Title: Girl Trouble

Author: Sean Wright

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh.

Chapter Three

The shop was quiet. The apartment above, more so.

Sugoroku had opened the store late the following day but wound up closing early. Yuugi was still sleeping, this time because of a couple sleeping pills that Sugoroku had to force down his throat when the boy woke up screaming again. He hated doing that his grandson, but Sugoroku did not know what else he could do. He could not take Yuugi to the hospital. What would he say? "Yesterday my grandson went out and came back a girl?" That would go over well and both he and Yuugi would be in the psychiatric ward.

For now, all he would do was handle this situation as best as he could by taking care of you Yuugi and praying that somehow Yuugi would survive this.

Yuugi stirred in his sleeping, whimpering, and moaning as he fought against the demons in the dreams and the effects of the sleeping pill. He called for Yami repeatedly, but the Pharaoh never came. He remained hidden in the far corner of Yuugi's room, with his legs drawn to his chest and his arms locked about them hiding his face against his knees.

Sugoroku had tried to coax the dark youth out of the room when it became obvious that he was not going to Yuugi's side. He reminded him that he had classes that morning at the university but Yami did not bulge. Yami blew off a photo shoot for a gaming magazine, leaving Sugoroku to deal with an angry publicist, a disgruntle sponsor as well as a fuming photographer. The first two did not have to remind the aged Motou about the next tournament Yami was signed up for. Fans of the duelist had been pouring in the store for weeks wanting autographs and wanting to talk about the second biggest duel in Duel Monsters outside of the annual Duelist Kingdom tournament as they tried to mimic Yami's deck.

Was it really just two days ago when Yuugi and Yami were planning for Yami's trip to New York to participate in the American dueling tournament? Yuugi was to accompany Yami and both had been excited at the prospect of being in the American city for a complete weekend alone.

The years before, Sugoroku had accompanied the pair to all the international tournaments they had been invited to that were held around the world before Yuugi had retired and when it was just Yami dueling. He was a little skeptical about letting the two go without him this time, but Yami had brought up the point that he and Yuugi were both responsible adults who knew how to take care of themselves and each other. It was that 'adults' part that gotten to back off Sugoroku. Yuugi was seventeen and senior in high school and Yami looked a few years older and was a fourth year university student. It also brought forth a reality that he had been trying to avoid since the day Yuugi and Yami announced that they were a couple. His grandson would soon be leaving him to start his life with Yami.

It had hurt when he realized that Yuugi no longer needed him to take care of him. In fact, it surprised Sugoroku when he realized that Yuugi seemed to be taking care of him. Yuugi made sure that he went to doctors, he maintained his schedule, picked up whatever medications Sugoroku needed. He had even taken over the housework. Yami paid for a woman to come by three times a week to clean the house and what was done in between either Yuugi or Yami would do. Yami drew the line at cooking which was fine with Yuugi who discovered he had a small talent for it and other things around the house. Sugoroku never even thought about this or who the two young men seemed to live with him until that night.

Sugoroku had come to realize that it was he who now dependent on them. Initially, it was a shock and he was slow to accept it. Yuugi had become a handsome, responsible, and well-bred young man right in front of his eyes and Sugoroku had been blind to it all. He refused to see the taller, handsome youth with quick, keen wit and the sharp yet whimsical smile that his little Yuugi had grown up to be.

Sugoroku looked about his grandson's bedroom with a sad smile. All the toys were gone, the games and puzzles had been carted up to attic, and everything from his childhood had been put away along with the Yuugi Sugoroku had knew. On wall above Yuugi's bed was a print of Big Ben in London. The wall over his desk had a replica of Casablanca movie poster. On the desk were a closed notebook computer, Yuugi's schoolbooks, and a printer. A stereo system sat in on a table beside the desk with the CDs stacked neatly beside it. And a pair of headphone hung off the back of the desk chair. The bookcase on the far was crammed with books on every shelf and had ferns growing wildly around the sides and framing the single window of the room. Yuugi had a lot of ferns and a few other desert plants scattered about the room. He had even changed his bed. He had given up his nice little twin bed for a larger, roomer full size sleight bed that could have accommodated three people easily. And on the nightstand hidden behind two framed photographs (one of himself and a much younger Yuugi. The other was of Yuugi and Yami taken sometime that summer on their trip to Fiji.) were three un-open condom packets and a tube of lubricate. Sugoroku quickly pulled his eyes and mind away from those things.

He knew his grandson was no longer a virgin and accepted that his lover lived with them, but that did not mean he was completely comfortable with it. Still, it left a little ache in Sugoroku's heart because he knew he was no longer first in Yuugi's love. Yami wasn't the single cause of this, he was just a part of the whole complexity of Yuugi steps into adulthood.

There was not much of the messy, merry little boy who had once lived in this room. There was a strong, confident young man who although had seen the worst of humanities yet still believed that was some good in the rest of the world. A youth in the first flushes of adulthood who would continue to grow and demanded the same of those who were around him just by believing and accepting all for themselves.

Yuugi had a way about him, a regal air that was never haughty or condescending. It was proud, yes, by never vain. It was in the way he carried himself, his gestures and open manners that drew people to him. This was what made him a perfect match to Yami whose personality was the complete opposite of Yuugi but he was no less magnetic.

Both young men drew all attention with their physical beauty. But what Yami took away, Yuugi would give back and it brought others further into their circle of influence. Yuugi knew more people than he know four years ago. People were drawn to him and Yami and they stayed because Yuugi would reach out to others. He believed in them this would give them the a purpose, a will to want to be better than they ever dreamed possible.

Yuugi had the making of a great man. Sugoroku had always felt that way and over the last few weeks he had been very certain of that. Yuugi and Yami would go very far in this world and with each other. The young man who slept in this room no longer needed anyone, not even his grandfather to hold his hand or comfort him.

At least that was what he believed until last night.

Yuugi drew in a sharp breath as he grabbed his grandfather tightly.

"Yuugi," the old man winced as the boy's strong fingers dug into his shoulders.

Yuugi held onto his grandfather tightly.

"Oji-san." He cried out or he tried to, but it came out like a wheezing gasp. He collapsed against his grandfather.

Yuugi buried his face in his grandfather's chest and just clung to him. Tattered sobs poured from the boy. He started violently at a sudden pounding coming from below in the store.

"What happened, Yuugi?" He heard himself ask. "You have never intentionally hurt another soul in you life. Why did this have to happen to you?" And not Yami? He thought grimly.

"You should try to get along with Yami, Ji-san." A then fifteen-year-old Yuugi stood in the middle of their kitchen defending the young Pharaoh who had just been given his own body. "He's not a bad guy. He's one of my best friends and he cares about me."

Sugoroku knew just had the Pharaoh cared about Yuugi. He the dark spirit had already come to terms about this, but it would be no easy peace as long as Yami wanted Yuugi.

Still he held his tongue and let his unsuspecting grandson continue to extol Yami's virtues. Sugoroku even promised in the end to try to be kinder to Yami and help him adjust to this new world. He only prayed that Yuugi would seen through Yami's many masks to what rested beneath.

"Yami..."

How he wished that Yuugi would wake up, flash him that now familiar impish grin and just be his Yuugi again. He had to be strong, for Yuugi's sake and him own. He had to be strong,

Yuugi turned away from his touch, reaching out for the one who was not there. "Yami." He murmured.

This had to be a nightmare. It just had to be. Yami had been repeating the same litany for hours. His hikari had not been changed by sadistic enemy that he was unaware of. His hikari was fine, Yuugi was fine, and there was no one out there who wanted to harm either of them.

/Yami.../

He looked up at the person thrashing about on the bed and quickly tore his eyes away. That was not Yuugi! He refused to believe that this—this female was his light. He would never believe it. He—he could not...

Shame washed over him as Yuugi again called for him aloud and through their bond.

"She did this...She made this happen, just to hurt Yami."

/...please, don't leave me.../ Yuugi begged, pleading with him.

How could he not leave? But how could he stay?

The need to touch Yuugi was so bad that it was slowly driving Yami insane. Not since he gained his own body had Yami denied himself the luxury of holding his beloved. He recalled Yuugi's reaction when Yami had first called him that in Japanese when he had been doing so for months in his native tongue. The boy had been flustered, blushing and stuttering as Yami stalked him. He bumped into a tree and realized that he had run out ways of escaping, but then Yami never intended to let Yuugi go in the first place.

He had claimed the boy on sight a year before and Yami had tolerated others being around his possession, touching Yuugi and looking at him until Yami came to posses his own body. After that, anyone who came within a meter of Yuugi was too close. Everyone but Sugoroku, but those first few months between the senior Motou and the former Pharaoh of Kemet were some of the most fearsome.

Sugoroku, despite his easy nature was a hard and strong-will man and did not wear the same blinders that had clamped onto his grandson. He knew what Yami was about the first time he laid eyes on Yami's fleshy form. He had warned Yami away from Yuugi, saying in no uncertain terms, if Yami wanted Yuugi, he was going to have to fight Sugoroku for him.

Neither the Tomb Robber filth nor that libertine Marik had nothing on Sugoroku Motou when it came to intimation or righteous zeal. The old man had done everything he could short of killing Yami to keep him claiming what was rightfully his. But Yami had been determined to posses Yuugi completely and he would not be denied. He had lied to Yuugi's face and played along with him saying that shit about he and Yuugi being best friends right up until that moment he and Yuugi took that little walk in the woods.

Yami had taken Yuugi's first kiss and innocence that afternoon and proceeded to take the boy completely and made him his. He did not stop in his relentless campaign until Yuugi understood and accepted that he belonged to Yami completely and only to Yami. Yuugi wore a ring on his hand that showed Yami's ownership of him. He did not allow anyone other Yami or Sugoroku to touch him, except for last night when he was reunited with his friends. He was the property of the Pharaoh, his mate, his 'possession', his. And now he was unwanted.

Yami turned his face away as Sugoroku eased Yuugi into a sitting position and tilted his head back enough to pour some water into Yuugi's parched lips.

"...Yami, Pharaoh, or whatever your name is..."

"My name is Atemu, however, I would have you refer to me as Yami."

Sugoroku eyes narrowed at the impertinent tone. "Demon." He said coldly. Yami only smirked. "You will do well to listen to me, for I will only say this once. I don't want you involved with my grandson. He is a gentle, innocent boy."

"He's not innocent anymore."

It took an effort, but Sugoroku managed not to reply to that dig and he went on with what he needed to say before he strangled the smirking youth who was draped over his easy chair. "Yuugi is very trusting, his faith in people borders on being naïve..."

"Yes, I know," Yami said breezily. "Too many bastards out there would take advantage of someone as sweet and as trusting as my koishii."

"People like yourself you mean?"

"I can't take advantage of what is already mine." Yami said crisply. "I was referring to his little band of 'friends'."

"You admit that you want to isolate Yuugi."

"I was never one for sharing."

"Yuugi is not your property, he is his own person..." Sugoroku nearly choked on his rage.

"Which was never true since we share a soul..." the dark spirit shot back.

"Which is why I don't want you with him." the old man yelled at him. He and the ruby eyed youth glared at each other. Yami's face was a sharp mask of controlled rage, Sugoroku was trembling with fury. With an effort, Sugoroku managed to regain some control over his emotions. He stalked into kitchen for a bottle of water and came back with two. He tossed one to Yami, who snagged the bottle aimed at his face from the air. Sugoroku eased his stocky little body down on the couch and opened this drink.

"Spirit," he began after taking a long sip. "For Yuugi's sake, you and I will have to come to an understanding. I don't want you with my grandson. You are too old for him, not just because of your ages, it is also your mental level. You are also a deceiver. You are not the kind hearted façade that you present to Yuugi. You are cold, cruel, and malicious. Yuugi would not a chance if you were to ever turn on him."

Yami laughed, "If that is your only then you should put it aside. I will never betray Yuugi's trust or his affection. Yuugi's happiness and well-being are my only concerns." Yami confessed, then he added. "I love Yuugi. I love him with every ounce of my being, I would never do anything to hurt him."

"I don't doubt you sincerity now, but what about later? You have a second chance at life, Yami. What will you do when you grow tried of Yuugi? What if he wants to move on? You two are only children. What you have now can't last forever..."

"This will last forever." He swore. "Yuugi is mine. I will never let him go."

"And if he wants to leave you?"

"He will never leave me. He is mine."

Yami had left his corner once Sugoroku had left, to stand vigil at his beloved side. He stared down at the perfect little face and his heart constricted. Hot tears stung the back of his eyes, but Yami would not let them fall.

"I can't stand to see you like this. But I can't let you go." He reached out and brushed a strain of simmering gold silk from Yuugi's wet brow. Hikari.

/Yami?/ it was the first though that drifted through Yuugi's consciousness as he slowly came awake. He could not sense his other half, their mental wall was up. Yami only did that when he was in classes or studying and did not want to be disturbed.

Classes?

He turned his head to see the clock on his nightstand and groaned. It was two-thirty in the afternoon and he had missed a full day of school. Why hadn't anyone woken him up? He had spent all of Saturday reviewing for a chemistry test and he had to turn a paper for his advance placement Japanese Literature class. What? Was the entire world out to get him or something?

Yuugi made to sit up and froze when something moved on his chest. He looked down and his large eyes widen and his hands flew to the two large fleshy globes on his chest. He sucked in a sharp breath as he watched the two mounds move, flatten and spreading out like two smashed jelly doughnuts when he laid back against his cold, damp pillow. And it all came back to him. The duel, the psychotic angel, the pain, Yami finding him, Yuugi seeing what was done to him, his breakdown, and then Yami pulling away from him. Everything. Sudden tears stung at the backs of Yuugi's eyes, he was too exhausted mentally to keep them at bay, but he was sick of them already. He was tired of this, of this body with all it's different curves and shapes.

Tentatively, Yuugi reached up with his right hand and poked the right one. It moved and to his horror, he realized that it was really attached to his chest. Slowly, Yuugi let his hand fall back to bed and he closed his eyes when his left hand closed around the sheet between his legs.

He and Anzu had stood before the mirror in the bathroom last night looking at the changes as she tended to the welts and raw patches on his skin. He stood there silent and unseeing for the most part and did not come out of his stupor until he was sitting on the closed lid of the toilet while Anzu gently combed the tangles from his wet hair. She commented on how beautiful Yuugi looked and that he was lucky that he did not look like a scarecrow like herself. She looked pointedly down at her own chest and then at Yuugi's as she said that ballet had taken away all her femininity. She smiled at the ethereal beauty in the mirror with Yuugi's tri-coloured hair. Joking seemed like the least appropriate thing to have done at the moment, but then what else could she have said or done? He knew Anzu was trying desperately not to breakdown herself. He didn't want her to start crying, it was bad enough that he had been crying and to his shame he was still doing it.

Anzu had done the best she could to help him that night and he appreciated her efforts. Yuugi had been in a shocked daze since the moment Yami pulled his robe open and stared down at Yuugi's altered form. It had been Anzu that half carried/ dragged Yuugi into the bathroom when he could not support himself. She had bathed his body, taking extra care around the welts and bruises on his back and chest. She had even washed the grime from Yuugi's hair and dried him off and dressed him when sat motionless lost in his own world of lose and hurt. Anzu took care of him and held him when he desperately needed someone to be there for him. She held him, told him that everything would alright. Yuugi know he had hurt her. He had pushed Anzu away, verbally attacked her, and fought viciously against her when he tried to kill himself earlier that morning.

Yet Anzu had held on to him, she had refused to let him go all for the sake of she loved him as on of her closest friends. However, she never should have had go through it all of that. It was not her place to take care of Yuugi, to comfort and reassure him when he had nothing left to believe in. He had someone who was supposed to have been there for him, through every tear, curse, and scream.

/Yami./

Only silence greeted him on the other end. Yuugi closed his eyes and rolled onto his side. Hot tears coursed down his cheeks, his shoulders shook with the force of his pain, but not sound could be heard as Yuugi bit down on his bottom lip to hold back the ragged sobs that wanted to escape.

Yami remained in his corner, his hands were clenched tight in his unbound hair as he listened and felt Yuugi crying for him.

He was a miserable, selfish bastard. The one person he cared for, the one he loved, needed him badly, but Yami could not bear to be near him. Agony tore at him when the first keening wail escaped Yuugi's lips. His hands tighten convulsively in his hair. "Yuugi," his heart screamed at Yami to go to the one who could sooth his emotional ache and stop the pain of his soul mate. Stubbornly, Yami ignored his own body and relentlessly clamped down on his emotions and reinforced the mental barriers against Yuugi.

Soon after, Yuugi fell into an exhausted sleep. His ordeal had sapped him of all his energy, leaving him with nothing to draw upon to stay awake after his latest crying jag.

Yami waited until he was sure that Yuugi was in a deep slumber before he pulled himself up and crept silently from the room. In the hall, Yami slumped against the far wall. He was drained physically and emotionally. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten anything and the faint scent he detected on his person was not pleasant.

Wearily, he ran a hand over his face; he needed a shave as well as a shower. Yami hated facial hair. When he was talking to a person, he wanted to see their facial expression as well as their eyes. Last year he almost had a fit when Yuugi said he wanted to grow a goatee. It was the first time they had ever really fought and it was the last time. Yami had won in the end it was a dark victory. Yuugi refused to talk to him and they had absolutely no physical contact for a three hours which led to another fight that almost became something worst.

He had forced Yuugi into yielding to him twice that day. Their relationship was never really the same after either. For a while, Yami feared that Sugoroku's warning was coming true, but Yuugi stayed with him nor did he ever challenge Yami's will again. To think, he almost lost the love of his life over something as stupid as facial hair! Now, was faced with the prospect of losing Yuugi over something he might have done to offend someone five thousand years ago.

Wouldn't that just be a perfect irony.

Yami stripped out the clothes he had been in for two days and grabbed a pair of loose cotton pants on his way his bath. As he adjusted the water, Yami's thoughts drifted over his past.

When he had lived as Pharaoh of Kemet, he had been no great tyrant, yet he had not been a saint either. He had been the King of Shadows and Darkness and had defied the Gods. He withstood the most powerful of mages and boldest of priest as he crushed them beneath his heels in his and the Shadows quest for complete domination over the heavens.

The heavens shook and trembled in his path, the Gods shrank back from his wraith. Yet none dared to challenge him, even as the so-called powerful one feared him, including his father, who watched as his own son banished his soul to the Shadow Realm.

All but one and that usurper died a horrid death one far than his followers and family. He had destroyed that line and made sure that they were never remembered in Kemet's history. He was a myth and a legend in his former Kingdom, the Shadow Games, and the subsequent Wars that followed were viewed by historians and Egyptologists as fairytales, but his legacy survived while his enemies' names were lost in the whispers of time. He lived his life without ever repenting for a single sin he had committed against the Gods or faced retribution for his crimes. He had lived by his own law, while ignoring traditions and the sacred texts carried by the priest. He did not fear the death; he had welcomed it, for life had become ceaseless toil for him and the burden he carried that was his reign.

Pharaoh Atemu had walked boldly into death's cool embrace, knowing that he would pass on to join the others in Sekhet-hetep only to be condemned to an eternity in Tuat. Yet that was not to be. He was spared from that fate by the Shadows that had served him and again he did not receive his comeuppance or so the world had through. The Shadows had latched onto his spirit just before he was condemned to the tortures of Tuat and locked him in their macabre idea of existence.

His punishment was spending thousands of years trapped in the void with only the Shadows as companion inside the Sennen Puzzle. It was worth it though, from his death to the years of existing as the Shadows favorite plaything, for him to live again. More so, his having Yuugi was a reward far better than eternity in paradise.

Quos deus vult perdere prius dementat. The Gods drive mad those they wish to punish.

That could be true. Yami was never paid for his sins. He cheated death, defied the Gods, and managed to do the impossible by living again as a mortal man. Maybe this was his punishment? To punish him for his arrogance, extracting their revenge on him the Gods went after his love.

His hands stilled over his chest, the warm water washed away the soap from his body and hands. With the Gods anything was possible but then the truth could be said of him. Yami stuck his head under the spigot to wash away the conditioner and those foolish thoughts. The Gods would not be so cruel nor so foolish.

Yuugi was the very essence of goodness and light. His beloved just exuded innocence and love. Most importantly, Yuugi belonged to him and none of the ancient Gods of Kemet would risk rousing Pharaoh Atemu's anger.

Also, the was the face that Yuugi was for lack of any other term--perfect. Yuugi was even trying to reform him. Yami snorted lightly at the though. It amused him to no end and always left Yuugi frustrated, but Yami's cherished Hikari was determined to reform him. And Yuugi refused to stop until he had dragged the cold-hearted, ancient, all-powerful Pharaoh out of the past and his shadows and into the light or a least part of it. Unfortunately for Yuugi, he just would not see Yami as a lost cause and Yami loved Yuugi all the more for his it.

"I am going to marry you, Yuugi." He rolled onto his back with Yuugi sprawled onto his chest.

His light laughed softly. "Last time I checked, Japan did not recognize homosexual unions."

"Such a closed minded little nation. But luckily for you, I've been doing some research on this particular subject." Yami reached up to tuck a lock of shimmering golden blond hair behind Yuugi's ear.

"Oh, have you now, Moto-san?" Yuugi smirked.

He laughed at the expression that was so similar to his own. "Of course. I never make a proposition without doing some research."

"And what did you come up with?"

Yami traced the seam of Yuugi's sensitive lips with his forefinger before Yuugi sucked the tip inside. "We'll go to Hawaii." His eyes narrowed sharply as Yuugi did some creative little things with his tongue around that digit. "We will have a predawn ceremony on the beach, and then you and I will..." He pulled his finger out of Yuugi's mouth, then caught his face between his palms and drew Yuugi down for another long, slow kiss. "Mmm, so sweet..." He watched as Yuugi's eyes were clouded over slightly. "We can leave tonight?"

Yuugi shook his head to clear it. "I'm not even sixteen yet."

"Fine, we'll wait..."

"Until I am twenty-one?" Yami started to protest, but Yuugi shut him up with a kiss. "And when that time comes." Yuugi pushed himself up until he was sitting on Yami's bare chest. "You can be the bride and I will be the groom." Before Yami knew what was happening, Yuugi had pinned his shoulders to the bed and his light leered down at him. "I bet you will look real prutty in'ah dress, too, darlin'." He drawled in a bad imitation of American cowboy.

"Hikari?"

"Yes?"

"Your accent is atrocious."

"My English teacher would be inclined to agree with you, amor mio."

"Your Italian is almost as bad as your English." Yami shifted under Yuugi's weight. "You've been working out. That or you're getting fat."

"Fat? I'll show you fat. That's what you are going feel like after with no sex for a couple weeks, buddy."

Yami's eyes darken instantly. "I am not your buddy and you can't cut me off. What am I suppose to do? I have finals next week."

"I have finals too."

"You are the perfect stress reliever."

"You know what you can do."

Yami snorted, "Not when I have you."

"I'll buy you some baby lotion." He kissed the tip of Yami's nose, "Baby."

"Hikari?"

"Yes, sweet'ums?"

Yami tried not to laugh. "That's it, no more Westerns for you."

"Forgive me for not sounding like a suck up—"

Yami used the distraction to tumble Yuugi to the bed. "Something will be stuck somewhere..."

"Yami!"

"Yami what?"

"You're a pervert."

"Only with you."

"Good, had you said anyone else, I would had to kill you."

"I love it when you are possessive, hikari..."

"Yami?"

He dropped his head on Yuugi's bare shoulder and groaned. "Yes?"

"What makes you think I would marry you?"

"Huh?"

"Intelligent response, Pharaoh." Yuugi drawled, "But really, why would I, a handsome piece of man flesh by the way, want to be "chained", if you will, to a condescending, domineering, high maintenance, ,jealous, narcissistic ,pompous bastard like you for the rest of my life?"

"Could it be that I am not giving you a choice."

"Bastard."

He smirked. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"You are just so full of yourself."

"I am a man who knows what he wants and not afraid to take it." He nipped at Yuugi's bottom lip. "You taste like honey."

"You have a one track mind."

"Only when it comes to making love with you."

He could not help but to laugh. "You are a pain in the ass."

"You love it, though." He grinned as he slid his nimble fingers along the curve of said piece of Yuugi's anatomy.

"I meant that as an insult, hentai." He threw his arms around Yami's neck and drew him down a for mind drugging kiss. /You still haven't given me a good reason to consider married to you./

I will change.

/They always say that./

Who? Who is 'They' you constantly bring up?Yami demanded, almost breaking the kiss. If it is...

Yuugi groaned. /Just shut up and kiss me, self-centered bastard./

Yami shut off the water. He fell against the tiled walls of the shower and a heart broken sob tore from his chest. He sank down his knees wrapping his arms around himself as he cried for the first time since...

Why Yuugi?

Why was his Hikari the one to suffer? Why could it not have happened to pox ridden tomb robber's effeminate light or that twisted little pretender Marik's psychotic light? Both of those wasted pieces of humanity needed to have something done to them. For Ryou, it would have correcting nature's mistake and for Malik, the change might have sent him right over the edge and that would have meant one less psycho in the world.

But no, that would have been too easy. The fates had to come after his hikari and torture him. All of which just infuriated him further. Yami worshiped Yuugi. He would have and has done everything he within his power to protect and keep Yuugi. He left the prison of the Sennen Puzzle and became apart of this new world so he could share in Yuugi's life. He humbled himself to learn about Yuugi's culture and people. He took a body so he could grow with Yuugi, so they could truly live as together. He wanted to spend his life with Yuugi, he wanted to grow old with him, and leave this world looking in his eyes and being with him forever in eternity. It was clichéd and overly sentimental, but it was all true. He wanted all of this, he wanted Yuugi. He wanted his hikari back.

Damn it. He slammed his right fist into the cold white shower tiles and swore. Why didn't this happen to either the Tomb Robber or the Pretender? Neither really cared for their lights. They did not try to live in this world; Neither would have lowered themselves to become apart of their lights' lives. Those two only wanted to cause mayhem and play in the Shadows. They did not care for anyone or anything other than themselves and their pleasures.

Did either go out of the way to make their lights happy?

No.

Did either one want to spend their lives with their lights for love instead of obligation?

What was that word again, No.

Did they tolerate the hordes of useless plebian filth for their lights on a daily basis?

Hell, no.

Have they ever put their lights consideration before their own?

No. But he sure as hell did, seeing Seto Kaiba walking around was proof enough of Yami's unwavering devotion to Yuugi's happiness.

So, yes, he, the former Pharaoh of Kemet, King of the Shadows and all-around ruthless and brutal bastard, did this and more for the love of his hikari. He did this when everything in him demanded that he lock Yuugi in a room for his personal pleasure and away from prying eyes. He wanted to slay anyone who dared to glance at his hikari. And he itched to exile Kaiba to an eternity of torment in the Shadow Realm just because that bastard was breathing. But he had not done any this so why had his hikari been changed?

Why Yuugi?

Ryou was weak and pathetic. Malik was losing his sanity by the hour. No one would have cared less had one of them been transformed into a female, least of all him. So why Yuugi? Why his light?

The house had never been so quiet, Sugoroku reflected somberly.

Yuugi was still asleep; Yami had come down a short while ago. He gone straight for the kitchen threw together a sandwich and departed to his room with it and bottle of water.

Yuugi's friends had stopped by earlier that afternoon to drop of Yuugi's assignments and books. Ryou promised to bring by all the notes Yuugi had missed at the end of the week since they had all the same classes. The boy's yami, Bakura, had hovered anxiously over the white haired youth and practically drugged the boy out of the door when he had finished saying good-bye and wishing Yuugi well.

Sugoroku sat downstairs in the living room with the television on. Nothing really held his interest since his mind was fixed on his grandson sleeping upstairs. The muffled sounds of music came from Yami's room. The volume was high, but then it always was when Yami was trying to concentrate for that reason Sugoroku did not disturb him.

Another sitcom came on and Sugoroku had enough. Wearily, he trudged up the stairs, he stopped by Yami's room and told him to put in his headphones, and then he made his way to Yuugi's room. The boy was still out and his grandfather hoped he stay that way for the rest of the night.

He prayed that when Yuugi finally awoke that this nightmare would be over, but Sugoroku was not so naïve. He could pray and hope until the sun finally fell through the sky, however, Yuugi was still going to be trapped in this living nightmare.

NO FLAMES. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS, THEN DON'T READ IT.

Translations:

Sekhet-hetep-the Egyptians Elysian Fields

Tuat-Tartarus

Quos deus vult perdere prius dementat-The Gods drive mad those they wish to punish