A/N: Yes! New chapter! Hehehe… Well, I've been rather disappointed with the number of reviews, but thanks to the new hit counter it looks as though people have at least been clicking on it. Much thanks to everyone who actually did review (which as of now is a grand total of two people) on the last chapter, I appreciate it very much.

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh is not mine, I don't make any money from this, I'm a pathetic writer that likes to entertain fantasies of young boys falling in love, blah blah blah, you get the idea.

In Memories Forgotten

Chapter 4

Yugi reclined on one of the dusty sofas, reading a book that he had found in Yami's extensive library. Or, trying to read. His eyes kept moving away from the pages and towards the stairwell that led to the east turret. Yugi had learned to be obedient from living with his father, but that had never managed to stifle his curiosity. He wondered what made it so different from the rest of the house and why it was so important to Yami that it be kept a secret.

Speaking of secretive, Yugi had rarely even seen Yami in the week that he had been there, and Yugi had actually found that he was rather disappointed at not seeing him very often. He was grateful to Yami, and wanted the dark creature to like him. Yugi wondered if Yami was avoiding him since Yugi had asked all those questions about him being a nightwalker. Yugi hadn't meant to be intrusive; he was just curious, and now that Yami was never around the east turret had caught his attention.

The young human was beginning to fear that he had picked a rather uninteresting book on purpose, allowing his mind to wander freely with speculations about the mysterious tower. Of course, he could have just stayed in the library to read instead of coming to the one sitting room in the entire house that contained the stairs leading to the turret, but that was beside the point.

Shifting his position again, Yugi tried without success to concentrate on his book. Finally, deciding that all his efforts were in vain, Yugi stood and went to peer up the stairwell. It was a spiral staircase, so he couldn't see very far up. His curiosity grew; what secret was Yami hiding in that dark tower? Almost unconsciously, Yugi climbed up one, two, three steps, eager to learn what the turret hid within its walls. He stopped himself suddenly as a thought occurred to him. Even though not knowing what was in the east turret was driving him crazy, going up there would put the home he had found with Yami in jeopardy, and that was the last thing Yugi wanted.

As Yugi stood on the stairs thinking, he failed to notice several pairs of eyes from under the sofa, watching him. They blinked a few times, seemed to converse with each other, then suddenly disappeared. Yugi managed to overcome his curiosity, deciding that it wasn't worth it, and stepped back down to the sitting room. Suddenly he yelped in surprise. Yami stood there, arms crossed, his intense eyes piercing right through Yugi's flesh.

"I specifically told you not to go up there," Yami said icily.

"I… I didn't! I wasn't! I… uh…" Yugi tried to formulate a coherent response, but Yami's hard eyes watching him were making him extremely nervous. Yami suddenly grabbed Yugi's arm, and in a mere second they were suddenly in Yugi's room. Yami dragged Yugi over to the bed and sat him down on it firmly.

"Since you chose to disobey my orders, you're going to be punished." Yami turned, left the room, and the door shut and locked behind him. Yugi only sat there in shock for a few moments, and then he stood and ran to the door. He pulled and pushed and pulled at it, but the doorknob wouldn't turn and the door wouldn't budge. He looked around for the kegawa, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Yugi sank to his knees. He couldn't believe that this was happening. He thought that he had finally escaped from his father's world, that he was finally free. But now…

Despair formed a thick knot deep in Yugi's stomach. The fear was back, that deep-rooted fear of being trapped behind locked doors that stole his breath and shattered his sanity. He curled up against the door, no longer seeing the room that was before him. He saw the tiny attic room of his old house, with a small cot and a crude table and chair his only furniture. He could pound on the heavy wooden door until his hands bled or pull at the bars on the window until he collapsed in exhaustion, but he would never be able to escape.

Yami sat staring out the open window of the east turret, looking out over the night-bathed forest. He couldn't get the terrified look on Yugi's face out of his head. Yami had figured that he was being lenient with Yugi, as Yugi had disobeyed his orders and Yami could do a lot worse than lock Yugi in her room for a day or so. And what did he care, anyway? What did the girl's well being mean to him?

Yami knew that was a stupid question as soon as it passed through his mind. He was the one that had rescued the girl from the forest and given her a place to stay and food to eat. Of course he cared. What he couldn't figure out was why he cared.

Suddenly Yami silenced his thoughts. A frightened cry rang through the house. Knowing there was only one source, Yami closed his eyes and focused on Yugi's room. The image appeared in his mind, and he saw that Yugi was curled up in a ball beside the bedroom door. She appeared to be asleep.

Another cry sounded, and Yami saw that Yugi was crying out in her sleep. She must be having a nightmare, Yami thought. Yugi whimpered softly, curling up tighter, then she suddenly flung her hands up in front of her face, as if trying to protect herself from something.

"Let me out!" she screamed. "Let me out!" Yugi was so frightened that tears were beginning to course down her cheeks. Yami hadn't intended for the punishment to be this painful for Yugi, and in seconds he was in Yugi's room trying to shake the human awake.

Yugi sat up abruptly, her eyes wide and her body shaking. She cried out when she saw Yami, scampering backwards until she hit the door and could go no further. She put her arms up in defense, shutting her eyes tightly as if preparing for an attack. A few sobs escaped her lips as she sat there quivering with fear.

Yami blinked, feeling utterly confused. What was she so afraid of? He hadn't hurt her, he had just locked her in her room for a little while… Yami's brow creased in a puzzled frown as he noticed something. The shoulder of Yugi's dress had slipped down her arm, and since it had been big on Yugi in the first place, a good portion of her upper chest was exposed. Yami was quite sure that Yugi was of age to be a well-developed female, but the chest area was flat…

The human flinched as he heard Yami come closer, trembling with fear. Finally working up the courage to look up, Yugi saw Yami looking at him with a frown. Yugi blinked, and glanced down at himself. It was only then that he noticed that the dress had slipped down. Yugi snatched the fabric back over his chest and tried to scoot away from Yami, but there was nowhere to go.

"You're a male?" Yami asked after several moments of silence, his usually expressionless face betraying a hint of confusion. Yugi looked away, shame infusing his face with red.

"Yes…" he said quietly, trying to calm himself down. Still sniffling a bit, he wiped some of the tears from his face, then took a deep, shuddering breath.

"I… I know this looks strange… but I can explain…" he said, trying to regain his composure. "M-My mother died giving birth to me, and my father never got over it. He had really wanted a girl, and he refused to remarry, so…" Yugi swallowed, nervous under Yami's gaze. "… he made me his daughter. The only reason I have a boy's name is because my mother requested that my name would be Yugi, and Father would never disrespect her wishes."

Yugi twisted the hem of his dress between his fingers as he talked. "I tried to do everything that he wanted me to, but there was always something that I did wrong. He'd beat me whenever I did something he didn't like, and if he was really angry, he'd lock me in my room. Sometimes it was only a day, and sometimes it was for weeks."

A sad smile crept onto Yugi's face. "I only survived because of Father's maid, Mai. She brought me food when I was locked in, and sometimes books so that I would have something to do. She would tell me about my mother sometimes when Father was out…" Yugi stopped, lost in memory for a moment.

"If he kept such a tight watch over you, how did you end up in the forest?" Yami asked. Yugi looked up suddenly, surprised. He hadn't thought that Yami was really listening.

"I… I never did explain that, did I? Well, I was walking home from school, and I always take the back streets instead of the main street to avoid the crowds. There are these three boys at school that have always picked on me, and when there was no one else around they grabbed me from behind. They gagged me and dragged me to the forest. They tied my hands behind my back and blindfolded me, pushing me around and laughing whenever I fell."

Yugi hugged himself, suddenly cold. "Then they tied me to that tree and practiced throwing rocks at me. Lucky for me, they didn't have very good aim. It was starting to get dark by then, and they were daring each other to go farther into the forest. Then, they heard some noise in the bushes and they got scared and ran off, leaving me there."

The human stared down at his hands, more tears beginning to fall. "I… I sort of thought that here, it would be… I don't know… different. So, when you locked the door, I panicked… a little."

Yugi jumped as Yami took his chin and tilted his head up. Yugi looked back at the dark creature with tear-filled eyes.

"I apologize for causing you so much distress," Yami said quietly. He raised a hand, and there was a click as the door unlocked, then he said decisively, "I promise that I will not lock you in here for so long as your father did, but I will punish you if you ever try to enter the east turret again. Do you understand?"

Yugi nodded, and Yami seemed satisfied. "Since you seem to have had punishment enough, I'll let you off. But don't disobey me again." With that, Yami stood and left the room. Yugi waited a few moments, then let out a relieved sigh. The despair had been lifted. He smiled to himself, his hope returning to him. Yami wasn't angry that Yugi had been hiding his gender from him; in fact, he had even apologized for the punishment!

Standing up shakily and making his way to the bed, Yugi realized that his debt to Yami had suddenly doubled. First Yami had given him a home, and now he had given him freedom. Even though it was not obvious at first, Yugi believed that Yami had a kind heart. His smile widened as an ironic thought entered his head. The people in his village had always talked of the evils that lurked in the forest, and yet Yami, a nightwalker, was the only one that had ever shown Yugi kindness (with the possible exception of Mai). How very odd that people could be so prejudiced against Yami without even really knowing him.

/But I know him/ Yugi thought as he fell in to bed, emotionally drained. /I know that he's good. I know better than all of them/ And with that thought, Yugi fell asleep.

A/N: Whew! Finally done with that one. They're starting to fall for each other! -dances- By the way, I'm interested to hear your theories on what would be the best way to kill Yugi's father. Roast him on a spit? Throw him off a cliff? Behead him with a spork? All three? Be creative, I like to hear ways to kill characters that I hate. -evil laugh- REVIEW LIKE MAD, YE READERS!