Sam, Dean, and Yugi spent several hours meandering around the shopping district and enjoying themselves. Sam and Dean couldn't remember the last time they had done something fun like this. Sam certainly hadn't spent a morning relaxing and perusing game shops since college, at the very least. Dean couldn't recall ever having done so but he liked it nonetheless. He even managed to score the number of a cute gamer girl working the register in one of the shops, which had impressed Yugi to no end.

"I tell you what, Yuge. Since you're going to make me a master duelist, I'll teach you all I know about getting the attention of the ladies." Dean smirked slyly.

Sam let out a bark of laughter, earning him a glare and a sharp elbow to the ribs, courtesy of his older brother. As far as Sam was concerned, Dean's methods for picking up women mostly included hitting on as many of them as possible until one took the bait.

Yugi's eyes sparkled, excitedly, "Re-really?! I mean, that would be great!"

Yami's low chuckle echoed in the back of Yugi's mind, causing him to blush in embarrassment for how eagerly he had welcomed the advice from his older cousin, who was clearly a master at attracting women.

/You mostly just need advice on the one girl, right? It's about time!/

Yugi clenched his jaw slightly, his blush deepening. Just how obvious could he be?

The Winchesters were more than pleased with the new member of the family. After all, family was something that they had little of and valued highly. Their mother, Mary Winchester, had been killed by a demon years before when Sammy was still an infant. Their father, John Winchester, was one of the best Hunters out there, and had raised his sons to be highly skilled in their own rights. That hadn't saved him, however, and he met an unfortunate end years later. Other than Bobby, they really didn't have anyone else.

Yugi was a good kid, too. Even after finding out the horrifying truth of his father's death, learning that his parents were Monster Hunters and that a demon was actively pursuing his family, the teen was still relatively chipper, level-headed, and considerate. All things considered, they felt that Yugi was bearing up rather well. Most kids his age would have completely freaked out if they found out that demons, ghosts, and all the awful monsters of legend were, in fact, real.

As afternoon approached, the trio began to get hungry. Yugi had taken the opportunity to stock up on an unreasonable number of candies from one of the local sweet shops but those weren't really lunch material. He knew Yami would want to try them, too, and he couldn't very well switch with his other soul here with Sam and Dean. They were pretty observant, and he figured they would be the ones to notice the changes in his person and form Yami brought on.

/I'd give anything for a burger right about now./

They began to wander back in the direction of the car, rather slowly, as they had nowhere pressing to be. Somehow, they had managed to walk several blocks without realizing just how far they had gone. Dean kicked himself mentally for going so far from the car, which held most of their weapons. They hadn't seen any signs of demons, or any other threat, in the vicinity but you could never be too cautious in their line of business. Dean had only brought with him a small revolver and a flask filled with holy water, just in case, and that wasn't going to do much to a powerful demon.

As they approached the Impala, a woman's sudden and piercing scream met their ears, startling them to alertness. Yugi's eyes widened in concern as he turned towards the narrow back alley from which the sound had originated.

"Someone could be in trouble!" He exclaimed. Without thinking and before his cousins could stop him, Yugi dropped the few bags he was carrying and sprinted down the alley in the direction of the scream.

"Yugi! Wait!" Sam called, to no avail. Yugi was long since gone, spurned to action by his overwhelming need to help others.

"Sammy, go after him!" Dean ordered as he rounded the car and popped open the trunk hastily. "I'll be right behind you!"

Sam, fearing for the brave, but reckless, teenager, took off down the alley, finding it uncomfortably cramped as he did so. He had already lost sight of Yugi and his mind was screaming at him that this could be a trap. The back alleys had a surprising number of twists and turns and Yugi could have taken any one of the branching paths.

Meanwhile, Yugi had run as fast as his legs could carry him, his mind focused only on finding and rendering aid to the distressed individual. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, finding the alleyway filthy and dim, despite the midday sun.

"Please, someone, help me!" the voice pleaded, sobbing.

"Where are you?!" Yugi called, darting from alleyway to alleyway.

/Yugi, you should not have run off on your own! This is dangerous!/ Yami chastised him, his voice thick with tension.

Yugi hadn't really thought about that, or anything else, for that matter. His kindheartedness had gotten away from him, prompting him to act in a noble, if foolish, way. A chill crept up his spine and he began to have second thoughts. He was seriously considering turning around when he spotted, to his surprise, a young woman lying on the ground at the back of a smaller, dead-end alley. She was deathly still.

The boy hesitated at the mouth of the alley for a moment, sensing Yami at the edge of him mind, lying in wait for the slightest hint of trouble. The Spirit would not stop Yugi from helping someone in need, but he felt horribly uneasy about the whole thing.

"Miss?" Yugi called, trying to stir the prostrate woman. He couldn't see her well, with her face down and her long blonde hair messily strewn about. Quietly, he edged closer, stepping over the broken glass and refuse that littered the narrow path.

He reached a slightly trembling hand towards the unconscious woman, touching her shoulder gently, "Miss? Are you alright?" She did not stir.

Carefully, Yugi turned the blonde girl over, causing her to groan lightly. At least she was alive, he thought. She was quite pretty, he noticed, and couldn't be more than a few years older than he. The t-shirt she wore indicated that she was most likely a student at the University of Sioux Falls.

Oddly enough, the young woman did not appear to be injured, having no visible marks or bruises from an attack or assault. Something had to be wrong with her, though. Her eyes were still sealed shut and her breath came in rapid gasps.

"It's going to be alright," Yugi whispered gently.

/What on earth could have happened to her? There's no one even here. I don't see any blood. She doesn't have any obvious wounds./

/I don't know…but…/ Yami paused, feeling the unease in his being intensify suddenly. Something was undeniably strange about the girl. She seemed wrong, somehow, and he felt a memory tug at the back of his mind, just out of reach. It was like her own light was being drowned in something dark. He shuddered and spoke with some urgency. /Yugi, let me take over. Please./

"Why?" Yugi asked out loud, too preoccupied with tending to the woman to worry about being overheard.

Yami did not have time to answer, however, or even to think. The blonde girl's eyes shot open, suddenly, causing Yami and Yugi both to withdraw from her in shock. She grinned, though it was more of a cruel, disdainful grimace than a smile.

Worse, however, were her eyes. Yugi gasped in horror as he took in the terrible blackness of them. There was no color or iris to be seen. Instead, her eyes were like two dark and endless pools. Simply looking into them filled his heart with the deepest dread, causing him to freeze in place.

She moved quickly; too quickly for even the Spirit of the Puzzle to respond. Yugi had no chance to run or fight as the young woman seized him by the neck, slamming his diminutive frame into the brick wall of the alleyway. The force of the impact was far greater than that which any human being should be able to muster, and he cried out in pain as his head met brick. Yugi felt his mind swimming, his vision blurring and dimming.

It was then that he released control of his body, letting his own soul recede into the background.

Yami took over quickly, desperately, his eyes flashing a furious red as the Puzzle emitted a bright light. A displeased growl emitted from his constricted throat as he roughly grasped the wrist holding his body off the ground. His sudden strength and fierceness took the attacker off guard, and her black eyes widened in surprise as she hissed in pain. She released him jumping back and eyeing him carefully from a few feet away, all hints of a grin now wiped from her face.

The figure standing before her was surely not the same little boy she had been watching all morning. She had followed Yugi Mutou and his cousins from the moment they had arrived in the city hours before. She'd cased them the entire time as they wandered around the shopping district, taking their measure, waiting for an opportunity to isolate the little one and strike. By now, she felt that she knew her subject rather well and her ruse had worked perfectly. He was gentle. He was kind. He was weak.

The young man standing before her now, however, was full of wrath and war-ready. The shy and soft-spoken boy had disappeared and, in his place, was something else entirely.

Yugi's mouth moved, though his voice was much different than before. Deep. Certain. Angry.

"You dare?"


Thank you all for the kind reviews! I know my updates are sporadic, mostly due to the fact that I am currently on vacation and have had plenty of time to write. I can't stand waiting to post things so the chapters go up almost as soon as I finish proofreading them.

Bananarock509: Thank you so much for your kind reviews! I'm so glad that you've enjoyed the story thus far! As for the one-shot you're referring to, I'm not sure if I've read the exact one you're talking about but there have been a few that I've stumbled on at random in the past months that have influenced the way I interpret Sugoroku's thoughts on his grandson. If you could let me know exactly which one you are referring to, I would LOVE to read it! 3