Banal author's note of the day: Boredom killer of the moment: go to the Search section of this site. Make sure you're looking for titles (category doesn't really matter, people are unoriginal across the board). Type in shadow, dark(ness), or My Bloody Valentine. Giggle inanely at the vast number of stories that appear. Read a few, because some of them are rather good. Go to Quizilla. Repeat instructions as above (except replace My Bloody Valentine with either soul or heart). Giggle inanely at the content of the quizzes.

Quick vocabulary, in order of appearance (it'll probably explained more in the next few chapters, but you could be waiting a while for those)

D'miisoh – what Ryou is. Lit. "half-blood"

Kitaanei – a race very similar to Ryou's father's.

Kitaan – adjective. A person or people of the kitaanei race.

Luit – basically a revenge killing.

Lithouèn – what Ryou's father's people call themselves.

Ironic. He'd never liked the dark much when he was alive. Really alive, not like this. Bakura lay on Ryou's second spare bed, staring contemplatively at the tiny window above him. A moth alighted on the sill. Unlike Yami, Bakura had managed to remember snatches of his human life. It had something, he supposed, to do with being a little unhinged to begin with.

He was getting off track. The dark. He didn't like the dark... back then. He'd ...appreciated it, funnily enough for the same reason that he'd disliked it: you never really knew what was lurking in the shadows. Now though, well, why worry? He knew better than anyone what was lurking in the shadows.

There was a soft knock at the door and Ryou slipped into the room.

'Usually when you knock at someone's door, you wait for an answer,' said Bakura, rolling over to face him.

'It's my house,' retorted Ryou. He approached on silent feet and sat on the edge of the bed. 'You promised me you'd behave,' he said accusingly.

'I only picked a fight with him once,' replied Bakura serenely. 'And then I left him alone. Just like I promised.' He folded his arms behind his head, eyes closed. 'Really, I'm doing him a favour when I annoy him. It keeps him on his toes.'

'You haven't changed at all.'

'I hope you weren't expecting me to.'

'No. Life would be dull if you were a nice person.'

'I'll let that slide since I'm staying in your house. So,' Bakura cracked one eye open, 'what's going between His Majesty and the kid?'

Ryou frowned. 'You're looking for something new to use against him.'

'Hm, it must be good.'

'There's nothing going on,' said Ryou firmly. Bakura opened both eyes and raised his eyebrows. 'Don't look at me like that. If you're really interested, ask Yami.'

Bakura snorted. 'I thought you didn't want me bothering him,' he said sardonically.

'I don't want to talk about this with you, either. It's none of my business, and it's definitely none of your's.'

'You always spoil my fun.'

Ryou hit him with a pillow before he left the room.

Never having really needed nor, for that matter, comprehended the attraction of sleeping eight hours a night, Ryou found himself wandering down the moonlit hall, past his bedroom door, and poking his head into Yami's usual room. Unsurprisingly, Yami and Yugi were both lying awake, each either unaware that the other was awake, or else ignoring it.

Ryou announced his presence with a polite cough.

'Does anyone in this house sleep?' growled Yami, face down in his pillow.

'I've been keeping him awake,' explained Yugi apologetically.

'Don't worry,' Ryou winked. 'He doesn't actually need to sleep as much as he does.'

'No,' conceded Yami. 'I just enjoy it.' He propped himself up on one elbow. 'What're you going here?'

'It is my house,' Ryou folded himself into the empty armchair between the two beds. 'Besides, I have an acquaintance coming tonight. Why wait alone when I've got you to talk to?'

'Who's your acquaintance?' asked Yami suspiciously.

Ryou shrugged. 'No one you know, I'd think. A contact, one of my father's people.'

'I thought they didn't like you,' Yami commented.

'They don't,' Ryou shrugged again. 'I'd be lying if I said the feeling wasn't mutual. I still like to know what's going on there.'

'Why should you care? They abandoned you, didn't they?'

'The worlds are intertwined,' Ryou explained. A note of bitterness slid into his voice as he concluded, 'Everything that happens there affects us all.'

In the silence that followed this statement, Yugi lay still, listening to the sounds of the night. He could hear the soft roar of late night traffic, the occasional murmur of people out in the streets, and Yami's breathing, slowly easing into the deep, even rhythms of sleep. On the cusp of sleep himself, Yugi noticed a new sound, or rather, a lack thereof.

'Why don't you breathe?' he asked Ryou softly. 'Yami's undead, and even he breathes.'

'You're undead too,' pointed out Ryou calmly. 'And I do breathe. You just can't hear it.' He smiled. 'I can teach you to do it, if you want. You'll probably find it useful one day.'

'What do I do?' Yugi asked curiously, sitting up in bed.

Ryou resettled himself in the armchair, leaning forward on his elbows. 'Alright,' he said softly. 'The first thing you have to do is listen to yourself. Listen to your breathing, listen to your heartbeat. Then just... focus on silencing them.'

'That's it?'

'That's it. It takes a lot of practice, all magic worth learning does.'

'Magic? But that's -!'

'It's magic. Very basic magic. It's an exercise in channeling your will. That's all magic is, bending the worldaround your will.' Ryou paused thoughtfully for a moment. 'One other thing you'll need to remember,' he added slowly, carefully, 'is that everything comes at a price. Don't ever forget that.'

Yugi cocked his head curiously. 'Why?'

'It'll be important.'

Before Yugi had a chance to ask Ryou what he meant, a confident knock at the front door echoed through the house. Ryou stood and made to quit the room. He paused in the doorway.

'Try to get some sleep,' he said gently, and disappeared into the darkened hallway.

The door clicked shut behind him.

Several minutes passed, during which Yugi sat listening to Yami sleeping. He heard the lock on the front door grinding open and leapt, somewhat clumsily, from his bed and out of the room.

Weird, he mused as he crept downstairs as silently as he could on still-shaky legs, he'd never been this curious when he was... well, human. This was downright nosy.

Ryou and his guest were quietly making their way toward the living room; they'd be sure to pass Yugi and hear him, even if he did manage to hide from view.

He crouched in the shadows at the foot of the stairs, trying Ryou's trick.

Listen... focus... silence...

It didn't work.

He held his breath instead as Ryou and a shadowy figure passed him, heading into the living room. A moment later, he released the lungful of air slowly and shuffled cautiously toward the living room. There, he curled up just inside the doorway, half hidden by the shadows.

Moonlight illuminated the pair sitting on opposite one another on the sofas. Yugi couldn't see Ryou's face, but he could clearly see the visitor. Her hair seemed to glow in the moonlight, almost like a halo. She was very pretty, Yugi thought detachedly.

'I don't understand your interest in our world, Ryou,' she said, eyes sparkling in spite of the seriousness of her tone. 'People would even go so far as to say it's unnatural.'

'And I can't understand why you keep coming to talk with me, Mai,' countered Ryou. 'It's definitely not normal.' He paused. Yugi was sure he was smiling. 'What should I know?'

All mirth drained from Mai's face. 'You won't like this.'

'Do I ever?'

'This is more than just another anti-human and d'miisoh law,' Mai told him gravely. 'It's getting out of control. You remember Taiyu Litikee, don't you? I think I told you about he and his supporters last time.'

'The ones who don't like humans?' Ryou said with a coolness Yugi wouldn't have believed he was capable of. 'Yes. You mentioned him.'

'Hm, well, since I last saw you, he's been getting a lot more influential. Some very powerful people have been getting behind him of late.'

'Because of his anti-human stance?'

'No, because of his views on the kitaanei. The anti-human thing just complicates things. Tension between the kitaanei and us is growing, Ryou. Last week there was a riot in Cou. Four people were killed, and three of them were kitaan.' She frowned. 'There's going to be a luit within a few days, I know it.' Her fists clenched in her lap. 'The Leaders say it's nothing to worry about, of course, but the farmers, people from the border villages... they've been coming into the City. There's no room in the hostels any more. They're so desperate, they're even pitching tents in the streets.' Her voice faltered, almost imperceptibly, and her frown deepened.

As quietly as he could, Yugi shuffled closer to the pair. He was sure that he could see Mai shaking.

'There'll be war?' Ryou asked softly.

Mai could only nod.

'You'll be right in the middle,' she murmured. Shesaid something else, very softly, though what, Yugi wasn't sure.

Just as he was shuffling a little farther forward, an arm snaked around his waist and a hand closed over his mouth. He was too shocked to even struggle. Someone dragged him silently from the living room, up the stairs, finally stopping in the guest room. Upon being released, Yugi was roughly spun around, his shoulders gripped, and he found himself staring into Yami's narrowed eyes.

'What were you doing?' he demanded, squeezing Yugi's shoulders.

'I- I'm sorry, I was just curious -'

'Can't you see that this doesn't concern you?'

'But -! What if Ryou needs our help?'

'And what if he doesn't?' Yami shook his head, but didn't relax his grip. 'What help do you think you could give? Ryou is much older and much wiser than you.'

'He helped me.'

Yugi winced as Yami's grip on his shoulders tightened. 'Do you realise the kind of danger you'd be in?' he hissed. He was shaking with barely suppressed emotion. Yugi wondered why. 'You don't even know the danger you're in already, do you?'

'What?'

'You don't know. You really don't know,' he laughed mirthlessly and shook his head again. His white-knuckle grip on Yugi's shoulders relaxed. 'You're a vampire now. Do you know the kind of lives we lead?'

Yugi shook his head.

'Everyone is an enemy. Everyone. Humans, the Lithouèn, kitaanei, everyone.'

'But... why?'

'Because we're uncommon. We're ...unnatural. We're neither living nor dead. We crave blood. Tell me, why is everyone an enemy?'

Yugi was silent, digesting this.

'And you're in more danger than Bakura or I,' Yami continued as though anticipating Yugi's next question. His hands slid from Yugi's shoulders to loosely hold his elbows, 'because you're so young. Too young.' He looked away. 'I'm sorry. I didn't intend to... kill you.'

'It's alright,' Yugi turned his head to stare out at the window, feeling distinctly awkward.

'You say that everyone's an enemy,' he said slowly, after a long silence. Yami looked back at him and nodded. Yugi took a deep, slow breath, and continued stubbornly. 'Ryou isn't. I don't care what you say. I'll offer whatever help I can.'

Yami's hands clenched around Yugi's elbows and he made a noise somewhere between disgust and exasperation at the back of his throat. There was a crooked grin on his face, half hidden behind his hair.

'We'll discuss this in the morning.'

'I will help.'

'Goodnight, Yugi,' Yami pushed him gently back onto his bed, before turning away and lying down on his camp bed.

He kept his back to Yugi, so that he wouldn't see that his crooked grin still hadn't faded.

And that concludes a very belated chapter (really, really sorry about that). Hmm... it seems Ryou has become a one-man foreshadowing show. As always, questions, comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated and encouraged.