I haven't got a set day yet, but you can expect this fic to be updated roughly once a week. It will probably end up being updated every Friday, but for now it's just on my least busy night each week.

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Enjoy!

No, Yami thought with horror. The Shadow was gone, and there was only one place he could be. The Pharaoh started running. He'd never run so hard in his life. He sped down the corridors he'd learned so well, out of the infinite depths of the Puzzle and towards the door that opened into the passage between his and his hikari's soul rooms. He practically leapt across the small distance to Yugi's door and threw it open, his usual reverence for the sanctity of the boy's soul room completely disregarded. He would worry about such problems once he knew his aibou was safe – he couldn't spare a second if the Shadow had reached him.

The sight that met Yami as he sprinted through the threshold was far from expected. He'd been fully prepared to find his beloved Yugi screaming in agony and terror as the despicable Shadow tortured him sadistically – but not for this. The Other Yami wasn't harming his light. Yugi wasn't writhing in pain.

Instead, they were lying on the floor looking over a picture book.

The Pharaoh hardly cared. In an instant he had lunged at the Other Yami and pinned him to the ground, growling dangerously. Yugi gave a sound of alarm but he was disregarded.

"How dare you," Yami snarled.

"What?" the Other smiled playfully. "See our hikari?"

"He's not our hikari. He's mine," the Pharaoh said through gritted teeth, forcing the other spirit harder into the floor.

"He's ours," Other Yami's amused smirk was gone, his face growing serious. "You just want all the light to yourself."

Yami had no patience for this psychopath. "What do you want with him?"

"I want nothing more than you do. To see the dear boy who released me from the darkness."

Malice burned through Yami's being as he listened to the spirit talk about Yugi as if he was special to him – as if he had any right to the boy. His grip on the demon tightened fiercely…

"Yami, stop!"

The Pharaoh paused at the sound of his aibou's voice. Yugi sounded almost… afraid. He looked up at the boy, confusion only barely evident on his stern features.

"He wasn't hurting me," Yugi continued quietly. "We were just talking."

The grip lessened a fraction. The Pharaoh considered the spirit pinned beneath him. The Other Yami only smiled back smugly, his crimson eyes glittering. That's right, Pharaoh, they seemed to say. He likes me as well.

"Yami…" Yugi said again when his partner still hadn't moved.

Eventually – begrudgingly – the spirit relented. He slowly got up, making no acknowledgement of the Other Yami he'd tackled to the ground and simply stood, watching his hikari expectantly. He was shocked when Yugi raced forward and helped the Shadow up off the floor, asking if he was alright. The Other Yami assured him he was, and glanced at his doppelganger. No effort was made to soften the glare he was returned.

"Er… so apparently there are two of you…" Yugi scratched his head, pointing to the Other. "He came over to introduce himself. He said you've been keeping him from leaving the Puzzle."

The boy was clearly at a loss for words. He looked up at Yami awkwardly, silently asking for help.

"And you trusted him, Yugi?" the Pharaoh asked, ignoring the Shadow beside them. "You let him enter your mind just like that?"

"Actually, he came in on his own…" Yugi's gaze shifted to the Other Yami in question.

The Pharaoh bristled, staring hard at his double. Other Yami held his stare unblinkingly.

"Yugi's door was open. His yami was welcome to enter when he wished," the Shadow smiled. "And I wished to."

"You ask before you enter the room of another's soul, no matter who they are," Yami's voice was low… threatening.

"It's okay, Yami." Yugi stood between them, his hands raised in an attempt to encourage peace. "I didn't mind. It was nice to meet him."

The Pharaoh remained silent, looking down at his hikari with concern. Didn't Yugi realise how dangerous this Other Yami was? He was everything the boy had been afraid of in him… everything Yami had come to hate about himself.

"Yes, it's been wonderful to get to know the little light after all this time," said the Other, moving up behind Yugi and placing his hands on his shoulders. "He's so incredibly… pure."

Something shone in the spirit's eyes as he spoke the last word and it made Yami's blood boil. How dare he. There was nothing at all about this situation the Pharaoh was happy with. Yugi started talking about the book they'd been reading through earlier and how it used to be his favourite when he was small. Other Yami smiled warmly and asked if they could finish reading it later.

"Hopefully without any interruptions this time," he said innocently.

How dare he.

"So that's all you've been doing, Aibou? Reading?" Yami asked.

"He's been telling me about himself. Did you know Yugi was born early? What's it called? Preema…" The Other Yami looked to the boy for the word.

"Premature," Yugi prompted quietly.

"Yes," the Other cocked his head to one side in what Yami would only call the most ridiculous mock endearment he'd ever seen – so patronising he wondered how Yugi didn't say anything. "Premature. Sickly as an infant. He says that's why he's so small. But you knew that, didn't you Pharaoh?"

Yami remained silent. Of course he knew that - he'd learned that years ago. He wondered, however, how this Shadow had the nerve to ask such a thing of their hikari when they'd only just met. Who does that? Yugi certainly wouldn't have just brought it up so soon; it would have to have been asked.

"Yugi, show me some more of your belongings," the Other requested, his hand having found its way to rest on the boy's arm at some point. "I want to know everything about you."

Yami wondered just how many times he'd tasted bitterness in the back of his throat during this encounter alone. The number was quickly increasing regardless. Yugi looked to the Pharaoh hesitantly.

"He… is you, isn't he? He came from the Puzzle?" he asked, as if the realisation that this Shadow may actually be dangerous had only just hit him.

"He came from the Puzzle," Yami agreed. "But he is no longer a part of me. He's a monster I locked away long ago, Aibou. When we first became friends."

Something changed in Other Yami then. Anything playful in his being was gone and he glared murderously at the Pharaoh. Yami stiffened immediately, readying himself for action – he'd shove Yugi out of the way and be on the Shadow in moments, he was certain – but the need never came. His doppelganger swallowed and started heading towards the door. Yugi took a step after him.

"Wait—" he called, but was cut off as the Other turned.

"I'm happy I've finally met you, Hikari," he said, looking hard at the ground. "Thank you for showing me your soul room."

And with that he was gone, slamming Yugi's door behind him. There was a long moment of silence between the two remaining occupants of the room. The boy turned to his yami, mouth downturned.

"Pharaoh…" he started with a touch of tolerance.

The spirit wasn't shaken. "He's dangerous, Yugi. You know what I used to do after I was first released."

Yugi shuddered at the memory of all the times he'd woken up and wondered where he'd been – why he couldn't remember what he'd done for the past several hours. All those victims who'd met ends worse than death… if they weren't lucky enough to be granted death itself. He'd been so scared.

"Well… how is he here? How does he exist?" he asked after a time.

"That I don't know, Aibou," Yami admitted. "He could be some kind of manifestation of the Shadows in the Puzzle – echoes of some of the powers I used in the past."

Yugi said nothing, frowning deeply.

"He'll be gone by tomorrow," the Pharaoh reassured him, convinced this was the problem. "He should never have left the Puzzle. I'll make sure he's properly contained this time—"

"No!"

The spirit was stunned. He waited for Yugi to continue.

"You can't seal him away, Yami," the boy insisted. "Being trapped in the Shadows like that… it's not fair."

"Aibou, he's psych—"

"He never once tried to hurt me. He was just lonely…" Yugi mumbled.

Yami blinked. Most of the time his hikari's naivety was more endearing than anything else, but the spirit had to wonder how even Yugi could see good in the demon who'd invaded the soul of an innocent because they were lonely, as he had called it. He'd seen the way the Other had looked at his light. The hunger in those eyes. No one looked at his precious Yugi like that.

"Just… I want to give him a chance," the boy persisted. "You can't lock him away… lock yourself away."

The Pharaoh said nothing.

"Please just try to be nice, Yami? For a little while?"

Those amethyst eyes were so huge. The spirit was never really sure how to deny them. He could be civil, couldn't he? He could try not to murder his double until their hikari realised the truth. This wasn't to say he wouldn't watch the demon like a hawk. No, as long as that Shadow even thought he was leaving the Puzzle, Yami would be right behind him.

"Pharaoh?" Yugi had been waiting nervously.

"Alright, Aibou," he finally relented. "I won't seal him away. That's all I'm promising."

That was all his hikari needed to hear.