Author's Note: First off gomen for being slow on this update! I go away for a day and when I get back you've already hit the review limit! Now then, onto the next thing I wanted to say. Ok folks, I have two important decisions for you to make! I would greatly appreciate it if you would vote on the following situations in your reviews. So if you want a say you're going to have to review!

1) I have a duel scene coming up and I need to know if you guys want it written out move by move (you may have to wait longer) or if you want it without the technical side. If you want the technical card playing say so in your review, and if you don't say so! I will be couting up the votes once you hit the review target so if you don't vote you won't get a say!

2) Also, I've got some monster chapters coming up. They are long enough to be split down into 3 or 4 chapters each. Do you want the chapters broken down so you can get future chapters faster or do you want them all at once though you'll have to wait longer for the chapters after them? Once again if you don't vote you won't get a say in the upcoming chapters!

Onto the next bit of bussiness I have to deal with! I hope you enjoy this chapter and remember if you reviewed to read the responses at the bottom of this chapter! Hmm...now...a review target...lets say...32-34 eh? Now then! Enjoy!

Chapter 4

-:Mask of Weakness:-

Decrease the ATK of 1 attacking monster by 700 points until the end of the turn.

Yami and Yugi made their way down the museum steps. It seemed that their problems were close to over. Yami had no doubt that Ishizu would be able to solve their separation problem in time, and whilst he was waiting he would enjoy the freedom afforded to him by having his own form. Yugi however, did not seem to share the Pharaoh's confidence. At first it had worried Yami that Yugi was so quiet, especially after the good news. But then it occurred to him that Yugi probably just felt strange not having someone in his head, perhaps Yugi wasn't coping with it as well as he was.

Thinking that Yugi needed cheering up Yami leapt into action. Now that he had his own body he could do things by himself and the first thing he did was organise for Joey, Tea and Tristan to meet him and Yugi at the arcade. It had taken a while to explain everything over the phone, but after a while each of them had accepted the fact that Yugi and Yami were no longer the same person. Joey had summed up their situation perfectly.

"Well…when you hang with Yug…" He had commented and Yami couldn't help but agree. Odd things were always going on around him and his aibou.

Half an hour later Yami had spelled out his plan to Yugi, who had, surprisingly taken a little convincing. Normally Yugi leapt at the chance to spend time with his friends, but today he seemed to have almost no energy and could almost be described as reluctant to do anything at all. Yami had known his light had been down, but hadn't realised the extent until that conversation. Consequently, after making lunch, he had done what he always thought was best, and went to tackle the problem head on.

"Yugi?" He asked, pushing the boy's bedroom door open with difficulty since he was carrying two plates of sandwiches. What he saw made him stop in his tracks. Yugi was sat on his bed, with his back to the door, his duel monsters deck was spread out on the bed in front of him. That in itself wasn't unusual, what really threw the pharaoh was that Yugi was stacking the cards back up with one hand, but the other hand was repeatedly removing cards from the pile and Yugi seemed…annoyed at this.

"Stop it." He muttered to himself, moving to sit on the hand that was removing cards from the pile. "I've got to put them away, you've seen enough. Yami and I share these cards and he might need them. I can't keep looking through them all day." Yami moved further into the bedroom, placing the forgotten plates on the desk. Concern was building inside of him but he tried to suppress it, perhaps Yugi just wasn't used to not having someone to talk to so talked to himself?

"Ah…Yugi?" He asked, standing directly behind the boy. "Who are you talking to?" Yugi jumped about a foot and it would almost have been funny had it not been for the event's precursor.

"N…no one!" Yugi stuttered out as if he were…afraid. However he seemed to get a grip on himself pretty fast. "Sorry, I always used to talk to myself before I met you and now I figured taking it back up wouldn't hurt." He smiled and shrugged. The Pharaoh nodded, not really convinced, but unsure of what to say as regards to it.

"I made lunch." Yami replied after a moment, gesturing to the sandwiches on the desk and sitting down next to Yugi on the bed.

"Thanks!" Yugi smiled and Yami's heart lifted a touch, perhaps nothing was wrong after all, maybe his light was just tired. Though that didn't explain the hand…Yami shot the offending appendage a suspicious look, but there were nothing wrong with it. This was further proved when the smaller of the two grabbed the plates and took them over to the bed where he placed them gently on the covers. "I'm sorry about before." Yugi continued as he picked up a sandwich. "I was a bit down about this whole thing, but now I see that it isn't that bad." He took a bite out of his sandwich, swallowed and then carried on, "I was being selfish, you must be enjoying your freedom after all." Yami raised an eyebrow a little but said nothing, letting Yugi continue. Could this be the centre of the problem? "I mean now you can go where ever you want, not where I have to go, and you can do what you want to do instead of being held back by me!" This time Yami felt he had to chip in.

"Yugi, you do know that I enjoy being with you don't you?" He asked suspiciously. Yugi nodded and started on another sandwich, but the Pharaoh wasn't convinced. "You know that I like going places with you and doing the things that you like doing, right?" Yugi nodded again and Yami decided to drop it. He could prove that to Yugi later, when they were out with their friends. The spirit looked at his watch and then stood up. "You'd better get ready to leave." He suggested, "I said we'd meet everyone in twenty minutes and no doubt you'll want to walk." Yugi nodded again. "Right then, in that case I'll see you downstairs in five." Yami took the plates and left. He hadn't touched any of his sandwiches. He wasn't hungry. Yami just couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something important. Something bigger than all of the little oddities that were going on around him. He also couldn't get rid of the suspicion that if he didn't figure it out soon it was going to come back to haunt him.

They met Joey, Tristan and Tea at the arcade on time. At first it had seemed like they would be horribly late due to a pair of missing shoes, but they had managed to make up for lost time during the walk. Meeting their friends as separate people was an odd experience, but as per usual Joey, Tristan and Tea were accepting as ever. At first Yugi had seemed lethargic and not eager to join in, but as soon as the others had started asking questions he had received a seemingly miraculous boost of energy.

"Hey, Pharaoh!" Joey yelled from across the arcade where he was playing a fight game. "Wanna a game?" Yami smiled and nodded, walking over to where his friend was finishing up the round before.

"Hello Joey." He greeted the blonde as he joined him

"Hey." Joey replied, inserting a few coins to start the next round. "I wanna ask you something." He paused before pushing the last coin into the machine, turning amber eyes to the person next to him. "What's up with Yug today?"

"You noticed too?" Yami asked, concern building inside of him again. To make sure that nothing was going on the Pharaoh shot a glance to where Yugi was playing air hockey against Tristan. He seemed fine and both hands seemed to be functioning.

"Yeah, he seemed a bit down earlier, I was wondering…nah, but he looks fine now don't he!" Joey laughed and let the last coin fall through the slot. Five minutes later the conversation was forgotten.

Yugi and Yami got back to the Kame game shop quite late that evening. After the day at the arcade the group of friends had gone to some card trading stores, spent some time in the mall and then finally grabbed some dinner at Burger Palace. It had been an utterly enjoyable day and Yami couldn't bring himself to keep a smile off his face. On arriving at the shop Yugi rummaged for the keys and brought them to the lock, opening the side door.

"Grandpa! We're home!" Yugi yelled up the stairs.

"I'm on the phone!" The old man yelled back and Yami's smile widened, he could get used to living like this.

"So." He began, "Enjoy the day Yugi?" Yugi smiled and Yami congratulated himself, Yugi had gone from quiet and withdrawn back to his normal self in a few hours of fun and Yami had thought up the idea.

"Yeah!" Yugi nodded, "I haven't had that much fun in ages, thanks, for everything." Yami nodded and smiled back at his light. He loved seeing him this happy. "I think I'm gonna head to bed though." The smaller boy yawned and the light in his eyes dimmed a fraction. For a second Yami tensed, it looked almost as if his light would pitch forward where he was standing. It was a startling change, but Yugi had gone from glowing to pale and weak looking in a matter or seconds. Yami looked at the clock, it read ten forty-five.

"That's probably best…" He agreed slowly, "You look tired."

"I feel it too!" Yugi smiled slightly, "Right well ah…oh, but what about you!" Yugi pointed out.

"I'll sleep down here." He gestured to the sofa and Yugi paused,

"Are you sure? Will you be ok?" Yami smiled to himself. That was the Yugi he was used to, caring and thoughtful, his light, a guiding force of good in all of his potential darkness. Even when it seemed Yugi would pass out since he was so exhausted the small boy was still worrying about others.

"Yes, I'll be fine aibou. Good night."

"Good night!" Yugi smiled and made his way upstairs to bed. Yami yawned; he hadn't noticed how tired he was getting himself. It had been a long day, but at the end of it everything seemed right again. He would sleep well tonight.

Reviewer's Section

Cheeky-eyes: Glad you liked it! I try after all lol! Here is the update that you were looking forward to! Sorry it took a little longer than normal!

Coco-Gash-Niccals: Lol, bring on the cookies! XD And here is the update! Sorry it wasn't as soon as the last one!

Yami-Yuugi: Thank you very much for the constructive review, it helped me reflect and refine my style a little. I'm glad that you are enjoying this story and I hope you continue to! Oh, and I thought I'd drop this in here, but I'm a BIG fan of your 'Ocean Avenue' series, I love Yugi in those stories, he's so quirky! I also happen to adore Yami and Joey in said stories, so I'm touched that you decided to review my fic. Thanks!

Yami Val: Well, Yugi is getting weaker indeed...but you just wait lol! As to whether anything is happening to Yami you'll have to wait and see!

Cactus Bob: Thanks for your review! And only one more chapter until you'll have to live up to your promise! As to Yugi's fate, don't worry! He's safe-ish with me! (Hint: But note that this fic is marked as an angst, not a tradgedy ;) )

gowb: Well, your wish has been answered! Here is another chapter! And with less of a cliffy to boot! More chapters are on their way...but I can't promise the number of cliffies will be decreasing any time soon! ;

frogger666: Here is what happens next! And thanks for the compliment! Another chapter should be up shortly so stay tuned! And I have to agree, Yugi is kinda cute isn't he lol

Yimi Makuya: Thank you for your reviews! Here is another chapter for you to browse through, so I hope you like it!

Thanks again to all of you! Remember, your reviews make me write faster! 'Cause that isn't blackmail XD lol! Oh, and don't forget to vote guys! The future of the story lies in your hands! (Cheesy movie moment)

Trikki+