Ch 8 Live And Let Die

Yuugi was curled on the couch, wrapped in numerous blankets; however, none of them rid him of the chill that encompassed him. He shivered when a strong breeze blew open one of the windows. He heard Yami shuffle over to the window and shut the glass before pulling the curtains over it. It was too late. The freezing air already saturated the air and left Yuugi frozen on the couch.

He shuttered and watched as his breath created a cloud. Just before the fog disappeared, Yuugi swore he saw an eye-less face staring back at him. With a small whimper, Yuugi cuddled closer to the blankets and closed his eyes.

His limbs were so cold, that they were beginning to burn. He already couldn't feel his fingers and toes, but he knew there was nothing they could do. He had already told Yami, but nothing they tried worked. On top of that, his stomach didn't seem capable of keeping down any more food. No matter how much it growled in hunger, every time he tried to eat, the food would come back up a few minutes later. It didn't matter if he ate a small crust of bread or piece of meat, nothing would settle.

Sleep was another thing that was evading Yuugi too. It was already a problem before the ball, but now it escalated past that. It used to be that he wouldn't be able to even get wink of sleep. Now it seemed like all he wanted to do was sleep without the benefits. It didn't matter if he closed his eyes for a second or for a whole day: he would wake up feeling tired, groggy, confused, and overall worse than he did before. After he passed out after seeing Abur, he stayed asleep for another two days, but he might as well have been wide awake.

Yuugi sneezed as another shiver wracked his body, reawakening the goosebumps that seemed to always be on his flesh now. There was the crash of glass shattering and he turned his head towards the mirror that Yami had. It was broken, the glass shards scattered along the floor while the back was open, revealing the hidden entrance that he and Yami first arrived in. In the shadows of the stairs, Yuugi saw something slink away.

"Is something wrong?"

Reluctantly, Yuugi looked up to Yami, "Something just broke the mirror."

Yami looked over to the mirror with a grim expression. When he sighed and looked away, Yuugi knew that he hadn't seen it. A clanking of jars and the moving of drawers pulled Yuugi to the vanity where a little girl, as thin as a skeleton, sat on the stool. Her back was turned and her long black hair was oily and tangled in knots. She was opening the drawers and throwing the contents on the floor. When she looked up, she caught his stare and the smirk that cracked her lips split her face in half. Without any words, she slammed her head forward into the mirror. It cracked under her force as she continued to slam her face into the shattered surface. Bits of glass sliced her skin and cut her hair as blood spilled all over the wooden surface. The crown and tiara that sat on its surface were drenched in the red liquid as she continued to bang her head into the vanity.

Yuugi whimpered and closed his eyes, but he could still hear the rattling of the vanity against the wall. The sound of flesh hitting glass and blood dribbling onto the floor thundered in his ears. The drawers shook until they fell out and crashed onto the floor. Yuugi covered his ears, but the chill from his fingers stung his tender flesh and brought tears to his eyes. When he felt sharp glass press into his eyes lids, Yuugi screamed and open them.

"Yuugi?" Yami asked in as gentle of a voice as he could manage.

"Make her stop," Yuugi whined.

Yami looked utterly helpless as he searched around for what could be bothering him. He cursed when his eyes came up with nothing. Yuugi shuttered a breath and hid his head in his arms. He flinched when Yami wrapped his arms around his shivering body, and even after a few seconds of reassurance, Yuugi's muscles refused to relax from their tense state.

Yami rubbed soothing circles along Yuugi's back, but they did nothing to soothe his pain. In fact, the longer he rubbed his back, the more pain Yuugi began to feel as though someone where grating sandpaper over his tender flesh. The small teen let out a soft cry and Yami withdrew his hand.

Yuugi raised his head to apologize, but when he opened his eyes, he came face to face with the bloody, mutilated face of the girl. Screaming, Yuugi leapt from the couch only to get tangled in the mess of blankets and fall onto the floor. The girl watched him, the skin of her face hanging off her bones with blood dripping onto the dark floors and cartilage shimmering in the blue lights. Glass shards littered her hair which was stained red and cut in random chunks.

She reached a hand out towards Yuugi, and when he felt her grab the blanket, he screamed and undid his cocoon. Now bare to the bitter air, his body felt like it was encased in ice; however, the drive to run from the bloodied girl was stronger and he began to crawl away.

Each step was agonizing. It felt like he was crawling over glass, and when he looked down, he found that he was. Broken pieces of mirror and vanity trailed across the floor and cut deep rivets into his hands and knees. Some of the glass stabbed into his skin and remained like blood-soaked diamonds. Tears pooled in his eyes when the pain and chill became too much and he collapsed, unable to move anymore.

His legs were too heavy, his hands hurt too much, his muscles refused to relax: he felt like a broken, wound spring. Nothing he did relaxed his limbs and it was beginning to get harder to lift his fingers. The cold was growing in his body. He already couldn't feel his hands and feet, now he was losing feeling in his legs and arms. Yuugi began to shake as his arms gave out and he fell face first in the shards of glass.

Hands gripped his shoulders with piercing claws and yanked his limp body off the floor. He wanted to cry out for help, but shards of glass trickled down his throat and threw him into a coughing fit. A deep baritone rung in his ears, but he couldn't make out what it was saying. He tried to block out the voice when its worried melody turned into vicious growls.

The door opened and hundreds of footsteps thundered into a room like a stampede of hungry tigers and he was their prey. They clawed at his arms and ripped his flesh, marring his skin and drawing deep rivers of blood. He let out a terrified cry as they continued to grip, dig, and tear his skin.

Their growls boomed in his ears and raged inside his brain. Some hummed as they feasted on his muscles and tendons while others began to fight over his flesh. Vicious fights broke out around him all the while he laid limp in the center of it all. Some tigers lapped at his pools of blood or chewed on his exposed bones. Then there were those who gnawed on his legs.

Yuugi's tears fell silently. He couldn't find his voice, but he was sure that it had been clawed to death. It sure felt like it. Pain rippled through his body until it was all he could think about. He could feel every tooth that sunk into his flesh and he could feel each tendon as it was snapped like a guitar string. Each drop of blood that left his body made him feel like a dried up well. Pain. White hot pain. Mind breaking, skin searing, unavoidable pain.

A low rumble was his only warning before a large set of jaws clamped over his head. The pearly white, razor-sharp teeth reflecting off of the red lights was the last bit of light he saw before he was encompassed in darkness.

His mind felt like it was ripped from its body and thrown onto a fire. The pain was more than physical this time: it was mental and emotional. The growls and snarls mixed with the ferocious fights were becoming distant; however, the sounds would waver. One second it would sound rooms away only to have it blaring in his ear the next. The whiplash it gave him was suffocating.

He couldn't breathe and he felt smothered in heat. It was boiling- scorching even- until all of a sudden-

It stopped.

The growls and ripping flesh was gone and instead were replaced by heavy breathing. The insufferable heat had dropped into a frigid chill that nearly froze his body solid. The pain, however, the pain still lingered. Albeit, it was numbed, but on his legs, the pain was fresh and fierce. Each shiver that shook his body or every tense of his muscles in order to fight off the cold was akin to an electric shock through his body, stemming from his legs.

"I don't think ….we'll be able…. to do that again..."

"Then what…. are we…. supposed to do….. if he falls back?"

"... Wait…. and pray…. to Mira that…. he wakes up on his….. on his own…"

The voices were soft and huffing for air, but Yuugi heard them. A soft wave of calm washed over him and he curled closer to the soothing baritone that made his heart slow from its race. Pain surged from his legs at the action, and Yuugi shrieked in agony. His hands wrapped around himself, and his fingers graced against a soft material. Not remembering what it was, but grateful for the comfort it provided, Yuugi gripped onto the fabric and wept on the floor.

"Yuugi," the voice was feminine, "Yuugi are you with us? Can you open your eyes? What's wrong?"

"Easy, Mana. We can't risk losing him," a masculine voice, but it didn't comfort him as much as….

"Yuugi," the soothing voice cooed while a hand pet his hair. The action helped ease his pain, but it felt heavy, "Open your eyes for me."

Yuugi whimpered but did as the voice asked, "Yami…" Yusei, Mana, and Yami all sighed and relaxed when he spoke, but the fear and sorrow were evident in their eyes, "It hurts…"

"What hurts?" Yami inquired.

"My legs. I don't want to move," Amethyst eyes scanned down to his perfectly intact legs. There was no sign of blood or cartilage anywhere.

Desperate crimson eyes looked at his legs before they rose up to worried brown and calculating blue. Yusei shook his head when their eyes lingered and Yami cursed under his breath.

"I'm sorry, Yuugi. I don't think there is anything we can do about that," Yami whispered while looking away.

"Yami, Yuugi," Mana drew both of their attention. Her eyes were wrought with sad emotions and dread plagued the air around her. She seemed to shake with the words she was holding back, "We think we found out what happened to Yuugi." The words were quiet as though she hadn't wanted them to hear.

A grim cloud settled over Yuugi, "What?"

Yusei lifted up an old leather book in his hands. The binding was weak and the pages looked stained, yet that frail, worn book looked like the grim reaper himself, "This was hidden in the Temple of Mira, forgotten in the other books. It-"

"Wait!" Yuugi jumped and groaned when the action made his legs move. Pain jolted up his body and he had to close his eyes and breath until the pain subsided. Yami was petting his hair, but Yuugi couldn't tell if it was helping or not. When the shock receded and became tolerable, Yuugi opened his eyes and searched the room, "Can we… go to another room? I-I don't want to be here."

"Is there something in this room?" Mana inquired while looking around for herself.

Skittish amethyst eyes tracked the shadows in the dying blue lights. Some of the gems would flicker, casting the room in darkness and revealing the brief figure of a sulking snake. It was waiting for them to forget about him in order for it to strike and kill. His massive body was already crushing the bed and wrapping around the edge of the room. If they didn't leave soon, they would all be trapped.

Yuugi inclined his head towards the glowing yellow eyes that lurked by the broken vanity, "The snake doesn't like us being here."

Yusei and Mana looked at the vanity, but Yami didn't question him; instead, he whispered a soft apology and scooped his lover's frail body into his arms. Yuugi cried out and tears pricked his eyes at the fresh surge of pain that gripped his body.

"We can go to my study, then. No one will bother us there."

Yuugi felt him moving closer to the snake's body. It hissed with each step that Yami took and he knew that its head was no poised by the door. Yami wouldn't be able to walk past it safely, nor would Mana. Its yellow eyes have been watching her since the moment she came into the room. Yusei, however, could. The snake would move its scaley body away from the Neko.

Yuugi felt the shift int he snakes energy as it was about to jump. His eyes watched in fright as it opened its jaws and made a lunge, "Yami stop!"

"What's wrong?" Doing as was told, Yami froze and the snake just missed him and coiled back by the door.

Yuugi's head spun, "Let Yusei go first. It doesn't like him."

A silent exchange passed between Yam and Yusei before the Neko nodded his head and walked towards the door. The snake hissed and tensed, but moved out of the way for the Royal Champion. When Yusei got to the door, he held it open for Yami and Mana. When they were in the hall and the door was closed, Yuugi visibly relaxed in Yami's embrace. They were safe for now.

The walk to the study was quiet and tense. Yuugi could hear their footsteps echo on the marble floors. He was trying to not focus on the softer footfalls that followed behind them.

"There he is! Hi Yuugi!"

Yuugi turned away from Yami's chest to look down the hall where seven tiny figures were running towards them. Pain raced in his system and he gripped onto Yami's shirt as his body shook. Their footsteps were loud for their tiny bodies and their hollow eyes bore into his soul.

"The King is here too!"

"And the Royal Champion!"

The little bodies stopped and bowed in front of the group. Yuugi couldn't stop staring at the empty eyes sockets and the face-splitting smiles that crept on each and every face. Their giggles promised sorrow and pain.

"Excuse us, but Yuugi is not in a good mood to play in today," Yami spoke and squeezed Yuugi in reassurance.

"Is he sick?"

"Mama told us that he passed out at the ball-"

"And he was acting weird when he helped us put together the silverware-"

"But we thought he was getting getter-"

"Is he okay?"

"Will he be able to play with us later today?"

"Why does he look so scared?"

They crowed around Yuugi and watched him with their empty eyes. He could see their sharp teeth glistening in the blue lights of the hall. He began to shake more when one reached out to touch him. He yelped and hide his face in Yami's chest. He didn't want to look at them. He didn't want to watch them rip his flesh and eat his soul. He didn't want to watch them tear his friends into pieces and make him hear their cries.

"Kalo, back up, you're scaring him."

"But he looked scared, Kora. I just wanted to help."

Yami whispered soft words to Yuugi in order to calm him down. When the youth's grip on his shirt lessened, Yami turned his attention back to the seven figures, "Yuugi is very ill right now. Perhaps you'll be able to see him in a few days."

"But what's wrong with him?"

"Can we do something to help?"

"Have you tried our Mama's medicine? That always helps us."

"Maybe Dad could help you. He knows a lot."

"Can we help?"

"Yuugi is our friend. Please, let us help?"

"We wanted to play with Yuugi today."

Yuugi hiccuped, "Make them stop," he whimpered so only Yami could hear it. Their shrill voices were scrapping against his ears like nails on a chalkboard. Each voice that chimed in tossed his thoughts in the air and crashed them down on the floor. Even though he wasn't looking at them, their soul-less stares bore into his soul and squirmed into his thoughts.

"Excuse us. We're going to help Yuugi right now, then maybe you can see him later, but for now," Yami tried to step past them, but some blocked his path.

"Can we come with you?"

"We get sick all the time, so we can help."

"We can also keep him company!"

"Yeah! If we can make him happy, then he will get better, right?"

"Please, please, please, Mr. King, let us come with you?"

"Kalo, Kore, Kley, don't bother them."

"Kelst is, right. Kannon and Khloe, move out of their way. We need to leave."

"But Kora, we've waited so long to see him…"

Tears slipped past closed eyelids and soaked into Yami's shirt. Yuugi's hold on him tightened as he tried to hide within his strong chest. He could see them. He could see them behind his closed eyelids. Their empty eye sockets, their razor teeth, their clawed hands, their tiny bodies, it was all there. They wanted him and reached out for him. They would drag them all down if they stayed any longer.

Yuugi lifted his head from its hiding place and he opened his eyes, fully intent on yelling at the demons to leave them alone, but he didn't; instead, his voice caught in his throat when he saw Yusei kneeling in front of the small group. His ears were low and his tail was flicking in uncertainty.

"Yuugi is too sick to play with right now, and he won't get better for a while, so how about this," the kids quieted down, their attention solely on him, "If I tell you a secret, will you let us pass so that Yuugi can get better?" they all nodded their heads, "You won't be able to tell anybody this, alright?"

"We won't," they chimed while their tiny bodies bounced in excitement.

Yusei nodded before standing back to his full height. Yuugi couldn't tell if his eyes were closed or if he was muttering some sort of spell, but the little demons were watching with rapt attention. Slowly, Yusei's body began to shrink and his clothes began to shift from fabric to black fur. His ears and tail began more prominent and his bone structure was changing to one of an animal. One blink later, and instead of the proud Neko standing in front of them, a small, blue-eyed, black cat sat on the ground.

Everyone except Yami and Mana screamed.

"I-It's that cat from before!"

"You're the one that scratched Yuugi!"

"This is so cool!"

"I didn't know you could do that!"

"We got to hang out with the Royal Champion for a day!"

"You're not so scary when I know who you are."

"You're so cute."

Mana stood beside Yusei, "Alright, now go on, and remember: you can't tell anyone."

They nodded their heads before slowly turning around and running down the hall.

"Get well, Yuugi!"

"We'll play next time!"

"We promise not to tell!"

"Bye!

Yuugi wasn't watching them. His unblinking, disbelieving gaze, was glued to the small body that had been plaguing his thoughts and bringing him terror. That small body. That small cat was Yusei. Were they all Yusei? Could he multiply or change his size? Why would Yusei torment him so? Could Yusei turn wood into water? Was this just another hallucination?

Those piercing blue eyes turned and looked straight at him. Yuugi screamed and tried to run away, but the pain in his legs and Yami's arms kept him from succeeding; instead, he settled for shaking uncontrollably in Yami's arms as he cried in fear and pain.

"Yuugi, what's wrong? It's just Yusei. He's not going to hurt you," Mana comforted.

Yuugi shook his head and closed his eyes, "No! No, it's not! That's not Yusei! It can't be! That thing has followed me day and night, tormenting me! It tried to kill Kalo and his siblings! It tried to kill me!"

"Shh, shh, it's okay, Yuugi, it's okay," Yami soothed by running his fingers through Yuugi's hair. The distraught teen continued to cry and refuse to open his eyes.

There was a soft weight that landed on his lap, and when he opened his eyes, he came face to face with the blue-eyed creature. Its eyes were soft and caring, no hint of malice swimming in their depths. Still, being so close to the demon brought on a new wave of tears.

The cat padded closer to his face before rubbing its face against his hand. Its fur was soft and silken, but at the same time, he could feel each fur prick his finger and pass over his skin. While it was soft, it was rough and coarse, giving it the realism that he needed. It was the same feeling he got when he touched Yusei's ears awhile ago.

Yuugi took a shuddering breath and opened his eyes, "B-but, you can't…. There were more…. Were were huge, you….." he hiccuped, "No one saw you…"

Yusei jumped off his lap and changed back to normal, "Those weren't me, Yuugi. In your illness, your brain needed a way to cope with what was going on with you and so latched onto the image of me as a cat. I'm not sure why, but that grew and took on its own persona as your illness progressed, but I assure you, those were not me."

A wicked laugh filled the hall and Yuugi watched petrified as he looked over Yami's shoulder into the shadows of the hallway behind them. A smirking pair of blue eyes began to stalk towards him, and though Yuugi couldn't see its body, he knew exactly what it was, "L-let's get to the study, please."

Without asking any more questions, the group finished their journey to the study and to their luck, they had no more interruptions. Once inside, Yami sat down with Yuugi on the couch while Yusei leaned against the nearby bookcase. Mana's nerves seemed to be getting to her, so she opted for pacing the floor in front of the desk.

"What did you find?" Yami asked, looking towards Yusei who was fiddling with the book in his hands.

"It was hidden in the Temple of Mira's archives. It was hard to get to, but I was able to convince them," Yusei elaborated.

"What does it say?" Yami prompted.

Yusei turned his head away and let his bangs shadow his eyes, "It's a dark part of Lelanian history: one that many have forgotten and would rather forget." His words placed a heavy weight of seriousness tot he room.

A stifled hiccup drew the attention to Mana who had stopped her pacing. She was covering his mouth with her hands while her petrified eyes locked onto Yuugi.

Yami stiffened, "Just say it, Yusei. Don't stall." The hesitance in his voice was as clear as day.

When Yusei looked back at Yami, a broken sadness lingered in his blue eyes, "We can't cure Yuugi."

"What?" Yuugi gasped.

Mana let out a distraught wail, "It's not fair! It's not right! He doesn't deserve this!" Her brown eyes were streaming with tears, "I can't lose you too…"

A dark cloud gripped Yuugi in its cold embrace, seeping him to the very core with its somber tone. His body froze and his mind stopped. His breath caught in his throat while his eyes stared frightened at the crying Cairainian in the corner. Over and over again, Mana and Yusei's words rung in his head, yet he tried to refuse them. He could be saved: there was always a way.

"Yusei," Pleading amethyst eyes latched onto grieving blue, "What's wrong with me? Why can't I be cured?"

The Neko's ears flickered back and his tail swished in turmoil. The longer they stared at one another, the more intense his tail flicked, but his ears eventually drooped down, "It's the glorean. Their poison has infected you, are your body can't fight back."

Yami shook his head, "But you, me, Atemu and even half of the Lelanian population have been infected with the glorean before and most of us survived. What makes this so different?"

"The only survivors in that attack were part Lelanian," Mana continued while her grim brown eyes befell Yuugi, "He is completely human."

"Abur was right in what she told us," Yusei quipped as he flicked open the book, "Mira's gift was not a home, it was protection. Back when she blessed the first Queen of Lelania, she didn't dilute the effects of glorean in Lelanian, she gave Lelanian's the ability to withstand the plant's powerful toxins." He then held out the book to Yami who took it and began reading the pages.

While Yami read, Mana began to explain, "Back in the early days of Lelanina, before the law was instigated, there were countless humans that had been able to come to live in Lelania; however, they all grew very sick," her voice began to tighten and she needed to take a few calming breaths before continuing, "They would hallucinate and have dizzy spells and random bouts of sickness. There were countless humans who went insane because of the glorean before a priestess made the connection and created the that is happening with Yuugi, has happened to them."

The more Yami read, the more twisted his expression became. Skepticism and disbelieve turned into helplessness and rage. The energy around Yamy changed and Yuugi tried to curl away from it, but the effort was too much and caused to much pain. Crimson flickered to Yuugi and back to the book. Part of Yuugi was tempted to ask what it said, but he was too terrified to even ask. Part of him didn't want to know what was going to become of him

Yami growled and finally snapped the book closed. His hands were shaking, "There has to be a cure. Other pure-blooded outsiders have come here and been cured fo the glorean; what makes Yuugi different?"

"It's his human blood," Yusei explained, "It's true that other types of blood have been able to be cleaned of the glorean's poison, albeit with several side effects, but humans are not accustomed to such magical or ethereal objects. The glorean does more than simply infect his bloodstream: it warps the very fabric of his being."

Yuugi slowly began to quiver and his grim curiosity became too much, "What's going to happen to me?"

Beside him, Yami grew frigid. His jaw clicked shut and his hands curled so hard that shook. His muscles popped with the strain being imposed on them while his teeth ground together. His head was bowed so that his bangs shadowed his eyes. His body was hunched over and he was bracing himself on his knees.

Yusei looked away from Yuugi, "Your mind will continue to deteriorate until there is nothing left. You will likely die in a few weeks if your brain doesn't make you do something rash first."

"No!" Yami shouted, startling all in the room as he stood up from the couch. A raging firey burning in his gaze, "There has to be away. There must be a cure."

Yusei shook his head, "There isn't, Yuugi is going to die, Yami, and there is nothing that we can do to stop it."

"You're lying!" Yami snapped. Anger rolled off him in waves. Mana cried harder and Yusei stared blankly at his friend, his blue eyes cold and hardened to the wild fury being thrown at him. When the Neko said nothing, Yami turned to Mana who shrunk beneath his glare, "You both have to be lying. How can we heal him?!"

Mana shook her head, "Yami please-" She reached out a hand to comfort him, but he recoiled.

"If you're not going to help me, then get out of my way! There is no way in Hell that I'm going to let Yuugi die. Never!"

Mana scurried to the other side of the room as Yami stormed out of the study. His agitation lashed out at the three occupants and thickened the tense air. Only when he slammed the door shut did the air loosen, but the dark aura hung over them, still, like a bad omen.

Yuugi wrapped his arms around his body and gripped the scarf in a vice grip. There was a chill, colder than the grave, that struck deep inside of him and he swore that he could feel Death waiting on the other side of the door. Now with Yami gone, he felt bare to the threat outside. There was no warmth left for him to hide next to, or a support to lean on. With Yami gone, he only had himself for protection.

He was going to die. He was going to die, and there was nothing that they could do. There was no cure for this poison, and even though Yami refused to believe, Yuugi could tell deep down that his time was finite. He was going to die in this strange and beautiful land to an exotic and deadly plant. He was going to die in this new world before he could truly call it home.

Yuugi chocked. Home. He wasn't going to be able to go home. He was going to die before he got back to Earth or explain to all his loved ones where he went. Jonouchi would never understand why he disappeared. Anzu would never be at rest with his missing presence. His mother would never know why she was suddenly abandoned by her only son. Never again would he get to bask in their love and company, nor would he be able to hear their voices or stories. All they would get was an incomplete story and a lifetime of unanswered questions.

Yuugi hiccupped and allowed his tears to fall. He would never be able to go back to school, or grow old, or even feel the sun's rays on his skin. Never again could he bask in the summer warmth, frolic in autumn's leaves, roll in the winter snow, or splash in spring showers. Gone was his chance to find his missing father and catch up on lost time. His time to make memories with new friends and family was cut short, and Yami…. He would never get to spend as much time with Yami as he wanted to.

His body caved in on itself as his loud wails echoed in his ears. He wanted to spend days on end with Yami. Talk into the early hours of the morning with him, bask in late night love with him, laugh with him, cherish him, show him all that he deserved for all eternity. Now, their time was cut short and tarnished. Their love was strained at best at this time and now it was coming to a halt. Yuugi would always love Yami, no matter what, but their time to be together and do all the things that other couples were able to do was ending. There wasn't enough time to do all that he wanted.

Yuugi ignored the freezing arms that wrapped around him. While part of him felt the comfort that the embrace offered, the other part of him was terrified at letting himself be caught. He had wanted to finish high school, go to college, travel, marry, have kids, live a happy life, but now that chance was gone. All those early mornings when he didn't want to wake up and start the day was wasted time. All those silent meals with his mother at the table were lost conversations. All those fawning looks that he gave Yami back in school was squandered time that they could have spent together. All his hopes and dreams were coming to a screeching halt, and there was nothing he could do.

Yuugi could hear more cries join in his own distraught symphony, but they cried for a different reason. While he cried at the loss of his life, they cried at the loss of their meal.

(Koobre: Just to let you know, there are only two more chapters left in this story. After this, I'm going to re-vamp my story Darkened Eyes, but before that, I'm going to finish this story. In the meantime, I have a question for you all: do you prefer long chapters or short shapters?)