Ah, arigato gozaimasu for the warm reception! I have a fuzzy feeling inside! Not. Just kidding. Anyway, here's the next chapter. I didn't know what Anzu's mother's name is, so I'm calling her Mazaki Akemi.

Anzu walked into her third period slowly, her eyes trained on the ground.

'Please don't let them notice me… Please don't let them notice me… Please don't let them notice me… Please don't let them notice me…'

"Well, lookie here, it's miss heifer!!" No such luck. She didn't respond as she walked to her seat. She could hear Hayate following her. Hayate, mister popularity himself. Loved to pick on those inferior to him socially, which was almost everyone in the school. He was standing by her desk, just staring at her now, with his fan club of girls following suit. The next second, he was face first on the ground, getting quite personally acquainted with it.

"S'cuse me, but ya were in my way." Jonouchi said as he stepped over the boy's prone body and sat next to Anzu, in between them.

"You idiot!! Don't you know who I am!?" Hayate fumed as he picked himself up off of the ground.

"Nope. Haven't got a clue. Don't care, anyways. Yer an insensitive jerk, and yer lucky I didn't pound the stuffing outta yas." Jonouchi finished his speech with his patent glare, and Hayate scurried to the other side of the room where he sat in his desk.

"Arigato, Jonouchi…" Anzu whispered.

"C'mon, Anzu. Ya gotta stand up fer yourself once in a while. 'Sides, a good swift kick in the balls'd do him some good. Gotta remember that th' next time I'm bored…" he said with a sadistic smirk on his face. Anzu blinked as she took a closer look at his face.

"Jonouchi, why is your face bruised?" Jonouchi just grunted.

"My old man was in one hell of a drunken rage when I got home. 'Nuff said." Anzu nodded sadly, not really understanding, but not wanting to pry. If he wanted to say anything, he'd say it himself.

"So, you thought of a way ta get Yugi ta talk ta us about his home life?" Jonouchi asked as he got comfortable in his desk.

"Actually…" Anzu trailed off, remembering the last night.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLASHBACK

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"Anzu-chan, I'm home!" Anzu's mother Akemi opened the door.

"I'm in the kitchen Okaa-chan!" Anzu called as she sliced up the food for their dinner.

"Oh, you're cooking? Well, someone must have had a good day!" Anzu turned and smiled at her mother.

"Not really… They all made fun of me again, like always…"

"Well, you seemed happy about something, out with it!" Akemi smacked her daughter's arm lightly. Anzu giggled in response.

"I made a couple of friends. They're both really nice."

"Go on."

"Well, Jonouchi acts really gruff, but he's nice. He beat someone into the pavement for me! Yugi is really quiet, and he's very short." Anzu gestured to a little below her shoulders. Akemi's eyes saddened slightly as her daughter continued her tale.

"He's got spiky… What's wrong, Okaa-chan?" she trailed off noting the look in her mother's eyes.

"Mutou Yugi? Short kid, purple eyes, stutters a lot?" Akemi asked.

"Ano, yeah, but how do you know Yugi?" Anzu looked at her mother questioningly.

"He came into the intensive care unit a few years ago. Several of his ribs were broken, and he had a medium concussion. He only repeated one phrase when anyone asked him how he got hurt." Akemi clenched her fists as she spoke.

"What did he say?"

"'I fell down the stairs.' That's all he would say. His parents supported the story, but…" Akemi slammed her fist on the counter, making Anzu jump. She'd never seen her mother like this before. She was so… mad. Her mother was always cheerful and upbeat, which made Anzu strive to be the same way. It upset her to see Akemi so angry.

"But what?" she asked hesitantly.

"You don't GET those kind of injuries from falling down stairs!! A concussion maybe, but how can you injure your ribs rolling down some steps!! He should have had injuries on his neck and back! What's more, several of the bruises on his ribs were the shape of a human hand." Anzu gasped.

"So it's true… his parents…"

"Yeah. At least his father. I'd say that… that… that miserable man beats the crap out of him fairly regularly." Anzu set the spatula down with trembling fingers.

"Can't we help him, okaa-chan? There has to be something we can do…" Akemi turned around and looked at her daughter.

"I have a plan, musume, but it might be risky." (1)

END FLASHBACK

"We have to try and get him to come over to my house after school. Uncle Hatori is going to be there." Jonouchi raised an eyebrow.

"Mazaki Hatori? Th' detective on th' police department?" Anzu nodded with a large happy smile on her face.

"You want us ta trick Yug? Anzu, that's pretty low. Th' kid's fragile, and I can tell yas that th' matter of his parents'll be even more sensitive." Anzu looked at the ground.

"I know it'll be hard on him, but… we have to do something to get him out of there." She whispered the last part.

"I didn't say it was a bad plan, Anzu. I just didn't expect ya ta go along with somethin' like this." Anzu looked up at him in surprise, and he was smiling at her. The teacher walked into the room and started taking role. Jonouchi slouched even further back in his seat.

"Yo Anzu, wake me before th' end of th' period, will ya?" Anzu shook her head.

"Sure. We'll find Yugi at lunch and ask him." Jonouchi grunted an affirmative and started to snore quietly.

THE HORIZONTAL RULE DIDN'T WORK

Yugi winced as he sat up in bed, nursing his ribs. His good eye blinked tiredly, his other swollen shut and bruised.

'Otou-sama got carried away again last night…' He gingerly climbed out of his bed and shuffled over to the attic door. A note was stuck to the top of it. Yugi picked it up and read it silently.

Runt.

You're too damn frail, you know that? We called you in sick at school today, so don't you dare leave your room, you hear? I've put tape on the door, so I'll know if it's been opened. You stay in your room and don't break anything. We'll discuss further punishment when we get back from the lake.

Yugi's eyes watered. They'd gone to the lake. Without him. Again. Just like always. He sighed, then gasped as the action set the nerves in his ribcage on fire. Carefully, he took another breath, and walked over to his bed. He shook his head as his stomach rumbled, voicing its desire to be fed. That wasn't going to happen. His secret stash of snacks had been used up a few days ago. The pushed his bed aside and took out the strange puzzle again. He'd been trying to solve it all night, but he always got stuck at a certain point. He clicked the pieces into place, contemplating his friends as he did so.

'I hope they're not worried about me…' he thought as he glumly solved the puzzle. Upon reaching the same place as always, he was stuck once again. He grumbled, and set the puzzle on the floor in front of him, just looking at it. Maybe it was magic after all. He'd asked for friends, and now he had two. Jonouchi-san was gruff, and tended to talk with his fists. Anzu-san was kind, and treated him nicely, not yelling at him or hitting him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a piece of the puzzle glint strangely.

'How can it glint? The window is boarded shut!' Yugi picked it up, and tried fitting it into the puzzle. It snapped into place with a soft click. His eyes widened in shock.

'No way!! It actually fit!!' He picked up the puzzle, and started solving it as fast as he could. In a few minutes, he held the final piece of the puzzle with trembling fingers.

"I… I did it… I did it!" He could have danced he was so happy. He had finally solved the puzzle that the strange man had given to him. He slowly fit the remaining piece into its slot, finishing the eye pattern that was on the front. Time seemed to freeze, and a circle of inky darkness spread from under his feet, never stopping as it enveloped the horizon. The very world around him melted into darkness, all traces blotted out by the invading night. From beneath his feet, a dot of light appeared, engraving a ten-point star almost twenty feet in diameter beneath him. He heard the sound of clinking chains from beneath the star, and he looked down. He almost jumped out of his skin when a huge pair of glowing golden eyes looked back into his.

"I have been waiting, my pharaoh. I knew that you would come for me. You have solved the Millennium Puzzle, correct?" All Yugi could do was nod, his voice seemed to be unavailable at the moment.

"I have waited patiently for you, Yugi-dono. Waited all these millennia, waiting for you to release me as you promised you would. Now that you have solved the puzzle, I am allowed to interact with the human world once again. I shall guard you, Yugi-dono." Yugi swallowed the lump in his throat and forced his pulse down.

"Why d-d-do you want to g-guard me? I-I-I'm not special…"

"NO!!" Yugi's heart almost exploded with surprise.

"You have no idea how special you are, Yugi-dono. What has happened to you? You are a shell of yourself… I am coming out there now, and you are going to tell me what's wrong, Yugi-dono, I beg you to." The world came back into focus slowly, and Yugi blinked as the dim light from his dying lamp seemed so much brighter than normal. He tried to stand, but he slipped on one of his socks, sending his head on a crash course with the floor. He closed his eyes and waited for the impact…

…

Any second now…

…

'Why didn't that hurt?' Yugi cautiously opened his eyes and looked into a pair of concerned golden ones. This strange man had caught him.

"Are you alright, Yugi-dono?" Yugi nodded, and was carefully set back on his feet by the man. He was wearing a white sleeveless vest, along with baggy white pants. His skin was tanned, and his feet had sandals on them. His sand-colored hair reached past his shoulders, except for two spikes that went straight back, away from his head and parallel to the ground. The shape of an Egyptian ankh was burned into his chest and torso, and his muscles, while not bulging, seemed to radiate power. Those golden eyes scanned the room, burning with a fury that Yugi had only seen on his father's face. He knew firsthand that that look meant someone was going to suffer.

"Who are y-y-you?" The stranger went down on one knee in an unmistakable bow.

"I am your guardian, Yugi-dono. I am Exodia, the forbidden one." Yugi's eyes widened.

"H-H-H-How are you here? I th-th-thought you were s-s-stuck in that other place!" The stranger made no move to rise.

"I was, Yugi-dono, but you have weakened the seal, allowing me to manifest myself in this world." The man picked the Millennium Puzzle up from the ground and offered it to Yugi.

"Your Puzzle, my pharaoh." Yugi cautiously took it.

"Why are you in such abhorrent conditions, master?" Exodia asked as he finally rose.

"Th-Th-This is m-­my room…" Exodia's eyes widened as they fell on his master's face.

"Yugi-dono, you are injured!!" Yugi jumped slightly.

"H-H-H-Hai…" He jumped again as golden energy crackled around Exodia's right hand.

"Who…"

"Nani?" Yugi asked nervously, fearing his reaction.

"WHO DID THIS TO YOU!?! SOMEONE HAD THE GALL TO STRIKE YOU!?! TELL ME WHO THEY ARE!!! RA SO HELP ME, THEY WILL PAY WITH THEIR VERY SOULS!!!" Exodia's roar of fury made the house shake. Dust was knocked from the ceiling and shelves, and the windows rattled. Yugi murmured something as he looked at the ground.

"I couldn't hear you, Yugi-dono."

"… Otou-sama did it…" Exodia took a deep breath.

"Your father obviously has a death wish, because he'll be meeting Anubis very soon!" Yugi grabbed on to his arm.

"NO!! You can't hurt him!! You can't!" To say Exodia was shocked was the understatement of the year.

"I don't understand, Yugi-dono. Why would you want to protect this man!? After what he's done to you!!" Tears leaked out of Yugi's eyes.

"Please… Please, don't… Promise me you won't…" Exodia's eyes softened as he looked at the small boy before him.

"If that is your wish, Yugi-dono. So it is said, so it shall be done." Yugi smiled shyly up at his guardian.

"Arigato g-g-gozaimasu, Exodia-san."

"Think nothing of it, my master. I shall always remain faithful to your wishes. That does not, however, change my feelings that those pitiful excuses for humans that call themselves your parents should be wiped from the face of this world." Exodia was seething inside. His master had ordered him not to harm those… those… horrible beings, and he had no choice to obey him. Yugi's eyes drooped, and his legs felt like jelly.

"Sleep, Yugi-dono. Sleep, and I shall watch over you." Yugi's only response was a gigantic yawn as he rubbed his eyes. Exodia laid him in his bed, and pulled the thin blanket over him. He took a seat on the floor by the boy's bed.

'Sleep well, my master. May you find refuge from the hell of your reality in your dreams.'

THE HORIZONTAL RULE DIDN'T WORK

Anzu walked up to Jonouchi as fast as she could after school.

"Jonouchi, I couldn't find Yugi anywhere!" Jonouchi spit on the ground.

"Me neither. I checked th' attendance center. Th' lady said he stayed home 'cause he wasn't feelin' well." Anzu sighed with relief.

"So he's only sick then." Jonouchi snorted.

"I doubt it. His old man probably messed him up good. Trust me, I can tell." Anzu swallowed the question she had been about to ask, and leaned against the wall.

"What should we do then?" Jonouchi merely pulled a slip of paper from his pocket.

"It's Yugi's address. I filched it from th' receptionist when she wasn't lookin'" Anzu smacked him over the head lightly.

"You shouldn't steal from office personell!!" she scolded him with a huge grin on her face. Jonouchi smirked.

"Let's pick up yer uncle and head ta Yug's place. We'll surprise him, won't we?" he chuckled as he walked off.

"Wrong way, Jonouchi!" Said boy sweatdropped and turned around.

"I knew that."

THE HORIZONTAL RULE DIDN'T WORK

Hatori set his cup of tea down on the table after taking a nice, long sip of the soothingly warm liquid. Nobody made tea like his little sister. He'd have to come over more often. She all but dragged him inside when he knocked on her door. Exhaling deeply, he looked across the table at her.

"So you think this kid's being abused by his father? That can be a tricky charge to prove, sis." Akemi set her cup down and returned his gaze.

"I know, onii-san, but I really need your help. Actually, he's the one who needs your help. Please, onii-san, you have to." Hatori leaned back in his chair.

"I don't have to do anything." He smirked across the table while Akemi spluttered out a protest.

"I want to do this, dammit. You'd be crazy to think I'd refuse this opportunity, sis." Akemi sighed with relief.

"Don't make me worry like that, Hatori-nii!" Hatori's smirk widened.

"It's what older brothers are for, you know." The door opened, and he heard his niece enter the house.

"Okaa-chan! I'm home! Hi uncle Hatori!" He rose from his seat and walked over to Anzu, who hugged him.

"Hiya squirt. How are you?" He hugged her back and ruffled her hair. She pouted at him.

"You know I don't like that!"

"Which is just why I do it." he stated as he rubbed her head again. Jonouchi carefully followed Anzu into the room. Akemi walked up to him and smiled widely at him.

"Well, you must be Jonouchi-kun! How are you, come in, have a seat! Would you like some cookies? How about some tea?" Jonouchi blinked confusedly and stuttered a reply asking for just some tea, and the four of them sat at the table. Hatori raised one of his eyebrows.

"Where's Yugi? Wasn't he supposed to be coming home with you, Anzu-chan?" Anzu smiled sheepishly.

"He wasn't at school…" Hatori banged his fist on the table, making everyone jump.

"We're going to his house. That's suspicious enough to warrant an exploration, in my opinion." Jonouchi smirked, and slid the purloined address across the table. Hatori picked it up, read it, and smiled broadly.

"I like your style, kid. Let's go." He said standing up from the table, followed by Jonouchi and Anzu.

"I'm coming too!" Akemi said.

"No. Sis, you stay here and get the first aid kit, some food, and a nice hot bath ready. Something tells me the kid's going to need all of those." Hatori walked out of the house at a quick pace, followed by the kids.

Everything seemed normal at the small house… until the door flew in with a footprint in the middle of it.

"I was going to do something a little different, but I guess that works…" Hatori muttered as he walked into the house. Anzu followed the boys in and looked around. It looked like a normal house, with normal photos and normal decorations…

"None of the upstairs rooms have anything in them!!" Jonouchi shouted after some inspection.

"No trace of children downstairs either…" Hatori murmured as he walked up the stairs to the second floor. Anzu followed, and she couldn't get rid of a fear at the back of her mind. A fear for Yugi's safety. Her eyes trailed upwards and she noticed what looked like a trapdoor sealed with duct tape.

"What's up there?" she asked, pointing at the door. Hatori walked over to her.

"Dunno. Probably their attic. Might be worth a look…" he trailed off as he removed the tape and opened the door.

THE HORIZONTAL RULE DIDN'T WORK

Yugi's eyes fluttered as he heard voices below him. Voices? His eyes snapped open completely as he sat up in bed.

"What's wrong, Yugi-dono?" Exodia asked.

"I-I-I-It's my p-p-parents!! You have to h-h-hide! They can't see you or they'll t-t-take you away!" Yugi struggled to get out of bed. Exodia looked at him questioningly.

"Are you quite sure that you wish me to hide, master? It is my duty to protect you-"

"Please!! You have to!!" Yugi's eyes were filled with fear as he looked up at his guardian.

"I will obey this once, Yugi-dono, but I shall not make a habit out of watching you get abused!" He simply vanished. Yugi hid the puzzle right as the door to his room burst open.

'I hope he doesn't hurt me too much!' He ducked his head and scooted away from the door.

"D-D-D-Don't hurt m-m-me again…" He pleaded with his father, not daring to look up.

"Yu… Yugi?" His eyes opened quickly. That wasn't his father's voice! He looked up, and saw…

"Anzu… W-W-What are you doing here?" He asked her. Anzu walked over to him with tears streaming down her face.

"We're here to save you, Yugi… We're taking you away from here…" she knelt before him and looked into his amethyst depths.

"You… You mean it?" his voice cracked as he finished the question. Anzu nodded, and the small boy latched himself onto her in a deathgrip, acting as though she was his only lifeline. Anzu hugged him, and murmured sweet nothings in his ear when he started shaking.

"RUNT!!! WHERE ARE YOU!?!" Everyone froze when the commanding roar was heard from the door. It looks like his father was home early after all.

THE HORIZONTAL RULE DIDN'T WORK

Okay, I know I left it at a cliffie! I wanted to, so mleh!

kaibygirl – Yes, I use Japanese words and phrases, but I translate them since I didn't always know what they meant either. Just doing my part. Thanks for the support!

Metanaito-san – Um, yeah, I noticed that… I'll elaborate and fix that later!

Molly-chan the Anime/Game fan – Boy, your username is long! Oo Anyway, thanks for your support, and I'm glad you enjoy it!

i-love-bakura1489 – Thank you very much, I appreciate your kind words!

starlitebarking – Yes, longer chapters longer time between updates. I haven't decided if Yami's going to be in it or not yet, but I would say probably not. Sorry to disappoint anyone in the audience! It shall be explained, I promise!

Not much to translate, but the "-dono" suffix that Exodia addresses Yugi with is reserved for kings and lords. Thank you soooo much, everyone! This was my first YGO story, and I can't believe the warm reception! I'll update once I've cycled through my Naruto stories again… WHY did I start three at once!?!