YH: Yeah, ok, so I was looking over the backups on 'Darkness Rising' so that I could rewrite chapter 10, and I noticed that chapter nine had the lowest word count of all, not counting the prologue.

EC: You mean I noticed ... --'

YH: :-P Anyway, I skimmed back over it, and I felt extremely guilty when I noticed that more than half of the chapter was lyrics anyway, so ... I decided to re-write this one as well!!

EC: You mean I threatened you with bodyily harm to your entire plushie collection unless you did :: we see EC with an entire mass of plusies roped to a crane and being held over a huge fire pit::

YH: AIIIIIIIIEEE!!!!! OO!!! DON'T DO IT EVILE!!! I'm writing, I'M WRITING!!! I SWEAR!!! ::types frantically::

Chapter 9: Moeyasui Shimo

Rofaic? What was that all about?………

Following her out of the bathroom, Yami looked for her in the crowd, but couldn't see her anywhere. Finally opting to sit down rather than risk death and groping in that crowd, he just collapsed back into the seat that he had originally been in. Looking around, he saw that Honda was on the verge of becoming drunk and was flirting with the female bar tender, Mai was making out with some brunette in the corner 1, and Jou was nowhere to be seen. 2. Then, someone came out on the stage and said,

"It's karaoke night here in hell, and ya'll know what that means, right?" The entire crowd, or at least, the people who hadn't passed out from alcohol poisoning, yelled "Hell yeah!" in response. This was most likely a normal exchange; Yami simply sat and watched in a very uninterested manner as the MC on the stage lead out the 5 karaoke singers that were competing for a prize of $100 dollars each; double if the winner sang a song originally done by a singer or group of the opposite sex. Second prize was $50 and third was $25, again doubled if they won with a song of the opposite sex. Yami was about ready to leave, when he noticed that Rofaic was up there, the third one in line, and even from where he sat, he could see that she favored her left leg. Yami sat, completely unfocusing from what was going on and trying his best not to send anyone to the shadow realm who was currently trying to get fresh with him, his red eyes snapped to attention when he saw that it was Rofaic's turn. The music that started was quiet, and then, Yami couldn't tell if it was a guitar or a keyboard that took the melody next. Quite suddenly, Rofaic began.

That song was 'Crawling' by Linkin Park, and like the rest of them, she did the first verse. However, something in her voice was different; she seemed to be still shaken by what she'd been told in the restroom, and she wasn't really at her mark. But soon, the contest ended, Rofaic apparently having won for the eighth time that week, and Yami was again about to tell one of them - either Mai or Honda, because Jou was still nowhere in sight - that he would be leaving now, when he saw someone drag Rofaic off the stage and out the back door. She still limped slightly he noticed as again, he followed the violet haired girl, and he noticed idly that it was the leg that she had kicked Kaiba with that she was favoring. Getting to the alley out back, Yami stayed in the shadows as he watched the two girls. What he had been expecting was Roceaa to rip the cash out of Rofaic's hand, shoving it in her pocket, and that did happen. However, what happened next, he had not anticipated. Rofaic looked fearfully at Roceaa as she raised her hands shoulder height, and energy began to manifest in the upturned palms; one green and one gold. Then, Rofaic pleaded,

"No, Ro, please. Don't. Not today. You said yourself that they only needed to come out once a week at most; why do you do it every night?" she sounded slightly frantic; it sounded to Yami as though whatever happened next would be bad as she seemingly unconsciously brought one of her hands backwards to her chest and took a half step away from her sister, back pressing against one of the slim alley's walls. Roceaa laughed harshly at this disply and said,

"Yes, they only have to come out once a week at least, but it's so selfish of you to keep them cooped up in there. I only give them a bit of……exercise; you know that. And besides, we moved to this place so that they had a nice fresh supply, and so that no one would be any the wiser about them, remember, imouto-chan?"

"Sis, no, please-." Too late. Roceaa took a quick stride towards the pale other, catching her completely off guard as she grabbed her younger sister's wrists, the energy that had formed in her palms seeping slowly, and by the look of it very painfully into the violet haired girl. Her dark eyes clenched shut, and her mouth was open in what would have passed for a silent scream if Yami's ears weren't ten or fifteen times more sensitive than the ears of a regular human. To a human ear, it was indeed soundless, alerting no one of the goings on of the alley, but to Yami's ears, it was agonizingly high-pitched; so high, the glass in the immediate vicinity shattered to pieces, which in turn exploded into a sharp powder and rained down on the two.

It however was as if Roceaa was expecting this, becuase as the almost snow-like powder fell onto her, it touched an energy field that was predominantly yellow with strange green clouds floating through it, though it was most likely an unconscious precaution of defense, because the dark skinned girl paid it really no heed at all - she seemed to be enjoying her sister's pain almost as much as it was agonizing Rofaic. Squinting through the pain that laced his ears, Yami saw that the pale girl's eyes were seemingly forced open; there was no pupil, no whites, no iris. Just a glowing ruby red in one eye, and a flashing icy blue glow in the other.

Then, from the light in each eye, a flash came, one on each side of Rofaic, and immediately, the torturous scream was cut off as Rofaic fell unconscious and two figures stood, manifested one on each side of the fallen girl, which Roceaa had long since let go of. One was red; ruby red hair, red eyes, and a red leather whip in her hand. She wore a ruby pleather tank top that was half unzipped in the front, and a pair of red suede pants that were a very low rise, though flared at the bottom and cut short enough to expose a pair of almost black red boots. The other was a shockingly pale blue. Light blue eyes, and hair, and she held a pale blue leather whip in the opposite hand as the other, which happened to be her left. She wore a sky blue colored shirt that was transparent enough to see a more solid blue tank top underneath, and a pleated ice blue pleather skirt hung low on her hips and rode high on her thighs, exposing pale blue go-go boots that came almost to her knees.

Then, they turned into a mass of energy that was their respective color after about 15 seconds, and they came together, standing in front of the cataleptic Rofaic, making a purple light. Then, it solidified into a solid haired girl, wearing the same outfit as Rofaic herself……but, Rofaic was unconscious behind her on the alley floor. However, this girl had even darker hair than Rofaic's, and her eyes slnted in a more cruel looking way - she stood proudly with no favoritism to either leg, and she held not a whip, but a dark purple flute in one hand, the other hand coming to lazily lay in the bent elbow of her left arm, which held the insturment. At this display, Yami was confused, until all questions were answered as Roceaa said 8 words to the new figure.

"Moeyasui Shimo. How good to see you again." Yami blinked. That name……it was…familiar…Flaming Frost…hmmmm… Turning back to the three that were in the alley, he saw the almost-twin to Rofaic turn to the unconscious girl and say,

"You know, I like you better the way you look in the shadow realm." Moeyasui's voice was strange, almost doubled, like two voices speaking at once. Then, all at once, Rofaic's body was surrounded in a black and purple energy field that pulsed with heat and at the same time danced with ice, and was at all times coated in a tangible darkness. Then, a shocked Yami looked on as Rofaic's body changed. She seemed to become younger, smaller, more innocent as her hair lightened and her skin gained a gentle lotus-blossom tone that made her seem mild. The last thing to appear was a pair of great white feathered wings that were almost twice her size, and they fell limply around her, almost as if trying to shield her from the rest of the world, but not being quite strong enough to do so.

"Thank you my sister. We will be home in an hour with her." Moeyasui said. With that, she turned to the mouth of the alley, and walked away, Roceaa trailing her, and Rofaic's now angelic, though still unconscious self floating behind them. At the alley entrance, Moeyasui turned to the right, while Roceaa turned left, which was the way that Yami knew Rofaic lived from when Yuugi went to her house. After a second, the pharaoh made up his mind and, making sure no one saw him, he followed Moeyasui. For some reason, he had to see what she was doing. Using his natural stealth to its fullest and blending with the shadows he was named after, following Moeyasui was easier than it had any right to be. For some, nagging reason, he had the feeling that he wasn't as hidden as he was lead to believe he was. After about fourty-five minutes, he decided that this was ridiculous. There was nothing happening, and so, he supposed he was just being paranoid for some subconscious reason that he couldn't see at the moment. And then, he saw the two people walking down the street on the side walk ahead of them. Two guys, both tall, both pretty young looking, were just talking. They looked like they were high school/college kids, and they were just coming home from a bar, just about completely drunk out of their minds, holding each other up, stumbling around in the damnedest patterns, almost completely incoherent.

This was when she made her move. Rofaic's body, which had previously looked like it had been walking behind Moeyasui was now fading into nothingness. She was faintly visible to Yami, but he could feel the dark energy rolling off of her, and he knew that she was being cloaked by Shimo's shadow powers. Then, the dark Rofaic went up to the two that were walking towards her and started talking to them. Her body language, her tone of voice, everything spoke seduction. And within a half a minute, they staggered behind her, apparently thinking they were going to get something that Yami was sure Moeyasui had no intention of giving them; they were probably actually going to get more than they bargained for. Following and crouching behind some boxes, Yami blinked. Now there were two of them at the end of the alley; instead of Moeyasui Shimo, it was the first two that had appeared from Rofaic. The red one and the blue one; they had re-materialized. The red one wore black pants that pooled around her ankles and were streaked with fire, a red pleather halter top curling around her body and aceentuating her curves. Her red hair was teased to volume and streaked with orange, and she wore sunglasses, even in the dark. The other one wore a short sky colored pleather mini skirt that barely covered all that was meant to, and exposed more than it hid. Her halter was pale blue and sequened, and her hair was styled much the same as the red one's, though the streaks were of lighter and darker shades of the same icy sky blue.

Each one faced the two almost incoherent others, and each one kissed his neck on the pulse that was now languid from alcohol. And then, Yami saw their now pointed teeth sink into that slow pulse, and he could hear the blood flowing past the wound and to the eager lips of the two. And then, within half a minute, the two intoxicated and now almost deceased boys' knees buckled, though still being held up by the two, who were not quite finished having their meal yet.

"Stop. I'm not going to allow you to kill them. They've done nothing to you Shimo." Said Yami, emerging from the shadows he had been watching in. Turning to Yami, the two of them rejoined and now it was Moeyasui who stood in their place, and her estranged, doubled voice came.

"I wondered how long it would take you to show yourself Mighty Pharaoh." Then, the two half dead teens, who were still laying on the ground where they had been dropped were made known as one completely ignited, an the other froze solid without any warning, though they did happen to catch the dark one's attention as he stared, disbelieving at them wide eyed before shaking his head.

"What the-!? What have you done to them!?" asked Yami, even more shocked as the flames died and the ice melted easily, leaving them almost marred to indecipherability. And then, Moeyasui turned toward the bodies, crouching next to them and inspecting her handiwork. He could practically hear the smile in her voice when she spoke next, almost absently to herself.

"Hmmmm…we are becoming stronger. Not surprising. Now," she started, turning to Yami. And, at that moment, he couldn't move. He couldn't use his shadow powers; couldn't do anything at all. Something was holding him perfectly still, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it becuase he had been caught so off guard. "My pharaoh, what were you saying?" Walking over to the defenseless Egyptian, she said, "Ah yes, something about killing someone? Hmmm. Well, I would say that they were almost dead before they were delivered the coup de grace, as it were. A scant unit or so of blood will only sustain you for so long you know." Then, she ran a sharp finger down his cheek, the deep red color of the nail itself shifting from red to purple to blue and back. Then, he felt a hot, burning pain shoot through his right arm, almost as if it were engulfed in flame, though he couldn't yell, or move away or anything. But he however desperately wanted to teach this girl a lesson that she would never forget, anger flashing through his mind like a wildfire.

"You've become weak my pharaoh. Less pain tolerant; even the little brat can take more than five minutes of my touch before moving." He barely heard her as he felt his skin boil and bubble, as if melting off of the bone. In a great effort, he managed to flick his eyes in the general direction of the offending limb, he saw that she was barely touching his arm with one of her fingers, and the skin on his arm was barely pink at all - no blemish existed. Her voice cut through Yami's thoughts as well as he could allow them; his pulse was pounding in his head from anxiety for some unfathomable reason, and he didn't like it at all.

"Just a test this was; to see if you had changed in 5,000 years. Apparently, you have." And then, she touched his forehead with the tip of her nail on the left hand, and the freezing cold that shot through his head caused a splitting pain to shoot through his mind, numbing his thoughts and ultimately, knocking him into a blissful darkness……

... ... a groan of annoyance bubbled out of his throat as Yami's eyes cracked open; he was freezing cold and more than a little stiff right now, not to mention his head felt as if it had been cleaved in half with an axe before being sewn back together with a huge rusty needle. Dragging himself off of the ground, he hissed through his teeth as the movement jarred his arm, which was still in pain from ... whatever Moeyasui'd done to him. Shaking his head and attempting not to be sick, he blinked a few times before leaning on the wall of the alley to get his berrings. This street is ... hmmmm ... very nearby the Game Shop, Yami realized after he'd managed to stagger out of the alley and to a street light to read the sign that marked where he was. He knew where to go, and he wasted no time in going there, albeit unsteadily, and he also knew that it was well past the time that Yuugi's grandfather would be awake - it wouldn't be too hard to get in silently and go to bed.

Making it to the Kame Game Shop, he didn't bother looking for Yuugi's key or bothering the little one, who was peacefully sleeping in his soul room with a "Please Do Not Disturb" sign on the door; he instead used a bit of magic to completely bypass going through the door and simply placed himself in his light's room. Pulling off the leather that clung to him comfortably, Yami smiled fondly as he remembered the last time he'd neglected to put on pajamas before going to bed. Finding a probably the only pair of pajamas Yuugi owned that wouldn't shame him to death if he wore them, the pharaoh stiffled a yawn as the dark blue fabric found it's place losely on him before he climbed into bed.

Entering the little one's soul room, he saw that his light was curled up for warmth against the spot that Yami usually occupied, and the dark one couldn't help but smile - Yuugi really had no idea how cute he was. Laying down slowly so as not to wake up the smaller boy, the pharaoh stroked his lover's hair as he unconsciously snuggled closer to the new heat source. Slight smile re-appearing as he shook his head, Yami wrapped his arms around his light comfortably before burrying his nose in the soft tri colored locks that crowned the little one's head; he didn't want to worry about what he'd found out now - he'd deal with it in the morning ...

- One Week Later -

Yuugi yawned as he shuffled his feet, walking out of school in the comfortable heat of autumn, feeling all the more sleepy because of it. Stumbling in a haze, he was way behind everyone else who was already home or halfway there by the time he exited the school. He had gotten held back after class because he fell asleep in Science, and he was reprimanded. But, was it really his fault that the teacher chose one of the warmest, most comfortable days outside to place Yuugi in a nice shady spot in the corner and lecture them on seismographs, which is what they were currently studying, and Yuugi thought they were so easy it wasn't funny.

Rounding the chain-link fence that sectioned off the still in-progress construction project, Yuugi stooped dead. On the ground in front of him, was a shocking sight; black, white, and gray-toned uniform, almost sickly white skin, dark violet hair……

Picking his pace up a bit, he knelt next to the girl, who was faced down in a position that suggested that she had tripped, fallen, and not moved since. Tapping her shoulder gently, Yuugi said,

"Rofaic? Rofaic are you alright?" No reply. Brushing her hair away from her face and arms, Yuugi's breath caught in his throat. So that was why she was on the ground and not moving. The marks were back, but worse by three fold! They had spread to her neck and marred her face, and it looked like they were very, very fresh, because the burns were still raw and the frostbitten arm was still too cold to touch. Then, she rolled slightly and coughed, blood, at least, Yuugi assumed it was blood, leaked from her mouth. But, as he noticed the color, he wasn't sure what it was. It was purple; almost black it was so dark - darker than her hair even. Her eyes fluttered limply, and it looked like she had little strength to spare as she seemed to try to speak, lips moving just faintly enough for the littler one to see.

"Don't try and talk; I'll go get help." Yuugi's voice was urgent as he tried to silence her so that she didn't waste whatever small amount of energy she had left. No matter how afraid of her he was, he couldn't just leave her here; that's just the kind of person he was.

Yami, what are we gonna do!?

/We have to take her somewhere. What about that place where your healers work?/

The Hospital? We can't!

/Why not?/

They'll ask questions, and she looks……suspicious. You know those murders? The ones that leave the victims marred and either burned or frozen to death? I think she has something to do with them, and they'll lock her up or worse if they find out.Yami kept his thoughts from his hikari even as he spoke to the boy so that Yuugi didn't feel his guilt; he never had told the little one about what he'd seen - he hadn't wanted his aibou to worry... so, he replied quickly,

/You're probably right…But what do we do with her if we can't notify anyone but people we know well enough that they won't go to the authorities about it, but can also help her; it doesn't look like she'll be with us for much longer if she doesn't get some kind of assistance very soon./

We need a place with high security……and medical access…and…not a lot of people in one enclosed area either. Less chance of people seeing her and getting suspicious.

After a second, Yami had a brainstorm, and materialized next to Yuugi, easily picking up the prone girl as un-jarringly as possible before he turned to his lover and sent one last thought through their link, rather than saying it out loud...

/There's only one place I can think of that meets all of those standards. Follow me aibou./……

TBC ...

YH: Okies, so I combined Chapters 9 and 10 into one big one, and switched them around a bit ...

Evile: >, You were just wasting time before bed so that you didn't have to write the next chapter now ...

YH: ... yeah .... I know ... '' But, anyway, thanks to all that reviewed, I hope you liked my idea of combining and editing, and I'll come out with chapter 10 ASAP ...

EC: That's what you said the last time, and it's been over a year since you updated ... --'

YH: ... ... ... SHUT UP!!!! >,