Angel Corrupted

Disclaimer: Do I own Yu-Gi-Oh? *checks* No. Do I make profit from this fic? No! Tis all.

A/N: The stuffs continues to be here. AU, possible OOC-ness (they did grow up differently, eh?), bloody stuffs, some swearing… shounen-ai! Yami/Yugi, slight Bakura/Ryou and possible Seto/Joey. Will be using American names (mostly…), as that's the version I get!

There is a high unlikely-ness that there will be lemons in this fic, unless I can sucker one of my friends, Sazza (the yaoi pimp!) and Kitsune Kitana into it. Said peoples are also my beta readers and should be thanked.

Yugi's school does not exist in Dartmouth and proly N.S., though I'm quite sure another school of the same name exists somewhere else. Please excuse Joey's accent, it comes and goes in my writing…-_-;

YES! It is finally here! The SIXTH CHAPTER OF AC! I think I have some sorta sixth chapter curse. I got stuck on another fic's sixth chapter, too. o_O
Now for some self-advertisement! If you enjoy this story, you may also enjoy the other Yu-Gi-Oh fanfictions I have started! Yami is Life (AU, sci-fi), Banana Fest (AU, involving superpowers and mental institutes), The Mummy: Yaoi Style (mutated version of the movie The Mummy), and the current one-shot story Letting Go. Please check out, read and review!

*scratches head* Tis odd calling Ryou a youth, teenager or boy… 'cause even though he looks young, by human standards he's quite old… Ah well. Oh, and if anyone want to know about demons, angels, their societies, how they fit into human society and such as they are in my fic, just ask, because most of it isn't particularly relevant to the storyline and won't be mentioned even if it is pretty much thought out in my head.

This chapter is dedicated to my hamster CheeseFuzz. May he rest in peace.

Chapter Six:

Violet eyes blinked open, staring at the glowing letters of his bedside clock. They read 4:37 AM. Wow, he was up early. Though it wasn't that much of a surprise, as after that boy – Ryou was it? – had escorted him home Yugi had bypassed his family, locked himself in his bedroom and gone to sleep.

            And had apparently slept clear through supper to the next day. The teen pondered going back to sleep but thought better of it. He didn't feel like dealing with his parents especially after ignoring them yesterday, things were tense between them as it was because of what had happened Saturday.

            Getting out of bed, he wrinkled his nose. He had completely forgotten to change out of the previous day's clothes. Divesting himself of the offending clothing, Yugi was momentarily startled by something knocking lightly against his chest. Looking down he noticed his puzzle. Had he slept with it on?

            The violet-eyed teenager lifted his hands to remove it, then stopped. Now that he had it on, he really didn't want to take it off. It made him feel protected, safe… But, he didn't want the bullies to take it. Pale hands moved again, only to stop once more. Something deep within him was telling him that that wouldn't happen, that his puzzle wouldn't let it happen.

            Confused, Yugi shrugged and dropped his hands in defeat. It was probably better not to argue with gut instincts, they could save your life after all. So, the gold pyramid would stay on for today, but he still had to get dressed.

            He pulled on underwear, black socks, a pair of black jeans and a sleeveless grey hoodie. His accessories of the day were his new armlets and wristbands and a silver-studded dog collar. Moving to pick up his hairbrush, he remembered the braided condition his hair was currently in and left the grooming apparatus alone.

            Glancing in the mirror, the teenager flinched. A dark bruise spread across one cheek, an ugly reminder of the one hit his bullies had gotten on him. Shit, there was no way he was going to be able to hide that. Usually his tormentors made sure not to hit him where it was visible.

            Groaning, he covered his face with a hand. It would cause too many questions, from Joey and Tristan, the teachers, his family… Ugh, his family. He wondered what his father would make out of a bruise.

            "What, now you're not only in a gang, Yugi, but getting into fights?" the short boy spat out, imitating the tone his father had used Saturday. "Next thing you'll be killing people in gang wars!"

            He stopped, rethinking what he'd just said, and felt guilty. When had he gotten so bitter? It wasn't like him to act this way towards people who cared for him… At least he thought they cared for him…

            Gah, stop angsting and pull yourself together man! Yugi berated himself. Sighing, he glanced at his reflection, then did a double take. The bruise was gone. Well, not quite gone, but it had faded from blue-black-purple, to yellow-brown, and even now that last bit of color was fading away, leaving pale, flawless skin in its wake.

            He didn't notice the glowing of his puzzle until it had stopped, coincidently at the same exact moment his bruise disappeared. Blinking at the golden pendant, he wondered what the hell was going on. He was beginning to think there was something seriously weird about his puzzle.

            You mean other than the fact that it was given to you by the man with glowing red eyes and wings who just happened to murder your father? Yeah, other than that it might be just a bit weird…

            Shut up you, Yugi responded to himself.

            …And now he was talking to himself. Great. Oh well, if he was going to be crazy, might as well go the full nine yards… But now it was time to go, he could talk to himself later.

            Creeping quietly downstairs, the teenager wrote a quick note explaining to his parents his early departure. He then nabbed a couple of pieces of bread and a banana from the kitchen, pulled on a pair of mid-calf buckle-up boots and his backpack then left. He walked slowly towards his school, munching on his meager breakfast. He had forgotten to pack a lunch, dammit. He was going to be hungry today.

            It was already fairly warm out and he felt no need for a jacket, so there was no explanation for the sudden shiver that ran up his spine, raising goose bumps on his arms. Following the shiver, the mark on the teen's forehead began to itch, a far throw from the pain felt that weekend. Scratching it idly, he glanced around, almost expecting to see red-eyes glaring out at him from the shadows.

            But there was nothing there. At least nothing he could see, and his puzzle made him feel secure, as though he was completely out of harms way. He liked the feeling. The sensation of content and wholeness he had experienced yesterday was creeping back, and once again his worries washed away.

            Yugi walked the rest of the way to school in peace.

            A shiver ran up Yami's spine, causing the hairs on his arms to stand on end. Had his wings been out, he knew they'd be bristling. Strange, this sensation and the reactions it caused. He could almost feel… something, pulling at the edges of his awareness. Something strangely familiar.

            "Is something wrong, darkling?"

            The dark being turned his gaze to Bakura, replying with a simple "No."

            The iceling raised an eyebrow, then continued walking, Yami keeping pace beside him. The corrupted angel glanced around curiously and asked, "What precisely are we doing?"

            "I am helping my kin find the pyros' headquarters. You are following me around like a love-sick puppy."

            The shorter man snorted, "Love-sick puppy indeed. If I wanted you, I'd take you and not bother with all this tagging along. This… blood-war between species interests me."

            "Many things seem to interest you, darkling."

            Yami smirked. "When you're as old as I, you learn to keep yourself amused."

            They walked in silence for a moment, before the dark angel once again spoke up, "Why do you think the fire demons have a head quarters? It could just be random immigration."

            "No," Bakura shook his head, "The pyros know this is our territory, and there are way too many arriving now for it to be random. They have to be an organized group, and for pyros to be organized they need a leaders. Leaders need a base of operations to properly communicate with their underlings." 

            Yami nodded in understanding. "So how are you going about this search?"

            "Our youngest-looking members, such as Ryou, are infiltrating schools as students. They are to locate young firelings who are still the age they look and force information from them. Adolescents are much easier to bully and manipulate than adults. We already have clan members scattered throughout many workplaces, and we are contacting other demon-groups for information."

            "And we are doing…?"

            "I am going to Halifax to search the streets and clubs and the like. You are probably going to continue stalking me."

            "Right you are," the crimson-eyed man said, grinning. "So… demon hunting we go, hm? Sounds like a 'game' I used to play…"

            Bakura ignored him, and continued to walk along the slowly brightening street.

            He loved it here. It was secluded, peaceful, beautiful.

            Yugi sat upon a branch of a large maple tree at the edges of the Willowbrook school grounds. The specific spot in which he was settled was surrounded in just such a way by branches and leaves, as to make its occupant almost completely invisible from the outside world. Even if you stood directly beneath the teenager, it was that unlikely you'd see him.

            The violet-eyed teen smiled softly as the warmth of the sun filtered down through a canopy of green, his skin greedily absorbing the light and adding to the buzz his puzzle had induced. He could stay here for hours; he had stayed here for hours. He had been resting within the tree's embrace since he had reached the school, and just now were students filtering in onto the grass, ready for a day's learning.

            Yugi was drawn out of his peaceful reverie by a familiar voice from below. Glancing down, he recognized the voice's owner, none other than his blonde friend, Joey Wheeler. The tall teen was soon joined by a second, his other friend, Tristan Taylor.

            The short teen was about to clamber from his perch and make his presence known, when something made him pause. There was a strange look on Joey's face, he seemed… troubled. And apparently Yugi wasn't the only one to notice.

            "Hey Joey, what's wrong?" Tristan inquired.

            "I… it's just…" the blonde teen paused to gather his thoughts. "I'm worried 'bout Yug."

            Worried about him? The braided teenager was puzzled. He was fine, couldn't be happier, why should his friend be worried? Tristan once again echoed his thoughts, "Why are you worried about Yugi? Sure, he zoned out last time I saw him, but it happens to the best of us."

            "Well, you'n me both know 'bout Yugi's… problem," Joey answered. "I always thought it was completely bogus! I mean, really, our Yug crazy? Bu' now… I think I might be startin' to believe it…"

            The pointy-haired brunette blinked. "What do you mean? What happened?"

            "Its like this…" the blonde teen started. "I went to see Yugi on Saturday, t'make sure he was alright…"

            And it all came out, everything Joey had learned about Yugi's past. His abusive father, his father's murder, his view on his father's murder…and murderer. His puzzle-high had completely evaporated by the end, leaving annoyance, almost anger. What was Joey doing telling Tristan all this? He hadn't given permission for such an act, and that information was very, very personal!

            But then… the irritation faded away to be replaced by hurt. The small teen felt… betrayed. His friends, the people he thought were his friends anyway, didn't believe in him. They were probably going to leave, and he'd be alone again. Oh well, he was used to being alone.

            The warning bell rang, and the students wandering the school grounds filtered inside to collect their things for class, Joey and Tristan among them. Once they had gone, Yugi slipped from his tree and walked towards the main doors. He was on the way to his locker, when a call stopped him.

            "Yugi! Hey Yugi!" an accented voice rang out.

            Said person turned to find a white-haired youth waving at him. It was that new boy, Ryou Bakura. Was he going to Willowbrook, too? Well of course, Yugi berated himself, why else would he be here?

            "Hi Ryou!" he greeted the British teenager.

            "How are you doing Yugi? You were pretty out of it when I met you yesterday."

            The violet-eyed boy blushed. "Yeah, I'm fine now, thanks for helping me."

            "It was nothing," Ryou answered. "What class do you have first? Maybe you could repay my kindness by helping me get acquainted with this school?"

            "Art. You?"

            "Same!"

            The two reached Yugi's locker, and the shorter teen grabbed his things, leaving the unnecessary stuff behind. Then they hurried to class, chatting amiably, a happy smile once again gracing the violet-eyed teen's face.

            Maybe he wouldn't be alone.

            The Book of Lives. It wasn't an actual book, despite all rumors to the contrary. What it was is a vast archive, holding information on every single angel that ever lived. To a point anyway, Seto was quite sure that angels had existed previous to the Book of Lives' existence. The Book didn't hold any detailed information, just full names, dates of birth and – if applicable – dates of death, relations, where people lived, genders... Simple things, but perfectly acceptable compared to nothing.

            Of course, there was still the chance that he would end up with nothing, but that was an unlikely event.

            The hall in which you could access the Book of Lives was massive; the floor littered with 'terminals' where people could sit and get access needed information. Then there were at least five stories of balconies, lining the walls with yet more terminals. It was beyond the tall brunette why so many stations were needed, but he supposed it might have something to so with the terminals being connected to the news archives as well as the Book of Lives…

            Useless thoughts. Seto Kaiba continued on his way to his assigned station, having already signed-in. It was a secluded terminal, tucked away in a corner of the hall. Perfect. The blue-eyed angel didn't know if there was anything wrong with what he was looking up, but the denial of his superiors had made him suspicious.

            He flopped down in the plush chair placed before his terminal and set to work. The method of accessing the Book, was ironically enough, a book. A magical book, of course, as corny as that sounded, but still just a book. The warrior angel actually preferred the humans' computer technology to his peoples' method, but what can you do?

            Sighing, Kaiba opened the oversized book to a random page, and waited. Soon letters started to appear on the blank page, slowly spelling out the phrase: Welcome. Do you wish to access Book of Lives or News Archives?

            Pulling out a pen (ballpoint, quills were too damn annoying), Seto wrote Book of Lives below the sentence. All the words faded away, the page once again becoming blank. The angel strummed his fingers impatiently, what he wouldn't do for a laptop…

            Words finally began to scrawl across the page: Welcome to the Book of Lives. Please state the parameters of your search. The sentence was followed by a list, with each word on a separate line. Name, date of birth, date of death, gender, etc. Kaiba only filled in two of the categories – Name: Hikari, Gender: Male.

            The words once again faded out, replaced by the word 'searching'. The angel's fingers once again began their impatient tapping. After a time, names began to appear.

            Fayn, Hikari

            Ishu, Hikari

            Ares, Hikari

            Sen, Hikari

            Shar, Hikari

            Kelmaryn, Hikari

            When the search finished, the list held around fifteen names. The warrior blinked; there certainly weren't many male Hikari's in history. Making a quick note on the page, he requested the dates of birth to be shown. There may not be many names, but he still didn't want to look at them all.

            Seto immediately crossed off the first on the list; the person in question would've been dead long before Yami had first made an appearance. Seto also knocked off most of the ones at the bottom, as he felt they were too recent for the darkling to bother with, all still children or teenagers.

            There were only four choices left. He crossed off the bottom one of the quartet, once again thinking the person to be too young. Three, then. The first was born a decade before Yami had emerged, the next a few years after, the last about 20 years. The last one was also crossed off, the warrior deciding the top two were his best bets.

            Scribbling down a few words with his pen, Kaiba selected the first person, Hikari Ishu. Icy blue eyes scanned the page, searching for any information that might link this Hikari to the fallen one. Not finding anything of particular interest, his eyes traveled back up the piece of paper, alighting on the date of death which he had previously passed over. Only eleven years after he had been born, this person had barely been out of infanthood (by angel standards) when he had died!

            Studying the date more closely, Seto's eyes widened in recognition. It was the same day that the darkling had appeared. He frowned, this wasn't necessarily important, as upon his emergence the fallen one had killed many angels… but a link was clearly there and if this boy was the one Yami had mentioned, it was important somehow.

            Making a query to the book for more information on Hikari Ishu, it responded that there was an illustration available of the subject. Writing that he wished to see it, Kaiba waited as the blank page began to fill with black lines.

            The tall brunette had become frozen in place long before the image was completed and tinted with color. For he had recognized the face – actually, it was more the hair – of this Hikari. It was the darkling. Well, a younger, more innocent version with purple eyes, but the general features were still the same.

            Hikari was Yami.

            "Don't you have a lunch, Yugi?"

            The teenager in question blushed at the query from his newfound friend and shook his head. "I forgot it at home…"

            It was lunchtime, and the violet-eyed boy had returned to his favorite tree, this time with Ryou in tow, and the two were sitting beneath it peacefully.

            "Would you like one of my sandwiches?" the white-haired youth offered. "I always pack extra incase I get especially hungry."

            "Thanks!" Yugi chirped, and took the presented food.

            As the two ate in companionable silence, the demon-in-disguise took a chance to look his friend over. The boy seemed strangely familiar, something about him reminding Ryou of someone else, though he wasn't quite sure whom. After a short scrutiny, the iceling decided it was his hair. The golden, lightning-esque bangs reminded him of Yami, and the teenager's braids, a familiar red-black, added to the comparison.

            It was all very interesting, but the mild similarities were not the most outstanding thing about the small teen. No, it had been something very different and yet linked to the darkling all the same. Brown-tinted eyes drifted to the object of their curiosity, a golden pyramid hanging from around his companion's neck.

            He had noticed the ornament yesterday when he had come to the short youth's aid, but hadn't realized what it might be until later that evening. The Puzzle, Yami's Puzzle. Or what he thought had been Yami's Puzzle, though it was currently in the possession of some seemingly random human. He had decided not to mention his find to anyone until he had determined whether or not the pyramid really was the darkling's Puzzle.

            "That's an interesting bit of jewelry you have there," the iceling commented.

            "Huh?" the short teen looked up from his borrowed lunch, one hand rising to touch the gold pendant. "Oh, yeah…"

            The demon frowned mentally, having hoped for more information. Maybe if he offered some info of his own the child would be more open…?

"It reminds me of my own little trinket," Ryou said, pulling at a cord around his neck, drawing a large gold ring from beneath his shirt. A triangle rested in the center of the loop holding an eye that resembled the one on Yugi's Puzzle, and several pointed baubles dangled from the bottom edge.

The sixteen-year-old's eyes widened, and one of his hands twitched as if wanting to touch the golden ornament. "Wow," he spoke. "It's so… pretty."

"It is very precious to me, a gift from someone very special," the iceling told his friend, smiling. Bakura had given him the ring to signify their bond, his mate holding an identical piece of jewelry.

"My puzzle is precious to me, too," Yugi spoke softy.

It was, was it? Did the boy have any clue as to what it might be, how much power it might hold? "Oh? Where did you get it?"

"It was given to me when I was very small… I didn't know the person very well, not at all, really… but they saved me and now it makes me feel safe."

Ryou tried to puzzle out that tidbit of information, so the boy had been rescued by a stranger? Saved from what? Could it have been Yami who saved him? Strange, the darkling had never seemed like the heroic type.

"May I touch it?" The iceling blinked, the question having slipped out without thought.

"I… I guess," Yugi replied, nervousness tingeing his voice.

A slender hand unfurled, reaching out, fingertips barely brushing the surface of the Puzzle. But it was enough. Shadows, cold, pain, heat, nothingness, everything, power. The ice demon jolted away, as though shocked and struggled to cover his reaction. Oh yes, it was definitely the Puzzle, no other object could hold such… darkness. He would tell Bakura and Yami about it that night.

            So far they had found nothing. As stupid as fire demons were, in his opinion, they seemed to be very good at avoiding people. Yami smirked, yes, they must be very good, for even he hadn't noticed any. The darkling stopped, until now anyway.

            "Hey iceling," the dark angel spoke, catching Bakura's attention. "I think I found one."

            "Where?" the ice demon demanded.

            The darkling nodded towards a dark alley, where a shock of bright red hair could just be seen peeking from the shadows. The taller man smirked, and the pair moved towards the crack between buildings.

            The pyro was a mousy little thing, with limp hair, freckles and shockingly yellow eyes. Apparently he had stopped to give his eyes a rest from a pair of grey-tinted contact lenses, and was standing in the secluded passageway. At least, he was standing until Bakura slammed him into the wall.

            "Hello, little one," the iceling said, smirking sinisterly.

            "Wh-what do ya want, frosty?" the fire demon stuttered, using the nickname for ice demons.

            "What do you think, you pathetic excuse for a flameling?" the white-haired man snarled. "Your kind is invading the territory of mine and it will not be stood for!"

            "H-hey, I don' got nuthin' to do wit that, yo," the mousy demon replied. "I'm a rogue pyro, man, I dun' belong to no clan, ya?"

            "Hn, it doesn't matter to me," Bakura stated. "You may not be attached to the rest of your race, but I'm sure you still know of them, and information is what I'm looking for."

            The flame-haired male's eyes hardened, and for a moment he seemed almost brave. "Hey, man. I may be unattached, but I ain't no rat, yo. Why should you get anythin' outta me?"

            "Because if you don't I'll…" the iceling though for a moment, then smirked again. "I'll let my 'friend' here have a go at you."

            The flameling's eyes followed the gesturing of Bakura's head, and he noticed Yami for the first time.

            "Surely you've heard of the darkling, the fallen angel? Or perhaps you know him as Prince of Shadows?"

            Yami blinked, was that what they were calling him now?

            The pyro looked ready to soil himself in fear as he stared into the blood colored eyes of the corrupted one. The once angel shook off his mildly startled look, replacing it with a feral grin.

            "O-okay, man! I'll talk, yo!" the mousy man squeaked. "I-I dunno much, ya? But… but I heard someone sayin' somethin' about the docks. I don' know any more! They don' talk ta me, yo."

            "Fine." Bakura let the fire demon drop and turned away. "He's all yours, darkling."

            Yami didn't give the flameling a chance to scream. It had been awhile since he'd had such fun.

            The door to Yugi's house burst open, and a call rang through the house. "I'm home! Sorry I'm late, but I walked home with my friends and one of them had a detention!"

            Yes, he walked home with his friends. Before the lunch break ended Joey and Tristan had shown up to join him. He'd introduced them to Ryou, and the four of them had spent the rest of the break talking happily. It was almost as if that morning had never happened! The rest of the day had passed quickly enough, his English teacher, thankfully, seeming to have forgotten his little zoning out incident the previous week. The best part of it all though was that the Halloween dance was tonight! He couldn't wait to show off his costume.

            As he put down his backpack and unbuckled his boots, the teenager planned his night. He supposed he'd stay at home long enough to have supper, but after that he was to meet with his friends at Joey's house and they'd go to the dance together. Unfortunately, Ryou had declined, saying he had made previous plans.

            A growl from his stomach brought Yugi from his thoughts, alerting him that Ryou's shared lunch was not enough to last him until supper. Grinning happily, he all but skipped into the kitchen to grab a snack.

            …Only to have the smile wiped from his face. "Mom? Dad? Is something wrong?"

            His parents exchanged looks from their place at the table. His mother sighed, looking sad and stared at her clasped hands. Gazing at Yugi grimly, his father said four words that made the teenager cringe inwardly.

            "Yugi… we need to talk."

            It was only 4:50 when Yugi Gardner showed up at Joey Wheeler's door, looking disgruntled. Standing there with his costume in hand, he had refused to meet his friend's eyes as the older boy waited for the reason behind his early arrival. The violet-eyed boy had given none.

            When asked what was wrong, he simply replied, "I'd rather not talk about it."

            Joey had decided to leave it alone and invited Yugi in. Now it was 5:30, and the two of them were quietly having a small meal of mac'n cheese and coke. There wasn't much else in the house, he would have to go shopping soon. He knew his dad wouldn't.

            He wasn't sure where his dad was, but that wasn't anything new. The man was barely ever home, and when he was he was sleeping. Not that he cared or anything, he could take care of himself, and in a few years he'd be free of his father and could seek out a better life. Besides, better that his old man ignored him than beat him… like Yugi's had.

            Joey winced at that thought, he'd rather not think about his friend's dad, or what had become of him. About the way Yugi reacted to it… To tell the truth, it kind of scared him, Yugi had scared him, and you weren't supposed to be afraid of you friends. Especially sweet, little ones like Yug'. Which is why he'd rather not think about it.

            "Hey Yug'," Joey spoke up, needing something to distract him from bad thoughts. "How's 'bout we play some games on my X-box, 'til Tristan gets here."

            "Okay…" the smaller boy answered, his expression looking lighter. "But I'm not very good, you know."

            "Ah, that's okay, bud!" the blonde teen answered, a goofy grin spreading across his face. "I'll teach'ya!"

             And as if in answer to Joey's smile, a smaller one appeared on Yugi's.

            Ryou was lounging in a chair reading the day's paper when heard the apartment door open. It was a nice, two-bedroom apartment, though a bit small for his tastes, but the ice demon supposed it was the best the local icelings could come up with on short notice. He turned his head as familiar footsteps moved towards him, waiting for a kiss.

            Bakura did not disappoint his mate, and pressed his mouth to waiting lips. Drawing the smaller demon into his arms, he took Ryou's place, depositing the iceling in his lap.

            "Hello Bakura," Ryou greeted, then glanced at the apartment's third occupant. "Yami. How was your day?"

            The larger ice demon snorted. "The pyros were hiding, we didn't find much. Though we did manage to catch some spineless rogue flameling, and he mentioned something about the docks. Hell! These cities edge a bloody harbor, that isn't much to go on!"

            "Well, at least you found something."

            Bakura merely made a disgruntled noise, "What about you? Any luck?"

            "Nothing to do with pyros," Ryou replied. "Though I did make a rather interesting discovery…"

            "Oh?" his mate queried.

            "Yes," the iceling continued. "I saw the Puzzle."

            Yami, who had been lazing on the couch, bolted upright. "What?!"

            "There's a boy at my school – met him yesterday – and he has the Puzzle."

            The darkling looked stunned. "Are you sure? What does he look like? Are his eyes violet?"

            Thoughts were racing through the dark angel's head, the Puzzle couldn't be here could it? He had left it in Japan, surely the boy couldn't be here. Why the hell would he be in Nova Scotia? In Canada even!

            "Yes, I'm quite sure," Ryou responded, "And… yes, his eyes are violet…"

            "Fuck!" It had to be him, how many violet-eyed boys with gold pyramid puzzles could there be in the world? And he'd be about the right age, if he went to school with Ryou… Shitshitshit! If the angel warriors followed him here… if they found the boy… The kid was in danger, he was in danger! That Puzzle was his life! He had to find him.

            "Where does he live?!" Yami demanded.

            Confused, Ryou told him, and before anyone could say a thing the darkling was out the door and gone.

            "Is everybody ready?" Joey asked, fixing the collar of his cape. He was dressed as a vampire, black clothing, plastic fangs and fake nails all the way.

            "All good here!" Tristan answered. The brown-haired boy had chosen a Frankenstein costume. Both turned to the last, but undoubtedly best-dressed, member of the trio.

            "Ready to go!" Yugi added, smiling in a slightly uncomfortable way. He was resplendently costumed as an ancient Eqyptian.

            "Sumthin' wrong Yug'?"

            "N-nothing!" the smallest teen stuttered, red tingeing his cheeks. There was no way he was going to tell his friends that he was wearing a thong… He wasn't exactly sure why he had bought a white thong to wear with his costume, but it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

            "If yout say so," said Joey. "But are ya sure you won' be cold without a shirt?"

            "I'll be fine!" the short teenager replied, slightly exasperated.

            "Okay den! Let's go."

            The trio set off for the high school, walking as none of them had either a driver's license or a car. Yugi had been right, it was warm enough for him to be fine in his rather baring outfit. Though the slight breeze on his buttocks was something he'd have to get used to.

            They were almost halfway there when a sudden chill ran up Yugi's spine. He stopped walking as the mark on his forehead began to itch, then throb lightly. His friends continued on without him, not seeming to notice he absence. As they walked out of sight, he shivered at the feeling of eyes on the back of his neck. Steeling himself, he turned around.

            And gasped. It was him.

            …and damn, if he was not the god of black leather. A dark blush crept over the teenager's face as his violet eyes met oh-so-familiar crimson ones. It was him, his father's murderer, his savior… Suddenly a great feeling of gratitude welled up within him and he darted forward.

            Yami's eyes widened as the boy attached himself to his chest. Whatever he had been expecting, it was not this. He stared down at the braided head of the young human to whom he had gifted his Puzzle. The boy spoke, voice muffled from being pressed against his chest, muttering two words.

            "Thank you."