Yami's first instinct was to disappear. Yugi's lips were pressed to his, soft and stolen, making every part of his brain short out.

So Yami wasn't thinking at all when his entire form disappeared into the floor of the soul room like the phantom he was.

Yugi stumbled forward crying out in surprise, arms flailing to keep balance. Instinctively he grabbed for the support of the spirit that wasn't in front of him anymore.

Nothing was before him.

Yami had vanished.

Yugi had kissed him on a stupid idiotic whim…and Yami poofed.

Ugly regret and shame curled viciously in Yugi's gut, tears stinging hotly in the corners of his eyes. His throat became so tight he couldn't even swallow and the sudden savage pain in his chest felt like someone had taken hold of his heart and twisted.

Why the heck did I-

Something materialized behind Yugi, casting a shadow. It seized his shoulders and whirled him around. He barely had time to squeak before a mouth closed over his own.

Yami's hands moved to cup Yugi's jaw sending him reeling. The sick feeling from before melted away. Lips moved against his own, hard and desperate, nothing like the chaste kiss Yugi had given him before.

Yugi forgot how to breathe.

His stomach flipped and he took a step back to steady himself, hands reaching up to take hold of Yami's wrists. Yami matched his step, moving with Yugi.

An oddly pleased sigh escaped him, caught against Yami's wanting mouth. Those bruising lips swallowing the noise.

Yugi took another step, and felt his calve strike the edge of the bed. Once again Yami matched his step, not breaking the kiss, closing in until both Yugi's calves touched the bed. Thumb's brushed over Yugi's cheekbones, and he peeked through lidded eyes to see Yami's crimson eyes flutter open.

His stomach did another flip that left him feeling lightheaded. Those eyes were as beautiful as they were piercing. And right now they sought some sort of affirmation from Yugi.

Their lips parted, but Yami didn't move away. The tip of their noses still brushed and fast shallow breaths fanned Yugi's chin.

Both of them appeared at a loss for words. Chests rising and falling, eyes searching, grip softening one moment, only to tighten the next.

It was a strange thing, the sensation of touch in the soul rooms. It felt almost dream-like. As if reality was shifted just a little to the left. It wasn't unpleasant, but not something Yugi was accustomed to either.

Yugi was still vaguely aware that there was a bed behind him. Ideas cascaded through his mind faster than the frames of a film reel. He could feel his own heart thundering in his chest, the sound deafening in his ears, and beyond that he could feel Yami. The link between them so open, strong but vulnerable like it had never been before. He saw flashes in his head, stuttering images, fantasies that he almost mistook as his own, if not for the fact that they all looked upon Yugi through Yami's eyes.

Heat seared the tops of his ears and the back of his neck when he caught one brief, flickering imagination.

He was sitting upon the bed, looking upon himself from an angle that implied Yami was kneeling before him. Dark hands reaching out to run over Yugi's thighs, fingers digging into the leather material of his pants.

Yami is fantasizing about me.

He wondered if Yami was getting flashes of his own thoughts, and felt his blush crawl to the tops of his shoulders. Yami would see everything Yugi wanted. And he wanted so much. In all the previous relationships he'd had he'd never wanted anyone so much as he wanted Yami. Wanted Yami to touch him, hold him, kiss him. Wanted to feel that spirit under his skin, in his head and entwined around his soul.

Fuck it.

Yugi released his wrists, reached up, and took two fistfuls of Yami's hair. The crack of pleasure from the sudden grip echoed across the link. Then he dragged him back, until both of them fell on the bed. They were a tangle of legs. Yami landing atop him with an "oof," and a startled expression.

Wide blood-colored eyes stared down at Yugi.

Who tilted his head slightly, eyelids dropping low, he stared back at the spirit with a kittenish smile.

Confused panic flooded the link.

"Is this alright?" Yugi whispered, sobering a little from the hormone high fogging his brain. One of his hands released its hold on Yami's hair to brush the back of the spirit's neck.

Yami groaned and dropped to his elbows, taking Yugi's mouth in another bruising kiss.

Prepared this time, Yugi met the kiss with enthusiasm. It was a little messy and forceful. Yami didn't seem to know what else to do besides press his mouth desperately against Yugi's.

Maybe this is his first time kissing?

Yugi parted his lips, tongue darting out to swipe Yami's bottom lip. If he could just channel all that enthusiasm into a different sort of…

Yami caught on fast. Their tongues met, and then he was tilting his head, deepening the kiss until teeth clicked together a bit unpleasantly.

Yugi dug his fingernails into the back of Yami's neck.

A flood of emotion poured over him. It was love, and panic, and adoration, and yes, and mine, and yes, and please.

-feel, so much, can feel, I feel him, touch me, yes, I can feel this, please, yes, mine-

Impressions of thought and intent and so much want crashed over Yugi through the link.

He couldn't breathe again.

It was so intense it was suffocating. The emotions filled him, reverberated in his head and echoed back across the link in a never ending loop that just seemed to grow fiercer and more impassioned.

No wonder Yami worked so hard to suppress the mind link between them, to shut Yugi out of his emotions. When he felt, he felt fiercely. Incoherent mostly, but so powerful.

He could feel both of them reeling. Lightheaded and drunk.

-Breathe- Yugi said into their link, tightening all his focus to form an actual word.

Yami took a shuddering breath in through his nose, his whole body a part of the action, but didn't break their kiss.

Yugi sighed against his mouth when the overwhelming roar of emotion dimmed to a more reasonable white noise.

He took the opportunity to glide his hands down the spirit's back, fingertips tracing shoulder blades and tensing muscles. He marveled at the definition of those muscles. At a glance Yami appeared so similar to him, but Yugi knew his own body was never this…hard.

Yami sucked Yugi's bottom lip between his teeth and nipped.

Yugi dug his nails into Yami's back on reflex, and the spirit answered his surprised gasp with a full throated growl.

-feel, can feel, yes-

Yugi raked his fingernails down Yami's entire back.

The spirit practically moaned. His deep throated noise sending a shot of pleasure from Yugi's stomach to much lower.

He did it again. This time starting from the the bottom, below the hem of the shirt, and dragging his nails up across bare skin, pushing the shirt up as he went. He wanted to draw out more sounds, wanted to feel the spirit tremble beneath his touch. He wanted to wreck the spirit.

Yami broke the kiss, dropping his head to pant sinfully against Yugi's ear. That breath was hot.

A pleased shiver ran down Yugi's spine.

Something brushed over his left cheek, and he almost assumed it was Yami's bangs except Yami was breathing into his right ear.

Pleasure suddenly tightened into a knot of fright.

Something else slithered over Yugi's hip, beneath his shirt and over his belly. Another something coiled around his ankle, while yet another caressed the line of his neck.

He ripped his hand from under Yami's shirt to snatch at the thing slithering off his throat and over his collarbone.

A void black tentacle entwined itself around and between his fingers.

Yugi stared at it, breathing harsh, brain not quite comprehending the thing in his grasp.

Sensing something amiss, Yami pushed back, fully extending his arms. His concerned eyes darted to the thing against Yugi's cheek, then landed on the wriggling squirming shadow in his hand.

Even with his dark complexion, Yami's brown skin managed to flush three shades darker.

"I-I didn't know they were a feature in here." Yugi looked past his hand to the man above him.

Yami sat back, his weight settling on Yugi's thighs. He cleared his throat and said lowly, "they are a uh…featureeverywhere." He looked embarrassed as he shooed one of the shadow tentacles off Yugi's stomach.

Yugi looked about, and noted the shadows were all around him, crawling out of his and Yami's natural shadows. Every arm and tendril drawn to Yugi like a vining plant reaching for its sun.

"They're tied to your emotions?"

An ashamed nod.

Yugi brought his hand to his mouth and kissed the shadows affectionately coiled around two of his fingers.

Heat bloomed in his chest through their link.

"I like them."

Yami was silent as he stared at Yugi with that intensity that made his heart ache and blood burn.

"They're an extension of you, and I like all of you."

Yami smoothed another two tentacles off of Yugi's stomach and whispered, "Thank you." The shadows curling over Yugi's cheek made a reach for his mouth, and Yami leaned forward to brush it away too, his fingers lingering to caress over Yugi's cheekbone. "My light, I do not deserve this."

The endearment made Yugi's heart flutter, but he cocked his head and asked, "This?"

"You. Your affections. Whatever is happening right now. I am not… I never meant to take this for myself."

Yugi placed a hand over the one still touching his cheek. "I decide who is deserving of my affections, and it's you."

Yami shut his eyes, taking a deep breath through his nose, his whole frame relaxed. When he opened them again he took Yugi's hand and brought it near his chin. He paused to disentangle the twining shadows and flick them away before he pressed a kiss to Yugi's knuckles.

"They are more… unruly in here," he explained. "A manifestation of my subconscious."

That made heat crack in Yugi's blood like lightning in his veins, because the shadows weren't just innocently caressing, they were all over him. "So you really like me?"

"Yes," Yami said it so matter of fact, without hesitation.

"How much?"

Yami met his stare and he must have seen the playful gleam in Yugi's eyes because the barest hint of a smile tugged at his mouth. He met that challenge. He released Yugi's hand and dropped forward, arms catching himself on either side of Yugi's head.

Their noses almost brushed when he said in a low tone, "I am exceedingly fond of you."

"Just fond?"

"Aibou," Yami brushed his lips against the corner of Yugi's mouth, a teasing gesture that was not quite a kiss, but still did sinful things to Yugi's insides. "I fold your socks. And you own a lot of socks."

"Wait, that was y-"

Yugi's words were swallowed in a kiss that made his toes curl.

This kiss wasn't as forceful as the previous ones had been. There wasn't anxiety or earnestness, but rather a heated reverence. Like Yami was worshipping his lips, and every brush, every movement, was a silent prayer.

Yugi brought his hands up, slipping them beneath Yami's shirt to smooth them over his abdominal muscles.

The spirit shuddered at the touch.

When Yugi drew his fingertips over Yami's side it caused the muscles to jump and he made a pitched whine against Yugi's mouth.

Ticklish?

The surge of pleasure through the link made it difficult to confirm. He opted not to push it though, lest he ruin the moment.

Yami grabbed something near Yugi's head and without breaking the kiss, hurled it across the room. Yugi caught the barest glimpse of something winged and blue before it disappeared from his line of vision.

The Blue-eyes plush?

He wasn't of the mind to figure it out as an acute possessiveness bled into him from the spirit. Yami's mouth was hot and very insistent, leaving Yugi's thoughts a dazed and blissed mess. He trailed his hands even further up Yami's torso, delighting in every shudder and tremble his touch worked from the spirit. Every hushed moan he attempted to swallow back. Yami was so responsive. He wanted to run his fingers over every inch of gorgeous brown skin. He wanted to touch until he left the spirit weak and trembling. Yugi's fingers just skimmed a pectoral muscle, grazing a nipple, when Yami suddenly jerked away.

"Sorry!" Yugi quickly apologized, and snatched his hands back. "Too fast." He felt his entire body flush hot with shame.

The tempest in the mind link became a muted drizzle. The mood going as dark as a stormy sky.

"Something is wrong," Yami said, deadpan. He wasn't seeing Yugi anymore, those red eyes far away.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?"

Something tightened around Yugi's midriff and he glanced down to find his entire midsection coiled possessively in shadows.

Those red eyes finally focused and fixed on Yugi. They shone blood and fire, all the wrath of hot iron poured from a forge. "Wake up." The harsh command was a blow to the face.

Then Yami was gone. All of the shadows swallowed up along with him.

Yugi lay there, heart fluttering like a bird that struck a window. He was confused, frightened, and maybe more than a little freaked out. His head such a mess that it took a full minute to come to a realization.

He'd never entered or left the soul rooms without Yami's guidance before.

Yami sat up from Yugi's body much the same way he'd been atop Yugi in the soul room. His shadow form lifting out of the puzzle and the surrounding shadows to coalesce into the shape of a man. Still unconscious, Yugi's body lay supine across the couch.

Glowing gold reflected off of something silver in his peripheral.

The spirit turned his head just as some strange man screeched an expletive and ripped his hand from Yugi's pocket. Yugi's keys dropped to the floor. A second later a knife plunged right through Yami's nose.

Yami looked past the knife at the strange man standing beside the living room couch. His gaze quickly shifted around the rest of the living, which looked as if it has been tossed. Cabinets open, shelves pulled, entertainment center picked through.

Fury rippled through him like the first clap of thunder heralding a deadly storm.

His eyes locked with the man's and shadows began to slither out of the spirit's void face, over the hilt of the knife and up the man's hand.

The stranger screamed and yanked his arm away, but the shadows kept hold of the knife, dragging it into Yami's face where it was consumed into the mass.

Another man, wearing a ballcap, darted into the room from the hall with knife drawn.

Yami's third eye popped open to fix on him.

"W-what the fuck is-is this?!" The first stranger stuttered out—a taller man most distinguished by the athletic pants he wore—practically tripping over himself to get away from the writhing shadow man.

With a flex of his will the shadows in the room began running up the walls like drippings of wax defying gravity. The men made to bolt for the open apartment door, but it slammed shut before either man could reach it.

They began shouting obscenities and nonsense, desperately flipping the locks.

"You said he was a scrawny fucking invalid!"

"Open the damned door!"

"I'm fucking trying!"

Yami reached a black hand out to grip the cushions. It was followed by a second, third, and fourth arm, all erupting from his torso to drag the spirit over the back of the couch.

He could feel the fear in the room, thick and cloying. He wanted them so terrified they wouldn't dare step foot in this building again. He wanted to haunt their nightmares for the rest of time until they jumped at every shadow and pissed themselves in the darkest nights. It festered insidiously within him, the desire to consume them in shadows, to drag them into a never ending nightmarish abyss.

"Yami?" Yugi's disoriented voice interrupted the cacophony the strangers were making. "What's going on?"

It was like someone had tossed a blanket over his burning fury. The spirit perched on the backrest swiveled his head around to look upon his host.

-dangerdangerdangerdangerdanger-

He tried and failed to form a coherent word, and only managed to send a garbled impression of danger.

Yugi sat up, rather unsteadily and peered over the back of the couch between all of Yami's various limbs. "What the heck are you doing in my apartment?!"

The second of the intruders whirled around at the exclamation, brandishing his knife at Yugi and the wild looking misshapen shadow creature, as if the tiny weapon might ward the eldritch monstrosity away.

"We'll fucking kill you if you come any closer."

Yami's entire form bristled at the threat and the shadows running up the walls quaked.

"Are you guys robbing me?" Yugi managed to sound more alert, though still rather confused. His gaze took in the state of his apartment, expression growing more and more distressed.

"Stay the fuck back, man." The hat stranger with the knife warned again. He waved it at Yami, who narrowed golden eyes.

Form quavering, edges barely managing to keep contained, Yami turned back to Yugi and placed a hand to the puzzle at his chest. It pulsed with a warm glow and an entreaty filled Yugi's mind.

-Let me let me let me, TRUST me-

Yugi met the spirits eyes. "One of your punishment games?"

A nod.

"And you promise not to kill them?"

Another nod.

Please trust me. The spirit struggled to convey this. Hoped beyond hope that Yugi could understand his garbled thoughts and feelings, that he could sense Yami's sincerity. I promise you, Yugi. I promise.

They held stares for a small eternity.

Yugi closed his eyes, sucked in a breath and placed his hand over Yami's on the puzzle. When he opened them again he said with resolve, "Make them never want to come back."

Yami felt Yugi's desire to feel safe through their link.

He would protect Yugi. He might not be good at kissing, struggled to decipher and express his feelings, but this…this he could do, and do it very well. He knew if it came to it, he would gladly die a second death protecting Yugi.

Those gold eyes pulsed brightly for just a second before Yami melted off the back of the couch, all his shadow limbs crawling into the the puzzle. Yugi felt a searing heat as the puzzle shone brightly, almost blindingly. It flooded the room with light.

Yami felt Yugi's consciousness recede, step back as if a spectator in his own body. The spirit's darker presence took command, slipping into Yugi's skin like it was his own. The sudden sense of feeling and smell hitting him hardest first, as if being dropped out of a dream. Yami relished the human sensations.

He poured his magic into Yugi's body, filled them, embraced them both. In turn he felt Yugi's body amplifying it, becoming a conduit that both augmented and concentrated all of his chaotic powers.

A sneer pulled across Yugi's mouth as he slowly turned his head to stare at the intruders; the grin was all teeth.

Yami flexed his fingers for a moment, getting a feel for his vessel and their current physical strength. Yugi was still sore from the multitude of possessions the previous day, every muscle and bone felt heavier, stiffer, ached like he'd run a marathon. And Yugi was not the athletic type. This possession would hurt them both. He gripped the back of the couch again and vaulted over it.

His wild crimson eyes never left the terrified men across the room, still trying and failing to open the apartment door.

He would drink their fear.

He stalked slowly towards them, hands in his pockets.

"You have trespassed in my soul," Yami practically sang in a low sinister voice. "If you desire to escape this place, you will play a game."

"We only trespassed in a house, dude. We'll give the stuff back, just let us go," the man with the knife frantically attempted to reason, he still held up the weapon but his arms were shaking.

"It is too late for that," Yami hummed. "You sealed your fate the moment you laid a hand upon what is mine." His voice dropped to a sinister timbre as he said simply, "Shadow Game."

The already dark room with the reverse dripping shadows fell into a cold dream-like blue. The television, which had been on and repeating the title screen of the last movie Yugi and Yami had watched, suddenly became washed out with static and white noise.

The dimensions of the room stretched, pulling away, until neither of the men stood near a wall and the door was eaten by writhing shadows.

From another wall shot two lengths of chain. One of them seized the man with the knife, snaked around the length of his forearm, before a padlock snapped it in place. The force of the chain knocked the blade from his grip and onto the floor.

A void tendril snatched up the weapon, dragging it into one of the dark corners.

The other chain came for Yami, snaking around his left arm, where it too locked tight with the snap of a padlock.

Both Yami and hat man were dragged a step forward as the chains pulled taut. The length of them disappeared into two holes no bigger than a fist on the far wall.

A sudden pulse of anxiety almost startled the sneer off Yami's features. It was Yugi, in the back of his mind.

We are fine, my light. Yami sent a wave of comfort back, but refocused his attention. I have everything under control.

"Shall I explain the rules?"

"W-we don't want to play any games," Pants man interjected. He was backing away from his caught friend.

Yami paid him no mind. He only needed one of them to play.

Hat man was trying desperately to wriggle out of the chains, but they held him firmly, only tightening the more he struggled.

"I bet you wish you had a skeleton key right now," Yami continued. "Here!" He pulled a massive ring of keys from shadows within his pant's pocket and tossed them at the stranger's feet. Then he pulled a second identical ring of keys for himself—not unlike that which a school janitor might own—from the same pocket. "The rules are simple, we try keys until we release the padlock. The first one free is the victor. But, every wrong key we try will drag us closer to the wall."

"What happens if we reach the wall?" asked Hat man.

Yami's grin grew wider.

"Like the punishment for theft of old, the wall takes our hand."

Alarm and panic struck Yami so hard he had to grab the side of his head. Keys jangled in his grip, the metal striking his cheek. A dizziness made his vision swim.

It is alright. Calm down. Please.

He attempted to send comfort through their link, a reassurance that they would not lose their hand. Yugi did not seem convinced, because the storm of anxiety continued to rage until it made their head throb.

-Trust me-

"I do not lose," Yami assured under his breath. He dropped his hand in an attempt to resume his mask of confidence. Fortunately the strangers were too freaked to notice his lapse in composure.

"So I just try keys, nothing else?" Hat man asked. "What if I don't try any keys at all? Then the wall won't get me, right?"

"The wall will eat the chain regardless."

As if on cue, both players were dragged forward another inch.

"What do we get if we win?" Pants cut in. "It's a game, so we gotta win something."

"Should you win, I let you go and you keep those fancy car keys you filched from my pocket."

-You're gambling my hand and my car!?-

Yami cringed and gripped the side of his head again. Yugi had practically screamed that at him. Pride and jealousy made an odd mix in his chest. He would have to commend his host later; he was unusually gifted in forming actual words via their link, albeit very loud and headache inducing. "Shall we begin?"

Hat man was already picking through keys and shoving one into the padlock. He attempted to turn the key, but when it didn't work his chain was jerked forward an inch.

"Look at the padlock first!" His friend scolded him.

"I did! It's just a regular lock." The man tried a second key, and was dragged another inch.

Yami took this as his cue to begin. He eyed his padlock carefully.

It was nothing remarkable. A simple steel lock, with a squared base and a thick loop. There might have been a brand logo on the lock once, but it had been sanded off with what he assumed was a dremel tool. He placed the ring of keys in his mouth and so he could use his right hand to twist the padlock up and look at the keyhole in the bottom.

In his patience, Yami's own chain automatically contracted an inch and dragged him a half step closer to the wall.

Somewhere in his peripheral hat man screeched in frustration as his chain shortened another few links. His friend shouted expletives.

The keyhole had two little irregular indents in it, causing a sort of S shape.

I need a key that has grooves on each side, the groove on the right side higher than the groove on the left.

Yami picked through the keys on his ring, inspecting each one carefully. When he happened upon a key with the indented grooves he was searching for he tried it in the lock.

It didn't turn, and the chain pulled another inch.

Yami disconnected the key from the ring and tossed it aside.

"No asshole! That's an antique key! Does that lock look antique to you? Take all the old shit off the ring."

There was a clatter of metal as both men began picking all the old antique iron keys off the key ring and tossing them to the ground.

-Cheating! They cheat!-

Yugi's mental shout made Yami cringe again and he lost the next key he'd picked out to try.

"How so?" Yami chanced a glance at the two men crowded around their own key ring. He didn't see anything amiss and the shadows would have alerted them had they tried to cheat.

-Cheatboth together, theycheatbothplaying, unfairtheyhavetwo-

A mix of barely coherent words and impressions flooded Yami's head, but he managed to parse out what Yugi was trying to tell him.

"They have broken no rules. I never stated they could not help each other."

A sudden spark of excitement and determination blossomed in the back of Yami's head.

"What are you up to, Aibou?" He fished out a new key that looked like it might fit the S shape of the keyhole.

He was met with silence.

Yami tried the key in the lock, it didn't turn, and he was dragged another step towards the wall.

The Spirit chanced a glance at the two burglars, and decided they had the right idea, getting rid of all the keys that would clearly not fit the lock. It would minimize the confusing jumbled mess of the ring. Yami tossed aside anything antique, or that had no S shape in the grooves along the sides.

The next key he tried was also wrong.

The chain jerked so hard this time he nearly lost his balance.

He chanced another glance at the burglars, they were a good ten paces ahead of him and were being more judicious about which keys they tried. Bickering, their noses nearly scraping against the padlock, It appeared they had taken Yami's cue and decided to study the lock itself closer in order to glean clues.

Yami picked out a new key and eyed it carefully. It matched the S shape he was searching for. "You two do not trash talk nearly as much as some of my other opponents," he said almost conversationally as he slipped the new key into his padlock. It didn't work. He was dragged closer to the wall.

"Shut the hell up, you possessed little fuck," Pants snarled over his shoulder. He hurled a handful of the discarded keys at Yami.

The spirit dodged most of them, aside from a couple that hit his arm and shoulder, before retaliating with a devilish grin. "As you wish." He turned his attention back to his own keys, and prepared to pick another one off the ring. It was S shaped, sort of a brass color, with a rounded base.

As he raised it to the keyhole of the padlock his hand suddenly lost function.

Yami watched himself drop the key.

"Yugi?"

-Wrong- the impression filled his mind, answering him.

"Do you see something I do not?" Yami asked.

"That creepy little fuck over there is talking to himself," Hat muttered.

"Ignore him and just find the stupid key so we can get the fuck out of here."

Yugi took control of their hand, and grabbed two new keys, nearly identical in appearance, and each sporting the groove pattern Yami had identified. He held them beside the padlock.

One key was just a few millimeters longer, but just enough to make it an awkward and improbable length for the padlock.

- Too big -

"Beautiful." Yami's open adoration swept through the link. "Your keen eye and sharp intellect is rivaled by none."

He felt hot embarrassment answer him and Yugi relinquished control of their hand.

Now Yami began measuring keys against the lock in earnest. He dropped the slightly longer keys into a new pile separate from the keys he knew for sure would not work.

They were another five keys in and getting dangerously close to the wall when the burglars erupted into hysterics.

They had barely ten links of chain left.

But the true horror was the hole in the wall.

It came alive, a greedy mouth lined with the blades of two dozen keys. Its teeth. The mouth gnashed and chewed at the chain, biting hungrily for the hand so close to is maw.

The mouth greedily sucked in another link.

The hysterics persisted.

Yami glanced at the hole his own chain disappeared into and caught the first glimpses of key teeth poking from the edges of the hole. They only had about five more links of chain than the burglars.

A panic flooded him again from Yugi. The anxiety making his head throb and vision swim when he looked back down at his keys.

Calm yourself Yugi. I need you right now. I need your focus.

-need you, need you, need you-

For a moment it felt like someone grabbed his bound hand and held tight. Then the headache eased and their focus tightened again.

Yami picked up a new key and tried it.

They were dragged forward another step.

Another key.

Another step.

The hole in the wall began to curve, the key teeth pushing out to form an insidious grin.

Yami tried to ignore the sight, fingers clenching the last fistful of keys left to try. The metal dug into their palm, biting, threatening to draw blood.

There were two dozen keys left.

Another key.

Another step.

Another. Key.

Another…step.

The memory of getting hit by the car in the previous Shadow Game flashed into his memory.

The blinding pain from a fractured pelvis.

The lasting damage he'd left Yugi to suffer.

He'd fucked up during that game. Yugi had paid the price of his overconfidence.

The sneer from the toothy mouth mocked him as it swallowed another link and dragged them closer.

Another…step.

I… I could hurt him again.

Confidence began to erode like chalk cliffs under a storm.

I…

Everything locked up and he couldn't move. He heard the screaming. He felt the fear. Anxiety closed around his throat now, choking the air from him, but he couldn't tell if it was Yugi's or his own.

Yugi… I…

Their hand suddenly dumped every key to the ground except for one, clasped to their palm under their thumb. All the other potential keys scattered and bounced, some becoming lost in the piles of discards.

-This one-

Yami struggled to draw in a shallow breath. "Are you sure?"

-Trust-

Yami twisted their chained wrist to bare the padlock, and Yugi used their hand to guide the key in.

A breath.

Yugi turned the key.

Another breath. Yami steeled himself to be dragged forward another step.

The lock clicked and the padlock snapped open.

Like the tongue of a demon, the released chain sucked into the hole in the wall. The mouth snapped shut behind it and vanished.

The other chained followed suit.

It dragged its prize along with it. Kicking and wailing.

The jaws of the other hole snapped down on the burglar's wrist. Serrated key teeth cut flesh like it was tissue paper and the man screamed.

He screamed when he tore his arm away, hand missing from the wrist.

He screamed at the sight of it. Other hand clutching the ragged stump.

His friend screamed.

A door suddenly appeared from the darkness, opening out into the hall of the apartment building. An escape.

Both burglars made a break for it. Running ass over teakettle out of the apartment and still screaming.

Yami sank to the floor their whole body trembling.

Yugi guided their right hand to rub feeling back into the arm that had been restrained.

-We won-

A breathy sigh, "We won, Aibou." It was the last thing Yami said before he relinquished control.

The light in the room returned to normal, dimensions snapping back to reality, tv resuming its rom com title screen, the shadows crawled back to their proper shapes and locations. The apartment was still a mess from the damage caused by the burglars, but that was superficial.

Yugi's shadow stretched out beneath him to stare up with dimmer than usual golden eyes.

"We won," Yugi said again, with his own voice.

The tired golden eyes blinked in response.

"Did that man actually lose his hand?" Yugi looked about as if he expected to see the man's severed hand somewhere in his apartment.

Yami shook his head.

"A hallucination?"

The spirit nodded.

"Still felt real to him though?"

A nod.

Yugi placed his hand to shadow on the floor, over the general area where Yami's chest might be. "Thank you." There was a sense of relief that they didn't actually harm anyone…well, physically.

A shadow hand rose from the floor and grasped Yugi's.

"Do…do you have the energy to g-give me a hug?" Yugi's voice cracked on the stuttered words. Tears welled in the corners of his eyes. He was feeling the stress of the Shadow Game more than ever now that the adrenaline high was fading.

The spirit collected all his strength and surged up from the floor, becoming corporeal and wrapping Yugi in the most crushing embrace.

-loveloveloveyoulovemeprotectyou-

Yugi embraced him back. Fingers digging into the shadow's shoulder blades.

For a while they clung to each other, just like that.

My apologies for the lengthy gap between updates. A lot has been happening in my life and motivation to write is fleeting.

If you enjoyed the chapter please let me me know. Comments and feedback are appreciated.

Lastly, If anyone out there is looking to join a thriving and active community of Puzzleshippers, I'm a member of a Puzzleshipping discord server, and you can dm me if you want an invite. Lots of amazing artists and writers in there.