Wow chapter five already and I do believe this is my longest chapter yet. So far we have learnt of Tea's abusive past and had a glimpse of Yami's past in Egypt as well as his soft spot for cats…awwww! Thanks for the reviews guys, it tells me you're still reading and enjoying it. Please enjoy…

Rating: M

Disclaimer: Yeah right I own Yu-gi-Oh as well as a castle made entirely out of gold and engaged to Josh Hartnett.

Chapter Five

He hadn't known of what to make of the girl who fell into his arms, only that she was beautiful and had an incredibly lightweight. When he had looked into her eyes for the first time, he saw a flash of underlying pain, deeply imbedded within the swirling ocean of her eyes. It was something that he couldn't stop thinking about.

He hadn't planned on coming into contact with humans that evening, but as time progressed he had found himself surrounded at every corner, finding solitude only when taking a back street that seemed abandoned, its only prowlers seeming to be a few stray cats that noisily knocked over trash cans and growled loudly in response.

Thoughts of the girl he had come to know as Tea swam through his mind, unlocking what still remained human in him. Sure she was hot. Her body perfectly modeled and beautiful, with the attractive brunette and blue-eyed combination, and a dreamy voice that he had actually enjoyed listening to, made her so irresistible, but in another way from what he was used to.

When he held her in his arms, he hadn't struggled against his bloodlust, for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. In fact he hadn't even thought of it. The only thought that went through his mind was, 'who was she,' and of course exactly how does one fall backwards without tripping over anything.

Just thinking about her made him smile.

There were no streetlights up ahead, but that didn't faze him in the slightest. As the street darkened, his night vision instantly kicked him, allowing him to see his surroundings in perfect clarity, almost as though it were during daylight hours. Yugi had once told him that it took the fun out been able to prowl around during the night, but Yami had disagreed.

He hated the dark.

It made him feel powerful and free, like he owned the world and whatever it had to offer him, which was defenselessly there for his taking. The air he breathed was like an intoxicating drug that made him feel giddy and confident, and together they made him feel free…but he wasn't.

The price of freedom was the damning of his soul, and becoming like the monster he had so often seen in the soulless eyes of his fellow vampire kind.

Even if it freed him of the pain and weakness his thirst brought, and gave him the strength he needed to conquer the world, as well as the guiltless betrayal of taking what he desired without further remorse…he refused to give in, and waited for the weakness that the rising sun brought him.

Perhaps that was why when he saw the anguished distress that dwelled within Tea's shallow pooled eyes, he instantly fell victim to one of his many unconquered weaknesses, which he rather ignored than rid himself of.

In every way they were different, but one thing bonded them together, which Yami realized somewhere deep inside himself, that he had known all along, even while standing and listening to her scold herself for making the idiot of the year's award.

The look in her eyes had been the same look in his whenever he saw them in the mirror of his barely-there reflection.

They had both felt pain.

An ear-piercing scream shattered his train of thoughts and jolted his senses. Once again trouble stirred on the horizons, and like a piece of metal tempted by the attraction of a magnet, he found himself been drawn to the location, which was directly ahead of him. He only hoped that there was no blood…


(A few minutes before)

Tea hadn't meant to go through the west side route, which practically led to the particularly worse parts of Domino City. It just happened.

She couldn't even remember how she got there; only that her gaze had been solely ahead of her, while her mind traveled to the alluring crimson eyes of her 'favourite stranger' Yami.

She sighed. Well that explains why I don't remember anything.

A muffled sound of movement startled her as it came unexpectedly from behind, causing her to whirl around blindly as she squinted into the darkness. She felt eyes on her, even though she couldn't see them.

"Hello?" she called out weakly, taking a small step backward. There was no answer, but she suddenly felt surrounded.

Taking a deep breath she decided on taking an old phrase into consideration, 'sink or swim,' and began to hastily walk forward, deciding that a doggy-paddle was better than nothing. She had managed to walk about ten paces when the 'pool' threw her a wave.

A large figure emerged from the shadows, just about the largest man she had ever seen. "Hey cutie… you're not lost are you?" His words slid from his mouth in a smooth dangerous sort of way that reminded her of a snake's tongue. There was a large ugly scar scraped across his cheek in a half moon shape, which was probably his most iconic feature on his body…after all, he was most certainly nothing to look at.

He dragged a cigarette to his mouth and breathed in deeply, his snakelike eyes scanning her body in a perverted way… not that she wasn't used to it.

"No, I'm just heading down the road," she said in a voice much too soft to be convincing. She began to take a step forward, but he blocked her path with a simple side step.

"Oh come on, stay a little while," He said as he walked up to her. She heard footsteps behind her, and glanced around slightly in time to see four figures much taller than herself surround her. She was completely blocked from escape.

"Yeah baby, stay a bit!" A man purred from behind her, smelling of liquor and weed smoke. She felt hands grasp her shoulders and pull her backwards towards the darkness of an ally, while the large scar faced man charged toward her with an evil grin on his face.

She knew what they were going to do to her, and yet felt nothing. Not fear, not joy, not anger or sadness. The only thing she existed for was for them. It didn't matter that she had been a good student or that she had been accepted at the best ballet school in Domino City, it didn't matter that she dreamed of dancing Swan Lake as a professional ballet dancer on stages across the globe, all that mattered was that she could give them something.

It hadn't mattered what she wanted, back when she was seven - when the one person that was supposed to help her make all her dreams come true and protect her from people like these, became the thing in the dark – and it didn't matter now eleven years later when it would all happen again.

She felt herself been forced on the ground and held down by her wrists, while the larger man knelt down over her, waving a sharp pocket knife over her breasts.

She felt her buttons been clipped off, one by one, while the sounds of pants unzipping echoed in her ears. "A pretty thing like you, shouldn't be wondering around these streets at night, it could be dangerous," The words were echoed in laughter that hideously shredded the peaceful quiet air of the night.

She felt him rip off her shirt with a painful yank that pinched her skin, and grabbed hold of one of her breasts, grinding hard against her thigh as he felt his erection come on. She heard muffled moans come from the men whose faces were hidden in the shadows, clearly enjoying the view.

She felt disgusted as his rough, calloused hands darted downward over her thighs until they reached the bottom hems of her short denim skirt. "Don't worry baby, I'll give it to you nice and hard!" He growled grotesquely, ripping off her lacy panties.

It was at that moment, that through her stone sculptured trance, something inside her snapped. Yami's kind face flashed through her mind, and she suddenly felt as though all the strength she had kept locked inside her suddenly burst forward into all her limbs.

With all her might she brought her knees up in line with her stomach and kicked forward, catching him squarely on his chest. He flew backwards in surprise, letting out what sounded like an animal howl before hitting the concrete ground.

Then, taking in a deep breath, she screamed for all she was worth…


It was just as he had feared.

Once he had neared the location of the scream, the smell of blood grew stronger. He felt his undeveloped fangs itching against his gums as he grounded his teeth together, the thirst powerfully coming over him. He was about to turn and walk away, before he lost control, but then he caught her lovely strawberry scent.

Tea!

For reasons unknown a sudden overwhelming rage consumed him and he charged at lightning speed through the ally-way, momentarily forgetting to restrain himself as he grabbed the first attacker that was dangerously close on top of her. He flung the guy across the street, which smashed head first into the pavement before landing on his back.

The others all suddenly aware of their leader's failed flying lesson, gasped in horror, blindly unaware of Yami's presence before he attacked again, this time targeting the men who held her down. Without a second's hesitation he smashed their heads together, creating an unearthly crack before letting them fall limply to the ground.

"What the fu-" the shortest member of the thugs, who stood just an inch shorter than Yami, never had the chance to finish, because before he knew it, he found himself flung sideways as a fist crushed against his cheek, crushing his jaw instantly.

Only one remained; the coward of the pack. Yami caught movement on the side of his eagle-like eye as the remaining thug tried to make a hasty escape. "Not so fast!" he growled, as he leapt through the air and landed directly in front of the coward before him.

"Jeez man I didn't mean trouble!" the guy squirmed, backing up against the wall.

Yami fumed. He felt like ripping the guy's head off, or tearing him to pieces, but instead before the scum of the Earth could talk back, he grabbed him by the throat and applied pressure, watching in amusement as his face went from a coffee colour to purple in a few seconds. "I should kill you!" he hissed angrily, before control slowly started to settle in.

He took one last look at the guy who was slowly dying in his grip and then tossed him aside with ease like he was nothing but garbage…, which Yami believed he was.

Tea hadn't moved, in fact she seemed frozen in shock and fear, though he was pretty sure she couldn't see a thing. He walked up to her as loudly as he could, trying to come out of the element of surprise that he had been so naturally gifted with.

"Whose there?" she asked fearfully, covering her bare chest with folded arms. He began to take of his prized leather jacket, revealing his muscular arms and broad shoulders. "Here put this on," he said softly placing the jacket over her shoulders, before turning away to give her some privacy.

He read her thoughts, which were centered on how hot and familiar his voice sounded, and how good his jacket smelt. She seemed to be deliberately avoiding thoughts about what had happened to her, though bits and pieces leaked in there and there, but almost always she covered it up with how good a simple whiff of his jacket was.

"Can you see?" He asked her suddenly, his eyes still avoiding her form until she pulled in the last silver button of his jacket. "Not…really," she struggled, her shock quickly wearing off. "May I help you up?" He asked, cautiously keeping a distance away from her, in case she was uncomfortable with him being too close after the kind of attack she had endured.

She surprised him more than anyone. "Please." Her small voice, so unlike the girl he had just met two hours earlier. He gently hoisted her up but the waist, but stopped instantly when she cried out in pain. "Oww!" she gasped through what sounded like a sob, and he quickly lifted her down.

"What's wrong?" he asked, but scanned her himself before she could answer. "My ankle hurts," she said through clenched teeth, whining softly. Unlike human eyes, he was able to see clearly in the dark, and found her ankle was indeed very swollen, which was probably just a sprain.

He smiled as he wondered how she had managed to accomplish that. Glancing in the direction of the guy to lay a few meters away from them, who was indeed extremely tall, he had wondered if it was her handy work that had been partly responsible for the large head-wound at the back of his bald head.

After reading her mind and finding that she was very relaxed in his care, he decided that he would simply carry her out. Placing an arm around her legs and another supportively around her back, he gently lifted her from the ground, careful not to make any sudden movements that would frighten her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, her body stiffening as though she had second thoughts about trusting him. "I'm not going to hurt you Tea," he said softly, realizing how it sounded like a promise not only to her, but to him as well.

She gasped in surprise. "How do you know my name?"

He smirked as he slowly began to walk toward the light, holding her protectively against him. "It's me, Yami, we really have to stop meeting like this." His attempt at a light-hearted joke did not go unappreciated.

She laughed lightly as her cheeks flushed pink.

'OMG! He's here! He saved me! Again!...oh shit he's going to think I'm a total klutz! Oh jeez I can only imagine what he must think of me, but who cares – hello he's like totally carrying me now, and I mean he's like wow-kind-of strong! Oh this is officially the best day of my life!' He couldn't help but grin as he read her thoughts.

She shifted a little nervously in his arms, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. "What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"Aren't I a little heavy for you to be carrying me all the way back?" she asked cutely, unaware that heavy for him was holding up a small mini van and three-hundred pound bus driver for more than an hour.

"You're paper-weight actually," he said honestly, giving her a reassuring smile, which definitely made her feel less anxious, but then she noticed how cold his skin felt.

"Oh my gosh, I'm totally letting you freeze!" she worried; glancing at the leather jacket that protectively covered her bare arms. He laughed, earning a worried look from Tea. "I may feel cool, but I've been beating the crap out of Domino City's 'lowest,' so I'm actually pretty warm right now."

Her face fell, and suddenly after reading her thoughts he knew why.

"And I enjoyed every minute of it," he added truthfully. Picking on dangerous bullies had always put him in a good mood, not that he was a violent person, but because of how good it felt to dish out the pain and suffering that was so willingly given…

"But you could have gotten seriously hurt and it would have been my fault," she said sadly, and Yami could see with blissful ease the sad look in her eyes that mixed with old and new painful emotions that he was all too familiar with.

His face suddenly hardened as he became serious, an almost frightening version of himself that she seemed to be wary of, as her body tensed under his grip. "No. What happened to you tonight was not your fault, and what happened to them was not your fault either, what happened tonight was their fault and they paid for the consequences that their idiotic choices brought them."

He softened his gaze keeping eye contact with her lovely blue orbs that reminded him of the ocean. "And you needn't worry about me, I do believe I have said before, that's it not every day that I get to save a damsel in distress."

She smiled softly. She had never heard such caring words come from a guy before, to her that is.

"Hey how about we stop at the little 24 hour coffee shop over there and get a cup of coffee and something to eat?" He said after a minute, bringing her attention to a dodgy little store on the corner.

'It looks like a whore house.' She thought, and Yami had to use every ounce of will power not to burst out laughing. "I know what it looks like, but trust me these places are so much fun," he said softly through an encouraging grin, which Tea simply couldn't resist.

Carrying her out of the cold street and into the diner, neither of them even so much as turned to glance back behind them, where four of the five bodies of her attackers lay.

Despite the oozing wound on the back of his head, and the minor concussion he sustained not only from the first time when he had been kicked backwards, but also from been thrown across the street, the larger than normal thug leader Brent, was not about to lose his prey.

Placing his hand in his pocket he felt the cold metallic surface of his pocket knife, his trusty sidekick, which he would use to get his girl back…whether the 'punk' was going to give up the easy way, or the hard way…


Oh Yami is such a hero isn't he? Hehehe let me go and start on the next chapter, hope this one was entertaining enough. Thanks again for the reviews and your support, and I'll see you again soon. Sav' over and out. XD