A/N

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DARK PASSIONS

Ch 8: The Way It Is

Yami sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time, and continued to stare out into the sea of blinking, colorful lights of the city. Underneath him, the cold stone of the park wall felt uncomfortable, and he shifted again. From this perspective, the teeming mass that was the city almost looked alive. Sounds drifted with the wind and rushed past him; his ears were assaulted by the voices of those enjoying themselves, and he was reminded once again of what he'd been trying to escape for the past hour.

Who knew things would spiral so far out of control? He'd never meant to be dragged in so suddenly with that human, that Da'sara who was a lot more than he seemed. It's not like he was asking for all these problems that made his head spin; if anything, he wanted them fixed and out of his life.

Yami growled; this pathetic merry-go-round of the same thoughts running around in his head was beginning to grate on his last nerves. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so caught unawares and out of control. With a fluid motion, he swung off his perch and into the tangled wilderness that was the untamed park of Domino City.

'At least this city is good for something', he thought with satisfaction as he knocked aside yet another branch the size of his middle, with a casual flick of his hand. It was the perfect place to get rid of the pent up frustrations he was feeling very acutely at the moment.

A groan echoed quietly through the misty gloom surrounding the park, as Yami viciously elbowed a tree out of his way and left a large dent in its middle, as well as bending the trunk until it was almost diagonal. He paused for a moment, regarding the unnatural break in the peacefulness of the park that he was envying so much.

And quite suddenly, all the fight went out of him, and he flopped down onto the cool, slightly damp grass near one of the paths. This just was not his day, or his week, for that matter. Hell, it wasn't his century either, if he were to go that far. The sounds of a scuffle reached his ears as he was contemplating doing something he'd regret later, like going to see Bakura, and Yami stood back up, slowly.

An almost predatory grin crossed his face as he made out the humans moving toward him. Apparently, this group was in need of entertainment, almost as much as he was, and Yami knew prey when he saw it. No more than a couple of steps apart, the mist that had been serving as a flimsy screen suddenly parted and the three humans blinked owlishly as they caught sight of Yami. Just as quickly, an answering glint lit their eyes, and one even had the audacity to lick his lips, as they closed in on their supposed helpless prey.

For Yami could look truly inconspicuous when he wanted to, and leaning back against the tree right then, with arms crossed and one leg propped up against the trunk, he looked the part.

"Hey there, buddy," One of the humans called, and to Yami's irritation, that voice grated in his ears.

"Fine night, ain't it?" Another chipped in, while the third just let out a loud snicker and elbowed the second in the side.

Yami sighed and closed his eyes. No matter what he did, things just wouldn't go his way. Even his prey was worthless; what self respecting vampire attacked something that looked like one stray blow from the wind would be enough to finish them? Shaking his head, he opened his eyes and turned to stare up at the sky. He wouldn't bother with these morons; their stupidity would be a much more fitting end.

Spinning on his heel, Yami began walking away, not even deigning to answer the humans, and leaving them gapping in his wake. After a moment, one of them gathered his brains. "W-where do you think you're going?" he shouted after the vampire.

Still getting no response, the three turned to one another, and shrugged their shoulders.

The next second, Yami wasn't surprised to feel a heavy hand land on his shoulder; he'd sensed it with his enhanced vampiric senses. He really didn't want to pursue anything with these exact mortals tonight, but if they were going to be persistent...A lesson was in order.

Yuugi felt sluggish. It wasn't that he was moving so slowly as to be mistaken for one, but his mind had become so weighed down with all of its weary thoughts that he'd just shut everything off, with the result of his limbs becoming limp and unresponding.

Not that he minded, in any case. For once, Yuugi was enjoying the peace he'd been seeking for the past couple of days, ever since meeting that blasted vampire. Not that he could remember any of that at the moment; he was simply floating somewhere in a sense of weightlessness, his thought process almost non-existent. '...Wazza Vampire?'

But as bliss is only attainable for very limited amounts of time, inevitably, Yuugi could already feel awareness returning to his mind. He could feel the gradual sense of alertness coming awake in every one of his limbs, and in a last attempt to stave off full awareness; he traced this coming to of his limbs with an absurd absorption.

From his toes, the sensation of feeling traveled up his legs, and while some of it pooled in his stomach, the rest continued to make its way of spine, pleasantly tingling along the way. Almost apologetically, he felt awareness return to the sensitive skin of his chest and neck, until only his head was left unaffected, as if it were rising above water. With a sigh, he felt the imaginary water slowly rise and suddenly, he could once again feel the misty air brushing over his cheeks and getting caught on his eyelids, leaving wet trails down the sides of his face that disappearing into his hair.

The last thing that came back to him was his hearing. As if a balloon had been suddenly popped, Yuugi felt the return of the reassuring night sounds of the park around him. The thicket that hid him from view of the park's path was gently swaying in the breeze, and overhead, the mist was starting to settle, leaving a sense of cleanliness in its wake.

With a grunt, Yuugi propped himself up on his elbows, and let out the memories he'd been trying to hold back. Images of what he'd done since leaving the club flashed through his mind; his eyelids flickered under the speed with which he recounted everything: how he'd run nonstop for what had seemed like hours until all feeling had gone from his limbs, and his breath only came in gasps. How he'd stopped caring where he was as long as it was away from where he'd been.

Eventually, he'd made it here to this spot, in the one place he felt more safe than at home; there was just something about this park that spoke to him, and called him back from the vast towers of concrete in the city. Which is why he found himself in this light daze, lying in the middle of a damp clearing surrounded by his favorite plants, and battling the conflicting emotions he felt.

'Wait', something didn't fit in with the rest of the little sounds Yuugi was used to hearing so late at night. They almost sounded like, 'Voices?'

Yes, now that he'd caught the sound, it was clearer to discern between them and everything else. Curiosity was what drove him to his feet, and before he knew what he was doing, Yuugi had stepped through the bushes and onto the path.

He blinked in the sudden absence of greenery around him, and shuffled a step forward until he felt the solid path beneath him. Yuugi's vision came back a second later, and he froze as he took in the sight before him.

Yami- Yami- was just walking away from where he'd been leaning against a tree, and three other people, street punks from the look of it, were closing in on him on all sides. A sudden, almost painful panic overtook Yuugi right then, and he just stopped thinking. He dived forward.

What happened next, Yuugi would swear was just an accident, and at least for a little while, he would think it a one-time incident. But Yami would testify otherwise.

'Bright...So bright,' Yami could have sworn that his eyes had just been burnt off and there was no hope of regrowing them this time, had he not seen this but once before. 'What? Who's causing this?'

Forcing his eyes open against the bright, white light he was enveloped in, Yami brought down a shield over his eyes; thanks to his vampiric side, this was the equivalent of putting on sunglasses. Narrowing his eyes even further against the light that still penetrated his shield, Yami searched the space around him for the source.

'There,' without a second thought, he dived, desperate for a way to turn off the all-consuming light. Yami closed his eyes again as he neared an even brighter and whiter light, if that was possible. His fingers brushed against something that felt strangely familiar. 'What?' He caught it and brought his other hand up to grab it, too.

As if time had been fast-forwarded for the next moment, Yami could only remember landing on the damp grass with something- no, someone- in his arms.

No words could express the shock Yami felt upon seeing that who he had in his hold was none other than the human who'd been tormenting his every thought ever since he'd met him. 'Yuugi...'

Then, he remembered the thugs from earlier. Yami's hunter's gaze scanned the immediate area, already positioning his body to be ready to attack should the other humans decide to pursue him. But...They were gone. No sign, no trace, nothing was left to show that they'd even been in the park. As Yami continued to look around, his mind worked frantically to put a name and past to what he'd just witnessed.

And with a painful gasp, he realized what it was. But as he felt Yuugi stir beneath him, his eyes traveled downwards once again, and settled on the human's face, all other thoughts forgotten.

The vampire watched as Yuugi's eyes fluttered open and focused up on the being looking down on him. And then...

"Aw, hell no!" With a quick upward thrust, Yuugi caught Yami off guard and pushed the vampire off. No, the poor vampire was currently trying to process why anyone would not want to see him, let alone tell him that.

Of course, Bakura always balked at seeing him (and Yami returned the feeling), but they never reacted so violently to each other's presence. Nor would Seto let his emotions take such a hold over his actions; far be it for the CEO to become even slightly flustered. Come to think of it, not one of the vampires he did or did not know would have the audacity to openly express disgust, or whatever it was the human was feeling- especially over him.

Where did this human get off? Yami opened his mouth in indignation, all pretenses of being superior forgotten. "Excuse me? What do you mean 'Hell no'?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Yuugi replied as he jumped to his feet and brushed off his pants. "We'll have no more of this. I did not come here to be followed by you."

And with that, Yuugi set off determinedly down the path toward the exit, his fists clenched self-consciously at his sides.

No one, not one being- be it human, vampire, or otherwise- had ever gotten away with anything even half of what Yuugi had just done, and Yami just wasn't going to stand for it.

He jumped up as well, and ran after Yuugi, fully intent on making Yuugi eat those words...Why was it so hard to say his name and a not-exactly-nice thought in the same sentence? Yami shook his head and sprinted the last few feet to the human, who was determinedly trying to ignore him; it wasn't working.

"Followed? By me? Followed? Just what are you talking about?" Yami was almost at his rope's end, and he didn't even know what had gotten him started. All he did know was that having this human not like him rubbed him the wrong way.

"Leave me alone," was the terse reply the vampire got, and he just wasn't happy with it. Then, a thought struck him, and he grinned slyly.

"Don't you want to know more about what just happened? Hmmm?" Yuugi stopped short; he knew he was being baited, but he didn't care. He just wanted the questions going round in his head to stop, and if this infuriating vampire could answer even some of them...Well, that was all the better.

"Well?" The vampire taunted, his arms crossed over his chest, and a smirk on his face.

"Tell me."

It was a command, the most recent one of many in just the last ten minutes. Yami barely held back a growl; this still wasn't going his way. What was with the world today that it couldn't give him a break, even a tiny one?

So, the vampire replied with a command of his own, "Sit."

Yuugi raised an eyebrow, and crossed his own arms. "I'm not just going to assume you don't want anything in return."

'Damnit,' Yami narrowed his eyes. "And what makes you say that?"

"The fact that you're tapping your foot impatiently, and not five minutes ago, you were falling all over yourself to get me to stay."

"Damn," Yami muttered, before what Yuugi had said registered. "I did nothing of the sort! You take that back!"

"So, those are your demands, then?" Yuugi grinned as the vampire realized he'd been out-worded. For the first time in his life. 'Ra? Why do you hate me?'

After a couple more minutes of silence between the two as Yami thought everything over, the vampire ran a hand through his hair and turned his gaze back on Yuugi. "If I tell you what you want to know, will you tell me why you- tell me something in return?"

Yuugi only replied with a sigh and surrendered, plopping down on the nearest bench and watched as Yami took a place next to him, as graceful as a cat. Yuugi scowled.

Yami sent him a look and coughed quietly, "This might take a while."

"Tell me," Yuugi pressed. Why did things like this always happen to him? He could already feel the beginnings of panic set in, a building pressure in the front of his mind. Why couldn't he just be normal? He snorted, 'Normal? Since when have I ever been normal?'

'I don't know. When have you?'

Yuugi let out an involuntary shriek and was about to fall backwards off the bench, when Yami caught him at the last second and pulled him back up.

"You...You...How dare you?" Yuugi was livid. It wasn't panic that he had felt; it was the vampire slipping through his natural mind barrier. "What gives you the right to go swirling about in my brain?"

Yami looked taken aback. "Well, you got so quiet all of a sudden and...I was curious."

He finished with a shrug; he'd had just taken the lack of resistance as acquiescence. How was he supposed to know the human would get so touchy about it? "What's the problem? Vampires did it all the time as a kind of greeting, exchanging information which replaces the need for small talk and long, drawn-out stories. And believe me, when some ancient geezer feels like sharing his life story, this sure comes in handy."

Yuugi just stared. Yami honestly did not know what he'd been doing, did he? 'Ye gods...Hello?' Yuugi called out into his mind, checking to make sure that the vampire really was gone. "Hel-lo?"

'Yes?'

Yuugi let out yet another shriek. "What do you mean 'yes'? What are you still doing in my mind?"

The vampire blinked, "I wasn't! You pulled me in when you called me!"

"I did no such thing!" Yuugi was almost hysterical now. "Get out, and stay out!"

He jumped off the bench and whirled around in search of the exit. What he didn't take into account was his momentum, which carried him full-circle and deposited him right in Yami's lap. Both human and vampire blinked.

Then...

"Let go! I said, let go!" Yuugi began struggling against the vampire's grip, who had a tight hold around the human's waist and was leaning back and away from Yuugi's flailing limbs. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Oh no, not until I've had my say," Yami suddenly brought his face close to Yuugi's, and lowered his voice to a hissing whisper. "What makes you think that you can act the way you do towards me? What makes you think that you can get away with disrespecting me this way? I am the prince of the Underworld; I rule that which is superior to you in every way. So tell me," He leaned back, "What would you, the most frail and helpless Da'sara I've seen yet, be doing with the power of Eclipse?"

Yuugi stopped moving. "Is that what it is?" He narrowed his eyes, "Why couldn't you have just told me that before?"

"Because you wouldn't let me!" He unconsciously tightened his hold on Yuugi. "You are so infuriating. I have no idea why I haven't killed you yet!"

Yami had intended this to be a threat of sorts, something to remind this human that he was on thin ice. Instead, Yuugi took this as in insult, so much so, that his own anger rose in challenge.

"I'm not the one who keeps popping into other people's mind periodically to say hello."

"I told you: it wasn't my fault!" Something sparked and connected in his mind. 'He came from that thicket earlier...'

"You, little human, were the one moping around in the bushes before. What, did you think the plants would lend a sympathetic ear?"

Yuugi's mouth dropped open in shock and indignation. "What I was doing is none of your business! Do you hear me?"

But he got no response. Yami just leaned back and fell silent, his mind churning. He just couldn't believe it: Here he was, fighting with a human...And he was actually enjoying it. Not that the same could be said for Yuugi; he had twisted his head to the side, hampered by the vampire's grip as he was, and was currently pouting at the sakura tree across the path.

Yami could barely suppress the chuckle working its way up his throat; Yuugi looked the picture of the little boy who'd not gotten his candy.

"Hey you, Yami. You pondering the meaning of life?"

Yami winced slightly; Yuugi's mouth sure wasn't small, or even innocent, for that matter. 'I swear, the only other person half as loud was Jou...And he hasn't been around for about two hundred years now.'

And with that thought, any slight joy he'd been feeling disappeared as he remembered Seto's time withstanding grief and the reason for it.

'Jou...' The love that had existed between Seto and Jou had been so full of passion, full of joy, full of life...The romance that had developed between those two vampires had become legend in the underworld they lived in, a legend that lived on even now, several hundred years past.

No one could possibly fathom the pain that Seto had experienced when Jou had suddenly died an unnatural death, save for Seto himself. And it hadn't just affected him; the farthest reaches of the underground network had faltered when news had reached them of his passing away. 'He was so kind...He was so good to us all.'

Jou's death was the cause of Seto closing off his emotions now; the scars over his heart just went too deep for anything else. A memory floated through Yami's mind and he couldn't help the shudder that went across his shoulders.

The one time that Seto had opened himself long enough to talk about his past lover, he'd said that being so close to Jou had been like staring into the sun: "You know it's going to hurt you sooner or later, but you'd rather keep looking and reaching for it, just one more second, because it's so beautiful..."

"Come on," Yami stood up, Yuugi still in his arms. His expression was unreadable. "I'll take you home."

Yuugi nodded silently. He understood now was not the time for confrontations, not with Yami's defenses so weak. Something was affecting him, some memory. And Yuugi was surprised to find that he wanted to know what it was...And stop the hurt he could see so plainly on Yami's face.

Special thankies to JK Fie'r for beta-ing this chapter