A/N

Notes: You people really like your vampire fics, don't you? Hmm, maybe it's because Yami and Yuugi make the cutest vampire couple!..Actually they make the cutest anything couple, so it fits any way you look at it. :shrugs: Works for me!

Note2: Anyone wanna be my beta? My old one is retiring (Haha, I'd like to think she's been scared away by my horrible writing...But alas, it wasn't meant to be so.) and I need a new one. So, if you're interesting, give me a shout out and I'll check your stuff out! You know, see if we're compatible or whatever : )

Note3: You guys know how much your reviews affect me? A LOT. I was planning on putting this on the backburner for a while (Please don't hurt me!) but then I saw how many people wanted to know what was going on in Yami and Yuugi's world...And I couldn't resist taking a peek myself! So here ya go, next chapter all spiffy lookin' and ready to be reviewed!

DARK PASSIONS

Ch 3 Argh

Yuugi had officially lost his mind. He had jumped off the deep end, lost his marbles, tied himself up in a knot, D: All of the above. Whatever you wanted to call it, he was the living, breathing example.

After being left in the middle of the street in the early hours of the morning, Yuugi had managed to gather his wits and try to find his sense of direction. What greeted him was a maze of twisting, turning, completely incomprehensible streets and alleys that led to absolutely nowhere or rounded back on themselves. It didn't help that Yuugi's mind wasn't all on this task, either.

Spring cleaning had come early for his brain, is it proceeded to turn the events of the past night over and over and thrust a frustrating question in, every moment or two. He was in complete confusion, his mind in constant turmoil; His feet were taking him round and round the city when he couldn't even see the ground three feet in front of him, so confused was he.

And the constant invisible corners and ruts in the ground he was smacking into and tripping over, weren't helping any. They only served to make his frustration grow. He ran two slightly shaking hands through his thick, long hair and sighed longingly for his warm bed and shower.

Yuugi's stomach growled; apparently, he was missing his fridge as well. His shoulders slumped and he leaned against the nearest wall, which turned out to be the crumbling corner of some nightclub, music still pounding under the ground and running up his feet.

He was confused; so, so confused. How had all this come about anyway? What were vampires? And why was the one who had taken him, acting so strange?

Yuugi didn't need this, he really didn't. He didn't want to have his mind filled with unanswered questions that would taunt and torture him until he went insane, he didn't need to turn paranoid after just one encounter with a devilish being, and he most certainly didn't need to have said vampire, filling his thoughts.

What would it take for him to completely forget this past night? Yuugi's eyes widened suddenly in hope, quickly coming up with plausable explanations. Maybe he'd just met a man wearing a vampire costume? But that didn't explain the 'blood-sucking thing. So maybe he'd been drunk and dreamt the whole thing up? Yuugi searched desperately for something to cling to, some shred of plausability.

Why didn't he want to believe that, though? Why did his mind persevere in believing that he'd just met a real, live, modern-day vampire? Of course, the circumstances had been strange, and maybe they hadn't met so much as the vampire had fed on him...But still, something had happened back there, and Yuugi's mind refused to give it all up as imagination, or whatever else he was trying to come up with.

Quite suddenly, a growl escaped between his tightly clenched teeth. Dream or not, he was still lost, in an unfamiliar city and with the receeding moon, his only company.

"Where the hell am I?" His frustrated voice echoed into the silence. Then, he abruptly sneezed.

This stunk. Alot.

A amused chuckle sounded from the shadows overhead, sending shivers down Yuugi's back. Before he could do anything, a dark form swooped down and grabbed him around the waist before flitting back up.

Oh no, not again, Yuugi's mind screamed as he was carried off. He'd just gotten over his last attempted kidnapping!

Ra, he pleaded, Why do you hate me? What did I do to deserve this punishment? Why must--

He was cut off abruptly as he realized that the strong, tan arms holding him where attached to strong, slim shoulders, which connected to a slender neck, and a chin...And once again, Yuugi found himself staring into deep, amthyst eyes that reflected his surprise.

X - Time lapse: Earlier same night - X

What was he doing? Yami berated himself even as he continued flitting through the city, on his way back to the forest where he had met this remarkable human, to drop him off and be rid of him, permanently. Still, not a word had been exchanged between them this entire time. Neither knew why, but they were certain that some spell or illusion would be broken if they allowed words to break into the reality that they had going.

After leaving one of the precious Da'sara on that street, Yami had used his vampiric speed to carry him away between the tall buildings and skim over the rooftops. He had allowed his mind to wander freely for once, and ironically, he couldn't focus on a single thought. All that kept coming back to him was this human, and his remarkable eyes.

Once again, some subconscious instinct called to him, trying to assume control of his mind and body. Yami didn't know what to do, he'd never had this kind of experience, in all of his five-thousand-year lifetime. What was a vampire to do, in this kind of situation?

So, the lord did an unheard-of thing; he lost control of himself and just let his body do what it willed.

An overwhelming desire to confront his thoughts, mainly the human on his mind, suddenly took over. Yami almost halted his progress to take it in, but the feeling passed after a moment. Now why would he want to see some lowly human?

He almost growled in frustration, but nevertheless, let this insanity take hold. And almost feverishly, he began searching the streets below for the blasted human that was doing this to him.

It came as an even bigger shock when he realized that he hadn't even bothered to take in the appearance of said human. Yami had been so astonished to find such a unique human that he hadn't even had time to take in everything else.

He mentally cursed himself again for being so absent-minded. To think, the great and powerful vampire lord, brought down by the sweet blood of a single human.

What a disgrace.

Yami sighed in defeat. Whatever the damage would be after this night, Yami needed to see that man, with that striking resemblence and unusual hidden strength.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when something shuffled below him and halted with a loud thump, Yami picking it up with his heightened senses. Another specialized sense, told him in the back of his mind, that the human was near, his blood trail shining in his mind's eye.

Upon landing on the fire escape of the nearest building, Yami was about to step into the streetlamp light when he heard a growl. Was that...? Oh Ra, it was! It was that strange human from before, and he was growling.

Yami poked a finger into his ears, trying to clear them. Was he hearing things? He glanced around, vaguely hoping someone would jump out from the shadows and explain everything. He scowled, only half-mockingly, when no one showed up.

Nevertheless, he moved closer to try to hear what the human was saying. Curiousity seemed to be gnawing at his very mind, if how distracted he was proved anything.

Where the hell am I?' Drifted up to his perch, followed by an unexpected sneeze, and this time, Yami couldn't hold back a chuckle. So his human wasn't mute after all! And here he was, wondering if the delicate human had a backbone at all.

Then, the curiousity that had been previous plaguing him redoubled its efforts and suddenly, Yami found himself dropping down to the ground and picking up the surprised human before going off again.

Supressing an urge to roll his eyes at his most recent brainless scheme, something the lord hadn't done in nearly a century, Yami wondered what he was going to do now. What to do with this human?

Ah, a thought suddenly came to him, I'll just drop him off where I found him. After all, I certainly can't finish feeding from him tonight. I don't know what the affects will be!

A slight panic crossed him as he thought about what else the human could be capable of, but then it disappated as Yami's reasoning told him that if that were true, it would have happened already.

X

Yuugi had eventually realized that it was the vampire from earlier carrying him, and so had reasonable calmed down by now. After waiting for a couple of tense minutes, for the demonic being to attack or do something dangerous, Yuugi had determined that the was not in immediate danger and so had relaxed into a more comfortable postition over his shoulder.

After another couple of minutes, Yuugi was about ready to curse his upbringing as his bouncy self asserted itself and he found himself beginning to step over the bounds of unfamiliarity and wondering if he could actually talk to the vampire.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Yuugi knew a voice was screaming at him and wondering if he had gone insane, while he also knew that a different part of his mind was yelling back, 'been there, done that'. And then, Yuugi wondered if he was even thinking coherently if parts of his mind were arguing with each other.

But throwing caution and everything else to the wind, Yuugi suddenly raised his hand and pounded down on the back he was facing.

"Oi!" Yuugi called and was half-amused when the vampire gave a shrug, shifting him, and visibly perked his ears up. "Since you keep carrying me off and leaving me in these weird situations, would you be so kind as to 'leave me' near my apartment?"

Yuugi had been only half-joking, and so was pleasantly surprised to find the vampire nod once before narrowing his eyes in concentration.

Uh oh, Yuugi had forgotten to ask if the vampire needed to be told, or if he could find out using...Other means. Immediately, all the myths and stories and books that Yuugi had read about vampires poured into his mind and his eyes widened. But, his question was answered for him.

Soft, tentative touches glided across somewhere in his mind, and Yuugi correctly assumed it was the vampire behind the hidden power. For Yuugi could feel the heavy restraint and force that was gentling the contact between them.

After a quick decision in that 'A means to get home is better than walking through that damn forest again', Yuugi slowly lowered his guard, which had sprung up unconsciously, and allowed the vampire in.

And Yuugi was further surprised to realize that the other being was still gentle in his prodding, as he sifted through Yuugi's knowledge and searched for the information about his residence.

A moment later, they were flitting between the shadows again, the vampire once more confident in his path to their destination.

X

It took not ten minutes before both vampire and human arrived in front of a small apartment complex. It was quiet and friendly, even at this time of night and Yami had to swallow back his brief envy over the seemingly calm life that this human led. What he wouldn't give to have the same.

Yuugi had apparently been almost lulled to sleep, judging by his swaying, with the rhythmic thump of the vampire's feet as they hit the ground. Not that anyone could blame him, it had become extremely late.

Setting the human on the feet, the vampire proceeded to follow him as he led to the wall through a couple of twists and turns through the complex and arrived at the door, the same one that Yami had seem in his mind.

Finally, Yami broke the silence. "Yuugi..." His voice was almost inaudible, but Yuugi turned just the same and stared back at the vampire, his brow furrowed.

"How do you know...?" He trailed off as he remembered when the vampire had entered his mind. So, the vampire had gotten more information that just his address, was it? Something inside Yuugi stirred indignantly at that thought but he pushed it away for now.

Yami smirked, for an instant feeling some of that old control return to him before Yuugi asked the question: "What's your name? Because I don't think I can keep referring to you as 'it' or 'the...vampire'."

Yuugi's voice stumbled over on the last word, some doubt remaining as to whether this man was actually a blood-sucking creature. But then he grinned, two, pointy fangs glinted in the moonlight, and Yuugi's doubts were laid to rest.

"Just call me," The vampire's voice was smooth and deep, just as Yuugi thought it would be. "Yami," He breathed his name and before Yuugi could form a reaction, or even a response, Yami was gone. Flickered out in the night.

The last thought, from both of them, was, What a night, before all coherency was washed away.