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.

41. Hot Chocolate

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

Update schedule: Every other day

Chapter Warnings: Emotional Distress/Anxiety Attack, Character Death, Jokes about Sex, Sexual References, Conversations About Sex/Age of Consent, Mentions of Pedophilia and Child Pornography

I am SO sorry this took so long to get out. It drove me NUTS. I'm using two laptops and I FINISHED EXITS ON ONE and then I SAVED IT, but when I used the USB with the OTHER LAPTOP it was already opened and I SAVED OVER the edits cause I am CLEARLY a moron. And this is why I am NOT allowed to have nice things. Just saying!

ANYWAYS, on to the important things!

I just want to make something clear. I don't want anyone continuing the story with any misconceptions.

First off, the Peachshipping is officially over after this chapter. They'll STILL be close friends. But there won't be any romantic moments unless one-sided and unrequited on Anzu's behalf.

Second, you need to always remember that Yami DOES lie a LOT in this story, more for his own sake than anything else.

Third, if you've ever read Marrow (and even if you haven't), Yugi is going to figure this out later in the story, but it's mentioned that wolves really only take on one partner seriously, as in FULL COMMITMENT, as in head-over-heels, would-die-for-you kind of thing. Yugi is told this later, when Yami is asked about that kind of thing. But the wolves bond with whom they feel the SAFEST, MOST COMFORTABLE, MOST LOVED, and who they believe will allow them to GROW THE MOST and BETTER THEMSELVES, and just feel the overall BEST with.

They can be as promiscuous as they want (as Mai and Otogi tend to be), but they DO settle down with one special person whom they share the most with and can bond COMPLETELY with. For Yugi, that ISN'T Anzu. There's a reason for it (and it's NOT because she isn't a werewolf; I promise, it has more significance than just that), and there's a reason you won't see more than slight Puzzleshipping throughout the story. Because Yugi is no longer suppressing his emotional attachment to Yami, he most likely won't even have fantasies about him anymore. This is something of a slow burn, but the romance isn't the biggest plot point whatsoever. It drives a lot of things, but it is NOT the most important thing. Making the romance more abundant would do a disservice to the characters as they already are.

Fourth, gender is something that the wolves don't give a single shit about. Gender doesn't change a single thing for them in any way (they aren't endangered and so they don't have to constantly reproduce nor do they feel the need to). They bond with whoever they feel can help them grow the most and they can help to do the same.

Fifth, this is NEVER going to be m-preg and it's NOT going to have any kind of kinky alpha-omega or alpha-beta dynamic kind of thing that I know is a huge trope for the werewolf stories. It's not happening, sorry (not sorry). I feel like everyone already kind of knows this already, considering the way the story has played along already, but I had the sudden realization that maybe clarifying would do me some good. (IF it does me even that.)

Yugi's acknowledgment of his attachment to Yami changes some small things for Yugi. He responds to him more. And he might seem out of character in certain instances.

Okay, onto the lesser things, so since there's Burger World in canon, I kind of made up a chicken place called Chicken Palace. Why? Because I wanted a more neutral spot in the story (and I can use it in other stories because I have this really weird habit of making Yami like chicken and fish more than other meats?) so I'm making that a location in the story. In principle, it's basically the chicken version of Burger World.

Domino Café is modeled after the three cafes mentioned in Yugi's explanation. I looked up pictures, then decided to add a spin with the pictures of mythology and things like that on the walls. The café is going to be used a couple more times in the story (not quite sure HOW many more times). The drinks ordered are (based on) Kuramae hot chocolates (630 yen) and the pastries are Papua New Guinea Samoas (450 yen) that I found while researching cafés in Japan. They're made in singular batches from what I read and the pastries are only powdered with cacao but I liked the idea of cinnamon too so that's how they turned out. And, in the actual café, I don't think that they come with whipped cream but I really wanted to write about Yami having whipped cream on his nose, so that's kind of how this happened. Ahem, anyways…

OKAY, SO! The age of consent in Japan is brought up again, as is the prevention of corruption of a minor law, and pedophilia and child pornography. These are apparently really common in Japan, as much as I hate to say it (or so my RESEARCH says; don't quote me.) It's not meant to offend anyone. I don't live there, so my concepts might get mixed up sometimes when things are mentioned. Anyways, the topic comes up again because of something coming into play in this chapter, but regardless, from my understanding, the laws should be rather realistically described? I spent like three hours reading over and polishing this when I initially wrote it, but I am prone to mistakes, so if anyone wants to correct me, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO. I would LOVE it, actually. I don't want to misrepresent or reinforce some kind of stereotype.

Yami does call someone "exotic" in this chapter. It's not meant as a discriminating term. He literally means that they are exotic to his understanding; they're different from him and he's extremely curious. He means differences in mannerisms, culture, ideals and values, things like that. I'm only explaining because he uses that same word to describe them again later in the story (or he will if I don't change an idea later).

Chapter XLI: Hot Chocolate

Work Log Entry XLI: November, 2003

November 12

For now the breeding has been put on hold.

November 14

The boss has been spending more time with "Atem" than usual. He has even taken him out of his cage alone to allow him time to hide with him outside.

No one knows what is going on

None of us are meant to do more than feed and maintain his health beyond performing tests.

November 18

I believe he is talking to "Atem" about something he doesn't want any of the rest of us to know.

But I do not know if the Pure-Blood understands half of what he says.

Because, whenever I feed him or try to say a word to him, and he looks at me, his eyes are still black but they give him the impression of being unable to focus.

November 25

"Atem" will not speak.

The boss is furious.

No one knows what has happened.

Whenever the pup opens his mouth, he cannot form noises, just silent mimicry.

November 30

I cannot understand why the boss is still pulling him aside for time alone. I am confused as to why it is important for them to go alone together for whatever reason.

I have the feeling that the boss is trying to manipulate him in some way.

And he is only seven mentally and physically.

It would be easy for someone to twist the way he looks at things…

Anzu didn't want to cry. The rejection was clear and her position as his best friend was shaky now as well. She felt it deep in her bones. If only for her own grief, she would wait to bury her face in a pillow.

And, beyond that, Yugi needed her. He was still staring at her, terror and horror on his face in equal amounts. And the look of complete incomprehension drilled holes into her already bleeding heart, stunning her.

The pain was so acute and she couldn't breathe at first.

"It's Yami," she said, certain and shaken by the revelation which left her mouth. Yugi blinked at her, that look on his face only growing tenfold. He stared, eyes blank and confused, and did not once think to answer her. "That's okay."

Yugi shook his head very slowly and his mouth opened and closed. He blinked and his eyes dilated further, his focus shifting elsewhere for a moment before pinpointing her once more. He gaped, then snapped his jaw shut. Then he trembled and reached up to cover his mouth with his hand. He gaped at her behind his palm. Then he shook his head again.

The incomprehension was slowly clearing away, leaving behind only a pure, cold wave of pain and agony which made her shiver. They stared at each other and slowly Yugi forced himself to straighten from his doubled over position. In a shocked fashion he blinked at her and slowly shook his head again.

Then, abruptly, his jaw clenched and he looked away as if ashamed.

"Yugi, it's okay."

"No," he ground out, voice a low and hideous moan of despair, "it's actually not. It's not okay at all."

Anzu frowned at him.

When they had been in the factory, she did not think even the two of them had noticed, but both Yugi and Yami had seemed somehow almost perfectly in sync with each other. Emotionally, Yugi had seemed to check on Yami more than he had any of them. And he'd been rather in tune with him, as if he had sensed his emotions before even Yami had. They had almost even seemed to breathe at the same time, as if they were altogether one person rather than two separate entities.

She had wondered then, but now she was absolutely sure.

It was heartbreaking by all means but it was understandable as well.

"I don't…" He shook his head rapidly. "Yami isn't…"

She frowned at him and her heart twisted a little more, sympathetic for him.

Yugi hadn't realized before. He wouldn't have asked her out if he had realized just how truly attached to him he was. He wasn't one to play a game with two people like that. It shook her to realize such a thing.

"Fuck," he spat. "Shit. Fucking shit. Bitch. Motherfucker. Damn it."

Anzu shook her head. "It's going to be okay, Yugi. It'll work out."

But she didn't know that, did she? As much as she thought they seemed in tune and hyperaware of each other, she had no idea what Yami was truly like. She did not know if he was capable of being the person Yugi would need as a lover. And she had no idea if he even swung that way.

She had no idea how werewolves worked beyond Yugi, and he had only recently been infected.

There was no way of knowing if Yami would handle the situation with grace or disgust. There was no such knowledge of any kind.

She closed her eyes for a moment.

But what she had seen in the factory… Did he show him that every day they were together?

She looked at him again now, exhaling softly. "You just have to tell him and be patient."

He looked at her slowly, expression that of one staring at a mythical creature of no definition. Then a high-pitched, rapid noise of hysteria left his lips. "No," he said blatantly, voice squawking painfully with his denial. He shook his head angrily as his voice grew frustrated. "I can't do that."

"What?" she asked, eyes wide and face startled. "Why wouldn't you tell him?"

Yugi shook his head again, then raised his hand to begin digging into his nails. "He's already… He had a mate. She died and he… He's never recovered. I can't do that to him again."

She stared at him and horror made her eyes wider than ever. "Do that to him again?" she echoed softly. "What does that mean exactly?"

He looked at her, then froze. Something dark skittered across his eyes and his mouth opened and closed frantically, horrified. "I…I can't… Oh gods. Anzu, I…" He faltered, then shook his head. "I didn't even think about it before I…"

The brunette shook her head. "Yugi, what's going on right now?" she demanded sharply.

He stared at her. "I… Anzu, there's no way that both Yami and I are going to survive. It's just not…possible. Not with everything that's going on right now. I… We're both running on a limited time frame. It's borrowed time and…"

"What?" Anzu cried in shock, eyes wide and her body shaking slightly. "What the hell are you even talking about right now?"

"There's something that's going to happen soon. It's a war that is going to devastate a lot of people…and things in general." He faltered, then fell completely silent before shaking his head slowly, eyes glazed. "I don't think that Yami will let anything happen to me."

She shook her head, gaping at him. "What about you protecting yourself?" she demanded, though the word "war" was far more prominent in her mind.

Yugi blinked at her, but didn't answer.

I trust him a lot more than I do myself sometimes.

Saying that would have been suicide where Anzu was concerned. As much as he loved her, she would take this and run with it. And she would tear into him about valuing himself more, remind him as she always did that he was capable just as everyone else was.

But he was tired and enduring that seemed too much to be added at the moment. Instead he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Look, Yami and I will watch out for each other."

"But you just said—"

Yugi blinked his eyes open, narrowing them. "That one of us will most likely end up dead," he agreed with a shrug that was almost casual. "It's true. One of us is either going to end up incredibly hurt or dead by the end of this. But that's not the…"

What was the point?

Why had he even begun telling her this?

He blinked again, then exhaled softly and looked down at the flower beds. One of the flowers was weighted down with his puke and the way it sagged made him want to scream.

"Yami never recovered from the death of his mate. And I…I'm not willing to say something to him if one of us isn't going to survive, Anzu. It's not fair to either of us." He fell silent again.

Was being quiet about it fair to him? Yugi supposed it didn't matter, however. The fact remained that the war would happen. He didn't even know why he had tried this in the first place. Why had he even invited her? His mouth was dry as he considered. How stupid could he have possibly been?

He should have left it alone. Even if he never truly knew the extent of his desire for Yami, it would have been better. And maybe the damage to Anzu's heart would have been minimized. Oh gods, he'd played a game of tug of war with her emotions, especially now.

"Anzu, I…" He wondered if he could see the regret in his face. But he didn't dare bank too steeply on such a thing. He'd hurt her. He deserved to be as humiliated as his awkward tongue forced on him. Yugi opened and closed his mouth and his voice came out exhausted and grieving as he tried again. "I'm so sorry."

He wanted to say that he had never meant to hurt her. But further words seemed to be shortening of his genuine remorse and less seemed to be lacking. So he fell silent, because she also already knew that. He had never wanted to hurt her or any of the others. She knew that. He had to trust that she did, that she still believed that despite everything.

"I know." She sounded just as tired as him, maybe more aggrieved as well. Yugi wanted to duck and turn his head away, but instead swallowed hard. When she stepped towards him, he forced himself not to back away rapidly. She drew him into her, a simple friendly hug that she would have given him growing up. "It'll be okay."

He wanted to say that she didn't know that. But it was easier to hear from her mouth and actually want to believe it. And it made it harder to resist as he hugged her back just as tightly. "Thanks."

Anzu pulled away after a moment, watching him, and then turned and headed for the door. He watched her, eyes troubled, but waved back when she turned around to do the same. There was truly nothing else they could say. He'd spoken too much as it was. No doubt she would constantly wonder when the day would come that she would never see him again.

He lowered his eyes the moment she stepped inside.

The damn flowers were still weeping, slimy and weighted. He stared at the petals for a moment, amazed that they were not dead and gone beneath the snow. No doubt her mom had been paying them special attention. No doubt his vomit would freeze—if it had not already—and reverse all of her efforts to keep them alive through winter. The thought was sour as he tasted it on his tongue.

Yugi turned away and started down the sidewalk again. He moved onto the edge again, balancing himself without effort, and began to steadily pad down the length of the street along it. His eyes were dark and his head lowered, his thoughts frantic. Yami would be in his room waiting, wondering…

He didn't want to go back and face him yet. If he did, Yami would know something was wrong. He would sense it. And he would ask him only once, respect his boundaries when he saw how upset he was, and let it die away with his attention to it.

It was comforting to know but it did nothing to calm him.

Anzu had to be heartbroken. He knew that. He had seen it in her bright blue eyes. And he knew she had just barely suppressed the tears in order to comfort him. She had always tried hard to help make the group more comfortable even when she herself was drowning. He stared at the cracks in the pavement. He was so stupid. He couldn't believe he had done that.

And to puke when he had tried to kiss her seemed even more humiliating than ever. He hoped to the gods that she did not assume it had anything to do with her. Gods, he hoped she understood it was nothing at all to do with her. But his entire body had been repelled, had rapidly backpedaled. He had struggled and tried to push it down again, but it had not worked in the slightest. And, oh gods, the way his muscles and organs had twisted and writhed beneath his skin. He had been unable to stop himself at that last second, the wave of nausea throwing him almost off balance.

Something in his head had simply spat at him in denial, cutting him off rapidly from his decision. Yugi shook his head to clear the thought away. But it was so hard not to consider it all.

And when had it become Yami for him?

How had it happened?

Yugi could not think straight.

He bit his lip until the blood was all he could taste, replacing the acidic tone of his mouth. He shook his head again. He didn't want to go home. He didn't want to face Yami. He didn't want to see his mom or his grandpa. It seemed far too painful to even attempt doing so.

He swallowed hard. His heart was in his throat. His breathing was tight. His lungs ached and burned. He stumbled a step, catching himself. Then he nearly collapsed again. He was shaking. His eyes were blurry.

He had no idea what Yami felt in comparison to him. He had no idea if he would ever see him as something more than friend or his beta. Fuck, he hadn't even gotten over his grief for whoever his mate had been.

And what if werewolves only ever had one mate?

What if they were stuck eternally with the pressure of loving only one?

What if he was in love with a wolf that could never show him the same affection?

His vision was tight around the edges. He was shaking. His fingers were blurring in front of his eyes. He breathed in and the noise was hideously ragged. It was estranged and tight in his throat. His heart was pounding.

He couldn't move for a moment. Then his legs buckled. He collapsed into an awkward seated position. Resting on the curb, Yugi tried to calm his breathing. He attempted the slow, steady, drawn out breaths.

What he managed was short and shallow.

And it only made it worse.

The whimper which left him was scathing. He was amazed he was not sobbing. But his body was shaking in a fit. And his lungs were only growing tighter as the seconds passed. He clenched his fingers. One hand was buried in the snow. The other tried to pull the collar of his shirt from his throat. It was too constricting.

The air was too shallow.

Nothing was getting to his lungs and—

He could only hear it distantly. It was the crackle of a twig. Yugi's eyes grew wide, dilating. His head rose only slightly. His shaking quelled for the briefest of seconds. Then it came back with a vengeance.

One of the hunters was standing in front of him.

He didn't know them beyond their hair, layered and green. And they looked vaguely familiar. But Yugi could not place a name.

Nor could he find it in himself to attempt to move. He could not even breathe properly. Attempting to run away was impossible. Even getting up was far from feasible for him.

He blinked, but his eyes were on the barrel of the gun aimed at him. He could not think straight. The shaking was uniform in its violent throes…

The sound of his finger tapping the trigger made him stiffen. But it did nothing to stop his movements. He was still vibrating like his phone would. And his eyes were still trained there.

So he missed it.

The hunter jerked and gasped. Blood spurted from his throat. He turned to face something beside him. His eyes were wide and dilated. His voice was a croak, pained and desperate.

"Your future…is black to me…"

The newcomer snorted loudly. "You aren't meant to know it," he said softly. He watched the hunter drop first to his knees, then to lay completely sprawled on his stomach. He wrinkled his nose, the scent of his blood making his stomach curl. He smelled too strongly of old food and spoiled milk.

Yugi stared at the newcomer and his heart quickened for a new reason. His lungs lost their tightness. His chest expanded comfortably. He blinked up at them as they approached. For a moment he thought they would stretch their hand out to pull him to his feet. Instead they moved to his side and plopped down on the sidewalk beside him.

"That was Espa," he said dismissively, picking at his nails. The ends of them were smeared with the bright red of the blood. He pressed his lips together thinly, frowning. "He smelled like he had been living off of rotten milk and molded bread. His blood stank of it."

The nonsensical direction of the conversation, when he could have easily been asking how he was, made Yugi smile. He shifted a little closer and their shoulders brushed slightly when he looked him over. "I didn't think you'd be out of the house," he admitted quietly. "I was expecting you to be in the corner or sleeping next to the bed or something."

"I became anxious. And I believe your mother might have been headed in to begin on your laundry?" he murmured with a shrug. Yami cast him a small smile and then closed his eyes as he turned away again. "I did not assume to think that it was my place to meet her on such secretive terms."

Yugi laughed. "She'd probably beat you to death with her ladle. It's her ultimate weapon. She can best someone with it like nobody's business," he teased. He paused, then found his laughter drifting as he considered him for a long minute.

He did not think he even knew Yami well enough to know if he might be attracted to someone, let alone him. He chewed his lip.

"I do believe you mentioned that once before. I still have yet to see her yield her weapon," Yami commented in a somewhat dismissive tone. He opened his eyes just enough to peer ahead and into the trees that sheltered Espa from view for the moment.

"Good. You don't want to see it, I promise."

"But I am curious."

"The only time you're ever going to see it, Yami, is if she comes at you with it for some reason. She doesn't just use it on random people at random times. She's totally got to have a reason and she'll maul you steadily with it."

"That sounds lovely."

"It is. I'm pretty sure that's why my dad fell in love with her." He looked him over for a moment, then shifted the smallest centimeter closer to him. It was comforting to see Yami allow him such an action. Not once did he so much as blink or try to move away. The red-eyed wolf remained at his side as if he were not aware he had moved to begin with. "I'm thinking she beat him with her ladle at some point and it made him happy."

Yami snorted loudly, looked at him and laughed with a startled expression. "Your father sounds like an interesting man." He smiled widely, then shook his head and turned away, eyes on the trees again. "I should move the body."

"Why? None of the other bodies were moved." Yugi hadn't been aware of just how bitter his voice could sound until that moment. Yet he didn't care to try to change his tone, instead scowling faintly in the body's direction. "Let him rot there."

Yami blinked and tilted his head. "You're in a lovely mood," he teased before falling silent again. He considered him with curious red eyes for only a moment and then narrowed his gaze slightly. "Did something go wrong with Anzu?"

Yugi hesitated for a long second, then sighed softly and leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees. "I just… I realized that there's no way that we're ever going to work out." He scooted his leg and kicked at a pebble in front of him. The salted roads made it skitter instead of roll. There were too many bunches of ice like glaciers of dark, clear peaks upon the asphalt. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "So I told her I'm sorry and I was about to head back."

That was funny.

Yami was rather sure he had walked up on him nearly having a panic attack on the side of the street. Then again, perhaps the human panic attack was not as terrible as a werewolf's. Yugi had not seemed to be hallucinating or thrashing on the ground. Sure, he had been in the throes of a rather human one, but it had not been as all-encompassing as a werewolf one.

He frowned. "I'm sorry it will not work out between you two," he offered quietly. He moved his leg to nudge Yugi's gently and the smaller teen blinked wide eyes at him. "Don't worry, Yugi. You'll find someone."

The smaller teen nearly grimaced, but forced himself to smile instead. His red eyes were so warm, but they were not as deep in emotion as he initially assumed they might be. Yami was shielding something from him, a thought that he did not want to share with him in the slightest.

"Yeah, I know I will. But it can wait. It's not that important, I guess."

"It was important to you. You wanted something of your human side to remain in your life. You wanted some of the normalcy of it. And I'm sorry it wasn't given to you."

Yugi shook his head. "It happens like that sometimes. That's how the world works and all that." He shrugged lazily and ignored him altogether, eyes on the ice again. "Life can't be perfect for anyone."

Yami frowned faintly. Then he glanced over his shoulder. From the window of a house a few feet back there was a slender silhouette. He recognized only the cut of her hair but he knew her all the same. When the curtains pulled back slightly, her blue eyes were on him immediately. They were rimmed with red and her cheeks were still wet. He blinked at her, wondering at her pain, whether anyone knew that ache so acutely as she and Yugi seemed to at the moment. He supposed humans and their tendencies to leap between partners did well to allow each their turn of misery.

He blinked, then looked at Yugi. But his pain seemed oddly estranged to hers in mere observation. There was something oddly cold and distant in Yugi's and something barren and broken in Anzu's. His eyes flickered away as he got to his feet and turned to face the smaller teen.

Yugi looked up at him as he had expected, but his eyes were more confused than ever. He blinked and tilted his head. "I don't want to have to get up yet," he mumbled in a soft voice, smiling at his surprised expression.

"But you cannot simply remain here and mope."

He laughed softly, shaking his head. "I wasn't going to, actually," he said with a grin. Something about his impatient expression was altogether amusing. He smiled a little warmer. "I just don't want to get up yet."

Yami considered him, then paced a step back and forth before pursing his lips. He almost moved to crouch in front of him, then thought better of it. His eyes flickered away and back. He could sense Anzu still watching them and it made him anxious for a moment.

"You know what I did when my…friend died?" he asked in a slow, forcefully even tone. Yugi blinked up at him, startled, and then tilted his head in confusion. There was curiosity and the faintest hint of pain and disappointment in his eyes. Yami chose to ignore each of these. "When he died, I ran from one side of the mountain range to the next. I crossed the gorge and leaped into the river and I hunted. And I kept moving until I couldn't anymore. I collapsed in the middle of the woods and heard the fighting and found myself with the pack."

Yugi tilted his head. He was almost afraid to ask him why he would tell him this. But instead he offered him a small nod, realizing his more important message. He wanted him to move. He was telling him that it would help him keep his mind off of it. He smiled and shook his head after a moment.

"I don't want to run right now."

Yami hummed and clicked his tongue. The noise seemed to resonate in the cold air for a moment. "You know what would cure all of your problems?" he asked, grinning at him like a schoolboy. Yugi blinked and raised a brow. "If you had sex with me. All of your worries and woes would go away altogether. It's a guarantee for sleeping with me."

Yugi burst out laughing, shaking his head, and rolled his eyes. "You won't even kiss people. And you're over here talking about sex."

"If you do it like a wolf, you don't have to bother kissing."

He laughed harder, shaking his head again, and then watched him for a moment. He stretched a leg out and his sneaker touched his as he smirked at him. "You wouldn't sleep with anyone unless you loved them," he said with certainty, smiling a little more as his eyes met his again. "You're definitely not one to go around and sleep with a random stranger."

Yami smirked and trotted a step before turning around again with bright, glittering red eyes. "You know me too well," he teased playfully. "When did you start to read me so easily?"

Yugi felt as if his heart were in his throat. Something about the way Yami agreed with him so easily, the way he smirked at him with such bright eyes, made his heart pound and ache. He smiled because he could not help it, however. It was infectious to see that broad grin on his face and it was mesmerizing to think that it was pointed at him.

"I pay attention," he answered, but he seemed almost breathless. How beautiful a smile Yami was wearing. He had never seen it so bright and gorgeous before. He had never seen it with those glittering eyes and his long lashes shimmering faintly from the light of the porches nearby. Yugi smiled a little more. "Besides, you're more passionate than anyone I've ever met. Why would you ever sell yourself so short for that?"

He hummed. "I might be persuaded if it would help someone else," he answered, but his eyes were shaded now and he seemed to be staring into the distance even as he remained focused on Yugi. "If they needed it and I could offer it, I might try."

"And damage yourself in the meantime?"

Yami lost his faraway look. His eyes were glued to his now, glittering embers in the dark. "Surely the sacrifice would be worth the reward if I cared for the person enough to try, yes?"

And the way he stared at him seemed to burn. Yugi stared up at him, stunned, slightly horrified, and the way his marrow flared with shock made him almost laugh out loud. He blinked, staring harder, unable to think straight.

Had he just…?

Yami had just insinuated that he…

He wished he could have trusted himself to agree. He wished he could have said he would have taken him up on the offer any time. He wished more than anything that he could have allowed himself to be the person confident enough to say yes. Or the jerk with the disbelief who would push Yami to prove himself. But then he looked at him, and he saw the tightened knot of muscle along his collarbone and he thought of all of the many repercussions that could come about.

"I suppose it could be," he finally said. And, with a shrug, he stretched his legs out in front of him. His butt was mildly cold now. "But thankfully I don't believe in sex being a cure for life's many woes."

Yami blinked. The muscles in his body tightened then relaxed as if he had never been unnerved in the first place. He flashed him another smile. "It might be one day, but it's not now," he said with a shrug. He hesitated a moment and Yugi laughed softly at the movement. Then, feeling slightly bolder, the taller teen stretched his hand out, palm open and fingers splayed for him.

Yugi looked at his hand for a moment, smirked a little with the smallest shake of his head, and grasped his hand. Yami tugged him to his feet and Yugi wiped some ice from his pants in a lazy manner. "I'll have to throw these into the dryer when we get back. I don't want my mom realizing the cold doesn't affect me nearly as much as it used to. She would definitely know something was up if I don't."

"Yes, there's no need for her to beat you with a ladle," he drawled and Yugi snorted as he shoved his shoulder gently and grinned at him. "What? I certainly wouldn't want that!"

"Jackass."

---

Yugi tossed his phone to the bed and plopped down beside it. Yami looked up from his protein shake, sipping and studying him over the rim of his cup. The smaller teen huffed and threw his hands behind him with a lazy shake of his head. He didn't look distressed, just tired, and Yami was relieved to see that, for the moment, things seemed relatively calm. He leaned back into the wall and closed his eyes again. The protein shake tasted so much like peanut butter and chocolate that he could hardly find whatever lingered of the banana.

"Well, there goes my monthly talk with my dad," Yugi announced, rolling over onto his stomach to face him. The red-eyed lycanthrope blinked his eyes open again to look at him. The smaller teen kicked his legs and narrowed his eyes into slight slits. "You know, as much as I love having you all to myself, I think you should meet the others."

Yami blinked and pressed his lips to the rim of his cup, watching him curiously for a long moment. "The others?" he drawled around the glass against his mouth. His eyes were blissfully lazy, the medication doing well to slow his more anxious thoughts and desires. He blinked again. "But I have already met them."

"Yeah but everyone was stressed out then. They'll all be relaxed now and I want you to meet them when they aren't scared and freaked out." He paused, wondering abruptly now if he sounded overly anxious and pushy. "But, if you don't want to, then I won't force you. It's your choice."

"I do not mind meeting them," Yami replied quietly, but he blinked and his eyes became somewhat hooded for a split second. "I would like to meet them under better circumstances than we originally made acquaintances. It would do us all better to meet again and see each other in different lights. I am sure there would be less tension to deal with should that happen."

"Tension?"

"They only just found out you were infected. I should assume they would be a little anxious about it all, especially where I am concerned." He tilted his head. "I killed in front of them, after all. I would not be surprised if they tried to avoid me at all costs."

Yugi shook his head. "Jonouchi is pretty curious about you. I think he's more likely to cling to you for a little while because of how you killed her. He tends to idolize people who can do crazy things like that." He grinned at Yami's startled expression, then shook his head. "And Honda will want to know more about it just because he likes learning new things. And Anzu will probably be nervous for a little while but she'll get over it. It will basically be one long session of Werewolves and Lycanthropy 101."

Yami blinked. "Werewolves and Lycanthropy 101?" he repeated awkwardly, confused. "What is that?"

"Basically us teaching them some about werewolves and lycanthropes." The smaller teen shrugged and studied his face for a moment. "You don't have to answer any questions you don't want to. But it would be nice if you guys met more officially."

Yami nodded slightly. He could handle a little bit of answering questions. He could do that easily enough. As long as he could veto any information they planned to ask for, he did not mind it in the slightest. He shrugged after a moment. "When are we to do this?"

He tilted his head sideways and frowned faintly. "We can do it in a couple of hours if you want. Or tomorrow. It doesn't have to be today at all—"

"I am not tired yet. I was just restless and it's helping me relax. I'm wide awake. And I have nothing better to do for the time being." He fell quiet and wondered if Yugi thought he was being too forward. It was intriguing to think that he might meet the humans without the specter of death which had followed them before at the factory warehouse. Then again, he was sure they would look at him the same way now as they had then. He had killed in front of them, after all. If they had any sense of self-preservation they would remain cautious of him. He tilted his head. "I do not mind going whenever you want you find yourself ready to as well."

Yugi blinked, then raised a brow. "Well, Jonouchi and Honda should be at the arcade by now and Anzu wouldn't be far behind them, I suppose. I can text them in a few minutes, then get them to meet us somewhere else. Burger—or maybe that Chicken Palace place or the park. The park might be better. I doubt anyone would be listening to us there."

Yami blinked at him, considering for a moment. "Burger World? Is that what you were going to say?" he asked slowly, furrowing his brows. Yugi seemed upset at the very fact that he almost said the name. He considered him again, then narrowed his eyes.

He remembered the dog under the dumpster, trying so hard to get at it. He remembered Yugi dragging it out, sedating it, handing it off to him. He remembered that small apology he had given him, saying that he shouldn't have blamed him for wanting to survive.

He lowered his eyes to the carpet. Then he tipped the glass back and swallowed the rest of the sedative in his drink. Was he still upset about that? Was it possible those memories were what made him avoid the restaurant?

"Yeah, but there was an employee who kind of attacked us there. And I don't think I really want to have to deal with the idea of remembering that or making them remember it either." Yugi shrugged and grinned at him after a moment, biting his lip when he saw the way Yami blinked in surprise. "Chicken Palace is strictly chicken, obviously…considering their name. Um…and then the park wouldn't have food or anything but—?"

"What about those drinks with the frothy white stuff on the top? The ones that are fluffy with syrup drizzled over the top?" Yami interrupted, curiosity making his eyes wide and childish in the face. He looked so innocent again, soft and gentle and all of the things that Yugi could not normally apply to him. "Like in the commercial we saw."

"Oh! The hot chocolate and the coffee ad," Yugi muttered, rolling his eyes at himself. He smirked and raised a brow. "Coffee makes people move around faster and things. The caffeine supplies the body with a rush. You're better off with hot chocolate."

"What is hot chocolate?"

The smaller teen almost scoffed at him. Then he froze in place, eyes growing wide with shock. He had given Anzu and Honda and Jonouchi hot chocolate. He had never made any for Yami before. The thought was almost horrifying to him.

"It's a sweet drink, lots of marshmallows or whipped cream on top. I can make you some. My mom has the best recipe for it. But I don't usually put whipped cream on it. Or syrups." He tilted his head and smiled at him. "I'll tell you what, Yami. We'll go by the café down the street before the others meet up with us. We'll get a couple of hot chocolates and then go to the park with them afterwards."

Yami blinked at him, then nodded and shifted his weight. He climbed to his feet after a moment, then put the cup aside on the desk. "I agree with this plan."

"You just want whipped cream."

"They seemed to be enjoying it. I want to see what it tastes like," he said dismissively, waving a hand in sheer disregard. Yugi simply grinned at him and Yami looked away as the smaller lycanthrope began to mess around on his phone again. He stretched out on his stomach, lazy and tired in his motion, and yawned as he flexed his arms over his head. Yami moved to take a seat at the very edge of the mattress.

Thirty minutes later, Yami snuck off the roof and Yugi shouted a farewell to his mom without a second glance. He met Yami at the street corner, the taller wolf grinning faintly and looking at him with barely contained excitement. Yugi had just barely managed to get his agreement to wear gloves, a scarf, and a heavier coat. The argument had gone on for what felt like hours before he'd finally relented. Now, Yugi was dressed in a similar black coat, the collar pulled up, a red scarf around his neck and matching gloves on his hands. Yami had blue instead of red, the collar pulled down because it itched where it touched his skin.

"Come on," Yugi murmured, brushing against him by accident on the sidewalk and striding towards the little café. He hoped Yami would not be disappointed by his first hot chocolate and whipped cream experience. Depending on the barista, the chocolate could turn out amazing or disgusting. There was almost no in between and Yugi hoped that Yami would not be let down. The other teen hurried to follow him, their steps in unison, something which made Yugi acutely aware of how many times he had noticed this before.

"You can take your gloves off and put your hands around the cup and we can pretend that you're warming your hands up that way." He paused and cast him a small, slightly cunning grin.
"People won't think twice about it."

Yami nodded and hummed as he looked about them curiously. His fingers were too warm beneath the gloves and he swore they made his palms itch. But he forced himself to ignore it, instead allowing Yugi to lead the way. They were side by side, but he was paying enough attention to his body language, the subtle turns of his body, that he could say Yugi was leading him. If he began to turn right then so did Yami. If he moved a step faster or turned towards the street, Yami mimicked him in mere microseconds.

"I didn't tell you, but there's going to be a small wait between us ordering and getting the hot chocolate, by the way," he announced, glancing over his shoulder at him. "Since it's a small café, they take orders one at a time in the way they're received. And, besides that, they have the best cheesecakes and hot chocolate in Domino. But they take a while to get the cups done. And sometimes they have the occasional bad batch."

Yami blinked and tilted his head for the briefest of moments. "I am sure it will be fine."

Yugi felt his fingers twitch as he swallowed away the urge to snap at him. He didn't want the entire thing to be "fine". He wanted it to be great. He wanted Yami to enjoy it. The thought made him pause for only a split second. Then he shook it off again. It would be okay. Yami just had no idea how much he wanted this to turn out well. He swallowed hard and bit the inside of his cheek uncomfortably.

"Okay, so the second floor has a little more to it, but it's more just a little eating area with larger windows. Since they do a little bit more food upstairs than downstairs, there's less risk of the candy melting. Hence less windows on the bottom, and especially not as large as the ones on the top floor." He hummed and moved to gesture towards the building coming up in front of them. "They set up like a cross between some of the more popular cafés in Japan. They have a little Ferris wheel attraction like the one in Shiroi Koibito Park, some of the decor of Saturdays Coffee, Royce' Chocolate World, and a couple of others. They advertise it as a mixture of all of the best cafes they've set foot in."

Yami tilted his head and looked at the building in surprise. It was nestled rather tightly between a smaller restaurant to the left and a laundry service to the right. The outside was perfectly white, with a single strip of red lettering which showed off its name, Domino Café. Its simplicity in name was as plain as its outside, but it did not take him long to catch the sweet scent which crept through the cold air upon the door opening. Two small kids were running off with a light, thin biscuit of what looked like a fluffy hamburger bun with a chocolate bar wedged between them both. He licked his lips, because the little pastries looked cute and struck his hunger for a split second.

The sweet aroma was that of chocolate and pastries and he could catch the smallest hint of which he considered to be hot coffee and leafy tea. The softest tingle of noise alerted the person behind the clear display of wrapped candies to their arrival. The glass case was full of them, all brightly colored with aluminum wrappers which seemed to glow beneath the fluorescent lights overhead.

Alongside them were several small displays of cups and mugs which one could purchase for a small amount. To the opposite side was an immense standing display of bright, large lollipops which he wondered at the logistics of being able to stick in one's mouth. The walls were lined with shelves of which he could see napkins and towels, all with the softest distinction of the logo embroidered on them. To the far right, towards the corner, was an elegant staircase with some Christmas lights strewn across, the color a singular white rather than multiple.

The floors were a small pattern of symbols and shapes which Yami was too distracted to translate at the moment. But it looked immaculate and the soft yellow cream color of the plaster around them made his insides feel slightly warmer. There was a small chandelier of glass and beads with a set of about seven lights overhead in the center of the ceiling, doing well to shine on the case more directly. There were several yards of bright wooden tables, some circular towards the front and others longer and rectangular towards the back. Above each of them were small beams where the lights were strung for decoration and the regular fluorescents were all but hidden where they dangled downwards.

Yami found the atmosphere far more relaxing than he had originally assumed. The corners of the area were given spots of greenery, the pots of ferns and fichus plants. A small tangle of roses sat near the display case, where they were meticulously cared for and still bloomed to their fullest due to the warmth of the bakery café. There was the rare painting along the wall nearest the plants, as if to take up as miniscule an amount of space as possible. They were Japanese myths and legends, of which he knew were replicated rather than original pieces. Some showed a white wolf, others a black one, some showed foxes and women with the shadows of vixen. He blinked and studied them for a moment, then glanced at Yugi sideways.

"The wolves and the foxes…?" he prompted quietly, unsure of what more to say or how better to phrase it. He considered it for a moment, eyeing the paintings and their lighter tones, the shadows which danced across the darker canvases. He tilted his head and wondered at them, unable to keep his attention on Yugi for more than a moment in their presence.

"The owner's daughter loves the old stories about them. The white wolf is one which helped a samurai on his path. Its name is Oinusama. The black wolf is called Ooguchi no Magami. The foxes are known as kitsune. One of the most popular ways to recognize them when they change into a human form is by their shadow because it remains vixen," Yugi explained, taking them in as he always did. He had not come to the café in what felt like ages and so he considered it for a moment longer, feeling warm with nostalgia. "There are also a few legends about the kitsune marrying a prince…or something like that. I don't remember. But the kitsune god is referred to as Inari."

Yami looked at him again, red eyes alight with curiosity. "The black wolf is called the Large-Mouthed God?" he asked with a small smirk. "That's a little odd, don't you think?"

Yugi smiled faintly. "The Anui referred to him as that, yeah," he snorted. "But they also worshipped the wolves and lived in a more basic state as farmers and all of that. Then the Japanese from further south, along Honshu, came upwards and modernization started. The wolves were purged and they started rounding up cattle and building places like Domino and things like that. Ooguchi no Magami is all but forgotten aside from pictures and local legends told during holidays. Domino is basically one of the only cities that still regard most of the lore anymore aside from horror stories and urban legends."

Yami nodded slightly, then turned away. The chalkboard over the woman's head was brightly spotted with symbols and items of which boasted prices and cute drawings beside them. Some had cups with steam, others chocolate bars, and he saw a few with tea leaves as well. On the second chalkboard, to the right of the beverages, were the prices of wrapped candies, while others were those of slices of cheesecakes and berries. He tilted his head as he considered the menu curiously.

"Six hundred and fifty yen for a cup of melted chocolate?" he mumbled, eyes narrowed and lips quirked slightly downwards in surprise. Wasn't that a good quarter of the prices which they had paid at the mall when they had shopped for clothing? Was this near the same price as the sneakers he was wearing? A beverage could only last as long as he could sip it. Shoes lasted for as long as it took to become worn down. He shot Yugi a sideways glance, slightly unnerved by the idea of such a thing.

"It's a decent price," Yugi stated with a shrug. "Besides, it's authentic and they do well to make their hot chocolate unique, Yami."

The other wolf stared at him. "But it's…"

The smaller teen watched him for a moment, tilting his head towards his silence. Then he frowned slightly as he looked at him. "Yami, it's okay. I offered to bring you here. I know the prices. It's not a big deal. I have a lot more than that anyways."

"But it's… A beverage does not last long…"

Yugi flashed him a small smile. Yami had balked similarly upon seeing the amount of money spent at the mall that day. But then he had backed away from his skepticism because of the necessity of clothing. Now he was frowning at him, eyes troubled, because the drink would not last nearly as long and was so deemed unnecessary.

"We don't know if we'll get another relaxed day like this after everything happens, Yami." I don't even know if we'll survive to see the end of it. "I don't mind buying something like this if it's going to be enjoyed and you get to have a new experience."

The second part mattered the most to him at the moment but Yugi had no plans to tell him that. He moved a little closer, brushing against his arm gently. "I wouldn't have offered if I couldn't afford it," he said quietly. "I really wouldn't have, Yami."

He frowned a little more pointedly, then glanced up at the menu and back. "Yugi…" He faltered, then sighed when he saw the stubborn light which flickered in his eyes. "Which flavor is your favorite?"

Yugi smirked at him, then turned to the menu in question. "The white chocolate was divine. But you have to have a pretty big sweet tooth for it. Um… There's a dark chocolate drink which is somewhat bitter, but the green tea they put in it helps bring out more accents from the chocolate flavor. Since this is your first time trying it, we'll go with the milk chocolate one. It's got a little bit of green tea in it which boosts the flavor a lot too. Plus, you get a lot more whipped cream on that than you do the others."

Yami looked at him for a moment, then nodded. "When do we meet the others?" he asked after a heartbeat of silence passed. He could not stand the way Yugi seemed to have lost the courage to speak to him for that split second. He was only mildly startled as well to see that the smaller boy was studying the chalkboards instead of looking at him.

"We have at least an hour. Honda and Jonouchi are trying to beat a high score on one of the arcade games. Anzu is doing a little bit of shopping with her mom at the mall. She'll be done by then and we can all meet up here if you'd like? I told them I was heading this way with you anyways and Jonouchi said he might want a couple of cups of cocoa after he wins anyways." He turned to him and tilted his head only minutely. The smile on his face was soft and relaxed. "So, we can have them meet us here and head out again to talk."

Yami nodded slightly, then lowered his voice. "Am I allowed to take off these ridiculous layers?" he questioned in a pointed tone. The scarf was bunched against his neck and Yugi tried not to laugh when his chin dipped beneath one of the folds while he spoke. Yami shot the scarf an irate look. "The café is rather warm."

He smiled. "Yeah, you can take it off. I'll do the same after we order."

He nodded again, dismissing the idea of instant freedom for doing so only when Yugi led him to such action. The smaller teen rolled his eyes with a knowing expression, smiled at him lazily, and headed for the display case.

The girl was dressed in a small apron of which had the logo in bright red and soft ruffles at the end, though he assumed they served as the tops of pockets. The usual skirt which she normally served in had been changed for warm tights beneath her stylishly torn jeans and her usual button-down short-sleeved shirt was changed for a long-sleeved. The tie was bright red against the white and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the dark brown tresses falling in small waves along her heart-shaped face.

He smiled at her indulgently as he always had when she greeted him a bit too loudly. Then he nodded at her and resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder and make sure Yami was still there. He could tell just by the way her eyes flickered over his shoulder and briefly towards the wall what he was doing those few feet away.

"I was interested in getting two Kumarae hot chocolate," he announced, trying not to encourage her usual flirtation with a lack of eye contact as he studied the menu. "And two of the Guinea Samoa…"

She was distracted as she answered, eyes peering up from beneath her lashes towards Yami rather than him. "Did you want the whipped cream on top of both of the hot chocolates? Or one or none?" she asked, not bothering to stop her blatant staring.

Yugi cast a small glance over his shoulder towards Yami where the other boy was carefully avoiding looking towards them. Instead he studied the walls and the paintings, red eyes keen upon them as if he were heavily fixated. Yugi grinned as he turned back, not the least bit concerned. Yami could handle her crush just as well as he did he supposed. "Both, please."

She nodded again, then bowed to him, giving him a soft thank you for his patronage. Yugi did the same immediately after she rose again, then turned and trotted towards Yami.

"It'll be about thirty minutes. They make the whipped cream in single batches just like they do the coffee and chocolate. So it will be a wait, but not too terribly long." He let out a breath as Yami turned his full attention to him again. His eyes were bright and his excitement was almost tangible. Yugi wanted nothing more than to imprint that expression into his mind to remain in his memory for the rest of his life. It was almost so mesmerizing as to take his breath away. He bit his lip to keep his breathing even. "So, did you want to take a seat?"

Yami considered it for a moment, then nodded, ignoring her glance at them. She looked relatively puzzled from what his sharp peripheral gathered of her expression, not the least bit malicious but not quite ecstatic about their closeness either. He wondered at this.

Her staring had been as obvious as Mai offering to sleep with them both or the she-wolves throwing themselves at his feet as they had formerly. The nervous smile on her face had done similarly in expressing her desire. But she looked more worried than anything, bemused by their physical closeness.

Was there something wrong with the way they were standing like this?

Yugi didn't bother to address it if there was. He simply grinned at him and turned to lead the way towards one of the tables. It was longer, rectangular, towards the staircase which would lead to the upper level of the store. He glanced at the beautiful golden tone of the smooth metal that made up the railing, then turned back to the smaller teen.

"Did you order a drink for yourself as well?" Yami asked, pulling the gloves off only when Yugi began to do so. The mimicry was almost seamless, though the smaller teen merely raised a brow and ignored it after.

"Yeah, I figured I might as well. I haven't been here in a little while. And I'm kind of thirsty and hungry, so why not?" He shrugged his jacket off and plucked the scarf from around his neck, pushing them into the seat beside him. Yami did the same, watching him for more of a direction of which he might understand further. The smaller teen shrugged, then sat against the backrest of his chair with a small sigh of contentment. "Besides, I wanted one of the samoas with it."

"Samoa?"

His blue-violet eyes twinkled. "You'll love them," he guaranteed with a lazy gesture of his wrist. He smiled at him and Yami wondered at how one's whole face could light up so brilliantly. He blinked and Yugi licked his lips with a backwards glance towards the staircase. "Do you smell that?"

Yami blinked again, then leaned forward. When he inhaled, all he could truly catch was that of flowers rising from beneath trenches of snow and water thawing from the touch of the sun. There was heat and the lightest brush of grass and fallen leaves, the tiniest lilt of which he could not describe but thought of as beautiful as moonlight trickling between tree branches.

Beneath that came the fresh smoke of a grilled piece of meat, one which he had recognized momentarily as something he had once hunted in the forest. It was buttery and charred and the layer of fat was soft in its succulent touch. Yami drew in a deeper breath, mind working to identify the many shadows the scent was pocketed within. There was, around this, the slightest hint of citrus, sharp and bold against his nose, and the heavier touch of a sharp, bristling herb which he could not name. He paused and tried again, his mind working harder now than ever to supply him the name of this meat.

Yugi smiled across from him, sniffed once more, and then tilted his head. Yami was trying harder than he had originally assumed he would. He had expected him to sniff, relay it easily, and then grin at him when he bristled and said that wasn't fair. But instead he was leaning forward as a dog might strain at the end of its leash, nose working in rapid gusts, eyes darkened with thought. He could see the gears like shadows behind his eyes, dark and pedaling rapidly for his answer. Yugi wondered if he had ever even tried the meat in question.

"I cannot identify the meat," Yami finally answered a solid minute later. He dropped back into his seat, sighing forcefully through his nose. He did not look ashamed, though there was the slightest frustration there around his wonderment. "What is it?"

"It's boar," the smaller teen said with a glance back over his shoulder. "They like to smoke the boar themselves before they begin making their sandwiches for order. It's a really cool process. They let you watch as you eat."

Yami nodded slightly. "I've only hunted boar once. I preferred the serows," he muttered, voice almost inaudible as Yugi turned back to him. There was something distracted and somewhat forlorn lingering in his eyes. "But I do remember that they were somewhat heavier and harder to kill. The serows have that thick fur during winter. But the boars possess strong hides all year round."

"Was it hard?"

He didn't blink, nor bother to ask for clarification. "Serows tend to look back over their shoulders constantly. I did not ever truly bother to attempt stalking them. Boars were more likely to attack you the moment they spotted you. It was harder to take one down because they constantly charged and tried to keep in time with you. And their tusks were much sharper than I assumed they would be."

Yugi stiffened. "Were you hurt?"

"No more than a scratch on my right leg. It was gone in only a few minutes after I ate and rested," he said dismissively. He sniffed again, then turned to him. "The spicier scent, what is it?"

He grinned at his demanding expression. "Is that bothering you?" he laughed softly. "It's rosemary. The other one is lemon. They smoke and season the boar, then slice it into very thin slabs and sandwich them later."

Yami nodded after a moment. "It was driving me crazy." He gave him a small, somewhat nervous smile. "Did you come here often before you were bitten? Is that how you know the scents and their processes so well?"

Yugi felt his lips fall into a thin, pressed line. "My dad would bring me here when he was in Japan," he answered with a small shrug. His eyes fell onto the table, the pattern of wood comforting to look at. "We would sit at this exact table if we weren't getting something to eat. If we were, we would go up there and watch them as they prepared the food."

"I'm sorry…?"

He blinked, wondering at the apology, then looked at him curiously. "It doesn't matter. I'm not upset or anything—I mean, not about the question. I just haven't seen him in a while. He called me earlier and we talked while I was eating breakfast. I just don't see him as often now that he's been promoted. It sucks. We used to come here once a month."

Yami studied him, then tilted his head. "How long has it been since you last came here?" he asked slowly, frowning in puzzlement.

"Almost eight months now."

He cringed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Yugi gave him a smile that was pained around the edges but comfortable and bright at its core. His eyes were lighter than they had been moments before and his expression was no longer saddened. "I don't mind answering questions, Yami. I enjoy it when you ask me things. I like it when you're curious."

He frowned. "You enjoy me being curious about you?"

The smaller teen snorted. "And anything else. I enjoy you being curious about anything. If you have a question and I might have the answer, then I want you to ask me. Don't feel ashamed to do it. I'll always try to give you the exact answer." He paused, wondering at his own tone of voice before smiling once more. "Look, if I have the answer, I'll always gladly share it with you, no matter what the subject. So, ask away."

The red-eyed teen frowned, biting his lip. "I remember being told something similar one time," he said after a long moment. He closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly. "It was in regards to himself more than anything else, I suppose. I really was more curious about him and his experiences than I was the world that surrounded him formerly."

Yugi felt his smile drop away. His stomach was twisting roughly into hideous shapes now. "Did he keep that promise?" he asked after a moment.

Yami smiled now, though it was sad and his eyes were darkened with grief. "Every single time," he admitted, looking away after a moment. "He would answer my each and every question, even when I asked the same thing over and over again."

"You must have been younger…"

"No, I just learned to think in a different way and view the world in another manner so that the questions could be answered through experience rather than inquiry." He faltered, looking away quickly and considering the wood patterns of the table they sat at. "I do not want someone else to die for my stupidity."

Yugi blinked wide eyes, shocked by the statement, and rapidly shook his head. "Yami, that's not… You didn't do anything to get him killed."

He laughed lightly, the sound cold and cynical, and looked up at him with a sneer forming on his lips. "Yugi, you do not know what I have and have not done growing up. I appreciate your belief in me, but circumstances make me responsible for his death. It was an accident but if I had been smarter and listened to him more, he might still be here. He might have escaped the tunnels with me rather than…what they did to him."

Yugi opened his mouth to argue, then immediately stopped himself. The barista was heading towards them, eyes bright and questioning. She held the cups of cocoa on a metal tray in one hand and two small dishes of pastries in the other.

"Thank you," he said, allowing her to arrange the dishes as she saw fit. Yami echoed in a quieter tone, voice soft and almost shallow in the warm air. Yugi glanced at him to see him look at her for only that brief moment it took her to make eye contact. She blushed and Yami turned away without a second glance. Yugi wondered if it was the way he looked up, grateful and friendly, or the color of his eyes which made her react that way. Either way, his lips twitched and he fought off a smirk of amusement.

She turned away and seemed to hurry for the display case again. Yugi smiled faintly and turned to Yami again. The other boy was sniffing at the pastry, head tilted, eyes bright with mystified wonder. The little cake was fluffy, square in appearance. The sides were framed with cinnamon and chocolate which dusted the inch high concoction. The color beyond that was a gentle, light vanilla shade of which reminded him of soft pillows. The center was given a dousing of milk chocolate which was given the smallest hint of what seemed to be grains of sugar. The entire thing was a perfect square about the size of his own thumb length and width wise. On the plate beside it was a tan cup with small, neat grooves of which swirled upwards like currents of smoke. It was shorter than the cups Yugi usually gave him his protein shakes in, with a wispier effect given its lighter color. An inch of bright white fluff rose above it, swirled from the outside inwards in layers upon layers, swaying gently and melting along the edges from the heat which cushioned it below.

Yugi smiled at him. "It's a combination of graham cracker, marshmallow and chocolate ganache. The marshmallow was made right after we ordered and it's cooked on a small flame that they can start on one of those little burners. The flavor comes out smoky and then she dusts it with cacao bean along the sides along with some cinnamon."

Yami sniffed again, then looked up at him from beneath his lashes. He looked as delighted as a child on Christmas Eve, eyes bright and wondering, his face lit with curiosity.

"It's the best thing to go with the hot chocolate they serve here. Or at least I think it is. Jonouchi thinks otherwise but that's because he's a pig and likes to munch down on boar sandwiches instead of pastries." He watched him, his insides burning with joy and excitement. "Well? Aren't you going to try the hot chocolate yet?"

Yami hesitated, then looked at the cup and the froth of white which made its crown. He tilted his head in puzzlement and considered the idea for a moment. How was he meant to drink that? The foam was so high and the edges were melting, but there was no spoon or a straw for which he could pick at it with. So how was he meant to do it?

Yugi was struggling not to laugh. Yami was looking at it as if he might expect it to lunge out at him at any moment. He smiled a little and the taller boy sniffed again before furrowing his brows. Tentatively he leaned forward and his tongue flicked out to touch the soft white cream.

Yugi laughed out loud when he drew his tongue back, eyes on the bit of whipped cream on the tip. He blinked at it, then at him, blushed, and pulled the pink muscle back into his mouth. His eyes widened, then lit in further wonderment at the soft texture and the way it so effortlessly melted upon his tongue. He lapped at his lips where he could feel it lightly touching his mouth. He blinked again, eyes brightening further, and wondered at the lightness of its flavor once more.

"I'm going to guess that you like it."

Yami blinked, then nodded as he licked his lips again. There was none remaining but he had to make sure. "It is delicious," he announced, pulling the plate and cup closer to himself. He had not noticed the tiny wafer which was seated beside it, the only thing which was spared of anything chocolate. He looked at it for a moment, then turned back to Yugi. "How am I meant to drink this properly?"

Yugi laughed softly. "You can either lick the whipped cream off or wait for it to melt into the cocoa. It's either way you prefer to do it." He paused. "Or I can get you a spoon and you can eat it like that, I guess?"

He shook his head. "No, a spoon seems unnecessary. I think I would rather lick." Yami looked at him from beneath his lashes, then smiled a little more. "But will I get it all over my nose?"

"Not if you use your tongue instead of trying to drink from the rim of the cup, I think," he answered with a small shrug. "But I haven't had whipped cream on my hot chocolate in a while, honestly."

He blinked wide eyes. "You don't normally have whipped cream on your hot chocolate?" he demanded in a shocked, incredulous tone. Yugi laughed at his scandalized expression. "Why would you not want whipped cream on top? It is delicious!"

Yugi rolled his eyes, smiling brightly. "It is, but it's also really sweet. I have a big sweet tooth some days and not others. And I tend to only like sweeter things about a month of two apart." He shrugged slightly, then looked him over again. His eyes were still so bright and his smile was purely blissful as he continued talking. "But I'm glad you like it so much."

Yami stuck his tongue out and flicked the cream with the tip of it once more. Then he licked his lips, closed his eyes with a blissful expression, and lapped at it again. A moment passed in which he continued to lazily do this. Yugi smiled wider and pulled his own cup closer to himself. He did not truly think that he would drink it all, but he assumed it would do him well to pretend. He could tell that Yami would become uncomfortable otherwise.

Yami opened his eyes just enough to look at him, then sat back slightly. After a moment he dipped his pinkie finger into it, scooping more of the white cream from his beverage with just the smallest hint of the chocolate beneath his nail. The movement had instantly cooled it and he considered it around licking away the cream. "Will the chocolate itself be just as good?"

Yugi smiled faintly. "I think it's better than the cream itself. But others like the cream more. I guess it depends on how much of a sweet tooth you really have, Yami," he answered with a small shrug. "But I like them both a lot."

Hopefully she made them as best she could. I don't want Yami to be disappointed with the actual hot chocolate itself. That would be terrible. I don't think I could handle that. Not when it had taken him so long just to get him to agree to allow him to get the drinks in the first place. He hadn't even mentioned the cost of the pastries in front of him as well. If he had known, he would most certainly be upset with it. And Yugi really hoped to the gods that it would not happen.

Even as one-sided as it was, Yugi could not help the small hint of hope inside of him which bloomed through his veins. It was beautiful and comforting despite it all. And all he could think was, This is almost like a date. This is almost like Yami having agreed to date me. I don't want this to be ruined by someone who made an off batch of hot chocolate.

Yami lapped at that small touch of chocolate beneath his nail. The first to touch his tongue was a single hint of bitterness, cacao rather than milk chocolate. The sensation was welcome against the sweetness which lasted on his tongue now. He licked his lips as a sharper, warmer hint of something came soon after, light and airy as well. He blinked. The sense was warmer, lighter, and the bitterness was swayed by the smallest touch of sweetness like candied mint.

"Is it good?" he demanded, unnerved by his contemplative expression. He was seconds from squirming in his seat.

Yami blinked, looking up at him, and gave him a small grin. "Very," he said with an easy nod, turning back to his drink.

"Then why are you looking at it like that?"

The other wolf glanced over his shoulder and then back before reaching under the plate for the napkin beneath it. He slid it across the table and Yugi burst out laughing. The girl had put her name and number on it, a bold attempt for him to notice her considering she had only awkwardly smiled and teased him. Yugi smiled widely, looking it over, then glanced at the drink in front of him. "That's great," he chuckled. "When do you two plan to hook up?"

Yami had cream on his nose and was bug-eyed when he looked at Yugi now. "Hook up?" he echoed in a mystified tone. The smaller teen snickered again, then raised a brow. Yami tried to run his tongue over the tip of his nose and failed.

"You know, bump uglies?"

He shook his head slowly at the statement. His eyes were still wide and mystified, but his focus was definitely on the whipped cream instead of the conversation any longer. He tried again and Yugi swore he had to have been forcing some kind of minimal change because his tongue seemed a lot longer this time. He was just amazed that it didn't flatten out further and the end didn't scoop up and run completely over his nose like a wolf's.

"How about copulation without commitment?"

Yami blinked at him, then lapped his tongue at the whipped cream again. "You mean like the forced breeding within the labs?" he asked slowly, tilting his head.

"Kind of—well, no, not at all."

"Then what…?"

"I mean more like… Okay, so basically, a hook up is when a guy and a girl meet up, have sex, and almost always never see each other again." He shrugged at Yami's stunned expression. "It's perfectly normal for people to do that and for them to use the other person for relief."

Yami blinked again. Then he cast another awkward glance towards the girl at the display case. She was pointedly keeping her head down and Yugi wondered if she had taken his laughter the wrong way. Immediately he deflated, wondering if he should try to explain…

But what was he going to say?

"Sorry, I think you're brave for doing that. I was really only laughing because Yami is helpless when it comes to things like this"?

It was true, but who would really believe that Yami was as innocent as he was?

He had a face that could charm the devil and eyes which could burn through one's soul when he paid them full attention. Anyone would think he had miles of experience behind him when it came down to it. Yugi looked down at his own cup.

"That's… I'm not doing that."

"I know. I was just teasing."

Yami shifted his weight awkwardly, then tilted his head uncomfortably. "I had not assumed that she would…" Then he paused and furrowed his brows. "Not to say that she is not beautiful, but my tastes run differently."

Yugi raised a brow. Yami had tastes? The smallest trill of excitement crept through him. If Yami still had tastes, did that mean he might actually be recovering from the death of his mate? He hummed slightly, then tilted his head and asked, "And where do your tastes lie?"

Yami was licking whipped cream from his nose again. He must have tried to sip the chocolate drink while Yugi was musing because there was a nice frothy white foam almost covering the top half of it. The taller boy glanced at him from beneath his lashes and then away again, trying to lick away the foam. "They're more…exotic," he said after a moment, slow in his answer. "It seems the most…fitting word."

"Exotic?" the smaller teen asked, wondering at the way his blood heated with excitement when the word rolled off Yami's tongue. "Exotic how?"

Yami glanced at him again. Then he licked away the foam in one swift movement and fell back in his chair with a thoughtful expression. "Species, birthplace, skin tone." He shrugged.

"You like a human?"

He wrinkled his nose. "I suppose you could say that," he answered somewhat disdainfully. "But I do not know why we should entertain this conversation any longer. I am not looking for anything. They simply caught my eye and I thought them gorgeous. I am not interested in much else rather than companionship. I do not desire anything more."

Yugi nodded after a moment. "Okay." He shrugged. Yami was looking at him oddly, something between contemplative and fearful. The red eyes had darkened and glittered only slightly beneath the lighting.

The smaller teen thought of the night before, how he had so boldly proposed sex with him as a cure for his woes despite the obvious fear and hesitancy which gripped him immediately after. He thought of that little smile, full of secrets and curiosity. And he wondered at his words now. He supposed he could say that they were human?

Then again, Yugi guessed it didn't matter any longer. As he had told Anzu, the time he ran on was borrowed and one of them was likely to end up dead.

"I—" His phone was vibrating in his pocket. Yugi ignored the way Yami watched him so curiously as he dug through his jacket to reach the inside pocket. He'd put it there to buffer it from the cold. It was pressed into his side due to the placement and he'd hoped that it would keep it from any kind of weather damage. The screen was lit up and Jonouchi's name was in the center.

"Hey, Jonouchi."

Yami blinked, watching him, then moved to take another long sip of his cocoa, licking at the cream on his nose again. The two flavors did well to complement each other, vibrant and wondrous in the way they chased one another on his tongue.

"Hey, Yug, so we decided to go ahead and come over to the café. We're about ten minutes away." Yami wondered at the slightly flustered look that crossed Yugi's face at the news. "Anyways, so, are we leaving the café to go to the park or are we staying there?"

He glanced at Yami, raising a brow. The other wolf paused for a moment, then raised a finger in silent answer. Yugi smiled at him slightly. "We're still going to the park," he answered, though he had to fight the urge to nod as if the blond could see him. "But we can stay here as long as you guys want if there's something you wanted to get."

"I've been craving one of the sandwiches."

The smaller teen snorted. "You're always hungry. You craving them isn't surprising," he snickered. He watched Yami lick away the last of his whipped cream and sip at his drink once more. When he reached for the somoa, Yugi couldn't help but grin. "Yami and I are seated towards the back, near the staircase. If you're going to get the sandwich, you'll definitely see us."

Yami looked the little pastry over for a moment. The cinnamon and cacao was on his fingers in a fine dust from where he had just barely touched it. The taller teen considered it for a moment, then leaned forward to sniff it again. No matter what way he grabbed it, there would be residue in his fingers. He could always lick it off, but that seemed somehow almost disrespectful.

Regardless, he was curious about it and he wanted it.

"All right, cool. We'll see you then."

"Okay," Yugi said, distracted by the way Yami was eyeing his small snack. He smiled lopsidedly as he slid the phone aside to rest in his coat pocket again. "If you pick it up by the corners, you won't get too much on your fingers, but if you're not used to holding something like that, then you might drop it."
Yami narrowed his eyes. "How many times did you drop it?"

He took a moment to sort through the memories of the small café. "Let's see, I think I did twice? The third time I actually managed to catch it before it hit the floor."

He smiled faintly. "Think I'll be able to catch it if I drop it?" he teased, eyes bright and full of laughter. "Because I kind of doubt it."

Yugi snorted. "I was trying to find a nice way of saying no but you just saved me the trouble," he snickered. "If you drop it, you can have mine instead."

The humor seemed to fade before he could fully catch himself. His eyes lowered to the set of plates in front of him. "You have not even touched yours," he commented, frowning. "Why?"

Yugi smiled at him. "You were more interesting than the cocoa," he admitted with a lazy shrug. He leaned forward and drew his cup closer, taking a sip. The cream was almost completely melted as it was. It only barely touched the tip of his nose. He ignored it but Yami seemed completely enamored with it. "So, yeah, if you're worried about getting it on your fingers, you should grab it from the corners."

He hummed in acknowledgment but did not answer for a few moments. Then he leaned over, grabbed the cup, and took another sip. It occurred to Yugi with startling clarity that Yami would not touch his until Yugi did his own. Until then he would not even reach for it. The smaller teen frowned faintly, then grabbed his own pastry. He snatched it up by the corners, angled his wrist so that it would drop more likely into his palm than onto the table or the plate beneath. Then he took a quick bite and put it back, raising a brow at him in challenge.

Yami snorted and mimicked him in grabbing it, though he was not as fast and merely nibbled at the edge. Then he blinked, bit a little more, and chucked it into his mouth with the smallest noise of approval. Yugi snorted loudly, smiling in amusement, and shook his head as he watched him happily chew and swallow.

"See? Perfect complement to the hot chocolate."

The taller lycanthrope licked his lips, looked his fingers over, and grabbed the napkin that had the girl's print on it. For a moment longer he hesitated. Then he wiped his fingers clean on the other side of the paper. "It was," he agreed, though he cast the napkin a somewhat guilty glance.

He supposed he could dispose of it outside and—

"Don't feel bad. If she's not your type she's not your type," Yugi said in a calm tone, shrugging. "Besides, it's not the smartest way to ask someone out. If you hadn't noticed, she couldn't hold it against you. And I don't even know if she's sixteen yet. She was twelve when I started coming here with my dad. That was about three years ago and I have no idea when her birthday is."

Yami blinked and gave him a curious glance. "Why would it matter if she's sixteen yet?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"In this prefecture you have to be at least sixteen before you can date someone. Sixteen is the limit here in Domino. So say a nineteen-year-old was dating a fourteen-year-old? They could get arrested because she's not considered legal until she's sixteen."

"Legal?"

"Old enough to have sex."

Yami blinked wide eyes. "What? Humans have rules on that too?" He glanced over his shoulder towards her, then wrinkled his nose. "Not that it matters to me one way or another. But, in the lab, they would keep the females in their wolf skin until their bodies matured enough to go into heat. When that happened they would try to forcefully inseminate them with a drugged male… It's a way of drastically aging a body that otherwise couldn't do anything they saw necessary. Of course, physical stress often rendered them all barren, but the concept is the same…"

Yugi found that his tongue was plastered to the roof of his mouth in his horror. "W-what?"

Yami looked at what was left of his cocoa and his stomach ached for a moment. Had he truly just spoken about that? He blinked, then raised his eyes to Yugi again, voice lower with the tension which gripped his body.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to…" He faltered. "I just… It's strange how much humans wish to dictate. Wolves mature faster than humans because of their shorter lifespan. And they often choose for themselves whether to leave the pack in search of a mate. But humans…they have to control every aspect of it…"

Yugi frowned. "Yami, wolves mature faster than humans, yes. Which is why when you look at dogs versus people, some of those one-year-olds make smarter decisions than an eighteen-year-old human. The problem is that humans aren't like wolves. There are too many of us and not enough structure. As much as we try, we can't control everything. And people get away with really bad things."

Yami blinked. "I am aware that many people get away with things they have no right to."

He shook his head. "No, what I mean is…some people like to have sex with…younger generations. They're called pedophiles and—okay, so, do you remember when we were talking about Yoshimori? Do you remember that? We had a conversation about his watching me as a kid, if I thought it was predatory or if he knew I was a werewolf?"

His lip curled. "Yes. You said that now that you're sixteen—"

Yugi held a hand up and Yami immediately fell silent again, regarding him with darkened but curious eyes. "I'm not going into that again. What I mean is that people like younger than teenagers. Some like six and seven-year-old kids and they might kidnap them and rape them or even sell them for pornography or sex trafficking. What it boils down to is this—under the penal code, any person at the age of thirteen is considered allowed to have sex. But on top of this law is that the prefecture has the rule that should someone older than that person be interested in them, they could be arrested. So, fourteen-year-old with nineteen-year-old? Arrested in certain prefectures, but okay in others. Now, two fourteen-year-olds? They might get away with having sex without repercussions. Why? They're both the same age and they're considered legal. It's rare from what I know, because I don't think that there are many people who claim to be sexually active for the sake of it at such a young age. But then, it's highly possible that they might both be prosecuted as well. Seeing as they both live under their parents' roofs and rely on them for financial reasons, their guardians can very easily declare it rape. And that might be the way for one or even both to be prosecuted. But sometimes the laws are somewhat strange and harder to interpret."

"Why are they not clear cut?"

Yugi shrugged. "Differing circumstances, I suppose. But in the states, each has its own age limit to base legality on. They're given the ability to have sex without repercussions at whatever age was chosen, can even marry or drive around that same time as well." He frowned and pushed his plate towards Yami, the samoa the last thing he wanted to bother eating at the moment. The other boy blinked in confusion, shaking his head, and Yugi gave him a small smile and a dismissive flick of his hand. "Anyways, there is no protection from a statutory rape clause here as there are in the states. They call them the Romeo and Juliet clause which dictates that if the two are close enough in age then they can have sex and it not be seen as punishable."

"All right, so if there are laws to negotiate the initial age of consent, then why would thirteen be considered such?"

"Well, the law on top of the legal age of consent is something I think they call the prevention of corruption of a minor. It makes the legal age within that prefecture somewhere from sixteen to eighteen years of age." He took a sip of his cocoa and shrugged slightly. "The only way that I know of that two thirteen-year-old kids could have sex and not worry about it would be by consent of the parents. And that would mean that they saw the relationship as truly or sincerely romantic. And, as far as I know, if they were to be the same age they might get away with it as well. But beyond that, I know that the most likely way to get past the prefectures' declaration of age would be that of parental consent. Then certain areas allow marriage of girls to be around sixteen and eighteen for boys with consent, or twenty otherwise."

Yami nodded slightly. "So it's meant to be used for protection of younger children and people," he commented with a tilt of his head.

"Yeah, exactly. And it's…" He fell quiet for a moment, then awkwardly laughed under his breath. "This is a really heavy talk for hot chocolate and pastries. I… Wow, this is really a strange conversation to be having right about now."

The red-eyed teen blinked, but it was not embarrassment which made him consider him more closely. Rather he wrinkled his nose and shrugged with casual dismissal. "You are the one which brought it up," he said with a raised brow.

He smiled wider. "I know, but you asked so I explained." He peered into his eyes a little more pointedly, hopeful that nothing he'd said had upset him in any manner. Yami had spoken about the labs, after all… "It boils down to the idea of if they're the same age and thirteen or older, then they should be fine. If they're older and younger, their parents might prosecute. If they've got parental permission, they're free to do as they like as long as they're thirteen or older. And, basically, marriage should probably be after you're twenty to avoid parental consent."

Yami smirked and shook his head. "Thank you for the explanation. You're right though, this is rather heavy. Let's talk about something else, yes?"

Yugi opened his mouth, then paused and blinked wide eyes. The door swung open and a small, soft jingle came through the speakers overhead. He looked at the door and the three figures which came in. The blond and brunet were laughing at each other, full of banter as they always seemed to be, and Anzu trailed them with a somewhat tired, almost reluctant expression. All three of them paused, glanced about them, spotted Yugi, and made a bee line for the two wolves.

Yami moved to scoot over a chair and Yugi felt his distance much harsher than he truly should have. It was, after all, only one seat diagonal to him, but it still somehow burned him. The smaller teen glanced at him, eyes troubled briefly, but the other boy merely continued to move his stuff until he could put it in his lap. Then he snatched his cup and settled it slightly in his lap, taking a large sip a second later and ignoring the way Yugi watched him.

He smiled in amusement and shook his head. He didn't have to move. They could have changed seats at any moment or the others could have asked Yugi to take a seat further towards the wall. Yugi licked his lips and took a sip of his own cocoa, ignoring the impulse to tell Yami he hadn't needed to do that.

"So, what's up, guys?" Jonouchi asked, coming to the side of the table. His small best friend looked up with a grin and bright eyes. The red-eyed boy merely looked up and considered the three of them with a tilt of his head. He was not alarmed nor threatened in the slightest, just full of contemplation.

"We were just talking about some stupid things," Yugi answered. But he was suddenly acutely aware of that napkin Yami had moved and was holding in his right hand. When he glanced at it, the other boy tightened his grip and then stuffed it into his jeans pocket. No doubt he was simply trying to hide it away from them. "Nothing too important. Besides, what's there to talk about? We were saving the best topics for last."

"You mean whether you guys do it doggy style or missionary?" the blond quipped immediately. Yugi groaned and rolled his eyes but Yami blinked and snorted loudly, turning back to his cup. Jonouchi and Honda glanced at each other sideways, laughing, and looked at Yami more pointedly.

"You guys look a lot more alike when you're further away," Jonouchi noted, frowning faintly as he took in their expressions.

Yami's eyes were much darker than Yugi's, the shapes of them entirely too different. Their skin tones were several shades away from each other and the way they held each other was altogether different from anything he had seen before. It was almost like one of those spot the differences worksheets. Yami's jaw was sharper, his hair longer, with more color to the strands. His shoulders were slightly broader and his stance at the moment was relaxed but with the finest hint of tension beneath his skin. His fingers were longer, his hands a little wider, with darker nails and what looked like sharper tips. His collarbone was the smallest bit deeper than Yugi's and the way he raised his chin as he considered him was completely unlike his companion.

He glanced at Yugi again. His eyes were so much wider, with long and thick black lashes like spider webs. His cheeks were fuller, softer, more cherubic. His skin was still so much lighter than the other boy's. His fingers were shorter but slender, his hands thinner, and his wrists were the smallest hint wider than Yami's. His head was lowered if only slightly, more submissive than challenging, though there had been the most subtle change in the last couple of seconds.

He did not miss it in the slightest. And it made his stomach hurt to see it.

Yugi was watching him with an expression of darker eyes and a cunning which he had never noticed him to possess before. The line of his shoulders had risen only faintly, but it was there. And his chin was tipped slightly upwards, this time declaring an open invitation of challenge which unnerved the tall blond.

"They could be fraternal twins though," Honda said with a hint of dismissal, shrugging. He must have seen the tension in both of their bodies because he shot Jonouchi a look to be quiet on the subject. "Anyways, so, we're going to go grab a couple of sandwiches. If Anzu isn't coming, then she'll keep you company, I guess?"

The brunette looked flustered at the declaration but nodded all the same, casting them both small smiles. "Yeah, I'm going to stay down here with you guys. I don't really want anything to eat."

Yugi nodded and looked at Jonouchi. "I think they just started assembling the first sandwiches a few minutes ago," he murmured, grinning at him playfully.

"Sweet!" The blond trotted off with Honda a step behind them. The squabbling began the moment they stepped onto the first stair. They snickered and laughed and hurried up the staircase. Yugi watched the two of them disappear and then turned around again. Anzu was avoiding looking at either of them and Yami was cradling his cup in his hands, eyes on the other side of the café.

How awkward…

He looked to Anzu. "So, um, my mom mentioned something to me a couple of days ago. It was something about the, um…the deaths going on," he mentioned, biting his lip and watching him closely for a moment. "There are a bunch of biologists that have been brought here to look into what animal could be doing it, right?"

Yami looked up now, at attention and curious as he considered them both. Anzu swallowed hard, looking away when she realized that the red-eyed lycanthrope was staring at her. She fidgeted, then turned to Yugi solely in an effort to draw some comfort from a more familiar face.

"They called in a bunch from the states, yeah. Apparently one of the murder victims was a citizen there. I don't think they've told anyone the name yet, but they contacted the authorities over there to find out and ask for help with it all. With the FBI there were contacts brought out to discuss what animal it could be. Everyone assumes it's a wolf and that's not possible here. So no one really knows what to say about it." Now she glanced at Yami minutely and swallowed hard. "Although, now I guess we all know what could have caused it…"

If he had not known her for so long he might have thought she was accusing Yami. It would have made him bristle and snap at her. But the time spent with her growing up did well to stem his initial response. She was just referring to the strength displayed during the fight against the tigress. She did not mean that Yami was the one to do it.

"She said the prints are definitely that of canis lupus but the bite force is beyond anything they're capable of. Is that right?"

"Something about it being over three thousand pounds of pressure," she admitted, biting her lip and shaking her head. "That's what a crocodile in the Nile bites at. They're freaked out somehow someone is hiding the initial murder by setting wolfdogs on the bodies afterwards."

Yugi shook his head and glanced at Yami before turning back. "He's been with me since before the last few deaths happened," he answered the unspoken question, shrugging and shaking his head slightly. "Anyways, but Yami did mention that when a wolf gets extremely stressed, they're able to bite a lot harder. I don't know the extent of that, but it is possible that something is going on to make the werewolves attack."

Anzu nodded a little but did not comment further. It was obvious she was thinking of his words the night before, about a war and either himself or Yami dying. She looked over to the red-eyed wolf and bit her lip. "Thank you for helping us at the factory, by the way," she said instead, because it was the only time she thought she might be able to tell him so.

Yami nodded in response, without much more than a blink. She almost cringed as she looked into his face for a moment. He seemed unnaturally still and his unblinking stare was so much that of a canine that it scared her to see. His lack of a smile to acknowledge her words made her skin crawl beneath her coat and she let out a small breath.

Yugi nudged him from under the table and when he glanced at him the smaller teen tilted his head slightly towards Anzu again. The movement jarred him enough to turn to her again and say, "You're welcome…"

The smallest teen snorted at the obvious question he could hear ending the statement. Both Yami and Anzu glanced at him as he shook his head and closed his eyes. Poor Yami, he was so awkward when it came to interacting with regular people. He supposed that shouldn't have been too surprising. Yami was so unlike any regular person, and he was one of the kindest, beautiful people he had ever met. But he was still so antisocial when it came to regards towards humans. He had no proper understanding of it all or what was expected of him.

"So, did we miss the answer about the doggy style thing or is that still a mystery?" Jonouchi announced as he took a huge bite of a half-eaten sandwich in his hands.

"You just got that thing and you're already almost done with it?" Yugi huffed, looking at the bright bread and the slices of smoked boar. He rolled his eyes. "And, let's talk about privacy, shall we?"

"Well, actually, it depends on what form you're in. If you're a canine, then obviously it would make sense to do it that way." All four of them stared at him with eyes which looked as if they might bug out of their heads. Yami snorted into his cup, smirking widely and shaking his head. "You all are absolute morons."

Honda burst out laughing, grinning widely and tilting his head as he regarded him. "That's awesome." He looked at Jonouchi. "He's got more balls than you."

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Oh please. That's just him being a jackass," he snorted, nudging Yami again under the table. It made the other boy snicker harder around sipping his drink. "Anyways, so, um, the park is where we need to continue this conversation if you guys want to actually ask us any questions."

Yami put his cup down after a moment, empty and licked almost completely clean with a tongue that seemed both human and canine. He licked his lips after, then got to his feet as Yugi did the same. The smaller teen pulled the jacket on, checked his phone, and then redid the scarf around his neck. The taller boy followed his lead, glanced at the cup of cocoa that was still almost completely full, and then drew his gloves back on with a somewhat flustered sensation in the pit of his stomach.

Yugi turned away from him and trotted towards the front of the display case, cup in hand. He chatted with her for a few moments while Jonouchi studied Yami and Honda watched Anzu with a sympathetic expression. She had not told him what had happened the night before, had just called him crying and asking him to talk to her about anything he could think of. But, judging by the way she seemed to have trouble looking at Yami head on and the way the two lycanthropes had been so in tune with each other…

Yugi returned with a Styrofoam cup, a small straw stuck inside a cap which shielded the drink from any outside debris. He looked at Yami, stretching it towards him, and murmured, "Here, in case you still want to take your gloves off."

The drink wasn't nearly hot enough to provide a real cover for his lack of gloves, but no one else would realize that. Yami blinked in surprise, then immediately took his gloves off to toss into his pocket and wrap his hands around the small cup. "Thank you."

Honda was oddly sure of the idea that their closeness at that moment was not strictly of the platonic sense. There was something strangely close and powerful between the two of them, which managed to draw them together somehow even more. It was as if one were the extension of the other, like their breath gave the other life. They did not so much as have to glance at each other to fall into line side by side. But when they got out the door, Yami dropped to the back and Yugi remained in the front.

Honda glanced at him as he began to move past him but Yami did not blink. Instead his eyes were ahead of them and he seemed almost to be scanning the area around them. He wondered if threats were often or the entire thing was a show of nerves which Honda himself still had yet to recognize and decipher. He frowned faintly as the blue-violet-eyed teen began to walk beyond them, saying something along the lines of, "You know, doggy style is supposed to get you deeper though."

The comment startled all three of his friends, but Yami merely snorted in response. "If it is not required of me to be on my hands and knees, I will happily avoid it."

"Okay, so basically what you're saying is that your partner's comfort matters little to you as long as you don't have to be on your hands and knees."

"No, what I mean to say is… Actually, yes, I will go with that answer if it will end this conversation."

"You're no fun."

Yami rolled his eyes. In front of him Honda glanced over his shoulder and then turned away again. Anzu was in front of him, carefully keeping her eyes on the ground rather than anywhere else. Second in line, Jonouchi snickered and shook his head as if the conversation material truly surprised him.

It took only ten minutes to make it to the park. Yami immediately stopped short, sniffing, but the air was icy and there was no lingering scent of anything even remotely threatening. He kept a couple of feet behind the rest of them, on alert and wondering at the lack of alarm which came from the humans.

How could they not be worried that at least one thing might go wrong?

Were they truly so removed from their own instincts?

The change in dynamics to allow the humans to rest in the middle of their group was an unspoken directive. With Yugi in the front and Yami in the back to bring up the rear, they were moderately protected. Yugi would sense an oncoming threat from the front and Yami from behind. Had they had more wolves, a flanking position would have been the easiest and most effective of any.

"So, questions and answers session can start now," Yugi announced, turning around and looking at them with bright eyes.

He remembered the hellhound he had seen here, among the grass, about to bite those kids when they had annoyed it. He remembered staking this small spot out in hopes of seeing Yami again after the disaster of his first change. He remembered Jonouchi claiming to have seen him there, looking for something in the dark. And all he could think now was just how relieving it was to actually consider that they knew and he did not have to keep it all in the dark anymore.

"All right, I want to know about what happened that day at Burger World. I'm getting the idea that you were infected and he reacted to you," Jonouchi said with a sideways glance at Yami as the other wolf came around his side and sipped at the hot chocolate in his hand. Was it still considered hot chocolate if it was almost freezing cold like the air around them? He guessed it didn't matter. At one point it had been hot. Jonouchi considered him again, then frowned as he looked him over. "And where were you when that happened?"

"Okay, so I had just gotten infected by Ushio before we went to Burger World. He definitely had to have been reacting to me being there, considering what he said about it being his territory. And, when we were in the alley and he attacked us as a wolf, I don't know at all why he ran off like that. He just fled." Yugi shrugged. But in the back of his mind he considered more of the fact that, as Code Name Atem, the wolf must have reacted and fled from the possibility of harming him. "As for where Yami was, he didn't even know I existed until the night I changed at the festival. If not for then, I doubt he ever would have come to find me."

Yami chewed on the end of the straw. Something about the way the ends folded and the small item crinkled beneath his teeth managed to soothe some of his more irritable nerves.

"Okay, so what about what happened with Ushio? Who did it and why?" the blond burst out, looking at Yami more pointedly now.

The red-eyed lycanthrope blinked and turned his gaze on him, unfazed by the challenge which glittered in his bright brown stare. "Tomoya's father is the guess Yugi has. I do not know more than he does, contrary to whatever belief you might have." He sipped his drink again, watched him with a slightly more aggressive gleam, and then closed his eyes. "He is the only one with plausible desire, yes? Ushio killed his son and he turned to take revenge on his son's killer."

The blond shook his head, then glanced at Yugi now. "What about my sister? What happened to her?" he asked in a voice that made it clear accusations were being slung now. Yugi flinched, startled by the ferocity, and Yami bristled as he opened his eyes again. "Because, I know I'm not the smartest person in existence, but I'm also not stupid. The day after you met her, she wound up dead. What the fuck is up with that?"

"You think I had something to do with that?" Yugi demanded, eyes stretching wide. "Me or Yami? Neither of us… I don't know what happened to Shizuka. I'm sorry. I don't…"

Jonouchi searched his face, seemed to deem his sincerity acceptable, and turned to look at Yami. But his expression was cold and glacial and the moment their eyes locked his body froze in place. There was something dark, swirling, a tumultuous shadow, which coursed through his gaze, and it rendered Jonouchi immobile.

"You saw me rip up a tiger from the stomach through to the shoulders," Yami said slowly, lips curling back to show off bright red gums and sharp, glittering teeth. "Do not make me assume you a threat as well."

Yugi flushed and then snapped his fingers, unable to think straight long enough to remember his name as shock set in and the instinct to stop their potential fight came over him. But Yami responded all the same, startled by the sudden noise. He lost concentration and the anger in his body dissipated with bewilderment at the source of sound. At first he almost seemed so startled that he looked as if he had been shot at and Honda wondered briefly just how much louder it was in his ears than theirs.

"Look, no one is a threat to anyone else here, okay? Don't try to scare anyone, okay, Yami?" he tried softly, swallowing hard as the boy looked back at him in puzzlement. Honda was amazed that he did not snap back in response, eyes widening as Yami merely snorted, turned back to his chocolate, and ignored them for the moment. Anzu was barely breathing, horrified by the way he had so openly lashed out.

What if he did not listen to Yugi the next time?

Would they fight?

Would Yugi really turn against the wolf when he was so clearly in love with him?

And, if the feelings were not reciprocated, would Yami simply kill him for stepping between him and his perceived threat?

She didn't know enough about wolves to know if he would go so far…

"But I don't know what happened to Shizuka, Katsuya. I'm sorry. If I did, I would tell you," he said with a shake of his head. "You know I didn't want anything to happen to her. I was just talking to her and the next thing I knew she was dead."

"Let the dead sleep then," Yami cut in with a more annoyed tone, startling them slightly. "Ask another question. There's really not much time before curfew. Sticking to one subject is rather foolish if you want to know more."

Jonouchi could have punched him. Yami was not looking at them, but his voice was oddly annoyed and full of disdain. He must not have known the pain of losing a loved one if he was so eager to drop the subject. He almost opened his mouth to say so, to snap at him for his disregard, but then his eyes flickered.

They shot to his and the way Yami looked up at him from beneath those long lashes made his stomach drop. There was something harsh and cunning, but pained and raw there as well, almost like fresh waves of agony and anger. But he was not rigid as he had been moments before and he did not snarl as he thought he might. Instead he stared at him for the solid six seconds he could meet his eyes and then turned away a moment after Jonouchi looked at the ground again.

"Okay, so what about what happened with Fuwa?" Honda cut in, ignoring the tension which flared between the two of them. He was not willing to leap into a fray between Yami and Jonouchi, no matter how loyal he was to the blond. Common sense said that the werewolf could snap his neck as if it were nothing. He had to be far stronger than any of them had truly considered and the reality of that was horrifying. "What was it that he put on the knife that made your hand react like that?"

Yugi blinked. "On the knife? He didn't put anything on the knife," he muttered, then blinked and shook his head. "He dusted the doorknobs with wolfsbane and he poisoned the food the same way. Which was why I told you not to eat. But the knife was silver. And it got into my bloodstream and it really messed up my hand."

"It looks perfectly healed now," the brunet commented, an afterthought as he looked it over when Yugi held it up for inspection. "So then those myths are true? You guys are weak against silver."

Yami sniffed disdainfully, the noise loud and frustrated. "Not quite. It is more that we are extremely allergic to it. As such we cannot be exposed to it for long quantities of time. If the blade had stayed in his hand much longer, he probably would have developed relatively permanent nerve damage."

"What about being in the same room as it? Does it make you guys anxious or anything? Can you even tell that it's there or not so much?"

"I don't recall having reactions to it simply being in the same room as a wolf. I think it is only when we touch it that it affects us in any manner." He paused, then thoughtfully murmured, "I know that mirrors with silver plating will show a distorted reflection depending on how aged it is. Beyond that, I've never known it to affect anyone unless by physical contact. I'm not entirely sure as to what else silver might do for us in any other manner."

"Okay, so what about bullets? Do the regular ones kill or do they have to be silver?"

"No, regular can kill as well." He shrugged. "Silver are just far more likely to immobilize when it's a running target the hunter is aiming at."

Jonouchi looked at him for a moment. How many hunters had Yami run across? He looked as young as they did, but his eyes were wary and cold with age. There was something odd about thinking about it in any manner. It caused the tall blond to stare in open bewilderment. How could he know so much when he looked as if he was only sixteen?

"How old are you?"

Yami blinked in surprise at the words. Honda had been asking something as well but now he could hardly recall what it was. He frowned, tilting his head. "Sixteen," he answered in a relatively smooth tone, though he looked disturbed mildly by the question. "Why do you ask?"

Jonouchi shook his head, staring. "Wow, then you and Yugi really could be fraternal twins, couldn't you?" He was vaguely awed and Yugi froze as he saw the way Yami bristled faintly. "That's insane. When is your birthday—?"

"His birthday doesn't matter. We were going to talk about wolves, not him." He did not realize he had snapped until Yami gave him a startled look with wide eyes. All three of his friends turned to him with mirroring nervous expressions that he brushed aside almost immediately. He caught the other wolf's eyes, hoping to reassure him that he would not allow them to make him feel cornered or uncomfortable. "Anyways, no, we turn into regular wolves. There's none of the movie wolves at all unless you count when we're actually changing. Then we tend to look like them…"

Yami turned away and swallowed another pull of his chocolate with an awkward glance at Jonouchi. He hadn't expected Yugi to leap in like that. And the blond was clearly flummoxed by the action. Anzu was flushed from what he could see from her image in his peripheral. She wouldn't risk a glance in his direction but her eyes did lock once with Honda's for a split second.

Yugi let out a small breath but did not bother to apologize, though when Yami glanced up again, their eyes locking, he did wonder what the other wolf might have said, if he would have lied or told them the truth. But he'd looked so startled and his first instinct had been to protect him…

He frowned. When had his friends become potential threats? When had he come to view them as people he needed to keep Yami safe from? He blinked a couple of times, then looked to Yami again.

"Is it still considered hot chocolate if it's cold?"

The ridiculous question made all of them relax but Yami was staring at him with a very serious expression. Yugi shook his head, smiling at him, and the others let out a collective exhale of relief.

"So, here's a question. Do you guys eat out in the woods or out of a dog bowl?" Jonouchi said with a somewhat snide tone, glancing at Yugi with clear frustration. He had snapped at him and now he was getting him back. Yugi was amazed at the maturity. He rolled his eyes as Yami blinked and raised a brow.

"Depends on what I'm eating," he said slowly, voice even and calm as they all glanced towards him now. "If I'm eating serow or boar, I'll eat in the woods. But humans have to be cooked and put in a bowl to be properly enjoyed."

Yugi felt his eyes grow comically wide before he covered his face with his hand, snorting loudly. "Jackass," he muttered, shaking his head with a large grin. "You're such a jackass. Yami, stop trying to scare them. That's not nice."

The taller lycanthrope flashed them a wolfish grin, drank the last of the hot chocolate, and tapped his nails against the Styrofoam. The sound was sharp in the cold air and the answering patter of their heartbeats was much more acute than he had ever noticed. He blinked, tipping his head to the side, but did not bother to stop tapping. And it was only a moment later that he became aware of whose heartbeat he was mimicking perfectly in time.

"Anyways, Yami is strictly carnivore as in he eats animals, not people. No partial cannibalism for him," Yugi drawled, his heart skipping a beat as his nails continued to tap softly. Yami blinked and smirked a little before turning away from them altogether. "He's just messing with you guys."

Honda didn't have the heart to tell Yugi that they all already knew that. Yami had made it pretty clear he was teasing regardless. His eyes had been light with laughter even when his face was expressionless. But it was far too clear that Yugi was extremely nervous about them meeting him altogether. That must have been why he had snapped at Jonouchi and why he kept fidgeting and looking to Yami more than he dared to glance at any of them.

"So, um, what about when you die? Do you stay wolves or become human again? And how long does it take?"

"From what I've always been told, we become the form we were born in. Yugi being born human would make him turn into a human. Me being born wolf would make me turn into a wolf." He did not mention that he'd probably die as a wolf, rather than human. Odds were he would not go through a post mortem change to begin with. "I don't know how long it takes. It probably varies depending on how often they changed."

"Okay, so girls—"

Anzu blushed and scowled at the blond angrily, snapping, "Jonouchi, shut up!"

"What? I want to know!"

"Why? It's not like you'll ever get a wolf chick," Honda laughed, smirking. When Jonouchi gave him a surprised look, the brunet snickered. "They're too hot. And you can't even get a human girl."

"How would you know? You've never met one! They could be ass ugly!"

"Then I hope for your sake that one is, because that's the only way you're getting with one."

Yami wrinkled his nose. "One of them might take pity on him," he said dismissively, shrugging. "Some of them live to take others' virginity."

Yugi was blushing as he thought of Mai, murmuring, "Even Yami is talking shit now, Jonouchi. I think you should stop while you're still ahead."

---

Yugi was lying on his stomach again, face against the comforter, eyes on the other boy. Yami didn't bother to acknowledge him around sitting down at the edge of the mattress again. He had been all too relieved to drop his heavier coat and throw his teal one back on. The scarf and gloves had been shed the moment he had gotten into the room and he had not once glanced towards them again. The smaller teen sat up a little more, watching him, and wondered at the way Yami seemed so comfortable in the color. It made his skin look warmer but it made his eyes appear almost demonic. The effect was oddly hypnotizing.

"That color is really nice on you."

Yami didn't look at him as he picked a stray hair off one of the sleeves. And his voice was distracted and more than slightly distant as he muttered, "I wish it still smelled the same."

Yugi flinched before he could stop himself. He reached up to rub at the back of his head and his eyes lowered to the comforter. He didn't see it when Yami turned around, cringing at his own thoughtlessness, and it made it harder to look up. It had not been said scathingly, but Yugi still couldn't find it in himself to look up as he muttered, "I'm sorry, Yami."

The taller teen shook his head, even though it was lost to the smaller boy, and moved to take a seat on the mattress with him. The movement jostled Yugi enough to make him look up with wide eyes and Yami shifted slightly closer.

"Tell me more about your friends," he invited, ignoring the startled look on his face. He tilted his head and watched him. "You are particularly close with Anzu, but Jonouchi is your best male friend. Honda is…"

"He's Jonouchi's best friend," Yugi said with a small tilt of his head. "He's been friends with him since they were little kids. They were in a gang together."

Yami raised a brow. "I find it almost hard to find that Honda of all people would be in a gang as a child," he murmured. "He is far more reserved than Jonouchi seems to be. He seems more polite and strict as well."

"You got that all from an hour and a half spent with them?" Yugi asked, almost amazed by the very concept. He'd gathered that much information in all short time? He'd been forced to spend so much more time with them in order to gather half of that. He wondered if that was the difference between someone who embraced their wolf half fully and someone who tried to hide it away. "Anyways, yeah, you're right. Jonouchi is extremely hot-headed and has a short fuse. Honda tends to be the only one who can fully talk sense into him. And I'm pretty sure that's only because of the fact that he's been his friend for so long. If not I don't think he'd listen to him either. But Honda was the leader of the cleanup committee at our school all through middle school. This year he's stepped back to relax some. But he's got some of the highest grades at our school. He's easily one of the smartest people I've ever met. And he's pretty level-headed."

"He seemed somewhat upset…"

"Anzu gets along with him a lot better than she ever has Jonouchi. They argue too often because Jonouchi likes to talk about porn and she thinks that's disgusting. I think she ended up calling Honda yesterday after what happened? They're more alike so I could see her doing that. Jonouchi probably would have been more shocked that I wasn't trying to bone her."

Yami raised a brow. "You seem rather…crass now that you are home," he commented with a shrug. He leaned forward to brace his elbows on the mattress, watching him curiously. "Regardless, I do think it plausible that he would be upset for the sake of his friend."

Yugi nodded a little, then let out a breath. "I met Jonouchi and Honda during school when we were all around twelve years old, I guess? They were both still running around with the gang and Honda was getting tired of it. Jonouchi was willing to follow him out of the gang at the price of them fighting their way out." He paused and narrowed his eyes. "But they had spotted me walking home alone that same day. They managed to grab me and drag me into the warehouse they usually met in. I got beaten unconscious but woke when they were going to try to string me up by a crane."

Yami blinked, eyes dark and cold as he listened. He tilted his head and studied him for a long moment and then narrowed his eyes. That perhaps explained the reason that Yugi had come to panic about his classmates finding out about his night terrors and screaming at his mother to stop checking on him at night. The trauma from that event alone could have easily pushed Yugi to such paranoia…

He wondered, however, how much further his lycanthropy—as dormant as it had been then—had taken such an occurrence. Had he been afraid to walk home alone? Had he taken a new route home? Had he taken several new routes? When had he come to calm down enough to take only one again?

And, had he done anything drastic upon awakening there?

If the lycanthropy was dormant to the point of him having advanced senses as Ryou had, but not active enough to change, did that mean he had been in a human mindset and panicked?

Or had the wolf hidden in his genetics made him violent?

"Anyways, so Jonouchi and Honda realized what was happening and managed to get me out of there. After that I think Jonouchi went to Anzu to give a tip involving the gang which got them busted. We ignored everything that happened that day until about two years later." He shrugged at the other boy's bewildered expression. "Honda wanted help with impressing Miho, who had a small crush on me. He was jealous and wanted to pummel me for it but Jonouchi talked him out of it after pointing out that I was the only reason they weren't thrown into a detention center. We tried a few things to make Miho pay him attention but she admitted later that she was just copying my schoolwork and wasn't interested in anyone."

Yami snorted. "Resourceful girl," he scoffed before blinking in surprise. Miho…was she the girl who had first been murdered? Her body had been in the papers for a few days. Then it had seemingly drifted somehow. But there had been multiple searches and rewards to find answers to who could have done this to her. It had been amazing to him to hear such support from people who had seemingly owned no sense of responsibility for her.

"Yeah, well I guess that ran out at some point considering what happened," Yugi muttered with a shake of his head. He eyed him for a moment, relieved that Yami was still there, in reach of his hand, close enough that he needed only to stretch his fingers out. It was amazing to him, how much warmer his body seemed as the blood raced through his veins. Yami was alive, when someone else could have clearly killed him. He was still there, when he could have been captured again. He was right in front of him, lying on his bed, when he might have easily been buried in the woods had he been born human as Miho had. "But, anyways, so after that we started hanging out every now and then. Tomoya would also spend time with us every other day and we all made pretty close friends. Aside from the bickering that comes from Jonouchi and Anzu being together too often or too long, all of us are pretty close."

"Tell me about Tomoya."

He blinked, then frowned. "Why?"

"He fought Ushio for you and I tore his throat out. I am curious as to his reasoning for saving you that night. It just seems…odd to me, I suppose."

Yugi felt his frown deepening. "He was one of the misfits at school. He was small, quiet, polite, and liked to stick his nose in a book before he would make conversation. He was really cool though, and he could have made a million friends if he had only put in the effort. But he didn't want to waste time with people who weren't worth it to him."

He tilted his head a fraction further.

"So we actually became friends around sixth grade, I think? It was before Jonouchi and Honda and I started actually hanging out. He was always somehow laid back but kind of tense all of the time. I thought it was because back then he was worried about my habit of being bullied. I think now it was because he knew I was infected but had no idea whether I would ever change."

Yami nodded slightly, then searched his face. Yugi looked somewhat distraught by the conversation. He blew out a small breath, then murmured, "Your room used to smell of Jonouchi."

The way the words came out made Yugi blink wide eyes. Was he insinuating…? He blinked again, then blushed faintly, and immediately shook his head.

"He stays here sometimes. His dad started drinking a lot when his parents got a divorce and his sister went with his mom. His sister was his dad's favorite just like she was his mom's." He fell quiet for a moment, then sat up slightly, blinking at him again. "He gets abusive when he's drunk, sometimes more emotional than physical. Jonouchi will usually sneak out and find his way over here when that happens. Sometimes, depending on how bad it is, he hides at Honda's house. He knows how suspicious my mom gets whenever she thinks something is wrong…"

Yami furrowed his brows. "And she has not suspected anything about this? About me living here and you getting hurt so often? Surely she's seen the bloodied towels and the bandages and everything else."

Yugi shook his head. "I know she suspects something is going on. She's a lot smarter than even she gives herself credit for. But she's one to confront you when she has proof. And she might not want to, sometimes, considering my record for getting hurt or messing up, but she still trusts me." He sighed quietly. "She definitely realizes something is going on. She's not the least bit stupid. Or oblivious. But I hide the bloodied stuff where she can't find it and I've been sneaking the bathroom trash out to drop off at school. She won't confront me with accusations. She confronts me when she has proof. So, until I slip up or she gets a bit more headway into it all, she isn't going to say anything yet."

Yami closed his eyes and then shook his head. "That makes things easier."

He was pulling the covers back and climbing under the sheets when he yawned, "Definitely." He wrinkled his nose and lay back against the pillow. "Honda has parents who tend to like to let him do whatever he wants. He could probably get away with murder, honestly. I think he's a miracle child or something for them, because he's the only one and they tend to spoil him. It's a wonder he hasn't turned out much worse than he has. Most kids like that expect everyone to give them things and never to have to bother with working or anything else. Lots of the time they're also liable to use and abuse people to get what they want. Honda is pretty much a solid person, loyal to a fault. He'd follow Jonouchi anywhere, which I'm guessing is how he wound up in a gang with him?"

Yami watched him yawn again, then shivered as he suppressed the impulse to do the same. He stretched himself out on the comforter and blinked at him lazily.

"His parents got him a puppy this year. He'd only mentioned it once and they got it for his birthday. Her name is Blankey. She's a six-month-old German shepherd puppy. She has really gorgeous markings, with brown, gray, tan and a little bit of red in her fur." He paused. "Anzu wants to go to dance school when she graduates. She's going to take up a scholarship for a school in the states because she wants to travel too. Her mom is a real estate agent and her dad is a police officer. Her dad is working on the cases involving…Ushio and…the others…"

Yami smiled faintly as Yugi let out a low, almost inaudible mumble and began to drift. The taller teen laid his head on the pillow and turned towards the wall, eyes starting to feather shut.

So, the Espa thing will come up later. Why he was there, how he knew to find Yugi there, things of that nature. It should be in about ten to fifteen (don't quote me) chapters that it gets cleared up? But he didn't just stumble across Yugi and the reason Panik wasn't there as well gets brought up in the next chapter.

Let's hope I can get back on schedule with updates cause this is driving me CRAZY.