AN: sorry it took so long to update but school has been hell and then i got sick...which finally gave me time to write this chapter. then wouldn't let me upload it . hope you enjoy.

Ch.3 The Corner Café

When Yugi next awoke, feeling more refreshed than he had in a long time, he noticed he was not alone in the room. Yami had returned a few hours earlier and had passed out in the chair, head resting on his arms on the side of the bed. An awkward position to be sure. Yugi immediately felt guilty for taking up the bed but was hesitant to wake the slumbering bartender. Yugi decided to take the opportunity to study his rescuer further. While Yami did look remarkably like him there were definitely some differences. They both had the same tricolor hair, but where Yugi's gold was confined to his bangs Yami had pieces that streaked up thorough the red and black. His eyes too were different even though currently they were hidden under kohl lined lids. They were narrow, crimson and full of mystery; nothing like Yugi's own wide, innocent amethyst. He was also at least a foot taller than Yugi, tall enough that Yugi could tuck himself neatly beneath Yami's chin. Yugi blushed at that train of thought, knowing that he was beginning to develop a crush on his rescuer. Yugi sighed softly; all in all Yami was the most beautiful person Yugi had ever met.

Yami stirred at the sound of a soft sigh nearby. Opening his eyes he found himself looking up into the startled face of Yugi Mouto. The boy squeaked and backed up a bit.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you!" Yugi said hastily, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

Yami yawned and stretched, slightly sore from his awkward sleeping position. "That is quite alright," he said, "much longer like that and I would have had to see doctor for a bad back."

"I'm sorry!" Yugi exclaimed guiltily. "I was in your bed, you should have woke me up or…"

Yami held up a hand for forestall Yugi's apology. "Nonsense, it's my own fault for sleeping like that. If I had wanted a bed I would have taken Bakura's seeing he is out on a job."

"But it's your bed!" Yugi protested.

"And I let you use it of my own free will." Yami cut him off, standing up.

He smiled down at the still guilty face of the boy in his bed. "Now if you are feeling up to it; I promised I would take you home today and so I shall."

"Oh that would be wonderful!" Yugi said. Eagerly jumping out of the bed and hunting around for his jacket.

Yami couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness at the thought of Yugi leaving before pushing it roughly out of his head. It would do him no good to fall for the boy. He slipped on his own jacket and carefully belted his revolver around his waist while Yugi was not looking. Seto had plenty of enemies and Yami had none to few all his own so it was unwise to leave the Nightlight unarmed. Still he did not want to alarm Yugi so he made sure that the gun was hidden beneath his long duster.

"Ready?" he turned to Yugi who had just located the rumpled blue coat that he had been found in.

"Yep." Yugi said pulling on the jacket. "Lets go."

Yami lead the way out of the maze-like warehouse complex and out through the front gate. He paused to speak to the gate guard for a moment telling him that Yugi was to be let in anytime of the day or night. The guard nodded saying that he already had similar orders from Seto. Then he strode off down the street in the direction of the ritzy shop district.

Yugi had to jog to keep up with Yami's much longer stride. "Hey could you slow down a bit?" he panted.

Yami looked startled. "Of course I am sorry. I forgot how much shorter your stride must be."

Yugi glowered at the reference to his height. "It's not my fault I was born short." he muttered under his breath but was grateful that Yami had slowed down.

"So what do you do when you are not crashing sailboats?" Yami asked in a teasing manner.

Yugi glared at him. "It was just the once!" he protested, causing Yami to laugh and ruffle his hair. Yugi glared at him a bit more before sighing and answering. "I work at my grandpa's café while I get through school." he said.

"The university?" Yami asked, looking almost wistful.

"Yeah," Yugi replied. "And if I'm not at the café or school I'm usually out with my friends."

"Wrecking boats?" Yami couldn't help but tease.

"Grrr! No, it was just that one time already! Sheesh!" Yugi said, slightly annoyed by Yami's needling.

Yami held up his hands in a placating manner. "Alright, alright I believe you. Little one."

"So do all your friends go to the university too?" Yami queried, trying to change the subject.

He shook hi head. "No, only Malik and Ryou. They're the ones that look like Marik and Bakura," Yugi said.

Yami nodded, smiling down at his companion. "It sounds like you have it pretty good little one."

"Yeah but nothing could be cooler than working in a speakeasy! I mean c'mon that's just awesome. Are you doing it to pay for school too?" Yugi asked enthusiastically.

Yami looked wistful again. "No I'm afraid not. It just happened to be the only job I could get…" he trailed off his face seeming to grow shadowed and more mysterious then ever. Then all at once he seemed to shake himself. "Still," he continued in a cheerful tone, "life is definitely interesting there, what with Marik and Bakura always up to something!"

Yugi was confused at Yami's sudden mood change but decided to try and figure it out later. He opened mouth so say something more when he found himself tackled by someone.

"Yugi!" came the glad cry of the person who had him locked in a bone crushing hug.

"Uh, Malik, I can't breathe," he said trying to pry the blond off of him.

Malik stepped back only to grab Yugi's shirt collar and shake him. "Don't you scare us like that again you idiot!" Malik shouted directly into his ear making Yugi flinch away from the loud noise. Yami was debating on whether or not he should step in when another boy came running up, long white hair streaming behind him.

"Malik!" he scolded "you promised you wouldn't!" he shouted.

"I promised I wouldn't strangle him that's all, Ryou," the blond retorted.

"Malik!"

"Oh fine!"

"We're glad you are safe Yugi." Ryou said happily. "We were all worried sick!"

"Yeah, now you have to tell us everything!" Malik butted in when Ryou paused to draw a breath.

Yugi chuckled and manage to disentangle himself from his friends. "Well first off I want you to meet Yami. He's the person who saved me."

The two boys turned to stare at Yami as if the had just now noticed him.

"He looks like a Yugi who actually hit puberty!" Malik exclaimed earning a shout from Ryou and a smack from Yugi.

"It's nice to meet you," Ryou said politely, shooting a glare at Malik.

Yami laughed. "You too," he said.

Yugi was about to say more when another shout cut him off.

"Yugi! You really are safe!"

Yami watched as Yugi raced over to embrace and elderly man not much taller then himself.

"Grandpa!" Yugi said. "Of course I'm safe. Didn't you get my note?"

"You can never trust the mail these days." the old man said. "I am glad to see you are safely home at last." he turned and walked over to Yami.

"I assume you are the one who recurred him." he asked.

Yami only nodded.

"Then you have my thanks, young man." Yugi's grandpa held out his hand which Yami shook.

"You're welcome sir," Yami said. Deciding that Yugi was in safe hands he knew he had to return to the Nightlight. He was taking a big enough risk just bringing Yugi here. The fuzz patrolled here regularly and Yami was not keen on being arrested.

He turned to Yugi. "I have to go back now, Yugi." he said.

Yugi looked up sadly. "Won't you stay for some food? We have the best on the block." Yugi pleaded.

Yami shook his head. "No I have work to do. Maybe another time."

Yugi smiled. "Okay Yami! See you around then." he said giving him a hug.

Yami had to fight back a blush. "Good bye, little one." he said turning and walking off down the street.

Yugi watched him go, and couldn't help but feeling like running after him and begging him to stay. However it wasn't fair to keep Yami from his work so he turned back to his friends who were watching him with curious looks.

"Alright, spill!" Malik ordered, dragging Yugi into the café and for once Ryou helped. They plopped Yugi at a table in the back and they eagerly crowded around him to hear his story. With a long suffering sigh Yugi drew a breath and began to relay the events of the past few days.

"So you say they look just like us?" not surprisingly Malik and Ryou were most interested in their look-alikes. Malik was pressing Yugi for more information. "What else are they like?"

Yugi held up his hands. "I'm not really sure, I only saw them a couple of times, but they seem kind of…crazy, and dangerous from what Yami says." he said uncertainly.

"Yami this and Yami that!" Malik said, exasperated. "Much more of this and I'm gonna start thinking you have a crush on him!"

Yugi blushed hotly.

Malik gasped. "You do! Oh that's great; Yugi's first crush. Wait 'til Joey hears this!" he said laughing.

"It's not funny!" Yugi said, embarrassed.

"I beg to differ," Malik said.

"Leave him alone Malik," Ryou said firmly. "He never teases you about Tea."

"Well that's because he has her following him around like a little puppy." Malik grumbled.

"It's not by my choice, believe me." Yugi protested.

"Oh I know that. It's just not fair that all the girls love you for your…your adorableness and you don't even so much as bat an eyelash in their direction. While guys like me may as well do back flips for their attention!" Malik went off into his usual rant.

Ryou waited until he got about half way through before calmly saying:

"That's enough Malik. You're making Yugi feel bad."

Malik stopped mid word. "Sorry Yugi," he said apologetically.

Yugi just smiled and waved him off. "Its alright. I know you don't blame me."

"Boys?" Solomon called. "If you are done pestering my grandson I need my chef back. Malik?"

"Coming Solomon!" Malik called back.

"I should be getting back to the store." Ryou said. "Goodbye Yugi! See you tonight?"

"Maybe," Yugi said. "We'll see how I'm feeling…eep! I have to get to class I've missed too many as it is."

He raced upstairs to change and gather his stuff.

Ryou frowned at his friend's evasive answer but wrote it off to him being tired from his ordeal. With a shrug he turned and headed back across the street to his bookstore.

By the time twilight had settled over Chicago, Yami had already readied the speakeasy for the night and was in the process of setting up the bar. The other workers avoided him more then usual tonight; he was in one of the worst moods they had seen him in yet. He glared at anyone who came near and even snapped at Marik when he tried to talk to him. Bakura felt that it was time to step in and defuse Yami before a patron got hurt.

"Yami," he said approaching the bar with Marik a few paces behind him. They had to maneuver carefully; Yami was dangerous in these moods.

"What?!" Yami snapped setting down glasses with more force than was probably recommended with fragile objects.

"I want a rematch." Bakura said.

"No." Yami said flatly.

"Scared?" Bakura taunted and found himself on the receiving end of that crimson glare. "Scared to lose Yami?" Bakura dug again.

"You know you'll just lose so why even bother?" came the annoyed response.

Bakura mentally congratulated himself at getting more then a one word sentence out of Yami. He was making progress. Now it was Marik's turn.

"C'mon Bakura," Marik said picking up on the unspoken cue, "Yami doesn't want to play right now. He's afraid that he might tarnish his image by losing to a street thug like you."

Bakura heard Yami snort derisively at Marik's comment and he held back a smile; so far so good.

"Yeah, still isn't refusing to play as good as forfeiting anyway?" Bakura asked Marik as he turned to go. A box of cards hit him squarely in the back of the head.

"Deal." Yami said.

Three rounds of poker later, all of which Bakura had lost, Yami was acting calmer. Despite his annoyance at losing to Yami again he felt satisfied that his goal had been accomplished. If you want to clam down a pissed off Yami, get him to play games. The first patrons drifted in and Yami immediately turned his attention to preparing drinks. Bakura motioned Marik to follow and the two slipped out the back door into the garage.

"What do you think had Yami so pissed off tonight?" Bakura asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Marik asked amused.

"Not really." Bakura said, frowning.

Marik sighed "what is missing tonight that wasn't last night?" he patiently as if talking to a small child.

"I don't want to play riddles Marik! Spit it out!" Bakura snapped, irritated by the patronizing tone in Marik's voice.

"The mini-Yami, you idiot!" Marik said exasperated.

"What about him?" Bakura asked, feeling confused.

Marik looked annoyed. "Well if you haven't figured it out I'm not going to tell you!" he shouted stomping off.

"Hey wait! Come back here and tell me this instant!" he yelled running after his friend.

Yugi carefully tip-toed down the stairs and through the café's kitchen. He had to be careful not to wake his grandpa. With a little handy cooking grease he managed to open the back door without it's usual squeak and slipped out into the night. The crisp Chicago air made him shiver as he hurried down the street to the warehouse district where he knew the Nightlight waited. He had to see Yami again. Even though he had promised his grandpa to be more careful from now on, he had felt a funny sort of ache when Yami left and he knew it wouldn't go away until Yugi saw him again. He was dressed in his normal blue pinstripe pants, white shirt, and navy coat though now washed and no longer smelling of lake Michigan. He tried to be as quiet as possible knowing this was a nasty district. Still he jumped at every noise and nearly screamed when he tripped over a scruffy alley cat.

"It was just a cat, Yugi, calm down," he scolded himself. "It's okay you can do this."

He nearly sighed in relief when he saw the familiar sight of the gates the warehouse that housed the Nightlight, and not so incidentally Yami. He hurried over to the gate guard who squinted down at him.

"You must be Yugi huh?" the guard asked.

Yugi nodded.

" Alright just head though that door there and you'll be in the nightlight." Yugi began to head through but paused when the guard called out to him. "Hey kid! Be careful in there ok? Yami is in mood; you might want to stay away from him."

Yugi frowned. "Mood?" he asked uncertainly.

"Ya, and when Yami gets moody broken bones are usually the least of what happens to people." the guard warned. "He may like you but that probably wouldn't stop him from busting you up. He's dangerous kid."

Yugi just shook his head and continued on. He couldn't believe that about Yami, after all look at all the things Yami had done for him. There was no way that Yami could be like that. No way.

Slipping inside the sounds of jazz music, clinking glasses, and the smell of smoke immediately assaulted his senses. He looked over at the bar and sure enough, there was Yami with his usual polite smile. He didn't look angry at all. Yugi grinned happily, he had been right; Yami was perfectly normal. He wondered why the gate guard had tried to scare him like that but shook it off. He had more important things to do. Like go talk to Yami. Yami was dressed in a crisp white button-up shirt that had the sleeves rolled up so as not to be in the way over which he wore a sleek black vest. A pair of black pants that hung loosely on him rounded out the outfit. He was breathtaking and Yugi suddenly wished he had worn something other than his normal school clothes.

He made his way over to the bar and sat down. Yami had yet to notice him and simply called over his shoulder without looking for Yugi's order.

"I'll have a club soda," Yugi said with a smirk, knowing that would get Yami's attention.

"Yugi?" Yami spun around looking shocked. "What are you doing here?" Yami sounded angry. "You shouldn't have come here!" he said harshly.

"What?" Yugi gasped. What had he done wrong? He thought that Yami would be glad to see him. Had the gate guard been right?

"Get out of here!" Yami hissed. "Go home!"

AN: hmmm wonder what could be up with yami...

what is it that every but yugi seems to know about him?

no worries you'll find out...eventually.

well you know the drill R&R please!