Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Warning: Character death, may contain disturbing themes. Rating may change.

Her Sweetness: Howdy. So, here's another chap, this one was fun to write. Enjoy.

—A Few Small Repairs—

To Be Alive:

"Wake up."

Slightly parted, pink lips opened wider in this moment and chocolate eyes fluttered open. The process of breathing started again, but slowly and soon became more rapid, a pale chest going up and down, though the motion couldn't be noticed from afar. As the chocolate eyes opened even wider, now coming to their true potential, he felt as if his vision were blurred or maybe he was laying face down into a pillow. All he saw, felt and heard was darkness.

"Wake up, sugar."

Groaning almost, he weakly sat up, using his forearms to raise himself from the nothing beneath him. Looking down and up and from side to side, there was nothing but shadows. No life, no people, no nothing. But there was something extremely familiar about the shades of gloom around him. And for the first time since opening his eyes, he felt something in the air. Heat. Sweltering heat, forcing him to sweat, forcing his shirt to cling to his torso.

He tilted his head all the way to the side, letting it rest on his shoulder. He whispered into the nothingness, "Where are you?"

"I'm right here, sugar. I've always been right here."

Suddenly, he gasped and leant foreword, his limp strands of hair touching his knees. There they were again. He felt those hands on his back, both planted firmly on both his shoulder blades, warm and fiery. He looked back and saw no one, but knew who was there. Knew who was always there.

"What are you doing…?" He asked, though was almost afraid of the response.

"Nothing," Now the voice was in his ear as it always was when he spoke. In his ear and hot breath trailing down his neck. The hands stayed in their place, "I'm doing nothing. You know, sugar, I really needed an excuse to see you like this… Tell me, do you ever remember anything I say to you? When you're asleep?"

"…" He stopped and thought for a moment. Thought back to when he was asleep, and those times were few and far between. When he was ever truly sleeping… He remembered hearing someone's voice during sleep. Someone telling him things, someone who was terrifying and sometimes comforting all in one breath. He remembered knowing that someone was there. Someone had told him something, "… Death…?"

"That's right." A chuckled rumbled from the voice, a short, clean chuckle that ended abruptly, "It's good to be remembered. What else do you remember?"

"I remember…I remember your hands. And your smile."

He hastily turned around and those warm hands immediately came away from his back and latched onto both the teen's hands, holding them lightly and somewhat protectively. The teen's eyes widened as he starred off into darkness but knew that someone had to be right in front of him. He lowered his voice, "D-Do… do you have a face?"

"Yes. I have a face."

"…" He fidgeted for a moment before looking around and leaning in, keeping his eyes to the side, keeping his eyes away from the speaking nothing, "Could you show it to me?"

Even though nothing was said, he heard something, a reply. But the reply could not be made out and he drew back a little from the hands that still held his, wondering for a moment if he had perhaps asked the wrong thing. He didn't want to anger what he couldn't see. And before he knew it, the hands drew away from his own, and he heard a whisper.

"If you promise not to scream, I'll show you who I am."

"…Ah…" His bottom lip quivered and he nodded slowly, halfway shutting his eyes, scarred that if such a request by the voice could be made then maybe his face, his appearance, was horrible beyond imagining. An entity that would surely make even the bravest of men scream. But then, that's what Death is, isn't it? No matter who or what you were, nobody wanted to die and everybody avoided Death as best as they could. Death was what everyday people feared above everything else. Death was what ended their pathetic lives, ended what they considered loving, ended everything and in turn began again.

He opened his eyes.

In a matter of seconds, his chocolate orbs starred straight into chocolate cherry eyes. Shoulder length silver hair almost masked those eyes, but he could see them clearly. A pale face and pink lips, slightly curved in a lazy smirk; lithe body and the same features if only a tad bit sharper. He'd say he was starring into his own eyes if he didn't know himself to be sitting down before this look-alike.

"You didn't scream." Death's smirk only grew wider, his eyes dancing in a delighted fire, "I'm proud of you, sugar. I only did this because you asked me to… But then again… maybe I would've done it anyway." He was crouching down in front of the other boy, on his knees with his hands both planted on each. Standing now, Death looked down at the teen whose eyes showed nothing but confusion.

He knitted his brows together, "W-Why do you look like that?"

"… I don't know what you mean. I look like you, sugar, I'm aware of it. You seem to be the only one shocked by it… But why does this surprise you? I told you before, and I suppose you didn't understand what I meant." Death seemed to be enjoying the puzzled stages the young teen's eyes were going through. He seemed not to remember quite as much as Death had previously thought.

"I'm only a shade of you." He grinned.

A sudden, abrupt shout echoed, "But what does that mean?"

Death looked at his look-alike for a moment, with his blank, emotionless eyes. He took a step back and kept stepping until he was a good ten feet away, smiling. "Stand up, sugar."

"…" He looked down, surprised to see himself still sitting on the nothingness. Somehow, he thought he'd already been standing. He used his forearms to try and lift himself, but he was still sweating and weak from all the heat. It was hard to breathe. "I-I can't… It's really hot…"

"Is that a fact? Well, then, I suppose I'll just have to change that." A smirk graced his lips as he turned around and with him, went the darkness. Each blotch or pool of ebony streaked by the teen and flew past Death, leaving a soft and familiar feeling under the boy's skin. He looked down and held in his breath for a small moment before he let it out and blinked, realizing he was sitting down in soft grass.

Jerking his head up, he saw a thick forest of trees surrounding him on all sides, large trees with trucks wider than what he could've put his arm around. Rays of sunlight maneuvered through the lush, green leaves and left traces of daylight on his pale face that was now confused and befuddled all at the same time.

He spoke without realizing it, "How did you…?"

"How did I what?" Death's voice seemed to be coming from no where and everywhere all at the same time, but most of all, from right behind him. He gasped and whirled around, now having found the strength to stand up and found himself looking into that face again. Death smiled, taking a step forward, "You mean how did I create this? Well, I control everything here, sugar. Everything. You do know where we are don't you?"

"N-No…"

"We're right here." He took another step and touched right in the center of the boy's forehead with his index finger, causing his young look-alike to flinch.

"In my… in my head? We're in my mind?" He asked, watching with both eyes the finger that still loitered on his soft skin. "But why…?"

"Because this is where everything lies, sugar. This is the beginning and the end. You, right here. Your thoughts, your hopes, your desires… and your dreams. Because that's really what this feels like, doesn't it? Like you're dreaming?"

"… A little. But it feels… kind of real in a way. A-Are you a dream… Death?"

"Maybe." Death finally lifted his finger and looked up into the sky, watching as small dots, insignificant creatures, flew by. He walked around behind the other, letting his eyes drift around the young body that was close to identical to his own. The boy watched his every move until he was directly behind him, "And maybe not. But if I was a dream, just keep in mind that I'd be yours."

The boy remained still.

"… Tell me something, sugar. Have you been enjoying all the rain we've been getting lately? I think you have… But, you know… Spring's almost over. It'll be summer soon. It'll be really hot then, there'll be minimum rain and even on days that it will pour, there'll only be a light drizzle. Not the rough pounding that you love so much. What will you do then, sugar?"

"… I…"

Though Death couldn't see his face, he knew his look-alike was on the verge of tears. He smiled and touched the boy's hands that were hanging down by his sides, lacing their fingers together and leaning forward, burying his face in the teen's snowy white hair, "You're so fragile, sugar. C'mon, now, don't cry… you cry to get out of things, but I want your answer. What will you do when the rain's left you?"

It was silent for a moment but Death didn't push. He knew there was only a certain amount of prying needed before the boy broke down, "I-I don't know what I'll do! I don't even want to think about it!" He gripped Death's hands harder though Death barely felt it, "I don't want to think about how it'll be when I'm all alone!"

"But, sugar, baby, honey…You're not alone. You'll never be alone." He smirked and bared his lustrous daggers, his face becoming more and more feral as he whispered into the boy's ear, face still hidden by the silver locks.

He sobbed, "I know…"

"And why will you never be alone, sugar?"

"Because I-I have… I'll have Malik…"

The small sobs continued even though the boy found comfort in his words. He knew that Malik would never abandon him no matter what he's done or said. Death, on the other hand, clenched his teeth together, grinding them and finally groaned into the boy's hair, fisting his hands and forcing a small yelp of pain out of the other.

"Y-You're hurting me…!"

"I know, baby…"

"Ah… L-Let go!" He twisted himself out of the other's grasp and stumbled backwards, turning to face him. The boy's face was pink and ragged breath came from his equally pink, parted lips. Though he said nothing, his eyes were wide and his eyebrows knitted together. The question was posed.

Death racked a hand through his own silver locks, revealing once again those eyes, the color of dirty blood. His voice was venomous, "Allow me to answer my own question. I know what you'll do when the rain stops. You'll loose it; every single piece of sanity you ever had will fall away and nothing will be left but you and that screwdriver. Soon he'll see how dangerous you really are and as soon as he realizes there's no saving you, he'll go straight to the authorities. Do you know where you'll end up, sugar?"

The boy's breath came faster and shorter.

"Under the ground. In some cell far away, they'll lock you there and when it does rain, you won't even hear it!"

"No! Shut up, shut up! Malik would never do that to me!" He was straining to fight back the tears but they were already flowing and had been for ages, "Malik's my friend, he's my best friend and he loves me! I'm not dangerous!"

"Mmm, but that's why I like you." His grin returned and he sauntered across the measly five foot distance to his distraught and teary-eyed look-alike who wanted desperately to back away but could do nothing but stand there as Death grabbed one of his hands with his own and roughly wrapped his other arm around the boy's waist. He leant in and smiled in his ear, "You are dangerous. You're just this tiny, breakable doll that refuses to crack no matter how many times you get thrown against the wall. Stubborn, silent; you know what you want, sugar, and you'll kill you get it. There's just something irresistible about how your eyes light up before their eyes close for the last time… You deny it, but I know you love it. All this anger, all this pent up tension and you just want to release it on someone, don't you? But the rain… is the only one who can satisfy you, isn't that right?"

"You don't know what you're talking about…"

"I think I do…" He brought the boy's hand up to in-between their chests that barely grazed each other, "I'm just a shade of you, sugar. Everything that you hate, everything that you want to banish from this earth, I'm that. I'm the Death you wish upon someone every time you pass them in the hall, I'm in your dreams, your head, your heart. It's dark in your mind, sugar, and I am your gloom."

He shivered and whimpered under the soft caresses that Death was giving his back, his chest, stomach; barely touching every part of his body, but touching it in the right way to make him hold back screams. He gasped as Death rubbed the small of his back in tiny circles, "Stop it…! I-I want to go, I just want to wake up!"

Death did stop his touches for a moment and drew back a little to get a better look at that gorgeous face, "Malik will betray you. I only tell you this because if you don't listen, you will be hurt in the end. And I want us to finish what we started."

"I don't kill for the reasons you do! I'm only helping!"

A low chuckle passed Death's lips again as he looked at the trembling boy in amusement, "Stubborn… I love it. Sugar, you know what we have to do, don't you? Malik has to go… but don't worry, sugar. I'll do most of the work."

His eyes widened immensely and he pushed Death away, shouting now and almost all his tears had been depleted, " No! I won't let you! I swear it, you can't do this, you can't! I won't let you harm the only person who loves me!"

Suddenly, darkness came back in giant streaks. All the grass, all the soft wisps of wind that blew through their hair was gone. The trees deteriorated around them and piles upon piles of ebony shadows replaced them, putting them back in that same place, hot and sticky and the teen, now backed by nothing, fell to the darkness with a thud and winced at the pain.

Death seized this opportunity and got down on the boy, straddling his hips and forcing his head to the side with only one hand, grinning madly and insanely as his look-alike sobbed and tried to get out from the painful position he was now trapped in.

"I won't let you do it!"

He smiled, "Relax, sugar—"

"You can't…"

"—After all… it's only a dream."