---Rating: PG13---
"" is talking
~ ~ is for thinking and reminiscing
** is for coughs or sighs
--- --- is for mental conversations or mental voices
--"( )"- Sacred Ancient language used by Shadi
--( )-Same as language except in mental conversation.
"+++++++++++" - Usually a language that is spoken by someone but the
person listening doesn't understand.
---MAJOR WARNINGS---
Yaoi - As in homosexuality (and if you don't know that word you are NOT 13 and hence should not be reading this). Nothing graphic however - not in this chapter anyway. Cursing - Yami has a slightly vulgar mouth XD
AN: I've been reading so many fanfic's lately where people put down Anzu (Tea), either by 1) making her dreadfully annoying 2) a spoilt brat 3) trying to steal Yami from Yugi though a) manipulation b) sheer bitchiness c) blackmail. It gets on my nerves when I read those fanfics, simply because I've read the manga and Anzu was portrayed as a very brave, feisty, gal with a heart of gold. (Anyone take into account that she really DOES care for Yugi?) So guess what? I'm putting her in my fic as someone with sense and shroud mind. Hate me if you will all ya Anzu-bashers but that's how it goes! Yay Anzu!
CHAPTER NINETEEN - You Didn't Leave Me
~It hurts ~
Yami blinked. That voicethat was Yugi's voice
~Make it stop~
Time had frozen for Yami, one moment he was clutching Yugi to his side and then all of a sudden, he was staring at Yugi, kneeling in front of the archway, his body enveloped in a burning white light. It took his numbed brain forever to realise that Malik had taken control of him again and was now, somehow, forcing Yugi to open the door.
A wave of agony came out of nowhere and brought with it a feeling of nausea so strong it made his stomach lurch in an effort to relieve all it's contents. Some logical part of Yami's mind thanked heaven his stomach was empty, as he gagged up air.
~MAKE IT STOP!~
Yami winced, ears ringing and his eyes going unfocused. It was Yugi's voice in his mind again, but screaming this time, there was fear, pain anddespair? Squinting sharply, he forced himself to look at Yugi once more and to his horror realised the smaller boy's body was convulsing. The light that was enveloping his body was becoming brighter and brighter, it was impossible to look at him without going momentarily blind from the glare. Another wave of agony washed over him and Yami had to grip his sides to stop from fainting. What was all of this? Was he feeling what Yugi was feeling?
Blinking tears of pain away, Yami swallowed hard and took a slow agonized step towards Yugi, whose entire body was arching backwards from the sheer force of the power that was coming from him. The very ground was starting to shake and Yami almost lost his balance. Above him the archway rumbled a spine tingling groan and sprinkles of dust showered the ground before Yugi.
~You're doing this for Yami!?~ Yugi's voice snarled in Yami's mind.
Yami blinked.
~What the HELL is wrong with you?! Why do you keep doing this for HIM!?~ Yugi's voice continued to scream in his head.
~Yugithat's Yugi's thinking that~ Yami thought dumbly. ~He's doing this for me? Why?~
~So Malik doesn't kill you~ another, more patient voice answered in his mind.
Yami's eyes widened. ~No~
Malik glared at Yami who was painfully shuffling his way towards Yugi. Yami's
face had contorted into a mask of agony shortly after Yugi had begun opening
the gateway. The expression was identical to Yugi'sit was almost as if
they were sharing the same pain.
Narrowing his eyes at Yami, he wondered what could have caused this. What did it mean? Glancing up at Yugi, he wondered for a moment whether the tri-colour haired boy would survive this ritual. He was kneeling there, screaming silently while the entire room rumbled as if it too, was in pain. The white robed figures were all pressed to the sides of the cavern, terrified.
Gritting his teeth, he focused his attention on Yugi. Yugi HAD to survive; there was one more ritual after this! If Yugi died before he could get the puzzle
~A risk~
The doorway screamed and the entire room made a sharp lurch forward, the seal was breaking!
~that I will have to take.~
An earsplitting 'crack' echoed throughout the cave and almost gracefully Yugi fell forward, hitting the ground with a soft thump. Malik released Yami from his mental hold, he had what he wanted for now, let Yami 'protect' little Yugi to his heart's content. He smiled grimly at the archway. Yes, it was open now they could continue their journey, that was if they
A terrible roar came from deep within the archway.
Malik looked grimly at his followers who all gazed back at him in panic. They had to hold their heads now or else
Another roar shook the room.
IT was coming.
Feeling the mental weight off Malik's mind lift from his own, Yami scrambled
forward and pulled the limp body of Yugi to his chest just as the first roar
shook the cavern.
~Whatwhat was THAT?~ Yami's mind squeaked. Ignoring the voice he gazed down at Yugi who was an ashen white and breathing in heavy, painful gasps. His eyes were wide but unseeing.
"Yugiwake up" Yami growled gently. Something was coming from deep within the archway; he had to get them out of there.
NOW.
Yugi did not respond, did not even blink.
"MOVE you fool!" Malik snarled suddenly and Yami looked around just in time to stare up at the most beautiful, yet horrible thing he had ever seen in his life.
Two fierce blue eyes, white metallic skin and a force of energy that made the very air crackle around them, stared down at him with a furious, unblinking stare.
~BBlue Eyes!?~ he choked.
--------------------------------
"Yugiis the chosen one?" Solomon stammered, staring up at Isis
who gazed gravely at him. She nodded.
"That puzzle?! The 'gift' Shadi gave me to give Yugi. You knew all this time?" Solomon continued.
Isis nodded again, bracing herself for what was coming next.
"BLAST YOU WOMAN! BLAST YOU AND YOUR GODDAM CULT!! YOU SAID IT WOULD PROTECT MY GRANDSON FROM HARM! NOW YOU TELL ME THAT ALL THIS TIME!!"
Solomon lost the feeling in his legs and sank down into a chair Joey had pushed under him just in time. "Yugioh my boy what have I done to you!?"
Isis continued to gaze at him calmly. Waiting for the grief to fade from Solomon so that she could continue. When his moans of despair had finally faded into inaudible mumbles, she continued.
"Believe me Solomon, this was never our intention. Your grandson was never supposed to be placed in such grave danger. We will rescue him but we will need your help. Do you know where Shadi is?"
Solomon gazed up at her in confusion. "No, I do not. Isn't he with your lot?"
Isis shook her head. "Shadi came back to tell me only that Yugi had received the puzzle and the bonding spell. Then he disappeared. I have not been able to contact him."
Tea looked at her curiously. "Shadi? Is he the 'other one' who guarded the puzzle?"
Isis nodded at Tea. She really was an observant girl, far more aware than the others.
"Why do you need him?" Tea asked curiously.
"Because I cannot possibly face my brother in the Shadow Realm with only one millennium item." At Tea's blank expression she hurried to explain.
"Some of the items choose temporary masters in the cult. This"
she slipped off her gold necklace and laid it out in Tea's hands. "is
the 'Eye of Truth' in your language.
With this item I can see the futureso to speak." She took the necklace
back from Tea who was ready with another question.
(AN: It's probably not called that in the real comic or anime, but I'm taking a bit of writers liberty here, if anyone knows the real name just drop me a review and when I'm revising the whole story later I'll add it in. thanks ^^ - Please do not write a flaming impolite letter saying I'm not writing it correctly!! I don't claim to be perfect and I always appreciate the help people send my way - I don't appreciate notes that yell at me that I'm not doing it 'right'. As far as I'm concerned there are no 'right' ways to write anything in fanfiction.)
"If you can see in the future" Tea began.
"Why did I not see the items being stolen?" Isis asked softly.
Tea nodded.
"Sometimes my item simply does not tell me things. Unlike the other items that only require the user to will it to do something - mineoften works on its own. Perhaps Yugi was supposed to be captured, perhaps the items were supposed to be brought together. I do not know - but my item simply did not warn me until very recently. When I became aware that the items were in Japan."
"And Shadi's item is?" Tea prodded on.
"The millennium Key, he searches persons minds for who they are. That was how he found Yugi."
An idea sparked in Tea. "Why didn't you use the Key to find the Pharaoh?"
Isis smiled at Tea. This girl was quick. "Because the Pharaoh's mind is unreadable, locked away from prying individuals who would seek his knowledge to use for evil. He could be anywhere on the planet. Only the Chosen One can find him."
"How would the Chosen one find the Pharaoh?" Tea asked curiously.
Isis looked puzzled at this. "Only Shadi knows that piece of information I'm afraid. But we know for sure that only the Chosen One can find him."
"We have to find Yugi." Solomon's voice said, he sounded hoarse but determined. "You talked of facing Malik in the Shadow Realm. How do you intend to do so?"
"There is a gate to the Shadow Realm, the gate which our cult guards. Malik would never be able to enter that way. That was why he needed all the other items; one can rip a hole in the fabric of space surrounding the Shadow Realm if one has enough millennium items plus the millennium puzzle."
Solomon frowned. "So what you need is manpower basically, enough items to match Malik's own power?"
Isis nodded. "I will still go to the Shadow Realm even if I cannot find Shadi but I don't know what I can do to save Yugi. Predictions can only go so far."
"We'll go!" Joey growled behind her. Isis turned in surprise.
"You?" she asked softly.
"I don't know half of what's going on here but Yugi's in trouble and I wanna help - and also to punch Yami's lights out for what he's doing to that kid. So count me in."
"I'm going to go with Joey, Kami-sama knows he'll kill himself if someone's not there to watch his back." Triston said winking cheekily at Joey who cracked his knuckles in annoyance and puffed up like a chicken. He promptly attacked Triston with the nearest object close to him (a stapler) and a full-fledged fight was about to break out when Tea slapped the stapler away and grabbed both boys by their ears, twitching.
When both boys agreed to act their age Tea turned her attention back to Isis. "I'll go too of course." She informed the Egyptian. "Please don't tell us we can't come"
Isis smiled gently. "I would say no such thing. I will need all the help I can get. Solomon will you come?"
Solomon growled in reply. "What do you think woman? Your insane sibling has kidnapped my grandson and I must sit here and darn my Goddam socks? When do we leave?"
Isis raised a brow but managed a grateful smile. "We leave now."
--------------------------------
~Blue Eyes White Dragon?!!!~ Yami gasped mentally staring up at the roaring dragon who was struggling to free itself from the archway. Pieces of the archway were coming loose and landing dangerously close to where Yami crouched with Yugi encircled by his arms.
~How?~
Hauling himself up, he pulled Yugi along with him, eyes locked on the beast in front of them. His heart was hammering painfully in his chest and he could feel every hair on his body standing on end.
~How is this happening? Blue Eyes is a monster from a card game!!~
"Yami" Yugi moaned suddenly into Yami's chest, a weak hand attempting to grasp and tug at the material of the robe. "Yamiit's real"
"I figured that much out." Yami growled back softly, taking a tentative step back.
~Please don't let it see~
Homicidal blue eyes swiveled in their sockets to stare down at him and Yami
froze, eyes wide with fear, his stomach feeling like it would like to, maybe,
take a nice jog - AWAY from there.
~ShitIt's seen us!~
A low rumble escaped the beasts jaw and its eyes narrowed, Yami felt for one strange moment that it was studying him; his stomach was now doing the can-can.
The low rumble grew louder and the Blue Eyes snorted aggressively, massive shoulders coming together behind the head and as silently as a snake slithering through grass, it stepped out of the archway and took a slow, menacing step towards them, its long razor sharp claws hitting the ground with sick 'clacking' sounds. Its eyes were still locked on them and Yami felt that whereas it had been studying them before, it had now decided that it disliked them immensely.
Not good at all.
"Stop!" Yami ordered, surprising himself. His voice sounded hoarse and strangled, as if air was struggling to get through to his voice box
~Suuurre 'Stop', is it? Like a bloody puppy, huh? Why didn't you tell it SIT while you were at it?~
The Blue Eyes paused in mid step to Yami's surprise, cutting off his sarcastic train of thought.
~I...It stopped?~
It was just standing there, looking down at him with an expression of almost disbelief all over its narrow face. Yami marveled at the level of intelligence that face expressed, he half expected it to open its jaw and laugh.
~A laughing Blue Eyesthat'd be the day~
But instead, it just stood there for the longest while gazing down at him. Slowly the expression of shock was melting away and sheer rage was quickly replacing it. Cold blue eyes narrowed to dangerous slits and rearing its head back, it gave a high-pitched scream that seemed to echo from deep within its throat.
The room shuddered from the shear volume of the sound.
After Yami's numbed mind finally managed to grab a few brain cells to work again,
he realised with dull horror that the dragon was preparing to attack. He had
seen the Duel Monsters simulators at that mall run by that organisationwhat
was it? - Kaiba Corp? - Had seen how a Blue Eyes supposedly attacked.
Their simulators SUCKED.
Adrenaline finally hit his blood stream and barely thinking, he grabbed Yugi's waist with both arms and backed up as fast as he could. All around him the white robed figures were standing there, as if in shock. Dimly, he heard Malik bark orders to the black robed figures but only one moved to obey, the rest were frozen from fear. Obviously the bastards hadn't been expecting this
Yami knew a lot about Duel Monsters, knew that there weren't many monsters that could take on a Blue Eyeswell, Dark Magician could if he had the proper magic cardsbut this wasn't a bloody game! There was a real live Blue Eyes White Dragon tearing the cavern apart in front of them.
~Someone pinch me cause this is one FUCKED-UP dream!~ Yami groaned mentally, struggling to keep Yugi from sliding to the ground. After his faint warning, Yugi had lapsed into unconsciousness again.
The scream of the Blue Eye's powering-up reached an earsplitting decibel and then, without warning it let loose its attack. Yami watched in horror as half of the white robed figures and two of the Black robed figures were incinerated in a blink of an eye.
~Okay, so this isn't a dream~ Yami's numbed brain managed to eek out.
The Blue Eyes was surveying its handy work with a sinister intelligence; its eyes scoped the room and fell on Yami and Yugi once more. It's cold eyes narrowed again as if angry to see them still there and it slithered forward, making the same terrifying keening sound in the back of its throat that indicated that it was powering up.
~SHITSHITSHITSHIT!!~
There was no way in hell he could keep dodging while lugging Yugi around like this. Survival instinct told him to drop the boy and head for the doorway leading out - but he balked at the thought the moment he had it. He couldn't leave Yugi behind.
The Blue Eyes was over them, the roar reaching that horrible scream again. Looking around frantically Yami realised he'd backed himself into a wall; there was nowhere to go except forward under the Blue Eyes belly. He lurched himself forward, attempting to dodge its razor sharp claws but a large foot slammed into the ground in front of them, blocking the only escape route left. Yami lifted his face to stare directly into the dragon's eyes and was amazed to see smug satisfaction in them.
~This damn creature is planning this!~
"Bastard" Yami spat up at the dragon and pulled Yugi close,
eyes flitting over his unconscious face. An odd pang of regret gripped his heart
and for one brief moment Yami wished that he'd been a little nicer to Yugi,
if only to see his weird little doppelganger smile again.
Tearing his eyes away from Yugi, he forced himself to look at death in all its
white metallic glory, heart hammering in his chest so hard it hurt.
~ Oh God~
The scream of the Blue Eyes had reached fever pitch and Yami knew that only a few seconds separated them from death. Taking in one more haggard breath, Yami whispered in Yugi's ear the only form of apology he could muster. "Sorry kidI guess I won't be able to get you back for that exam" He closed his eyes and covered Yugi's body with his own.
MaybeYugi would be able to get away if
The seconds ticked by, each one feeling like an hour to Yami. The power radiating from the Blue Eyes was somehow penetrating Yami's eyelids, making him see bright red spots.
"YamiI don't want us to die" Yugi whimpered against Yami's chest, his voice so faint Yami felt for a moment that he'd imagined it.
"Neither do I" Yami murmured back, hugging Yugi closer to him, he was almost unaware that he was talking.
An odd sensation of his right pocket burning made him wince as he felt, rather than heard, the Blue Eyes fire its power blast directly at them.
This was it?
They were going to Die?
Die in some stinking hellhole of a dessert?
How had this happened?
"Yami!!" Yugi choked out but his voice was cut off as if he had been
jerked backwards and his breath taken away. Yami felt something grabbing him
by the waist and then
Yami opened his eyes to see the Blue Eyes' attack destroying the distant wall
at the other end of the room, with a thunderous roar.
~What?!~
He looked down at the arm that was wrapped around his chest; it was heavy purple and black armor. Shaking, he turned his head to stare into two deep blue eyes that at the moment were contorted into confusion, anger and a touch of fear.
"Black Magician?" Yami asked, amazed.
The Black Magician ignored him, his eyes locked on the Blue Eyes who was destroying more of the cave wall trying to turn around.
~Where's Yugi!?~
Panicking, Yami looked about him frantically and sighed with relief when he saw the limp form of the smaller boy in the Black Magician's other arm. The puzzle around his neck was glowing as if on fire.
"Who has done this?" a cold voice growled darkly above Yami. It took Yami a good three seconds to realise that the Black Magician was talking to him.
"Malik." Yami found himself answering. "Malik made Yugi open the archway"
"Then this, 'Malik' is a fool." The Black Magician growled angrily and placed the two boys on the ground. He then stepped forward to place his body between them and the raging dragon. "I cannot fight a Blue Eyes without help"
Yami's racing mind realised that this Black Magician was correct. The Black Magician card was only a match for Blue Eyes in the game when he had certain magic cards equipped to him.
~Well that's nice to know and how do we find a card to equip this guy?~
~Where the HELL did he come from is a better question in my book~
One of the white robed figures came out of nowhere suddenly and was edging nervously towards Black Magician, who only gave the figure a cursory glance before speaking. "+++++++ +++++ ++++?"
(AN: Okay I know this + thing is annoying you people to death so I'm gonna translate that for you k? )
"(You have something that can help me?)"
The white robed figure nodded mutely and fished through its robe to bring out a thin white box.
Yami gazed at the box in surprise. What was all this? What was it that the Black Magician had just said and what was in that box?
The Black Magician grabbed the box, eyes turning to focus on the Blue Eyes who had managed to turn itself around and was now glaring down at the Black Magician, that same look of cold intelligence and dislike on it's face. It snarled a low growl that made the ground under them shake.
The Black magician smirked, understanding plain on his face.
"(Yes it has been a long time Blue Eyes and this time we have no master controlling us, I will not hesitate to kill you this time.)" The Black Magician whispered dangerously and opening the box, took out a thin, golden horn.
"(The unicorn horn)" the Black Magician said savagely, and the horn turned into pure energy and entered his staff, the red orb inside turned a brilliant white.
(AN: last one I swear! Just to let you know that IS an equip card (unicorn horn) but equip cards don't really exist in the shadow realm, heck it's real isn't it? You do the math XD - I'm doing a poll - if anyone can guess who the white robed figures are and their role, they'll get a Chibi drawing of any of the Yugi-Oh cast done by me at the end of my fic!)
The Blue Eyes seemed to realise what was happening and without warning charged, screaming angrily. The Black Magician smirked and held his staff out to face the charging monster, power crackled from him as he prepared for the attack.
It was over before Yami's brain could register it. The roar of the Blue Eyes was cut short from a precise attack of the Black Magician; the power of the staff slammed into the massive creature and knocked it back senseless into the cave wall and took anyone close by with it. The Black Magician approached the unconscious dragon, staff outstretched to inflict the final blow.
"STOP!" Yugi's voice cried from behind him.
The Black magician stopped in surprise and turned to gaze at Yugi who had somehow managed to prop himself up with an arm. He was shaking badly, in obvious pain.
"ItIt didn't want to be released, don't kill it, please don't" Yugi pleaded and sank back down, the last of his energy spent.
"" he murmured, as his eyes closed.
Yami stood shakily to his feet, not knowing why he was doing this but determined. "Do as he says" he ordered, surprising himself.
Black Magician gave Yami an incredulous look. "YYou DARE to give ME an order? I have one master and neither one of you are he, even if" he paused, giving Yami a hard, long look. "Even if you do look like him as well" he continued to give Yami a puzzled look.
~As WELL?~ Yami thought blankly.
Yami stood his ground even though his heart was hammering in his chest. "There
is no reason to kill it, you are strong
enough to subdue it so leave it at that"
He was actually surprised the initial attack had not killed the Blue Eyes like it usually did in the game but decided that this was real life, not all things died after being attacked by something stronger. He glanced back at Yugi
~They don't do they?~
The Black Magician seemed to consider for a second and then lowered his staff. "You don't control me mortal be very aware of that" He turned and stood in front of Yami, eyes narrowed.
Yami swallowed hard.
"If you dare to give me an order again I will send you to hell" The Black Magician growled in a low, savage tone before disappearing in a bright flash. A thin card flipped in midair and would have floated to the ground had Yami not snatched it out of mid-air.
Staring down at the torn surface of the Black Magician, he wondered back to the burning sensation in his pocket just before the Blue Eyes had attacked and Yugi's glowing puzzle. Was this connected? Pocketing the card again, he turned and gently scooped Yugi into his arms. For a reason he could not explain, he felt like he wanted to be nice to the kidYugi had guts - far more guts than his tiny body ever let show.
Even half unconscious, Yugi had managed to show concern for something that was out to take his life. The boy's heart was huge.
Still cradling Yugi, Yami watched as white robed figures scurried towards the Blue Eyes an odd red jar in tow with the face of a dragon carved on the surface. Within a second, the Blue Eyes had dissipated into a smoke and swallowed by the jar and sealed.
~Dragon Capture Jar~ Yami said thoughtfully.
"How are you able to summon a Black Magician?" Malik's voice said softly behind him and Yami swung around, Yugi still safely grasped in his arms. He had no more patience for this shit. He was sick of Malik's scheming and half sentences.
"You're an asshole you know that Malik? A Blue Eyes?! What the HELL were you thinking?!" Yami snarled.
Malik smiled softly, cold purple eyes going very dark. "You've answered my question with another question. It's perfectly all right, if you don't want to answer me, I'll pick it out of your mind later. Congratulations however, on surviving."
Yami wanted to spit in his face.
Still smirking, Malik turned and swept out of the cave, several black robed figures scampered after him (he noted Ai was among them). Yami glared after Malik with pure hate. White robed figures stood about the cavern listlessly. Some were staring up at the archway and were uttering low, frantic prayers. Yami had a feeling that none of them were very happy that about what had transpired. If the Blue Eyes had come out of there, one could only imagine what else was lurking down there.
--------------------------------
Tea flipped the page of her biology book, trying to study but this was rather
hard with Joey and Triston arguing behind her in the plane (it was something
about a bag of salted peanuts). What had she been thinking? She'd agreed to
this rescue mission completely forgetting that she had exams that were barely
two weeks away! Her mother and father were going to flip when they saw the hastily
scribbled note on the dining room table.
She wondered how Joey and Triston's parents were going to deal with their absence.
They were on their way to Egypt for Kami's sake!
~Still we can't leave Yugi in the hands of this Malik maniacor Yami~
Sighing in frustration, she shut her book with a snap and whacked Joey across the head with it.
"What the hell was that for!?" Joey bellowed angrily, rubbing the back of his blond head in annoyance. An old woman beside them who had been napping gave the blond boy a disgruntled look.
"Shut up before I shunt both of you out of this plane." She growled, giving them both a death glare. "You're both acting like four year olds! Or am I giving you too much mental credit?"
"So why didn't you hit Triston too!?" Joey complained, still rubbing the bruised spot.
Triston rolled his eyes and slumped in his seat. "Bossy biddy"
"What'd you call me!?" Tea growled, looming over him like a wrath, the book in her hand about to take another victim.
"Enough! Please!" Professor said sharply from the seat in front. "You are attracting unnecessary attention!"
The trio abruptly shut up and satisfied themselves by shooting death glares at each other while in the front Isis and Solomon continued their conversation.
"And Shadi has not contacted you at all?" Solomon asked sincerely.
"No" Isis replied, sadly. "He is always secretive, hardly contacts us in the cult, but for something this important I would have at least expected a letterI am worried for his safety." The sighed and stared out of the window wistfully.
Solomon was silent for a while then said softly, his voice strained with worry. "I hope we can reach Yugi in time"
Isis did not reply but closed her eyes.
--------------------------------
Yami pushed the door of the apartment he shared with Yugi open with a foot and
got them both inside before the door slammed shut, barely missing his ankles.
Yugi continued to sleep and Yami envied his ability to simplydrop at any
given moment. It seemed to be an acquired talent.
He was shaking, not from fear but shear exhaustion, adrenaline was the only thing that had kept him going in that cavern but at the moment all he wanted to do was sink to the floor and sleep for days.
A growl echoed through the room.
Yami froze, blood throbbing in his ears. Another monster? It took him a good three seconds to realise that it had been his stomach. Come to think of it - he was STARVING!
Lowering Yugi on the cushions, he sank down beside the boy. Too much was happening for his very confused mind to process properly; his head was hurting from hunger too.
"You saved me" Yugi's voice said faintly from beside him.
Yami turned to lean on his elbows to stare down at Yugi who hadn't moved but whose large green eyes were riveted on Yami's face. Gratitude and genuine care shone in them, Yami almost blushed but caught himself.
"Yeah, what about it?" he asked grouchily and crossed his arms behind in head and stared up at the roof.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Yugi's voice said softly.
Yami glanced at Yugi in surprise. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You don't like me, you told me that a long time ago, I know you feel you owe me or something but but"
Yami growled and sat up, fixing his eyes on the door. "Let's get this straight, I didn't save youBlack Magician did. How I don't know"
~I SAVED him? HE was the one opening the archway so that Malik wouldn't kill me, this kid has his value of help severely skewed~
"But you didn't leave me when the Blue Eyes was going to attack us you didn't leave me there" Yugi continued.
Yami's blood ran cold. Was this everyone's opinion of him? Sure he was a bully, an asshole half the time but did everyone think he would actually leave someone to die to save his own skin? He was a lot of things he was no coward. Turning his eyes to gaze down at Yugi, he asked in a low voice, to hide his pain.
"You really think I'd leave you there to get killed? You think I'm that kind of person?"
Yugi gasped inwardly. Yami was gazing down at him with the most hurt and sad expression he'd ever seen on anyone's face. It was the face of someone who had gone through a lot of pain too quickly and hid far too much of what was going on inside.
His face slipping into an anguished look of apology, he threw his arms around Yami's neck and hugged him despite Yami's growl of protest.
Yami's heart hammered in his chest when Yugi wordlessly threw himself at him and hugged him, the first hug sincesince his mother and father had died. He had let no one touch him since the day of that car crash. He hardly realised it when his arms wrapped around the smaller boy and returned the hug, a knot forming in his throat. The gesture was so simple, so loving - no manipulation behind it
~Why are you making me think these things Yugi?~
A sharp cough made Yami realise what he was doing and he let of Yugi and jumped back to stare in the direction of the cough, severely embarrassed. Yugi continued to sit on the cushions, a strangely happy expression on his face.
Ai stood at the doorway, large tray in hand and a rather amused look on his face. "Look-a-likes hungry?"
To be continued
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AN: Well, this is the turning point between Yami and Yugi's relationship. Yugi's slowly chipping away at Yami's shield. I hope it was realistic - sometimes you need a Blue Eyes attacking you to make you feel more tender towards a person ^_^!
Well, remember the competition! If anyone can guess who the white robed figures are in my story (no they're not real in the manga - I mean in regards to my story) - the first one to guess and give it in a review gets a coloured Chibi drawing of any Yugi Oh character of their choice! Drawn by me! =3 (the runner ups get creditable mention ^^). I will announcer the winner in the next chapter.
I got more than 5 requests for the Yami and Yugi pic (with them in their outfits) so I'll try to have it up by next chapter (school is eating me alive)
Stick with me guys! Please??! Only about 7 chapters or so to go to the end (4 to real romanceI think) i'm terribly excited.
Oh, and someone asked about the time difference between real world and shadow realm - they are different times but the way how the shadow realm story progresses and the real world story progresses, they'll eventually meet up at around the same time.
And one more point, the monsters and magic cards in this story are based a
great deal on the CARDS, the real card game, and a teensy bit of the anime.
Till next time!