Blood Only Glows in the Dark Chapter 24: 24, 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!)

Yeah, turns out my 'nifty chapter title theme' idea is too small for the number of chapters in this fic.

Therefore, I'll be having a little contest. You guys should tell me your ideas, and one of those 'chapter title themes' will be used in this fic. Plus, the winner - or winners - will get an already posted chapter of their choice dedicated to them. Results will be posted with the next chapter. Hope this works!

Disclaimer: Yugioh not owned here

Claimer: Stuff Invented By Me owned here

A vague blur of motion was all the warning Yami received before several enthusiastic mortals converged on him, all of whom were surprisingly delighted to find him alive.

"Da way ya put dat creep down, dat was so totally awesome -!" Jou was cheering.

"We were all very worried, even Bakura, though I imagine he'll never admit it -" Ryou was mentioning.

"Oh wow, Pharaoh," Bakurah sneered as he slinked up, ruining the cheery scene, "I haven't smelled so much blood coming out of you since nigh on three days ago! Going for the record of most times almost bleeding to death in a row? I can help with that one - in fact, I'd LOVE to help with that one!"

"Oh no!" cried the mortals, "You really ARE bleeding!"

Then Yami had to fend off Ryou's attempts to play doctor with his portable first aid kit, and Jou needed to have fangs snapped at him several times before he would allow Yami to continue walking under his own power.

Finally, Yami managed to get settled in a quiet and most importantly solitary corner of the warehouse they were camping out in for the rest of the night.

He had even refused the painkillers Ryou had found in the bottom of his first aid bag, though the lure of not having to feel all this very incredible agony was very incredibly tempting. Maybe he'd take one later.

But right now, he needed the pain. It helped him in healing spells, to know exactly what was broken, and there was no better guide than pain. Unfortunately, Yami wasn't a true healer - those used a completely different base of magic - and his skill in this area was mostly self-taught.

It was a nasty surprise to find out why he'd nearly been drooling blood…a splintered rib had taken a nose-dive into one of his lungs. How nice!

Popping the bones back into their places and knitting them enough to stay there, along with shoring up the rest of his more serious internal damage, cost the rest of his reserves of power.

With the dregs, Yami was barely able to set up a weak spell that would divert his regenerating magic directly into healing the damage, and settled back to wait through the time that would take.

This warehouse, though abandoned, was still filled with many boxes and other things. Although he couldn't see them, Yami could hear Yugi and Jou investigating, and felt himself smile slightly when their search was rewarded with a cloud of dust that left them and Ryou sneezing.

Things quieted down as the mortals settled down to sleep. Even Bakurah, who would have to keep watch since he was the one in fighting condition, had curled up somewhere and gone to sleep - Yami could just tell.

So, as much as he needed the rest, Yami stayed alert in his little nook of the warehouse. In this case, pain proved helpful in helping him do his job.

Unfortunately, this meant Yami was alone with his thoughts, who were circling and chasing each other 'round and 'round the inside of his head.

Where would they go to next…they obviously couldn't stay here forever…how was he supposed to stop the girl and that other demon…had the shifter called him 'Hauru'?…why was this 'Hauru' person causing so much chaos in this human city in the first place…

Then there were his more familiar woes: everything about Bakurah, and even some about the mortals…and then there was how very tired and alone he so suddenly and deeply felt right now…

Yami roused himself, belatedly realizing he'd been dozing without meaning to. What had woken him, though?

"Um," Yugi said, clearing his throat - again, apparently.

It was very dim with no lights, but Yami could easily see how hesitantly he was being approached…and how Yugi was vaguely amused at catching the mage-demon napping, although he was trying to be polite and not show it.

"Yes?" Yami inquired.

"Um, I…um," Yugi said, "Well…I guess I wanted to see if you wanted a blanket or something…"

He was holding one in his hands, too…suddenly feeling annoyed with how uncomfortable Yugi looked, just standing there, Yami gestured at him to sit down.

When the mortal looked like he was going to just drop the blanket and leave out of nervousness instead, Yami managed to say, "Well, come on, you don't want to stand there all night do you," in a mostly calm-and-normal tone of voice.

'Don't read into it,' Yami told himself sternly as Yugi sat down nearby, 'He probably couldn't see your hand moving…its dark in here for mortals…'

'Or maybe he's truly terrified of you, now that he's seen you fight…'

"Are you going to be okay, Yami?" Yugi asked him, after another moment's silence.

"I will be whole and healthy again, soon enough," Yami replied, temporarily startling the human, who hadn't really expected a response.

"Of course," Yugi mumbled to himself next, "He's using his magic…"

"Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of that left at the moment, so it will take a little while," Yami added.

Yugi jerked, not realizing that Yami had been able to hear him. For some reason, this was funny, and Yami allowed himself a small smile, knowing that his face was in shadow and Yugi wouldn't be able to spot it.

"You're laughing at me," Yugi accused him.

This time it was Yami's turn to be shocked.

"…You have gotten surprisingly better night vision since the last time I saw you," Yami said.

"Not really," Yugi shrugged, "I could just tell because of your eyes."

His eyes?

"My eyes?" Yami blinked.

"Yeah, they kinda glow…didn't you know?" Yugi hesitated, able to see how the mage-demon was reacting to this tidbit of information.

"My eyes glow?" Yami repeated, still blinking.

"I'll show you - I borrowed this mirror from Ryou," Yugi said, pulling out a small mirror, "See? Here, look."

Holding the mirror up to his face, Yami looked at his eyes carefully and found out that Yugi was right. His eyes were like a cat's eyes, narrow-slitted and glowing, except that no cat had eyes of crimson.

All those times he had imagined his eyes had flashed, to get a more intimidating effect…and his eyes had been able to flash this entire time. Why hadn't anyone MENTIONED this?

'I need to start paying better attention to myself,' Yami thought to himself, before noticing something else.

"Haven't you ever seen yourself in a mirror before?" Yugi blinked, utterly surprised at the reactions he was getting.

Specifically, the reactions of having Yami investigating all his facial features and his hair in the little mirror.

"You've never even seen your reflection?" Yugi prodded.

"Hmm? You mean, in an actual mirror?" Yami looked puzzled by the question.

Then he remembered something, from very long ago, and grinned.

"Actually, there was this one time…"

"One time of what?" Yugi asked.

"Well…" Yami admitted, "The last time I saw myself in a real mirror, was when I was very young."

"And?" Yugi nudged, when Yami hesitated - having figured out there was actually a little story behind this incident.

"I'd, err, actually snuck into my sister's room, and there on this table were all sorts of bottles and brushes of all these smelly things - her perfumes and cosmetics…"

"And?" Yugi nudged again - although the boy was smiling now, having gathered a bit of an idea on how this tale was going to be ending.

"Well…" And Yami was really embarrassed about this part, "There was also a mirror. So I could see…what happened…when…

"…Ugh, when I put all that stinky stuff on my head," Yami finally finished, and glared at Yugi, who was holding his sides and trying desperately not to laugh loudly.

"You…were…trying on…makeup?" the boy wheezed out between frantic giggles.

"I was a little kid! Its not funny!" Yami protested.

"Oh yes it is," Yugi giggled, "I'll bet - hee hee - you looked so pretty too!"

Now the mortal was flat on his back, holding his sides tightly, giggling loudly and really not encouraging Yami to tell this story in the future to anyone. For lack of anything else he could do in retaliation, Yami grabbed the wadded blanket and threw it at Yugi's head, muffling the giggling somewhat.

Once the mortal managed to calm himself down, he scooted over to a seat against the wall, right next to Yami, blanket in hand.

"Anyway, so that's what you look like," Yugi said, trying to put some sort of closing cap on the discussion, "Is it really that surprising?"

"A bit," Yami admitted, "I looked a lot different when I was younger."

"Really? How different?" Yugi wondered.

'Wait, why did I say that? Now I'll have to tell him!' Yami berated himself mentally, 'I can't bury that part of my past if I keep telling him about it! Is there any way to fix this? …Maybe…'

"Well…" Yami said, stalling for time.

"Well, what did you look like?" Yugi asked again, not planning on being denied his answer.

"…Actually, a lot like this," Yami said, holding the mirror so that Yugi's face was reflected in it.

Why not? It was true, wasn't it?

"You used…to look just like me?" blinked the mortal.

"Not exactly like, but very close," Yami said.

The other was looking at his reflection with interest, and Yami found he couldn't resist adding: "That is, of course, AFTER I added the perfumes and cosmetics…"

"Hey!" Yugi yelped, lightly swatting the mage-demon on the arm, "Are you trying to call me pretty or something?"

Oh, that HURT. The boy he found so very attractive had just asked if Yami had called him pretty.

Fighting back his blush tooth and nail, and barely managing to pitch what he hoped to every god and demon was casual amusement into his voice, Yami stammered out a reply of, "I never said the word 'pretty', I think that was you, right?"

To Yami's ecstatic relief and utter disappointment, Yugi decided he was being teased and made a face.

Then he yawned.

"You should get some sleep," Yami suggested.

There was some more relief and disappointment - this time from opposite points of view inside Yami's head - as Yugi nodded, took the advice…and curled into the mage-demon's side, dropping off instantly.

"That wasn't what I meant," Yami muttered, feeling his face flushing more already.

But despite how it would have been quite reasonable to shift the slumbering mortal to a place that wasn't directly on top of his broken ribs, Yami mulled it over for a bit and surprised himself by deciding to leave Yugi be.

So there they were, alone in the corner, Yugi's head resting on Yami's shoulder…in the dark…

'Its just because he's asleep…its just because he's asleep,' Yami mentally repeated to himself, over and over, 'Don't read into it…don't even try to read into it the slightest little bit…'

…Bit of a pity, though…Yugi's hair did smell awfully nice...

'…Not a bit, no matter how much I wish he were fully aware of what the hell he's doing to me…' the mage-demon added with a sigh.