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.

33. Forever

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

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

Chapter Warnings: Mentions of Blood, Mentions of Past Wounds, Mentions of Wounds, Puzzleshipping, Mentions of Fragileshipping, Mentions of Tendershipping, Implied Heartshipping (Yugi [Atem] x Ryou), Detailed Wound Cleaning, Conversation About Death

And here we are with Part III! Also, I might be a little late with updates. But that's actually because I've got block for the chapter I'm on in this story and it's killing me, honestly. I think once I get over the hump though, it'll be smooth sailing again. This particular area of the book is killing me, though, just because it's so...sad, I suppose could be the word? Either way!

Anyways, so a side note: The exit wound for a bullet is usually a ton worse than the entrance. That's why Yugi makes such a big deal about it. All of my research says that it's the most likely to get infected and that the cells that die around the area cause a lot of pain and muscle degeneration.

Also! I fucking LOVE wolfdogs (or hybrids, if you will). But the truth of the matter is this. You never have ANY idea what they will turn out like. Wolves are extremely shy animals and are often timid when it comes to people. As far as dogs go, however, their breeds, their ages, their lineages, their process of being bred—it ALL can have varying degrees of affect on them. They could be the most loyal animals in the world but super dog aggressive or so extremely possessive that they might tear someone's face open for being too close. Wolfdogs? They're often STRONGER than regular purebreds, they're often SMARTER than regular purebreds, and they are often UNPREDICTABLE. You CANNOT EVER FULLY train a wolfdog in any reality. And they cannot be fully puzzled out as to whether they will respond like a dog or a wolf in certain circumstances. It makes them DANGEROUS. That's why there are LAWS against owning them. That said, Yami HINTS at this but does not come outright and say so. In a later chapter, it IS brought up again and Yugi DOES find out exactly WHY Yami even brought up the wolfdog status of hellhounds for that brief moment in this chapter.

Anyways, guys, I DO fucking LOVE the hell out of wolfdogs. I admire them, I adore them. But I'm going to say now that they ARE unpredictable, CAN BE vicious, CAN snap out of seemingly nowhere, and they have the factor of wilderness that seems to unhinge their genetics. In this story, it's vaguely mentioned in reference to the actual animals themselves. It's aimed almost SOLELY at hellhounds themselves, because they ARE wolfdog hybrids and they ARE highly unpredictable and more likely to act out in violent or disturbing ways than lycanthropes are.

Part III~ Here we go!

Part III

Chapter XXXIII: Forever

Work Log Entry XXXIII: February, 2002

February 20

I have no understanding of the meaning behind this barbaric exercise they wish us to conduct. Starving the wolves is hardly something that should ever even come about one's imagination.

But, for now, that is what must happen.

February 22

A war has begun amongst the wolves.

They seem to be picking off the weakest of the pack.

If you can ever fathom calling them a pack in the first place.

February 23

Two have died this day.

His father was killed in cold blood in front of him. In a fit of rage, A.T.E.M. changed for the first time from his human form. The bloodbath that came about afterwards was horrifying.

The second wolf was named "Kisara" when we first captured her. She was meant to be the next to be bred, but speculation had it that she was mated with the blue-eyed wolf that died months prior.

A.T.E.M. caused many of the wolves to back off when the bloodshed became more abundant. He proved himself to be a menace upon seeing death. The boss is more pleased with this than he ever was his survival.

February 24

A.T.E.M. has shown an inability to change forms any longer.

We have yet to figure out why this has come about.

Yami didn't look up when he entered the room, but his acknowledgment came in a drifting hum of noise. Yugi tilted his head as he turned to look at him curiously. He was seated on the floor, flipping through what appeared to be a medical book on canine anatomy. The smaller teen hesitated, then came forward a few steps, studying him silently and biting his lip.

"What's up?" he asked quietly, biting his cheek. Yami glanced up, startled that he had come closer, and then shook his head slowly as he turned back to the page. Yugi moved a little nearer and now he noticed the words on the page which made him stop short. He was reading on the arteries and which were more likely to bleed than the next. He was literally tracing a line along the vessels which lay along the back of the paws and the shoulders with his right index finger. "Why, um…?"

"I just wanted to see how much blood I've probably lost." He shrugged. "I'm bored."

Yugi grimaced. "That's morbid as hell," he commented, tilting his head further as he studied him. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I can," Yami muttered, shrugging again before flipping the page. "I am simply curious. And I like to know about things that pertain to me."

"But blood loss? You can't even calculate it from that!" He felt flushed as he came closer, stopping a foot away from his side.

"And how would you know?"

He chewed the inside of his cheek. "Because I…already checked," he admitted reluctantly. "I checked a while back when I first saw your wrists…"

Yami turned his head to face him for more than a second for the first time since he had entered the room. There was a strange, almost mystifying strength to his eyes, a clarity which made his skin crawl faintly. "And so you decided it was morbid and did not continue to look any further into it."

He felt his cheeks flush. "I'm that predictable, huh?"

The taller teen offered him a small smile, both amused and slightly uncomfortable. "Well, there is that but I also seem to have caught on to some of your more persistent quirks and mannerisms. You tend to deflect and attempt to ignore things that are too hard for you to think about." Yami paused, then slowly closed the textbook as he turned away. A loud sigh left his lips and he offered him a small, almost shaken smile. "I am sorry for having worried you so much in the beginning however."

Yugi blinked, startled, and then moved closer to take a seat beside him. Their knees brushed and he nearly shivered, but both of them were stricken by the intense spark of something which crept between them. Yami looked down, peering at the fabric of his jeans, and both of them paused curiously for a moment.

"Static electricity," he commented lamely, shrugging. "I don't think I put enough fabric softener in when I did the laundry."

Yami shot him what he could only describe as an expression full of disdainful disbelief. He shook his head at him slightly, then looked away towards the book in front of him again. "Regardless, I am sorry for the worry I know I put you through. It was selfish of me to bring my issues here and expect help. I honestly had no right to assume—"

"That's not… Even if you hadn't saved me twice by then, I would have helped you anyways," he said with a determined tone. "I don't want to see anyone suffer like you were. And I… When we met, I felt like we could be really great friends. I thought that I would help you and have one more person to think of as a friend…"

"Don't shorten your friendly nature and giving personality by defining it with thoughts you had much later," he bit out in a sharp tone. "I know that was not the first thought in your mind when you saw me there."

No, I thought at first that you were a second body dumped on the porch like Ushio was, Yugi thought with a shaky, almost dizzy sensation.

What would he have done if Yami had been nothing but a cadaver left there at his door? He knew he would not have been as attached to him then as he was now—he had been merely curious and interested in him before, after all—but he could not imagine what would have happened.

He could not even fathom the idea of how much he would have hated everything going on without Yami's help and guidance to cushion the blow of the infection. He bit his lip as he turned to face him more fully.

"You're right. I was more worried that you would die from all the blood loss. And if I had the chance to prevent it, then I couldn't waste it just because I didn't know you."

Yami nodded. "That is much more like you than what you said before." He hesitated, then turned to him as well. He was acutely aware of how close he seemed to him now. He could smell the peanut butter on his breath, the whole grain of the bread he had used. He could see the faint lines beneath his eyes where his insomnia seemed to be catching up with him, the smile which threatened to tug on his lips.

He could reach out and touch him and his skin would feel smooth and soft and warm, but their knees were hot against each other. He licked his lips and swore that he saw Yugi's eyes flicker, darkening as his pupils dilated faintly. He could almost breathe in his exhales with how close they were. He swallowed hard, then tilted his head as they looked at each other. He could taste his breath, a fog of peanut butter and bread, with the faintest hint of honey and soda pop. He could feel his body heat and the friction where their knees touched and their pants bunched slightly. He could see his eyes, beautiful and wide and darkened so faintly. And he could hear his heart now, a little louder and faster than before.

Yugi could feel the heat flooding his cheeks the more they looked at each other. His fingers twitched where they touched the carpet. His heart was beginning to thump faster than ever. He breathed in shakily and the other boy considered him for so long he almost trembled. But the proximity made it hard not to want to lean somehow closer. The two of them stared at each other for a moment.

Yugi leaned a little bit, shaky in the way his head tilted. He felt dizzy and small for a moment, the sensation wondrous in his mind. He swallowed hard, curious, but Yami was not pulling away. He blinked and the slight tilt became a bit more pronounced. His palms were oddly dry, though he wondered why they did not bloom with sweat. They were centimeters apart…

Yami turned away suddenly, letting out something of a shattered noise. Yugi froze in place, startled, and felt his skin grow cold with alarm. He was slightly ashamed. But it was more a numbness which seeped beneath his skin for a moment. He closed his eyes tightly.

"I'm sorry. I…I can't…" Yami faltered, for his voice had broken and he sounded both desperate and stupid as he continued. His breathing was ragged and small, almost whispering in his lungs. He closed his eyes tightly as Yugi had. "I…I'm sorry, Yugi. It's… It's not… I… I am not the right person for you to…"

The smaller teen bit his lip and shook his head. Hadn't he just been imagining earlier that day what it would be like when he settled enough into this new lifestyle so that he could go out on a proper date with Anzu? Shakily he shook his head more violently, then turned to him with wide eyes.

Yami had his head turned away, tipped downwards, and he was scratching anxiously at the inside of his wrist. Yugi could hear the fibers of the medical tape pulling and scraping faintly. He bit his lip and shook his head slightly, uncomfortable and shaken.

"I don't know why I did that," he finally admitted in a shaky voice, exhaling loudly. "I really don't, Yami. And I'm not sure why I keep doing this. I…I'm actually trying to figure out this whole thing so that I can be with the girl I've been interested in for…years now…a-actually."

Yami looked over at him, his expression somewhat unsteady, maybe faintly shaken. His eyes were shadowed with something dead and frozen and it made his heart thump in his chest to see such darkness there. He swallowed thickly and shook his head faintly as they looked at one another.

"I don't…I don't mean to…potentially lead you on or anything either. I…" Yugi bit his lip until it bled, dizzy and exhausted. "I don't know what I'm doing…"

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It's most likely because of our connection as alpha and beta. It will wear off soon enough," he said slowly, quietly. "And when it does, you and your friend will make a wonderful couple."

Yugi wanted to argue. He was almost a hundred percent sure that that was not the issue. But then, he had no name for the tension he felt or the strange desire he had to be within close proximity of him. And what was there to explain away his desire so frequently to kiss him?

He lowered his eyes, his gaze locked on their knees. For a moment his shame made him desire nothing more than to pull away and lock himself behind the door of his bathroom. But his more prominent half told him to relax, to weather it out, that he needed to calm down before he did something stupid.

"It will be fine when it goes away," Yami continued quietly. "When the link is no longer as new, and you are used to being a werewolf, you will find yourself easily turned away from me and to the girl you've been crushing on for so long. It's just the newness of it all."

Yugi scowled at him, flustered at he snapped, "Don't sell yourself so short."

Yami blinked, startled and confused. "I'm not—"

"I have a feeling you're going to be telling that to anyone interested in you. That it has to do with being wolves and something to do with the lycanthropy instead of genuine feelings," he commented in a cold voice, shaking his head. He was terribly aware of his words and the harsh tone coming out, but he could not stop himself. "Did your mate die? Is that what it is? Is that why you're so…so…removed from it all?"

He faltered, mouth opening and closing, and then turned away with something of a shaken nod. "Yes," he breathed weakly. "She was murdered in cold blood…"

Yugi stared at him for a long time. "Then why did Mai say that you've never been—?"

He bore his teeth, speaking through them in annoyance. "Because we never had the chance. We were too new to the concept of the bond to even consider the physical aspect. And I was too young to even think of such a thing—and she was almost six years older than me. She died in the labs during an experiment. I fled when you were released."

Yugi faltered, shaken. "I thought it was Ryou… I thought…"

"Ryou?" He turned his head, eyes wide. "You thought that Ryou and I were…?"

He nodded slightly, mouth opening and closing.

"No, Ryou was… He fed me and basically took me out for exercise. He was the veterinarian and caretaker for all of us and he stitched us up and gave us the opportunity to heal for a few days in between experiments. He… He and Bakura were fucking the last I knew. They… I believe they hooked up the first time days before you were released. I…I cannot remember exactly, but I do believe it was around that same time." He paused, shaking his head. "Or perhaps it was afterwards that they finally hooked up together. I do not know. I cannot remember. But it was a rumor and many of them had truth in that terrible place…"

Yugi felt his fingers shaking faintly. "Oh my gods…"

Yami tilted his head, studying the smaller boy for a long minute. "I do know that I bit him along the jaw by accident one day. I was sick and feverish and the experiments rendered me angry and vicious. I lashed out and caught him along the line of his left ear. He wasn't infected but I know he got some of the weaker traits of lycanthropy from it."

"The weaker traits…?"

"Slightly advanced healing, stronger bones, faster clotting, strengthened immune system, better senses… I'm sure he was also given the keener abilities of our intelligence as well," he said softly, tilting his head curiously and watching him for a moment. "But I know Bakura bit him so many times he had to have a bunch of stitches and staples put in each time. For whatever reason he never changed, though. His DNA and RNA never mutated as properly as it should have… He got a handful of the benefits of our disease but not all of them."

Yugi chewed his cheek. That was unfair. Why couldn't that have been the case for him as well? He glanced at Yami, then bit his lip until the blood began to drown him. He had been born with it. It had just taken the bite from Yami to push the disease into true mutation. If he had not been there to bite him, his senses would have stayed keener than the average person, his immune system would have been strong… He had been in the same stage as Ryou for the duration of time he had memories of. He had just never truly noticed it.

"Ryou was a very forgiving person when it came down to it. I think he was the only one there who cared about Atem either. He was supposed to have been his primary vet in the labs. And he was most likely the only one to allow Atem the chance to exercise outside or do anything of any magnitude besides rot in his cage." He paused, shaking his head. "I did not see him beyond a caretaker. And, I suppose he might have had some kind of feelings for me—though it is much more likely he had them for you—but I did not share them."

"Me?" Yugi felt as if his eyes might pop out of his head in shock. "No way! He didn't even know me—"

"He knew Atem." Yami tilted his head, watching him closely. "He may have had feelings for Atem. Ryou was his only source of sympathy within that lab, after all. And he had been there since he was young."

Yugi stared at him, startled. "Wait, what? He looked like he was our age…"

He shook his head, frowning at him as he sat up a little straighter. "By the time you were born, he would have been about twenty. So, by the time we saw him in the woods, he would be almost twice our age, perhaps older by one or two years even." Yami paused and then looked away. "Bakura was actually younger than him. He was about thirteen when he was brought into the lab and that was rumored to be only a handful of years before we escaped."

"Bakura was only sixteen or seventeen?"

"Give or take a couple of months, I would imagine."

Yugi felt as if he were choking. Bakura had been his own age or possibly only a year his elder. He swallowed hard, his throat feeling swollen and his heart thundering in his chest. He had killed someone barely a year older than him. He cringed. He had also killed Haga, who had been a year younger than him.

He bit his lip and the tissue swelled against his tongue. He closed his eyes tightly. "I can't believe it. Werewolf lifespans are so short…"

Yami reached over, pulling his lip away. "You're going to end up biting a hole through it," he commented softly before shaking his head and leaning forward to place his elbows on his knees. "Our lifespans are some of the longest in existence. What happened to Bakura and those three from your school were circumstances beyond anything that normally would have happened. Territory wars when packs step too far into each other's space are likely to result in hideous injuries and possible deaths. But most of us live for a long time. It's just dangerous. Our world is…extremely dangerous."

"I don't…I just… It sucks… I never considered that I would be someone to end people's lives like this!"

He shook his head. "With the experiments going on and the pack in the mountains and all of the things happening right now, death will be unavoidable. Things are just going to pile up and circumstances will become harder to avoid. But things will also become better eventually as well. Life has a way of doing that sometimes."

"But that's not okay! I've killed classmates and—"

"When you are forced to fight for your life in exchange for another's, there is no question. You will kill as necessary. Any animal knows to destroy a threat when it is cornered. There is no instinct stronger than that of the need to protect oneself." He hummed and turned away. "It could be your best friend to threaten your life and you will still find yourself choosing your life before theirs."

Yugi shivered. "I hate that. I hate…"

The other boy looked at him with a brow raised. "Would you rather you died yourself?"

"Would it end anyone else's suffering if Atem died?"

Yami sat a little straighter, his eyes becoming somewhat clouded and darker. He shook his head after a moment, then drew in a deep breath. "Aside from the fact that Atem cannot truly be killed? No, it would only cause more death and destruction, Yugi."

He nodded and bit at his nail unhappily. "I don't want to die anyways," he muttered quietly. "It always seems like it'll be so painful."

His smile was wry with discomfort. "Yes, they always do seem painful don't they?"

The smaller teen didn't want to move his knee away from his, but the position was uncomfortable. He unfolded his right leg, then stretched it out in front of him. His eyes flickered to the other boy and they looked at each other for a long handful of minutes.

"If you hadn't stumbled across the alley that night, do you think Ushio really would have eaten me?" he asked slowly, furrowing his brows. "He was a lycanthrope, right? And I mean, he wasn't as terrible a person as a lot of us made him out to be. He honestly wasn't too bad when he considered you worth his time. He just… He liked money more than he liked people…"

Yami frowned and then looked away. "By speculation, yes, I think he would have. You ran away. A werewolf chasing prey which runs is spurred on by the chase. He would have most likely eaten you, yes." He stretched his arms in front of him.

"So if I hadn't run?"

"He most likely would have backed off after a few minutes if his scare tactics didn't work. You have to remember that wolves are more likely to let the prey that fights back go free than the one that takes off." Yami looked at him, his lips twisted into a slight grimace. "It is something you will need to remember later. That pack will often squabble. You will do well to remember such a thing. If they should squabble with you, then you should be aware that running is a bad idea."

"You think they'll try to fight with me?"

He shrugged. "They are rather…unruly. I do not know for certain, however."

The smaller teen felt sick to his stomach for a moment. "Oh," he said slowly, staring at him and then looking away. He should have kicked his shoes off and put on slippers but he didn't want to at the moment. "Well, that's…"

"I doubt they will challenge you directly. They are more likely to use me as the way of doing so."

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

They both remained silent for a few long minutes. Yugi moved his stretched leg to shake his foot for a moment, waggling his toes under his shoe box lazily. He leaned back, his weight on his arms, elbows feeling warm with the slight pressure. He wondered vaguely if Yami's wrists hurt.

"Do you want a shake?" he asked instead, turning to him. Yami blinked, startled, and tilted his head sideways in momentary confusion. "You know, a protein shake?"

He frowned, puzzled, and shook his head slowly. "Why would you ask me that now of all times?"

"Because I'm home from school, you were reading up on the blood loss, and I just…" He gestured vaguely at him and the book and back again before sitting up again. "I thought maybe you were doing that because you were worried or…?"

His eyes flickered a darker shade, then looked towards his wrists. "I was going to ask you if you could change the bandages again," he admitted quietly, "but I am not concerned about them for the moment. I was merely reading because I was curious about the amount of blood I might have lost. It seems amazing to me still every now and then how the disease keeps me alive when something like that happens."

"Oh." He hesitated, then faced him a little more fully, eyes boring into his for a moment. "Well, yeah, I can redo the bandages. I was going to ask if they hurt earlier anyways but…"

Yami shook his head. "They are not painful. The bandages are simply…soaked." He flexed his fingers. "I think I might have further opened them after that trek into the camp."

He chewed his cheek and swallowed hard. "But they don't hurt?"

He shook his head. "No. They do not hurt. They simply feel…weighed down and somewhat cold." He considered him for a moment, glancing at his wrists and the smaller teen again. "And snug."

"They have to be packed tightly so that you can't tear them open again."

"No, I know. I understand. I was simply commenting." He shrugged slightly. "I am just unused to the sensation. Before they did not bleed as badly, I suppose."

Yugi felt a small chill climb up his spine, his marrow growing frigid. "Let me see them?" he finally asked, holding a hand out. If Yami was disturbed by the more direct manner he presented him in asking, he did not allow it to show on his face. He simply reached over and laid his hand facing up in his, allowing him room to pull his arm a little closer. He cringed immediately upon seeing them, wondering in horror how it was that he could have even missed it the first time.

The entire outside of it was smeared with dark red, the contours of it soaked. Yami was not sore to the touch when Yugi gently prodded at it and kept his eyes on his face. But the entire bandage was run in a long current of red and brown along the length to his elbow. The white was barely noticeable on the other side and was slightly yellowed at the edges. He groaned in the back of his throat, shaking his head slightly.

"Do you think it's infected again?"

Yami shrugged dismissively. "I would think so. My skin feels hot around the wound and the yellow on it looks like pus. But I am not concerned about it. When it is clean, the disease will fight off the infection again."

"Did they get worse because of the Change? Is that what happened?"

Yami faltered for a moment. "You can't force me not to change if I want to," he said in a low voice, something almost tinged with bitterness and resentment. He drew in a deep breath and for a moment his eyes seemed to rattle within their sockets. Yugi felt sick when he looked it over. "You can't ask me not to. I'll do it anyways. I…I can't just…"

Yugi thought he looked as if he had just pointed a gun at his head. He looked seconds away from trembling. He shook his head slowly, perplexed by the anxiety of his tone.

"I wouldn't ask you to," he said quietly. The words were met with skepticism before his eyes seemed to clear with something almost like gratitude. Yugi felt choked by the very sight of it. "I just wanted to know. I need to figure out if there's a way to heal them before the full moon comes again."

Yami tilted his head. "If I have enough to eat and it's healthy, I should be able to accelerate it," he replied thoughtfully. "I would just need to change it more frequently and wash it out—"

"We can do that. I can change them before and after school and before bed." He chewed his lip and bit the inside of his cheek until his tongue felt choked with blood. Then, feeling somewhat unnecessary and small for a moment, Yugi echoed himself imprecisely, "I can wash them after school and before bed too."

The other wolf was frozen for a moment, staring at him with widened eyes. There was something distinctly stunned and mystified within his gaze. Yet he looked altogether amused as well. His lips tugged into the slightest of a lopsided smile and he watched him with something that looked more warm than laughing.

"Then we can do protein shakes before and after school. Doing those three times a day would probably be overkill. But I could probably find some of those weight gain protein bars to help you pack on some calories and then we can go with it from there. You should be able to recover relatively quickly, right?"

Yami nodded. "Thank you."

His grin was wide and full of teeth, his eyes brightened as his entire face lit up. "Of course! You're my friend," he said, getting up and stretching himself out. "I'll be back in a second with the first aid kit."

He blinked up at him, stomach twisting. "Truly, Yugi," he tried again, frowning at him with something of a solemn expression, "I owe you a lot."

The smaller teen paused, seeing something almost anxious in those dark red eyes, and swallowed hard. His grin fell away and his own gaze grew a bit unnerved before he found himself smiling faintly. "I owe you a lot too."

"Do you?" he asked in a voice that was near exhaustion. There was something cold and despairing in his eyes now. "I feel I owe you more."

Yugi studied him for a moment, then looked away. "I don't think so," he answered with a shrug, moving towards the bathroom before the taller teen could object.

He spent a minute gathering his courage. Yami's expression and the cracking lilt of his voice had shattered much of his confidence in going back. But he was okay from what he could see. He looked more solemn than usual, maybe a bit melancholy, but he seemed more or less okay. Yugi had to grip the kit until his fingers turned white with the force in order to knock away the shaking that occurred in his hands. He bit his lip, looking the red plus sign over, and turned back to walk into the room again.

He almost wished he hadn't.

Yami was starting to unravel the soiled dressing on his left wrist. The fibers were all clotted together from the dried blood and the way they pulled apart made it sound as if he were tearing duct tape.

Yugi cringed.

The white of the bandage was hideously discolored as he dropped it away in coils. The insides were black and stiff with dried red and brown and the edges were discolored bright yellow. He drew in a deep breath within his nostrils, his lungs aching with the cool relief. He watched as his wrist was slowly revealed and stiffened painfully upon seeing the fresh swell of blood that came and traveled downwards to his elbow.

He had to stop himself from leaping forward in a panic, to tell him not to do anymore. But he turned instead, looking to the bathroom again. He selected the darkest towel, a deep mahogany color, and dropped it onto his arm as he came back. When he got to his side, he slipped the towel into his lap, took the seat next to him, and bit his lip as they looked at each other.

The soiled bandage was only halfway undone, as he was sure Yami saw the potential of bleeding on the carpet as a bad idea as well. With the addition of the towel there, the taller teen began to unravel it further, peeling it away and dropping it aside. His wrist swelled with bloody currents, the red of it horrifying to behold. It dripped in hideous rivulets down his arm to his elbow and fell almost like rainwater. But it was not the blood that made Yugi want to puke.

Yellow pus was welling up now, pushing towards the surface when he reached up to touch the towel to his wound. The creamy color against the red of Yami's blood made Yugi's head spin and he swallowed thickly. The smell was that of decay and dying muscle, one of which reminded him of Valon upon first breathing it in. He could see, when Yami swiped at the flesh, that the edges were crusted in black, the cells long deceased. He nearly groaned again.

Maybe he should have tried to put some drain tubes in his arm when he stitched them back. He felt stupid now for having never considered before.

Yami pressed the towel into his arm, applying as much pressure as he possibly could. The fibers grew hot enough to singe in his chaotic mind, but they absorbed the liquid all the same. He could see it spreading outwards, infecting others, coloring it a shade darker than its usual.

Yugi pulled out the saline solution to dab onto one of the cotton balls. "Does it hurt? You look like you're in pain…"

"No." He hesitated for a moment, eyes flickering towards his. "But my head is beginning to feel light."

"Oh…" He wondered if he could use the belt on his waist to help Yami apply enough pressure to stop the bleeding. But the thought staggered, falling away and shattering into nothing. "Well, give me a second and I'll—"

"It's not the blood loss. I'm just…a little queasy looking at it right now. It's mine and it makes me a little nervous. If it was someone else's I wouldn't have an issue." He shrugged and wadded the towel further together, pressing it into his skin harder than before. "But it will pass. I just… I think we redid the wrapping too soon yesterday…"

Yugi shivered. "I'm sorry."

He turned to him, eyes bright with something friendly and warm. "It doesn't matter, Yugi. Besides, this is just as healthy as washing it with the saline. My blood is expelling the infection as well. It will force more of the pus upwards and out of the wound."

"That still could have been avoided if I hadn't been in such a rush yesterday when we got back…"

Yami shook his head. "Your mother was going to come in at any moment and my arms were bleeding. There was not truly a choice in the matter." He hummed and wiped away another bit of blood, pressing the towel against it harder once more. "Unless you wanted to explain to her why a stranger who looks like her son has an issue with bleeding everywhere was in your room…"

"No, definitely not," he snorted, smiling faintly. "She'd probably try to beat you to death with something out of shock."

Yami smirked in amusement. "You think so?"

"That's not something to laugh about. She'd probably swing a skillet at your head until it popped." Yugi gave him a wide grin and tilted his head, eyes bright with laughter. "And I bet she'd love to deal with getting the blood and brain off the wall if it just meant she got rid of the threat."

Yami paused for a moment, studying him curiously, and then tilted his head slightly. "Hmm. I cannot see her accomplishing that. It is not an easy feat by any means. Werewolf bones are so much harder than human ones and our ability to heal where head wounds are involved is legendary."

"Are they?"

"When it's along the throat or the skull, our healing is instantaneous," he snickered. "All werewolves have that ability. It's limited only to the areas the wolves will bleed out the fastest or the most vital organs are, but it happens all the same."

"So then…say your ribcage was broken and punctured a lung…"

"Your lungs would mend around the splinter of bone, eventually being able to regenerate until it could push it back out again. The bone itself would probably be crushed into nothingness the next time the person changed." He shrugged. "The body mends itself rapidly and basically to perfection."

"That's…amazing…" He bit his lip. "But why not your wrists?"

"It is. It's just taking longer because I do not have enough food or body weight to fix it without exhausting me." Yami wiped at his arm again and the pus was bright white and creamy in color. He curled his lip back and both of them wrinkled their noses at the scent that came with it. "If my body repaired itself too quickly it would probably leave me comatose."

Yugi tilted his head and bit his lip. He remembered Shizuka mentioning that the disease would save the fetus and her even when she wanted nothing more than to curl up and die. He remembered her despair and frustration, the way her voice seemed to shatter with it. His eyes lowered to the wound on his arm. Gods, how had he not thought to take better care of it? Sure, Yami was not helpless, but with the shoulder wound and everything that had physically taxed and stressed his body…

"When we get this done, we need to look at your shoulder too." His voice sounded as if it were coming from far away. Yami blinked at him, confused and startled. "We'll go ahead and get all three of them cleaned for the night."

He grimaced. "All three of them? You will run out of towels before that's done."

Yugi shook his head, his smile strained. "We could always do this in the bathroom. If you sit in the tub, I can clean your wounds more easily. We can clean both of them and wash the blood off in a few minutes…"

Yami was heavily tempted to say yes. Yet the idea of such little space to maneuver, of the way that Yugi would have to sit beside or behind him, made him want to puke. He shook his head slowly. "Maybe another time. It might work best later."

He nibbled his bottom lip. "Okay. Let me go get another towel. We should have a black one somewhere in the laundry room."

He nodded slightly, his throat feeling tight with tension. His voice was cracking again. He had the feeling it might break away into nonexistence soon enough. "Thank you."

He got up. "Of course."

Yami listened to him as he padded out of the room. He clicked the door shut behind him gently, then trotted off elsewhere to get the towel he had spoken of. The red-eyed wolf closed his eyes for a moment, lowering his head slightly.

When Yugi came back into the room, the other boy had shrugged away the towel and was using the spray bottle to gently clean it out further. A few more stray specks of pus and dead cells had fallen into the cut, washed out easily. Yami wiped it away, glancing at him over his shoulder, and then turned back again.

"Do they hurt?"

Yami blinked and shook his head again. "No, not at all," he replied simply, turning to look at him. "They're tingling but that's because my body is attempting again to heal them. Now that they're clean it will be easier for them to mend once you have stitched them."

Yugi nodded slightly as he took a seat in front of him and allowed the kit to sit between them. He chewed the inside of his cheek, then dug into the box to pull away a piece of gauze and the suture materials. "Good. We can get your wrists done, then your shoulder."

He nodded his head and lowered his eyes as the other boy reached for his arm. He scooted closer still, until their knees were touching again and Yugi could lean over him more comfortably. He licked his lips, then grabbed at the scalpel with his other hand to begin scraping some of the dead tissue away again. "Can you open your hand for me? It'll make the muscles in your arm less tense."

Yami hummed and flattened his hand out. "I do wonder how it is that you and your mother are so successful and yet…" He frowned and his voice came out a miniscule hint troubled. "Why have you not…gone elsewhere? Why have you not joined your father? He is in the states, yes?"

Yugi shifted a little closer, using the gauze in his left hand to wipe away some of the tissue again. The blood that welled up made him smile faintly. "Japan is one of the best places in the world to get an education. And I was born and raised here. We also have family here, even if my dad's isn't really around that often. And Japan is so safe. Until this year… Honestly, I don't think I've ever actually heard of much happening in Domino City or Japan altogether. Murders are rare, robberies are rare… In the states, their crime rate is much higher. Things are a lot more dangerous there. And the school systems are not as…keen, I guess, as ours."

Yami tilted his head. "But, were you to learn at home, I am sure your mother would have done you great justice in teaching whatever it was that you might need."

He hesitated, then moved to lace the needle he had grabbed a moment ago. His eyes flickered up to the other boy's slowly. "I was picked on a lot growing up. I…I have a lot of trouble making friends with anyone. Anzu took pity on me growing up, became my first friend, and she's literally the first one to stay. Tomoya was my second, even though it was more whenever we chose to hang out than a constant thing. Jonouchi and Honda became friends with me after my first month of run-ins with Ushio."

Yami stared at him, thoroughly disgusted. "Who in their right mind would wish someone such as you harm?" he spat. "Who is so foolish as to desire to hurt you of all people?"

Yugi glanced up at him, startled by the hatred which surged beneath his tone. Yami's eyes were dilated with anger, his lips were curled back to bare his teeth, his brows were furrowed with disgust, and his shoulders had risen into a bristle.

He swallowed hard. "Because I'm smaller than them. And I'm quieter than them. I don't like to fight with people."

Yami raised a brow. "The boy in the mall."

Yugi blinked, confused by the statement, and for a moment he had no words to describe his puzzlement. Then he raised his head a little, remembering the jeers, the way he had insinuated that he and Yami were together. Again it flashed in his thoughts that Yami had not argued or denied it in any way, yet he turned away from him whenever he made a move. It did not help, however, that he did not know why he continued so stupidly to try. He did not understand why it was that he ever attempted it when he was still interested in the possibility of a relationship with Anzu.

"Hirotani," he said quietly. He had insinuated that Yami was there with him to carry his clothes and make him take it up the ass later. He chewed his cheek, then shook his head. "Yeah, he's one of them…"

"He was upset with you over the girl."

"Yeah, she, um, has a problem with me too. I think I offended her in one of my classes. Tomoya and I were talking about something and I think she overheard it and thought it was offensive." He shook his head. "But Hirotani dislikes me because I don't like sports and I like games and puzzles more. He used to pester me to play sports and whenever we lost because of me he would get pissed. He blamed it on me."

Yami shook his head, a growl curling from his throat.

Yugi lowered his eyes back to his hand, preparing the sutures to knot at the end and start to sew his skin back together. "I'm not athletic, I'm small, I don't like to fight with people, and no one really takes me seriously. So, I guess, if they're all werewolves like I've kind of begun to think, then it makes sense that they would want to fight with me over it. I seem a lot weaker than them, after all."

"I hate your species. I hate it a lot."

He gave him a wry smile. "You don't think they're wolves then?"

"It is pack mentality, but it is not canine."

Yugi hated the certainty in his tone. But he was right. From what he knew, most canines did not bother to pick on each other unless provoked first. And humans picked on anyone and everyone when they so desired.

"Are they wolves?"

He nodded slightly. "They all tend to shuffle away from me every time we pass each other. They skirt around me every chance they get. And they won't make eye contact with me anymore."

Yami tilted his head. "It would make sense." He turned his attention towards his wound as Yugi skillfully crossed the sutures to bring the skin more tightly together. "You have become stronger than them now and they sense your strength from your scent. The idea would be that they would duck away from you in order to avoid potential conflict with a more powerful predator."

"I thought Ushio was the only one," he admitted quietly. "I really thought he was until I started to notice all of their reactions whenever they were near me."

"It is slightly surprising to see that they all may have something of lycanthropy in them. I had not expected such an abundance of them. I thought more would be hellhounds than lycanthropes." He licked his lips as Yugi began to snip away the last of the sutures. The trail ended in the very crook of his elbow. The cut must have been forced further back during the Change. He had not known it to be so long before. The smaller boy flashed him a small smile and then moved to line the wound with gauze. Yugi wrapped his arm securely and then touched his palm his fingers.

"Is it too tight?"

He shook his head. "No. It feels rightfully snug."

"Good. As long as it's secure but not restricting," he commented with a small smile. But there was something in his eyes that unnerved the taller boy as he watched him. "Here, let me get another towel and we can work on that with your other arm."

Yami frowned at him, eyes dark as he shook his head. "You're upset."

Yugi paused, standing above him and blinking at him as he bit his lip and blood spilled into his mouth. "I just… I honestly don't understand what in all it is that you see in me that makes you say those kinds of things."

"Such as what?"

His cheeks were flushed but his eyes were clear with a cold clarity. "You told me that I'm the closest thing to selflessness. Then you say that we're friends. Then you throw yourself at the mercy of that fucking pack in the mountains in order to keep me safe. You nearly died three or four times now because of me. You just now got offended over the idea of people bullying me. I just… It doesn't make sense to me."

"I do not understand, either, why you put up with me. Yet somehow, for whatever reason, you do. I lash out and you attempt to make me feel better. I snarl and snap and you try to calm me. You do not lash out at me. And you extended your welcome for me to remain here as long as I should desire. Your actions make little sense to me either!"

He shook his head, his eyes glinting for a moment as he reached up to run his hands through his hair. "I care about you, that's why I do these things. You're a great person. You—"

"I'm a great person?" Yami scoffed loudly and shook his head in frustration. "No, anyone worthy of that title is in competition with you. I am a mildly okay person. You are a great person."

Yugi shook his head again, more stubborn in his motion now. He closed his eyes and tugged on his bangs harder. "I don't want to have this argument…"

"Is this an argument? I thought I was merely pointing out the faults of your logic." He fell quiet for a long minute and a half. "Never mind. I…"

"Okay, well, when you argue, most of the time the other person becomes just as unhappy as you are. And that's exactly what I didn't want, Yami."

Yami looked up. "You anger me because you do not value yourself. You do not see your value as I do and I cannot understand it. And I hate it. I…"

Yugi felt his eyes widen faintly before he blinked and offered him a weak smile. "You have self-esteem," he said in a tone that made it clear he would not hear anymore about this or speak about it another word, "and I don't. That's the difference between us. And I'm going to go grab that towel now, okay?"

Yami stared up at him, eyes wide and horrified, and then looked away. He touched at the line of his bandage, tapping along his veins. His face felt cold with shock, his spine tingling with distress. How was that possible? How was it that Yugi had no sense of his own worth? And how was it that he held no self-esteem of his own?

He swallowed thickly and his fingers brushed against his pulse. His heart was a shallow hammering beneath his fingertips. He pressed his tongue between his teeth and closed his eyes. It was painful to think that Yugi thought so little of himself. But it was also worse now that he had announced himself as Atem. If someone came to realize his lack of self-respect, the wolves would end him.

"Okay, so here we go with this one." He dropped the dark brown towel before he could stop himself, then felt his cheeks heat. "I forgot I had already grabbed the black one…"

Yami glanced at both bundles of fabric with something of a disdainful expression. "Does it matter? It means an extra towel just in case, yes?" He hesitated when he realized his voice had grown angry and frustrated. Yugi looked at him with something of a dismayed expression. "We are… We are doing my shoulder, yes?"

He blinked. "Of course!"

The taller teen nodded. "Okay, then this towel will do for that," he said quietly, pulling it into his lap as if it might make him feel better and forget his sharper tone. He pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth and peeked at him from beneath his lashes with as best an apologetic expression he could manage.

As he had expected, Yugi met him halfway. He offered him a small smile, forgiving and warm, and moved to take the seat in front of him again. He laid the brown towel out for a moment, putting the soaked one on top of it. "I should have brought a couple of bags to stuff them inside. Then again, I guess I can just toss it into the hamper at some point."

Yami nodded. "Yes, that would be a good solution," he said quietly, watching him curiously for a moment.

"Yeah, I just have to make sure it's buried so if my mom comes in she won't notice it. She'd freaked out if she realized that there was blood on it." He paused and then tilted his head, smiling faintly at him. "Of course, she'd freak out a lot more if she realized that it was someone she didn't know who had put blood on her towel."

He gave him a small smile in return, a ghostly mimic of his own expression. They looked at each other curiously for a moment. Then Yami began to work at the bandages on his arm, undoing the white fabric of it and starting to pull it away completely. Curiously he began to unwrap it, tilting his head, and wrinkled his nose at the smell which greeted him now as it had then.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you."

Yugi shook his head. "It's okay, Yami." He smiled a little wider and raised a brow. "And how's that one looking?"

"The same as the other," he snorted, grabbing the black towel to begin catching at the fresh blood seeping from the wound. The rivulets of bright red made his stomach toss as he began to unravel it further. "Just as much pus and blood to be shed here."

Yugi smiled a little more, chuckling softly, and then watched him curiously for a moment longer. "That's really gross," he commented, reaching into the kit for a new line of suture to thread through the needle. "I think I have some Neosporin we can use on your burns too. It should help with some of the sting."

Yami nodded slightly. "Please," he muttered quietly. "They tend to ache sometimes."

"Okay, then that's what we'll do," he agreed warmly. "We'll go ahead and put some ointment on those bad boys and wait to see if it helps out some."

"Thank you."

He nodded and smiled a bit more, eyes growing affectionate as he watched him dab at the blood swelling upwards again from his wound. "No problem," he said easily, running his hand through his hair once more. "You would do the same for me, right?"

"Yes."

Their eyes locked for a brief moment. It was almost painful how easily he fell into the harsh stare of them. Yami was determined and there was something cold and fierce within his gaze. Yugi felt a small bit of heat in his marrow and it made him falter as he held the needle between his fingers. He licked his lips uncomfortably and the other boy continued watching him a moment longer.

He rubbed at the blood on his arm again. The pus swelled in cream and yellow and white. He shook his head slightly, frowning, and then wiped harder. The blood swelled and oozed upwards as he began to peel away the bottom of the bandage near the crease of his elbow.

Yugi moved the bottle of water and saline back and forth between his hands. He licked his lips again, tilting his head curiously for a moment. The smell was just as bad as it had been before. But this time it made him shiver with distaste as he glanced up at Yami again. The other boy was busying himself with the effort of wiping away the excess bodily fluids.

"And they still don't hurt?"

"My face is burning slightly, but my arms are okay. When this is stitched, I'm sure they'll be more or less fine afterwards." He hummed softly for a moment, then closed his eyes. "And then my shoulder just hurts a little. It's sore more than anything. I think I slept on it with too much weight."

"Oh… I'm sorry." Yugi hesitated and then reached over with the brown towel in his lap, catching a few stray beads of bright red falling down his limb. It dripped and fell towards the material beneath, his stomach tossing at the sight of them. "Here, be gentle, okay? You don't want to bleed more than you already have."

"I know. I just…I…don't like having to wipe everything like this so much," he commented with obvious dissatisfaction. "I'm tired of doing this. It's tedious."

Yugi smiled at him gently, eyes searching his with gentle kindness and warmth. "I'll do it, Yami," he said softly. "You can stop and I'll do it for you."

Yami looked up from beneath his lashes. Yugi's expression was so open and friendly and gentle that it made him feel somewhat dizzy. He was warm in expression, soft and sweet with friendliness and affection. "No," he muttered, looking away again, "I need to get used to tending to my own wounds. I do it so often as a wolf and never a human that this is odd to me. I can't have that continue…"

He nibbled his bottom lip again and then flinched from the pain that greeted him there.

"I told you not to keep biting it. You're going to end up with a hole in it, Yugi, and then you'll require stitches." He continued wiping at the length of his arm where the blood was drenching the heavy black fibers. "You shouldn't worry so much about me. I promise you I am okay."

"I'm going to worry regardless. That's what people do! Friends worry about each other!" He wiped at his lip, his mouth throbbing with pain for a long minute. He hesitated as he looked back up at him more fully. "So tell me something, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay, what is it?"

He passed his tongue over his lips again, closing his eyes after a long moment. His mouth felt swollen and the flesh far too tender. He ran a hand through his hair.

"What about the wolves in the pack or the ones in the school?"

Yami blinked and looked up, wiping away the last bit of cerise liquid. Yugi grabbed the scalpel in his hand, his fingers twitching as he motioned for him to stretch his arm out and place his hand in his again. "What about them?" he muttered, raising a brow as he placed his hand palm-up in his. He studied his face as they looked at one another.

"What are they? They call me the Pure-Blood and Mai said that she's a Full-Blood and you called yourself one of them too."

He blinked at him, then wrinkled his nose. "Unless something has changed, the wolves within that pack are all Full-Bloods. That means that we are only somewhat weaker than you. It also means we have more active genes from the lycanthropy. When we bite someone, we produce a Half-Blood. That's the more common bloodline you'll find among lycanthropes." He watched him as he wiped away the dead tissue with a new pad of gauze and began to wash the wound. "They're the average wolf, stronger and smarter and faster than humans but not nearly as much as either of us. Only half of the benefits of the lycanthropy are accessible to them. When they bite someone they create another of themselves."

"How does that work? If I bit someone they'd become a Full-Blood, and if you bit someone they'd be a Half-Blood. But if they bit someone…"

"Because a Quarter-Blood is only ever born. They benefit as Ryou did, with slightly better senses and the ability to heal a bit faster. But none of them will ever change."

Yugi struggled not to sink his teeth back into his lip. "But you bit Ryou—and so did Bakura. So how was he not…?"

"Sometimes when a human is sick with a medical condition before they are bitten, it can take years for the lycanthropy to reverse it enough to allow them to change. Other times, the lycanthropy acts much like its closest cousin and destroys the host very slowly and painfully."

"What's its closest cousin?"

Yami hummed in the back of his throat. "Rabies. Rabies is its closest cousin. But where rabies is weak, lycanthropy makes viral diseases look tame." He tilted his head. "Sometimes the lycanthropy just does not take to the human host and they end up having the dormant version of the disease. It's so rare, however, that it's probably less than one in a trillion to avoid infection like that. Lycanthropy is such an aggressive disease that it's capable of attacking and infecting every cell in the body in a mere hour."

Yugi's eyes widened drastically. "W-what? Seriously?"

He nodded distractedly. "It's probably the most powerful disease to exist," he muttered. "It completely mutates DNA and RNA strands within a month."

Yugi swallowed thickly. "That's…terrifying."

"Yes. But it's also an amazing gift." Yami watched him tie the end of the thread before beginning to push the needle through his skin. It was a tight pinching sensation but his arm was already tingling rapidly. The wound being allowed air gave it room to promote the healing it needed now. "But, as for your bullies, I think them only Half-Bloods. And, unless the pack has begun to allow them into their ranks, they should all be Full-Bloods."

Yugi picked at his bangs, pulling roughly. "Did you notice the same thing that I did?"

Yami looked up at him fully again and the way he peered at him made Yugi reconsider the words. There was something desperate and frantic to his gaze and the smaller boy had the urge to pull away and bundle himself together tightly. His energy was an assertive blanket which weighed upon him heavily.

"There are many things I know about them that you do not," he finally responded, voice low and scratchy with confusion. "And a great many of them you will have to hear from them yourself for I cannot bring myself to relay them to you. So I am not certain what you mean to ask me…"

He blinked wide eyes. Yami was becoming distressed because of his own mounting anxiety. He drew in a deep breath, licked his lips, looked down, and closed his eyes again.

"I mean that Otogi and…Marik…?" He nodded when Yugi fell silent with a questioning look. He smiled faintly when he continued but the confusion was clear on his face. "From what I saw, Otogi and Marik are the only two males there."

Yami blinked. "I was not sure you had noticed."

"Well yeah! Why wouldn't I have?"

He shrugged but his movement was slightly defensive. Yugi looked back to his arm, continuing on his stitching again. "I don't truly know the reason behind that. But I do know that Marik was the sole male within that pack before then. Otogi must be newer than him. But he's not a Full-Blood and I have no understanding of his placement among them."

Yugi was tearing holes into his right cheek. The blood was harsh and fiery against his tongue. "That female…the one who…propositioned me…" He could see his head snap up and his lips twitch, threatening to turn into a snarl, from the corner of his eye. "Did that happen to you too?"

He growled low in his throat. "Often. And whenever I sent them away Marik came to make his claim."

Despite the disdain in his tone, Yugi had to wonder. For the smallest of split seconds, he wondered about the idea of that. If Marik got to sleep with those females all of the time, wasn't that basically the same thing as a current day harem? He imagined that it was both prosperous and fun to the other male. And he could easily see himself or Jonouchi having the times of their lives doing that kind of thing. He knew he'd only settle with one, but the idea that he could choose them was somewhat amazing to him.

The red-eyed teen nudged him gently with his free hand. "You can fantasize about that magical stuff after you at least finish my arm, please," he said in a mixture of a plaintive and bored voice. Immediately Yugi felt his eyes grow wide, his expression somewhat horrified. "I simply need that done and then I can go play in the woods while you enjoy yourself."

His bluntness made Yugi flush before he scowled at him. "I'm not going to jack off to that, okay?" he scoffed, annoyed. His face was still bright red but now he also assumed it to be creeping along his throat and encompassing his ears. He could have cursed, but instead looked away to his sutures. "I just… Shut up. Anyways, no, once we finish this, I'm going to fix up your shoulder and then we'll watch TV or something."

Yami snorted softly. "I would not truly be surprised if your classmates are Half-Bloods. It would explain their ferocity as well. Most of them suffer from chemical imbalances when they first begin to experience anything related to the lycanthropy. And it gets worse when they don't change often enough. But it also amplifies their core personalities. If they were greedy and knew the strength of their new abilities, I doubt they would not be excited to test the limits. Half-Bloods are very dangerous, especially when they are newly bitten or changing. Most often they have more problems with control than any other wolves. And their personalities are more human than wolf. It makes them more likely to become addicted to their newfound abilities than anything else."

He blinked. Where had he even drawn that from? He felt his teeth dig further into his cheek. Yami was changing the subject both to help ease his embarrassment and to avoid mention of the pack again.

"Hellhounds are just very chaotic as it is. They're more often like daredevils and adrenaline-addicts than anything else. They do what they want, however they want."

He looked at him curiously. "And do you think they have them in the labs? If they do, can't we find a way to maybe make them work with us? I mean…"

Yami blinked, then shook his head slowly. "Hellhounds will do as they want, no matter the destruction wrought. Thankfully, however, most often they are mentally stable and powerful enough not to be concerned over. They can maintain themselves by eating and hunting, just as a lycanthrope can. But…they're also part dog."

Yugi thought of the way Valon looked so much like a king shepherd. "So? What's your point? What difference does that make?"

"Not much of one. But it does determine the way that some of them react to lycanthropes. Dogs are normally very vicious towards wolves. Because of that it could be more dangerous than anything else. Besides, hellhounds will do as they wish, whatever will benefit them in the end."

"So, in other words, they're more human-like than wolf-like," Yugi commented with a raised brow. His slightly flustered expression made him snicker. "What? You don't normally beat around the bush."

Yami shrugged a shoulder, eyes on his wound. "I do not like speaking ill of the species you wish you still were," he admitted uncomfortably, "and I do not like the way your eyes look when I do. I do not like your unhappiness or discomfort."

Yugi faltered, eyes widening drastically, and a small dust of red appeared in a line along his cheeks beneath his lashes. "Oh," he mumbled lamely, shaking his head slightly, "well you don't have to try to mince words with me because you think I'll get upset, Yami."

"Whatever. You asked so I told. Regardless, more to the point, hellhounds are unpredictable. And I doubt that any of them would wish to work with a lycanthrope for any measure of time."

"What about Valon?"

Yami looked up and something harsh glittered in his eyes. "Valon? You would wish to bring Valon into our business?" He did not sound mad, but Yugi saw his eyes and it made his skin begin to push together into bumps of gooseflesh. "I do not think that would be a wise decision. First you would have to find him at some point, then you would need to be careful about what would be said to him. He's already proven he'd rather blame you than admit that his existence means just as much destruction—"

"What does that mean, anyways? What exactly is it that he means? I mean, I'm Atem, but…"

Yami blinked at his mystified and somewhat fearful expression, then looked at the wound on his arm again. "Pure-Bloods are meant to be extinct. They were never meant to exist among humans but for three of them—Slifer, Ra, and Obelisk."

"Why them?"

"Because Lupa loved them, I suppose. Or perhaps she thought it necessary to have three of them remain to fix things if they should ever get out of hand."

"Oh, out of hand, you mean like now?"

Yami's lips twitched, but Yugi could not tell whether he meant to smile or grimace as his expression grew calm once more. "Yes, but you came into existence, and I am not sure that they will act more than absolutely necessary." He looked at him, eyes tired and slightly burdened with a touch of sorrow. "Atem is the catalyst for a great many things, and he's also meant to be the solution to even more of them. I am sure the gods will help, but I feel they allowed your birth in order to alleviate their responsibility with this world."

"That's…really kind of fucked up."

"They have to maintain balance. Ra rules over life, Slifer over death, and Obelisk over war. They have their many sub-domains, health, vitality, fertility, peace, justice, judgment, guidance…" He shrugged. "Atem was probably the easiest way to maintain balance and send forth warning that the gods had come to help."

Yugi nearly groaned in the back of his throat. "So I'm seriously thought of as a god of some kind?" he muttered, flustered.

"Well, for most, yes. For others, possibly not."

He bit his lip. "What do you think of me as?"

"You're Yugi to me. Atem is just a name applied to a familiar face." Yami paused for a moment, then shook his head. "I think of you as a friend, not a god. And I'll be damned if that ever changes."

His lips curved upwards into a small smile. "Thank you."

Yami nodded and watched him as he tied the last suture and sat back some. Yugi started to put the needles and suture thread away, then paused and glanced at him curiously. Yami had been so busy watching his hands that he took a moment to look up and realize he was studying him.

"What?"

"I'm just trying to figure out if we're going to have to stitch your shoulder too," he mumbled, biting his lip and wincing. "Ow! Why can't that instant healing thing kick in on this?!"

"Because your lips don't bleed as much as head wounds or your wrists or your tongue or a punctured vital." He smirked at his frustrated expression. "Your body has no reason to treat it as anything more than a simple scrape."

Yugi snorted and shook his head. "Yeah, well… It should. This is irritating."

Yami rolled his eyes. "A minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things," he snickered, smirking when Yugi shot him an annoyed look. "A more major, important inconvenience would be how badly reactions may be within the pack when they realize how humble you actually are."

Yugi faltered. "Why do you say that?"

"Because they're going to be expecting a leader prepared for war. They thought that was me because I nearly tore one of the female's throats out when she got too close to me that night during the sacrifices. I believe that is most likely why the alpha even came to assume that I was you."

He shivered. "Great." His eyes fell to the kit again. "I wonder if I need to get more suture from downstairs… Mom won't notice if it's just one size. She'll be okay with that. I can just tell her I was restocking the kits in case of emergency…"

Yami blinked and furrowed his brows. "There are sizes to sutures?"

Blue-violet eyes widened and flickered to his. "Well yeah. You don't want to use a wider one around someone's eyes. If you did, you'd probably damage their eye further. So they have sizes. For around the eyelid you would use a 6 and for something like your wrist you would use a 4. 4 is larger and 6 is much thinner."

"Ah, okay." He hummed low in his throat for a moment. "So the thinner would be used for more sensitive skin and the others would fit for other specific areas. And how long do they take before they have to be taken out?"

"Depending on the condition of the wound, its location, whether someone is taking medicine for it, and other things, it could be a couple of days to a week or two." He shrugged. "But, when I say that they will be healed by then, I don't mean like ours do. I mean it just doesn't need the top layer of skin to be held together anymore."

Yami nodded slightly. "I would not have expected the human body to be capable of such a thing."

He smirked slightly. "Nah, they're limited to more average healing rates," he teased, smiling a little more when the other boy wrinkled his nose. "But every now and then you get someone good at healing fast."

"Mm, yes, the anomalies."

He snickered. "Exactly," he snorted, turning away, "the anomalies. Now, do you want me to come over to you or—?"

Yami blinked, straightened a little further, and then moved to his side, plopping down beside him with his shoulder braced. Yugi blinked in surprise, then rolled his eyes.

"Well, I guess that answers that question."

"Yes."

"You didn't have to."

"You also are not required to accommodate me as completely as you do. I am fully capable of moving and doing things which do not require your assistance. Yet you would gladly move about to fix things for me that you do not need to." He rolled his eyes and flashed him something of a smile. It was soft and gentle, unlike the cautionary light in his gaze. "I like to do things to ease your burden as well."

"You're not a burden."

"You just have not come to realize it yet." This time he looked away and instead found his eyes locked on his bandaged arms. They looked so pristine. "But when you do, remember that I said so before you came to such a conclusion yourself."

Yugi shook his head, scoffing, "The only burden in this room is me. But whatever, Yami, I don't want to get into an argument with you over this either."

He gave him a wary look. "You will see later how it is that I am right," he said quietly before shaking his head. "But I suppose for now it does not matter. Anyways, my shoulder shouldn't require stitches, I don't think."

He tilted his head. "I'm surprised you didn't lose function in it, honestly. He must have grazed you or something…"

"No, he managed to completely break the bone with the shot. It's just that the angle was inches from the joint so it did not stop me completely. He was close, however."

Yugi was frozen for a moment. "So you didn't think to mention that at some point?"

"Why would I have? The ice and the Change after the whole thing did well enough to fix most of the damage." He shrugged leisurely and stretched his legs out in front of him.

"And the bullet?" he asked urgently, "Where did it wind up?"

"The exit wound is right here."

Yugi was frozen, horrified, as the other boy placed his hand near the tuck of his armpit. His eyes nearly popped out of his head and his body was frail with confusion. He felt dizzy, nearly swaying with horror, and opened and closed his mouth in disbelief.

"Well, on the human body it's there. But on the canine it's a little lower." He tilted his head at his expression, then shot him something of a confused look. "What? It shot straight through, landed right in the snow."

"You never told me! You never even thought to mention that?! You truly didn't consider that maybe you should tell me so that I could see about that wound too? The exit wounds are always so much larger and worse!"

"Well, the close proximity to the ribcage and the blood vessels triggered my body into healing it. My shoulder was still somewhat dislocated and it hurt but it was no longer broken and I could walk on it without the threat of bleeding out." Yami glanced at the wound for a long moment, then lightly prodded at it where it lay beneath the soft fabric of his tanktop. "It will only take a few more days to truly heal—less than that, even, maybe."

"You're not concerned at all?"

The heat in his voice made him glance over in slight confusion. "No, because I know my body will mend itself."

"And what if it couldn't?"

"Then I would ask for your help if it was possible to recover and go off on my own to lay down in the woods if it wasn't." He gave him an irritable look that spoke of clear caution to watch his own mounting temper. "But I know to trust myself enough to realize that, yes, the wound may look terrible, but it will heal. And I will be fine."

"That kind of thinking is probably what kills most werewolves," he spat, flustered as he shook his head angrily. "No wonder the Pure-Bloods went extinct!"

The other boy blinked wide eyes, then snorted so loudly that Yugi jumped at the sheer volume of it. His shocked expression made Yami freeze, red eyes wide and startled. They stared at each other, blinking, and then burst out laughing. He leaned his shoulder against his playfully and the other wolf let out a whistling gasp of a noise. They glanced at each other from the corners of their gazes, then laughed harder.

It took a solid few minutes for the two to settle again. And even then, there were soft chuckles whenever they caught the other's eye. Finally the room became mostly silent but for their breathing and the smaller teen cast Yami a small grin as he faced him completely again.

"Can you take your shirt off for me? I need to at least check the wound before I do anything else."

Yami nodded and turned away enough to grab at the top of his shirt, tugging it over his head by its collar. He dropped it lazily into his lap and turned to him patiently as the other boy shifted to a spot diagonal of him.

Yugi was slightly awed by the sight of it. He'd never seen a gunshot wound before and the dark red diameter of it was almost a perfect circle. The skin had, unsurprisingly, drawn itself more or less to a close. The top merely looked sore and reddened. But its core was sealed with dark red and bloodied tissue. All it would truly need would be a good patching of the skin growing back and it would be fine. It would look perfectly new.

"This isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be," Yugi admitted quietly, studying it a moment longer. He had expected pus and blood. Most gunshot wounds got heavily infected. The way the body was forced to cave inwards in light of the bullet's path, the cells dying rapidly at mere impact, usually caused a lot of complications. If they were fully clothed when it happened, there was even more reason for infection as the fabric would go through the skin as well. And who knew what clothing really picked up throughout the day?

Yami twisted his head around and flexed his shoulder forward just enough to look at it as well. It ached to twist it so far but it seemed to do well to give him a view. Yugi was right. It did not look bad. He turned away again dismissively. So he had no reason to worry about it any further.

"I'll still clean it though, just to be on the safe side."

He hummed, nodding.

Yugi had to lean around him to grab the kit and he was abruptly aware of just how much personal space he was intruding upon. If he just tilted his head to the side and tipped his chin slightly downwards, he might almost be able to mouth his crotch. And that close proximity made his skin crawl as he snapped back to position and looked at the mostly-healed wound in front of him.

"Do you think they're really extinct?"

Yami blinked. "Aside from Ra, Slifer and Obelisk? Yes, I think the Pure-Bloods besides them and you are dead," he commented with a small frown, glancing at mm curiously. "Why do you ask? It is most common knowledge among the wolves that both original branches of the werewolf subspecies are long deceased. The only for the hellhounds' Harbingers are Skoll, Morrigan and Hati."

Yugi nibbled his lip. "But if Ra let me be born, doesn't that mean it's possible that there are other Pure-Bloods around?"

"I would think not. It would force nature on its head."

With how often he had been told how unnatural his own birth was, the small teen did not even think to ask why. Instead he drummed his fingers against the bottle in his hands. "So, you don't believe there's any way that maybe, just maybe they might have merely gone into hiding or hibernation or something?"

"Truthfully? No. I think if that were to be true, the gods would have destroyed them themselves. Pure-Bloods were never meant to exist among humans."

He let out a flustered breath. "And what about the reason they even exist? If they weren't meant to be here, then why were they even created? And what about other werewolves? Shouldn't that mean that they shouldn't be around humans at all either?"

Yami turned to look at him now and Yugi hastily began spraying the center of his wound in order to avoid having to catch his eye. "You're mistaking all werewolves for lycanthropes and all lycanthropes for Pure-Bloods. There's a very clear line between each wolf in existence." He paused, allowing him to wipe at the exposed tissue and muscle. He was tempted to look now, to see if it might look even slightly cleaner with Yugi's gentle but attentive care. "You have to remember that hellhounds are half dog, and they often look like friendly canines with odd eye color. And lycanthropes live in areas where wolves are prominent in order to avoid detection. Hellhounds can get away with scavenging within the walls of a city like this. That's why it's so heavily populated with them."

Were there a lot of hellhounds in Japan? He had never considered, although he did remember Yami saying so minutes before. He bit his lip and wiped again with the gauze in his hand. He would need to sneak another roll of that upstairs into the first aid kit again as well. He glanced at the tape but the roll seemed more or less untouched. There was no need to grab more than necessary. Then it would seem suspicious.

"And Pure-Bloods are meant to be truly immortal, Yugi. As such it is said they can recover from any wound and bring themselves back to life in a healed state from their deaths. The werewolves you see in that pack and around your school could never do that. They are harder to kill than regular humans, but they are not immortal. They can die and it will be permanent."

He sighed quietly. "What about a werewolf's average lifespan?" he finally muttered. "Without all of the hunters and the dangers, how old do you think they could become?"

His brow rose slowly. "Truthfully? As long as they remained healthy and out of trouble, they could live forever. They would just have to maintain their health and change a little more often. But they could exist until the end of days if that's what they so desired."

Yugi paused in dropping the bottle back into the kit, then looked up at him from beneath his lashes. "And… How long do you think I will last?" he finally asked, voice low and quiet.

Yami turned around with wide eyes, staring at him. His expression was overshadowed with guilt and something like disbelief. His eyes looked tired, premature with exhaustion, and his mouth was quirked into a slight grimace of pain. The question itself seemed to similarly wind him as it did the taller teen.

He drew in a deep breath, then gave him a small smile, but it did not reach his gaze and his voice had lost all sense of lightness to be replaced by mounting despair and distress.

"Forever, Yugi. You'll last forever."

That suture thing by the way? Totally true. But can someone explain to me PLEASE why when I was looking up the sizes necessary for certain wounds, the graph ALWAYS showed the size for PENIS WOUNDS? Like...do those happen often? I'm so confused.