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.

80. Fear

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

Update schedule: Hopefully biweekly

Chapter Warnings: Depression, Mentions of Experiments, Violence, Bloodshed

I spent about ten minutes trying to find out which method of making coffee was best for this chapter. Most recipes online were for iced coffee so I originally thought about using it. But I decided instead that Yami would likely want hot instead. So I basically took the same steps as it would have been had Kasumi made iced coffee for him. For coffee in Japan, they usually have whole beans that they grind with a hand grinder, then add hot water to the filter inside of the dripper (for some recipes but not all), and slowly pour the hot water in a circular motion until the water runs out.

This chapter has a lot of mentioned bloodshed at the end. The violence is somewhat subdued in this chapter because Yugi isn't directly involved and he's in a state of fight-or-flight. Next chapter will be extremely bloody and full of gore and violence (and this will set the mood for Part VI seeing as going to get a lot darker and bloodier than any of the other parts before it).

Chapter LXXX: Fear

Work Log Entry LXXI: January, 2009

January 1

Atem exhibits no signs of recovery or spreading illness.

January 25

Atem's heart rate has finally dropped once more. But it is still on the higher side of the normal heart rate for a twelve-year-old.

It stands at about 86 beats per minute.

Thankfully there seem to be no adverse effects.

He has not gone into cardiac arrest since the one series of incidents.

His skin is still rather pale and gray in color, however.

And his eyes look a lot darker, but he seems okay beyond this.

We shall see how well he manages to recover later.

Kasumi was unsure of what she expected to see when she walked into the kitchen. The light was still on. There was some chipped ice on the floor. There were small slicks of water where the chicken package in front of the white wolf had scooted across the tile. Yugi was standing towards the center of the kitchen, near the table, head slightly lowered and eyes on the chicken. The package had been torn into tiny shreds for the most part. Blood was slicked across his paws and smeared across his muzzle on one side. There was a small cut on the edge of his black nose, split with dried blood. And he looked uncomfortable more than anything.

He didn't seem to be in pain by any means, thankfully. She slowed her steps. Yugi's head snapped up, ears pricked, and his eyes shot to her in bewilderment. He tilted his head after a moment, then stepped forward with a wag of his tail. He opened his mouth, showing his incisors, and looked almost like a fluffy white shepherd with blown pupils and softly rounded ears. He wrinkled his nose, making it bleed slightly more, and wagged his tail quicker than ever.

She hesitated for a moment. She went to speak to him, but wondered briefly what it was she might say. There were no words, she realized. But she could tell that Yugi was still working on the package of chicken in front of him. He'd torn it in half so many times it was almost crushed to nothing more than ribbons.

Kasumi opened her mouth to say something. But movement in the corner of her eye made her stop short. She turned her head, eyes widening in surprise. Yami was passed out at the table. His arms were crossed, face buried into the crux of his right elbow. He was breathing hard, almost panting, and his shoulders were shaking. His right shoulder twitched and jumped harder than the left and he jerked so violently that he ended up startling himself awake.

He panted harder and faster than ever. His skin was pale and ashen. His face was soaked with sweat. His hair was glued to his forehead and cheeks. He was shaking. For a split second he looked as if he might puke. Then he exhaled a puff of air. Yugi was talking to him, she realized. He still had his nose pressed against his elbow, focused intently on him. And, whatever it was he was saying, Yami was clearly paying attention.

He didn't say anything aloud. But he did eventually nod and tuck his hands into his lap. He looked exhausted. Kasumi wanted to flinch upon seeing his expression. He did not look happy in the slightest. Yugi had taken a seat on the ground, ears pricked and head tilted. Kasumi looked between the two of them, unsure of what to do or say.

Yami turned to her abruptly. He was still breathing uneasily. But his eyes were no longer pools of ink. His pupils had contracted so that they no longer swallowed the entirety of his irises. He blinked a few times, looking unsure and startled. When he settled down again, Yami mumbled a muffled, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Kasumi stared at him in bewilderment for a moment. Then she drew in a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and frowned. "You didn't do anything," she answered, polite as she could be for the moment. She didn't know how else she was meant to address him. She pressed her lips into a thin line, considering him, and shook her head slightly. "Are you…okay?"

Yugi let out a soft whimpering noise. When she turned her head, he was scratching at the tiles with his claws. His eyes were focused on Yami and his stance was uncomfortable and unsure. He pricked his ears forward, wrinkled his nose, whined again, and scratched even faster at the tile than he had been seconds before. Yami turned his head to stare at him, brows furrowed and eyes narrowed, but didn't say a word in response.

"Are you all right?" she asked again, voice soft as though it might startle the two of them. The two werewolves were staring at each other, somewhat confused but rather relaxed as well. And, then, abruptly, Yami turned to look at her again. He twisted around the furthest side of the chair, hands gripping the backrest, and she could see his fingers turning white from the strain. It looked almost as if he was trying to use the wooden piece of furniture as a barrier between the two of them. His entire body was twisted in the opposing direction as if to protect himself from her.

"It was…a nightmare," Yami finally mumbled. His nails dug into the chair. She could see it splintering slightly from the pressure. He quickly relaxed and reasserted his grip, looking somewhere between bewildered and unsure. He frowned, then peeled his fingers away from the chair. When he smiled, it looked shattered and exhausted and his red eyes were like broken glass, the pain so raw it was overwhelming to bear witness to. "It happens sometimes."

"Yugi used to have nightmares all the time too." She considered Yugi for a moment. The white wolf was staring at her with darkened eyes. He'd no doubt responded to his name. But he could not communicate with her, so she studied his stance more than anything else. He didn't look mad. He looked confused and perhaps tired as well. She turned back to Yami, finding the red-eyed teen peering at her curiously. "We had him on several different medications for his night terrors. He used to wake up screaming at night sometimes. And sometimes he would move around and run into a wall. He hurt himself once when he ran into the bookcase and nearly knocked it over on top of him. I thought it was some kind of mental illness that was causing it. And then this year I find out he's a werewolf and that's probably why."

"It's almost certainly why," Yami mumbled. He pressed his lips into a thin line, looking away almost guiltily. He shook his head and frowned, moving his hands to his thighs. He sunk his nails into his jeans and narrowed his eyes. Kasumi watched him as he blinked uncertainly and stared at her. "Werewolves have a history of night terrors. It's part of the paranoia. It's because lycanthropy is another strain of rabies."

Kasumi blinked, nodding slightly. That made sense; animals lost all sense of normality, from how to interact with humans or with each other and growing feral as the seconds passed. They became violent, losing all semblance of self. "That makes sense," she finally answered a moment later. "I could see that being the case."

Yami didn't respond to her now. He was staring at the ground. His eyes narrowed briefly. Yugi had taken to seating himself in front of him. His tail was around his paws. His eyes were wide and staring into Yami's. His ears were pricked. His nose wriggled. And then he scooted forward a step, pressing his nose into Yami's hand. The red-eyed teen blinked and lowered his chin towards him. His head tilted and he narrowed his eyes again. He reached out and patted him on the forehead. But it was distracted and Yugi seemed grateful all the same.

Kasumi found herself oddly mesmerized as she watched the two of them interact. Yugi whined, staring at Yami; the red-eyed teen was twitching his fingers folding and unfolding every couple of seconds. He sat up a little straighter, his eyes dilated and glazed over, as if he were somewhere lost in his memories.

If she had not known Yami was a werewolf before, she would have then. Yami let out a snarl like a terrified dog, backing up until he was pressed into the top of the table. His eyes dilated, his irises mere ringlets of red surrounding dark black pupils. Kasumi blinked, stunned by the display. And then she nearly burst out laughing.

Yugi had thrown himself into Yami's lap. He was rigorously licking his face. His tongue went over every inch of his face in a matter of seconds. Yami's snarls became openly confused and bewildered. His hands gripped at Yugi's scruff and shoulder. But the white wolf merely licked him once more. Yugi hunkered down when he pushed harder. The confused noise became one of mild surprise. And Yugi wagged his tail rapidly before growling softly and dropping back down.

Yami rubbed his face dry with his jacket sleeve. "Your son needs to learn to not just kiss people out of nowhere like that," he grumbled. But he was smiling, eyes brightening faintly.

Kasumi snorted, smiling in turn. "I thought he'd learned his lesson when he got punched in elementary school."

Yugi shot her an extremely confused look. A long whine came from him, his eyes wide and confused. Yami burst out laughing, still wiping some drool off his face. Yugi huffed, glaring at him, and then turned back to his mom with bright, burning eyes. He rushed forward, wagging his tail faster, and stopped a couple of inches away with a small yipping noise.

"What did he say?"

Yami was quiet for a brief second. She glanced over to find him picking at a loose thread in this jacket sleeve. "He said that never happened and how dare you. Then he told me to stop laughing because it wasn't that funny." He paused, narrowing his eyes. "But he wants to know why you're awake."

Kasumi blinked, looking down. Yugi had taken a seat with his head tilted. He still had his mouth open to show his incisors, grinning almost sloppily had he been a dog. She considered him a long moment. It was so odd to realize just how easily she could accept that this canine in front of her was her son. She wasn't sure when it had happened, but she hardly cared. He looked healthy and for the most part—aside from growling at Yami—he seemed happy enough.

There was a long, steady silence in the kitchen. Yami had gone to staring at her with a confused expression and Yugi had flattened his ears. She studied him for a moment, then reached out to ruffle his ears and cheeks.

"I wanted some water." She turned her head. "Does your shoulder hurt?"

Yami blinked, obviously startled. "What?" he mumbled, eyes widening. When he straightened from his slouched position, his shoulder jumped as it had before. She couldn't tell if it was a muscle spasm or if he was in so much pain that his shoulder would jerk before it could settle comfortably again. It looked terrible, regardless, and she almost thought it seemed as if he might be ill. Yami was absolutely statuesque in position now. "Oh, uh, no, it's fine."

Kasumi snorted. "You're a terrible liar. Do you want some medicine?"

He seemed torn between medication and simply riding the pain out. His eyes widened hopefully for a brief second. Then he stiffened uncertainly. And then, awkwardly, he mumbled, "Would it make me fall asleep?"

Yugi turned his head, staring. She could hear him whining now. His ears were flattened against his head. His lips were peeled back slightly. His front teeth showed. But Yami didn't respond to him in any manner. He was watching Kasumi and she found herself almost drowning in the desperate look on his face.

"It…makes a lot of people groggy."

Yami deflated instantly. "Then…no." He put his hands in his lap and narrowed his eyes further. She could barely see his irises beneath the shadows of his lashes. His pupils were too blown to see them either. "I don't want to sleep again right now."

She wondered what nightmare must have sunk its claws so deep in him. She wondered if he was ill, scared. Animals tried so hard to hide their symptoms and so often they got hurt worse than they were initially when it happened. And she could see him trying to do the same now. He would rather suffer than have the help. Whatever he had dreamed about had rattled him terribly.

No wonder Yugi was always so keen about anything to do with him. No wonder he paid him such attention and constantly worried about him. He was so much more animalistic that he'd rather allow himself to hurt than ask for help. It wasn't a healthy mentality at all.

She sighed softly. Yami didn't look over. Yugi did, however.

"He says he'll clean up the mess when he goes to bed," Yami mumbled. She glanced at him again. And then she noticed where he was looking as well. He shifted his weight, sitting up, clearly surprised, and she watched his shoulder as it arched and dropped heavily once more. She shivered. He looked so miserable. "He says that it will be a little while before then, though."

Kasumi turned her head again. Yugi had gone back over to the crushed chicken. He'd lowered his head, sniffing at some of the pieces. And then he snatched up a larger one, tossed it into the air, and caught it with his head tilted. His molars crushed through the soggy packaging and thawed meat, pulverizing what remained of the bones. Then he dropped it again, looked down, and slowly took a seat.

"You've been doing this all night?"

Yugi sniffed another piece.

"He says he wanted to practice more."

"Why? Are you both expecting something to happen?"

There was a long silence which greeted her question. At first it was merely uneasy, but quickly it became suffocating. Both of them refused to glance in her direction. Yami was pulling at the frayed thread with his teeth again, eyes glazing over with some faraway thoughts. Yugi nosed around the pieces of thawed chicken for a few more seconds. He sniffed and yawned.

She looked between them for a long handful of seconds. Then she sighed softly, reaching up to rub at her forehead. "Werewolves are a headache," she grumbled in turn. Yugi whined hesitantly, wagging his tail with his ears against his head. She waited a moment before looking towards Yami for a translation.

And, oddly, she found him frozen in place, staring at Yugi with wide, almost terrified eyes. He noticed her eyes on him, however, and immediately turned away again. His eyes narrowed, his lips pressing into a thin line. "He says sorry."

But that wasn't what he had said. She knew that immediately. When she turned her head, Yugi still wore that sheepish expression. His tail was wagging faster than ever, his tongue lolling. He looked almost like a friendly dog. And she couldn't tell, staring at him, if he was stressed or if he simply wanted to look cuter. Either way, she found herself staring at him in bewilderment for a long moment. Then she sighed softly, shaking her head slowly.

"Wolves and their secrets, huh?" Kasumi mumbled. She smiled faintly when Yugi whined and inched closer. He'd done that sometimes when he was younger. When he was in trouble he'd sit and take the yelling. But he'd also try to get closer while avoiding eye contact. She'd seen him do that several times with Anzu, something that had made her laugh so hard she'd nearly choked more than once. He'd never quite outgrown it, but he'd done it in different ways. He'd offer the olive branch in a conversation and sometimes brush up against her or his grandpa if they were arguing. Other times he would simply turn and walk away, too upset to respond. And now she understood this behavior.

"I think Yami lied earlier."

Yugi tilted his head. Yami turned slightly in his seat. She ignored him.

"You are adorable and fluffy."

Yugi blinked, confused, then got up, circling and wagging his tail happily. She laughed and the white wolf hurried over to jump up and lick her cheek. Yami turned his head and looked over in surprise. She could see him flinch from the pain in his shoulder but he didn't speak again.

She wondered what he truly had to be so afraid of.

Yami was silent for a long moment. "He says thank you, he always knew he was and I'm just a jealous asshole."

Kasumi laughed, rubbing his ears. "I can see it."

Yugi wagged his tail rapidly. When it thumped against the cabinets, it almost seemed to make the room rattle. He was raising and lowering his paws in a rapid motion, tongue lolling and tail wagging more excitedly than ever.

"I think I'll make some tea to help me sleep." She hesitated, straightening, and glanced at Yami. The red-eyed boy was rubbing his face with his hands, almost flustered in appearance. She wondered what he was thinking about, what exactly haunted him behind closed eyes. "Would you like some, Yami?"

He blinked a couple of times, then slowly turned and tilted his head. His mouth was set into a firm line for a brief second. His eyes were partially glazed over and then he frowned again. "I don't want to sleep again," he finally mumbled.

Kasumi glanced at Yugi sideways. He was staring intently at Yami. His ears were pricked, his nose wriggling. Yami knew it as well. His eyes flicked briefly towards him and then back to her.

"Thank you for asking."

"How about I make you something caffeinated and I'll make my chamomile?" she offered. It was odd talking to him. The last time she'd bothered to speak to him alone, she'd all but spat at him that the entire ordeal was his fault. The fact that he did not try to flee or snarl at her when she spoke to him or they were left alone in a room together was amazing to her. He was more civilized than Kasumi would have assumed him to be formerly. The fact that he simply waited it out and watched for the turn of events that might lead to aggression was stunning if only for the fact that she herself likely couldn't do the same.

Yami blinked at her. His red eyes were exhausted for a moment. But he sat up slightly. Every movement made his shoulder jump. She couldn't read any pain in his eyes though. She wondered if it was truly a spasm. But she couldn't tell with his jacket on. She wondered if it was dislocated. But she also remembered the heavy bruising on it before. And she wondered now if it was tender from that. Had he hurt it again?

"That's okay. I don't think I can stomach anything."

She considered him for a moment. Was he declining because of that or was it simply too awkward for him to accept tea from her? She shrugged after a moment. "Suit yourself." And then she wandered towards the cabinet to grab the kettle.

Yami was oddly silent and statuesque for a few minutes. She watched him from the corner of her eye. Yugi remained seated where he was, sniffing at the chicken and wrinkling his nose. A minute or so into that stifling silence he snatched the majority of the shreds of chicken and dumped them into the trash. Then he plopped down into a seated position once more with his tail wrapped around his legs and his eyes on the ground.

She thought Yami looked more wolf than him at the moment. He was so still whereas Yugi kept fidgeting. If she'd ever thought of a wolf in the wild, she would have assumed it to be more like Yami. They were constantly in motion until the moment they were spotted. And then they became still and silent, almost as if they were nothing but ghosts.

Yami met her stare head on, it seemed. But she could tell, staring at him more intently, that he was watching her more from his peripheral than anything. He gave the illusion of meeting her eyes, but he was staring at her irises. He was studying them. He was watching them. He was not making direct eye contact.

She remembered Yugi saying direct eye contact wasn't the best for wolves. But was he really so concerned that he might respond badly and try to attack her? Or was he simply being cautious? Was he hiding something?

Kasumi was pretty sure they were both hiding a thousand other secrets at this point. What was one more? She couldn't imagine that knowing another would make any difference at this rate.

She sighed softly.

Yugi was on his feet again, wagging his tail when she glanced at him. She studied him for a moment. He didn't look like the standard wolf she'd always seen in pictures. He was lean and his chest was still narrow, but he was not built like Yami. He had slightly longer legs and his paws seemed wider than average. His nails were longer than the average dog's, but his coat was pure white like the snowfall in the window. His eyes were slightly narrower and his muzzle was a little longer, his cheeks wider. His ears looked a little larger and his nose was somewhat wider than she was used to seeing in pictures. He looked taller, but she wasn't entirely sure. She'd forced herself to abandon many of the facts she'd remembered about wolves when she was in middle school.

The kettle was whistling. She blinked, turning to stare at it for a second. When she turned back, Yugi was facing Yami. His tail was hesitantly wagging and he looked unsure. Yami had hunched over, elbows on his knees and eyes half-closed. He was facing Yugi but he clearly wasn't watching him by any means.

She frowned, considering them both curiously for a moment. Yami looked so small it was amazing to her. He'd folded in on himself, becoming almost a fourth the size he should have been. He looked so old, as if the world had beaten him down and he could not fight against it any longer. Kasumi wasn't sure she'd ever seen someone so despaired in her life.

Yugi pressed his nose into Yami's sleeve, shoving gently at his arm. The other werewolf's face wrinkled with a snarl. His teeth showed, his eyes locking on Yugi's face. For a split second she almost thought he might strike out at her. Instead, as she'd expected somewhere in the back of her mind, Yami simply moved his arm and folded it across his lap. His other hand reached out and touched Yugi's head. He rubbed without much enthusiasm, the smile on his face shallow and stretched too far.

"Do you…?" Yami mumbled. But he halted a second later. He had turned his head to look at her, mouth partially opened. Kasumi was amazed he wasn't drenched in sweat, he looked so nervous. She wondered if she'd hurt him that badly the last time they'd spoken to each other alone.

It had only been once, she realized. They'd only ever been alone that one time. And Yami had actively sought her out with the intent to apologize. And she'd punished him for it.

"Yes?" she coaxed. She continued pouring tea into her cup, though she looked at him from her corner of her eye now. He was studying her movements as if he expected her to grab a knife and throw it at him.

He was quiet for a second. And she almost expected him to back off and say never mind. Instead he watched a moment longer, cleared his throat, and with evident force, said, "Do you have coffee? I don't remember Yugi ever making any…"

She blinked. That had been what he was struggling to ask?

"I thought you said you couldn't stomach anything" came unbidden the moment she thought to answer. But she forced it down again, narrowing her eyes against the impulse. She set her kettle down. "We don't drink it that often. Yugi had such bad insomnia growing up that I didn't used to need it. He'd wake one of us up almost every night from age four to eight. So we just kind of used to wait for it to happen. But we do have some, yes. I use it every now and then before I go into surgery. It helps wake me up."

Yami seemed almost to shiver with satisfaction when she spoke the last three words. "How do I make it?" he asked quietly, but with a far more demanding tone than he had spoken with before. Kasumi stopped short and turned her head to consider him. Yugi had said before that he didn't know how to use much of the household appliances and he was a mess with common items. If that were the case…

"I can make it for you."

"I don't want to be a burden." Yami said it automatically and Kasumi wondered how many times he'd spoken those words. She shot a brief look towards Yugi, slightly accusatory. He was the only one Yami was around at any given time… "And I…I don't want to keep you awake longer than necessary."

"You wouldn't. I need to wait for the tea to cool off some anyways."

Yami shifted his weight uncomfortably, clearly nervous and unsure and perhaps slightly shaken by the directness of the statement. Yugi had never mentioned he was so damn skittish.

Had he always been or was it just her?

Had she scared him so much?

Or was he still rattled from his nightmare?

Yugi was hesitantly wagging his tail again. He looked at Yami with a tilted head, concerned. And Kasumi pressed her lips into a thin line. She swallowed hard. If she had scared him so badly, she needed to find a way to make it up to him, right? She didn't want Yugi to choose him over her—though she knew without a doubt that he would—and simply turn his back on her entirely.

And it wasn't as if she hated Yami by any stretch. It was simply that his presence there reminded her of the many problems she felt her life was muddling through now. Yugi was a werewolf, he was attached at the hip to the boy who had bitten him, Yami looked frail and tired, and the world seemed sometimes not to spin the right way. The snow wouldn't stop. Sugoroku was obsessed with the two wolves. Her clinic was going to have to shut down soon enough due to the snowfall. Pretty soon they would need to start using the second story entrance of the house that was built into the tiny attic they had.

She leaned against the counter, letting out a small sigh. It made Yami stiffen and she frowned as she considered him. It wouldn't help to point out that she wasn't going to harm him. If it came down to it, she was sure he knew he could tear her to pieces at any moment. She remained leaning against the counter. Straightening would take too much effort at the moment.

"I don't need—"

She ignored him, looking over at Yugi. "Do you want anything?"

He wagged his tail lazily. She glanced at Yami. The red-eyed teen was watching Yugi with a considerate expression. Then he sighed softly and shook his head.

"He wants some hot chocolate but he says he'll make it himself after he changes back." He hesitated, abruptly turning to her. "I can make it, if—"

Now she rolled her eyes. "It's fine, Yami. I'll make the coffee in a second." She waved off his sheepish look. "I'm just…thinking about a few things."

It probably wasn't the smartest thing to invite him to probe the subject. But the red-eyed teen hardly seemed one to take bait so simple as that. He was quiet for a long minute. She had long since retrieved the coffee from the pantry and gone back to the counter. She was just about to fill the kettle again when Yami spoke.

It was blurted out and rushed, spoken so quietly that she nearly missed it.

"I'm sorry."

Kasumi paused mid-action. She'd just reached for the cup in the cabinet, fingers on the handle. She turned her head, blinking. Yami was scratching his neck now, nervous and unsure of himself no doubt. She hesitated, blinking in surprise, and watched him closely for a moment. She could see it in him now. He was lost, small and confused, and the world was too big around him. He was as young as they came, just like Yugi in every way but for his sharper gestures. He was just as lost and small and imperfect despite his preternatural beauty.

He looked every bit the sixteen-year-old Yugi had described him to be. He didn't know how the world worked. He didn't know his place in it. He was unsure. He was nervous. He was scared of anything and everything. He didn't know what to do. The world was pressing on him and he was suffocating beneath it.

She exhaled slowly, bringing the cup down.

"For what?"

Yami was quiet for a long moment. Yugi whined and reached a paw out, tapping his leg as if to offer support; she wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest if that was what he was trying to do.

"I just…" Yami fell silent again. "I'm just sorry."

She looked over at him. He had dropped his hands into his lap, leaning forward again. She could hear him breathing, the sound rushed and borderline hyperventilation. The maternal part of her told her to try to comfort him. But the more rational part said she didn't know how. And if Yugi were failing—and she knew without a doubt he was trying—then she had no chance. So she went about grabbing the coffee filter, a measuring cup, and the coffee dripper. She listened to him struggling to compose himself and Yugi kept fidgeting now, shifting his weight and lifting and lowering his paws rapidly in a hideous clicking noise.

"I feel like I have a lot to apologize for," Yami murmured a few seconds later. Yugi was still twitching next to him. But she watched Yami in her peripheral as he shifted his weight and leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees once more. "Even if…it's not necessarily my fault…"

She wondered if he meant Yugi being bitten. She'd said as much before, hadn't she? She'd told him even if it had not been Yami, it would have been someone else. She supposed that didn't truly fix much of the problem of guilt, however. She knew that well enough. Telling Yugi he was basically a mistake without so many words was enough to make her ill more often than not, no matter if it felt like it had happened so long ago.

She placed the dripper atop the mug and pressed her lips into a thin line. "How many cups do you think you want?" she asked, failing to acknowledge his words for a moment.

"One…I don't think I want any more than one."

Kasumi nodded. She placed the filter and grabbed the grinder she kept in the cabinet with the kettle. "If it's not your fault, why are you apologizing?" she finally questioned, feeling something heavy settle in her chest. She risked a glance at the boy but Yami was not looking at her. He was staring past Yugi and out the window, eyes tracking individual snowflakes from the top of the pane to the bottom and quickly moving to the next. She kept her eyes on him for a moment, comforted by the fact that he could not bear to face her either. "Isn't that a waste?"

He twitched. His fingers tightened, nails digging into his hand for a brief moment. Then he grimaced and shook his head. "It's not," he mumbled. "It's not a waste. Just because I can't focus long enough on one issue versus the other million doesn't mean it's a waste."

She blinked. Did he really feel that much guilt? What the hell had happened to this kid?

She turned away and dumped a cup of beans into the grinder, pulling the crank. The beans rattled and ground and she swallowed hard. Her stomach rolled for a moment.

"That's…a lot to have on your shoulders."

Yami looked at another flake, tracing its path once more. And then he snorted, placing his chin in his hands and narrowing his eyes. "I don't know. I don't remember what it feels like not to be guilty anymore."

She poured some hot water over the filter and dumped the ground coffee in on top. Yugi snarled quietly and huffed. She almost burst out laughing; his attempt at comforting him was obviously going south. She smiled widely but it was gone again when Yami continued.

"Maybe you were right, about what you said before…" He faltered, falling quiet for a few seconds, and then cleared his throat and continued. "When we last spoke, you said that even if it wasn't me who bit him, he likely would have been anyways. And I just… I wanted to say that maybe you're right about that. But it…it wasn't someone else. It was me. And I'm sorry."

Kasumi blinked, beginning to pour the hot water into the center of the grounds, slowly working her way outward in a counter clockwise direction. She swallowed hard, knowing that he was waiting for some kind of response. But the first one in her head was a spiteful one and she wanted to hate him. She truly did.

He'd done so much to turn their lives upside down. His very existence in Yugi's life had changed his course of direction so drastically Yugi wasn't even sure what to make of it.

"From what Yugi told me before…" She drew in a deep breath, feeling her stomach churn. "He told me that you saved his life that night when you bit him."

Yami was quiet for a moment. Yugi was wagging his tail, watching him with eyes that she thought could only be described as absolutely adoring. The thought startled her but it only lasted a moment. If she were stupid, she would argue that Yugi wasn't honestly in love with him. She'd say that it was a hero complex and Yugi had Yami on a pedestal so high he could only crash and burn when he finally fell. But the truth of it was that Yugi saw something in Yami that she herself was blind to. He saw something amazing and worth loving that she couldn't. He loved him for something more than a debt, more than the idea he needed to repay him for saving his life like he had…

But she wasn't stupid. And she knew better than ever that Yugi would choose Yami over herself or Sugoroku. He'd said so, once before, and she knew better than to push him. He was too much like her. She stood her ground when things got difficult. She refused to budge on many things she sought to fix when the opportunity came. He had inherited that stubbornness and fierce loyalty towards his cause from her.

"I'm not sure that saving his life justifies the problems I brought along with it."

She paused. Was he right about that? Could he be right about that? She watched some of the coffee drip down into the mug. Steam rose against the dripper. She clenched her fingers around the kettle's handle.

Was he right?

Did having Yugi alive and well justify what chaos it had brought into their lives afterward?

Yugi was almost constantly hurt. He was slacking in school. He missed days on end. He could no longer be a vet even if he would have liked to. He no longer cared for himself nearly as much as he should. She'd wanted grandkids at some point and now she knew for sure he would never provide them. She'd wanted him to make something of himself.

And she wasn't sure he could anymore. She wasn't sure he even cared to try.

In truth, with how different and drastic things had become, she was not sure that Yugi wanted to do much more than just survive. It seemed like he was constantly between one danger and another. He'd been hunted before; he'd told her that himself. And if that was the truth, how could she honestly expect him to care for much more? Maybe he clung to Yami so much because he did not know how much long either of them had…

"I think," she finally mumbled, "that I should just be grateful that you gave me back my son."

Yugi turned his head, clearly startled. Yami stiffened considerable, staring at her with wide eyes. She refused to look over, however, and his heart leaped into her throat. It was hard to breathe as she continued pouring the water.

Yugi was still the most precious thing in her life. It didn't matter if they fought. It didn't matter if they snarled and spat or he screamed and slapped her hands away when she checked on him one time too many. It didn't matter if they both said nasty words to one another. He was and always would be her son.

And, as long as he was alive, that was all that really mattered.

"I could have lost him."

The full impact of the thought finally hit her. She had never paid it full mind before. It had seemed impossible, like Yugi had made this story up in order to make Yami seem more important. It had always made her skin crawl to even consider it.

Now that she'd spoken the words, her stomach clenched harder.

Yami wasn't even trying to take credit for doing it. In fact, judging by his tone, he wanted almost nothing to do with it entirely. And that, in truth, made her heart hurt even more.

Yami didn't even know what an amazing gift he'd given her.

And she didn't have the words to say it.

So she settled for staring at the dripper and pouring more water into the grinds. She watched it drip brown, slapping into the collection that had since formed beneath. The cup was almost full. She wondered if she'd even done it right at this point. The cup might end up being poor with how little she was paying it any mind.

She breathed heavily through her nose, narrowing her eyes.

"Before I go to bed again," she said slowly, turning her head now to look at him, "maybe you can tell me how you even found him that night."

Yami was frozen in place, visibly startled and perhaps a little fearful. Then he looked down, nodding hesitantly. "I, uh… I can try," he answered in a shaky tone. "I don't…I don't know how far I can get retelling it."

Yugi growled softly. Yami's head turned towards him and he frowned visibly. Kasumi studied them both. Yugi was giving Yami a defiant look that the red-eyed teen did not seem inclined to meet head on.

"He says he could tell the story if I can't. He says he'd prefer to tell you himself."

Kasumi looked at the white wolf. He'd turned to her, bristling along the hackles and tail, glaring. He was on his paws again, ears pricked forward. And his stare was one of intense concentration and anger. He was daring her to argue and insist that Yami told her.

She watched him for a moment. "You know, you might be a big fluff ball, but you aren't scary enough to throw me off," she said slowly, voice low and quiet. "Yami is a lot scarier than you and I wasn't afraid of him either."

Yugi snorted and scowled, glaring for a moment before wagging his tail happily. She snorted in amusement, turning to Yami and considering his face. He looked shaky again, his hands trembling briefly as he blinked and looked him over. She watched him, searching his expression for any hint that he might simply flinch away from this retelling. What exactly had happened that night?

Yami was quiet for another handful of minutes. Then he abruptly dropped his hands into his lap, sinking his nails into his legs, and narrowed his eyes as he considered. He turned to her, red eyes slightly distant but burning with mild determination as well. She studied him for a few moments, narrowing her eyes, and he began his story in a soft voice.

"I was recovering from a head wound. I'd run in front of a truck and got hit. So I was tired and hungry and wandering. I was somewhere…near the school but far enough away that I was not too close as to be spotted. I was looking for food because I'd been told at some point that scavenging was a necessity if it got too hard to hunt. Hunting was off limits at the moment because of…a pack in the mountains. I'd crossed paths with them and messed up rather terribly at one point."

Kasumi nodded slightly and glanced down at the cup of coffee. She lowered the kettle, realizing abruptly that it was likely empty. She pushed it aside, towards the far end of the counter. Her stomach lolled for a moment, somewhere between satisfaction of finally knowing the answer and fear of what she might come to hear from him.

"Regardless, I was nearby. I could hear someone being chased. Originally I did not think much of it. In truth I figured that meant some humans were fighting at some point. I figured that was all. So at first I didn't bother to turn around and follow. But I smelled blood and I thought that was rather unusual. I'd heard humans did not hurt each other seriously for the most part. And if they did, it was usually associated with the sound of a gun shot or screaming from being stabbed."

Yami fell quiet for a moment. Kasumi pushed away the mug of coffee. She gripped her cup of tea, watching him. If she handed him the coffee now, she had the feeling he would stop talking. She had the feeling he would try to hide behind the mug if she gave him the chance. In his place, she knew for a fact she'd do the same.

And then she wondered, watching him more closely, what it was that his phrasing truly meant. He'd said he'd heard humans didn't hurt each other seriously. What did that mean exactly? As much as she didn't want to admit it, the phrasing troubled her. And, if she hadn't known how much Yami truly effected Yugi, she might have spoken against it. She might have asked him what the hell that meant and spoken out against Yugi being around him in any manner. If it had been Jonouchi and he was a friend of Yugi's in such a more…simplistic sense, Kasumi might have done it. She might have even been able to convince him otherwise on top of it. Now, however, she realized that even making a noise of protest was against any common sense she possessed.

But what did that mean exactly? Did that mean that Yami had not grown up quite human? Did that mean that he had been a wolf much longer than he had human? Did it mean that he didn't truly know what it meant to be human?

Then again, that would have explained a lot of his behavior at times. He was far more canine-like than he ever had seemed human. But she wondered if a part of that was also because she had morphed his features and behavior into something of a mythological creature that she had not believed in for years.

"So I decided to follow the noise. There was another wolf by then. I could smell a bunch of blood. When I came within sight of the incident, I found Yugi slumped against a wall and just one wolf there. I smelled a second one but they had been gone long before I made it to the scene." He was quiet again for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes and looked at Yugi briefly. Something passed over his face but Kasumi couldn't read it in the slightest. She wasn't well versed enough in seeing his expressions to even attempt to do so. "The wolf that was still there was sniffing him. And his face was covered in gore. I went to stop him from further attacking Yugi because I heard his heartbeat, even as slight as it was. I wound up attacking them out of fear—and because I was so hungry…"

Kasumi faltered, eyes widening in surprise. Was this the moment he told her he had killed another werewolf with the hopes of eating them? Was this the moment she found out that Yami had not had the intention of saving him but rather securing himself a meal?

Yami stayed quiet for a moment. He was looking at the ground now, ignoring it when Yugi whined and rubbed his head against his leg in a comforting manner. It took him a long handful of minutes to continue, turning abruptly to her again.

"When I originally stumbled across it, I was in a state of starvation that I could not combat. I was in a state in which I thought every other wolf within a few miles of me was competition when it came to food. I had been hiding from the other wolves for days on end. I was still hurt from the collision beforehand and I was fearful of another wolf taking advantage of that." He hesitated for a long moment. Then he drummed his fingers against his thighs, narrowing his gaze further. "I attacked the other wolf—and he didn't fight back. He…was dead a few minutes after I sank my teeth in. And when I finally went back and checked on Yugi, he was almost dead. I was extremely fearful that he was when I didn't hear his heartbeat the first time I listened for it."

Yugi was growling softly, glaring at him. Something in his eyes was enough to make her feel almost nervous to witness. The white wolf huffed, tilting his head, and looked away after a long moment of being ignored.

"I found that he was in the first stages of death. He was no longer breathing. His heart was fading. So I almost left him." Yami tilted his head after a moment, eyes glazing slightly as he picked his words. "I was hungry enough that I would have eaten him or perhaps even the wolf I had killed had it not been for my paranoia. But I chose to leave the wolf's body where it was and decided after I checked on him a second time that I did not wish to let him die. I do not entirely know what struck me with the desire to save him, in truth. But I was standing there, and I was thinking about it and I realized there was a chance. I realized there was a chance to save him. It took a few minutes, but I truly needed to. And I realized I had only one choice in order to do so."

Yugi was growling again. He huffed, ears flattened against his head. His lips were peeled back, his teeth showing. He growled louder and narrowed his eyes. His nose wrinkled as he glared at him even more angrily than he had before. Yami turned to him, staring for a moment or two. And then he snorted, reaching out to flick him in the ear. Yugi whined, then bit his hand lightly. He mouthed his fingers, growling, and wagged his tail again.

"I bit him…in several places. I bit him in the throat, along the shoulder, and his collarbone. And then I spent the next few minutes trying to heal him by licking his wounds clean and trying to stimulate some kind of healing." He paused. "It didn't seem to work for a while. It took almost ten minutes for his heart to start back up. I don't know what…caused him to take so long to recover. But when he was alive again, I changed back and forced myself to drag him back home."

Kasumi nodded slowly. Her tea was almost cold. But the coffee was still hot, at the very least. She swallowed hard, considering his face once more and shivering. He looked as if he might be ill at any moment. He looked as if he might flee should she say something in any tone that was not to his liking. She stared at him for a moment and looked down quickly towards the mug of coffee.

If she offered it to him now, did that mean that the story was over?

Was she offering him a way out if she did so?

"When I got him to the door, I propped him up against it. He was waking up and I fled before anyone would notice." He frowned and narrowed his eyes once more, then sighed and looked down. Kasumi could tell that he was becoming extremely uncomfortable once more, lost for words at the moment. He didn't know what more to say, she realized, studying him closely. "Yugi later told me that it was Tomoya I had killed that day. He didn't fight back when I attacked him, not even when he realized I was going to kill him. I tracked Ushio down the next day and crushed his skull when I realized he was still in contact with Yugi in one way or another. And then I dragged his body to your doorstep like I had Yugi's after I revived him. I did not know if he was capable of finding his own food as he might need. I was still so hungry that I was confused and didn't even consider that he might have family to aid him in recovery."

Kasumi blinked. Then she considered them. Yugi had put his chin in his lap like a dog asking for table scraps. His eyes were half-closed. Yami's hand ran contently over his head. His chin rubbed against his leg when Yami stopped for a moment. His tail wagged after a moment and he raised a paw to scratch at his leg gently. Yami went back to petting him again immediately.

She hesitated a moment. Then she grabbed the mug and moved to put it in front of Yami. The red-eyed teen didn't acknowledge it for a moment. Then he turned his head and looked at her. She paused, unsure of what to say to him. She realized, tentative, that he knew what she'd been doing. He knew that she'd been withholding his coffee for the sake of hearing him speak about this.

She turned to Yugi guiltily. But the white wolf hardly seemed to care. He was so content with his head in Yami's lap that she was amazed he was not purring. She wondered at their relationship. They didn't seem sexually involved, but they seemed almost like an extension of one another. They looked almost like a picture, like an old painting, at the moment. The contrast between them was easy and warm.

Yami had his fingers sunk deep within the white strands of the wolf's fur. His eyes were half-closed as if mirroring Yugi. The wolf was so comfortable that his ears were pricked sideways in the most relaxed position she'd ever seen a dog's. His lips were drawn partially back along the sides, his canines showing by mere tips. His eyes were still only half-closed, his cheeks puffed upward and wrinkled where they rested atop his knees. His nose was inches from his torso. His body was so relaxed it was almost as if he was boneless and might fall at any moment. His large paws were on either side of Yami's leg, almost possessive in the way he wrapped one around his ankle.

It was amazing to her. And, for a split second, Kasumi thought that perhaps it was proof. Their stance was so soft and tender that it was almost overwhelming to see. It was almost undeniable now, seeing even Yami's soft and relaxed position, that he had some kind of feelings for her son as well. If she were a hopeless romantic, she would have thought his expression alone was proof that Yami was caught in some kind of tight web of deep, fervent love for him. The violence in his stance was tempered, but she noticed that his countenance did not possess anything out of the ordinary of what she'd seen displayed towards Yugi before. There was a pinprick of light in his eyes, some muscles in his cheeks painfully tight.

Kasumi might not have known Yami nearly as well as Yugi did, but she swore that she had seen this expression before. And, to her surprise, she found that she almost recognized it as a combination of all his expressions. It almost looked like a slight frown, perhaps of disapproval or dismissal or maybe even disappointment. It was almost like a love letter written in facial expression.

Even with all of the chaos, there was a strange sense of harmony between them. She'd ignored it before, but now she stared blankly. Yami might have held the power in what it was Yugi knew, but Yugi was the only one he seemed to find a connection with.

"Are you going to school tomorrow?"

She blurted the question out, then instantly cringed. Yugi jerked out of his cuddling session, jolted, and turned his head in confusion. Yami turned to his coffee cup and ignored her as he took a sip. The white wolf got up, shaking himself out, and wagged his tail slightly. Then he turned and trotted away to his room.

Kasumi blinked, watching him go. Then she turned back. Yami was watching her now. His red eyes were darker than usual and his mouth was set into a line again. For a moment he stayed quiet, then muttered, "I think Tomoya would have bitten him if he'd gotten the chance. I just…happened to be the one to do it."

She nearly flinched, but shook her head and studied him. "As…weird as this is going to sound," she said, voice low enough to be a mere whisper, "I'm grateful it was you. You're…almost exactly what Yugi has always needed in his life."

Yami stared at her in near bewilderment. He blinked, furrowing his brows, and peered at her blankly. Then he frowned and shook his head, lowering his eyes to the mug in his hand. For a long minute he was quiet in his disbelief. Then he asked, "What am I lacking?" and abruptly chuckled. He sounded self-deprecating, as if he were bitter and tired. His lips pulled up into something of a smirk and he chuckled even more softly than ever.

She studied him for a moment. "Openness," she finally answered, watching him with a frown. Yami blinked, eyes widening in surprise, and glanced at her in surprise. "You're lacking in openness. You have too many walls and emotional boundaries. You have too many secrets and you hide far too much."

Yami stared at her, red eyes widening further. He frowned at her, then abruptly turned away. Kasumi turned as well. Yugi was standing in the entrance of the kitchen, dressed in his pajamas and watching them both with undivided attention. He studied them a moment longer, then turned to his mom and smiled faintly.

"I was planning on going to school later in the afternoon, maybe after lunch," he said in greeting. He walked around them and over to the stove to grab the kettle beside it to refill. He glanced at Yami over his shoulder, then turned back to Kasumi. She wondered if he had been able to hear their conversation or if he was simply checking to make sure he had not left the table at some point. "Classes aren't as involved as they were before. They're preparing to shut down soon and the teachers are all almost gone at this point. Chono left a couple of weeks ago. I only have two of my original teachers from the beginning of the year."

Yami didn't say a word in response. Kasumi frowned slightly.

"Everyone is moving into Sapporo," Yugi continued quietly. He moved back from the stove to grab the cocoa from the pantry. She watched him as he went around the kitchen slowly but surely. He measured out the proper amount of cocoa and spoke again. "At this rate, the school is going to close in a couple of days instead of weeks."

Kasumi tilted her head. "You all have to be excited, huh?"

"Excited?" Yami muttered. He glanced at her in confusion. "Why would he be excited?"

She stared at him, unsure of how to respond. He was joking, right? Kasumi blinked and shook her head, furrowing her brows. She opened her mouth to answer, but the red-eyed boy looked almost as if he might flee should she say anything. Some part of her nearly cringed away. She'd been staring at him too blatantly, she realized. And he was fearful because of it.

She turned her head to stare at Yugi, wanting more than ever to ask him what the hell was going on. She didn't know what to say to ask, however. She didn't know how she was meant to, in truth. She didn't know if she would scare him off. She didn't know if Yugi would be able to forgive her that should it happen. She nearly sighed in annoyance. But she couldn't get the noise out.

Yugi was pouring his hot chocolate into a cup. "Yami isn't a school friend," he said in a distracted way of explanation. He was almost dismissive in the way he spoke. "He was living in the mountains before he came down to the city to scavenge. There's a pack in the mountains and he was living with them for a while. Then they got into a fight and Yami fled to the city and then he tried to hung, got hurt with the collision, and wound up finding me. He never went to school or anything like that."

Kasumi blinked, turning her head to glance at Yami. The red-eyed teen had closed his eyes and crossed his arms atop the table. He drummed his fingers atop the cloth for a moment. Yugi came forward and took the spot across her, putting the hot chocolate on the table. Yami didn't do much more than tilt his head a fraction as if to acknowledge him. Kasumi blinked and looked at him.

He took a sip, ignoring them both, and scrolled across whatever app he'd pulled up on his phone. He put his elbow on the table, chin in his hand. He took a few sips of his chocolate once more, eyes half-closed. He glanced sideways towards Yami after a moment and Kasumi was struck by how they both did so at the same time. The red-eyed teen was watching him through his lashes. His eyes were half-closed, peering at him with his head slightly tilted.

They had mirroring expressions on their faces. Yami was simply studying him and Yugi seemed to be doing the same thing. They were watching each other from their peripherals. Their bodies were slightly angled in their seats, their shoulders adjacent each other lowered ever so slightly towards one another. She almost thought their faces were close enough that they could have kissed had they leaned just slightly forward more. Kasumi felt her blood run cold for a brief second, if only because of the thought of Yugi stigmatizing himself in such a manner. But it was gone again a second later. She didn't have to worry about it. Movements were being made to approve of same-sex relationships and marriage. It wasn't much and she doubted it would become big in even a few years. But it was happening.

It was becoming more recognized. It was becoming less and less ostracizing, though not so noticeably that she thought Yugi would be okay with it later. But what he did behind closed doors was his own business. Their culture respected that as well. No one was so foolish as to think that homosexuality and bisexuality were something that did not transpire in people's private lives.

"School is no fun," Yugi mumbled. He scrolled through his app again. His mouth turned up in a wry smirk for a brief second and he shook his head slowly. Yami looked over at him and raised a brow. "School makes for a grumpy Yugi."

Yami hesitantly mumbled, "I thought you liked school…"

Yugi raised a brow, then turned to him with a wide grin. "I don't hate it. But I wouldn't be sad if it closed anytime soon."

"But education is important, yes?"

Kasumi almost burst out laughing. She wondered if Yami nagged him constantly about grades and school like she did. She'd have given a million yen if it turned out he pestered him in any manner about it. She could only imagine how Yugi would take to Yami nagging him. She wondered if it would make him laugh or if it was something that might frustrate him in some manner or another.

"Well, yeah, but what's your point?" Yugi snorted, teasing him. He waved his hand dismissively when Yami blinked in confusion and narrowed his eyes. Her son grinned at him wider than before and leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice. "You don't have a point, do you?"

Yami opened his mouth to answer, but Kasumi got to her feet again. She wasn't sure when she'd taken a seat to begin with, in truth. But now she got up and looked between them. Yugi straightened away from Yami entirely and the other werewolf had begun drinking his coffee again.

"Don't stay up too much later, Yugi." She paused, then turned to Yami. There was a small bit of flustered frustration that came through her. He wouldn't make eye contact with her, as if he realized what had made her jump up so abruptly. He was extremely perceptive, after all; it wouldn't have been hard for him to guess that their close proximity had managed to make her flinch. "And…I hope you feel better when you go to bed later, Yami. Goodnight."

Both of them chorused her farewell as she wandered off.

Yugi turned back immediately to face him. Yami prepared himself for some kind of fight, be it quick or long. But he knew it was coming and his heart was already heavy as he awaited its beginning.

"You handled that pretty well." Yugi said it so softly Yami almost couldn't hear him. He tilted his head, surprised by his gentle encouragement. His heart raced for a moment. Then it became steady again and he looked him over. "You handled it incredibly. I was expecting you to become upset, aibou. I thought you were going to get stressed out and possibly flee."

Yami stayed quiet for a long minute. His lips twitched and he looked away, face twisting briefly into a spiteful snarl before he forced himself to frown instead. When he glanced sideways again, Yugi still had his chin in his hand and his eyes half-closed. He was smiling warmly, his eyes so soft that Yami felt his heart race for a split second. Some part of him wanted nothing more than to hide away from it. But another part of him was desperate to sink into the warm embrace.

"So, is that what actually happened that night?"

Yami hesitated. "I didn't tell her everything, no. But the majority of it was truthful, yes." He tilted his head the smallest fraction. Yugi didn't look upset with the news, but what did that actually mean for him? It wasn't as if Yugi had never hidden his frustration or irritation before. Now didn't seem to be one of those times, however. He was just showing him that gentle warmth he always offered. "I didn't tell her what she likely wanted to actually know."

Yugi tilted his head in response. "What do you think she actually wanted to know?"

He stayed quiet for a handful of seconds, then looked away. "Why I bit you," he answered slowly. "She wanted me to tell her exactly why it was that I bit you. She wanted to know that. And I didn't know how to tell her. I don't even know how to tell you what it is I actually chose to bite you for."

Yugi hummed softly, almost dismissively. He turned back to his cup of hot chocolate, lazily sipping it and ignoring his slightly surprised expression. Yami reached for his coffee mug after a moment, raising a brow and waiting for some kind of response. But Yugi did not say a word, instead looking at him with something like amusement in his eyes. It truly looked as if he understood despite Yami's relative silence on the matter. The thought made his stomach turn.

"What were you dreaming about before, by the way?" Yugi asked abruptly, cutting into Yami's thoughts of apology. He didn't know what he was going to say, but it was gone in an instant. He swallowed hard, considering the smaller teen for a few seconds, and then looked away quickly. "Do you mind if I ask?"

"You already did." Yami fell quiet. "I…was dreaming about the labs."

Yugi nodded slightly, sipping his drink again and watching his face. "You sounded like you were in distress. I was about to wake you up when my mom came out." He tilted his head. "I'm sorry that you were having a night terror, by the way."

Yami studied his face, then straightened in his seat and watched him for a long minute. "Before you ask, yes I was dreaming about my cage mate. I was dreaming about his death. And I was thankful when your mother walked in and woke me by accident." He hesitated for a long handful of seconds, tilting his head once more and studying him rather pointedly. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Yugi nodded slightly, watching him a moment longer. Then he reached over to touch his shoulder, lightly brushing his fingers against his upper arm as well. He withdrew his hand after a few seconds, sipping his beverage again. He turned away, putting his chin in his hand once more and looking out the window.

"I don't need to know," Yugi said quietly. He tipped his head toward him after a moment. "But I'm still sorry that you had a night terror like that. I was hoping that you would be able to sleep through the night after you fell asleep when I was practicing my bite force."

Yami looked over at him in surprise. He frowned minutely, eyes widening briefly. He tilted his head and watched him, studying for a few seconds. And then he looked down again, drawing his cup closer to himself and pressed his lips into a thin line.

Of course Yugi would wish him such good things.

And Yami himself lacked the ability to properly grant him the same.

---

Yami looked around at the snow. The freshly fallen crystals were undisturbed in any way. For miles it seemed to stretch before him in pristine stillness. He frowned and narrowed his eyes into slits. The flakes that swirled before his gaze came in flurries. But they came in slow motion, his vision absorbing it at a much swifter rate. He could see every little fragile design to the clumped flakes that swirled about, tossed in the wind. He blinked lazily and one clung to his lashes as he stepped forward in the snow once more. It was much deeper now than it would have been as a wolf. He sank so deeply into it that he was amazed it did not come up to his knees. But it was at least a foot and a half high as he continued. His lips curled faintly as he looked around slowly.

He could not smell anything. The cold air and the soft wind had done enough to disturb what little traces remained. He huffed and shook his head, blinking as the snow dropped from his lashes and fell to the ground. He could see it perfectly against the rest of the ice. And he shook his head after a moment, feeling the snow fall from his bangs now as well. He flexed his fingers and narrowed his eyes once more.

There was no hint of a smell to be found. And there were no footprints left from the day before. He padded forward, however, ignoring the annoyance which came through him. His sneakers were soaked and his socks made a disgusting squelching noise as he continued forward. His stomach knotted as he looked around with dark eyes. There was no noise to be heard. The winter was silent, eerie and terrible as he bristled faintly. He shook his head and narrowed his eyes.

The air should have turned his skin bright red. His fingers should have been cold enough that they tingled and burned. A normal human would have suffered such damage but his body was warm and he hardly cared. The air had no effect on him in the slightest. Yami hardly cared as it was, but he supposed he should have worn gloves. He knew Yugi would have told him to do so had he been around at the moment he'd decided to leave the house.

He remembered briefly hearing Ryou mentioning the hairs in human form were so pale and invisible against the skin because they were hollow. Due to the hollow cores they were invisible but for the patches along the tops of their arms. He remembered him saying that during tests they simply filled with air when the temperature dropped and then they began to insulate body heat. And it helped a lot that much of the werewolf's human body was covered in such fine hairs. They ran from the very bottom of the each cuticle to the bottom of the corresponding knuckle. The palms were given the same hair, so fine and small it was invisible to the human eye and so thin and short that it was almost impossible to feel it against the skin. Despite the obvious patches of bare skin, the hair did enough that it kept a constant circulation that made the skin warmer than ever.

Ryou had said it was like that of a polar bear's fur or the pelt of a deer. Yami remembered this easily. Because he had often thought of hollow cores, though not much in regards to fur. It had more often than not happened when he'd spoken to Yugi for any given length of time. Because Yugi was warm and full, with life that seemed to just project itself indiscriminately. He was beautiful in that way, though Yami would never tell him such a thing.

But it was this that often made him think of hollow cores. Because Yugi was alive and beautiful in the way he showed himself. But Yami scarcely seemed to know any longer the difference between dead and alive when it came to himself. He felt hollow more often than not, though again this was nothing he'd ever admit to Yugi. He was sure Yugi would try to tell him otherwise and that, Yami felt, would simply break his heart.

He swallowed it away, looking about himself again. His skin was warm and he wished for a moment he'd brought gloves regardless. It was not normal. He knew it was better to camouflage than to draw such attention to himself. Even if the occupants of Domino City were sparse due to the weather, he did not want to draw attention. He didn't know at this rate who was within the labs and who was not. He drew in a deep breath, exhaling after a moment.

He could find no trace of the girl.

The snow and the temperature and the hairs on his skin did not matter. Insulation did not matter. An undercoat or hollowed cores or keratin did not matter. He needed to figure this out. He needed to get this over and done with…

But the girl was long gone.

And she had not left a trace.

Or the winter had not left a trace of her, for the footprints were gone and whatever smell she'd possessed was stripped from the cold air. Nothing remained of her. And so his efforts now were futile.

Not even a werewolf nose could work to dig up the scent. The weather conspired against his senses. And the air was too crisp and sharp and cold. The scent had frozen and broken away like glass long before. And the snowfall…

He'd have to wait.

He'd have to bide his time until they crossed paths again.

He'd been hoping to get away with it before Yugi crossed paths with her again. He did not want him to witness it at all. He did not want to see Yugi's horrified face when it happened.

It was best to try to avoid it.

If he did not have to explain again that being eight years old protected her from nothing as far as he was concerned, he would be happy. He did not want to see that horrified expression on his face again as he gaped at him and argued. That he had even agreed in the first place was still amazing and strange to him. He found it almost impossible to think that Yugi had even turned his morals and conscience aside once more.

How often had he done this just to appease him? Did he care so much about his thoughts on such things? Did he care so much that he stayed with him?

Yami could think of no other reason he gave up with so little fight so often when it came to his arguments. It was not as if he didn't know Yami would not hurt him over an argument. It took more pressure than that to make him truly violent…

He wondered if Yugi even knew that at this point. Sometimes he thought the small teen walked on eggshells around him, as if he were afraid any little movement might make him turn on him violently.

Had he scared him so much before?

Had he been so aggressive and violent towards him?

If he had, he was not sure he'd ever meant to. There were times where his temper was too much to reign in and he lashed out, but he had not purposely attacked him…

Had he?

Had he attacked him at some point out of pure rage? Had he done worse? There were occasionally moments where Yami thought himself so detached from his sense of self that he would not have been surprised. There were moments where he swore he was someone else for a split second.

Of course, it was not as if he were possessed. It was more that his anger boiled over. And he lost his temper so quickly that he could no longer stop himself. He'd lash out and find himself covered in blood one of these days, he was sure.

Yami tugged on the zipper of the hoodie he'd put on. It jingled, the only noise around him but for the snow landing and clumping further together. He closed his eyes and tilted his head, listening for all of a moment.

But he didn't have anything to lead him to his query and so it was not worth it to remain outside. He turned away, looking back at his tracks in the snow. With such dense snowfall, it was almost impossible to see it at first glance. He blinked once, narrowed his eyes, and finally turned to follow them.

"Yami?"

He nearly snarled, spinning around at the sound of his name. He searched quickly for the source of it, then blinked and stiffened. He almost could not see the other two against the snowfall. It was almost amazing to him how easily his senses had seemingly failed him. He should have heard them moving about in the snow. Had he been so focused? Or had it been the lack of sleep he'd put himself through in asking Yugi to make him a second cup of coffee? And then he'd retreated to Yugi's room with him and laid down with him, the smaller teen curling up with his back against his and breathing even and soft as Yami himself remained awake with distant thoughts of pain and despair.

Honda was watching him with a puzzled expression, tilting his head and considering him curiously. Beside him Anzu was staring at him with a concerned gleam in her eyes. Yami looked at them slowly, eyes flickering briefly away and past them. If they were outside, didn't that mean Yugi would be as well?

But he found nothing with the quick scan of the quad and so turned back again. He hesitated a moment. Common sense said to go over and speak to them. Instinct said to simply leave. He was frozen for a long time. Then he glanced around once and picked his way over. He was hesitant, almost flustered, and his mind swelled with uncertainty as to whether he should truly pay them attention. He could easily turn and walk away at any moment he would like. He knew that. Even if they were to argue with him in any manner he was sure that Yugi would not hold it against him, in truth.

He wasn't stupid and he knew that Yugi understood that he'd been awake all night. He knew that Yugi had been watching him the moment he'd gotten up. After his shower he'd asked once if he was okay, then made them both breakfast and left soon after. Yami had just been thankful Yugi had not prodded further.

Honda straightened as if he were in front of a wild animal and didn't know what to make of it. Anzu hunched in on herself, burying her hands into her pockets and shivering. Yami considered them both, flexing his fingers, and then moved to mirror her in putting his hands away. It would make him look somewhat more normal, right?

"Shit, you're not even slightly cold?" Honda mumbled, sounding envious as he shivered as well. "I'd get bitten just for that right about now."

Yami tilted his head at the remark, curious, but he was relatively sure that Honda had to be joking. He was not truly asking him to bite him, was he? His stomach lolled in frustration a moment later, however; putting his hands in his pockets had done nothing to make himself seem more normal than he wasn't.

"It's nice not being too cold or too hot," he said after a moment when neither of them spoke again. The silence was estranged to him, not at all comfortable. He supposed it had to do with the people he was talking to rather than the silence itself. Had it been Yugi he wouldn't have had such trouble with it, after all. Even Yusei and Chazz were easier to be around for him than these two. He wondered if it was a difference in species or something more akin the fact that they were also friends with Yugi and had known him longer. They could turn around and tell Yugi he'd done something and he'd never know about it until Yugi confronted him. And who was the small teen more likely to believe? He'd known them so much longer…

There was a small but persistent sting that met him at this thought, once which made his skin crawl and his chest tighten in pain. He pressed his lips into a thin line and forced himself not to speak. He was not sure what he might have said, nor what his tone might have come to be.

"I bet!" Honda was rubbing his gloved hands together now, breathing into the fibers. Yami could see a sharp red color filling his cheeks now, a blush brought on by the cold. He wondered briefly if Yugi had ever had the same color to his cheeks when he was younger. But he seemed so certain of what layers were necessary and how many and somehow he simply doubted it. "But what are you doing here? Were you heading for the arcade or something? We still have an hour of school left so Yugi isn't going to be coming out anytime soon."

Yami blinked. The arcade? He had forgotten its existence entirely in the time he'd been searching about the snow like this. He shook his head after a moment, then glanced over at Anzu. The brunette stared at him with bright eyes full of curiosity and perhaps the smallest twinge of suspicion. He wondered what it was that she thought he had come to the school for, if she thought there was truly a reason of some manner he'd chosen to come here. Some small spiteful part of him wanted to nearly laugh at her.

"I was just walking around for a little while. I got restless." It was a poor excuse and Honda quirked a brow at him in mild skepticism. He breathed on his hands again, rubbing his palms together rapidly. Yami looked away and reached up to run a hand through his hair. The snowflakes were clumped inches high on his hair and they were cold enough that it startled him for a brief second. He dusted the snow from his hair. It was slick and cold when he ran his fingers through it again but the water didn't weigh it down enough to soak it entirely. He supposed it would happen soon enough if he didn't bother to dust the snow off more often. "There is not much to do at…Yugi's house."

The hesitation sparked a surprised blink from Anzu but she didn't answer him. Instead she turned away after a moment and shivered again. He wondered what it was she thought he did when Yugi was away.

Yami looked to Honda. "You're both cold," he mumbled with a shake of his head, "and I didn't come here for any particular reason. So you do not need to stay out here."

They didn't need to stay out there and keep him company, if that was what they were doing. He didn't have the words to portray how uncomfortable he felt at the thought. Nor did he entirely know whether he should try to push harder for them to leave. If he acted suspiciously, they'd surely tell Yugi. And Yugi seemed to have enough issues going on at the moment.

"We're out here for class, actually. We're supposed to grab a sample of snow for a quick project. She wants us to bring in some on the top and some nearer to the ground. We're going to look at the difference in bacteria under a microscope."

Yami blinked at him. He remembered Ryou using a microscope on several occasions. He'd looked at his blood, trying to find illness. He'd looked at marrow samples, trying to see if there was something inhibiting his healing. He'd scraped his skin for cell samples. And he'd gotten samples of saliva. He remembered watching him looking at each slide, muttering under his breath. He'd said he was bleeding too much. He'd said the symptoms didn't match up. He'd said he seemed almost to be suffering from general rabies rather than lycanthropy. He'd seemed sick and confused more often than not. He'd been confused and uncertain. And he'd shaken his head and frowned and mumbled some more.

"Bacteria?" he murmured when he realized they were still watching him. He realized he had not spoken since he'd tried to push them aside and his stomach knotted as he considered. How hard would it be to entertain some conversation with them? He was not the most elegant in speech, but he was sure even he would not be so damn stupid as to be incapable of it. "A particular kind?"

"No, not at all. We're just seeing the differences. She mostly just wanted to give all of us something fun to do for a little while." He shook his head and studied Yami as if he were not quite sure what to make of him at the moment. "I can text Yugi when I get back to class. He can probably leave class early. It's a faux cram class to make up for some of the after-school activities and clubs that we're not able to participate in anymore. The weather has basically made it impossible for some of them so the school started offering some cram classes for the subjects some of the students are struggling with. So it's more studying than anything. He'd probably love to leave sooner."

"No, that's fine," Yami muttered, shaking his head. He glanced over his shoulder. He didn't have a reason to stay any longer now that it was proven he had no way of finding the hellhound. He would need to try again another time. He ignored the urge to glance back at the doors as if it might so how give him a clue as to where Yugi was within the building. "He doesn't even need to know I showed up here. It's fine. I'm just going to head back. I'll see him when he gets back."

Anzu looked unusually upset, as if the dismissal had somehow hurt her. "I bet he'd really like to see you earlier," she murmured, smiling at him with something like encouragement. She seemed uncertain, however, and Yami blinked at her as he studied her expression. He could not be sure of what she seemed to think such a thing much of an accomplishment. Why did she even want him to see Yugi earlier as it was? Shouldn't she have been more upset? Weren't humans in general rather spiteful and jealous creatures? The humans in the labs had been, after all.

"No, it would interrupt his studies. It's fine." He couldn't think of another thing to say. There was no true excuse he had with which to deny this. And he didn't understand why she was so insistent that he and Yugi see each other again. It seemed bewildering to him. It was not as if he would not see Yugi in just an hour as it was. An hour was not a long amount of time, in truth. "I don't want to interrupt that."

"You wouldn't be interrupting! He'd probably love it anyways," Anzu said more pointedly. And now Yami felt as if she were trying to fully impose her will on him. Had she been a wolf, he would have lashed out and forced her into submission. Seeing as she was human, however, he could not do the same. "I mean, he's not even actually struggling in any of his classes. It was just the easiest one for him to get into and it lets out earliest."

Yami blinked. "It lets out the earliest?" he echoed softly, staring at her for a moment. Yugi had chosen the class in order to get home earlier then? Was that to watch him or was that simply because it had worked out that way? Or was it because he truly did not care for his education? He nearly snarled for a split second, then shrugged it off. He was too tired. And right now her statement made no sense to him. "Then why would you want to disturb him if it gets out the earliest?"

Honda laughed and then coughed as if to cover it, tapping his chest. But his eyes were full of laughter and he looked so amused that Yami startled at the sight, curious and bewildered. "Uh, well, I mean, if you don't want to see him, then we won't force you. But I mean… I honestly don't think Yugi would mind at all."

Yami looked sideways at Anzu for a split second. She was nodding at him, smiling slightly. He could see her shoulders shaking harder than ever now. He frowned faintly and then glanced at Honda and back.

"If it would not disturb him." He couldn't look at them any longer. He glanced over his shoulder and ignored the urge to simply wander away. It would be so damn easy to walk away without a second glance. Instead he mumbled, "I don't want to mess up his studies."

"No, of course not!" Anzu insisted. "I wouldn't have suggested it if that was going to happen. Besides, he's probably not even studying or anything right now. He's probably playing on his phone when the teacher isn't looking."

Yami frowned as he turned back. "Playing on his phone?" he mumbled softly. He'd thought Yugi had always prided himself on his attention in school. Hadn't he always tried to have good grades and such? Hadn't he always done his homework on time and attended as he was meant to? He'd been teasing him when he'd said school made for a cranky Yugi but now he wondered. "Would he do that in school?"

"Everyone does it. Don't worry about it." Honda offered him a smile that was rather kind and Yami looked away just as quickly as he'd turned back. "A lot of people just leave ahead of time during that class anyways, you know? So it wouldn't be bad for him to leave early and I don't think he'll miss anything. Besides, he'll probably love it."

Yami blinked. Why did they keep saying that? Did Yugi hate school so much? "I suppose?" he said reluctantly, unsure of what more he could respond with.

"We're going to grab some snow, go back inside, and I'll text Yugi. He should be out in like ten minutes flat." Both of them looked incredibly proud of themselves, Yami noted. But he didn't know what to say so he simply nodded and watched in bewilderment as they hurried to grab some of the snow and trotted back into the school.

Yugi was out the doors and trotting over to him in little over five minutes, actually. Yami had been debating simply walking off on his own and going back to the house when the doors had opened. The small teen was wearing a weather-resistant jacket that went almost to his knees, buttoned up completely but for the bottom. His hood was on his shoulders and his hands were covered in some thicker, insulated gloves. He had even thrown on a little cap over his hair, halfway pulled over his ears as well. He looked like the tourists in pictures during heavy snowfall.

Yami wondered how lacking he looked beside him at the moment. He'd only thrown one of the fleece jackets on over his shirt. He didn't have gloves or a hat to cover his head. And if he were serious, he was amazed that Honda and Anzu had not called him out on how much of an eye sore he was at the moment. Although, Honda had hinted at it, he supposed. He'd made the comment about how he wasn't cold…

He'd done a bad job of camouflage, he realized. He should have bundled more. He should have grabbed several more shirts or jackets or gloves. He should have just done something more human in that manner. Dressing as he usually did was clearly something that might set an alarm for humans who might notice him. He was sure the humans oblivious to the existence of wolves would simply think that he was extremely warm-blooded. They'd likely think he bundled anyways. But the hunters—if they could remain out in such cold as it was—would know differently.

Other wolves would surely recognize it. And he thought Yugi had told him at one point or another that many of his schoolmates were wolves as well.

"Hey, aibou!" Yugi said happily, trotting to his side. Yami hesitated as he stopped a couple of inches from his side and grinned goofily at him. The red-eyed teen blinked once, then twice, and flexed his fingers where he'd buried his hands in his hoodie. "I wasn't expecting you to walk me home today. But I'm sure as hell not complaining either though!"

Yami swallowed hard. "I was not expecting to do so either." He paused and then looked away. Yugi was studying him with brilliant blue-violet eyes and he felt sick now. What was he meant to tell him? He didn't want to explain why it was that he was truly out there at the moment. He swallowed once more. "I did not realize Honda or Anzu were outside when I was nearby."

Yugi didn't sound troubled when he murmured, "You were already out here before they came out. Honda said they had come out when you were looking back and might have started walking again." Yami looked at him sideways. He wondered if the smaller teen had already guessed what it was he'd been out there for. And it made him bristle to consider it. "He said you looked like you might have been searching for something."

Yami huffed out a breath but didn't answer. Some part of him almost regretted staying up all night as he had. Even with night terrors, he could have come up with a lie of some kind to distract him had he tried. Of course, Yugi would have seen through it—he always did; he was just too kind to ever mention it—but it would have worked all the same. Yami pressed his lips into a thin line and ignored him for the next minute that passed in quiet between them.

"No trace of her then, I'm guessing?"

He nearly snarled with dismay at the calm words. Instead he looked away, shaking his head and feeling sick. He licked his lips and clenched his fingers tightly. "No, no trace," he confirmed uncomfortably.

"Okay." Yugi didn't sound upset in the slightest. But Yami had the abrupt fear that should he look up he'd find him glaring at him with disdain. The small teen brushed against him gently when he moved past. Yami turned back slowly, studying him just as Yugi looked over at him. He had that same friendly gleam to his eyes that he usually wore, and some rather distant part of him bristled with discomfort. "Well, I guess we'll have to try finding her another time then."

"We?"

Yugi searched his face for a moment. He looked slightly disturbed by his own words, but his expression became softened and more relaxed as he continued studying him. Yami wondered what he must have seen on his face because the smaller boy reached out and touched his upper arm with a soft smile. "We," he replied, nodding. "I won't risk you getting hurt just because it might make me a little queasy to consider it."

"I'll heal if I'm hurt," Yami mumbled in answer, looking away again. He stepped around to his side, more towards the outer edges of the sidewalk hidden beneath the snow in front of them. "It will not kill me."

"But it could. And then what? You come back. And then what do I do with that? I'll be miserable. And I'll watch you suffer while you struggle to find your balance again." He was staring at him more pointedly now. "I told you that I can't stand to see you hurt. And that when you die…"

Yami felt worse than ever. He swallowed hard once more, narrowing his eyes the smallest degree before pressing his lips into a thin line. Yugi was still watching him. And his expression had not changed much from the serious, almost tender look. He smiled at him once more, warm and gentle.

The red-eyed teen pressed his teeth into his right cheek, blood soaking onto his tongue as he shook his head and looked away. "Okay," he mumbled and he thought he sounded breathless before he cleared his throat again. "Then I guess my next comment is to tell you I do not want you to put aside your own morals and dignity for the sake of a threat that I perceive that you do not."

Yugi shook his head. "I trust your instincts, Yami. I know sometimes I argue and I snap at you. And I know that you aren't just some random killer. I know you only kill when you find it necessary." He paused. "So if you think that she's a threat, then I'll help you in any way I can."

Yami shivered. He wondered briefly if Yugi was thinking about the night before. He wondered if he remembered the way he'd collapsed against him like that. He still hadn't apologized for clawing his back up, he realized in some distant part of his mind. And he felt sick as he looked at him now. He knew that Yugi had healed but it didn't excuse anything. But apologies were hard.

He wasn't used to receiving them.

And so he had trouble offering them.

Yami dug his fingers so hard into his hoodie pockets he swore his nails would rip through the fabric altogether. He shivered and his stomach knotted painfully for a moment. He clenched his fingers more tightly, pressing down further against the pockets. And then he looked away again.

"I don't need you to protect me. I can handle her on my own," he mumbled, shame making his insides cold. She'd been strong enough to overwhelm him. She'd been strong enough to make him tremble like an abused dog. "She's only eight. I'm sixteen. I can kill her easily."

Yugi rolled his eyes where he stood those few inches apart from him. Yami saw it from his peripheral and felt dizzy for a brief moment. He bit harder into the flesh of his cheek. "You think she's a Harbinger. Fuck no; I won't leave you to deal with her alone."

Yami huffed as he turned back. "You think she's going to have the poison genes," he answered almost suspiciously. He grimaced slightly, then searched his face for a moment before huffing out another breath. "But if she does, what do you plan to do, Yugi? I'm a Pure-Blood, just as you are. But…"

"I know we don't know if I'll come back." Yugi sounded breathless now. Yami turned to him. The smaller teen licked his lips and stared at him for a long moment. "But I…"

Yami didn't know what he meant to say, but he was dizzy as he looked back at him. His mouth was salivating with unease and he thought his tongue was glued to his palate. It occurred to him, feeling winded as his lungs ached, that Yugi knew exactly what he was saying. He knew exactly what he was doing. He had drawn lines that Yami had never once considered for the other boy. He had never imagined the boundaries Yugi had created for himself, the ones that didn't affect the others around him in the slightest.

"Why?" he finally mumbled.

"Why?" Yugi repeated. He didn't look confused in the slightest, nor as if he might mock him for his question. He simply shook his head and smiled, turning away as he began to walk again. "I think you're worth it. That's why."

Yami hated him for such a simple explanation. But he didn't speak to say such a thing and he remained silent for much of the trip. They walked into the house and up the stairs, though Yami did greet Sugoroku when the elderly Motou said hello to them both. But Kasumi was not home and so he did not speak again until they were in Yugi's room. The small teen threw his bag onto the floor next to the bed, came over to the small TV he'd moved towards the bookcase, and crouched down to turn it on. Yami blinked in bewilderment as the small teen flickered through the channels several times until he came to a black screen that lit up with the word "video" in the corner. He grimaced slightly as Yugi turned the TV off again and headed for his closet unit.

"What game system do you think we should play?" he asked. He had turned his head to look over his shoulder. Yami blinked, studying him for a moment. And Yugi tilted his head. "I've got a few older games lying around and then I've got some of the newer ones. I haven't even touched God of War in months… We'll play that."

Yami blinked. "God of War?" he repeated. It was an interesting title. And he was sure he could guess what it would be about.

"Lots of blood and gore and some cursing and twisted Greek mythology," Yugi supplied with a grin. "And none of it is even remotely like the actual mythology aside from the names and powers. It's great though. You'll see. I beat the first one three times. It's a hell of a lot of fun. You can even sometimes jump into a hot spring and screw around with the girls already there. It gives you your hit points back."

Yami snorted. "He has sex with them and gets points back?" he chuckled. "That's an interesting idea."

Yugi smiled brilliantly, teeth showing like the ice in the window. They were brighter than he'd ever seen them before. And abruptly he noticed they were almost completely straight as well. His canines were slightly longer, almost half an inch taller than his incisors now. But, had Yami not been looking for such a thing, he would never have noticed. His canines were not pronounced. It was the straightness of his teeth that had startled him.

The constant change from one form to the next had caused his jaw to realign itself. It had caused the structure of bone and muscle to stretch. It had straightened the teeth, had given them more room to grow out and become stronger. And the stains had been wiped away with each new batch of teeth that grew in place of the last. That was a slow process as well, though Yami did not know the science behind this. He did not know how the teeth came up still yellowed when the wolf's teeth were white before. It was a survival mechanism; he knew that much. It was one that helped them camouflage. But beyond that he did not know anything…

"What?" Yugi asked, bewildered. He was picking at his teeth with his finger now. "Food in my teeth?"

"No." He hesitated. "I just… Your teeth look nice."

It was the most awkward statement he'd ever made, Yami swore. But it was out there. And he could not take it back. He frowned and Yugi blinked before tilting his head and smiling at him in amusement. His eyes had softened again as he looked away.

"Thanks." He paused and looked back at him with a more wry expression than ever. "I'm assuming you mean that they're straighter and whiter than before…r-right?"

Yami blinked at the uncertain note in his voice, frowning slightly. His fingers tugged at his shirt for a moment as he considered him. "Yes," he murmured almost dismissively. "I meant that exact thing. I'm sorry…for drawing attention to it."

Yugi shook his head. But he didn't smile as he looked him over. "It's…different. I'm not going to say otherwise. I never even really thought they'd change so much but they did and that's kind of odd to me." He flushed slightly, then forced himself to smile. Yami could see the tension in his cheeks from where he tried too hard to keep such a curve to his lips. "I mean, I never really considered that it would happen like that and…oh well. It doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, it's happening and it's going to keep doing it."

Yami nodded, turning away and narrowing his eyes into near slits. "You're not wrong. It will keep going until your teeth are perfectly aligned. It helps keep your jaws healthy when you change into a wolf."

Yugi hummed in response, moving to walk into his closet. "I guess that makes sense. It keeps the wolf's teeth in a scissoring formation, huh?" he mumbled softly.

"Yes. The human mouth is crowded. And when the teeth aren't straight, it causes a lot of problems for the canine jaws. So that's why the mouth constantly changes, slowly or not." He paused, studying Yugi for a long moment. He had not noticed how expansive the unit was before. There was enough room for both of them to hide inside and the filing unit to the left had a couple of drawers. But Yugi did not open either of them. He blinked as the smaller teen moved past them and to a couple of boxes buried in the corner behind it. "It gives you more room between the teeth which makes it easier for the scissor formation necessary for the wolf to break bone and cut through flesh."

Yugi nodded and looked over his shoulder, frowning and pulling his lips downward. "Do you think that's why I have some trouble doing the same things as you every now and then?" he mumbled. He was clutching a smaller box, one where he could see a sleeve that opened upward and flipped for easy access to the contents inside.

Yami nodded, looking away. "It's possible, yes. While your mouth is still being…fixed, the wolf's jaws are not quite as strong as they need to be either. I suppose it makes for a more logical explanation as to why you are not as powerful as you should be as Atem either." He hesitated, looking over. "I suppose that makes more sense as you were mostly human at the labs as well."

Yugi gave a distracted noise, nodding once more. Yami could see his fingers tightening around the box in his hands. He could see the way his head tilted slightly to the side and his eyes narrowed faintly. He shook his head after a moment, pressing his lips into a thin line. "Open your mouth for me?"

Yami hesitated for a long handful of seconds. His jaw clamped as if in resistance of the idea and his head seemed to spin. He could remember a man asking him to do the same, then reaching in with what he knew now to be pliers. He'd ripped his canine straight from his gums and the pain had crippled that side of his mouth for the week it took it to grow back. The man had repeated the action with a molar on the other side. And then he'd had Ryou record the progress from day one to the moment his tooth broke through his gums entirely.

And he'd done it constantly, from one side of his mouth to the next. He'd done it until his teeth had been completely stripped and his gums aching and bleeding constantly. And he'd been unable to eat for days on end. Ryou had watered down his food—and now Yami thought perhaps it had been the cancer that was dog kibble. He'd been given the food that the other wolves ate from then on, as if to test his adaptability and his stomach.

When he'd gotten loose, it'd been hell to pay for eating such disgusting things. He'd vomited violently the first few times, but he'd been so starved that he'd eaten ravenously, a glutton in a bony body. And then he'd puked it up even more violently than ever. And then he'd swallowed it until it'd stayed down. And finally, when it had calmed again, Yami had found himself eating until he felt he might pop. And he'd done it each time he'd hunted if he could afford to.

If he could stay in one place for long enough, he'd gorge himself. If he could not, he'd keep moving and eat anything he could find. He'd eaten once until he could not move. And each time, his teeth had seemingly pulsed with pain from the action. Yami closed his eyes at the thought.

Yugi would not hurt him.

Yugi would never tear his teeth out.

But his heart was racing.

And his mind seemed to fracture with the thought. He shivered, then opened his eyes halfway. He swallowed hard, peered at him, and attempted to open his mouth. But what happened was the exact opposite.

His teeth ground together forcefully.

And his jaw locked in place.

He tried again but what came now was a vicious snarl. And he stumbled back, flinching as if he might be struck. Yugi stared at him, somewhere between surprised and horrified and resigned to his reaction.

"It's okay. You don't have to."

He wished he could have thanked him. But it was harder than ever to simply breathe. And so he looked down swiftly and clenched his fingers upon his shirt. He turned away again, jaw pulsing with so much pain that it caused his head to throb. His temples were burning and he swore he saw black spots forming behind his eyes.

Yugi was still staring at him, he realized. And Yami flinched, turning away as swiftly as he could. His mouth opened and closed once. And then he huffed a breath out through his nose. The taller teen tugged on his shirt until it felt as if the stitching might tear. He realized he was shaking now, and he couldn't tell if it was because of the coffee he'd drunk, his lack of sleep, or the pain of his memories. But his mouth grew dry and his heart was heavy. And he couldn't even so much as glance in Yugi's direction now.

"It's okay, aibou. I don't mind if you don't want to show me. Here, come on, you can watch me play," he murmured, moving around him. When he got in front of the TV again, he had opened the box in his hands and was pulling it out. It was a slim black device, with a controller that seemed almost too large for the little console in question. He pulled out a few wires, then a small red card-shaped piece of plastic which he inserted to the far left of the front of it. Yami blinked as he clicked it in place, tilting his head. Yugi had hit a button that made the top flip open and grabbed a disc that he popped inside. "Want to see where you can meet the girls who give you a fun time for hit points?"

Yami blinked. Yugi made little sense to him as he continued speaking. Nothing in his words made him do more than blink and shake his head. He furrowed his brows, mumbling, "Sure."

Yugi studied him a moment, nodded slightly, and turned away again. And Yami knew, even as he tried not to consider it, that Yugi had been waiting for him to say something else. Because he knew that Yugi was too kind to ask about his reluctance to open his mouth. So he'd rather sit there and distract him than ask.

They sat in relative silence aside from the game. When he got the hot tub or spring or whatever it was the character grunted suggestively when the screen went another direction and Yami couldn't help but snicker in amusement. It sounded almost like the porn tapes he'd found in Yugi's room before.

His stomach churned as he thought about it for a moment. It wasn't worth the consideration, he realized, and his belly ached harder now than ever. He drew in a deep breath and looked away from the screen after a moment. Yugi was killing some enemy and there was tons of blood coming across the screen.

"And I'm about to die."

Yami opened his eyes ten minutes later to those words. Yugi sounded flustered. And the screen was turning red at the edges with blood splatter. Yugi grumbled under his breath but it did nothing to help him. The creature he'd been fighting seemed to kneel down and drag the character a few feet. Then it lifted him by the leg and dropped him into its mouth.

"Gross."

Yugi blinked, turning his head with a small grin. "You fell asleep on me a little while ago. I was asking you about Athena and you just passed out." He studied him, then turned away, selecting the continue option on the screen. "You okay?"

Yami didn't remember dreaming. But he wouldn't have been surprised if he had and couldn't recall. Ryou had told him a few times during scans that he'd gone into the deeper state of sleep which should have heralded dreams in seconds flat. And Yami had not recalled a single one, staring at him and shaking his head and growing angry when he pressed.

Yami felt sick. Why couldn't he stop thinking about the damn labs? His skin crawled.

The little girl was still out there.

She reeked of the labs.

She was born in them and raised within.

And she was released now to wreak havoc in some way.

And she was not dead.

He had not found her…

She was a threat.

Yami reached up to run his hands through his hair. "I don't remember falling asleep," he muttered. Yugi turned back to look at him again, curious and tilting his head. His mind was racing as he tried his hardest to ignore the frustration boiling in his stomach. She was a threat. She was an abnormality that Yami had to rectify at some point. "I'm sorry."

"Not a big deal." Yugi had turned away to play his game again. He was hunched forward, rapidly punching his controls to get his character to perform whatever action it was he was trying to do. "Are you okay?"

Yami didn't look at him again, pulling his legs up to wrap his arms around them. Yugi didn't ask again and he didn't look over at him either. The relief to not have his attention on him was stunning and Yami closed his eyes tightly for a moment. Then he exhaled hard and mumbled, "They used to pull my teeth out."

Yugi lost his fight with whatever monster it was he'd been up against. He was still, an uneven and odd flight-like response. It wasn't as if he'd stiffened, but rather that an odd and eerie stillness had come over him. Yami watched him for a moment. And the game went into a frozen screen asking if he wished to continue. Yami eyed the blood splatter design there for a few moments and then dug his fingers into his jeans.

"There was…" Yami shook his head. He couldn't think straight if he mentioned the man who had so often visited him. He blinked, narrowing his eyes. The things he'd said, the promises he'd made, all of the shit he'd put him through… "Ryou used to take frequent x-rays to see how quickly my teeth grew back. He'd constantly examine them and record how long it took one versus the next. They did it for months. And they would do it first one tooth at a time, then two, three…and then eventually all of them. They'd leave with them. I don't know if they thought I'd try to put them back in or if I might eat them or if it might just be something that triggered me into depression. Maybe they ground them up or kept them as trophies. I don't know. But they didn't leave them. And they would do blood tests and monitor my gums constantly. I couldn't eat solid food for months when they kept doing that so often."

Yugi tapped his nails against the black controller in his hand. His eyes were still glued to the TV from what Yami could tell. After all, his head hadn't turned and he was not facing him. But he was still incredibly frozen, as if statuesque in his spot. The tapping continued for a long moment.

"Sometimes I almost think my teeth will not grow back once they fall out during the Change," Yami admitted softly. He dug his nails harder into his skin through the jeans. He felt as if blood were pooling into the threads, he'd dug his nails in so sharply. He shivered and his mind flashed with the sight of dark silver pliers, the handles thick blue rubber. "So I…I can't show you my mouth like that."

Yugi nodded and it was sharp enough that his entire body seemed to jerk with the motion. He turned his head and peered at him after a moment. His blue-violet eyes were sharp but Yami doubted they held malice towards him. And he could not depict any true anger directed at him, simply infuriation that such a thing had happened in the first place.

"That's okay," he said after a moment. The tapping had increased tenfold, however. And Yami blinked as the noise seemed to jump about in his skull. Yugi looked away again and Yami heard the controller squeak from the pressure he put on it as he squeezed it harder than before. "It makes sense why you hardly smile either. And when you laugh you don't normally do more than slightly open your mouth. I don't think I've ever actually seen your teeth unless you were baring them at me."

Yami looked down, shifting his grip from his knees downward to his shins. He kept watching Yugi, studying him, and then turned away again to face more towards the window than anything else. He grimaced. "I suppose so," he mumbled softly. "I cannot say I have ever noticed such a thing."

"You wouldn't," Yugi replied, "because you're the one doing it. If you were in my shoes you'd notice it too. Otherwise you wouldn't really be able to notice. It's not like you watch yourself constantly in front of a mirror. If you did that, you might notice though."

Yami drummed his fingers on his shins, then relaxed them and faced Yugi once more. "It doesn't matter any longer. It happened then. But it won't again." He tried to force himself to sound more assured as he pressed his tongue into the back of his teeth. "I know you wouldn't… But I couldn't help it. I can't open my mouth like that. It scares me too much."

Yugi had leaned forward and turned the console off, but was flipping through channels now. "It's okay, Yami. You don't need to apologize," he answered. "It's fine. I don't mind if you don't want to talk about something. You know that."

"I also know that I often react badly to inquiries and I upset you when I do," Yami snapped, voice bitter. Yugi turned to him after a moment, furrowing his brows in consideration. The taller teen could not keep his eyes on him for more than a moment, huffing angrily and shaking his head. He glared at his fingers where they continued digging into his knees. "And that's not fair to you."

"And it's not fair of you to push yourself just to answer a question I might have asked or to do something when I request it. You're not my slave or something, Yami. You're allowed to say no. You're allowed to shake your head. You're allowed to get pissed at me for pushing at something you don't want to think about or remember. All of those things are your right. Why do you always…?" He gestured. "Why do you always do this to yourself? You get yourself all worked up when you don't need to. I understand that you don't want to do or talk about something when it upsets you. Do you think I'm willing to when I'm upset? Because I'm not, Yami."

"But you're not…a train wreck like I am. You're not…broken."

"Is that how you picture yourself?" Yugi demanded in a much colder tone. "Broken? Really now? You want to talk about broken, Yami? We can talk about broken."

Yami blinked, raising his eyes at the harsh note in his voice. The smaller teen was sitting back on his haunches, staring at him with sharp eyes. "Yugi…" And he wasn't sure if he meant to sound so tired or if he was trying to warn him away from his current tone.

The small teen eyed him for a moment, then looked away. "What about this? You handle trauma far better than I do. Have I ever told you that? You want to know what happened when you weren't there in the pack? I was threatening them left and right. I was leading them on hunts that got them killed. I was snarling and snapping. I forced them to go on patrols to search for you, even though some part of me just knew no one would find you. I suffered panic attacks because I was sure that you were die. I was a dick to that green-eyed wolf when I dreamed of you dying. He was waiting there and I nearly attacked him because I didn't want to admit how bad off I was. You don't understand, Yami. Things aren't okay. Things are not even slightly okay for me either right now. I don't care if you lose your temper or can't do something when I ask. I don't care if you need time to figure things out. I don't care."

Yami blinked, startled by the declaration. Yugi was shaking his head roughly, scowling at the carpet fibers.

"I didn't sneer at you that day in the woods because of Otogi. When I spat at you about the 'others', it wasn't because of the human in the snow or his suggesting I was a Full-Blood. It was because I'm scared. I'm constantly fucking scared, Yami. I'm scared of losing myself. I'm scared of getting others hurt. I'm scared of losing you or Jonouchi or Otogi. I'm scared of being killed but I'm mostly scared that one of these days I'll wake up and I won't be me."

Yami startled. His eyes widened and his breath felt choked in his lungs. Yugi was looking at him now, staring into his eyes with something desperate but hideous with anger as well.

"I couldn't care some days what happens to me. And then others I panic and think something will happen. Sometimes I think I'm going to die. Because why would they want a defective Pure-Blood to come back to life when he dies? Why the fuck would the gods want to bring me back? I'm not strong. I'm not a leader. I constantly fall back from that role because it scares me. It reminds me too much of the fact that I'm not human anymore. And that makes me want to puke because I miss sometimes how much simpler it was. But I can't change things and everything hurts when I realize that."

Yami shifted his weight, kneeling. He balanced on his knees for a moment, staring back at him with a feeling of sweeping blankness in his blood. It felt as if his nerves were on fire and his brain dizzy with confusion. He itched everywhere, as if the truth were a pack of fleas digging into his flesh.

"And it's not easy, Yami. Sometimes I just want to try…to…to make everyone love me so that I can go out with a bang." Yugi was shaking his head now, voice scornful. "Because things are fucked up. And that scares me. My mom can hardly look at me anymore without seeing a monster. And my grandpa treats this like a game. And the pack thinks I'm a fucking messiah but I don't feel like the god they all think I am. And I can't… Yami, I'm not going to be able to save anyone. I don't know how."

"It's not your responsibility to save them," Yami argued, somewhere between startled and livid. "And saving people? It's impossible! And so many of them? Yugi, even if you could be in a million places at once, you could never do it. You could never save everyone as you might desire. It will never work like that."

"But I want to! I want to be able to save everyone else! I don't want to have others suffer for me! I want to…"

Yami shook his head. "Yugi, no…" He hesitated a moment, then shifted closer to him. "Look, I…I can't save anyone either. Physically winning in a fight is different than trying to keep someone else's head above the surface. And I can hardly do the latter for myself. I can't save anyone else either. It's impossible for me. And I…"

There was a long minute of silence. Yugi was watching him, somewhere between exhausted and flustered. And Yami finally drew closer to him, reaching out to touch his arm lightly with his fingers. He clutched his jacket sleeve, tugging on it with his nails as they caught the strands.

When he spoke again, his voice was calmer and maybe more calculating. But he knew Yugi understood them when his eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed twice.

"Sometimes, Yugi, there is only one person you can save. And that person is yourself. And that's okay. Sometimes that's all you can do because that's what you're meant to."

---

Yami's words echoed in his ears. They sang there, low at first and then rising into a hideous howl like surging winds. It was haunting the way they lifted and danced about his skull. He felt dizzy as they came around for what seemed the hundredth time. Was that true? Was Yami right? Was it really so impossible to save someone else? But what was it that someone had to sacrifice in order to save another person? He'd given up so much already. He'd tried so damn hard. He still was.

And yet Yami had said…

Could he even save himself?

Was it worth the time and effort to try?

Yugi didn't feel it. He didn't think so in the slightest. His heart hammered in his throat. He wanted to puke. His fingers shook in his lap. He clutched them tightly together and held his breath. He swore tears might appear if he kept thinking so hard. So he stared at the whiteboard, determined to drown himself in this lesson.

The teacher was reading in English up front. She'd unconsciously swapped language yet again. But that was perfect, in truth, as so many of the students paid more attention when that happened.

When he glanced around he found that the other students were paying far more attention now. They were curious and picking apart her sentences to paraphrase on paper. She was reading a passage from a popular book in the states—some Gothic romance, he thought?—but he couldn't focus. The title blurred each time he tried to focus on it and he looked away quickly.

Was it true? Was there only ever one person he could save? And was that really just himself? But what in the world was everything for then? Why was he suffering? Why was he letting the others suffer alongside him? Why were they fighting? What was this war even about at that point? Did this fight stand for anything?

"Do you hear that?"

Yugi flinched, jumping, and turned his head with wide eyes. He blinked a few times, confused. "Hear what?" he hissed back, heart hammering in his chest. He took a deep breath to steady himself again but it hardly seemed to be working. "What are you talking about?"

Jonouchi blinked at him, surprised by the curt tone but not offended. He tilted his head, ear angled towards the window. His brows furrowed slightly and Yugi tried to drown out Yami's voice in his head to focus on him. "It sounds like…fighting?" he muttered. "Like dogs or something?"

The words made little sense to him. Yugi blinked and stained his ears. He forced away Yami's voice for a moment, lasting all of a heartbeat, and the silence it had swallowed away was suffocated by snarling and growling. It sounded like two dogs violently ripping through flesh and trying to bite through the other. It sounded as if it were about something far more serious than just territory, in truth. He frowned, blinking, and furrowed his brows.

"You think a couple of dogs got loose?" he finally asked. But even as he bothered to say it he didn't think it held any truth. Maybe a long time ago he would have thought it possible. But now that he realized wolves dominated the immediate area… "It's part of the pack, right?"

He wondered who it was. Had Aki picked a fight? Was it Yusei and Jack finally lashing out at each other? Had someone overstepped and was being disciplined?

Jonouchi shook his head. A confused look crossed his face for a split second, then an alarmed and bewildered expression came over him. "Yugi, those aren't wolves in the woods." Yugi blinked, confused. Then he stiffened, realizing that the odds were hardly likely that he'd hear them from this far out of the mountains as it was. Jonouchi leaned forward, voice urgent as he hissed, "That's Yami."

Yugi blinked, stunned. He had never considered that it could be Yami involved in the mayhem of the noise coming to them. But, sure enough, as he tried to focus on it, he could hear it as well. The words from earlier bled and twisted, becoming mangled and morphing into the vicious snarls he could hear now. He recognized the fierce timbre of the red-eyed wolf's voice. He remembered the way he'd sounded when he'd fought Obelisk, the way he'd snarled and snapped at the hellhounds in the forest. And then he could think of nothing else. Stomach knotting furiously, Yugi felt as if his skull were pounding.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" He breathed out. He'd gotten to his feet at some point that he wasn't aware. Several students turned their heads. The teacher turned around, confused and then concerned when she spotted him. But either she was too startles or she did not care to object in any manner. Because Yugi was already out the door before she opened her mouth—if she did at all. He made a dash for the bathroom before he did anything else.

Was Yami fighting someone? And where was he? He had to be somewhere in the city, at the very least. He wouldn't have been able to hear him if he wasn't. But he could have also been simply quarreling with one of the wolves. He could only imagine that some of them still wanted to sink their teeth into him. And, should he have crossed paths with Aki or someone similar…

But the other canine sounded nothing like her. He didn't quite recognize the snarls. But he did think he'd heard them before. They sounded male, heavier and more violent than Yami could contend with at the moment. In truth, all he could think of with a snarl like that was Obelisk.

But he knew better.

Obelisk wasn't foolish enough to travel to the city for the sake of fighting Yami like that. And he didn't have the hatred to justify coming after him. As far as Yugi knew, the two of them were on amicable terms.

Yugi focused on breathing evenly for a moment. He forced himself to calm his erratic inhales. Then he leaned against the wall. He shifted his weight, pressing his forehead against the brick. The dull throbbing in his head intensified for only a moment. But he ignored it, shoving it aside, and closed his eyes. His teeth ground together. His palms were slick with sweat. He drew in a deep breath.

He could only focus on Yami's snarling now. He could feel it reverberating through his own bones now. And he tempered it for a moment, riding it out, and finally remembered himself again. He remembered the way Yami's heart sounded when it beat steadily at night. And he thought of his scent, picturing it almost like a light blue tendril before his eyes. It was like mist, cold and beautiful like ice, and for a moment he almost thought he could have reached out for it.

But a rush of pain made his shoulders quake. His right arm wrenched beneath the force. It jumped, pumping up and down once. He felt sharp punctures in his skull, right between his eyes. His throat was burning. His tongue was heavy. Something hot and sticky coated his mouth. His chest constricted with force. His balance swayed.

Yugi forced his eyes open.

The pain faded but for the burning of his tongue. His head throbbed minutely, dissipating several moments later. He drew in a deep breath from between his teeth. He shivered, taking off for the doors again.

He was halfway home before the reality of the situation crashed through him. He felt his head spin, eyes widening. If Yami was struggling, then he himself would need help. He stumbled a step, grabbing his phone from his pocket. He sent the text a few seconds later, nearly throwing the device in panic.

His yard was soaked in blood. The snow was drenched red. There were pockets missing where bodies had collided with it. There were trails across the surface. It stretched for miles, it seemed. And the snarling was like a deafening roar now. They were screaming and fighting, tossing each other about rapidly.

But none of them were…

He counted six of them. The other twelve were hellhounds. They were snarling and snapping. But they were also being expertly held off. The pack wolves had taken something of a beating. But it was not so terrible as to destroy them. Each of them stood nearly in a line together, teeth bared and fur raised. None of them wavered even the slightest. And all of them snapped and bit at the hellhounds as if to strike them down.

Yugi scanned over them quickly—Chazz, Zane, Yusei, Mai, Otogi and Jack. Zane and Chazz were the most wounded. But they were superficial more than anything. Mai and Otogi seemed more or less unharmed. Yusei and Jack were working together. They'd gotten cornered at one point or another in the midst of his check. They were facing opposite directions, effectively tearing into the hounds foolish enough to approach.

What was…? Yugi shivered. Valon had not been at school today. He had thought it was odd that he wasn't. But he hadn't thought much about it after the initial vague realization. But he had assumed it had been because he had decided to just skip for once. It wasn't often but it did happen occasionally.

But the wolves were here.

At his house.

And Valon knew where he lived.

He knew exactly when he could do this too.

He knew exactly when it was that Yami might be alone.

He knew exactly when he could do this too.

He knew exactly when it was that Yami might be alone. He knew Yugi's school hours because they were his own. He knew that Yugi would show up to school again because break was over.

He felt weak, knees wobbly beneath his weight.

Was it because of Kris?

Yugi vomited, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and feeling his legs threaten to buckle. Had Valon done this because of what Yami had done with Kris? Was it payback for that? Was he trying to kill Yami because he'd captured Kris and brought her to camp like that?

"Yami," he whispered, alarm surging through him. His head snapped up again. His eyes sought the window of his room. It was wide open. But he could not see anything. The warm air made a dense fog where it mingled with the icy temperature outside.

Go, Yugi! a voice snapped. He looked over, legs aching beneath the strain of his own weight. He blinked, eyes widening. There was so much blood and if Valon truly had turned on him…

Yugi couldn't breathe properly for a moment.

He didn't know if he could kill him!

He was a Harbinger!

And he was far more used to being a wolf than Yugi was. He was a lot stronger. He was probably a lot faster too. Yugi knew for sure that Valon was all that he himself was not. He'd kill him before he could even sink his teeth into his skin. Yugi was sure of that, if nothing else—

Go! Yusei spat again. He lunged for a hellhound drifting closer. His teeth snapped on their scruff. He tugged, backing up. The hellhound turned on him. Chazz shot forward. In an instant he'd caught the other wolf's throat. The hellhound struggled, caught between Yusei and Chazz. It thrashed, trying to shake them. Chazz tugged until Yusei released. Then he shook the hound so violently it was almost like a fur skin. Blood and fur flew in sharp arcs. The hybrid screamed. But it was too thin and weak. It could not shake him. It was bonier than even Yami had ever been.

Its stomach was tucked completely to its organs. The curve of its ribs was too large and irregular. Its shoulders were nothing but grizzle. Its bones popped and its neck flailed.

We can handle this, Yusei snapped. But Yami is surrounded go there! Go help him!

Yugi stiffened. Jack was watching him. His muzzle was soaked with blood. His cheeks were covered in stray red patches. His purple eyes were cold and glittering. He stared back relentlessly. Yugi couldn't tell if he was mocking him or not. But Yusei turned to attack another hellhound. It had ventured too close on Jack's other side. The hybrid screamed, struggling. Jack turned with his tail wagging.

Yugi forced himself forward. Horror bit at his skin in a frenzy. He got to the door without a backwards glance. The knob rattled, broken from its place. It fell with a sharp thump. He threw the door open. It shook, colliding with the wall. And then it collapsed to the floor as well.

He ignored this. The staircase was wide open. Blood streaked the walls. Droplets speckled up to the ceiling. The stairs were worked. They squelched beneath his weight. When he got to the living apartment, the floor was drenched. The walls were coated. The ceiling was splattered. The pictures on the walls were off balance. A body lay scattered in the kitchen. Its entrails lay several feet away. Another lay halfway through the banister. And another was headless in the entrance of his room.

He didn't have to step in to see clearly. There were four wolves. Yami was backed up further in the room. His red eyes were wide, cold, and pupils blown so wide they looked black. His ears were forward. His stance was heavy. Every fur on his body was puffed up. His mouth was opened wide. Every tooth was stained with red. The off-white male in front of him was wagging his tail. They were soaked in blood. And their eyes were glowing with laughter.

Yugi nearly groaned.

None of these wolves…

Were Valon.

His head snapped towards the window.

His heart was in his throat.

The little girl was there. She was leaned against the wall. Her odd eyes were locked on Yami. She looked utterly bored. Her arms were crossed. Her face was smooth and expressionless. Her eyes were half-closed. And then she blinked. She must have felt his stare because she turned her head. Her lips peeled back.

She smiled like a shark.

Yugi felt dizzy.

"Welcome home, Atem."

A body was slung forward. It broke on impact with the wall. It fell in a heap. It lay, choking on blood and gasping. It was inches from him. Green eyes peered up at him blindly. But the small teen couldn't look at it for more than a second.

"I was expecting you to come in running and foaming at the mouth," she laughed, seemingly genuinely delighted by the idea. Yugi stared at her, stomach churning. His mouth was sour with the taste on vomit on his tongue. The back of his throat burned. She was staring at him with scornful eyes. "But some hero you are. It's disappointing. Even your pet over here put on a better show."

"Who…?"

She snorted. Her eyes flickered to Yami and she smiled a little wider. "And it took you so long to come as well."

Yugi's legs were shaking. He couldn't breathe. His eyes shot to Yami again. The black wolf was bleeding terribly. His sides were slicked. Fur had been torn and shredded. Bloody flesh was jarring against his coat. His throat was ragged with cuts. Huge bunches of his fur lay across the carpet. His left eye was swollen but not shut. He'd gotten bitten beneath it. His entire cheek was inflamed. It was also almost torn completely apart. When he breathed, there was a wet quality to it.

"You haven't even noticed your guests yet."

Yugi blinked. Yami and the off-white male were frozen. Whatever power this girl possessed, it was enough to halt them for the moment. His eyes rose instinctively, flicking around the room rapidly.

Yami had killed a number of wolves. There were holes in the walls. Claw marks streaked across the sky blue color. The window frame was shattered. The window was soaked. The ceiling was bright burning red. But the bed was oddly pristine beyond blood splatter.

Yugi stiffened. Then he turned his head.

The bed…

He choked, trembling.

"What the fuck is…?" He turned back to her. "W-why…?"

"Why not?" she scoffed. And he could not see even the smallest gleam of light in her eyes. Her amusement was gone. Her excitement at seeing him was severed. They were dark and vicious, glowing as they burned into his. "Surely you wanted to see them one last time."

He blinked. "You're going to kill me?" he finally mumbled. And he wondered why he had not realized. What was the point of asking? She'd had her eyes on him for a while, hadn't she? She was the one from the woods. When he'd been attacked, she'd killed her comrade for being lamed. And then she'd trotted off with a snarl at the others. She'd been waiting for this moment, hadn't she?

"You?" she spat. Her voice dripped with disdain. Her nose wrinkled. "And ruin my fun? Of course not."

Yugi blinked slowly. His eyes shot back to Yami. The fighting was done for the moment. But the black wolf was not healing. He looked tired but angry. He was murderous. But he was also slowing down.

Yugi turned to the bed. They were propped up against the headboard. Their eyes were glazed. A gag was tied around their mouths. Their faces were pale, their foreheads clammy.

And then he smelled it.

Yugi lowered his eyes further. His stomach knotted painfully. He looked slowly to the girl again. "You…bled them…?"

She was sitting on the windowsill now. Her legs kicked. Her eyes glowed. The malice in them made his knees weak. Her teeth were sharp, like needles. Her nails were painted a polished, sparkling black. "Of course! That was only after dealing with your pet, though."

Yugi narrowed his eyes slowly. Everything was on fire. His skin burned. His tongue felt swollen. His eyes burned. His palms tingled. Black spots developed behind his vision. His temples throbbed.

"He's a lot stronger than I thought he would be." She turned her head, looking at Yami in her peripheral. But Yugi couldn't read her expression as she turned back. "He nearly ripped my arm off when I got too close. He slowed me down considerably. You should thank him for that. I would have bled them and drank their blood for the hell of it while my wolves held him off if he wasn't such a bastard."

Yugi risked a glance at him. Yami was focused on the hybrid in front of him. But he was watching her as well. He was furious. And he was listening to and watching her. He was split between the two of them. And Yugi realized with another surge of sickness that he was terrified of her. He was watching her because he knew she could kill him…

"Why?" he repeated. His voice came out harder than ever. "Why the fuck did you come here? Who the fuck are you?"

"What power does a name really have? An identity?" the girl sneered. She kicked her legs again. "My name is Project Resurrection according to the humans. But my given name is Yubel. And, as for why I'm here? I got bored, Atem. It's been so long since I've been out on the surface. And I've been dying to meet you again."

"Again?"

"Of course!" she laughed. And she had that innocent sound, like a wind-chime, the soft call of any eight-year-old girl. It shook Yugi to his core. She was only eight! She was… She was barely half his age! "Don't tell me you don't remember me!"

"Should I?"

"Considering I helped you escape and you left me to die," she snarled, "I would think you would. But then, you left all of us to die, didn't you? You and that bastard…"

Yugi curled his lip back. "I never asked any of you to do shit, all right? As far as I'm concerned, I never asked for it and it's your fault it turned out the way it did." He couldn't bring himself to come any closer. And he couldn't think straight long enough to consider lunging at her. And if he changed…

No, it would take too long. She'd get to his mom and grandpa before he could stop her. She'd kill them…

"I heard that you killed Noah." Yugi blinked, startled by the subject change. She had turned her eyes to the two humans on the bed. Kasumi and Sugoroku were focused on Yugi, however. And Yugi couldn't do more than stare helplessly. He needed to figure out a plan. He needed to figure out how to get them away. She drummed her fingers against the windowsill. It was in sync with his heartbeat. "I was impressed. He was vicious and hated everything and he could kill anything that moves when he was angry enough."

Yugi looked at her. "You sound fond."

"I was. He wasn't bad looking either."

He felt bile rise in the back of his throat once more.

"He was my beta, even with how much of a fucking wildcard he was." She looked utterly bored now. Her eyes shot to Yami after a moment. "And then I realized, it wasn't you who killed him. No, not at all. A wildcard like Noah against someone like you? You're too startled by my age to even make a move to save your family. Your pet did it. It had to be him. He's as wild as Noah was. He is the only one who could kill him. It takes the wilderness to destroy something as wild as him."

Yugi blinked.

"It's a shame he died, however. It was fun beating him into submission when he was cross with me." She turned to him with bright, glowing eyes and a smile of sharp white teeth like jagged ice. "He was only two years older than me. And your little pet killed him."

What?

Yugi swallowed hard. Noah had only been ten? And Yami had killed him? And Yugi had fought him. He'd… But then, if that were the truth of it, he'd done it for a reason. He'd fought him to save himself. And Yami had killed him to save Yugi. Even if he was ten, he was dead now. It didn't matter.

Noah was dead.

"He was the first Harbinger they managed to breed. He came from one of the largest financial partners of the little hellhole we were raised in." Yubel looked to Yami again. Her eyes were curious and cold. "Gozaburo fucked her like a horse for months. He'd killed his other two sons, though they were already weak and ill when they were born. I was told it was some kind of cancer, but who knows? Because I've also heard he wasn't the father and someone else was entirely. No one knows that bastard's name, but rumor has it that he is the one who started it all."

Yugi bristled. His eyes shot to his family again. His mom blinked, stirring as if to rid herself of her exhaustion. But it only made her eyes glaze over more. He could see where Yubel had slit her throat in a clean line. And if the cleanliness was anything to go by, Yubel had lapped it up like a dog.

Was she infected? Was his grandpa?

But it didn't look as if they were healing.

The cuts were still visible. There was no indication they were scar tissue. He swallowed thickly, then looked at his grandpa. His age had finally caught up to him, it seemed. He was barely able to keep his eyes open. And Yugi could hear him struggling to breathe.

Yubel was watching him again. "You don't even smell like a wolf anymore," she snorted in disgust. Her lips curled back to show her teeth in a more threatening manner. "You smell like a human brat. Is that how you've camouflaged yourself for the last six months? You took to a human family and began to play like you were one of them?"

He was dizzy. His legs threatened to buckle.

"How did you do it? Did you kill their son and take his place?" she drawled. She was kicking her legs again. For the first time Yugi noticed she was wearing a bright white dress that looked like silk. "You were stuck being a human for almost fourteen years, from what I've heard. You couldn't change at all for years, right? You were worthless. And, yet. Somehow you were kept alive. Somehow he decided you were worth the money and time and effort it took to bring you back from the brink each time. Why? Because you survived when the other five didn't?"

Yugi swallowed hard. His mom was staring at him blankly. "Fuck you," he mumbled. And he wondered if he was speaking to Yubel or himself. "Get the hell out of my house."

"Is it yours if it's borrowed for an alias?"

Yugi glanced sideways towards Yami again. The black wolf was oddly still. He was staring at the two of them. He was livid, eyes glowing with hate. He almost wished Yami would try to behead one of them for a distraction. It would give him just enough of a chance to lash out.

And yet it didn't happen.

And he was struck with the odd sense it would never have worked to begin with. Yugi looked at her for a moment.

"I don't remember the labs."

"Well, then, aren't you fucking lucky?" she sneered. She drew her lips back to show her teeth. "You're a cut above the rest of us in that department. The gods must truly fucking adore you to show such mercy to an undeserving bastard such as yourself."

Yugi watched his mom for a moment. She was still exhausted. But now she was staring at him. She was watching him keenly. She was confused, more than slightly stunned by Yubel's words. Yugi wondered if she'd hate him when she realized…

But if he could just get to her and his grandpa and get them untied and out of the way—

"Why are you here?"

Yubel turned to him now. Her eyes were unreadable but her stance spoke of pure rage. "Why?" she repeated. And now she was almost singing, her voice soft and lyrical. She eyed him, studying for a moment. Her face stayed expressionless for a while. Then it twisted into a sneering smile, her canines so sharp he swore they had been filed into points. "I don't honestly know. I think I really did just get bored."

"Bored…"

She smiled brilliantly. Her eyes flashed like lanterns. "Maybe I wanted to fight a Pure-Blood. Maybe I wanted to kill for the hell of it. Or maybe I wanted to see who exactly my competition truly is."

"Competition?" Yugi snapped. "The fuck kind of competition is this? Competition for what?"

"Why, whose most important, of course. I was altered genetically like this in order to be able to find and drag you back." She peered at him with dark eyes. The amusement had left them abruptly. Now she looked absolutely livid. Her lips twisted dangerously into something like hatred and her sneer was vicious as she continued in a hiss. "I was kept alive just for this purpose. And I want to know who's more important now, understand? The gods favored you before. But will they now?"

Yugi bristled. His eyes widened. His heart thundered in his chest. He was shaking finely. He glanced towards Yami. The black wolf and silver hybrid were staring at each other. Another hellhound paced back and forth restlessly.

Were they waiting on her?

Was she going to be the one to give the signal for the hybrids to attack again?

He looked to his mom and grandpa for a split second. Were they a distraction to keep Yami from stopping her reaching them? Or were they going to be killed when she lost her patience?

And which one could he save if she did turn on them? Yugi didn't know for sure which of them he might be able to get to faster. But he was all but defenseless as a human. If he didn't change…

"Slifer saved you in the woods that day. But will any of them step in for you now?" she continued, voice low and pleasant. Her eyes were colder than ever now. She peered at him as if she were looking at a corpse littered with maggots. "Let's see, shall we?"

Yugi turned to her. But she was not facing him any longer. She'd turned to look at his family now. Her eyes were sharp, keen and burning. She watched them as if they were a snake that might lunge forth and strike her down. He felt his legs wobble. "Stop," he murmured, struggling not to beg. "I'll go to the labs with you. Just leave them alone."

Yubel tipped her head to the side, turning to him a moment later. "You'd return to the labs?" she asked slowly. Her eyes were dull, full of boredom. Her voice was flat and unconcerned. "You would risk your life for the sake of your surrogate human family?"

Yugi bristled but instinct warned him against the words on his tongue. He drew in a deep breath. "Yes," he mumbled instead. "I would follow you to the labs again."

She stared at him. "Is that so?" she asked slowly. Yugi stiffened. He knew instinctively that he could not make it to him before the hellhounds turned on him. Yubel would get to them first. He could not save them if she made a move. "How stupid of you. You would save your humans before you tried to rescue your own pet."

"He can handle himself. Half of your wolves are dead as it is." Yugi stared at her as he clenched his hands into fists. He felt dizzy but there was a rush of adrenaline crashing through him now as well. His nails dug into his palms. His heart skipped a few beats. He could feel sweat on his temple now. His throat was soaked. The hairs on the nape of his neck were in a bristle. "And I know he's able to hold his own."

"I think I'd take a second look, Atem. He looks exhausted." Yubel smiled at him brilliantly, her eyes glowing with laughter. Yugi felt he might get whiplash if he paid her too much more attention. "He's bleeding almost everywhere. And I think Sartorius here wants payback for that day in the woods."

Yugi bristled, ignoring the urge to flee. "He can handle it."

But even as he said it he thought he could hear Yami's heart skipping beats. The adrenaline raced through him rapidly once more. His lungs constricted. A small wave of panic gripped his insides. If Yami got killed—

Yugi didn't want him to have to come back.

Yugi stared at her. He forced the panic away. He swallowed viciously. His eyes narrowed. He smothered the fear completely. If she detected it, she would kill them both before he could even blink.

"Hmm. Such faith you have in him." Yubel tilted her head and looked over at the red-eyed wolf again. Her lips were pulled into the widest smirk. Her eyes glittered with laughter. "I wonder. Would you have so much faith if you knew how he failed to protect them from me when I got into the house?"

"You had multiple wolves with you." Yugi narrowed his eyes. They shot briefly to his family again. When they settled on her, she was staring at him once more. "If it had just been the two of you, he'd have managed fine. You wouldn't have laid a hand on them."

"Is that so? He could hardly keep his balance when we came in. How could he have handled it if he was so off-kilter?" she mumbled. But she turned away just as quickly again, moving towards the bed. Yugi bristled further, unsure of what to do. If he lunged at her—and, yet, he couldn't stay there and watch her.

"Stop."

She did not so much as blink at him. Nor did she pause.

"I said stop."

"Do you think I'll take orders from the likes of you?" Yubel hissed softly. She did not stop and Yugi lunged at her. The two hellhounds in their canine forms moved away. It was a split second movement. They no longer remained between Yugi and Yami and the girl. But Yugi didn't know what he was meant to do. She had turned to him. And her eyes were laughing. She did not look upset in the least.

"You shouldn't have moved."

Yugi could barely see what she did. She moved so quickly it stunned him. A sharp pinprick hit his throat. He blinked, startled. Her hand was—

But she hardly seemed to have moved in the slightest. And Yugi could see stars exploding behind his eyes now. His blood was burning. His stomach churned and lurched. His heart skipped beats. His mouth dried out. His legs wobbled. His lungs collapsed, folding in on themselves. His chest shuddered. His bones ached. He shivered. And then he collapsed.

His body shook. Bile surged up the back of his mouth. His fingers grabbed at the carpet. The fibers scratched his skin. He drew in a shaky breath. His lungs ached and pulsed. His temples burned. His mouth itched. His tongue felt swollen.

His bones were on fire. They were swelling and breaking. His flesh writhed. Muscle split beneath his skin. His gums began to bleed. His heart skyrocketed in speed. His body shook harder than ever.

What had she…?

He remembered Bakura. The gray wolf had stared at him. He'd been writhing on the ground. He'd choked on vomit. He'd gaped at the animal. The wolf had given him pitying looks. He'd paced aggressively in front of him. And then Yami had taken to fighting him. And Pegasus had taunted him.

And Yugi was dizzy for a moment.

Pegasus had injected him with wolfsbane and silver.

But this felt different.

He didn't think it felt as toxic as it had then.

But his skin was burning. And he could feel sweat coming through him in waves. He clenched his fingers. He narrowed his eyes. And then he clenched them shut. His teeth clenched. The muscles in his throat flexed in a spasm. The needle dropped to the ground.

Yugi didn't look at it.

"How disappointing. You're reacting to pure silver like it's wolfsbane! I just wanted to slow you down." She sounded disgusted and hateful. She'd crossed her arms now, eyes locked on his face and burning into his skin. "I thought you would be stronger. I wanted an actual fight."

Yugi swallowed away a groan. He narrowed his eyes into slits. His lips drew back into a near snarl. His fingers clenched on the fibers of the carpet. Silver, he realized. She'd injected him with silver.

He thought of Fuwa sneering at him. He thought of Yami's tongue blistering as he licked his knife wound. He thought of Aileen and the tigress in the warehouse. And he remembered the way he'd helped him bathe, his hand bleeding terribly and—

Was it an anticoagulant as well? Was that why it all ached? Was that why everything inside of him seemed to burn and bleed and blister? Was that why his bones felt as if they might snap beneath the pressure?

Yugi shook more painfully than ever. A tic began to form in his skin. He gasped for air violently. And then he fell onto his side. His eyes burned. He gasped again. Sweat trickled through every pore. He flailed. His arms wrapped around his stomach. Bile rushed upward from the back of his throat.

He could feel it gurgling upward. His stomach burned. He drew in a breath, then choked. There was a small thudding noise. The floor seemed almost to vibrate. He blinked. His neck cracked when he strained to look over his shoulder. He was shaking too hard to think straight. His belly ached violently. And his neck felt as if it were sprained. His eyes widened further, lashes fluttering. He could see him now.

Yami had sprung at the other wolf. Sartorius, however, was not even facing him. The hellhound had turned to Yubel. Yugi could not see their eyes. But Yami had bitten the hybrid's head off. It lay several inches from Yubel's foot. Sartorius was facing her, likely asking permission to fight Yami. But Yubel hardly seemed to care in the slightest. Yugi could feel her eyes locked on him.

"Is that it?" she muttered. Yugi could not bring himself to look at her. But his body was burning and he could feel it vibrating with pain. A new thought occurred to him but he could not focus for long. "You care more for your pet than you do your 'family'."

Yugi vomited violently. But he didn't have the strength to speak. He didn't have the focus to try. His eyes were struggling to stay on the sight before him. Long black claws glittered. The wolf was soaked in blood. He was quivering. Yugi's body wrenched sloppily back and forth.

"I wonder…"

There was a loud popping noise.

"Are you stronger?"

Her voice was hideous, gurgling and vicious, and guttural. Yugi thought she sounded like an ancient demonic creature from movies. Her locals vibrated in a disgusting manner. She sounded as if she possessed a thousand in the way it seemed to bounce about the room.

The room seemed to shake.

The popping intensified.

When you die, Yubel continued, voice seeming to make the air pulsate with power, I think I'll eat your heart.

---

Okay, so, my updates are still going to hopefully be every two weeks? My job is unaffected by the pandemic for the most part and I'm working the same amount of hours that I have been for a while now. That cuts my writing time significantly (I'm actually still stuck on chapter 89 due to limited time and things of that nature) and Part VI chapters tend be longer than the other parts. But my update schedule should hopefully be maintained at once every two weeks.