Shadows That Bleed

by YamiYugiPuzzleshipper

Pure-Bloods are said to be myths, not even well-known within stories. "A specialized genetic coding of the moon and the dire," their spoken lore proclaims. They are creatures beyond the power of mortality, gifted by the gods themselves. Known as the Eternal Ones, their existence once extinguished, resurrection foretells a powerful omen.

26. Canis Lupus Dirus

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

Update schedule: Every other day (no update on June 2nd)

Chapter Warnings: Graphic Night Terrors (Blood, Rotting Corpses), Mentions of Mates/Partners, Mentions of Faith/Loyalty, Sacrifices/Deaths

Okay, so one of the symptoms of physical shock for a dog is white gums. It's more a physical pain that causes it, because their internal or external bleeding is so copious that it drains the blood from their mouths and other areas of the body. Now, as for the werewolves, you're told later why the lycanthropes produce this same symptom without physical shock but, rather, emotional stress. It's an evolutionary defense mechanism for them, so you can probably take a guess at what it might be if you're curious enough~

As for the faith/loyalty mention in the warnings, I don't want to offend anyone. Yugi is atheist, as are many of the wolves beyond their own religion (which centers really only on Lupa and Fenrir). Yugi accepts any religion out there to be something that someone else believes and follows, but he cannot identify with them completely. So he struggles with the concept, as you'll see a few more times throughout the story. It does not list any religion in particular, but I wanted to make sure you guys were aware of it. Yugi will remain absolutely respectful of any religion in question or theory, but some of the other wolves are somewhat scornful of them. So, be aware that, as an atheist myself, I handle a lot of conversations and situation as Yugi does. I question it in the way of "how" and "why", but I won't say in conversation that "hey, I'm atheist, stop talking to me about anything to do with religion".

Some of the wolves are that way for a more realistic representation of personalities later in the story (because there are definitely some people who will snap at you about when you mention your religion just because they can; I honestly can't list how many times I saw and heard that in school alone). But, for now, it's only Yugi introduced to this concept. And he constantly questions the faith that the wolves have towards their own deities and Atem. So, I'll put warnings about it in each chapter it's brought up, but it should always be brief (being as I am not religious, I don't want to misrepresent anything in faiths that people have, so I'm not at all willing to go in depth with it beyond occasional arguments between the characters in which they WILL be shut down VERY quickly). That said, that's your warning for the overall thing about religions mentioned in the story. But, as I said, I will mark individual chapters later with this same tag or something similar.

Now, beyond that! The scientific name for the gray wolf is Canis Lupus. The scientific name for the dire wolf is Canis Dirus. The Pure-Blood is a hybrid of these two amazing species. There's no proof of them ever having interbred, but their territories did overlap much of the time and it's (from what I've been reading) actually possible. I could be entirely wrong with that, but from research, the Canis family as a whole IS able to breed as long as they have 78 chromosomes that could potentially match genetically. And the Canis Dirus comes from Canis Armbrusteri, which is derived from the same lineage as Canis Lupus.

Either way, there's no proof of them interbreeding, but I did recently discover a wolf species that seems basically like the bridging point between the two of them if it were possible. It's genetically the closest thing to exist between the two, classified as Canis Lupus but with distinct differences from any living wolf subspecies now and looks almost more Canis Dirus to some degree. The Beringian wolf is perhaps the closest thing I've found so far to the Pure-Blood's body shape and possibly the skull indentation as well though the Pure-Blood isn't quite as robust as the Beringian or the dire. Just to be clear, however, the Pure-Blood isn't modeled after them and their body shapes and individual adaptations are more varied.

Anyways! So, the Pure-Blood's scientific name for the story is Canis Lupus Dirus. Not very original, I know, but hey, whatever lol

The blood disorder/disease that Yugi hints at in this chapter is that of the Kell antigen. From some reading I did a while back (and just went back and checked again), apparently King Henry VIII tested positive for it. The father being Kell-positive would allow the conception of a baby the first time but the Kell-negative mother would develop antibodies during the pregnancy and the chance of a second pregnancy coming to term would be drastically low. Most of the children would die due to miscarriage, stillbirth, or rapid neonatal death due to the antibodies attacking the fetus or the placenta and thus killing the baby.

Chapter XXVI: Canis Lupus Dirus

Work Log Entry XXVI: July, 1998

July 18

Tests have shown that his teeth are much larger and sharper than the captive cubs we hold in cells near him.

Tests have shown that his health is far superior to that of any of the other test subjects'.

Tests have shown that his brain capacity is far higher than that of any of the other werewolves around him.

Tests have shown that despite this keen intelligence, his temperament is that of a puppy's.

Tests have shown that his senses are far superior to that of our own as well as that of any of the other test subjects'.

Arrangements have been made to test his rate of healing.

July 19

Rate of healing is almost instantaneous when shallow wounds are made on his skin, taking approximately a minute for deeper flesh wounds, and when his bones were broken it was shown that they healed instantaneously but give the appearance of still being wounded.

We believe that this may be a way for the creature to camouflage itself in terms of its divinity.

July 26

The boss is pleased with our progress.

"Are you still awake?"

For a moment the room was silent but for the hum of the heater turning on. The air vibrating in the vents made him blink in the darkness. The low light from the streetlamp and the moon cast through the window was small, weak. The darkness seemed almost powerful enough to make it dissipate completely. A small drifting speck of dust swirled and dropped in the air, his eyes acute from his strained vision as he looked about himself.

Then, finally, as he was about to snuggle into the blanket and let loose his withheld breath, the boy beside him moved. The teen rolled onto his other side, eyes flickering about the room for the smallest of seconds. Then his eyes fell on him again, gaze warm and burning into the darkness, peering at him in the dimness. His pupils flickered a dark, rustic color, but his irises glowed faintly, as if absorbing what little light touched them.

"Yes," he said quietly, blinking at him. Yugi was startled for a moment, eyes widening slightly. It was somehow amazing to him that Yami had turned to face him like this. He'd never truly been one to do such a thing. Normally he would face the wall, converse with him in such a way that often made Yugi roll over to face his wall as well with a feeling of something almost like rejection. Then they would drift into silence and eventually fall asleep again.

The movement startled Yugi so violently that he almost could not fathom speaking any more. He blinked and then swallowed thickly before licking his lips and looking at him more closely in the dark. "I know what you said before about it, but I…I need to ask again," he muttered softly, feeling sick to his stomach.

Yami blinked, then nodded in silent encouragement. In front of him, Yugi peered at him with a troubled expression. His eyes were a uniform sapphire blue, with his pupils a deep purple like violet in the dark.

"Do you really think that Code Name Atem couldn't exist?" he asked into the quiet. The humming grew somewhat louder for a moment, the vents seemingly rattling. He drew in a deep breath, awaiting his response, and for the long minute it took for him to answer, Yugi felt as if he might puke with desperation.

"I suppose he could be real," he finally answered, voice low and somewhat cold, disconnected from the conversation altogether somehow. He looked at him again in the darkness and Yugi felt his eyes widen drastically. The taller teen was staring at him intently, cold and yet curious all the same. "Should he be, however, he will not be as the Pure-Bloods were before. I imagine he'd be much more unstable, harder to contain. He'd most likely bring a lot more suffering than anything else. And anyone would be right in the idea that their existence is wrong and death will stalk their paws."

He looked at him for a long moment, then sighed softly. "Shizuka said she thought he was the only one able to save the wolves back in the lab she escaped," he admitted in a low voice. "Do you think that's true?"

Yami stayed quiet again, his eyes flashing like embers in the dark. He shook his head slightly as he settled against the pillow more noticeably. "I don't know if I would truly believe that, no. I don't know that anything would stop those humans should they truly be attempting something more." He paused. "That's not to say that perhaps at some point he might turn around and attempt it. And maybe he'll succeed. I don't know."

Yugi bit his lip harshly, eyes wide and teeth glittering faintly in the darkness where the light touched them. He licked his lips a moment later, then sighed softly and shook his head slightly. "Do you honestly think that or are you humoring me?"

"I don't know. It's a combination of both, I suppose. No one knows if he exists so no one has any idea of what he might do."

He sighed quietly. "But, I get the feeling that you lean towards the idea that he wouldn't help them…"

"Not entirely, but a small part of me, yes. I have to wonder. I mean, would they have not run more terrible experiments on him than all the others? Wouldn't that make it harder for him to ever approach going back there? Regardless of whether they saved him formerly, I would imagine it would be too painful an experience to want to go back. Wouldn't you?"

Yugi stared at him quietly for a moment, then narrowed his gaze and closed his eyes for the briefest of seconds. "I guess it would be terrible for him. But what kind of person would he be if he didn't? I get the personal trauma that he would experience at just the idea, but…"

Yami shrugged. His eyes were closed as he breathed in softly and deeply, the noise slipping away to be eaten by the buzzing of the air vent. "I don't know. Hypothetically, I suppose he could turn around and try to help. But one wolf versus the amount of humans that have to be involved in that whole thing? And the wolves trapped there who might turn on him? I do not think he would be so inclined then."

Yugi sighed into the pillow and closed his eyes again. When he shifted a little closer, the body heat luring him toward Yami beneath the covers, the taller boy stiffened briefly, then relaxed abruptly. He didn't miss the way it happened but he did not comment, instead licking his lips again and closing his eyes as well.

"Goodnight, Yami."

He hummed a little, the sleepy quality making his voice sound like a pleasant drifting breeze encompassed by gentle words.

"Goodnight, Yugi."

Yugi felt that his eyes had only been closed for a handful of seconds before the blackness began to shift and change. Along the edges of his vision it began to turn dark red, lightening and then pulsing with violent jagged scars of color. It was just like the veins in his eyes, an exact replica of it, and it made his stomach twist even as he settled more fitfully towards rest.

His name was soft, a drifting wind, and the effect of it was harsh and hot where it burned into his skin and lashed at his senses. It was rancid, blasting into his nose, and his eyes watered as the air grew hotter. His body jerked and shifted and his bones snapped and crackled softly. It was not the terrible pain which usually accompanied the Change, but instead a wave of heat that tugged at his consciousness.

The world became a blanket of dark orange that looked rustic and fire-like. A harsh cry and clack of noise made him flinch, eyes widening, and his heart began to skip with shock. His body tensed with recognition. He was having the night terror again, the same one that Yami had reacted so terribly to before.

He could see the shadows cast along the ground writhing and changing shape, the way they curled upwards and small spikes of them jutted out and separated, splintering. They rose in jumbled, disconnected forms that he could not easily recognize, then flickered together and pushed apart.

Ragged drops of deep hideous red sludge, darkened by the shadows and the lack of light, fell to a dirty cavernous floor. Tufts of fur, long and clumped, fell like shards of glass, shed away like sheets of snow during a spring thaw.

Yugi growled, a low and disdainful noise. The shapes writhed and more fur fell away, melting against the floor. The sludge fell in immense clumps, dropping and coating the earth, so thick that it began to swallow each of their paws. He bristled and lowered his head as his legs began to quiver and his heart pound harder.

His lungs felt constricted, burning with the stench of decaying flesh and fresh blood too heavy to ignore. He chomped his teeth as the wolves began to take more definite shapes, skulls and teeth and bones that shone beneath green with molded flesh. Blackened cells were shiny, stripped of fur and glittering in the low light.

The clacking noise came again and his legs shook as his eyes flickered upwards. The ravens were screaming overhead, flying and shedding feathers that fell in drops of sludge colored black and red.

He hissed a deep breath, then snarled lower in his throat. The noise vibrated deep within his chest and sounded almost like a roar when he chomped his teeth in growing distress. The wolves kept moving, forming in masses of decaying flesh and slimy fur slick with blood, teeth falling out of white bone jaws. Some of them threw their heads back, howling, and the noise made his very core vibrate and dance with terror. It was a roar, rough and guttural and so powerful that it made him quiver.

Yugi pressed himself to a floor that was rapidly swelling with blood, the thick smell suffocating him for the briefest of moments. He snapped his jaws again when the noise reached a crescendo, baring his teeth in disgust as it seemed to echo around the dead place surrounding them. The ravens even seemed to take on the terrible noise, blaring the cry outwards and clacking their beaks in time with his heartbeat.

For a long minute Yugi could not hear anything but the noise. It bubbled in his own throat, deafening and suffocating and overpowering, and he pressed his teeth together tightly. But then, somehow, despite his stress, his mind surged forward with the task of translation and a name began to rise in the symphony.

"Atem."

He bristled.

Code Name Atem?

The wolf?

He turned his head, eyes wide and confused. They surrounded him, howling, and his own lungs squeezed out a whimper. The ravens cawed again, deep croaking noises that made him tremble harder.

"Atem."

"Atem."

"Atem."

He pressed lower into the ground, bristling and baring his teeth. The cries were growing louder and louder. The air was too thick to breathe. He shook and snarled, eyes wide. His gaze grew wider, his lips drawing back until his gums showed bright white. He stared, eyes on them as they began howling louder than ever.

The name rose one last time. Then the earth shattered. Shards and splatters of red flew upwards. The air made it sluggish. He heard and saw the organs which slammed into some of the wolves. They snarled and snapped and the white canine screamed. His legs kicked and flailed, his heart racing. His mouth opened and closed. He cried out again, high-pitched and desperate.

The river embraced him once more. The red swelled and tore upon his fur. It tugged at the strands and tossed about his flanks. He gasped and snapped his jaws again, struggling against the harsh current. The howling was only growing. A raven swooped towards him, talons tugging at his head. He snapped at it and struggled harder.

The blood would not release him. It pulled him down further and further. He snarled and kicked but the air was leaving him. And the smell choked him until he felt he had become blind. He was staring at the feathers of a raven which rained to the river in rivulets.

Then the animal seemed to change, the shape of it enlarging, bulging with energy and strength. Bones snapped and crackled, pushing away even the deathly howling which had swallowed his conscience moments before.

And, as he watched, the bird changed to a form entirely different. His neck ached, his eyes burning, as the great feathered shape became something more. Black feathers dropped into torrents of red sludge. The beak snapped and fell away, collapsing into the river. The wings shed in a great scythe of bone.

In its place was an immense black wolf with a slighter ribcage than even his own, eyes of hellfire and glowing embers. The ears were softer, the muzzle narrower but the cheeks larger, the shoulders broad and the tail long, curled slightly to the right.

Yugi snarled in desperation, pleading pitifully that she might help him. He did not understand how he knew she was female, just that she was. He stared at her, flailing and panicked, but she did nothing but pull her lips back and open her jaws.

"Atem."

The way her voice curled through his ears and into his brain was a mirror of the sensation of mist creeping over his skin. The touch of it was soft where it surged through his thoughts and pushed away his panic. The force of it was too great and powerful, so far in his core that he trembled even as the river swallowed him whole.

Something touched his arm. It was light, gossamer, and so gentle that it tore at his consciousness even beyond the grip of death drowning him. He focused on it as it grew firmer, encompassing his upper arm with a grip that made him tremble.

"Yugi."

His name.

He recognized it, eyes snapping open wide in shock.

The wolves had called him Atem, but this voice called him Yugi.

When he focused on the lure of this voice as it curled further into his mind than even the she-wolf's, he felt his heart slow. A sense of familiarity came upon him. He felt the world shifting, his balance drifting. He was weighted on his left side, a curious sensation, and the darkness had become black behind his lids.

"Yugi."

Yugi blinked his eyes open, the lack of light momentarily making him flail mentally with growing confusion. Then he blinked again and the way the comforter pressed in his right side and encompassed his shoulders while the mattress sank beneath his weight allowed him to focus somewhat more.

His eyes flickered upwards, confused. At first he could not even recognize the figure in front of him. The sight of the crouched form before him made his heart skip beats. They were hunched over him and the way their hair was marked in shadow made him falter. It almost looked as like the jagged bristle of a wolf, ears set straight, shoulders hunched to make a broader frame of muscle.

He nearly yelped, until he remembered the voice.

It was still in his ears, circling his brain, even though the person had long since fallen silent.

He blinked, eyes sharpening in the darkness, and then smiled faintly when recognition finally came to him.

"Hey." He reached up, running a hand through his hair for a moment, and cast a grin at the other boy. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

Yami raised a brow only slightly, but the elegance of the movement was lost in the narrow light. "I won't argue that perhaps the thrashing didn't wake me," he snorted with a small smirk of amusement. "Although, it also helped that I never fell asleep as it was."

The smaller teen frowned visibly even in the dark, then moved to sit up as well. "Why not?" he asked with his head tilted, voice coming out almost demanding in tone. Yugi frowned deeper at the tone and Yami blinked at him with a small hint of surprise in his dark eyes.

"Just… I could not stop thinking." He grimaced and they both looked away from each other briefly. Yugi knew just as well as he what he meant to say. "So I have been awake and unable to sleep since we spoke. In which case I have been lying here thinking and realized I should probably wake you."

Yugi blinked, blushing slightly, and nodded. "Yeah, thank you for that. I needed someone to wake me up."

Yami nodded minutely, watching him for a moment longer. "Was it a nightmare?" he said softly, in a tone that almost bordered wistful and made the small teen stiffen in surprise.

Yugi blinked at him a few times, straining his eyes, but he could not read his gaze with the luminescent glow it had acquired due to his night vision. Curiosity pricked at his insides but he could do nothing more than stare blankly. He could not read Yami's body language and his tone made no sense to him, the way the edges curled and crept together. And the darkness seemed to blur his features, though the small teen knew that the other boy was controlling the emotions displayed there as well.

"Yeah," he mumbled reluctantly, blue-violet eyes flickering away towards the window.

The sky was a soft gray, pronouncing oncoming snow again, though the flakes had yet to fall and the streetlamp put a harsh, off-gold color about the area. He shivered because the color had always disturbed him, but he was more undone by the idea that, for a split second, he had almost expected it to be deep red.

His eyes shot back to Yami's in the dark and for a moment he wondered why he was not unnerved by them. They were almost as red as fresh blood and he had never even truly flinched away from them. He tried to recall if he'd ever actually had such a moment before, but his mind was drawing at a blank and all he could really think was that the color now looked like fresh rust. He wanted more than ever to see Yami's regular eye color.

"Nothing serious though. I wouldn't even call it a night terror."

It took Yugi a moment to realize that he was not even trembling. The thought amazed him and he lowered his eyes to his hands to see if maybe he had simply failed to notice. But when he saw them, small and pale at the moment, there was nothing to show even the slightest hint of movement.

"That's good." He glanced up as Yami mumbled the statement and his eyes glittered in the dark as they bore into the taller boy's. He did not respond to the gentle show of light there, instead calculating the stunning relief which appeared on his face even in the shadows. He tilted his head, studying the smaller boy for a moment.

Normally when he had nightmares, Yami would watch him. He had been unable to bring himself to tear Yugi from the grasps of his dreams, simply because he did not know what it might be he was seeing. And lying there, watching him, made him unbearably uneasy when he remembered how Yugi had saved him from his own terrors when he had first joined him inside the house.

The guilt had always eaten at Yami's insides when he considered such events, but he could no longer find it in himself to give it much thought. He sometimes closed his eyes and thought it to be more a residual reaction than anything else.

He'd woken him now because he had grown fearful of the events that might be going on in his charge's head and it had made him react without much consideration. He had not truly considered what he was doing until he'd already done it.

"Do you think it will come back?"

Yugi blinked at him, startled by his words. He tilted his head, curious and lost at such a thought. He furrowed his brows slightly, wondering at it all. The idea that the wolves and the ravens might reappear, the cacophony of noise blaring in his ears and the roar of "Atem" had not truly occurred to him. He frowned, biting his lip.

For a moment they were both silent and Yami found himself almost alarmed by the way the smaller boy simply looked at him, judging the possibility. He thought it lucky for the small boy that he could escape his nightmares, that awakening did him such justices.

His own bad dreams haunted him constantly, tearing too hard at his insides to make him comfortable. But he often could push them away, even if they swiftly rejoined him at a second's notice. It took only an opportunity for them to reappear.

"Maybe," he finally answered. He sounded oddly surprised by his own statement, but he also appeared further troubled. The taller boy, looking at him now, wondered if there was something lingering there in his head that he did not tell him. It would have been a secret of some kind which Yugi refused to speak out loud. The thought made Yami both anxious and somehow further relieved. If the smaller boy kept things to himself, perhaps he might not rot any further than Yami always felt he already had. "But I kind of doubt it."

"You don't dream about it too often?"

Yugi blinked at him. The way his eyes flickered made the sapphire blue color glitter again. He nearly bore his teeth in a sense of sudden confusion and wonder. Why did they shine like that? The light was so limited in the room. Granted, Yugi's face was posed towards the window, but Yami himself was blocking a large majority of the possible light to spill from the window onto his countenance.

"I've only had the dream twice."

Despite how innocent the words should have been, they set alarms off in his head. Yami barely resisted the urge to bare his teeth and snarl quietly. Something about the statement was too ambiguous and yet harsh for him to accept.

"Ah," Yami muttered, because it was just enough to break the silence and too little to encourage further words. His beta smiled slightly, understanding and gentle in demeanor, then looked away again. His head turned towards his hands again and he looked tired as he ran his fingers through his hair for a moment.

"Yeah."

The room fell silent after a loud click resounded within the small space. Both of them listened to the way the other's heart continued noisily in their chest, soft and warm and wet and sloppy. But neither could think of any other words to say. And Yami watched as Yugi tugged the blankets up to his shoulders again and burrowed further into his pillow with a yawn.

The taller wolf watched him a moment longer, the fleece of his own blanket warm and inviting, but his head would not allow him the opportunity to settle for rest. So he sat there, wide awake and welcoming the darkness to sink beneath his skin, and jumped as violently as he always did when Yugi's alarm went off for school.

"Do you think wolves repress memories like humans do?"

He had asked Yami that question an hour before he had left for school. His companion had stopped from picking at his red nails and then looking at the small collection of books on the shelves to turn and stare at him. His eyes had been remarkably wide, startled by the question, and his shock was palpable when he'd trailed his finger along the spine of a book without looking and stared blankly.

He had been so caught off guard that Yugi had nearly apologized. But something about the way Yami had stared at him, the way he had stood so completely still and then seemed to abruptly grow angered, eyes flashing and jaw clenching, had stopped him. His gaze had shot away and he'd picked at the book he had been playing with moments before.

"Maybe," he'd said in a low, calm voice that bordered anger. "But I do not know of one."

Yugi had not bothered to push further. He'd given him some of his breakfast when his mom made it for him, told him he'd see him after school, and left without a second glance. He'd seen how stoic Yami had become after his question and it had made him feel far worse than he had wanted to admit.

So he had fled before he could make it worse, determined to keep from further angering the taller teen.

But Yami's response had made him feel a little unstable and dizzy. It had, in a way, inflicted a similar sense of frustration and anger. And that had made him unhappy and miserable for the better part of the day as he had gone about his classes.

If it wasn't possible for a wolf to repress, then why had he had those dreams and not remembered anything that could have hinted at his being Code Name Atem?

The idea made him queasy.

Was it possible?

Was it possible that the wolves had been calling him that for a reason?

But they'd chanted both his and Yami's name before.

So why had they called him Atem now?

He shivered as he glanced around slightly and tugged on the strap of his backpack. He was walking alone now because Jonouchi had grown too upset to be around him after his apology the day before. He still had not recovered from the shock and despair, and that was something Yugi could never fault him for. He himself was still overcome by the fact that Koaruko and Shizuka had died, that they were murdered so violently and seemingly without reason.

The fact that Shizuka was even dead still shook him to the core. He was not related to her and it still devastated him. He could only imagine vaguely what Katsuya himself felt.

Yugi had only experienced one death before in his life when his grandmother had passed. He'd been twelve and had watched her lowered into the earth. And he'd never been able to go to cemeteries or watch movies with funeral scenes since.

He had avoided anything that even vaguely touched on the subject of death. There was absolutely no way he could watch movie scenes or visit a place that housed the dead.

He glanced about himself again. The streets were more or less bare. When he turned and looked over his shoulder, no one seemed to even be near enough to see him properly. Yet, he still had the smallest sense that someone was following him. And he felt sick with the idea, but he could do nothing more than clench his jaw and look at the ice ahead of him.

Snow flurries had been coming on and off for the last few hours. Every other time he had looked out the window he'd thought he'd seen a new rush of them. Now they fell in such light and delicate design that he wondered if they could even reach the ground.

Yugi pressed his thumb hard against the material of the strap on his left shoulder. The air was cold enough to make someone run for their houses, as Anzu and Honda had both decided to do. They had been too cold to even remain outside for more than a few minutes and then had taken off racing.

He, himself, however, felt only the lightest tug of a frosty bite against his skin. He felt the way the blood had pooled beneath his cheeks for a few seconds. His heart had even raced, beating at almost three times its usual rate. And then, his body had grown warm enough that it fell into a more constant temperature and he was no longer flushed.

The ability to maintain his body heat was amazing.

But it was always very telling.

No human could do such a thing. If someone saw Yugi now, without the slightest hint of a blush to prove his cold, they would question his ability. They would wonder at it all. He could not find it in himself to ignore the way that he felt sick and stupid with the thought. While he would never have to worry about frostbite, he also could not be outside for long where people could see him.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, peering at the ice beneath his sneakers. The sidewalk was slick and the melt beneath it had frozen in a steady darkened layer where it shone in a thin covering over the concrete. He paced forward several steps, scenting the air and keeping his head lowered slightly. If someone passing in a car looked, he hoped they would not notice the lack of red in his cheeks.

It made no sense to him, however. What was it that made those ghosts in his dream think he was anything other than a sixteen-year-old who had just recently been bitten? If a wolf was unable to repress memories then surely he could not be Atem. Because that would mean that he had not grown up with his mother and grandfather and father. He would not even truly have the memories of his grandmother passing either.

Yugi shook his head. There was no way that he could have simply somehow covered his memories with those. The emotions were too real and the vividness was too great. There was simply no way his own mind could perform such a trick.

He faltered.

But then, why couldn't it? He'd had night terrors and hallucinations for a good amount of his life. He'd had auditory and visual and sensations of being touched or prodded, poked or bitten. So why couldn't his own mind have twisted such truth in order to somehow protect him?

He found himself halting, standing in the middle of the sidewalk with darkened eyes and a glassy faraway appearance to his features. The medication had fought back some of the terrors, the hallucinations, the immensity of the strain of them.

Was it possible that the medication was used to suppress his memories as Atem as well? Maybe they had been able to tell him the things he needed in order to pass for normal growing up. Perhaps they had rescued him and…

Yugi glanced around again, heart in his throat. There was no way, right? His parents and grandparents would never have done such a thing, right? The very thought made his heart ache and bleed in his chest. He swallowed harshly and looked down at the ground with widened eyes.

How did it explain his similar features to his grandfather, however?

Their appearances as teens were too similar to be discounted.

However, as he felt a sense of relief creep over him, it fell away just as quickly. The thought broke like a delicate web of glass.

Yami looked a lot like him.

And they were not related in any sense of the word.

There was no way they could be.

His family tree was extremely straightforward. Most times, when a person in his family had a child, they were the only one. On the rare occasions that there were two, they had seemingly always died around the age of two or three.

It had been a phenomenon that he'd never figured out before. More often than not, he'd supposed it was a blood disease of some kind, something like what he'd read one of the English monarchs had at one point. He had never looked more into it, however, because it just seemed far too painful to.

Now, however, he wondered. Was it possible that whatever gods Valon had mentioned allowing himself and Yami to be born had somehow come upon the collective decision that there was never to be more than one?

What if it was a way of keeping their lycanthropy pure somehow?

Yami had said he was infected even before he had bitten him; that the bite had merely acted as a trigger to make it leave its dormant state.

Yugi felt sick as he started walking again. That didn't explain how or why he and Yami looked so much alike, however. That didn't help him at all to come to a conclusion for such a reality. They were too much alike, though somehow completely different as well. But a single glance would make someone take a second and, in that time, they might still think themselves to see doubles.

He hissed under his breath and the exhale was so pale it seemed to make the snow look black. He shook his head and glanced around one more time. He could smell a trace of Mai somewhere beyond him. The intoxicating scent was somewhat more delicate now, but it was there. He did not think it was not fresh.

She was nearby. He turned to look over his shoulder but saw nothing. No one was close. No one was even slightly interested in him as they drove by. He turned back and forced his feet forward. She might not believe in Code Name Atem as much as Otogi had seemed to, but he felt that she might know something at least.

And, even if she didn't, perhaps she could tell him more about the wolves as a whole. Because he knew Yami would, but he was so easily angered and Yugi hated to distress him regardless. And he was not stupid enough to fail to recognize his anger came from his anxiety.

He reacted violently to the sensation because he viewed it as a weakness and Yugi had come to realize that wolves could sense it as such. He would never be surprised if one attacked another for sensing such a thing. Dogs did it when their owners were in such a state and cats were much more likely to lash out at someone nervous than someone who did not seem to care. He knew animals well enough to think that perhaps the most important thing in interacting with one was to keep calm.

And so Yami lashed out. It protected him and also scared a potential opponent. It was spontaneous and did not truly allow them time to see his emotions beforehand. He would make them cower before they could pose a threat. He would defend himself no matter the cost later.

Yugi shook his head and smelled the air, drawing it deep into his lungs to sort the scents hidden deep within it. Mai was the most prominent, though he caught a softer, more airy sense of something like wet mud and crushed pine needles. He assumed it had to be Otogi, because he had not bothered to take in and memorize his. The thought made his cheeks heat faintly.

He wondered for a moment what might have happened had Yami not shown up as he had. The thought only made him blush harder and he cursed under his breath as he shook his head in frustration. The only girl he should have been having those thoughts about was Anzu.

They weren't even truly dating because of all that was going on, but it still felt unfaithful somehow. He swallowed hard, ignoring the way his gut began to burn with shame and guilt.

"What are you doing walking all alone? Don't you know how dangerous that is?" a scornful voice scoffed at him. He jumped and spun around, a snarl immediately forming on his lips. His lungs seemed to burst with the effort of containing such a noise. "I mean, honestly, Yugi, don't you know any better? Your classmates are getting picked off left and right and you don't have enough sense to avoid being on your own like this?"

He flushed at the reprimand, the snarl dying away again as he sighed softly and looked at her. "I normally wouldn't," he admitted, his blush growing tenfold. He frowned at the way her lips quirks upwards with growing laughter. He wanted for a moment, so brief and frustrating, to lash out at her. "But one of my friends is mad at me. And, in case you haven't noticed, it's too cold for anyone with a brain to really walk around chatting with friends."

Mai quirked an elegant brow, smirking widely. "Was that a jab at me? Wow, you have a pair on you, don't you?" she teased, cocking a hip and crossing her arms as her eyes shone with laughter.

Yugi tried to ignore the way his body immediately reacted with the urge to look her up and down and focus on her lips. He struggled to keep their eyes locked. But he was honestly surprised when he saw that she was not even truly looking at him any longer.

Her eyes had flickered away to stare at something beyond his shoulder. "And your red-eyed beauty isn't here with you?"

He flushed. Red-eyed beauty? Had she really just called Yami that? He flushed harder when she looked at him with that wide smirk, a predatory glimmer in her gaze. Well, of course she was curious, and of course she thought he was beautiful. Yugi himself had admitted as much at one point, had he not?

"He doesn't go to school with me," he grumbled. In another situation he might have been jealous that her attention was elsewhere, but now it was a great relief. "He's at home."

"You both live together but he doesn't school with you?" she inquired, raising a brow as her smirk fell slightly. The way she bit her lip instantly afterwards made his heart quicken and his struggle that much harder.

"We're not related," he murmured as explanation, unsure of what more to say. He did not know what else there was that he could mention without giving away things about Yami that he did not have the right to. He looked away from her, just enough that she was caught in his peripheral.

"Ah, so you're housing your partner. How nice of you."

Yugi blinked, confused by the statement, and then felt his jaw fall open as his eyes grew thrice their regular size. He gaped at her, feeling dizzy for a brief second, and then sputtered, "Yami and I are not dating!"

Mai gave him a critical look, then softened her expression as she gave him a glance over and tilted her head slightly to the side. "You're adorable when you're flustered," she said easily before shaking her head. "But, no, I would be able to smell him more noticeably on you if you were. Although, obviously you two must be close. He's almost like a second layer of scent on you."

Yugi blushed but then tilted his head, looking at her curiously. "What do you mean you'd smell him on me more noticeably? I mean, if he's like a second layer of scent already…?"

She smiled and her blonde hair seemed to glow for a moment despite the lack of light. "I'd smell him on your breath," she said smugly, "and I'd see him in your eyes. Werewolves who mate are always obvious, no matter how hard they try not to be. It shows no matter what. You don't have the right look to your eyes."

He frowned. "I already have a girlfriend."

Mai gave him the most scornful look he had ever seen before in his life, eyes sharper than blades and her lips pressed into a thin line. "Don't lie to me," she snapped in a cold tone. "I know you don't. I would know from your scent. Yami is, whether you like it or not, or agree in the slightest, the closest thing you've got to a partner right now. He is the scent that clings to you, not the pheromones of some human girl."

Yugi felt his face turn bright red again, shocked and mortified by the statement. He cringed as they looked at each other and then abruptly turned his face away.

"Besides, Yugi, if you did have a girlfriend, you wouldn't react to me nearly as strongly as you do." His entire face was burning and he ground his teeth together in an effort to push it away. He scowled at her from the corner of his eye but her smirk only grew and he felt sick to his stomach at the sight of it. For the briefest of seconds, he truly hated her. "Wolves are never disloyal."

He gave her an annoyed look, standing taller and tipping his chin slightly. "I wouldn't be disloyal even if I wasn't a wolf! Just because I had a passing thought doesn't mean I would act on it! Everyone thinks something that they don't entirely care for later."

"Oh please, Yugi, a passing thought? That's not at all what you're having right now." She narrowed her eyes and leaned forward towards him. The angle gave him a clear look at her cleavage and his cheeks heated brilliantly once more. Mai snickered in amusement and his stomach coiled with annoyance. "Sweetheart, I go far beyond a passing thought."

"Screw you, Mai."

She smirked. "Wouldn't you like to?"

Yugi thought he would like nothing more than to have her turn into a boy so that he could punch her. He had never had such a desire to hurt a girl before. He shook his head sharply and turned away, scowling. "And, by the way," he snapped, turning on her again with his teeth bared, "if I was ever to decide to date Anzu or Yami, you would never compare to either of them."

Mai raised a brow, caught between amusement and sharp irritation at his words. "I don't know about Yami, seeing how intense he is, but I can assure you some little human girl would never compare to me. Not in your wildest dreams or hers."

He blinked at her, startled by the words that had left her mouth. He furrowed his brows. "Intense?" he asked quietly, frowning thoughtfully. "What do you mean 'intense'?"

"That boy has the definition of freedom and wilderness written in his soul somewhere. It's deep in him. He's more wolf than human, I promise you that. And, I bet he'd make one of the most passionate lovers," she stated with a look to her eyes that was both faintly wistful and faraway with frustration. Her face was set with an almost sad expression before she shook her head again. "Oh well. I'm sure he's got someone waiting for him somewhere. And if he doesn't yet, he'll find his mate without too much difficulty."

Yugi frowned at her, troubled by the thought. Was there only one person for a wolf? The thought sounded so lonely. He shook the idea away, however.

That wasn't what he had come to talk to her about. He'd store that for later questions. Maybe he'd ask Yami for answers instead. He was highly unlikely to tease him and make him feel stupid like she did.

"Mai, I wanted to talk to you about something else entirely," he said in what he hoped was a steady and friendly tone, despite the fact that his anger still had yet to dissipate. The blonde turned her head immediately, eyes widening in surprise at the request, and furrowed her brows in response. He cleared his throat awkwardly, the idea of her laughing making his stomach clench. "I wanted to ask you about Code Name Atem."

"Code Name Atem?" she repeated in surprise, frowning. Her lips pressed tightly together for a moment, expression hardening even as her eyes became thoughtful and she seemed decidedly unhappy. "What about him?"

Yugi frowned and tried desperately to ignore the fact that his eyes kept threatening to lower to her mouth despite his frustrated embarrassment. "You don't really believe in him, do you?" he asked cautiously. "If not, this is going to be a hypothetical conversation…"

Mai tilted her head, smiling again, but this time with a cynical look to her expression. No humor shone in her eyes and there was a bitterness in her voice as she murmured, "Yugi, I was raised to believe in him. It's just, after years of waiting for the possibility of his appearance, I am not too sure that he truly does exist. I don't entirely think he's myth, but I do have to wonder if he's anything more than a regular wolf."

Yugi felt his frown deepen further. "You mean less than a Pure-Blood," he stated quietly. She nodded even though he spoke with certainty and both of them watched each other with a sense of companionable weariness. "Before I ask you about him, do you think…that there's any way that a wolf can repress their memories like a person does? Like, is it possible for them to deal with something like PTSD in a similar manner to a regular person?"

Mai blinked, visibly surprised. Her eyes were wide, her glossy lips parted slightly, and she found herself tipping her head to the side in wonder at the question. Her gaze darkened, thoughtful and working to provide an answer she considered to be suitable for him.

Finally, when Yugi felt that he should never have bothered to ask, she whispered, "If he can forget, he's a lucky bastard. The rest of them have never gotten a chance." She paused. "Something would have to be influencing him pretty heavily in order for him to be able to forget anything. Wolves have the perfect recollection of anything that happens in their lives, Yugi."

He felt as if he was going to throw up.

Oh gods, perfect recollection? He faltered, feeling somehow displaced by these words.

He didn't have perfect recollection. A lot of the time, certain moments in his life were literally shrouded in blackness, a haze of blindness he could not defend himself from. They were not in complete darkness, though, but it was always hard and agonizing in the manner of having to scrape mentally for the ability to recall.

"The other wolves who came from that lab, they all remember. I can say that with certainty. Unless Atem was drugged beyond the ability to even think straight or he was nursing a wound in his head that he could not heal, he should be able to do the same, Yugi."

He bit his lip. "Medication? Fear? Do you think a combination?"

She frowned at him, eyes puzzled but sharpening with suspicion. "I don't know if you know this about animals, but most all of them remember everything. Elephants, wolves, horses, birds. They remember how to hunt after being shown once, they learn and don't forget how to fly, they control their trunks and wield them as weapons, they gallop and canter and kick violently when a threat is closing in on them. Animals don't forget. It is ingrained in their survival that they keep their memories, that they manage what is necessary. If a wolf were to forget that humans were dangerous, they'd die. If a horse forgot how to kick, a predator would destroy it. If a bird forgot the ability to fly, they would be easy prey. If an elephant couldn't remember to find the way to the old watering hole from their youngest, they'd most likely die of dehydration. Every animal keeps information that they do not always necessarily need."

He swallowed hard and she studied him a bit more pointedly. The suspicion grew to more abundance, her eyes flashing with it.

"And humans assume themselves the masters of memory. So, tell me, Yugi, if a wolf can remember the ability to kill an elk the first time they are taught, and humans have the gift of muscle memory, what room is there for a werewolf to forget unless by heavy outside circumstances and influence? I don't think drugs, unless they were so consistent throughout their life or combined with some kind of psychological manipulation, would ever work."

Yugi watched her for a long minute, mind spinning with the words. He frowned, then shook his head. "You said you've been waiting for him your entire life," he muttered, eyes flickering away towards the empty street behind her and back again. "What did you mean by that, Mai?"

Mai frowned, tipping her head to the side. "Yugi, Code Name Atem is not a new creature. He's a truth now if someone believes in him, but he's been an omen for a long time for the lycanthropes. Or, at least… He has for some of us. He's called the 'Lupus Dirus' because that's what he's made of, the gray and the dire. All Pure-Bloods are called the Lupus Dirus. That's what they were." She bit her lip for a moment, then sighed softly, the noise sharp and irritable. "In myths he is not called by name. In fact, they refer to him as a female. And they simply say that she's meant to come and walk among us. She's meant to fight away the possibility of destruction of both subspecies. She, with the aid of the rest of the lycanthropes, is meant to save us from destruction."

"Destruction?" he asked with wide eyes, heart leaping into his throat for a moment. He swore he tasted blood and bile as he struggled to breathe again. "What destruction?"

"It's supposed to come in three. One is that the Pure-Blood will be resurrected, as will the Harbingers. Two is that the gods will awaken and come to walk the earth at their beckon. Three is that the hellhounds and the lycanthropes will fight and pick each other off. And finally, a war will begin between them."

"But why would the werewolves turn on each other?"

"Because there are going to be circumstances which will force them to." The blonde stayed quiet for a moment. "There used to be an ancient verse that foretold it. It was taught when the first of both subspecies walked the earth. But I have no idea if anyone knows it any longer. It's possible that it's been lost to time now."

Yugi stared at her, stomach tossing. "And how do we know that Atem is the one who's supposed to lead the lycanthropes?"

Mai narrowed her eyes into slits, staring at him for a long time. Her voice came out cold when she snapped, "Because they will be the first Pure-Blood to exist in this world since the end of the Ice Age. And they will be the only truly immortal creature to exist in a world where they have all but been forgotten. Yugi, if Atem truly was recreated in that damn lab, it's for the cause of saving the werewolves. And they are the only one capable of it."

"But how is one wolf meant to win a war? It would be different if it was that there was someone to guide them, but—"

"The gods will guide him," she interrupted, voice dropping to a whisper as her eyes grew sorrowful. "The gods will guide him. And the wolves of long before will help him through dreams. And the lycanthropes will lay their lives down for him. The lycanthropes will sacrifice themselves for his cause. It is in all of us. It is so far buried inside of each of us that it is almost forgotten, but if ever there were to be a Pure-Blood among us, we would all do as was necessary to save them. We are bound by the loyalty of the wolf, as the hellhounds will do the same for the Harbingers."

"What are the Harbingers?"

"The reason the Pure-Blood was created." Mai shook her head sharply, the sorrow in her gaze growing. "Every wolf has a bond to the ones before them. For the lycanthrope, it's the Pure-Blood. For the hellhound, it's the Harbinger. We will all bow to them and do anything we must to save and help them."

Yugi shook his head, mouth falling open. "But that's… Mai, that's insane!"

She bore her teeth. "And yet dogs are trained to save the lives of their owners at the cost of their own. And mothers will offer their lives for their offspring. To place one's life for the sake of a great cause is not like sacrificing themselves in vain or committing suicide, you foolish boy!"

Yugi flinched, eyes wide with shock. He felt chastised beyond his own understanding and the idea made the hairs on the back of his neck rise with distaste and acute embarrassment. He felt the overwhelming impulse to bow his head, but a new voice startled him from such thought.

"Go easy on him, Mai. It's obvious he's bitten, and wasn't born with the disease," Otogi scoffed at her, shaking his head and coming to their sides. "He doesn't understand because he had the freedom of growing up without the idea that there might ever be a time such a thing would come to happen."

He opened and closed his mouth and Otogi winked at him. Mai relaxed, though her eyes remained hard even as she apologized and they fell into an unsteady silence. Yugi looked away towards the ground and the blonde crossed her arms as she glared at the brick wall of the small bakery at her side.

"It's harder to understand when you're bitten," the raven-haired boy offered gently, making Yugi look up again with wide eyes. "And that's okay. It takes time. But it's not as if any of us wouldn't put our lives on the line for our friends and family if we were asked to. We'd do it because we need to. If it meant it saved them, why would we deny them the chance of survival? It's no different."

"But no one knows Atem. No one even knows if he's real…"

"We don't have to know him to recognize him. We sense him by his strength, by the power he holds over us. We know him by the bond we all share with him. We'll know him just as we will the gods when they awaken to assist him. Yugi, werewolves don't have to know someone personally to recognize them in their heart. It's like someone's faith." He hesitated, then searched his blue-violet eyes for a long minute. "Do you know faith, Yugi?"

He stared at him for what felt like a lifetime, then shook his head sharply. "I don't. And I don't understand how you can equate giving your life for someone they don't know as a connection with a god, Otogi."

"They place their faith in a figure they've never met and pray to them and worship and prepare to place their lives in their hands. Yugi, it's the most similar thing you could ever compare this to."

Yugi shook his head again, disgusted but overwhelmed as well. "And just how many deaths will it take? What will help him save himself and the rest of the werewolves, Otogi? Because I don't know about you, but all I imagine when I think of war is bloodshed and dead bodies. And hopelessness and lost family members. Tell me, how many would have to die for him in order to save the werewolves like you claim his existence is meant to?"

They both looked at him, eyes burning into his with such strength that he felt as if he were staring into the gaze of a predator far beyond him, ready to destroy and feast on him.

"As many as is necessary."

"And what if he's not worth that? What if he proves to be useless in saving them?" Both of them frowned at him openly, then shook their heads. Yugi watched them, waiting for the answer, but it was his own voice that spoke the words, "Then it's all for nothing. And those are the odds that you have to gamble with."

No one spoke for a long time, for such an immense measure that Yugi was almost amazed that curfew had not come and gone. He pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth and the other two wolves studied him for as long as any of them could bear to look at each other.

"Do you believe in him, Otogi?"

"I believe in him sometimes. But other times I think he's all but a myth."

"Do you think he could have been created in that lab? That humans could have brought a Pure-Blood to life?"

His voice was trembling and his heart was racing. They all heard it and the weariness was pronounced in the sag of each of their shoulders. Yugi's struggle to comprehend their willingness wore at them effortlessly.

"I don't know. Sometimes I believe it's possible, but then I have to wonder why a god would ever allow such terrible things to befall their gift to the world. I have to wonder why they would put their own kin in such suffering." He paused. "But something made those wolves rally together. Something allowed them to put aside their differences and aid each other to escape from that lab, Yugi. You cannot tell me otherwise. There were too many wolves who appeared after that day, too many who were scarred and traumatized and too terrified to recognize themselves from the monsters in their childhood."

He felt his stomach curl with disgust and growing sorrow. "Yami said that they would have to have been blessed by a god in order to be born. So why…?"

"For the greater good, to prevent self-destruction."

"Do you really think…?"

"I think the wolves are too numerous and cocky and sometimes too wild for their own good. I think that soon enough, with or without the experiments, regardless of the Pure-Blood or the Harbinger, they're going to declare war. And I think it'll be an even greater devastation to deal with than even what Code Name Atem brings with him."

Yugi lowered his eyes, feeling further sickened. His head was spinning as he stared at the sidewalk with a darkened gaze. "How long ago did those wolves get loose?" he asked softly. "How long ago did Code Name Atem and the rest of them escape?"

"About six months ago," Otogi answered, speaking for the first time in what felt like hours. His teal eyes shot towards Mai. "But Atem was being whispered about for several years before then. He was actually already on everyone's lips sixteen years ago. A wolf got word out that the humans had succeeded."

He felt dizzier than ever. "Sixteen…?"

Mai nodded, eyes flashing with discomfort. "Yes, he was born sometime in the summer."

Yugi couldn't breathe for a moment.

His lungs were too tight.

His throat was closing.

He looked at them, desperate for Otogi to argue.

"He escaped with the others six months ago, but he was known about long before then." The black-haired teen paused and frowned at him thoughtfully but did not comment. "Or so they say anyways. For all anyone truly knows he could have gotten loose long before then."

"Otogi, what do you think of the idea that he could suppress his memory?" Mai asked suddenly, turning to him. "I think it's impossible, but what are your thoughts?"

The boy looked at her and then blinked at Yugi slowly, eyes narrowing into teal slits, wondrous and suspicious all at once. "I think, if he needed to, he would do it. You forget, Mai, a werewolf will do anything necessary in order to survive. If suppressing is it, then that's what he would do. That's the smallest thing a werewolf could do in order to survive."

He wanted to puke as he looked at them again.

"Especially with the hunters that have been hired to capture him and the other wolves. There are so many of them. If he had to simply suppress his memories it'd be the easiest thing he could possibly do."

Otogi was silent again for a minute.

Then he finally asked the one question that Yugi had been dreading answering.

"Why are you so curious about Code Name Atem anyways?"

Yugi drew in a deep breath, then closed his eyes tightly. His voice was low and choked.

"I think I have an idea…who he might be."

---

He looked up as he always did when Yugi entered the room. The small teen hesitated when their eyes locked for a brief moment, then lowered his gaze and tossed his backpack into the room. He didn't bother to acknowledge his grandpa calling his name in greeting from somewhere in the living room. Instead he closed the door and moved to take the spot next to the red-eyed wolf on the bed. For a moment they were both silent and then the smaller boy turned his head with a small, almost shy smile, and murmured, "Hey."

Yami blinked at him. "Hello."

Yugi hesitated for a second, then fell back against the pillow and closed his eyes tightly. The taller boy reached out to touch his wrist, tracing along his pulse point with the barest tips of his fingers. The smaller teen looked at him with wide eyes, startled by the action, and tilted his head in bewilderment. Yami ignored him for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and looked at him more closely.

"You smell of Mai and Otogi. And your heart is racing."

He flushed, eyes wide, and then gently shifted his hand away from him. The other boy responded to the lack of contact with the smallest of blinks, his dismissal of this action abundantly clear. Yami had touched him only for the sake of his undivided attention.

"I ran into them on the way home."

There was only a hint of disbelief and cynicism in his tone. "And stayed with them for an hour longer than necessary."

He looked at him for a moment. There was no hint of anger to truly be found, just a small speck of relief and the tiniest touch of worry. Yugi sighed and shifted to sit up, putting them level as he muttered, "I lost track of time. I wanted to know more about Code Name Atem."

Yami stiffened, the emotion leaving his face as his lip curled briefly. "I should have known. You do not seem to know when to stop chasing phantoms," he sighed softly, shaking his head slightly. "Yugi, if you keep this up, you're going to end up attracting the wrong kind of attention. Not every wolf will take kindly to you searching for answers about Code Name Atem."

He shook his head. "Just because you don't care doesn't mean I shouldn't," he snapped.

"Yes, and why do you care? Have you asked yourself that question yet?" Yami spat in exasperation, baring his teeth. "Because Shizuka said that he could help the wolves being experimented on. And now you think you should help him achieve such a feat! Because you think it will somehow avenge her. But, Yugi, she is dead. And trying now, to help those wolves still there, it won't change that."

He flinched and felt almost as if he should flee the room for the briefest of seconds. The air seemed to have grown abruptly heavier, rippling with the anger that he exerted now. Yugi shook his head a second later, huffing, "I know that. But I… Even without her in the picture, if I had found out about what's going on, I would still want to help stop it. What they're doing is insane!"

Yami stared at him silently for a long minute and then looked away again. "So you should risk your life to save wolves you do not know just to stop something like that which is happening?"

He stiffened, then weakly croaked, "No, not… Not quite. I…I said I would help. I didn't…"

"But surely you realize that if you were ever to be caught you would be killed."

Yugi cringed, feeling dizzy and disjointed for a moment. He would definitely be used in experiments and killed if he was caught. And Mai and Otogi both said that they had hired hunters…

"Look, Yugi, I do not mean to say that it's the wrong thing to do, but if you have plans to help out, you need to at least embrace the idea that you might die from it. And then you need to remember that it might not be worth the cause. Just because you stop them here, does not mean you stop them everywhere. Remember that."

He felt as if his cheeks were burning, slightly humiliated by the words but somehow fueled as well. "I know that. I just…"

"Want to help out. I know." Yami paused, studying him for a long moment, and then shifted a little closer to him.

His knee was touching very slightly against his hip and Yugi nearly shivered at the sensation. His body heat was everywhere for a moment, all-encompassing and consuming him. He drew in a breath and all he could smell was snow and moonlight and pine trees.

"It's admirable, but I think you're too healthily afraid of death. You have too keen a respect for it to try to throw your life away like that might demand."

Yugi shivered. "You say that so easily."

He smirked, shrugging slightly. "As Valon said, I am surrounded by death," he said simply, his voice almost lifting into a purr at the statement. "And my life? It's pretty inconsequential."

"What? Don't say that! Your life is important too!"

"You value it more than me."

Yugi shook his head, grimacing, but could not think of any words to say and found himself unable to do more than stare at him with a somewhat horrified expression. Yami watched him for what felt like a lifetime, then turned away with a more solemn look to his features.

"Don't think wrong of me for saying such a thing. It is the truth. I do not know if you expected me to say otherwise, but that is how it is."

He shook his head and looked away. "I don't… I just… I think that's really kind of sad. I thought maybe you thought more of yourself than that," he admitted. "You always fight to survive, so I thought…"

Yami looked at him curiously for a moment. Yugi appeared sad as well, but he did not seem as if he thought any less of him. The idea made his spine tighten slightly with confusion. Had someone told him those words, he would have most likely snapped at them to end it then.

Yami did not think he had enough patience to deal with a person who thought themselves worthless and so would rather kill themselves than exist.

That was not to say that he wished to die. He had had far too many close calls to wish to welcome it permanently. He just would have assumed their words to mean that entirely. And it made his stomach ache to realize that Yugi did not see it the same way. He saw it as some kind of mixture of depression and self-hatred.

Yami could see it in his eyes, the way Yugi peered at him with that sorrow but made it obvious he also pitied him somewhere in the back of his mind. He nearly bore his teeth, because pity was nothing he could ever find in himself to accept. His pride was misguided but it still made him furious. He didn't even know what he was truly pitying him for.

He didn't know the truth of it.

It was with arrogance that Yami snapped, "And I will make a wager with you that many people feel that way more than anything else. Your precious Shizuka was probably the poster child for it."

Yugi faltered visibly, mouth opening and closing before he pressed his lips tightly together and bit the inside of his cheek. "You're probably right," he muttered, feeling sick to his stomach again as he looked away from the taller teen. "I wouldn't be surprised."

"Then why act as such when I tell you that?"

He couldn't help it when he looked up at him again and bit his lip. "Because I never considered it before. And I don't think anyone like you should feel like that."

"Like me?" he asked with wide eyes, startled by the thought. Did Yugi see something in him that he didn't himself? The idea made his skin crawl and his wrists ached, the pain trailing up and down his arms where the wounds were still bandaged. "What do you mean?"

Yugi looked self-conscious as he shrugged his shoulders slightly and lowered his eyes to the comforter. Yami watched him trace a pattern across the fabric for a moment before he finally spoke again.

"I just… You always seem content or at least vaguely happy. And that normally makes you more relaxed. And, when you're not constantly waiting for something to happen, you put a lot of energy into everything you do. And that… It makes you seem more passionate." He paused. "And you… I could see you being a really passionate person. If you tried to, I think you could get anything you wanted done, and you'd apply everything you had in order to do it. When you played chess and checkers against me, you showed that well enough. So I…I don't understand how you could be so miserable and so alive all at once."

Yami stared at him for a long moment, then shifted away from him. When he bunched his limbs together in front of him and lay his arms in his lap, the smaller teen glanced at him sideways. They stayed silent for a few long heartbeats and Yugi wondered briefly if what he had said could be taken in the wrong context. He hoped he didn't think that he was trying to solicit him in some way emotionally. The thought made his cheeks heat faintly and he nearly covered his face with a groan.

"Being miserable only works with the lively ones." Yami fell silent again, then glanced at him sideways, expression thoughtful as he searched his face. "I am not so much miserable and I don't suppose that I wish to die, but if it were to happen, I am not sure I would attempt to prevent it."

Yugi shook his head slightly. "You don't hate life though, then?" he asked quietly, a weak and small question that made the taller teen blink in surprise.

"No, I do not hate my life. I just…do not always value it." He shrugged as his eyes flickered away. "I suppose having lycanthropy can do that to a person. The ability to heal from almost anything and everything… It probably makes one feel that they are immortal even when it's clear they could die at any time."

Yugi nodded slightly, a small sense of understanding coiling in his belly. That made sense. He could see how the idea of near instantaneous healing could make someone feel immortal and grow cocky from it all. He could see how someone might take advantage of such an idea and potentially lose themselves in the thought that nothing could ever beat them.

"I am not stupid, however. I do not run into a fight unless I think I can win, regardless of how it might look to someone else. If I do not think I can win, I will not interfere." He paused. "I am aware that I am not immortal. But sometimes I like to think I am. And it makes it easy for me to fail to see the importance of my own life here."

Yugi nodded, feeling a lump form in his throat. "Do you think I'll ever turn out like that?" he whispered in a voice that nearly cracked with desperation.

Yami was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "No, I do not believe for even a moment that you ever will. You have a healthy dislike of death and that will help you."

"That's… I mean, do you ever really wonder about it? Death, I mean? Do you ever wonder…?"

Yami scoffed. "To wonder about it is for the dead themselves. I am alive. I think only about the things that might happen later for me." He paused and then smirked slightly. "Besides, why should I wonder when every werewolf ends up in Paradise anyways?"

"Paradise?"

He looked at him for a long minute and then quickly away again, eyes sharp and darkened with a shadow that Yugi could not read. "I do not think this conversation should go any further. I do not wish to speak anymore…"

The way his voice came out was a mixture of breathless and decidedly uncomfortable, as if Yami were choking on a memory long forgotten. His eyes had grown glazed over but his awareness had not left him in the slightest. He knew exactly what he was doing, what was happening around him. He was lucid and dangerous with knowledge and intuition. When he looked at Yugi from beneath his lashes, his eyes were dark, glassy, but altogether so alight with keenness they almost appeared to glow.

Yugi shivered, unnerved by the way he seemed to stare both at and through him all at once. He bit the inside of his cheek, caught with confusion at the very idea. His gaze was so far away from him, boring into him and somehow into the distance at the same time. He shivered again.

"Okay."

---

He really shouldn't have bothered to follow the smell. He was beginning to regret ever using his nose in the first place. He honestly thought that eventually he would need to chop it off. All it did was lead him to trouble. It had brought him to Yami at the dumpster, to Mai in the courtyard, and now it had brought him here.

And here was nowhere he would ever wish to go.

Before him, in the limited trees, was a small clearing barely the size needed to support the immense circle of wolves held within it. The canines were all roughly the same height, with broad shoulders and long limber legs. Their pelts were a million different shades and colors, some covered lightly in snow while others were shed of ice.

Each of them was facing each other, the clearing wide like a chasm between them. Their eyes sparkled and danced in the dimming light and the film of colors, blurs of their irises in shade, looked almost murky in appearance. Each had their muzzle raised, ears pricked forward, eyes cast on the ones standing before them.

And in the center of the clearing, was a she-wolf, with broad shoulders and a pelt of cinnamon red which shimmered with droplets of water from melted snow. Her eyes were a deep and mesmerizing amber, glowing as she looked about them and snarled softly.

At first, Yugi could not hear the words.

He strained his ears and struggled to catch her message, for he was sure it was not just a statement leaving her mouth. It had to be a message, long and clear, with an intent the others knew but he did not. Even as he crouched in the base of the tree, leaning forward on his hands and knees, straining his ears, he could not catch her words.

He leaned forward only slightly further. Her voice was but a rasping whisper, a current of noise swallowed by the cold air. It came to him slowly but surely, soft and gentle as it began to form in his head. It was only then that he truly realized she was not talking out loud. Instead she was doing as Yami had, speaking into his mind as he supposed she was doing the others as well.

Canis Lupus Dirus!

Their mouths opened, heads thrown back. They mimicked howling but somehow remained silent even as they swayed and seemed to silently echo her words. It was an excruciatingly loud boom of noise as she began to snarl in a higher pitch, a thunderous crackle of voice.

Canis Lupus Dirus, our genesis! Come forth, Canis Lupus Dirus!

He stiffened.

The Pure-Blood?

They were trying to summon a Pure-Blood?

Hear us, Code Name Atem! Look upon our offerings! Receive our sacrifice!

Yugi found himself unable to breathe, eyes wide as his stomach tossed violently. His lungs constricted and his heart pulsed in his throat. He tasted blood on his tongue as his legs threatened to give out beneath him.

Bring to us the promise of survival, Lord of Violence, of Suffering, of Power and Glory! the she-wolf continued, her voice practically screaming the words now. Yugi was frozen, eyes locked on the display as two wolves moved forward. The rest on either end of the circle began to back away, giving them a wide berth of space. Come to us, Code Name Atem, and enlighten us! Fulfill for us your oath! In blood we give you power, in life we give you strength, in death we give you form! Take from us what you need!

She and the other wolves ceased their swaying movements. Her head lowered, eyes glowing in the dim light with such power Yugi thought her ethereal for a moment. He stiffened, for she almost seemed to see him there, watching them. But then she launched herself forward, catching first the wolf to her right and then to her left. Blood splattered to the ground, harsh shadows of deep red against the snow, staining the bottom of her muzzle as they looked at each other.

From the alpha is your first gift. From these two wolves comes your rebirth! Rejoice in your new strength and glory!

Yugi barely had time to blink before the two wolves, bleeding profusely from wounds he assumed to be only short of mortal, sprang for each other. They tangled in limbs of bright white and dark tawny, snarling and snapping for each other's face. They snatched at fur and tried to tear through the ears or the eyes. They rolled and struggled to their feet. The snow had become a river of red, so much like his own dream that he nearly collapsed.

He watched them until they both tore at each other's throats, with such a perfect grip and angle that it seemed rehearsed. He supposed it had to be, considering the speech with which the she-wolf had released them to destroy each other. But the grips were in harmony, snatched in what he easily assumed to be the same place on either side.

And when they jerked their heads back, they both faltered and gasped, gurgling as blood dripped in rivulets. He shuddered and his stomach pushed upwards in a heaving movement but he swallowed back the overwhelming current of bile in his mouth.

He was choking but he did not fight away the desperation and horror which coated his insides. He could not push it aside as the two wolves seemed only to collapse an eternity later. Their legs buckled and dropped beneath them and their eyes rolled upwards. The snow steamed with the blood which melted it, ghostly gusts of white mist curling upwards at its touch.

Yugi raised a hand to his throat, feeling as if he were choking with the urge to puke and then to flee. But his brain was racing elsewhere. If he puked, he would give away his position. If he ran, he would most likely crash. His legs were too unstable. He was barely aware of the sensation of his feet moving slowly but surely backwards.

The clearing was but a blur upon the hill when he turned on his heel finally and ran for the city again. There was a loud growl but no other noises amongst the trees. The wolves were not following him. He gasped and doubled over at the entrance of the street which would eventually lead to his house.

He was shaking and sweat had bloomed across his brow at some point.

He could not remember when, or if he had ever noticed it in the first place.

But it made him quake and he felt sickened as he gasped and sputtered for breath once more. He could not fully see the concrete beneath him, he was so dizzy with disgust. The wolves had been attempting to summon Code Name Atem with sacrifices. They had been preaching and praying and offering themselves like lambs at the slaughter.

Yugi swayed and his belly curled painfully but still he did not vomit. Somehow the bile remained in the back of his throat, pooled at the bottom, a deep pond of burning acid. He ground his teeth together and closed his eyes tightly.

They had tried to summon him. They had tried to bring him to life through…

It made no sense to him. How could they know his name as Atem and not realize that the sacrifices would not—could not—bring him to them? How could they fail to understand the fact that they were killing themselves for no other reason than false worship? Yet, the entire pack there—for he assumed that was what they were—had fallen to such lengths. They had all thrown themselves into this bloody display without a single pause.

His head was roaring with noise. He straightened only after his racing heart began to falter in its charge. Then he forced his feet to move, slow and painful, in an agonizingly long effort to continue forward and start on the path to the house. He was trembling as he breathed in roughly and struggled not to stop and collapse to the ground.

But what if the wolves simply changed into their human forms and chased him that way? Yugi shivered, glancing over his shoulder, but he did not detect any movement in the slightest. He did not even truly smell anything beyond the disgusting swell of blood and melting snow. His heart ached and threatened to burst in his chest as he lowered his eyes to the concrete again.

When he got into the room again, his hands were shaking and his breathing was erratic. Yami looked up with wide, alarmed red eyes, immediately jumping to his feet. Yugi only vaguely noticed that he had been messing with the small television in the corner when the taller teen stepped towards him. His presence was somehow overwhelming to the smaller teen, a current of calm and gentle air which made his heart ache harder. His mouth opened and closed and his vision blurred faintly around the edges as he stumbled forward a step. He dropped the bag away onto the floor, blinking rapidly for a moment.

He did not think he would cry. He was too numb for that. But his erratic breathing and the way the room seemed to sway did him no favors. As Yami blurred and became an almost inky blob with two bright incandescent cores of red, he thought his legs might falter beneath him again. But somehow he held his weight, merely staring at this other lycanthrope, unable to do anything but peer at him blankly.

The other wolf had no words of comfort to offer him, instead furrowing his brows and tilting his head. Speaking had never been his strong point as it was and so he frowned as he considered what it was he might have the ability to do to extend some kind of help.

But he could come up with nothing.

It made his skin crawl to face the smaller wolf. Yugi looked as if he had seen something haunting, his blue-violet eyes hollow and staring at him almost blindly. He was shaking finely, eyes burning into his despite the lost quality which encompassed them.

For a minute they stood across the room from each other, one frozen and the other shaking. They stared with deadly steadiness, eyes burning as they held gazes. And then, a decision made that he was almost ashamed of, Yami very slowly moved forward.

He expected him to flinch back but Yugi merely blinked and seemed to grow a bit more focused with the reaction. His steadiness made the taller boy's stomach toss but his own nerves were nothing to compare to the other's obvious distress. The very thought might have even made him laugh had Yugi not looked so terrible.

Yami slowly reached out, hand hovering, fingers stretched out. He was unsure what more to do for the briefest of moments, because he did not think he had ever truly assumed the position of attempting to comfort someone. He himself had oftentimes snarled when such a thing was offered him, shouldering instead his anger and baring it back to drive off his discomfort.

This situation before him now made him queasy for a moment, but he did not hesitate any longer. Very slowly his hand touched Yugi's arm, then grasped lightly at the very edge of his sleeve. His nails caught the material, scratching gently, and he wondered if Yugi heard it as vibrantly as he did. He thought of bones, teeth snapping against them, grinding and splitting inwards towards the marrow. It made his heart pound and his stomach ache furiously.

He tried to calm his own racing instincts to shove away this attempt. His thoughts spiraled towards their moment in the woods, when he'd closed his eyes and allowed Yugi to hold him. It'd been dangerous. It'd been harmful for him. It'd made him quake late during the night afterwards, when Yugi himself suffered his nightmare. It had caused his lungs to constrict harshly and his body to clench with tension. He had been wound up when Yugi had escaped into his own dreams.

But it was early.

And he doubted the small teen would be able to slip away into a state of rest so soon.

Still, he caught the edge of his sleeve, gripping it tightly between his fingers for a moment. They were staring at each other again and his heart was threatening to burst. His stomach was burning. His mouth ached and his tongue felt swollen. He couldn't breathe properly. His spine was too tight beneath his skin. He wanted to puke. He wanted to lash out. He drew in a deep breath. His fingers tugged gently at his uniform jacket.

Yami wanted to lower his eyes but the weight of the other boy's stare held them there. When he tugged a bit more firmly and Yugi shuffled closer, his stomach was rolling so forcefully it made his lungs quake. He hissed, then bore his teeth behind his lips.

It was okay.

It would be okay.

Touching someone was just new, especially if it was not to inflict pain or capture their fullest attention.

Yami could feel it, however, that his knuckles had grown bone white with the grip he exerted. His stomach hurt again. He looked at Yugi for a long moment. He wanted to speak but felt it might ruin him. It might break the moment and he might lose himself. He might end up attacking him.

But the silence was so suffocating as well.

He hesitated, then very slowly drew his arm closer. He forced his body to pivot, turning just enough that he was still in his peripheral, and then tugged him gently again. Yugi obediently followed him, silent as a ghost, until they reached the bed. Yami blinked a few times, unsure of his own stability for the moment, then exhaled softly.

Yami was not sure Yugi heard it, as he showed no acknowledgment, and he hoped to the gods that he was not so transparent. He did not need him to see his fear, his reluctance, the way his heart rattled like chains in his chest. He gently touched his shoulder with his free hand, moving him to take a seat.

This time the smaller teen reacted and moved on his own. With a nearly blind and disjointed fashion about his movements, Yugi shifted forward onto his hands and knees. Yami immediately let his eyes shoot to the television instead, drawing in a deep breath that was meant to be soothing but merely burned him all over again. He stared at the light as the scene changed and altered, fading into commercial. Then he turned back, sure that Yugi was more comfortably situated.

He wished with stunning clarity that he had not. His head was spinning when he turned back. Yugi was watching him, and when his attention was caught he raised his own hand. Yami stood there, hesitant and feeling almost trapped, cornered with such prominence that it made his blood roar in his ears. Neither of them spoke, and the gentle invitation did not leave the smaller boy's kind eyes even as he merely stared. Yami's lips threatened to pull into a grimace. The tension in his spine threatened to loose itself in a violent shiver.

But, somehow, despite himself, Yami found himself brushing his fingers against his palm. It was not an accepting gesture, but so unsure that he nearly shivered when Yugi did not react to it impatiently. They looked at each other, until his red eyes lowered to his open hand. He could trace the creases in his skin and it made him feel sick. He hesitated again, biting at the inside of his cheek.

If Yugi had been foolish enough to speak, Yami would have lunged at him.

But the smaller teen did nothing beyond await his decision. The taller hesitated again, then moved slowly to trace his palm again and take the spot on the bed beside him. But the leisurely position which he normally took was lost to him. He sat on the very edge of the bed, the mattress dipping harshly beneath him, and nearly quaked.

The seconds passed, turning into what felt like hours. He knew Yugi was no longer watching him now that he'd taken the spot beside him. But he also feared glancing back, in case it made him look at him once more. And so Yami kept his arms in his lap, his legs folded over each other, eyes glued to the screen. It took him what felt like hours to relax. And by then he only just realized that Yugi had fallen asleep when he felt the smaller teen brush against him by accident.

He spun, a soundless snarl forming on his lips. But Yugi had simply drifted closer at some point, perhaps drawn by his body heat. His head was turned from him, but the curve of his back was just slightly touching his hip. He was curled up, fast asleep, not the least bit worried about what Yami would or wouldn't do while he rested.

His stomach heaved with the reality of the situation. The small teen trusted him somehow enough to lie so close, to fall asleep when Yami knew he himself would not. He had chosen to curl up facing away from him for his own convenience, so that Yami would not feel crowded.

---

"I think…that someone might be following me."

They were the first words he had spoken since the moment he had opened his eyes to turn the alarm off. The red-eyed lycanthrope had almost expected that he would not speak to him this morning. So the words, quiet and dull, made him blink in confusion and turn his head with furrowed brows. His stomach tossed again, for Yugi was already watching him. His eyes were glued to his taller frame, sharp and calculating. He looked both amused by his surprise and frustrated by his own words.

"Why?"

He stayed quiet. "I've been feeling like it for a while. I just didn't really notice it completely until recently. And I honestly can't even seem to walk down the street anymore without feeling someone is behind me." Yugi paused, studying him for a moment, and then tilted his head. "Mai and Otogi mentioned that the people who…created Code Name Atem have hired hunters to bring him back. And they've even begun catching the other wolves that escaped…"

He stared at him, unable to do more than blink for a long minute. His lip curled back in frustration. "That should not be such a surprise to you," he said softly, and for once the timbre of it was smooth but scornful. "You forget, if someone were to mention that they were kidnapped and someone was doing that even six months ago, it would cause an issue. And, even if they should mention the wolf aspect of it, it takes only one person to believe such a tale to cause an outburst. The uproar would continue from there. Police would become involved. Others would become involved. The efforts they have taken to remain hidden would be undone."

Yugi raised a brow at him. "Despite what you might think, I'm not stupid, Yami," he bit out with similar disapproval. The other wolf blinked, startled by the statement, and then frowned at him. "I know how big an issue it could become for them. I just…I think one of the hunters might be trailing me. That's all I meant."

He did not think he was stupid, but now was most likely the wrong time to bring such a thing up. Yami swallowed back a long and frustrated sigh, shaking his head slowly. "You are probably right. I do not know why anyone else might be following you unless they were a human obsessed," he commented, eyes growing thoughtful. "That is not too uncommon, but I do doubt it in this case. It seems unlikely to me that that would have happened when you have clearly been a wolf for the better part of two months."

Two months?

Had it really been so long?

Or maybe he should have considered it so little a time?

But the days had seemed haunted by this fact, so the amount of time had been stretched in his mind more than anything. The thought made him sick to his stomach for a moment.

"So… What do you think I should do about it?"

Yami looked at him for a long minute and a half. "Yugi, honestly, if you were to turn around and try to attack a hunter, they'd most likely kill you. But, if you were to wait it out, to allow them to think they are still undetected and have a chance, perhaps…"

Yugi raised a brow. "Okay, so in other words, I should just wait it out and let them nearly kill me," he huffed in annoyance.

Yami frowned at him noticeably, sitting up straighter. "If you were more in tune with your wolf senses and instincts, I would say otherwise. Most every wolf can dispatch a common hunter. And I'm sure those humans are probably desperate enough to send both experienced and lacking hunters to catch the wolves that escaped. Seeing as we have no idea what kind of experience this person might have, we cannot know if you going up against them would end in your demise or theirs." He stayed quiet for a long minute, narrowing his eyes into slits, and then shook his head slowly. "And, honestly, when it comes down to that, I do not know that you would be able to choose yourself over someone else even in a situation calling for death."

Yugi stiffened. They looked at each other evenly, his stomach coiling and dropping as they held gazes. He was right. He was not even sure himself. He had never truly wanted to kill someone.

Bakura had been a lapse in judgment, a surge of adrenaline which had propelled him into action which he did not think through. And Ryota, he had been desperate and reacted on pure instinct and reflex. Perhaps, if he had not been driven by such powerful capabilities, he would never have gone through with it.

Yugi was not a killer. He wasn't even truly a fighter. He still would rather run than face a possible threat. He'd rather turn tail and leave them in the dust. The thought made him want to puke to consider truly fighting and attacking someone.

He liked to be able to fight by instinct and reflex, but it was not something he was okay with if he could avoid it. If he could have avoided killing Ryota as Yami could have Ryuzaki, he would not have done it. He would have allowed him to go, though he could not claim that he had not realized it was either him or Ryota. He had known it the moment the wolf had turned on him the first time.

He shivered. "Do you think I could win?"

Yami blinked, furrowing his brows and shaking his head with a slightly bewildered expression. "Why should you ask me? I am not always the best judge of ability."

Yugi frowned and then sighed softly, admitting in a small voice, "Because, sometimes, I think that maybe you know me better than I do myself."

The reality of the statement made them both fall still. Yami blinked shocked eyes up at him, startled and undone by the words, and then swiftly looked away again. The silence seemed to choke them both for a long minute before he finally raised his head and tipped his chin towards him.

"Truthfully? I do not know. You have managed on occasion to surprise me. And I do not always know that you will be predictable," he said quietly, his voice a gentle rolling purr of baritone pitch which made Yugi's heart skip a beat. It sounded almost as powerful as it had in the woods, when he'd spoken in his mind. It was almost healed. It made Yugi almost laugh with shock and blooming happiness. "Perhaps you could. But perhaps you would allow your enemy to survive when you should not. I see a lot of mercy in you, which is something that could possibly cost you your life at some time. You must learn to read people better, to trust the new instincts you possess as well. You still tend to think too hard, even when you react."

The smaller teen reached a hand up to run his fingers through his hair and watch him closely. "Sometimes mercy is a good thing."

"Yes. But it is not always, Yugi."

Yugi wanted for only a moment to argue. He liked to believe everyone deserved a second chance. He liked to think that there was no one that did not deserve a chance at redeeming themselves. He had always been open to seeing more than just the first layer of a person. Everyone was more than just their first impression, no matter who said otherwise. But he could see how that might be a hindrance as well.

He looked way again and scuffed his shoe on the carpet for a moment. He would need to think about all of this more at another time. But now was hardly the time he wanted to face it. His stomach turned as he looked to Yami again slowly.

"I think school can survive without me attending," he said quietly, licking his lips and shoving away the image of those two wolves fighting to the death in the snow. Yami immediately looked at him, attention caught and eyes sharp as they considered him with something almost hopeful. He barely resisted the urge to grin at the red-eyed boy. "Want to go for a run instead?"

Yami got up almost before the words even fully left his mouth. Yugi smirked, unable to help but snicker in amusement. The taller boy pursed his lips for a split second, then smiled at him and shrugged his shoulders.

They grinned childishly at each other before Yugi led the way to the window. A run would do them both well. Despite how much he resented the disease itself, he had to admit that the ability to run and dance amongst the snow or scent a million things in the breeze was freeing. It had to be the most powerful and beautiful sensation he had ever come to know himself.