die...' He felt tears start up in his eyes. Then the first punch came, landing right on his chest. His head spun as another fist jabbed his chin. He tasted blood in his mouth, realizing he must have bitten his lip at the impact. A blow to his gut had his vision go white...

~*~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

"Aibou, what happened?" Yami said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Who were those people that ganged up on you?"

"They just... bullies, from school... Th-they ganged up on me... I couldn't think-" Yuugi felt his yami place a bag of ice on his left eye. He lifted a hand to hold in place. "I just kept calling for you, Yami... and you came."

Yami smiled a bit and nodded. "Whenever you need help, just call for me and I'll be right there to help with whatever is wrong."

Yuugi grabbed one of Yami's hands with his free one. "You promise?"

"I promise." His yami placed his other hand over the already joined pair.

Yuugi smiled a bit. "Thank you, mou hitori no boku."

The spirit nodded. "Now you need to sleep. Your wounds need time to heal." He brought the sheets up and tucked his aibou in.

~*~*~*~END OF FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

'Maybe if I call... for him... he would come... and protect me... like he said...' He gathered his strength and shouted,

"YAMI!"

Another punch got his side and he felt himself being flung to the ground.

"YAMI!" he called again.

"Who're you calling for, huh? You think someone's going to save you?" A foot stomped on his stomach and knocked the wind out of him.

"Yami... help..." the world grew black and cold. And he was without help.

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Yami's eyes jolted open. 'YUUGI!' He quickly made an exit from his puzzle and stood behind Yuugi, so he would see him. He stood in the shadow and realized his light had been knocked unconscious. 'How had this happened? I should felt something...' As soon as he emerged from the shadows, he felt someone grab him.

"Hey, look, it's another one."

Yami cursed and elbowed the guy in the stomach. He had no idea that there were three more behind him until it was too late.

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The gang had made short work of Yami. He was caught off guard and that was why he was laying in a small pool of his blood. He stood, half upright, and saw Yuugi laying a foot away, in worse condition then himself. "Yuugi..." He staggered a bit, still weak from the beating. He found the strength to pick up Yuugi and carry him home.

He opened the door and went directly to Yuugi's room. He took off Yuugi's bloodied clothes and began to clean the cuts and bandaged some of the deeper ones. Once accomplished, he redressed his aibou and left a bowl with ice in it next to his bed.

He knew he couldn't be there when Yuugi awakes, and he couldn't go back into his puzzle because his wounds did need to be treated and it was something the puzzle could not accomplish. He placed a soft kiss on his forehead. "I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner, mou hitori no ore."

He saw Yuugi's eyes flicker open a bit. "Y-Yami...?"

Yami's eyes widened and he began to limp backwards. Once he was out of the room, he began to walk even quicker, as fast as his injuries would let him.

He began to wonder where he would go. 'His friends would tell, no matter what... but... Kaiba... he might... keep me a secret, for Yuugi's sake... at least just until I am better.'

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

Yuugi's eyelids lifted open. He could have sworn he saw Yami just now. Yuugi sat up and looked at his surroundings. He was... home.

But... he remembered being attacked outside... on his way back from Kaiba's house. He was beaten up very badly.

That WAS Yami.

'He kept his promise. I could have died... but he came.' Yuugi began to stand, but was way too tired to try anything like that. 'I know he's watching. He must've been.' Yuugi laid back down and shut his eyes, knowing that Yami would always be there.

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

Yami spent the rest of his strength en route to Kaiba's house. He would put aside his pride. He would ask for his help and after he was recovered and well rested he would thank Kaiba and leave to protect Yuugi. He tried not to limp so much, not wanting to cause any attention towards himself. He was in bad shape and not well enough to protect even himself.

It had just started raining, when he came up to the gates and grabbed a hold of the metal bars. A string of lightning flew through the air. "K- Kaiba..." his hand fumbled for the doorbell. He finally felt a button under his fingertips. He pressed the button once...

He felt his eyes flutter close, but managed to keep himself conscious. He waited for a bit Then he rang it for a second time.

He was going for a third when the blood lost had caught up with him and he fell to the ground in a pile of a broken man.

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

"Good-night, Seto," Mokuba said, climbing into his bed.

"Sleep well, little brother."

Kaiba turned off the lights and walked out of his brother's room. Just as he had closed the door, the doorbell rang. He grumbled about the time and made his way downstairs. He was halfway down, and it rang again. "I'm coming!" he called as he neared the door.

He opened the door, but was no one there. That means the person was too lazy to walk all the way and was still at the gate. Not minding the rain, he started to walk along the path to the gate. It was dark, so he wouldn't be able to see anyone until he got closer. Lightning flashed through the sky and thunder soon followed. It was the only light.

It had been a new moon, so not even the moonlight would help.

When he had figured he was close enough he still saw no one. "Stupid pranksters..." He annoyance at whoever had rung the bell.

Another flash lit the area and as he took on more look on the ground, he saw the figure of a man, crumbled together, shaking.

Y-n-Y: Dun dun dun!

Yami: I'm... gonna... kill...

Yuugi: ^^;;

Kaiba: Just let him, Yuugi.

Y-n-Y: TRAITOR!!!!!!