Blood Only Glows in the Dark Chapter 9: 9, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

(NOTE 3/8/06: Chapters have been restored to their original order! Assuming nothing ELSE goes wrong, here ya go!)

Snow, Snow, I love it so!

...Except when I have to shovel it. (sigh)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh

Claimer: I own made-up stuff that I invented

At least the shooting games were somewhat more proper for someone like him. Fake human blood sprayed out of yet another group of onscreen characters as Yami beat the game easily. And he didn't even like using guns. Guns made killing so…well, so impersonal.

The shooting games weren't the only things he had been playing; Yugi especially wasn't overly fond of such obviously violent entertainment, so Yami had also played several other varieties of video game. Yami won every time, but that wasn't really that much of a surprise: he had always had a bit of a knack for this sort of thing anyway.

Yugi's human friends were busily playing some sort of competitive dancing game, the only game Yami hadn't played yet and the only game which Yami was NOT going to try. He didn't do dancing.

Although it was rather amusing to see Jou fall over like that -

'Did I -' he suddenly realized, 'I just did. What is wrong with me? I know the other two call him that nickname, but they're his friends. And I'm…'

And this wasn't the first time during afternoon that Yami had felt a sudden urge to get outside, NOW, and get to a place where he could disappear. There might be more than a few hazy places in his memory, but a passionate dislike of things like companionship wasn't something you just forgot about.

And just like every other time, one look at Yugi - he was also laughing at his blond friend's antics - quelled every single desire Yami had for escape.

The weird mental see-sawing that this resulted in finally abated when Yugi and his friends - dragging Yami along with them - left the arcade and began debating where to go next.

"C'mon, its Friday, lets go see a movie or something!"

"And how are we gonna pay for this movie, Mister I-Lost-All-Our-Money?"

"Grrr - shut up!"

"Don't fight, you guys," Yugi cut in, "I'm sure there's still something we can do. We might just have to walk around town until we figure it out is all."

"Hey, dats a great idea, Yug'! Hey, Yam', you coming?"

"Huh?"

'Did he just call me 'Yam'?'

"Did Jou just call him 'Yam'?" Honda whispered to Yugi.

"Well, are you coming with or what?"

"We're going to hang out for a while longer," Yugi clarified, "Do you want to hang out with us, or do you need to go someplace…"

Before Yami could even begin to think about answering that, someone yelled to their group from up the street. Looking past the humans, Yami felt his hackles rise.

"There you are, Yugi! You guys, I went to meet you guys after detention ended and you were already gone! I've been looking all over for you," the girl said as she got closer to them.

The girl stood beside Yugi as the humans exchanged hellos. She and Yami exchanged glances, hers of amused curiosity, his of extreme dislike. When she attempted to make eye contact, he diverted his gaze to an entirely different direction and set his features into an impassive - if angry - mask.

"Anzu! Great timing," Honda greeted the girl obliviously, "We were just trying to figure out what to do next, seeing as our resident Dancing King just lost all our money."

"I already told ya, it wasn't my fault!" Jou yelled, "Get offa my case about it already!"

"Anzu," Yugi began saying, blushing crimson from the girl's proximity, much to Yami's disgust, "I don't suppose…I mean…can you think of anything interesting around town that we can do?"

"Well…," she started, barely mustering enough of a thoughtful expression to cover the look of sheer glee that crossed her features, "I did pass something really interesting when I was looking for you guys. I'm not sure if it'll still be there, but I think its definitely worth checking out."

"Really? What is it Anzu?"

"When I passed by it, I think they were starting to shut down," she continued, ignoring Jou's question, "But if we hurry, we can still make it! C'mon you guys!"

And with that she grabbed Yugi's hand and started back the way she had come, walking at a quick pace. Yugi managed to blush even harder at the physical contact and Honda followed right after them, but Jou hesitated.

"Something ain't right…I don't like dis," Yami was surprised to hear him mutter, before the blond started following after the other three.

Not about to leave Yugi alone with HER, Yami began following the others as well.

"Anzu, how much farther do we have to go?" Honda complained.

"Don't worry, it's just up ahead! Not much longer now," the girl called back over her shoulder.

While she was looking, she attempted to make eye contact with Yami again, which he avoided. She was starting to get really interested in that…perhaps even realizing that Yami wasn't just another mortal friend of her target.

Finally, they reached the place that the girl had been aiming towards: the park. Incidentally, this was a part not too far from where three corpses were still probably being picked over by the local wildlife…

Yami shook the thought out of his mind - now was the worst possible time to be thinking of such a frivolous thing. The girl had finally let go of Yugi's hand, and Yami took the opportunity to move closer to his charge.

"So, where's this amazing thing you were talking about, Anzu?" Honda wondered as the humans looked around.

"I guess we must have missed it," Yugi said, "Sorry, Anzu…"

"Oh, you don't really need to worry about it," spoke a voice.

It was coming from the nearest stand of trees and Yami recognized it instantly. The voice's owner was, in appearance, a male human in at least his third decade of life. Long black hair tied back in a ponytail, very tanned skin, and oddly bright blue eyes defined the 'human's' sharply angled features.

The demonic aura this 'human' was giving off was extremely formidable, and Yami hastily clamped down on his own aura lest it reveal him. The demonic one barely gave him a glance.

Of course, not even the genuine humans present could mistake this creature for one of their own kind. The taller pair tensed as they stood just in front of Yami, and even Yugi, still distracted by the girl's immediate presence, looked distinctly uncomfortable.

One of the creature's arms moved, stretching towards the girl in an inviting gesture. There was a blur of motion as the arm suddenly seemed to grow -

Grasping the girl by the arm and drawing her back towards the creature in a half-embrace.

"After all," the creature continued in his easy-going drawl of a voice, "You're about to witness something extremely special happening right now…you really should feel most honored…"

"Holy - that thing has Anzu!" Honda yelped.

"Anzu!" Yugi cried out, about to run right over.

Before Yami had to do or say anything, Jou grabbed the smaller one by the shoulder, preventing him from running.

"Huh? Jou, let go, we have to help -"

"Yug', you know dat I respect ya an' all," Jou said in a very firm voice, "But you need ta stay put an' take another look. Those two don't want our help."

Yami blinked at the blond in astonishment, as did the other two humans. Of all the…perhaps humans held more potential than Yami had thought…

This revelation didn't please the girl at all. She changed her expression to look particularly unhappy.

"But Yugi, I thought we were -" she paused to snivel for a second - "That we were friends!"

Automatically, Yugi attempted to take a step forward. Jou stopped him.

"Trust me on dis, Yug'…"

"Dude…" Honda finally managed to ask, "What are you doing? You're just gonna stand here and let some creep manhandle a girl, much less OUR friend?"

At this point, Yami felt compelled to speak up. Being overlooked, while useful, irked him immensely. Plus at this rate Jou might lose his grip on Yugi and that would be the end of everything.

"She isn't your friend anymore," Yami said, his quiet voice ringing in the cool evening air, "That is, if she ever truly was your friend in the first place. I doubt it."

"Huh?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Yami. Even Yugi turned halfway around to look, while not taking his entire gaze off the girl.

"What in the heck makes you say that?" Honda half-asked, half-demanded.

"Because if she really wanted to be rescued, she would have screamed for help by now."

The girl flushed with embarrassment at the mistake, and almost managed to hide it, but not before the three humans spotted it. Honda gasped, while Jou snarled. Yugi was staring at her in total shock.

"So, Anzu," Jou growled, "Just who IS this little gentleman friend of yours, hmm?"

"Meddling human scum," the girl hissed, every trace of her cheery disguise gone with another instant, "I'll rip out your filthy little lungs for this…"

"Now, now, my precious," crooned the creature holding her to him, "You don't need to worry about these silly mortals. Just the other night you were telling me that you wished you could act as you truly are? See, here is your wish come true!"

"You're right," the girl sighed, snuggling deeper into her - what, her partner? Lover might even be the case at this point - into his arms.

"But you do have a point," he sighed, "The other three mortals are extraneous. We only need the boy. Shall I have them eliminated, dearest?"

"Whatever you wish," she replied, and Yami heard a scraping and dragging sound start up behind them.

"What was dat?" Jou demanded, looking around wildly.

Yami could easily see what was making the noise - four, no five Dammug Beasts had surrounded them. The girl's companion had released her in order to work with a crystalline wand, one that Yami vaguely recalled was used to maintain the Dammug's invisibility in the human realm. He wasn't given much time to observe this before the first ones sprang at them.

The humans were yelling in panic as they were grabbed and lifted into the air by things they couldn't see. Yami's blood got riled when he spotted one Beast seizing Yugi and starting to carry the boy over towards the watching pair.

Another one audaciously tried to rip Yami's right arm off. That was the last straw as far as he was concerned.

Dammug Beasts were always fairly easy to kill…surprised Dammug Beasts especially so. The thing's head snapped off - fairly easily - and a sharp kick snapped one of the ones attempting to strangle Jou almost in half.

Ignoring the blonde's gasp of thanks, Yami charged for the Beast dragging his charge away. Holding the head by its long, greasy hair, Yami had a weapon, and his first wild attack surprised the Dammug into dropping Yugi.

"Thanks - but what the -" Yugi began.

"Don't just sit there, run!" Yami snapped, pelting the Dammug with the head in his hands as it retaliated.

Jou and Honda were already beginning their hasty retreat, tailed by a limping Dammug Beast - the other was lying prone and appeared unable to rise. But instead of doing the intelligent thing by running, Yugi instead latched onto Yami's arm that wasn't currently flailing around with something invisible.

"I'm not going to leave you behind Yami!" the boy insisted.

As soon as those words had left Yugi's lips, Yami felt something very strange happen inside of him. His magical energy, already beginning to come into focus from the combination of battle and the nearby threatening auras, suddenly surged into a sharp peak. The Dammug head Yami was holding crackled with black lightning as his magical power instantaneously swamped it.

Where in the Nine Circles of Hades had THIS come from!

The Dammug lunged forward in a tackle, and the head leapt right out of Yami's hand and launched itself like a rocket. The Beast was blown back ten feet with a wailing screech. Utterly astonished, Yami let himself be tugged into a run towards safety.

A last glance behind showed a Dammug lying flat on the ground with a gaping hole in its torso while the girl and her demon companion were busily scrambling out of the path of the magically-infused missile. It struck a tree, causing the tree to die and turn black as its leaves all fell off at once.