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.

88. Survival

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

Update schedule: Biweekly due to limited time

Edit Schedule: Sporadic due to limited time

Chapter Warnings: Puzzleshipping, Character Death, COPIOUS Bloodshed, COPIOUS Violence, ATTEMPTED Self-Mutilation, Self-Hatred

I had planned to post this a lot earlier, but I was looking at it again and decided to rework a small portion. I decided to go ahead and post now, however, as it's my birthday and I'm bored with my quarantine lmfao It's a lot shorter than chapter 87 and 89, but it wasn't necessary to make it longer; it got everything accomplished that it was supposed to. The work log entry somehow wound up a lot longer than originally intended and has been broken into three parts.

I am still working on edits for chapter 89 so I'm not sure when I will post it as of yet.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter LXXXVIII: Survival

Work Log Entry LXXVIII: August, 2009 (Part I)

August 6

Atem has exhibited remarkable healing capabilities again. His injuries from conflict two hours ago have fully healed. A small scar the length of the wound is the only proof it ever happened. The injury in question was a large gash across the right palm which reached the bone. On a human this would have required surgery and stitches.

Atem required none of those.

August 7

Atem no longer has a scar where the wound was. It has healed spectacularly.

August 8

The boss has decided to test Atem's healing in terms of hellhound saliva.

We are to rub it on an open wound in two days.

August 10

The immediate response was that his wound bled profusely where the saliva came in contact. The tissue turned black instantly, dying and flaking where we scraped it.

August 11

The saliva's anticoagulant feature caused the wound to reopen this morning. Atem bled so much that we almost thought he was going to die from blood loss. We have stabilized him by way of a blood transfusion, although the boss was not happy with such intervention.

We do not know if Atem can come back from the dead with hellhound proponents in his bloodstream, however, and so we did as necessary to secure his recovery.

For the moment he is stable again and does not seem to display any ill effects.

Yugi couldn't help but wonder how much damage he'd done in asking Yami the question he had. Asking him if he ever regretted biting him had put some kind of distance between them. He could not measure it, and he sometimes almost thought himself paranoid for the fact that Yami pretended so easily otherwise. But he felt it. It was too odd a sensation to ignore. And it hurt. Some part of him had truly believed they were beyond the point of scaring each other away with words of casual conversation, or even hideous arguments. And yet he felt it, that cold and rapidly appearing estrangement he'd worked so hard formerly to dissolve.

He almost feared it irreparable. Some part of him was also elated, however. Some part of him thrived on this sensation. Because, maybe, at the end of all this, if they did somehow survive, this would make things easier. Because, deep inside of himself, Yugi realized.

And he understood.

Yami would run. He'd take off. The moment it was all over and done with, Yami would turn tail and flee. He would fall back into his regular habits for the sake of familiarity. And he would leave Yugi far, far behind. The red-eyed wolf knew no other way of protecting himself that was not physical. So, he was not likely to remain there, where he'd truly been stalked by death and harmed beyond repair.

The events in the labs had destroyed much of him. What remained was what little he'd managed to salvage. And that destroyed Yugi to realize. It made every breath painful, every beat of his heart constricting. Yami was so damaged it was devastating. And, as much as it stung, Yugi knew for a fact that even though he'd be left in the dust, Yami needed to leave. There was going to be nothing left for him, not when it all came to an end.

All of this, however, stemmed on whether Yugi made it out this alive or not.

Were he in Paradise, he most certainly would not be burdened with these truths.

Yugi shivered, shaking himself out. Yami lay on his stomach in front of Yusei. The yearling wagged his tail hesitantly, as if to clarify Yami was okay with his presence there. Yugi wished with everything in him that he could have reassured him it was okay and he didn't have to worry. But after the black wolf had attacked him in such a state of panic, Yugi could not justify saying it. It would have been a blatant lie. And Yugi could not do such a thing to Yusei of all people.

Honda and Jonouchi sat a couple of inches away, watching with growing interest. He almost shivered, flustered by the concept of watching them play fight. Yugi shook himself out again, trying to shed his guilt and fear. The movement made Yami turn his head, puzzled as he peered at him with wide eyes. The wolf's expression was one of bewilderment and Yugi turned away quickly, feeling cold and alien for his mounting suspicion.

Yami blinked in his peripheral. Then he turned away, stretched lazily, and wagged his tail at Yusei. The two of them studied each other a moment. Yami wagged his tail, tilting his head, and peered at him with brightened eyes. Yugi wondered how badly he'd rattled him. Yami was still watching him from the corner of his eye. And Yugi realized he was readily growing cautious and suspicious of his vigilance.

Yugi almost sighed. His first impulse was to get closer, plop down and roll over to paw at his face. The fact it didn't happen was testament in and of itself that he and Yami were not okay. The divide was not too immense to scale, however. He knew that. But he was double checking himself, double guessing Yami and each decision he made. And it was alien to him, so much so that it swallowed him whole.

No blood, no wounds. If you become tired, say so or back off. Yugi ignored the quizzical glance they shot him. Yugi turned to Yusei, hoping more than ever the yearling would not end up hurt as he had before. He drew in a deep breath, steadying himself. If you want to switch partners, say so. If you don't want to train anymore, say so.

No one will be penalized, Yugi wanted desperately to say. Yusei was staring at him, more shocked than alarmed. Yugi felt his stomach knot, risking a glance towards Yami. His red eyes burned into Yugi's, fierce with momentary hurt before he blinked it away and replaced it with indifference. Yugi looked at the snow, feeling small and dejected for a split second.

Yami rose a heartbeat later, shaking himself out. Here, Yusei, you lead. You're smaller. I can support your weight more easily. His voice was calm and quiet, but Yugi swore he heard bitterness in it as well. The white wolf flattened his ears, raising and turning his head. Yusei got up, trotting over to stand a few inches from Yami.

Yusei sprang for him, mouth open and teeth showing in a lazy grin. He wagged his tail, dropping into a play bow. Then he sprang again, paw tapping Yami's shoulder. Yami tipped his weight slightly. He raised a paw, lurching away from his mouth. Yusei tugged his scruff playfully in turn. Yami dipped and turned his head, shaking his neck out. Yusei released, falling back as his tail wagged wildly.

Yami wagged his tail in turn, watching. He sprang and Yusei dodged aside, rushing back. He lunged, mouth open as he nipped his cheek. Yami blinked, turning away quickly to brace himself. Yami turned on him, mouth open. But he missed by several inches. Yusei sprang away, and Yami shook himself out again.

The yearling stretched, wagging his tail. His grin was sloppy and wide. Yami mirrored him a moment later, springing. Yusei let him get within an inch of him, then jumped aside. Yugi stiffened with surprise. Yami was trying his absolute hardest not to touch Yusei. He was trying to avoid contact. He was only moving close enough to warrant a response.

Yugi's heart dropped. He'd truly upset him by pointing out his former lapse of judgment. It hadn't been purposeful. He'd known that. Yami had simply gotten scared. Yugi had not realized at the time. But he'd smelled it. Yami had given off a single split second but potent fear-scent.

Yugi shivered, ears pricking forward. Yami shook himself out. They were standing steps from each other as Yusei wagged his tail and Yami simply watched. They studied one another. Yugi could see them both considering the best course of action. Yami came forward and Yusei tilted his head. He flicked his ears and Yugi looked at them both uncertainly. But it was clear Yami was speaking to Yusei about something or other.

Yami stepped closer and Yusei nodded, circling him. He seemed to be considering what to do now. When he came to face him, Yami shook himself out. Yusei lunged forward, teeth catching his cheek. He jerked back, pulling the loose skin. Yami growled, showing his teeth slightly. Yusei rose on his back legs, twisting his upper body. Yami grunted. Yusei's paw landed on his shoulder. He angled his body parallel Yami's, throwing his weight into his hip. Yami stumbled, head falling towards the snow. Yusei caught his skull with his teeth, slamming him forward.

Yami huffed. Yusei bore down on him, paw pressed into his shoulder. His teeth were bared, his tail wagging rapidly. His head was far from Yami's range of attack. Yami twisted immediately, front paws pushing Yusei's chest. His back legs kicked his stomach, shoving him back several inches. Then he tried for his feet.

Yusei blocked him, grabbing his scruff and tossing his head. Yami landed on his back, paws coming up. He pressed harder into his chest, back legs kicking again. But Yusei was not shoved this time; he was perfectly positioned to take the hit without getting winded.

Yugi swore he saw the smallest hint of tension from Jonouchi. The golden-furred wolf had gone still. His fur rose into a bristle. His eyes narrowed. He looked as if he were afraid Yusei might sink his teeth in too far. Yugi wondered what he might do should something happen. If Yami snapped, what then? Would he lunge forward? Would he cower? Yugi couldn't figure out which was more likely. Jonouchi was much warier than the others, however.

He did not know if it was the fight Yami had waged against Yubel or if it was simply because he'd witnessed Yusei being attacked as he had. Yugi didn't suppose it mattered regardless.

Yami kicked again, but he was far from panicked. His mouth had opened partially, tongue sloppy where it draped over his teeth. He'd braced his paws on either side of Yusei, twisting sharply. Yusei stumbled, falling onto his side. Yami rolled to his feet, shaking himself out.

Yami looked at Yusei, wagging his tail again. He ducked his head, looking away and sniffing at the snow. Then he shook himself out again, wagging his tail lazily at whatever Yusei had said. Yugi blinked, wondering at the lazy stances they both harbored now. Was it that simple? They were done training now? Had Jonouchi or Honda even noticed and appreciated any of it? Had they appreciated the restraint Yami had chosen to display?

So, would Yusei be able to do that to you, too? Honda asked, tilting his head. Yami looked up, blinking with an expression Yugi could not quite read. I mean, if the roles were reversed, could he have gotten out from beneath you just as quickly?

He is smaller and faster than me. I do not think he'd have struggled nearly as much as I did.

Jonouchi was still staring at them, though now he locked eyes with Yami, pricking his ears forward with increasing interest. You think he could have gotten away easier?

Yami shook himself out, ignoring the urge to shoot Yugi a spiteful glance. His insides churned and his mouth was oddly pasty and dry, as if his tongue were glued to his palate. He breathed slowly through his nose, considering the other three wolves. Honda was watching him with growing curiosity, but Yugi avoided eye contact with him at all costs, and Jonouchi seemed all too willing to look him in the eye. He is not nearly as bulky and he would find it much easier to escape. He does not have the muscle to throw me off, however. If I were to try, I could pin him easily. He knows how to use his instincts and battle strategies in tangent, however. That's why he is better suited for that than I am. He could have rolled away and gotten up long before I could. Smaller wolves tend to be faster. Remember that.

You were fast when you were fighting Yubel—

Yugi huffed. Yami blinked, turning his head in surprise. But the white wolf glared at the snow, clawing at it and exhaling a long sigh. Yami turned away again, facing Honda solely now. I was not fast enough, he corrected him softly, voice cold with frustration. He did not want to think of how badly the fight had gone. Sleeping was hard enough; he did not need the reminder while awake as well. He saw enough gore in his dreams. I was fast enough to hold my own. But I wasn't fast enough to defend myself or stop her. She could hit her twice where I could only once. I'm not fast enough to make up for that.

Is Yugi?

He will be with proper training. Yami glanced at him sideways, but Yugi ignored him pointedly. He snorted, turning back, and noted that Honda had clearly noticed the dismissal. The brown wolf was giving Yugi a disappointed look, as if personally affronted on Yami's behalf. We haven't worked much on his speed, just his strength for the most part. We'll work on his speed soon. It will be necessary when he and Yubel fight.

Movement in his peripheral notified him that Yugi had raised his head. Yami could feel his stare now, like teeth digging into his skin. He wrinkled his nose. But he didn't turn his head as he would have before. He flicked his ears, sweeping about their location for noise. The silence but for their steady breathing and soft heartbeats was oddly comforting.

When? Don't you mean if?

Yami snorted. Yugi is the original Atem. Yubel wants to kill him. I have no doubt she and I will cross paths again, but I'm sure it will be the two of them to finish it all.

Yugi felt as if he'd been struck. The words sounded almost as if Yami might abandon him to his fate, as if he might refuse eventually to be around him altogether. And the realization made his heart stutter, his mouth almost numb. He watched the black wolf a moment longer. Then he looked away. He'd been digging a hole since her name had been mentioned, so infuriated he'd needed to redirect it somehow. He hadn't wanted to turn on them in some manner, or to lash out as he might have otherwise. Between the snarl and tunneling in the snow, he had relaxed enough to fight away his temper. But now he almost wished the hole were big enough to bury himself within.

He exhaled a sharp breath, about to speak, but Yami cut him off. We're simply lucky Valon is not the wolf to fight him, he said dismissively, shaking himself out and closing his eyes halfway. It is a blessing he is not the one to be our opponent. I have no doubt he'd destroy us with ease.

Yugi bristled, spinning on him. What? he snapped. He couldn't even if he tried!

Yami turned on him, snorting. Really? He has all three abilities. He can poison, he can change shape, he can recover by ingesting blood. Do you truly think he is not a threat? His neutrality in this fight is a blessing. He's too strong. And I do not doubt he has full control over those powers as well as being corporeal and incorporeal any moment he wishes. I do not think you understand his strength.

Yugi blinked, watching him. Yami was right. Valon's neutral stance was perhaps the only saving grace they'd had in this war. He was dangerous. He was a sociopath, without any true conscience, and he had no compass to explain right from wrong the way he or Yami did. He did not have that.

He had no such guidance but for his instincts. He'd killed Zuzu for simply being close when he'd entered the camp. Her age, her gender, her innocence, her existence; it had all been nothing to him. It had been only the prospect of regaining his sister and being able to protect her that had saved them from further casualties.

Yami was right. Valon was someone they couldn't quite account for in a fight. He knew the hellhound had exact control of each power he possessed. And Yugi was damn lucky he didn't turn on them in any manner. Yami might have been deadly in that he'd even managed to kill Obelisk during their fight in the woods, but he was not feral at the flick of a switch. He was deadly with precision, but he was outclassed.

Valon and Yami would likely kill each other should it have ever come down to it.

And Yugi didn't think he'd manage to put a dent in Valon's power or anger or raw energy if they ever clashed. He didn't think he'd be able to even aid Yami if it came to blows between them.

But to say it so blatantly in front of the others?

If it got back to the camp and any of the wolves got it in their heads to try to challenge Valon in an effort to prove Yami wrong…

Okay, well, we don't need to tell everyone about that, now do we? he finally mumbled, indignant but without irritation to his tone. He flicked his ears and watched him unhappily for a single second. When Yami merely wrinkled his nose the white wolf sighed loudly. Look, don't tell anyone else about what he just said, okay? We don't need anyone getting hellhound stupid and going after him or anything like that.

Okay, but who would be stupid enough to do that?

Jack would, I know for sure, Yusei commented quietly. He gave Jonouchi a small sideways glance, wagging his tail slightly. And I think Jim might, too. Chazz isn't stupid, but it's easy to get him angry enough to do something stupid. Zane doesn't care for hellhounds at all. And any of the wolves from the original pack probably wouldn't mind doing it, either.

Yami tilted his head, considering him a moment. Then his eyes shot to Yugi, their gazes locking for a single heartbeat. Yami abruptly turned away again, ears pricked forward. Yugi could see his fur rising, falling along the back of his neck for a moment before settling slowly. He couldn't tell if it was a nervous tic or if it was a sharp prick of anger in his blood for a single second. The black wolf shrugged it off almost immediately, however, and turned to him again.

I was not sharing it with them so that they might tell anyone else. He snorted. But they did see Valon in the camp that day and it would be wise of us to remind them that he may be neutral but he is extremely dangerous all the same.

Yugi huffed. I think they all know that by now.

Yami looked as if he might respond, but abruptly he shifted his weight and narrowed his eyes with a refusal to glance in his direction. He didn't argue, however, even as his face spoke of skepticism and his lips curled back briefly to show his teeth. He turned eventually to Jonouchi, wrinkling his nose slightly. For a moment Yugi almost thought he might lash out at him in some manner. They were both silent for a long time, before Yami turned slowly to Yugi again, head tilted and eyes boring into his.

You are likely correct. But you can never be too careful with such things.

Yugi huffed, flicking his ears back and forth slowly. He wondered if anyone was nearby, if the patrols drifting through the woods might have noticed them as of yet. He doubted it at the moment, but he was not sure any of them might have spotted or considered them. If they did run across them, he would be amazed to see they were not upset with such exclusion. He shrugged it off, however. And Yugi felt struck with the sudden idea Yami might have said it for his benefit as well. No doubt he meant to take a jab at him simply for his desire to hunt down Yubel so mindlessly as he'd displayed formerly.

Yugi blinked, huffing; Yami was still staring at him. He shook himself out, a small surge of tension creeping through him. The anger fell away moments later and he found himself feeling almost chastised. But Yami did not seem to notice his frustration, tilting his head. Some of the others are headed this way, he mumbled, flicking an ear and sniffing more rigorously. Nistro and Jim, Chazz and…Yuya?

Yugi wanted to try to determine if he was right, but he didn't truly think he cared enough. Yami was probably right. He had most of the pack memorized. He recognized their voices, their weight and how fluidly they stepped. Yugi was envious at times; he wished he could do the same. But he'd only ever tried to memorize Yami's, to be able to track him should something happen in any manner.

He huffed out a breath, annoyed with himself. He'd done that to himself, isolated himself so that he was all but useless and helpless throughout the time he'd been among the pack to begin with.

But he'd also learned by playing on the sidelines like this. He'd learned just enough to ensure his own survival, how to play at politics within the pack, how the structure was the entirety of their strength. It was in their division they were weak, but the fight that Yami had waged against Yubel had given many of them hope where they'd formerly lost it. Yugi himself had been stunned when Yusei had finally showed him the extent of it, the damage he'd taken and inflicted in turn. But that wasn't enough. Yugi knew that.

The wolves were still restless. Some of them feared death. Some of them were all too happy to greet it.

He shivered, turning to him. Maybe now would be a good time to try a bonding exercise, he suggested, and Yami blinked, tilting his head at him with a surprised look. Yugi hesitated, flicking and flattening his ears for a brief second. Right?

He said it so quietly, almost weakly, that Yami blinked in confusion. Then he snorted, turning away and shaking himself out as he replied, It wouldn't be a bad time, if that's what you're asking. But it'd be wiser to include the entire pack if we were going to do that. Bonding with small groups of individuals is far too much work for such a large group.

Yugi huffed, staring at him and feeling for a single second almost furious with him. Well, yeah, I meant the whole pack, not just us and them, he bit back. He felt a brief wave of shame come through him when Yami turned his head to stare at him in surprise. But it was clear he also understood he'd made him feel stupid as well. His red eyes were considerate as he looked him over. Then he turned away again, ears pricked forward and gaze narrowed. That would be the best thing though, right? I mean…

Yami nodded slightly, studying him in his peripheral. Yes.

Yusei watched them with an uncertain expression. He hesitated a moment, turning his head and looking towards one of the mild embankments which sloped downward from them. The yearling wagged his tail slightly, turning to Yugi with a respectful dip of his head. A pack hunt would be great, he said quietly. He could hear Chazz laughing now, Jim snarling in disgust, and Yuya snickering. The patrol sounded friendlier than he remembered them being usually. We should do that, for sure!

Yami cast Yugi a small amused sideways glance. Sounds like approval all around.

Yugi watched his face for a moment. He didn't look upset, so he hoped things between them were settling, if only slightly. He didn't like arguing with him; it was hard to do and every other barb he struck with hit full force a second after. Yami squabbled with him as good as he got, snarling and sneering. But it was wearing on him as well, Yugi knew. He understood it in the way Yami would so often look away and refuse to even glance in his direction at times.

I'm going to partner with Honda for this one, Yugi said quietly, almost shaking as Yami peered at him. He looked almost as if Yugi had bitten him for a split second, a clear show of hurt and surprise on his face. Yugi leaned forward to press his nose into his cheek, wagging his tail. I want you to partner with Yusei. I wanted to talk to Honda about a few things and I didn't want to have to worry about Jonouchi getting jealous or anything like that. Is that okay? Or would you rather—?

It's fine.

Yugi wondered if he truly understood; he still seemed rather upset. But now wasn't really the time to coddle him, either. They needed to know when they were going to do it, how to pair the pack, and from there he had to figure out what they were going to hunt. The problem became what was around, how easily they could catch it, and who would lead which smaller groups. He supposed now would be a good time to have the alphas step up and play the part of leadership for the hunt.

Then, let's go.

---

Atem is calling for a hunt? Jack scoffed, looking up from where he'd been nestled against Carly. The she-wolf yawned, stretching weakly before glancing at Yusei as well. They considered each other for a moment, though the two males were tense as they eyed one another. Carly simply lowered her chin to her paws again and closed her eyes as if she might fall asleep once more.

I don't think he'd force you to come if you don't want to, Yusei assured him from where he stood beside Chazz. The other gray yearling had turned his head towards Syrus, calling the omega to his side. Yusei, however, tilted his head and watched Jack with a bewildered expression. You could stay here with Carly if you wanted.

Oh? a voice snorted behind him, wry with derision. Is that Atem speaking or you putting your words in his mouth?

Yusei bristled slightly, but it wasn't with anger or even frustration. He looked merely like he'd been caught off guard, fluffing up in surprise rather than aggression. Yami watched him turn his head towards Aki, blue eyes wide for a single second. He visibly relaxed a moment later, however, wagging his tail as he snorted, I bet you Atem wouldn't mind letting him stay if he wanted to.

That's rather presumptuous of you to assume, Aki sneered, but she didn't sound malicious. In fact, to Yami's surprise, he almost dared to call her tone amused. Yusei seemed to notice as well, wagging his tail rapidly in turn. If I were Atem, I would be rather annoyed that you've chosen to speak for me and make choices in my name.

But you're not Atem, Yusei scoffed now, huffing out a breath. He pawed at the ground anxiously. And he's not as prickly as you!

Prickly? Jack snorted so loudly he startled Carly back into awareness; the she-wolf's eyes snapped open as if she'd been struck and her head snapped around in surprise. The pale wolf glanced at her, but continued in a sneer. Is that the best you could come up with, Yusei? By the gods, you're a little bitch.

Yusei bristled with indignation now, spinning on him. Shut up, Jack.

"Shut up, Jack", Aki mimicked in a loud voice. Yusei flattened his ears and shot her an annoyed look that Yami almost thought bordered hurt for a split second. Then he wagged his tail as if she were praising him instead. The distinct change made Yami tilt his head in surprise for a moment before he turned towards Jack and Carly again. Jack had finally taken notice of his presence there it seemed, for his head had turned and his lips were drawn back into a silent snarl. Carly had lowered her chin to her paws again, eyes closed once more. Honestly, Yusei, can you not think of anything better to say?

The gray yearling puffed up again, but merely wagged his tail now. Yami considered him curiously for a moment, then turned away to look past the small group. Jim was speaking to Ute about something or other and Shay sat a few feet away, listening with his eyes locked on Mana. The other alpha had gone about speaking to Yuya, who was quaking with excitement as he wagged his tail rapidly and grinned at her sloppily. Shark and his twin had taken seats nearby, ears pricked forward and focus locked entirely on Mieru. She was seated with her tail wrapped around her paws, green eyes boring into his when he looked over.

Hello.

He pricked his ears forward. He remembered her face when he'd spoken to her that day, wrists covered in blood and entire body laden with exhaustion. He'd begged Ishizu for assurance, asked Mieru if she knew of something that the elder did not. And he'd gotten nothing for his pleas.

What is it that you want?

She tilted her head. Want? From you? Oh, precious little wolf, I don't want a thing from you.

Then why speak to me?

Mieru sniffed at the air, almost as if offended. The action was dainty, rather disillusioning compared to the hostility she usually possessed. She spoke with barbs, each word a bite of sharp teeth which sank into the flesh like it was nothing but butter. Yami hated her voice. He hated her small frame. He hated her slender form.

He hated her.

Do you remember what we discussed formerly, Yami?

Do you remember how sharp my teeth are, Mieru? he snarled, though he kept his face neutral and forced himself not to step forward with his teeth bared. He kept his muscles more or less relaxed, though he felt the anger hardening beneath his skin and making his bones stiff. I could rip your head off before you blink.

But you won't. I'm the one who speaks to the gods, am I not? But she sounded bored, in truth. She sounded as if she hardly remembered his threats or his prowess as a Pure-Blood. Her green eyes glittered as they bore into his; he remembered Yubel's expression as he'd charged her. She'd stared at him with that same odd delight and indifference when he'd come after her in Yugi's bedroom. And then she'd let Sartorius attack. Mieru looked almost identical to her in stance; Yubel had crossed her legs and sat lazily atop the comforter, watching the two betas fight until they were almost too exhausted to continue. Mieru had the same sharp features and the glitter in her eyes was hostile and cold, just like Yubel's own. Yami fought the urge to bristle, forcing himself not to give in to such intense instinct. And I know of the others' fates, do I not?

Knowing is different from helping to prevent them.

It is not my job to do so. I am merely here to explain and guide where necessary.

Is that what you call this?

Mieru was quiet for a moment. Then she got to her paws. Her movements were lazy when she turned away to begin walking. I would classify it as such, yes. It is not as if I were the one to lead Yubel to the camp.

Yami pricked his ears forward. A small shimmer of guilt and unease tore at his insides for a single second. He hadn't led her there, but some part of him wondered if she'd followed him to the house. It would have been so easy for her to do so and he had no proof otherwise. He also no idea if that was the truth of it. But it seemed so simple to place such blame. He had not thought twice when he'd tried to follow her prints the day after they'd crossed paths. Perhaps she had followed his footprints after.

But the new snowfall that had come should have shielded them in some manner.

Yami turned away, ignoring the impulse to snarl irritably. Instead he shook himself out, flustered. Movement in his peripheral made his head snap around. Yusei had come forward, head tilted and ears flattened. He was halfway between a submissive and curious stance, standing tall but with his head slightly lowered.

Are you all right?

He blinked, then huffed out a breath. Perfect, he snapped, turning towards Jack. The pale wolf bristled furiously at the new attention, drawing his lips back into a silent snarl. Carly had fallen asleep, her breathing somewhat shallow but as even as possible for her circumstances. If you wish to remain here, do so. We can bring food back for you and Carly after. It doesn't matter. Not every wolf is necessary for this hunt.

The purple-eyed wolf startled as if he'd been smacked, gaze wide and startled. His ears flicked back and forth for a moment as Yusei and Aki both glanced at him in surprise. Yami sniffed, turning away and looking over his shoulder. Yugi was speaking to Jonouchi and Honda about something or other, the three of them sharing what looked like an awkward and strained tension. He couldn't identify the source, however, so he shrugged it away; perhaps he was imagining it. He didn't know he wasn't.

Yusei, you're with me for this hunt, he announced, turning around abruptly. Aki blinked in surprise and the yearling stiffened for a single second before wagging his tail. Aki, stick close but remember to take to your own partner. We're still implementing the buddy system; Jonouchi will be with Mai, and you likely would pair best with Chazz.

The yearling beta turned with a surprised look, as if searching for the source of his name. He pricked his ears forward, studying, and nodded when Aki turned her head to relay the message. His eyes were unsure when they shot to regard Yami, but he didn't speak against it and soon both of them had begun to wander off towards the center of the camp. Yusei watched them go, eyes almost crestfallen in expression, before he turned to Yami with a wag of his tail once more.

Do you think Yugi will mind?

Hmm? Ah, no. He chose Honda in my place. He wanted to speak to him about something so I chose to take you as my partner in turn, he answered; he was not altogether lying. In truth, he likely would have chosen to take Yusei as his partner even without Yugi's request. But it still rankled him that Yugi had chosen so abruptly to take someone else as a partner like this. He was his beta; he was his alpha. He was his friend, was he not? Yugi swore up and down that he hadn't meant it to be offensive, yet somehow some part of him stung with the rejection.

Yet, another part was almost elated.

Yugi at least trusted him with the yearling again. He did not suspect he would kill him. He'd gotten beyond the initial shock of the attack during training.

But somehow it did nothing to truly comfort the gaping hole that threatened to hollow him out. Yugi swore he trusted him, yet he'd watched him the entire session as if he'd expected him to tear his head off at any moment. Then he'd announced Yami as his secondary for the hunt, but not as his partner but rather as a leader of another hunting party.

He huffed a breath, then shook himself out. Yusei was staring at him with a curious, but slightly sympathetic look as well. He wagged his tail at him slowly, eyes full of warmth that Yami hardly felt he deserved at any time, let alone that moment. He shrugged it off and turned away, huffing as he began to pad ahead.

You know Yugi isn't replacing you, right?

He slowed a step, then stopped short. He raised his head. His ears pricked forward. His body tensed. Slowly he snarled, Is that what I should assume, Yusei?

N-no, that's what—

Enough, Yami snapped, voice venomous as he began walking again. It doesn't matter. Think what you would like. I do not care.

Yusei was quiet for a long handful of minutes. And then, quietly, he whispered, I didn't mean to upset you.

Yami faltered a step, at first with the impulse to snap at him to leave it alone. But he remembered so many times being in a similar situation just recently, feeling stung and cold and left alone with a feeling of guilt that gnawed at his insides. Had he not felt such guilt only the day before when he'd hurt Yusei during training? Yami could not fault him for feeling as if he'd stepped on his toes when Yami himself felt that way more often than not when he interacted with Yugi.

You didn't. It sounded as false as he felt. Yami flicked an ear and looked over his shoulder at him, peering at him curiously. I'm not mad. I'm…just tired.

---

It took thirty minutes for them to start their hunt. The groups had divided up, an alpha with each, and he had told Honda to follow him in the meantime. Yami had taken to joining Yusei for the most part, both of them playing around when the others weren't looking. He'd glanced over more than once to find them biting at each other, pawing and wagging their tails and growling softly. Yami knocked him over, sitting on him and ignoring Yusei as he pathetically squirmed and struggled and huffed and whined. He'd dug a pit in the snow trying to get away, but Yami had simply hunkered down further, wagging his tail when Yugi shot him a surprised look.

The groups had divided up into smaller groups, seeing who might do what with which wolves. Yami had taken his smaller group—the smallest by far, in truth, as Yugi didn't want to give him too much authority for the sake of being Atem for the others—and led them off in the opposing direction. They were going to be the flanking unit to Zane's group of ten. Jim would be the anvil when he led his group headlong towards their prey. Yugi still had not decided what they were going to eat, but the hunting technique was most likely best for boar.

Yami was gone from sight a few seconds later. Yugi turned away to lead them down the slope and into the woods. Honda stood a few paces to his right, one or two behind him. He'd heard a couple of bewildered whispers asking about why he was being treated as beta for the task, but most of them had answered with comments that Yami was still vulnerable from the fight with Yubel. It was simple enough an explanation; Yugi was grateful they'd supplied it without his own interference.

Yugi was quiet as they trekked toward the river. He couldn't hear any water underneath anymore. It must have frozen completely. It was likely only the high altitude of the waterfall that kept it from a similar fate. They'd be forced to circle back around each time and wander into the camp through the rockier terrain of the ledges on the other side if the water did freeze. But Yugi doubted it would and he was comfortable with the idea. It did not seem as if the winter would get that much worse.

Not that it truly could. The last weather report he'd seen, the snow was over seven feet tall in areas, and they were expecting the electricity to fail in a number of days. They expected the next few weeks to get that much colder. They'd urged people to either move to Honshu until the cold passed or to grab as many portable generators as possible and use them to keep warm.

He expected the school to close in a day or two. The quad was constantly shoveled, but fresh snowfall undid this work almost instantly. Many students had stopped showing up altogether. The few stragglers who remained talked about leaving for Honshu often. There were only four teachers left.

Yugi didn't know if they were eccentric, didn't believe the weather report, or if they were that dedicated to their jobs.

Yugi blinked, seeing movement in his peripheral. Jim and his group were breaking off from them, heading towards the higher hills to his right. Yugi watched them gain upper ground, going further along and towards the small valley. He could already smell the boars. He'd picked up on them a few miles back, leading them through the ice with a certainty he had not felt in a long time. He shivered and shook himself out, turning to Honda.

Watch your step, okay? We'll hang back for the most part. Yami usually specializes in killing blows during hunts. So, I think he'll probably step up and do it for me, he explained quietly. I don't want you too close, though. They're a lot nastier than you might think.

Honda snorted. They nearly destroyed our middle school two years ago, remember?

He blinked, laughed and wagged his tail. Oh, that's true! I'd forgotten all about that.

He remembered staying home that day, his arm sprained from a particularly brutal attack from one of his bullies. He'd sat on the couch, staring at the TV expressionlessly, perhaps high on his pain medication or maybe just miserable, and listened as they'd explained the circumstances. The boars had been driven out of the woods by a pack of feral dogs—or so they assumed; speculation was also that bears had done it—and had charged and rampaged anything around them. Several people had been hurt badly, one of them hospitalized and pronounced dead hours later. A few of them had been released from the hospital, showing up to the school for a few more days before seemingly dropping off the face of the earth. Back then Yugi had—like everyone else—assumed they'd simply moved away. Now he was under the impression that perhaps it was far more sinister than that and they'd been kidnapped.

If the labs really did have connections with the police and the hospital, then it wouldn't have been too hard for them to cover it up. Yugi wondered if any of the parents had been abducted as well, or if the shame of a possible runaway child had clamped their lips shut on the matter. Pride was too often an obstacle for families. Names were dragged through the dirt when scandal happened. And he knew if Mazaki had not liked his mother so much, he would have thrown Yugi and his family under the bus as well.

He glanced sideways towards Honda. He wondered if he missed Anzu more than Yugi did. He had been trying for a while to push away thoughts of her and her family and his own for a while now. But each time he felt guilty. And his insides burned slightly as he considered Honda now.

Did he miss her so much more than Yugi himself did? They'd been a couple; he'd merely been a crush for her. They'd tried for all of a few dates. And they'd failed. It made his stomach churn; they might have been friends, but he doubted that the impact had been as catastrophic for Anzu as it had been him.

Yami had not been wrong.

He'd wanted that one last bit of normality he'd been able to get his hands on.

But it had fallen away the moment he'd reached for it.

And it was not that he hated that so much as he loathed the fact he'd wasted their time doing that. He should have stepped back before then, when he'd first felt that confused but strong pull towards Yami. It might have been lust more than affection at times, but it'd been a crush all the same. It should have been what had stopped his leading her along or chasing her around. He should have simply accepted that it had changed and tried to go with it. He shouldn't have bothered fighting it.

But then, he'd never considered himself gay before then, either. He'd never even slightly considered that when he was younger. He'd only ever had a crush on Anzu before. Yami had come out of the blue in that department, his first and only crush on a guy. He still wondered what exactly it was that classified as, or if it was simply the wolf part of him that had caused it.

He sometimes wondered about that, too. If they'd been friends or met randomly on the street one day, would they still have felt some kind of connection? Would they still have felt a spark between them? Would it have been easier then than it was now? Or would there still have been a million and one different complications to keep them apart?

It was impossible for him to think of himself with anyone else. Yugi admitted that now. He didn't so much as care to try to think of others. Even his feelings for Anzu did not compare to what he felt for Yami. And every now and then he wondered if Yami would flat out deny anything between them if he were ever to bring it up. But Yami was a mess. Yugi could see him denying it, wallowing and beating himself up for it, and then finally steeling himself afterwards. He'd stick to it if it meant that the day they drifted apart didn't kill him.

Yugi knew that much.

Yami was a survivor before he was anything else.

If the labs had taught him nothing else, it was how to shut off his emotions and make himself numb to the world around him. He could cut parts of himself out as necessary, kill when he needed, flee when he had no other choice, and he was easily the strongest person Yugi had ever met for that simple fact alone.

Yami was coming down the other side of the hill. He and Yusei were in the lead, ahead of even Jim's pack. Yami had ducked away from one of the boars, snapping at it. Chazz joined in, attacking from the other side. Yusei was providing distraction for the boar closest their prey. Jim's pack raced in. Yugi hurried down the slope with Honda a pace behind him. He didn't break into a full sprint, however. He'd leave them all in the dust if he did that. He knew that well enough.

Yami sprang up and over, jaws gaping wide. He hit the boar hard enough its bones popped when they ground together. Yusei dodged away from a pair of tusks. Chazz had one in a death grip, its mouth smothered with his. Jim had gutted one, frantically ripping and tearing. Zane had one pinned face-first in the snow, breathing hard and snarling. Jonouchi had picked his way over, helping with distraction.

Blood sprayed the air.

Yami had killed one, its head tumbling across the ice. Then he darted off to help with the one Chazz had pinned.

Yugi slowed, shaking himself out. The rest of the pack had dashed off to help. Yami had gotten to his fourth boar already. Honda stopped at his side, head tilted and ears pricked forward. He studied them as they darted about. Some of the boars had broken through the wall of wolves, fleeing. Yugi let them pass without a second thought. When he looked over, Honda was clearly bewildered.

I'm not going to worry about a few that get away, Yugi explained. We don't need to massacre them. We just need to get enough to feed the pack. And usually the entire pack knows how many they'll need before we even do this. They're a pretty tight unit where Atem isn't involved.

Honda blinked. I don't think you ever actually explained that to me.

He went to answer, then faltered. Yami was approaching them now. His face was smothered with blood, slick and soaked, and his eyes were bright. He shook himself out, a bit of grizzle falling from his nose where what looked to be muscle had covered his muzzle. Yugi tilted his head, wagging his tail slightly in puzzlement. Yami returned the gesture, stretching himself out comfortably in front of them.

They're waiting for you to eat, he announced. His back popped as he shook his back leg out. His ears flicked back and forth a few times. Then he looked over at Honda and back, wagging his tail slowly. Did you enjoy yourself, you slacker?

Yugi grinned. So much. He trotted past him, though he nudged him gently in the shoulder with his nose. The wolves watched him now, some of them surprised and others skeptical. He ignored them, steeling himself, and went about smelling at the boars. The heaviest one smelled sickly sweet, his mouth watering, and he tucked in.

Yami turned back to find Honda with his ears against his head, seated firmly in the snow. Hungry? he mumbled, surprised by the way the usually levelheaded male was so fixated on the meal awaiting him. Yami tilted his head and considered him a moment. He pricked his ears forward, nearly laughing aloud. Honda was drooling. You'll probably get to eat fourth. Yugi goes first, I go second, Jonouchi and then you.

But he wondered. Had they established such a hierarchy with the pack before? Usually Yugi refused to eat first. Usually Yami dug in or one of the alphas or Aki did. Now that Yugi was including himself in the meal, Yami was not sure how the structure would work. It should have been easy enough that way. But he couldn't be sure—

A whine came through the air. Yami turned his head. Syrus was on his belly, whining and wagging his tail. Zane was beside him, seating and chatting. Chazz paced anxiously, shivering every few steps. Jim watched Yugi intently. Mana looked as if she were starving. Mai was seated a few feet away next to Jonouchi. The pack as a whole was eager and restless, some wolves swapping looks and others lying down to keep from rushing forward.

When Yugi returned, his face was soaked red as he licked blood from his jaws. He watched Yami with a calculating expression, as if he were both amazed and terrified of his own actions. But he wagged his tail and licked Yami's nose a moment later. His blue-violet eyes had grown grim, determined, and he considered him a few long seconds.

Go eat, he dismissed him. Yami hesitated. There was something almost frosty in his tone. But Yugi tilted his head, wagged his tail again, and turned to Honda. Yami watched him a few moments longer, then moved past him to the boars. There were six carcasses in total, though one of them was barely the size the one nearest it. No doubt it was too young to be adult. It looked half the age of the others. It didn't have nearly the amount of scars or the mass of muscle the others possessed.

Yami moved to the spot Yugi had vacated, flattening himself to the snow and digging in. He could smell Yugi all over the flesh there, despite the sickly sweet scent of blood. The meat was still warm, though it was quickly losing heat. The air was too cold for it to even maintain a lukewarm temperature.

He just had to hope Jonouchi and Honda finished eating quickly enough that the others were not angered. He gulped down a few large mouthfuls, ignored the way his stomach snarled for more, and quickly picked his way back. Jonouchi was up and over there before Yami got within a yard of Yugi and Honda. When he got to their side, the white wolf turned to him with a slight snarl, tail raised partially.

But then he blinked. His tail dropped immediately. The tension in his body faded.

Yami ignored the hunger pang that made his belly tremble as Yugi studied him. But the white wolf huffed out a breath, eyes flickering towards the boar and then to his stomach. Then he locked gazes with him, voice cold.

You didn't eat enough.

I wasn't so hungry.

Right, Yugi snorted. But he didn't look as if he might fight him. He looked resigned, as if he had known this would happen. He turned to Honda, disregarding the dark-furred wolf entirely once more. You're probably right, though. I think your parents would be upset if you didn't go home soon. They're not used to you running around like this anymore.

Yami blinked. Anymore?

Yugi shot him a wry look of pure amusement, grinning at him. He and Jonouchi were in a gang together in middle school.

Yami wagged his tail, pricking his ears forward. A gang? You were part of a gang, Honda? I could see it for Jonouchi, but that surprises me regarding you, he said mildly. I was not so inclined to believe you to be so…foolish.

Foolish? Honda repeated, but he wagged his tail in turn. He shifted uncomfortably and Yami startled slightly when he heard his stomach growl. He had begun to stare at where Jonouchi was eating, mouth watering. Yami tilted his head, a small and vague wave of sympathy coming through him.

And then he felt an immediate surge of guilt; no wonder Yugi was so fed up with him.

Well, you have to admit. Joining a gang was really kind of stupid. I mean, you literally only did it to chase Jonouchi and make sure nothing happened to him, but still. Yugi shook his head. His eyes had flickered away, locking onto Yami's face. The black wolf could not read his expression, but it made his fur rise into a slight bristle. Yugi never removed his eyes from his face even as he continued. Honda was planning on going home when he gets finished eating. I think it's a good idea. I don't think he should stay the night. His parents would freak out, especially with the new weather announcements that came out just earlier. Everyone is getting really freaked out about the entire thing. I think you and I need to research a bit more into the weather after we walk him home. The school is set to close by the end of the week. The hotel will follow right after.

Yami was quiet for a long time. Then…we would remain with the pack.

Yugi nodded slightly, but the gesture seemed almost dismissive. I need to be able to keep in touch with the police. I know they'll want to ask more questions soon enough. They'll come speak to me eventually. My house probably needs to be released to me officially as well, before they…close Domino down altogether. And they predict the power grid will fail in two weeks' time. That means no electricity, which means our phones will be useless. Yugi glanced past Yami, towards the pack. That means the camp is where we'll need to stay.

Yami nodded. Yes.

The white wolf turned to Honda now, ears pricked and eyes narrowing. And your family, Honda? With the shut down so imminent, what are your plans?

Honda shook his head. Honshu, he answered. The only reason we haven't left yet is because of the school staying open. The moment it closes, we're leaving.

Then I hope it is soon, Yami mumbled. Yugi shot him a surprised glance that quickly turned irritable. Honda blinked wide eyes, startled. Yami huffed, shaking his head. I know you wanted to help us, but I don't think you should be involved.

Then why bite him in the first place?

Yami flicked an ear. He was not sure he wanted to face the other wolf at the moment. Yet, some small part of him could not stop himself. Jonouchi was mere inches away, lips drawn back into a hideous snarl.

He asked me to. He has the ability to choose what he wishes to have happen in his life, he dismissed coldly. He found himself mirroring his stance, fur rising along his shoulders and tail slowly coming up. Some part of him was warmed with approval; let him challenge him. Yami would beat him into submission violently should it come to it. He would destroy him if it came to blows. It is also his choice whether he listens to me now or not. He could convince his parents to stay if he truly wanted to. I do not have a say in it, truthfully.

Jonouchi stared at him blankly, snarl building in his chest. So, if he leaves here, then you've basically ruined his life.

Honda requested that I bite him. It is not as if I did so in a feral state.

You never bit him, a new voice cut in. Yami and Jonouchi both turned, startled. Yugi was staring, eyes burning, at Jonouchi in clear warning. He didn't wag his tail, nor did he bristle. But his stance gave no room for argument. And it was clear Yugi would attack should he see the need. The brief curl of his lip was the only warning. Jonouchi did, remember? Jonouchi is the one who bit Honda, not one of us.

Well, then maybe I shouldn't have bitten him, the golden-furred wolf snapped. Because, hey, I might have just ruined his life.

You know, I am still sitting here. You do remember you're talking about me, right? Honda scoffed. He was drooling, struggling to stay seated. And I'm the one who asked for it to happen. I offered to let you. So, what does it matter? Almost sounds like you want me to die so that you didn't "ruin" my life.

Jonouchi spun on him, furious. We shouldn't have done it.

Yugi bore his teeth, flicking his ears. It was his choice, he said in a far colder voice, eyes sharpening. So, what does it matter if you think we shouldn't have done it?

We ruined his life if—

Yugi raised his tail, snarling. Do not, he spat. He glanced at Honda sidelong, gesturing with a simple nod of his head towards their meal. Then he turned back on Jonouchi full force, teeth bared. The blood on his face made his eyes look like chunks of shattered glass. You don't get to make judgments when he is the one who asked if he could help us by doing this. He asked and offered and we didn't have too much of a choice. I hate to break it to you, Katsuya, but the fact is that we don't have the same amount of wolves we used to. The pack used to be over two hundred strong. Now I think we're barely scraping a hundred—if even that. You can't honestly think that's an amount that can get us through this fight.

Yami tilted his head, flicking an ear. He remembered saying something similar to him at one point or another. The thought of their dwindling numbers was not one he wanted to focus on for more than a few seconds at most. He glanced at Jonouchi, then over his shoulder as Honda dug in. He turned back, mumbling, He knew what he was getting into when he offered to do this. We asked if he understood more than once. You were there. You listened to him say so more than once. You cannot say he came into this unprepared. You cannot say we ruined his life. He chose for himself what he wanted to do.

The golden-furred wolf bristled, turning on him with a sharp glare. No one asked you, he snapped spitefully. He ignored Yugi's warning snarl, drawing his lips back to show his teeth. And I don't remember Yugi consenting to you hitting in the face that day in the woods. So, when the hell has that ever mattered to you?

Enough, Yugi snarled. That's over and done with. It's been over and done with. It happened. We've moved on. Yami hasn't done it since, I forgave him, and you're just stirring up trouble, Jonouchi. It's not worth it. Just stop, okay? I don't want to hear about that anymore. And I don't want to hear about you fighting with Yami, either. It's stupid and childish at this point. I can make my own decisions. If I get hurt for that, then it's my problem.

Yami flicked an ear. Now likely was not the time to admit he fully agreed with Jonouchi on the matter. Hitting Yugi had been horrifying, even if his anger at the moment he hadn't bothered to show how much it had rattled him. It was when he'd gone further into the woods and could not stand himself that he'd started tearing his wrists open. It had been enough blood loss to knock him unconscious for an hour or so, but the lycanthropy had mended the worst of it. He'd gone into the camp after the second bout of unconsciousness.

Speaking to Ishizu and Mieru had done him no good afterwards.

The reminder made his heart stutter in his chest. He did not want to think about this. He didn't want to think about any of it.

He was almost ill with the dismay of remembering such a thing.

Let's not fight, Yami finally said, voice soft and quiet. He flicked his ears. No one else was paying them attention, thankfully. No one had heard the slip-up as they'd argued before. The smell of food had its hold over them; none of them seemed to even remember they existed.

But he was sure that, had he and Yugi and turned on one another, they'd have focused their attention to them immediately. But the two of them were not the ones that might snap. Despite the tension they exuded, he knew it would not be them to turn their teeth on each other. Jonouchi might turn on Yami and if he were to do that, Yugi would likely turn his teeth on him for it.

There is no reason for us to fight. It is over and done with. If he wants to judge me, he can. But it makes no difference.

Jonouchi turned on him fiercely. You're easily the biggest shit I have ever met.

Including your father? Yami wanted to ask. But he was not so foolish. Instead he nodded slightly. I have never claimed to be anything but.

I said that you and I would escort Honda home, Yugi interrupted, sounding almost infuriated. He sniffed and turned away, eyes blocks of ice. Yami almost flinched from his tone and the glare he so clearly sported. Had he done something wrong yet again? Had Yugi expected him to fight Jonouchi? Had he expected him to argue for some reason? Had he expected him to discipline the headstrong male? His parents are going to be home and they're probably going to be worried about him. We'll walk him home and then we can either meet up here again or go back to the hotel, whichever you would rather.

Yami blinked, lowering his eyes. He did not wish to challenge him. You said you wished to go to school tomorrow, he said softly, trying once more to placate his agitated beta. He felt like he was fighting a losing battle that had been waged for years now, abruptly exhausted by the very responsibility of trying to simply speak to Yugi. He refused to look in his direction now.

Well, yeah, I kind of need to make sure I have a fucking future after this if I survive.

Yami flinched. Jonouchi spun on him, horrified. Yugi fell quiet again, ears flattening against his head. Yami could see his own horrified expression in his peripheral. Yugi looked as if he had been stricken by his own words.

I didn't mean that, he blurted out, staring at Yami in a statuesque stance. I just…

If you wish to go to school tomorrow, you need to shower and things of that nature. We'll need to go back to the hotel.

Yugi was still staring at him, that same stricken expression marring his features. For a split second he looked as if he might try to apologize. Then he flattened his ears and hung his head, eyes on the snow.

Right. Okay…

---

Yugi hadn't meant to wake him. Yami was sure of that much. The smaller teen had gotten dressed and was smoothing out his uniform jacket when Yami blinked his eyes open from where he lay on the bed. He'd picked the furthest from him when they'd gone to bed after dropping Honda off at home. Yami had not been ready to try to talk to him again after his outburst in the woods. Yugi had not pushed him to speak again, either, thankfully. But now he rolled over to see him, squinting and blinking before he struggled to sit up. He was groggy, his mouth pasty as if he'd slept with it open all night.

He couldn't remember what he'd dreamed of, just that he had. Something had begged for his attention for all of a moment when he'd first opened his eyes. But now he could not help but focus on the smaller teen, though he didn't risk looking at him openly. He kept his head down enough to look at him from beneath his lashes, refusing to lift his chin entirely.

"Hey," Yugi greeted him softly. He smiled when he glanced over at him, blue-violet eyes warm as they peered at him. Yami did not know whether he should respond or not. Every part of him wondered whether it was a trap of some kind. And so he settled for yawning, scrubbing his hands through his hair and ignoring the urge to flinch as Yugi continued watching him with such apt attention. Yugi was quiet for a long handful of seconds, voice gentle when he finally murmured, "I didn't mean what I said last night."

Yami blinked, risking a peek at him from his peripheral. His stomach had grown knotted, twisting until the pressure seemed to build and press upon his ribs forcefully so that his breaths were painful. He exhaled slowly, wondering if he should tell him he agreed. Yugi was right.

He did need some kind of future if he survived the war.

He wasn't like Yami. He had a place in the world. He had a place among the humans and a family that still cared for him. His father had proven that already.

Yugi smoothed his shirt out again, fidgeting with the hem nervously. It looked loose and baggy on him, a complete contrast to what Yami was used to seeing him wear. He was so often in tank tops that Yami had almost forgotten there was anything else either of them could wear. Tactically, however, the tank top was safest, with tighter jeans that still had flexibility and room to stretch and kick. What Yugi wore now was the direct opposite.

Yugi continued to fidget for a few long minutes. He looked despaired for a moment. And then he slowly picked his way to the bed. Yami stiffened, staring at him uncertainly, as the smaller boy plopped down on the other end of the mattress and balanced there rather awkwardly.

"I was upset. I didn't mean what I said." He hesitated for what felt a lifetime, then lowered his eyes and smiled faintly. Everything about his position now was almost shy, Yami noticed with growing curiosity. "I'm scared of how this fight will end. I'm always scared something might happen and you'll be taken away from me. I'm not even sure I consider how badly this fight could turn out except for that. Sometimes I forget that I could die and not come back, because I…I can't picture my life without you in it anymore."

Yami almost flinched, startled by the admission. He opened his mouth, then promptly shut it again. What was he supposed to say? He didn't know how to make him feel better. He could not assure him nothing would happen. He could not make promises that they would survive. He didn't even know if the gods would permit their existence when it was all said and done.

Fuck; he could not even reassure him he would or could protect him in any manner.

For all he knew, Yubel could fucking strike him down at the school while Yami rested in the hotel bed.

The thought made his lungs tighten painfully. If he were to follow him to the school, staying hidden as necessary… He'd done it once before. It was not so incredibly hard to do. Yami furrowed his brows, staring at him for a long moment. There were only a few wolves left at the school, but he was rather sure he would be detected regardless. Ushio had been a wolf. He'd killed Tomoya when he'd been a wolf. And some of his classmates had been captured and experimented on—

Yami stiffened, head snapping around.

Yugi had reached his hand out. His fingers hovered inches from his cheek. His eyes were soft, warm as they searched his. "Where did you go, aibou?" he asked gently.

Yami hated himself for worrying him. He hesitated, stomach lurching; he didn't know how he meant to explain his sudden bout of fear. But he supposed it didn't matter, did it? He moved his head, pressing his cheek into Yugi's palm, hoping to reassure him in some manner. Yugi stiffened for a single split second. Then his eyes grew warmer, his smile lazy and lopsided to the point of being almost goofy.

Yami let him cup his cheek a few moments longer.

It was so much easier than speaking.

"I was just…" Yami shrugged, pulling away from him now. Yugi dropped his hand almost immediately, but his grin was still in place. And his eyes were so soft it almost rattled him. "I was thinking of…stupid things."

But Yubel was a violent, nasty creature. And he was sure she knew how to be stealthy. She'd trailed them both for a while. She may have made a show of letting them see her afterwards, but she'd been stalking them long before. He knew that.

The thought made him bristle with annoyance. He should have known. He'd been stupid to disregard his paranoia beforehand. He should have been more alert. He should have tried harder to pinpoint the issue before he'd gotten so complacent as he had. He should have noticed. He should have tried to stay ahead of her.

He should have—

"Aibou?"

"I'm not your partner."

He spoke it automatically, so quickly it almost startled him. He had not meant to speak, in truth. Yugi was quiet, studying him, but Yami could not sense anything even remotely hurt coming from him. He seemed more resigned to the argument, as he so often did whenever the statement came up. The thought was slightly comforting amidst all the other chaos in his head.

"We'll call it an impasse," the smaller boy finally said. His voice was as warm as ever and Yami could almost taste it on his tongue now. Yugi was trying his hardest not to tell him he loved him. He could feel it in his bones, like an old split that hadn't yet healed. And he felt old, exhausted, beneath the immensity of that thought. "You know how I feel about it. But whatever. If you need anything, text me, okay? I might not be able to answer right away, but I'll definitely read it first thing."

Yami nodded slightly, looking up only as Yugi got up again. He was fidgeting with his shirt as he had been when Yami had first woken. He was so intently focused on it that Yami wondered if the wrinkles were driving him crazy. And Yami might have smiled at such a thought had it not been for the pain he felt radiating through him.

Yugi looked so damn innocent again, small and childish and warm and beautiful and full of potential and life and…

Yami wondered when he had last seen such expression on him. He almost couldn't remember; it hurt to realize.

But then he wondered; was it possible to find pure strength in someone? He didn't know if he believed in such a thing. He remembered legends saying so; he remembered reading books that claimed so. But some part of him was skeptical. He did not believe all of his problems could be fixed by someone else.

He did not believe he'd ever outgrow the horrors of the labs. He didn't think he'd ever be able to shake his fear of the many atrocities he'd witnessed or been subjected to. He didn't believe he could even truly share with another, let alone believe in them enough that he could draw strength from them.

His stomach lurched. His heart felt like it was throbbing with pain.

He lowered his eyes again, drawing in a breath that sounded almost like a strangled wheezing noise.

"I'll be back as soon as school is over," Yugi announced abruptly, turning to him. He watched him a moment, searching his face when Yami risked an upward glance at him. For a long minute he was quiet and this voice cracked as he mumbled, "I don't…understand why you're here."

Yami blinked, startled by the confession. He sat up straighter, confused, and Yugi flushed a brilliant crimson before visibly slumping. He looked almost heartbroken. His eyes had taken on a melancholic gleam, his mouth pulling into a grimace of dismay. He waited a few long moments, but the importance of asking him did not leave. So, despite the trepidation that burned through his veins, Yami leaned forward and asked, "What do you mean?"

Yugi seemed to struggle for words. When he spoke again, he spat the statement, his voice choked and desperate. "You're here. You're here with me, some stupid kid. You're smarter and stronger than me. You're immortal, for fuck's sake. You've witnessed and experienced a million things that would have broken anyone else. And you're here. With me, a kid whose lost and stupid and doesn't even know how to hold his own when he needs to. You could be anywhere. You could run off on your own and not have to worry about me or anyone else and just…go."

Yami watched him for a long minute. He tilted his head, then looked away with a wry smile. "I could never survive on my own," he said softly, shaking his head. "My cage mate gave me a taste of freedom after years of isolation. And you've been with me since the moment I came to you for help. I would be too lonely to leave you now."

Yugi shivered in his peripheral. Yami looked over, focusing on him entirely again. There was the smallest splash of guilt and gratitude in his darkened eyes. "That's sad," he said quietly. He smiled at him again, but it was small and weak and he could not manage to hold it for more than a mere second. "I can't imagine feeling that way."

Yami tilted his head, studying him. "You said you cannot picture living without me in your life."

Yugi nodded, smiling a little again. It was just as weak and easily destroyed as the one before it. He closed his eyes and shook his head. His usually light voice came out tired. "I can't. I care about you too much to even imagine it." Yami wondered if it pained him to not say the words he so clearly wanted to. When Yugi opened his eyes again, he was staring at him blatantly, eyes blazing into his. "I can't consider it for more than a few seconds anymore. And I would give anything to have you stay with me. I…I just can't imagine feeling like you're stuck with some stupid kid who has no future because you were isolated for so long that you don't know any better."

Yami flinched; the jab was double-ended, vicious enough to leave him winded, but the effect it had on Yugi was more astounding than anything. He looked as if he might be sick as he finished the words, then turned away again and squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

"I just… You have so much more potential than I do. If I can't make a life for myself as a human, I'm going to have to learn to act as just a wolf. You don't have to do that. You could probably fool the system into believing that you're real, that you're not just some lost person struggling to survive at any given moment."

"I…I struggle more than you."

"But you've also survived on your own and know how to save yourself." Yugi opened his eyes again, shaking his head. He watched him, narrowing his gaze and studying. "And you actually… You choose to stay. You're not here because you have to be. You choose to stay here with me. You could survive if you were forced to. Being alone has never broken you before."

"I'm not leaving you," Yami blurted out, cheeks heating. "I…I'm not."

Yugi grimaced. "I wish you would."

Yami froze, winded by the admission.

"I wish…I wish you would choose yourself over me and leave. I wish you weren't so damn loyal to me. I wish I could chase you off so you could escape all of this. And I can't. You're too damn stubborn. You're too damn loyal. You won't leave me here to die on my own. You won't leave me to suffer alone."

"I brought you into this mess."

Yugi barked out a laugh. "No," he answered cruelly, "I brought myself into this mess. Ra brought me into this mess. You might have served as a catalyst for it, but you are not the reason this is happening. And I chose the things that have led to this. I chose all of it, Yami."

Yami swallowed hard. His mouth had gone dry, his hands shaking where he had unconsciously clenched them atop the comforter. He flexed his fingers, digging them into the blanket and holding so tightly his knuckles turned white from the strain. "I'm sorry," he whispered when he could finally remember how to speak. The apology was small and so late in coming that he felt stupid to offer it now. "I'm…I'm…"

"It's not your fault."

But wasn't it? Yami opened his mouth to respond, but Yugi held a hand up to silence him. The smaller boy smiled at him, strained and tired, then looked away. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I need to get to school. We can… I don't want to talk about this again later, either. We can pretend we never had this conversation; that's what we can do. I don't want to—"

"Okay." Yugi fell quiet again. "I'll see you as soon as school is over, okay?"

"Yes."

Yugi left him there a minute later, backpack slung over his shoulder. He glanced back at him, melancholic as he studied him. Then he turned and wandered out of the room without a second look. Yami's heart squeezed so painfully in his chest that he felt as if it might stop.

He would have gone to the window to see him off, but there was none. Yugi had made sure to get a room without one in order to avoid the possibility of being spotted. He'd wanted to block them off as much as possible by way of Yubel spotting them through a pane of glass or a hunter with a rifle aiming for them.

It would not have been hard for Yubel to change into a raven as she had before. It was clear she knew patience; she could easily wait it out until she got the proper opportunity to strike out again. He shook his head, trying to clear the thought, and looked around the room.

Yugi was not going to pull out of his misery alone. But Yami was not sure he had the proper means of encouragement for recovery, either.

And he did not think he could offer the support Yugi might need in order to move on. He was clearly still struggling and Yami himself was not the poster child for stability. He was too weak mentally to aid him. And he did not think Yugi needed to improve physically.

He was failing him on all counts.

Yami bunched his shoulders up, staring down at the bland beige of the carpet.

---

Yusei looked up with a tilt of his head, yawning as he stretched his limbs. He'd heard his name; he knew that much, but it was harder to focus on that as he shook himself out. He came forward, ears pricked as he looked around slowly. It was still early, the sun just having risen. A few of the wolves had gone to patrol, though none seemed to think to hunt and fill the kill pile again. He doubted it was necessary, however; they still had a cache or two of the boars they'd killed the night before.

He stretched again, shook himself out once more, and wandered forward. It took a moment to pinpoint Jack and Carly, the she-wolf raising her head to look at him as he approached. Yusei took a seat a couple of steps away, peering at them both with his head tilted. Jack slowly got to his feet, stretching and shaking himself out again.

What's up? He scratched an ear and tried to shake the grogginess from his limbs as he looked them both over. Jack glanced at Carly with a slightly annoyed, possibly flustered expression.

Jack needs to move around and stretch his limbs. He didn't go hunting yesterday, and he hasn't left my side more than a couple of times, Carly said almost dismissively. She peered up at Jack and wagged her tail as if to tell him she was simply teasing. But Jack merely wrinkled his lips and glared at her as if she'd struck him. Yusei shook himself out again, flicking his ears.

Okay, so then Jack goes hunting and I stay here?

Jack shot him a look that bordered on furious and yet grateful all at once. For a moment he peered at him, purple eyes blazing, and then he huffed a breath and glanced at Carly once more. I don't need to stretch.

You haven't even eaten in two days now. You should catch something you want to eat and come back and rest. She wagged her tail again. I'll still be here when you get back.

He looked uncertain for a long moment, then turned to Yusei. His tail came up, his fur rising into a bristle along his spine. His steps were stiff-legged as he stopped a few inches from his face. You had best watch her. If she gets any worse, I'll kill you for it.

Yusei flattened his ears against his head. I thought she'd recovered!

I have, Carly protested. She sat up, then rose to her paws. In a lazy motion, she circled around to show him her mended side. Yusei blinked, wagging his tail and jumping to his paws. She looked a thousand times better than she last had. She looked almost as if she'd never been bitten or attacked to begin with. He was quivering as he wagged his tail faster. See? It's all patched up.

Doesn't mean you're not still exhausted all the time, Jack scoffed at her. He huffed, wrinkling his lips back once more. He turned back to Yusei and bore his teeth. Did you hear me, you little bastard?

Yusei blinked, nodding at him. Of course! I won't let anything happen to her.

You had best hope you don't.

Carly wagged her tail, looking between them both with bright eyes. Quit your posturing and go get some food, Jack, she teased. It'll be fine. You know you can trust Yusei to watch me.

He huffed again, looking at her with an uncertain expression, and then he turned and walked away. At the edge of the camp, he paused and looked over his shoulder at them once more. Yusei wagged his tail at him which earned a snarl, and Carly laughed softly as she took a seat beside him. When Jack left, she let out what sounded like an exhausted exhale.

Yusei turned to her, pricking his ears in surprise at the change of tone. Are you all right?

Carly lowered herself to lie down, putting her chin on her paws. I…I didn't think he'd leave. I was almost scared he wouldn't, she mumbled, voice sounding small and quiet. Yusei stared at her in confusion, tilting his head. Carly looked up at him for a moment, then closed her eyes tightly. A shudder wracked her frame, one that lasted for what felt a lifetime. Yusei jumped to his paws, startled, and she bore her teeth as she spat, Don't bring him back. He…he needs to eat. He hasn't eaten in days now.

But you're…

Dying, she said bluntly. She blinked her eyes open and peered at him defiantly now. Just as Yami thought. I'm dying.

What do you mean like Yami thought? Yusei demanded, bristling in alarm and staring at her blankly. He shook his head, peering at her as he tilted his head and considered her. What do you mean Yami thought you were going to die?

When Yami introduced himself to me, it was because he felt obligated. It had nothing to do with the faith that I'd survive. He's probably amazed I made it this long. She exhaled shakily again, closing her eyes again. I certainly am.

Carly—

I didn't want Jack here, she pleaded, voice growing desperate and panicked. He got too involved in healing me and I didn't want him to be here when it happened. I just… I wanted to protect him from that.

Yusei shook his head. But he has a right to be here—he's the one who helped you, not me.

That's exactly why he didn't need to see it, she mumbled, flattening her ears. I…I love him. He's…not the easiest to be around, but he…he was perfect for me.

He stiffened, pricking his ears forward before lowering his nose to touch her scruff. I…I wish you would have had more time together. I'm sorry.

It doesn't matter. Carly opened an eye to look at him from her peripheral. She exhaled roughly, shakily, and her entire frame shivered. It was more than I expected.

Yusei found himself quivering as he looked down at her. She looked so tired and small, frail and weak. And he wondered when she'd changed. The day before she'd managed to get up and wander around for herself. Before the hunt, she'd even wandered off to grab some prey from the kill pile for herself, stretching and doing what everyone else had assumed her incapable of prior. Yusei had thought it a true improvement, had assumed it meant she'd heal from the infections and—

Tell him I'm sorry, she said suddenly, cutting into his thoughts. He'll be mad when he comes back. He'll…probably take it out on you. But I…I couldn't bear to let him see me like this.

He shook his head, wondering for a moment if perhaps she was afraid Jack would blame himself for her passing. He had spent so much time with her, nursing her seemingly back to health for days now. Yusei lowered his eyes and closed them a moment later.

I'm sorry to ask you to be here. If I had thought he would have left without, I would have rather have died on my own.

He flinched, eyes snapping open and focusing on her again. Carly, that's not—

Oh, please. I don't care about dying alone, she growled, shaking her head weakly. Her eyes were threatening to roll up in the back of her head. Yusei could see her struggling to keep her eyes open as she exhaled roughly. Her entire body began to shake again, as if she were freezing before his eyes. Yusei flinched again, flattening his ears against his skull. I was going to die when I was younger. I welcomed it then. I didn't have regrets. Now I just… I wish Jack wouldn't be hurt by this.

But it would devastate him. They both knew it. There was no way it wouldn't.

He'd invested all that time in her. He'd gone against his own nature to help to care for her. He'd loved her. And perhaps, had they been human, there might have been a possibility of recovering later. But wolves didn't recover from such despair. The death of a mate was enough to destroy them entirely.

Yusei didn't know what he would do if his mate passed. He imagined he'd fall into despair and likely rot to death with depression. Yugi had almost done the same, though he had believed Yami was alive. It had been the only thing that had kept him moving. Yusei knew that. He'd seen it, witnessed it more than once.

He shook his head. Carly, I… He didn't know what to say. She was wracked with another hideous tremor, shaking so hard the air seemed to tremble around her. Yusei flattened his ears against his head again. His heart hurt as he peered down at her. I'm just…I'm sorry, Carly.

It should have been Jack with her. He should have been standing with her as she passed, not him. Jack should have been able to say his goodbyes. It wasn't fair that she'd requested someone else be there.

But, in truth, there would never have been anyone else. Jack would never have trusted anyone else to be there with her should he have known. Yusei knew that all too well. Had it been even Yugi, Jack would have fought him tooth and nail to keep him away from her. Jack only trusted him so much because of the fact that he'd helped him to feed her before then. It had gotten Jack to trust him, if only a little.

And now he almost regretted being so friendly. He almost regretted trying to help her as he had. It was cruel that she'd chosen him to be there for her when she'd sent her mate to find food for himself under the guise of being fine later. She'd told him she'd be fine when he came back…

Jack would probably rip his throat out for not going to find him the moment he realized.

Carly, I… But when he looked at her, he could see that she wasn't there anymore. Her body was perfectly still, the convulsions long gone. A couple of snowflakes had landed on her nose during her shivering and her body was too cold now to melt them. He shivered, looking around anxiously for a moment.

No one had noticed, nor had they seemed to care that she'd been hovering between life and death for the last two days. Even Ute had seemed almost dismissive of it, as if he were too tired to care that one member had survived where almost everyone else was dead.

Yusei flattened his ears and looked around again, hesitant. Echo would have tried to help her. If she'd been alive and Carly had been one of her pack-mates, she would have tried to help her. She'd done it for him, after all. She would have done it for someone else.

Why do you look like you're about to piss yourself?

He jumped, spinning around with wide eyes. Aki stood a few feet away, head tilted and eyes locked on him. He straightened from his hunched position and quickly moved towards her. Carly—she—she—

Finally? The she-wolf wrinkled her nose, sniffing lightly at the air. Then she moved around him to step towards where Carly's corpse lay. Her eyes were unsympathetic and almost cruel as she peered at her. I had almost thought she'd never pass. She held on longer than I would have thought her capable of.

Yusei flinched. Aki, that's not—

No, nothing is ever fair, she sneered at him in turn, as if reading his mind. Her eyes glittered when she turned around to face him. Her expression was unreadable and her stance was rather stiff, as if the cold had made her bones brittle. But he knew her well enough to know it was not weariness but rather annoyance that made her stand like this. Her tail remained lowered, however, and he was amazed she did not snap at him. Instead she turned her head, pricking her ears forward. How cowardly of her to choose you rather than Jack to spend her last moments with.

She cared enough to protect him from it.

That's not caring. That's hiding. Aki turned to him again, huffing out a breath and shaking her head. You're a fool to think otherwise. I should bite you for talking back.

Yusei would have found it almost funny any other time. There was always the odd twenty-five, seventy-five percent chance that she wouldn't follow through with it. Now he just ached and almost wished she would strike out at him.

What happened? I don't get it. She was healing fine and then…

She wasn't healing fine. She didn't air out the wound at all. All this time she's been laying in the snow, she caused it to freeze and mend itself. But in doing so, the infection never left. If she'd torn the wound open again, she would have had a better chance at survival.

He stiffened, bristling faintly. You don't think she…?

Aki leveled him with a flat, unimpressed stare. Are you stupid? Of course she did, she scoffed. Her ear flicked in the direction of the camp's entrance before her head turned and she raised her chin. And here comes Jack.

Yusei looked past her, heart racing as it jumped into his throat for a moment. He shivered, almost panting as anxiety coursed through him. His entire body shuddered, and he lowered himself to the snow before he thought it through. Aki eyed him with repulsion from the corner of her eye, then turned to Jack as the pale wolf came over. Yusei could see it in the way he walked so slowly that he already knew. His eyes looked tired, almost haunted, and he came steadily forward.

It finally happened then?

He was staring at Yusei, but Aki was the one to answer. Yes. Carly is dead.

Jack shot her a hostile look for all of a split second, then nodded and shook himself out. His eyes shot to Yusei again. I wasn't stupid, he said slowly, spitefully, as if Yusei had sneered at him. I knew she wanted me away because of this. She was too insistent and I knew she'd try to hold on if I didn't listen. I guess it was better this way.

He flattened his ears against his head. Was it? He didn't know anymore. It seemed stupid, in hindsight, just how much he'd believed Jack hadn't realized. Carly hadn't said that, either, he realized. She'd just said she hadn't wanted him there when it happened. For all he knew she could have begged him to go by way of saying she was dying and there was no hope to fix it.

I…I don't know what to do with…

His outburst gained him two bewildered looks and Yusei flattened his ears against his head and looked down at his paws, leaning forward to chew on his dewclaw. How was he supposed to phrase it without sounding insensitive?

Take some time with the body, Aki said abruptly. She sniffed at the air once, then shot Yusei another disgusted look, and turned away as if to begin walking again. We can bury her when Atem and Yami come back.

Jack was silent and Aki wandered off without a second look. Yusei swallowed away a trickle of unease and risked a sideways glance at Jack. The pale wolf did not give him so much as a moment's notice, looking at the body for a long minute. Then he wandered forward, moved to lie down beside her, and closed his eyes tightly.

Yusei watched him for a moment, flattened his ears again, and followed after Aki.

---

Yugi struggled to place the scent. He flipped the pencil in his fingers with a precision he had not possessed even three months ago. His eyes narrowed, mind racing with possibilities. He couldn't think straight for more than a moment, his mouth growing pasty. Did he know that smell or was it something else entirely? Maybe he'd thought he knew it from somewhere but had no idea?

He flipped his pencil, then reversed the direction, staring at the teacher in front of the classroom. She'd mentioned she'd be leaving soon as well. Honshu was her destination in a matter of a day or two. She would wait out the worst of the storm there, before the power grid failed them.

Yugi wondered what would happen when things got out of hand there in Domino. The city was so small it was easy to overlook, even considered a huge tourist attraction as it was. The fact was that they weren't as well prepared as they should have been for such intense weather.

It did not help that the weather had only proceeded to grow worse each passing day. Since their first snowfall, it had been steadily getting worse. He knew that. He'd never considered otherwise. But it still struck him as frustrating.

Usually Domino was set for a few months of steady snow during winter, but nothing akin to blizzards. This weather had been deemed unusual, harsh, and best compared to that of Russia's when they'd last discussed it on the news. It had stretched out for more than three months, almost nonstop in its downpour of snow and ice. The roads were buried every night due to the constant onslaught. The brine and salt was frozen and washed away. The sun barely peeked through the cloud coverage any longer. It was considered an extreme natural disaster.

Most all of Hokkaido was moving away in order to avoid the inevitable power outages and expansion of potential deaths. He knew a few houses had collapsed, freezing a handful of people in their beds. A landslide had happened in Sapporo that had buried almost half of the city from what he'd heard; thankfully only twenty people had lost their lives compared to the hundreds they'd feared.

Yugi flipped his pencil again. His eyes narrowed. A sharp prickle crawled up his neck. He bristled. He stopped his pencil, pressing the end into the paper. His mouth was dry. His stomach coiled tightly. He sat back, straightening in his seat. His eyes shot to Jonouchi and Honda. Both of them had noticed as well. They were sitting up, curious and bewildered.

Yugi pressed his lips together tightly. He wondered what it was that could have produced it. It smelled stronger now. He curled his fingers atop his desk, putting his pencil down. The air had grown heavier. He glanced away, toward the door, and anxiety began to claw at the pit of his belly.

His throat tingled, sweating. His fingers drummed against the smooth surface of the desk. He breathed in deeply. The scent was stronger, he realized. It was almost seeping in from the crack beneath the door. He blinked, turning to his friends again. Jonouchi had certainly noticed the change as well. He was sitting up straighter than ever. His eyes had grown wide. And his head was turned towards the door as well. Honda shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but his eyes remained glued to the teacher.

Yugi watched the glass panel of the door, waiting to see something pass by. But nothing did. Minutes of rigorous study of the single entrance and exit gained him nothing. He narrowed his gaze, pressing his lips into a thin line, and bristled. He was almost snarling as he tilted his head, listening. There was nothing to be heard, however. Whatever was on the other side of the door had either moved away or had taken to waiting there for him.

He stood. His chair scraped hideously against the tile. The entire class of ten turned to look at him. Jonouchi looked up with a startled expression. Honda grimaced. Yugi ignored them. The teacher called his name. He ignored her in turn, heading for the door.

It slammed into the wall, the frame quivering as he threw it open. Yugi looked up and down the hall. But there was nothing to be seen. He bristled, ignoring his teacher calling his name again. He looked back and forth. But there was nothing.

The smell had gotten heavier, however. It was hideous, like wolfsbane and ivy and shadows that had never quite greeted the sun. He blinked slowly, then turned back and came into the room.

"I have to go," he snarled as the teacher asked him to take his seat. He snatched his bag from the ground beneath his chair and threw his things inside. She said something, but he wasn't listening. He slammed his books in, tearing a notebook's cover clean in half when it caught on one of the others. The ripping noise made his ears ring. Yugi ignored it, zipping his bag up, and threw it over his shoulder.

"Jonouchi, Honda—"

"Sorry, but we kind of have to go, too."

Yugi didn't wait for them as he took off down the hall. He was only aware they were following when Jonouchi grumbled, "Slow down, Yug. Fuck, you're almost sprinting."

He slowed just enough for them to get within a few feet of him, hissing, "Yubel. It has to be her. She's here somewhere."

"She's not alone."

Yugi jerked to a halt. His head snapped up, eyes wide. Both Honda and Jonouchi froze behind him. The red-eyed teen stood a few feet away from them. His head was turned to the hall adjacent them. He was slouched against one of the lockers, arms crossed and head angled so that his ear was towards the floor.

He straightened abruptly.

"We need to get out of here," he said brusquely. He looked down the hall again, bristling, and turned to Yugi. "Quickly, damn it."

He blinked, stunned, but shook it off. His voice came out strained as he mumbled, "What are you doing here, aibou?"

Yami was silent. He had made a break for the door when Yugi was talking. Now he turned around, looking at him impatiently. Yugi hurried forward, almost sprinting again. He was almost desperate for some kind of direction to take, some small part of him relieved to see the other boy there.

"I sensed her nearby at the hotel," he finally hissed, voice cold and eyes dangerously harsh like gemstones. "When she didn't come to find me, I gave chase. She's got at least a dozen other hounds with her. And I do not think she's going to be as nice as she was before when she fled."

Alarms went off in his head.

Yami was lying.

He could see it in the way his fingers tightened on the door's release bar. He could see it in the stiffness of his shoulders. He could see it in the strained chords of his neck. But he didn't question him. It was hard enough to believe Yami was truly there. It was another thing entirely to attempt to corner and provoke him into telling Yugi a truth he was so reluctant to share.

So, he swallowed hard, nodded, and took off out the door with Jonouchi and Honda behind him. Yami led them halfway across the quad. The sound of their shoes sinking into the snow was almost stifling.

"The parking deck at the train—we can go there."

"What?" Jonouchi blurted, sounding almost astonished. "Why?"

Yami slowed at the end of the quad. He whipped around. Yugi expected him to lash out. But instead he simply leaned forward, listening. Yugi strained his ears, but caught nothing. Yami turned to Jonouchi, addressing him in a hissing snarl.

"We need the smell of grease and gasoline to cover our tracks. She's not stupid. She can likely pick our scents out of a crowd should it be necessary. And I do not think she is going to leave without one of us dead."

Then he began jogging again. Yugi nearly slammed into his back when Yami abruptly stopped once more. But the other Pure-Blood reached a hand back behind him. His fingers caught his shirt, bunching it. He held him upright. His red eyes had darkened, sharpening. The other two slowed down as well, confused.

Yami narrowed his eyes. "We split up here. She is less likely to chase the two of you." He pointed in the opposing direction. "You both should head that way. Yugi and I will head for the parking deck."

Jonouchi shot him an incredulous look that Yugi ignored. Honda blinked, grimaced, and nodded. He grabbed Jonouchi's arm, tugging before they both took off running. Yugi glanced back as Jonouchi did, then turned to Yami.

"You lied," he said cautiously. But he didn't pursue it further. Yami nodded at him shortly. The admission was dismissed. Yami grabbed his wrist, tugging. It was only then that Yugi realized he was wearing another of his uniform jackets. Yugi stiffened, startled. A trickle of alarm crept down his spine as they ran. "Are we heading for the station?"

Yami hesitated. "I cannot think of anywhere else," he said. His voice was so low it was almost a whisper. He sounded defeated, quiet and shaky. But he sped up and Yugi struggled to keep pace for a single second. His legs burned with exertion, unused to the sensation. He was used to running as a wolf, but his human form felt weak and tired in comparison to the stamina he'd accumulated before. "We must try to shake her. That is the only place that comes to mind with potential coverage. The smells can…cover our scents somewhat."

Yugi nodded even though Yami did not look back. He was keeping pace with him, he realized, as his muscles grew more used to the physical demand. Their legs were in sync now. Yami had not dropped his wrist. He'd tightened his grip instead. And his hand was steadying where he held him so firmly. Yugi felt him there, warm and comforting and solid.

They sprinted the entire block and a half. Yugi kept his attention on Yami. The red-eyed teen had not slowed in the slightest. They had not raced, as if Yami were fearful someone might see them otherwise. They were not at such speed as to be on par with a car. But any normal human probably would have been shocked by the speed regardless.

Yami led them to the parking deck. He released him only long enough to jump the fence. Yugi hesitated, glancing over his shoulder. Then he scrambled over the chain link after him. The links rattled as he jumped down beside him. Yami remained at his side.

"Here. I am faster than you right now." Yami watched his face. "Give me your bag."

Yugi stared at him, shaking his head. But he dropped it all the same. Yami snatched it towards himself immediately. It took only a moment. Decision made, he stripped off his jacket.

"Switch with me. Shirt and jacket."

Yugi stiffened, startled. "What?"

Yami shot him a vicious glance. Unlike Yugi, he'd begun to pull the tank top over his head. The way he grabbed it made Yugi's stomach toss. Something about the movement sent alarms off in his head again. He hesitated a long moment. But Yami did not wait. He tore it over his head. He shook his hair out. And then he stared at Yugi expectantly.

Yugi swallowed hard. Then he awkwardly did the same. But when he reached for the hem of his shirt, Yami shook his head. He made a vague gesture for him to pull it over his head. Yugi shivered, but followed instructions. He grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling it over his head swiftly. Yami snatched it from his hands. He bunched it up entirely, stretching it out to where it did not touch even a hair on his head when he slipped it over, and pulled it down. He shook himself out, shrugging the jacket on impatiently. Then he threw the bag over his shoulders.

Yugi would have drooled any other time. He'd have been flushed and aroused and excited. Now, however, dread pooled in his gut. He followed Yami's example in dressing himself again, tossing the jacket on immediately after. The red-eyed wolf studied him a moment longer. Then, abruptly, voice soft, he murmured, "Go to the lower decks. Escape out the back. I'm going for the top ones. We'll set the cars off. We'll use the noise to hide ourselves. And the smell of the car fuel should be enough to cover us."

Yugi nodded slightly when Yami shot him a desperate look. Then he turned, starting in the opposite direction. He hesitated at the end of the incline, looking over his shoulder. "Yami…stay safe."

Yami stared at him. Then he turned away, jogging. He got to the end of the cars, leaping onto the hood. The first alarm blared so loudly it made Yugi's head spin. He flinched at the sudden flash of lights. The shadows seemed to pulsate, quivering in the still air. Yugi turned quickly away, hurrying along.

Yami waited until he was to the level beneath. He moved back, racing for the entrance of the deck Yugi had reached. He sprang into the footprints he'd left. He followed them to the end of the deck. And then he spun around. He crossed his steps with them, until they were almost indistinguishable and one could not tell what direction they faced. He could see arrows at the far end of the deck when he glanced over his shoulder. Yugi had begun bouncing atop car hoods as well. The flashing lights made his eyes hurt. The horns blaring made his head spin. His stomach lurched. He could not hear himself breathing.

It was obvious, when he looked back, that he'd turned around. The cars at the bottom deck would hide Yugi's path. The cars going off were sure to at least slow the hounds should they give chase.

He moved to the edge of the platform, waiting.

It didn't take long. The hounds came running first. Yami crouched down, avoiding notice. And then Yubel strode in after them. She stared ahead into the snow. Her remaining eye glowed. She wore a wide smirk of excitement. Yami waited for her to turn her head. Then he spun on his heel as their eyes locked.

The canines barked, tearing after him. Yami leaped atop another car. The hounds chased. He could hear them. They were louder than the cars. Their screaming almost drowned the alarms out entirely. Yami ignored the taste of blood in his mouth. His heart was in his throat, thumping heavily.

Yami was on the third deck. They'd backtracked slightly. He could hear them scenting the ground. Two of them had dashed off. They were headed for Yugi. He did not know if any others had gone. He would have to count them if he were to get an exact number. But he was not in the position for that. He jumped off the last car, pivoting.

When he turned around, they were a few feet away. They slavered. Some had pupils so dilated their irises were nonexistent. Two or three snarled. One snapped its teeth. One sneered. Another rushed him.

Yami kicked. Their jaw shattered on impact. They hit the ground several feet away. There they lay, whimpering. Yami could not remember the pressure necessary to stun. He remembered mostly snapping necks. He remembered stabbing fingers through bone. He remembered those experiments more than ever. He could snap bone out of place. He could press on nerves. He could stab nails through skin. He knew where the jugular was.

But he couldn't afford to do that.

The most he could manage was an effective but dangerous defense. He needed to drive them back.

He needed to stun.

He needed to kill.

If they were there when Yubel got there, he could not be sure she wouldn't lunge into battle as well. He couldn't afford to have so many opponents at once. His human form wasn't capable of handling such numbers. As a wolf it was almost nothing. He could sever heads and rip apart spines. As a human he struggled. His teeth were blunter. His claws were mere nails. His weight was halved. His mouth was not long enough. His canines were too short. His jaws could not clench as forcefully.

The second dog came for him. It leaped. He stepped back. His knee rammed into its chest. They gasped, sputtering. Their eyes nearly popped from their skull. Yami reached out as they fell. His hands caught its head. He twisted.

The body fell limp. Yami kicked it violently. It hit the others head on. One yelped, backing up. The others turned on each other. They sprang, snapping and snarling. Teeth cut into skin. Blood sprayed the air. They fought as if they were starving. Their teeth snapped. They tore into each other.

Yami forced back a shudder; was hellhound loyalty so damn fragile?

One broke away from its punisher. It came for him again. Yami shoved the bag from his shoulder. The dog was an inch away. He slammed it down. Their head hit the concrete. Its teeth clicked. A canine wobbled as it whimpered. It struggled to its paws in a daze.

The others laughed.

It was a game to them, he realized. They were giggling. They were depraved and stupid. They screamed. They slathered. They struggled. They bit each other. They egged each other on.

Yami watched them.

It gave him an opening. He threw the bag to the ground, crouching. Then he dug through as quickly as he could.

He hurried to grab anything to be utilized as a weapon. Yugi didn't have scissors. He could not simply stab them. He could not expect to decapitate like this. With such limited supplies, he was left almost lost and hopeless.

But everything could be a weapon.

Some things just required a little imagination and willpower.

Put enough effort into it and anything can be used to kill, he reminded himself. He tossed the bag as a dog rushed forward. The utensils in his hand slipped into a pocket. He would keep them there until he couldn't any longer. He'd need anything and everything he could use.

He just needed to slow her down.

The dogs scattered. They regrouped. One whimpered. The one with the shattered jaw was dead. Its throat gushed blood. The one whose neck he'd snapped was torn to ribbons along the sides. The laughter grew tenfold as he looked. The dogs growled. They snarled. The laughter grew even louder.

"You're all fucking worthless," Yubel scoffed.

She jumped down from a car hood behind them. Yami stiffened, raising his eyes. The dogs turned to her. All of them tucked their tails. They quivered as if struck. Yami watched, fascinated and horrified.

Did she strike such fear in them?

She strode forward in the dark. The lights flashed and lit her small frame amongst the shadows. She was dressed nothing like she had been before. Now she wore a pair of jeans and a leather jacket atop a cotton tee. Her shoes were combat boots. Her stance was taller than before. The constant flashing of lights made her look far more imposing. She stood straighter. Her remaining eye sparkled.

"I can't believe you all were raised in the dam labs. You weak pieces of shit. I tell you to rip him to pieces and you're all too damn afraid to even do that."

Yami struggled not to move. If he fled, she'd chase. But he'd have to turn his back on her. And he could not do that. She'd have the opportunity to kill him. He couldn't hear as well as usual. He had to rely mostly on the flashes of light. The brief illuminations did not offer him much but it was enough.

The only good thing was that there was not much time that they were not visible. Each car blinked, blaring at different intervals. He could see them more easily due to this. So he stood there, watching. He was tense, waiting. And he knew she would not let him remain that way much longer.

"I have to do everything around here," she continued coldly. She stalked forward. The other hellhounds flinched. Her lip curled back. "Find the other one. He's down on the bottom deck."

They took off without a second look.

Yubel stopped next to one of the bodies. Her eye was locked on Yami. She stared, disdainful. Then she smiled cruelly. "It's been a while," she purred. She came forward another step. Her eye glinted like ice. "I hope you aren't too upset I didn't fall for that trick."

Yami snorted. "I'd be more disappointed if you had."

She nodded, smiling wider. Then she kicked the carcass in front of her. "You know, I don't know half of their names. I only really pay attention to Sartorius and that's only because he's my bitch. Can you imagine how thick his head is? I constantly have to beat him into submission. He annoys me. He's always talking about fate and destiny and bullshit like that."

He watched her, steadying his breathing. It had gotten shaky at some point. Every muscle was readied to flee. And yet he forced himself to remain there.

"You know, you're actually kind of cute," she snickered, smiling. She reminded him of a snake, beautiful scales and vibrant eyes but with a bite too toxic to withstand. She came closer. Her boot was under the dog's dead body. "Without all that blood dripping from your face or your guts handing out of your stomach, you're almost cute enough to make me want to spare you."

Yami didn't answer her. Yubel snickered. She kicked. The corpse flew through the air. It landed on one of the cars behind him. The Pure-Blood narrowed his eyes. He tilted his head, staring. She was only eight years old. She was a foot smaller than him. But her violence far exceeded his.

He killed for survival.

She killed for fun.

His stomach lurched. His mind scrambled. He tried to memorize the distance. He tried to memorize the shape of her body. He needed to remember her weight. Knowing two of three was better than nothing. He focused all his senses on her. He recorded it. He recognized the foot and a half between them in height. He noticed her legs were taller, her arms longer, her torso somewhat shorter and more compact. The tight jeans made it easier to take in size and width. She was a sparrow, fragile and small and so pathetically skinny he was amazed she was even a threat to him.

Looks were deceiving, however. It was why he treated everyone as a threat until proven otherwise. Usually it saved him. If he thought them stronger and faster, more violent and vicious, it saved him from underestimation.

She launched herself. Yami blinked. She slammed into him. Her legs were a vice around his waist. Her hands clamped around his throat. Her head smashed into his. A dull ringing echoed in his ears. The hellhound laughed maniacally. Yami swayed, stumbling. The third and fourth blow sent him crashing. She straddled him, single eye blazing. A fist slammed into his face.

His cheekbone seemed to shatter. Pain sent stars through his vision. Yami gasped for air. His ears rang. He blinked. The second hit was to his temple. He struggled. He couldn't feel half of his body. He felt broken, knotted in a mess he could not untangle himself from.

He searched.

His senses failed for a single moment.

Then he felt it.

His cheekbone was fractured. His temple pulsed, bruised. His tongue swelled. The inside of his right cheek was torn. His skin throbbed. His mouth burned. His throat felt small, nearly crushed.

She'd knocked him back so hard she could have snapped it.

Like he'd done to Obelisk—

Yami bucked once. He kicked his right leg, kneeing her in the hip. She went rolling. He scrambled to his hands and knees. Then he was up again.

She was on her feet immediately.

She was laughing.

Yubel was howling.

Yami drew in a deep breath.

Nothing that won't heal, he reminded himself. He blinked, narrowing his eyes. She leaped again. He landed on his back. He kicked her off. He sprang to his feet.

She swung at his face. Yami took the blow. Blood filled his mouth. She swung her other arm. Her fist brushed his temple. Yami leaned back. He caught her hand. He kicked. One sneaker caught her upper arm, the other her elbow. When he rolled, she hit the ground face first. She screamed. The bone snapped, shattering and pulling out of place.

It kept her only a moment. She writhed. Her right arm came out from where it'd been pinned beneath her stomach. The blow sent stars through his vision. Yami spat, stunned. His senses faltered. His brain stuttered as if with panic. He gasped, snarling, and turned on her.

But she'd gotten away. She was feet back. She stood straight, peering at him furiously. Her firm arm grasped her wounded one. She pressed until the bones ground. She thrust her hand upwards. Her shoulder crunched. Yami could hear the tendons tensing and loosening. He shivered. But he was on his feet again, staring at her.

Her eye glinted with the reflection of car lights. The alarm made Yubel's snarls nonexistent. She stood taller. Her lips curled back. Her head tilted slightly to the side. Her teeth were unusually sharp, shiny with yellow and red lights.

The dislocated joint did nothing to slow her. He'd simply pissed her off. He felt ill, shaky. She'd kill him if she wore him down enough. Yami doubted he could dodge her properly enough to avoid such a fate. She was too fast for him. Stamina would only get him so far. He could outpace her. But she'd get her second wind almost immediately after.

And then what could he do?

They'd conditioned her to excel in pain. They'd taught her the same tricks they had him. He was not so lost that he'd forgotten the ability. He adapted as easily to pain as she did. He could block his nerves just as well. He could do so without the adrenaline rush. But the adrenaline would come soon after. And then he'd be ruined when it came time to heal…

He narrowed his eyes into slits. She wouldn't let him have another opening like that. And he could not hope for one. The offensive would not stall her. She was too violent. She thrived on it.

If he had learned nothing else from that fight in the woods, it was that.

She stared at him. Yami felt ice in his veins. He was nothing to her. He was a carcass for her to pick apart. She'd strip his bones of meat. She'd brandish her teeth with his vertebrae.

He blocked her first punch. His arm took the second. The third nearly hit. He dodged it at the last second. Then her leg came up. He couldn't breathe. She'd hit him in the chest. She'd knocked the air firmly from his lungs. He stumbled back a few steps. She straightened, eyeing him cruelly.

Then she kicked again. Yami blocked it. She was toying with him. She wasn't moving as fast. She was enjoying teasing him. She knew he wasn't stupid. She knew he knew she was too fast. She was baiting him for fun. She was watching him react to entertain herself. She was going to pretend at him having an advantage. Then she'd crush him.

He could tell. She was vicious and disgusting like that. He could understand it more than anything.

She was his cat.

He was her mouse.

He dodged the first punch. He blocked the second. The third connected with his jaw. He swayed, pain blooming across his skin. His teeth clicked and ground together. His head spun. She pivoted, kicking.

He barely managed to duck back. He braced himself. She lunged as her foot touched the ground. Her arms wrapped around his neck. Her knee rammed into his stomach. He grunted. Bile rushed up the back of his throat. She brought her knee up again. Yami twisted. He tucked his elbow in. He slammed it into her ribs. She stumbled back, snarling. The punch barely missed his temple.

He raised his arm. Her leg came up. Her shoe struck his elbow. He twisted rapidly, spinning. His sneaker missed her face by a millimeter. She snarled again, pivoting to kick him. He lashed out. His sneaker landed on her shin. He punched immediately after. It connected with her injured shoulder. She staggered back, visibly surprised. Her lips peeled back to show her sharp, brilliant white teeth.

She crouched, spinning. Her leg swept his from under him. Yami landed on his back. She was on her feet before he even hit the ground. She rushed forward. Her foot stomped at his head. It was a miracle she missed.

Yami rolled to his feet. She was hugging her right arm. The limb jerked, shivering under her hand. He'd done something more than simply dislocating it. He'd done far more damage than he'd assumed.

But he could not think about it for long. She kicked at his face. He blocked, rushing forward. He caught her leg. He pulled, pivoted, and threw her onto her back. She huffed, panting, and rolled towards him. Her leg came out. She hit him in the stomach. The blow sent him flying. He hit the car almost twenty feet away.

He lay there a second. Then he sprang to his feet again. He was winded. Everything ached. But she was simply watching him again. Her hand moved to her arm. She jerked it violently. It crunched. The noise came to him over the alarms. She stared at him coldly, eye glittering. And then she smirked.

She rushed him. She came for a high kick. He ducked away. She punched. He blocked it. He breathed hard through his nose. He couldn't pant. She'd know he was winded. He lashed out quickly. His foot hit her ribs. But it was partially blocked by her arm. Her left arm came out. Her fist slammed into his face. His head jerked from the blow. Blood gushed from his nose. The spinning kick that followed sent him to the ground. He couldn't stop himself. He landed a few feet away, blinking.

Yubel stared down at him, unimpressed. "Is that all you have to offer me?" she hissed. She stalked forward. He stumbled for his feet. She grabbed his shoulders. Her knee rammed into his chest. There were four impacts in the span of a second. Each blow made his ribs creak. He gasped for air. She snorted.

Her leg came again. He caught her knee, jerking her arm. He tossed her over his shoulder. But she held on. He yelped. She tumbled, rolling him. He landed on his back, her legs across his chest and back. His arm was in a vice grip. Her nails dug into his skin. He skidded when she dropped him a second later. He scrambled for his footing, skidded, and dropped.

She straightened, staring. Yami struggled to his hands and knees. Her foot came for his face. He jerked back. His head spun. Stars crossed his vision. His arms came up, blocking the second and third kicks. She leaped for him. He caught her.

The momentum gave him the strength he lacked. He tossed her over his shoulder. She hit the ground. She gasped, sputtering. And, for a moment, she seemed too winded to move. Finally, slowly, she got to her feet.

Her right arm was slack again. It ground hideously as she jerked it back in place a third time. Yami wondered if he'd broken something. Maybe he'd ruptured a tendon. But she didn't stay there for long. She came towards him briskly.

Yami could barely breathe. He struggled to straighten. Her boot hit him square in the chest. He was thrown backwards, rolling. And then she was behind him. The kick to his back almost snapped it. She had deliberately missed his vertebrae by half an inch. Yami lay on his stomach. He gauged the pain, measuring the damage.

Nothing was broken. He was winded. And she was toying with him.

But nothing was broken.

He got to his feet.

He spun on her. Her fist slammed into his stomach. She didn't even look winded. The kick to his temple made his head spin. The punch to his cheek almost sent him to the ground. He couldn't breathe. She kicked him in the chest. He skidded across the snow and concrete on his back.

She rushed him. She leaped up, using a nearby car as a springboard. Yami could not even blink. She spun, kicking. He tasted blood and bile. He thought his lung was caught on his tongue. His head spun. His vision swam. But he braced himself.

He waited it out.

And then he blocked the next two kicks. He dodged the third and fourth.

Then he swung.

His fist landed square in her face. Her head snapped back. Something popped. Red gushed from her nose. She licked the blood from her upper lip. It smeared across her teeth as she smirked. And he couldn't help but think of sharks.

Panic swept through him.

He kicked at her, aiming blindly. Instinct said simply to lash out. It was foolish. He was stupid to do so.

She caught his leg. He was grabbed by the jacket a moment later. And then he was tossed over her knee. He hit the ground, rolling a few feet. And then he lay there in a heap.

"You had a lot more balls in that wolf skin of yours."

Yami wondered why that was, in truth. Was it familiarity? Yugi was not wrong. He did lack full control. He didn't know what force was put behind each blow. He did not always trust his instincts. He did not always think when he lashed out.

And sometimes the two halves of him warred.

The wolf would say to lunge forward. The human instinct was to freeze.

Sometimes he could not stop himself. He would freeze in place. He'd be trapped in a place between fight-or-flight.

But, if that stance left him open now, then her stamina was her weakness.

She was tiring. Yami could hear it in her voice. He could feel it when she'd grabbed him. She'd meant to do more damage. She'd basically dropped him rather than thrown him. She was losing steam.

He could keep going, however. But he knew better than to simply trust this. He could not rely on her weaknesses or his own strengths.

She was too dangerous.

She was too unpredictable.

He did not know how to gauge her.

But he got up. He straightened. She lunged. He waited. He caught her arm. She snarled. He pivoted, pulling her off balance. Her teeth snapped shut. His elbow slammed into her eye. She yelped, seething. Yami panted, letting her pull away.

He didn't get another opening. She butted him in the head. Her smaller hand grabbed his side. Nails dug into his skin. Her knee slipped between his. They rolled. He hit the ground face first. His cheek pressed into concrete. Nails dug into his neck. Pinpricks of blood made his skin burn. She grabbed his jacket, lifting him. Her knee slammed into his side.

The second knee hit his temple. His world spun. His stomach churned. Bile clawed up his throat. He swallowed it back. She moved again. He scrambled for his feet. She jumped atop his back. Yami hit the car beside them when he stumbled.

He blinked. His nails sank into the leather of her jacket. He tugged the sleeves. He bent his knee to brace himself. He pressed himself into the car. Then he pulled.

He flipped her. The car tilted off balance. The wheels came off the ground. She snarled, baring her teeth. The car groaned as it landed. He punched. His hand went through the hood where her head had once been. She was on her knees, almost a foot away, panting. Her eye was glowing with hatred.

He hurried forward, kicking as she started to rise. Her head snapped to the side. Her nose gushed blood. It looked like oil. He hit her again. He kicked harder. Her head snapped the other way.

Then she rolled. Yami missed.

She was back up again.

Yami swallowed. Her foot came for his head. He dodged back. Her sneaker whistled past his face. He drew another deep breath. Then he ducked, kicking. She grunted, hitting the ground. Yami got up, darting a few feet away.

She was too fast.

He was stronger than her.

But she was too damn fast.

If he could afford to try for a lethal blow, he would manage it. He could kill her easily. He just needed that opening. He needed—

He leaned back against the hood. His lungs ached as he panted. His stomach churned.

She leaped for him, fingers like talons. Yami held his breath. His eyes narrowed. He moved backwards. He leaned further. Then he pivoted. She landed almost on his face. He twisted. The movement allowed him to catch her arm.

He pulled. The shoulder strained, then popped again. Her wrist crunched beneath his hand. She screamed. He tossed her over the hood.

She landed on he back, winded. But she moved again immediately. He spun, kicking out high enough to hit had she still been there. Instead his foot went through the window. The sound of glass made his ears roar. She landed on her ass, startled. He looked at her.

He jumped. He landed atop the car. He spun violently, and leaped. He landed where she would have been. But he'd miscalculated her speed. She rewarded him with a punch to the kidney.

Yami hurled a blind punch over his shoulder. His knuckles scraped her temple. He wheeled around, backing away. She snarled. He panted. Then he grabbed the pencil from his pocket, slinging it.

It buried itself in her neck.

But he'd missed the vein.

She screamed, seething. He wished he'd aimed for her eye instead. He should have blinded her. Even she was not impervious to fear. She'd have slowed down—if only for a moment—due to the pain and loss of organ.

She blinked once. Then she tore the pencil from her neck with a sneer. Her throat bled profusely. Blood spurted in curtains and waves. But it was gone a heartbeat later, almost instantaneously.

"Impressive." She tilted her head. "But not as impressive as this."

Yubel punched violently to his left. Yami dodged instinctively.

Then she was behind him.

Her speed was blinding.

But his arms were still free. She stabbed at him. He whipped around. His left elbow aimed for her head. The pencil hit the ground. Her quick reflexes betrayed her. She tried to back away.

Yami turned again. He pulled her down. His leg kicked out her knees.

The maneuver sent her flying. She flipped once. Then she lay there. Her eye was wide, unseeing. Her spine had crunched, but was not broken. She was recovering quickly, catching her breath.

Yami lunged, punching downward. He barely missed her shoulder. She scrambled a few inches away. She panted. Yami's wrist throbbed. The skin had split across his knuckles. He kicked at her again.

The blow hit her hard in the side. She yelped. He kicked again.

She hit the ground, rolled, and was up once more.

Yami remained there. His lungs hurt. His stomach burned. His muscles ached. His head felt as if it were the center of a thunderstorm. His skull felt as if it might crack beneath the pressure. His hands shook finely. His legs felt as if they might fall off at any moment.

She rushed him. Yami braced himself. She landed on him as she had before. Her hands wrapped around his throat. One knee hit his stomach. He grunted, breathless. She kneed him again, then a third time.

He tried to shake her. One hand remained atop his shoulder. The other straightened his arm back. She landed on his back, spinning. Yami hit the ground. His shoulder popped. But the bones did not dislodge.

He was pinned there. His arm was caught between her legs. She pulled.

Yami expected to scream.

But…somehow the sinews and tendons held firm.

Or perhaps it was exhaustion. Perhaps she was too tired to do it. He could feel her trembling slightly. It could have been the exhaustion in her bones. Maybe her muscles were too strained.

She let go abruptly. She rose to her feet. Yami rolled to his hands and knees. He struggled to push himself up. She stopped an inch from him.

She stank of rose petals and ivy and shadows.

Yami forced himself to memorize that.

She caught him by the back of the jacket. He blinked. His body was cold, tired. She launched him backwards. He careened straight into the windshield. He rolled, hitting the driver's seat. It jerked backwards, then promptly snapped. Yami felt the console beneath his back. He hit the back seats. He rolled, slamming into the floorboards. He gasped, struggling. His head spun.

His mouth was bleeding. There were glass shards on his tongue. But it was healing. The pain was numb. The cuts sewed themselves together. He could barely feel his left arm. His right leg throbbed.

He shifted his weight. His leg was shattered. He could feel it now. He looked down. It was bent at an unnatural angle. He blinked. Then he raised his head, looking through the windshield.

His eyes burned. He couldn't identify if it was simply pain or shards of glass. He blinked.

Yubel was nowhere in sight.

He froze, panicked.

Had she gone to Yugi instead? Had she gotten tired of beating him senseless? Surely she had to know he was only stalling.

It was a question whether she cared. And he highly doubted she did. She just wanted to inflict damage. Yami was her plaything for the moment.

He shifted his leg up, twisting it. It cracked, popping. Every muscle screamed in agony. He nearly screamed. A strangle whimper escaped. His heart raced. The sound was drowned beneath the sirens of the wailing car alarms around him.

He shivered. Blood soaked his fingers. He sat up, reaching for the car door.

It slung open before he could grab it.

Sickness came through him, then relief.

She was still there. He still had her attention. She wasn't after Yugi.

She grabbed him again, removing him from the car. Then she threw him across the lot.

He lay there. If he could catch his breath—

She sprang for him. He rolled, scrambling. His leg buckled beneath him. The pain shot through him. He hit the ground. His leg throbbed. His stomach burned. His mouth ached, pulsating. Every part of him screamed to run.

She grabbed him again.

He was too tired to move.

"The gods chose a weak piece of shit like you?"

The words were punctuated with a series of punches. She jerked him forward, throwing him moments later. Yami lay there, panting and closing his eyes tightly. He just needed to recover—

"I'm second to these fucks because of you and that little brat you're boning. What's his fucking name again? Yugi or something stupid like that? I hope he's at least spread his legs enough to warrant this beating you're taking for him."

Yami struggled to his feet. He swayed, equilibrium shot. His head roared. The ache had grown tenfold. He kicked, missing by inches. She raised a brow, snorting.

"Oh, look at you. You're all worn out."

Yami breathed in shakily. She was inches from him. She swung. He dodged away. A snarl of contempt escaped her. A punch aimed for his face. He dodged, grabbing her arm. He spun. She stumbled off balance. He used the momentum to slam her to the ground on her back.

But he couldn't risk remaining there. He backed away rapidly.

He hit the car behind him. Its sturdiness almost made him choke. He swallowed hard. His mind scrambled. What now? What did he do now? Yami reached back, touching the smooth surface. Was it the hood?

He couldn't tell without looking. And he couldn't afford to do that.

But backing up further brought him to the mirror.

He pushed away. She stopped a foot from him. Yami backed up again. She charged. He pulled his legs up, kicking out at her. He hit her in the stomach, pushing her. He threw himself backwards.

He landed hard on the other side of the hood. He quaked. His lungs shook in his chest. She had not fallen too far back from the blow. She was braced against the hood again, gasping from pain.

Yami grabbed at her. His fingers connected with the leather again. She snarled, startled. He tugged harder.

She couldn't stop him.

He pulled her partially across. Her eye was glued to him, burning and hateful.

He grabbed her injured arm. His other hand clamped on her wrist. She spat at him. She tried to writhe from his grip. Yami slid her forward. He held her tighter. Her top half was pulled off the car.

He dropped back rapidly. She screamed. He kicked her in the stomach, launching her away. She was thrown across the parking lot. He lay there, winded. He turned to face her.

She gasped for air, immobilized. She reached a hand out. Her claws scrabbled at the smooth concrete. But she wasn't getting up. She couldn't get up.

The blow had snapped her back.

She could not heal instantly from a wound like that as he could. She'd need a few minutes. And in that time he could…

He could what?

He stared at her blankly.

She was a broken bird. Her right hip was shattered, bleeding. Her back was flat against the ground. Her head bled in multiple places. Her temples were bruised, swollen. Her cheek was scraped raw. Her jaw was slack. Her eye glittered with fury.

Her upper body was the only functioning part. But she could not control that fully, either. She was too exhausted. She was too wounded. Her arm was too damaged from her makeshift fixes. Her shoulder quaked, going through a spasm.

Her body was going into overdrive. Blood and sweat made the air steam. She was trying to quicken the healing process. If she was healthy, that gave him only a few minutes—ten if a miracle should happen and he'd damaged her somehow more than he'd assumed—to get to her.

If she was too exhausted, forcing the healing, he could kill her.

He had to be the one to do it.

He was there, in front of her.

Yugi was not.

He'd have to risk her attacking again…

He rose sluggishly to his feet. His lungs strained. His heart hurt. His stomach lurched. He licked his lips. He forced himself forward a step. His right foot dragged behind him. The action made a loud scratching noise. The sound echoed in his ears. The alarms were deafening when he stopped. The air seemed almost to shake and vibrate around him.

The flashing lights made his head spin. He drew in a deep breath. The air was heavy in his lungs. He felt weighed down, fractured. The pressure made him sway. He dragged his foot again, then straightened. He grabbed it firmly, jerking until it snapped. His muscles creamed. His jeans grew slick with blood seconds later.

His blood began to hum. The lycanthropy was attempting to mend the wounds. The fractures tore and splintered into each other. They swelled, folding and pulsing. He shivered. His blood was warm and heavy in his veins.

He was immobilized by it.

He focused on breathing. His lungs hurt.

He could feel bile in the back of his throat again. It would be easier to flee if he puked. Emptying his stomach would make him lighter.

He reached shakily to touch his ribs. One was sore, bruised but not broken. He'd broken enough bones to recognize such.

He'd heal faster there than he'd assumed. But his leg would take more time and energy.

Yami looked up again when he heard something dragging across the concrete.

Yubel had gotten to her hands and knees. Her spine popped. Her eye flashed. Her lips curled back. She stared, snarling. But she didn't make any move towards him.

Was she afraid? She'd underestimated him. He knew that much. She'd been expecting him to be weaker in this form. But he only lacked control as a human. His strength was still there. His power was still at his fingertips.

He swung wildly, quickly. He broke bones and kicked so hard it ruptured organs.

But his human form was unsteady. He felt like he'd never known it after months of being a wolf. He'd failed to train himself. And for that oversight, he was going to suffer.

He missed it when she moved. Yubel was in front of him instantly. She leaped, kicking. Yami dodged backwards. But he could not fully escape. He took the blow to his nose rather than the temple. He went backwards. His back hit something. His legs tangled. He went over the top of it. She landed on him.

They went down in a tangle of limbs.

Yami panted. His nose dripped blood. His skin was raw and itchy.

He scrambled back. She followed. He staggered to his feet. His eyes flickered.

He'd tripped over a parked motorcycle.

He blinked. Her fist collided with his face. Her weight was thrown behind it. His cheekbone throbbed. His eye swelled from the force. He shook his head, dazed. But it was gone again in an instant. He struck out, hard and fast to mirror her.

She wasn't expecting it. She'd thought the punch would slow him longer. The shock was visible. Her shoulder shattered on impact. The crunching noise made his head spin. Yami blinked. Yubel screamed. Her other hand covered the fractured bone.

Yami almost trembled, somewhere between relief and disbelief. He'd broken her shoulder. She was screaming.

But why? He struggled to understand. He felt dizzy, cold.

How had he managed a critical hit? And why then?

Her eye was colder than ever.

Yami bristled. She couldn't lift her right arm above her waist. He could see that. She'd started to lunge, dropping her arm again.

He dodged the punch to his extremities. But she was too close to dodge away from completely. His heart raced. Adrenaline crashed through him. He was crashing. His body was trying to push him forward.

He welcomed that help.

He shot forward. He could use his size and reach to his advantage. He grabbed her in a bear hug, squeezing. Yubel screamed, straining in his grip. Her back should have snapped again. If it had not just healed, it would have.

She squirmed viciously. She thrashed wildly. And soon enough she'd maneuvered herself higher up. She kicked at his sides. A blow to his right side stunned him.

Her heels hit the back of his knees. He swallowed a snarl. His right leg buckled, sending them to the ground. She wriggled from his grip.

The kick sent him flying. He skidded, rolling across the concrete.

His ribs had broken. He could feel it. His breath was a gurgle.

But Yugi could have still been on the bottom level.

He struggled to his feet.

He stopped the follow up kick. He swerved to the side, catching her leg. Then he tossed her. Her own momentum sent her crashing back. She hit the trunk of the sedan behind her. She landed hard, panting and stunned.

Yami reached forward, grabbing the back of her head. He smashed her face into the metal. She yelped. He did it again. He did it so much his arm burned. The muscles pulled and ached.

She was bleeding everywhere. He'd busted her nose. He'd chipped her teeth. He'd caved in a part of her forehead.

Yami felt his ribs burning. His grip grew slack. His hand seized. He dropped her. He looked over.

She pressed her weight into the car. It jerked again, landing with a heavy thud. She spun on him. Had he full control of his muscles, he still could not have saved himself.

He barely managed to pull back. Her punch to the stomach missed. The other hand slashed at him. He screamed, backing up. His eyes squeezed shut. His hands pressed forcefully into them.

The blood was hot, soaking him. Yami screamed again. His eyes burned. His entire face was hot, burning. She'd cut him across the top half of his face. His flesh stung where touched by air.

"You don't look so much like a Pure-Blood anymore, now do you?"

Yami panted for air. She hadn't come closer. She was breathing heavily. He could hear her gasping. Around all the other noise, he could hear it. When she spat at him, he heard it land inches away.

How much distance had he put between them?

How far back had he retreated?

Yami panted. His eyes were glued to his lids. He clawed at them. He reached up, tugging hard. He could see nothing but black and red. Whatever remained of his cornea was too damaged to see with. He drew in a deep breath, snarling.

"Bitch."

She burst out laughing. He braced himself. The kick to his ribs sent him into the trunk. His spine threatened to crack from the force. He nearly slumped to the ground. But the kick that followed made him jerk away. He scrambled back.

His breathing was uneven now. Pain spiraled through his ribs.

He swore all he could hear was his heart in his ears.

But then he heard something else.

There was someone…calling his name?

Yami could not make out the full sound. And he could—

There.

He spun on her. His foot came in a rapid kick. The force sent her flying. He felt every muscle in his body scream protest. He collapsed to his knees. His hands shook, soaked in blood.

He couldn't see.

He couldn't…

He ducked the kick to his head. His hand rose, lashing out. He caught skin. She screamed. But it was more a barking laugh. He struggled for his feet. He could hear her moving now. She was bouncing from foot to foot.

He could picture it with ease…

She came at him. Her kick would have caught him in the chest again. He dodged, roundhouse kicking in turn.

It connected. She went flying. He reached up, rubbing his eyes in panic. His senses raced. They struggled to keep up. They were reworking themselves. They were trying to give him an advantage again.

He couldn't understand it.

Why was he not healing?

Why was he not able to see again yet?

His breath quickened. Panic crashed through him. His eyes were too damaged. She'd cut too far. She'd have to kill him before they'd heal properly—

He grabbed at her. His hand caught her shirt. He tugged hard. She came off balance. A noise of surprise echoed in his ear. He kicked her. A bone snapped. She gurgled.

A rib?

He pulled his hand back. He spun. Then he flung her.

Something snapped on impact. He trembled. His eyes burned. He wiped furiously at them. But he could see nothing. There was nothing but red. He closed them tightly. His skin crawled, aching and incurable and raw.

She wasn't getting up…

Had he snapped her neck?

Could it have been so damn simple?

He almost sobbed, relief and then despair crashing through him.

He heard it now.

It was sluggish but fast.

She was breathing hoarsely, struggling. He could sense her there. She was face down, twenty feet away. She was inches from the truck she'd collided with. A pool of blood lay beneath her. Her skull was fractured. She was concussed, at the very least.

But she was not dead.

Fire laced through him. His bones vibrated beneath his skin. His chest ached. He closed his eyes tightly. He dragged himself forward a step.

He was within feet of her when he could not bring himself to move any closer. His stomach heaved and his legs buckled. He almost collapsed. The only thing to keep him upright was the car beside him. He'd grasped the mirror at some point, smearing blood and prints across the glass. He rubbed his eyes again.

When he opened them, the world pulsated with red and orange, shades of blue and green and yellow. He nearly screamed. He swallowed back a sob.

It was happening. His brain was remapping his senses. It was trying to slow his blindness into something else.

Or perhaps the blindness was permanent and it was trying to supplement the loss…

Yami quaked, collapsing.

He swiped at his eyes again. His nails dug into his cheek from the force of rubbing.

He stopped short now, mind racing.

He could…

It wouldn't be too hard…

His hands shook too hard. It was the only reason he did not manage it. He heard his name again. Now it was followed by a chorus of two other voices. Yami did not answer it. He didn't know how. And, on his hands and knees as he was, he could not bring himself to care. If she'd blinded him permanently, he'd die. He couldn't survive without his eyes—

He heard sneakers on the concrete. But it was four people, not three. The fourth one had not spoken, he realized.

He could hear Yubel now as well. She was struggling to her feet. She'd made it to them before the other three got close. She sprinted away, sputtering and snarling. Yami listened to her footsteps fading, echoing against the alarms.

"Shit, Yami!"

He didn't answer. Instead he forced himself to sit up. He was slumped, nearly falling over again. His hands lay between his thighs for a moment. His fingers were too hot, too sticky. The blood needed to be wiped off. He'd try again when he'd done that…

It took a minute to gather the strength. He wiped delicately. His right leg was bleeding profusely again. The bone was out of alignment; he could feel it as he traced his fingers over his jeans.

Defeat coursed through him. He couldn't stop shaking.

But he forced himself to focus.

He had to do this.

Yami forced his eyes open. But the world was still an inversion of itself, soaked and splashed with colors he did not want to see. He shivered. Then he peeled his top lid from his right eye. It burned when his finger came into contact with it.

"Yami?" Yugi screeched. "Don't do that!"

Yami swatted him away when he grabbed his hand. For a moment he simply breathed in forcefully. His lungs strained from the force and his ribs threatened to splinter further. Yami waited a moment longer. Yugi had turned away; he could no longer feel his stare. He reached up again, peeling his lid away again. And then he prodded again, nearly screaming at the new burst of pain.

He snarled as Yugi grabbed his wrist and pulled it away again. His fingers were soaked in rivulets of new blood. His nail felt as if something were caught beneath it. He exhaled roughly, then reached up again.

Yugi refused to let him get close this time. He caught his hand and held it tightly, neutralizing his dominant arm. Yami snarled, lashing out. His fist collided with Yugi's head. The smaller teen yelped, stumbling, but held on.

Yami nearly sobbed.

Why wouldn't he let him fix this?

Yami shoved at him, shaking. "Get off me."

Yugi stared at him, heart hurting. He snatched his hands away again as Yami reached up once more. His alpha lashed out and missed. He was shaking too hard to make contact again. Yugi grabbed his shoulders, pulling him to his feet as he straightened. The taller teen almost collapsed again. But if he was off balance, he couldn't truly—

Yami dug into his eye again. He ignored him as if he did not exist. And Yugi could see where he'd already torn his cornea almost in half from his clawing. Yugi shoved him. Yami staggered, swaying and nearly collapsing once more. Yugi caught his wrist, holding him upright.

Yami swung so hard Yugi almost screamed in pain. His jaw exploded with pain. His mouth bled where his teeth had dug into his cheek. Yugi staggered, rubbing at his jaw. Then he huffed and grabbed both of his wrists in a restraining grip.

"Let. Go."

"Stop it!" Yugi snarled, almost screaming. Yami tried to pull away from him pathetically. He was too worn out to make any difference. He couldn't lash out with his hands. And he was not attempting to bite him in any manner. So, Yugi was safe from that so far. "Fucking stop it, Yami!"

"Get off me," Yami spat, struggling harder to shake him. "Get off!"

"They'll heal! Don't—"

"They won't! They can't! They're defective!"

Yugi faltered, startled by his outburst. He'd begun gasping for air, sobbing dryly as he tried again to pull away from him. Yugi watched him, looking at the blood that continued to weep from his eyelids. He'd missed his eye at some point, scraping part of his cheekbone raw with his nails.

"I'm sorry, Yami," he finally whispered, then tightened his grip on his wrists. Yami had stiffened at the words, opening his mouth. Yugi ground his teeth, then squeezed Yami's wrists until the bones snapped.

Yami swayed for a second. And then Yugi saw his corneas slide upward and roll into the back of his head as Yami collapsed. Yugi caught him, looking around them uncomfortably and swallowing hard. The wall nearest him was a large pillar to support the multiple levels. He decided it would have to do.

Yugi grunted. He lifted Yami uncomfortably into his arms, almost cradling him like a baby. Yami was slick with blood, his breathing a strangled noise in his ear. Yugi hissed a breath. Then he carried him slowly, carefully, to the pillar. When he put him down, he stretched his legs out, moving his hands to his lap, and adjusted him to where he would not be in too much pain when he woke.

When he released him, Yami sagged forward but did not fall.

Yugi shook with relief, straightening. Then he looked around. There was blood almost everywhere. The concrete was soaked in it. A few cars had busted windows. A couple had been thrown out of place and had obviously collided with the one nearest it. Two had hoods that had been dented and one had been punched clean through.

A bloodied pencil lay in a puddle.

The sedan nearest him had a trunk that was all but destroyed. The windshield was shattered to pieces in another, the front seat snapped in half from the force of impact. Blood covered windows and metal and mirrors. He could see a tooth or two scattered about.

A motorcycle was on its side, scraped and damaged on one side and the kickstand bent and broken. Blood smeared its wheel and part of the handles. The front wheel was turned the opposite direction, ground into the concrete.

When he turned back, Valon was staring at Yami. His golden eyes had darkened, his mouth pressed into a thin line. He stared blankly, head tilted, and he did not so much as blink for a long handful of seconds. Yugi looked over as well. Yami looked almost broken in his unconscious state.

Hatred swelled through him.

Yubel had beaten him to a pulp. She'd done a decisive number on him. If he was not somewhat impaired later in the future, Valon would be amazed. Yami looked so small, so broken, that it was amazing he was even still alive. The fact she had not killed him and sent him into a feral state was almost suspicious to him. Perhaps Yami had been able to hold her off at some point or another. That must have been the truth of it; he would have died otherwise.

His eyes began to twitch rapidly beneath their lids. Valon watched them roll up several times, the curve of his cornea disappearing and then finally reappearing more than once. Yami exhaled in a sputter, entire body shaking for a single moment, rasping hideously as his ribs creaked audibly.

Valon tilted his head.

Yami had begun twitching. His hands were shaking. His right leg slowly shifted, pulling itself up almost to a bend before straightening again. He could hear the bone mending itself, splintering and grinding together and knitting into a single piece once more. Valon watched his face as cold sweat began to slowly drip downwards from his head. And then it began to grow faster, drenching his skin entirely and plastering his bangs to his face.

Valon moved closer, dropping to a crouch to reach forward. It was morbid curiosity, but curiosity all the same. He tipped his head up slightly. Yami's chin seemed almost to loll back, as if his neck were broken, eyelids twitching more fervently than ever. His mouth opened partially when he released his chin and touched his cheekbone.

It was amazing Yami had any teeth at all. There was extensive damage to the inside of his mouth; he could see it with just a quick glance. His tongue was badly bitten, gouged open on one side. His cheeks were mauled where he'd bitten into them as he'd taken punches and kicks. The opposite cheekbone was shattered, sunken, and his face was bruised and marred with red and black as if he had gotten a rug-burn somehow. Various bruises were dark like hickeys, lightening slowly before his eyes.

He grimaced. When he glanced over, Yugi was staring at Yami with a heartbroken expression. But it was gone when he turned to him as well. His eyes sharpened, his lips pressed into a thin line, and he stared at him as if challenging him to argue.

"So…are we going to chase her?" Jonouchi asked slowly.

"Chase her? She's already back at the labs by now," Yugi snarled bitterly. He had turned back to Yami again, studying him. "And we sure as fuck aren't prepared to follow her down there."

Valon could not remove his eyes from Yami now. The red-eyed boy was gasping and sputtering. His entire body shook heavily. His breathing came in hideous, uneven rasps. He could hear the blood in his lungs now. The organs were struggling to push it out, to restart the healing process.

Yugi was staring now as well and finally, Yami hitched a breath, gurgled, blood dribbled out of his mouth, and then he grew still again. For a moment Valon almost thought he'd died. But then he began to breathe rapidly, quick and shallow bursts of air. And abruptly it ceased, becoming slow and even. And then his heart rate, which had formerly skyrocketed, began to slow to an almost sleep-like state.

He was deathly still but for his eyes. Valon could almost trick himself into believing Yami was simply asleep rather than unconscious now.

"So…what now?"

Yugi moved aside from Valon, crouching in a mirror position, and reached out. He tugged his eyelids apart and Jonouchi swore loudly. Valon flinched, disgust and shock rolling through him. His mouth opened and closed twice, swallowing hard to stem the surge of bile crawling up his throat.

Yami's eyes were still soaked in blood but they were pulsing. The membrane that covered them shook, the blood vessels stretching and vibrating and opening and closing. The whites oozed beneath the blood, as if they were cracked apart and shed like an egg's shell. He could see the muscles stitching themselves back together. It almost looked as if the damage were being sponged somehow, as if it were being absorbed back into the original tissue. Some of it blackened where it was exposed to air, but the rest turned bright vibrant red and bleeding more profusely.

"Fuck, Yugi, stop!" Jonouchi sputtered.

Valon turned his head as the blond gagged and covered his mouth. He could hear the bile in the back of his throat. The hellhound blinked, interest and curiosity at war with his amusement. But, if Jonouchi puked, he'd get the opportunity to laugh at him for the rest of his life. He was almost smirking when Yugi dropped his hand away and shot his friend a resentful life.

"I wanted to make sure they were healing."

"Okay, well, I don't know about you, but that was disgusting and I'd rather not watch."

"No one said you had to."

Valon glanced between them uneasily. Yugi looked as if he might leap at Jonouchi's face any moment. But Jonouchi looked more pissed than intimidated and Valon almost wondered if he should encourage them to fight. It might be fun to watch the two of them duke it out.

"Yug…" He opened and closed his mouth twice, then looked away toward Yami. But the red-eyed boy was still unconscious, deathly still but for his even breathing once more.

"He almost tore his own eyes out," Yugi mumbled, so quietly that Valon had to strain his ears. He turned his head again, swallowing hard when he noticed the way Yugi was watching his alpha. He looked almost winded, as if he might burst into tears. The hellhound glanced uneasily towards Jonouchi and found himself locking eyes with the other boy.

"So," the blond murmured, voice somewhat cold and aggravated, "why exactly are you even out here? I thought you were in class but all of the sudden you were out here instead. Why? Hellhounds run together or did you decide to see if you could pick him off yourself?"

Valon tilted his head, glancing at Yugi sideways. "Brave pup you bit there, Yugi," he sneered.

Yugi looked over his shoulder slowly towards them. That horrified look had not faded from his eyes even beneath all the anger. "Yami just tried to claw his own eyes out. And I have a beta who thinks he can challenge a hellhound who could mutilate him," he said in a harsh tone. "I can't deal with this."

"You can't handle this?" Valon snorted. "Wow, I'd love to see how you even deal with the pack or Yubel later while Yami is incapacitated. I wasn't aware that pack was following such a weakling."

Jonouchi awkwardly scratched the back of his head. Yugi, however, didn't care. He turned away, facing Yami with that same dejected expression. Finally the blond looked at Valon again, shaking his head slightly. The hellhound clenched his jaw, annoyance burning through him, and drew in a deep breath through his nose to keep from snarling. He shook his head and looked at Yami again as well. The Pure-Blood wouldn't wake for a while; he knew that much at least.

In fact, as Valon explored the rest of the parking deck, from where Yugi had killed the other three hellhounds to where Yami had fought Yubel, it took another two and a half hours before Yami finally began to stir. The red-eyed teen let out a little shuddering gasp and Yugi spun around from where he'd been looking at one of the many damaged vehicles. He raced over to his side as soon as he could. Jonouchi hovered a few yards away, watching with a slightly hopeful but mostly horrified expression on his face.

Yugi was crouched in front of him when Yami opened his eyes. At first his details were fuzzy, etched in black shadows at the sides. He could barely see his face for a long minute. Yugi's eyes were dark, the lashes stretched far too long due to the shadows across the front of it all. And then, slowly, as he looked at the smaller boy, it finally began to shift and withdraw. The shadows shifted away, he could tell his nose from his mouth, his bangs from the main volume of his hair. He could see the blue speckled against the violet in his irises. He blinked once, slowly, and then closed his eyes tightly.

Whatever he was leaning against—he assumed it was a wall—was so sturdy he almost wanted to sob. It was cool to the touch, hard and cold, and he wished he could sink into it. His stomach burned and his spine ached. His eyes itched. He groaned.

Yami blinked, slowly raising his head. He felt as if hot iron had been pressed against his skull. His head ached so much that blinking caused pinpricks of pain. Everything was blurry again. He twitched, drawing his legs to his chest. His ribs burned. He could feel his sides pulling from the effort of shifting his weight.

"I can't exactly…patch your eyes, but I guess they don't really need much help to heal…" Yugi's voice came out in a clipped tone. When Yami managed to focus on him again, the other boy was scowling. "Your wrists will be fine, too. And your ribs and side. But I think she might have bruised your liver when she kicked you there. I don't know how to help with that one. Either way, you can clearly see me since you're staring at me like that. And the rest is superficial damage."

Superficial? This classified as "superficial"?

Yami blinked again, then lowered his chin to his chest.

She'd gotten away. She'd beaten him half to death. And then she'd gotten away. She was too fast. She'd hit twice where he could only hit once. He closed his eyes tightly. It was luck that she'd gotten so cocky. She hadn't expected him to hit her so hard. She hadn't realized he could fight as a human, too, nor that his hits were far less restrained and even harder.

She hadn't been prepared then.

But she would be next time.

Next time she would kill him.

And she would do it with pleasure.

"I'm dead," he mumbled, and he realized a second too late he'd spoken out loud. He'd forgotten Yugi was in front of him, crouched there and watching him. The words made Yugi narrow his eyes and Yami wished he could have swallowed his tongue as they stared at one another.

All three of them were staring at him now.

"What?" Jonouchi finally asked, sounding confused and stunned for a brief second.

Yami reached up to rub at his eyes. His sides seemed to split, oozing with pain. He trembled a moment, pathetic and broken. But there was a burning in his bones that stunned him. And it was enough to make the pain fade for a single second.

"She's going to kill me next time." He opened his eyes, blinking rapidly and hoping for the splotches in his peripheral to fade away. But they simply grew. "She's going to kill me."

"Next time?" Yugi snarled. "There won't be a next time. There is never going to be a next time. I'll kill her first."

Yami raised his eyes to look over at him, shaking his head.

Yugi could not win against her. He could not hold a flame to her in this state. He didn't have half the speed she did. He hadn't tapped into the smallest bit of his own potential. He could run on anger if he chose to, but she didn't have to harness that energy as he did.

Yugi would run out of steam.

Yubel would kill him for it.

"We're training every chance we get," Yugi snapped now. He was looking at him, blue-violet eyes burning. "I don't care who gets too tired to keep going. They'll get picked off when the real fighting begins."

Yami blinked, horrified. "Yugi…"

"If they can't keep up, they're already dead." Yugi shot him a furious look, then turned to Jonouchi and Honda with cold eyes. "You two can start teaching me tonight. I'm useless in this form. I can fight as a wolf, but not a human. You'll help me figure this out. And then we'll practice at the camp until there is only one person left standing if we have to. I'm done with her picking us off like we're all pieces of cattle."