You guys can thank Acetonperoxid for this chapter! She gave a fantastically in depth review and really eased some of my fears about this story. I'm just worried that it's moving too quickly or not developed enough. Please let me know what you think of it at the end of this chapter! Thank you!

Chapter Five

"Sir, there is only one family in the way. One other has been sent off by his brother and the last is already scheduled to be taken care of."

Dax nodded, calculating in his mind their possibilities. Serp was before him reporting on the progress of eliminating the bender's support – whatever family they had left needed to be out of the picture while he invaded the psyche of the benders.

Teenagers are already inclined towards loneliness, and isolating them further would be all too easy. Without anyone but each other, the pressure would undoubtedly turn them against their friends and eliminate the threat of benders in the most deliciously self-destructive way possible.

"Who is appointed to take out the last?"

Serp hissed slightly at the thought of their target, praying his next request to be granted. "I was hoping you would allow me the honor of eliminating her; she and I have some history."

"Yes, I am aware." Dax looked thoughtfully at his warrior, considering how it could backfire to allow Serp this opportunity. "…you may. But first allow her bender to see her one last time. I want him crushed. As for the brother and sister, give them one week to get out of our way then if they remain, exterminate. The others have no family, so after the next seven days they will all be alone."

Serp nodded officially before departing to give orders. Dax then motioned for a lower level demon – a dream wizard – to enter his lair.

This demon looked human, except for his skin which appeared to be made of sand. He wore a long as dark as the sky before sunrise that covered all but his face and hands.

"Status report." While most would flinch at the brash, authoritative voice, this dream wizard held his stance and responded in an equally forceful voice.

"I am slowly invading the small one's nightmares. He will soon be completely vulnerable to my manipulation." The sorcerer bowed respectfully, offering his loyalty. Dax rose from his seat and leisurely strode towards his subject. He placed a slimy finger under the sandy chin, lifting it so they could meet eye to eye.

"I trust in your abilities, Jafar. I want him alone and distrusting even his best friend. He is the least believing, and that makes him the best target."

Jafar nodded to his master. "It shall be done."

"Good." Dax released Jafar's chin and rubbed the now wet sand on his fingers against his thumb, a look of distaste on his serpentine face.

"Send that leech in when you go; he has a business deal to attend soon."

With a final nod, Jafar took the dismissal. He understood Dax to have a full schedule today. Besides, Jafar had some dreams to torment.

"Grandpa!"

Yuugi crawled across the hard pavement, holes appearing in his thin jeans. If he wore them now his ass would surely freeze, but in the September night air they had been a good decision. Had he been able to think he may have regretted wearing such thin material. But the blood on his knees was nothing compared to the blood gushing from Grandpa's skull, turning his gray hair a muddy brown.

"G-G-Grandpa," Yuugi whimpered. He sat back on bent legs, placing his grandfather's head in his lap. "No, Gramp…please don't. Please don't leave me."

Hands gripped around his arms and pulled him away despite his struggles; his jeans were dyed red from his grandfather's blood and his whole body shook. Tears fell in rivers down his cheeks as his vision blurred and Grandpa grew smaller and smaller. Finally, the people attached to the bruising fingers on his arms spoke.

"Look what you did, runt."

"Marik?"

"Oh, Yuugi, how could you?"

"M-Malik? How could I what?"

"Yuugi, I've lost all respect for you."

As hard as he tried, Yuugi could not turn his head and his sobs only grew worse.

"Kaiba? What are you all doing here?"

A pale hand gripped his chin and forced him to look in to Bakura's cold eyes. The others were holding him by the arms and legs now, keeping him still even while his body shook with the power of his crying.

"You killed him, Yuugi," Bakura growled. "You had magic this whole time and you couldn't even believe long enough to save him, Yuugi!"

"Sh-shut up! Yami said-"

"You killed him, Yuugi."

"Yuugi the murderer."

"Yuugi the killer!"

"Yuugi."

"You did it, Yuugi."

"Couldn't save him."

"Yuugi!"

With a jolt, Yuugi sat up in bed screaming and sweating and oh God he couldn't breathe. Was that his voice retching from his throat in uncontrollable cries?

"Grandpa!"

Arms were around him, holding him to a chest that was much too firm to be the elderly man he desperately wanted to be there. But it was warm and smelled like some kind of manly cologne and fuck he really needed this person right now whoever it was. His little hands gripped the bare skin and he pulled it closer.

"Please…Grandpa…don't leave me."

Yuugi felt his world tilt as the person laid him down shushing him softly. They held him tight, curling their legs under his and bringing him to a calming position in their arms. His tears still never ceased; even when his eyes closed once again, his body continued to shake.

"Grandpa." His pajama pants stuck to his skin from sweat, though in Yuugi's poor mind the blood of his grandfather still soaked through the cloth.

"Go back to sleep, little one. You are protected." A deep voice reverberated through his ears and seemed to battle the demonic words of his dream friends. They became quieter and quieter until they only barely whispered in the back of his head.

"Don't leave me," he whispered in a beaten tone. A small chuckle rocked him back to sleep. Although it was not peaceful, it was quiet and plagued by only the quietest of nightmares.

"Not even if I wanted to, babe."

Jafar fell back violently from his perch by a glowing blue crystal orb. With a nasty growl, he stood on his feet and attempted to reenter Yuugi's mind by reaching into the orb, only to be flung backwards from an electric shock even more powerful than the first. He vaguely heard a whisper of "protected."

Determination set upon his features as he walked to a large glass cabinet filled with herbs and other potion ingredients. He picked out African Dream Root and set it above a fire to stew. Bitterness flooded his veins, blinding his vision and igniting his rage.

If they thought they were safe, they had another thing coming.

Ryou Shiozu stood in a large bathroom of Kaiba mansion examining his reflection with pursed lips. It was Wednesday now and after having a few days to let tempers settle, it was decided they would begin to learn basic defensive arts.

They would be taught by an assumedly shirtless Bakura and Yami, which of course meant that Ryou had to look extra desirable.

He and Bakura had not spoken since their argument – Bakura from regret and hesitation, Ryou from pain and anger. Before that day, Ryou had been sure he and Bakura were on the way to something more. Something they both wanted so badly.

But naturally that would be prohibited by stupid stubborn denying Bakura.

"More like 'Ba-ka-ra'."

Ryou giggled slightly at his own joke as he teased his long white ponytail. His hair was soft and fluffed with just a few strands falling around his face. He wore knee-length yoga pants and white tennis shoes, opting out of a shirt. The top of his pants fell just under the top of his muscled pelvis, showing off 'V' lines.

Many people – Bakura included – didn't know that he was actually pretty fit and assumed him to be all smooth and weak. When really, he was the proud owner of quite a few muscles, thank you very much.

A small knock on the door interrupted his self-assurance.

"Just a sec." He walked to the door and opened it, revealing Yuugi in a skin tight black tank top and low-riding grey sweatpants, his toned arms folded behind his head. When he caught sight of Ryou, he smirked and looked at his friend with mirth in his eyes.

"Now I remember why we used to hook up all the time." Ryou giggled and pushed his friend.

"And even with those arm muscles you've got going, I could still pound you into next week." Yuugi rolled his eyes and linked his arm through Ryou's to lead them downstairs. Their sparring would take place in Kaiba's at-home gym which had been temporarily rearranged to accommodate fighting lessons.

"You know with the stress of this week, I really wouldn't mind that." Ryou wiggled his eyebrows at his friend as they reached the floor where the gym was held. They did know each other very well, after all. And it wasn't like it hadn't happened before…

"Don't tempt me, babe. Have you seen your ass?" Yuugi laughed and pulled down his sweats to reveal his tight boxer briefs and shake them at Ryou, completely unaware that Yami, Seto, and Jou were walking down the stairs immediately behind them and could see the whole show.

"Of course I have. You don't get this tight without knowing it, sexy." He winked behind him before blushing like mad at cat calls from the stairs. Jou had his fist in the air and cupped the other by his lips to heighten his volume as he bounded towards his friends; perhaps as a benefit of his still hidden powers, his body had healed quickly and now he had only mild bruises to worry about.

"Shake it, baby!" Yuugi threw his head back in laughter as the three walked into the gym, Jou smacking his friend's ass the whole way.

"Cousin, not for nothing, but if you're still trying to resist that then you're fucked." Seto remarked with his eyes closed as he walked passed a stunned Yami. Vaguely the teen wondered how it was possible to be training his friends in martial arts for protection from demons while simultaneously fighting a hard on, but mostly his mind was consumed with thoughts of Yuugi shaking his rear in rather delectable situations.

"Shit."

With a grumble, Yami hopped over the rest of the stairs and turned to walk down the hallway after his cousin. The whole way he punched at the air, fighting that stupid mental image of Yuugi and his stupid perfect butt all up in Yami's face.

"So Jou, my love?"

"Yes, Yuugi-poo?"

"Is it true that staring into a blue surface while having sex intensifies your orgasm?"

"What? Why do you ask?"

Yuugi and Ryou glanced at each other before giggling slightly and entering the gym where Marik and Bakura were already sparring with Malik watching. Jou stood still at the door with a confused look on his face until a hand placed itself on his rear and squeezed causing him to 'whoop' in surprise.

"They're just teasing you, pup." Jou looked into deep blue eyes and realization brought him to chase into the mat covered room after Yuugi. He narrowly dodged between the ongoing wrangle and effectively stopped it, with Bakura holding Marik in a half Nelson and looking around confused.

Malik ran to the pair and clocked Bakura to save Marik before he ran out of air. He wrapped his boyfriend in a loose hug while glowering at Bakura, who was holding his cheek bewilderedly. Ryou had to turn away and pretend to talk to Yuugi in order to hide his admittedly pleased grin; Bakura certainly deserved that punch, in his opinion.

"Ryou, I had no idea you were so cut!" Jou admired. Ryou rolled his eyes and exaggeratedly flipped his hair with an air of gratitude. Yuugi giggled, very thankful to be in a good mood for once this week. He wasn't exactly a fan of their current activity, as despite all he had seen he was still reluctant to believe they were all magicians of some sort. And those nightmares were slowly beginning to plague his waking life, causing him to be wary of the friends who star in them.

But Ryou was funny and it was impossible to be anxious with Jou laughing beside him and he was actually looking forward to seeing Yami sweating and shirtless and fighting so maybe, just maybe, he could let himself smile today.

Think of the devil. Yuugi turned as his eyes caught movement at the door. He saw Yami enter, still angrily punching at the air. The smaller boy giggled slightly at how silly Yami looked, inadvertently catching his attention. But no way was that a flutter he felt in his heart at the small smile Yami sent his way. Why was that guy even smiling at him to begin with?

Yami, for one, was glad to see Yuugi in a better mood. He hadn't been able to stay in the guest room last night because he knew Yuugi would have freaked out, but if he allowed himself the hope that Moto's improved attitude was because Yami had been sneaking in to quench those nightmares, then he could also allow himself the hope that Yuugi didn't hate him quite as much as he claimed.

"Are we ready? I have a merger to oversee tomorrow, and I do not intend to waste all my work time relearning how to fight." Yami's smile fell as he looked at Seto, his red eyes blank and his lips slightly parted.

"Look, Mister Privileged, some of us don't know what we're up against." Yuugi said. A small blush tinged his cheeks as he realized he was kind of sort of standing up for Yami, of all people.

"Yeah, check yourself before you wreck yourself."

"Pup!"

"Oh, don't look at me like that you know I'd punch you if it meant sticking up with Yuug."

Ryou laughed a little as he stretched his arms above his head. Even if they were more civil and obviously in love with each other, Seto and Jou still bickered like it was their job. He felt eyes on him and turned slightly, only to smirk when his suspicions of a successful plan to distract Ba-ka-ra were confirmed.

Every inch of Bakura's body north of the boarder went numb, as if gravity decided that his blood was better served south. Ryou looked absolutely stunning. Bakura's eyes trailed all over the smooth, pale skin, taking extra time at the small dimples above his ass. Ryou turned and Bakura's eyes snapped up to meet sultry, confident brown irises.

In that moment, Bakura realized that Ryou knew exactly how good he looked and was definitely licking his lips on purpose.

"Eh…well, let's get started." Yami walked to the middle of the room and regarded his friends carefully. Most of them – much like himself – were not wearing shirts. Only Yuugi and Jou had tank tops on and they were so tight that they may as well have been bare chested. Regret quickly passed through his mind; was it really a good idea to have eight half naked gay teenagers in the same room about to get all sweaty and worked up? "Stretch."

The boys circled along the mat to follow Yami as he led them through a series of positions to loosen them up. He almost lost his own self control when he saw Yuugi hit the ground further in a split than any of the others. His only solace was to see Bakura stumble more than once while watching Ryou. At least he was the only one with such a problem.

Meanwhile, Jou (in a very triumphant effort to throw Seto off as repentance for upsetting Yuugi) bent himself backwards into a bridge position and straightened his legs to stretch them out.

It's possible that the groan he made when his shirt rode up was overkill, but the fact that Kaiba looked quickly away with a huff made it okay.

Malik regarded his friends as they stretched and swallowed hard at the lump in his throat, feeling a mixture of pride and horny. There was probably way too much testosterone in the room for any one person to handle, but his friends were using it to their advantage and he couldn't help but take some responsibility. He was always telling them they needed to use what their mommas gave them.

Yami, for example, was positioned next to him with one leg pulled up behind to stretch his hamstring and very poorly hiding his stare from Yuugi (who was most likely purposely bent away from Yami touching his toes). So obviously that meant that Malik's flirtation lectures were successful.

With a wipe of the proverbial tear, Malik smiled at Yuugi's rear. He smiled even bigger when the boy bent his knees slightly and rolled his body to stand with such subtle movements that to the unfocused eye it wouldn't even have been sexy.

But to Yami, who was watching very intently, it literally knocked him off his feet.

And right into Malik.

"Oh!" Malik screamed. When they collided, he felt a burning sensation along his skin anywhere his muscled friend with sharp elbows landed. His body heated up and his voice got caught in his throat, almost like it did when Marik was doing that thing with his tongue.

Not usually the reaction one experiences when being fallen on.

"Malik! Are you alright?" Yami stood and reached a hand out to help his friend off the ground, but was smacked away by Marik who had stormed over when he heard Malik's outcry. After laying Yami with a sufficiently threatening glare, he bent down to check Malik for any bruises.

When he saw a slight tent in his boyfriend's shorts, he almost choked. Malik looked at him with pleading eyes, silently requesting that Marik direct the others' attention somewhere else.

"Malik, sweetie, are you okay?" Yuugi's face appeared amongst the crowd and Malik barely hid a whimper. He nodded and crossed his legs, praying his friends hadn't noticed his problem yet. Since when did Yuugi's big eyes make him want to jump the smaller boy?

Once again, he looked at Marik who finally seemed to get the message.

"Alright, go away now," he waved everyone away hastily, moving to kneel in front of Malik and effectively block him from their sight. "Just start, we'll catch up."

With a few last concerned looks, the boys dispersed and Marik leaned down to match Malik's gaze with a raised eyebrow of his own. Malik panicked.

"I know, but that's not it! I don't know what it is, but I promise that I am not getting all hot and bothered. Well I mean I guess I am but it's not my fault because holy shit could these guys be any more obvious?"

Despite what many people thought, the only person Malik had ever been with or wanted to be with was Marik. He was honestly scared that his boyfriend thought the uncomfortable predicament in his shorts was because of anyone else.

But simple smiles soothed him enough that he could sit upright and allow Marik to pull him to his feet with a small kiss on his head. His arm wrapped around Malik's back and rubbed it slightly as they walked, attempting to calm not only Malik's own racing heart but also his growing worry for his boyfriend.

Marik knew Malik had what some would call an overactive libido, but it had never embarrassed the other before. Perhaps this sparring was a bad idea after all.

As they rejoined the group, Malik grew fretful and gripped Marik's side. "Are you okay, love?"

Marik tilted his head curiously at Malik's question as they finally joined the others facing Yami and Bakura.

"What do you mean?"

Malik shrugged and faced their "teachers" from his spot between Marik and Ryou. He couldn't quite comprehend why, but he couldn't shake the worry from his core. It was duller as he stood alone, but he still felt a nervousness that wouldn't shake. He decided to focus solely on the lesson, ignoring his concern and absolutely refusing to look at Yuugi or anyone else for that matter. Fighting would probably help him relieve stress anyway, right?

As they sparred, it became more and more complicated. What began as a simple 'one, two, punch' evolved into some kind of squirmy evasive maneuver and then they started working with their legs. When Yami demonstrated a roundhouse kick on Bakura (one which absolutely did not melt Yuugi's loins into butter), the "students'" attempts ended with more than one of them on their asses.

Which is how Ryou fell into Malik and knocked them both to the floor.

"The fuck is with you people knocking my boyfriend to the floor?"

"Marik, you're usually so laconic. It's nice to know that you will bother speaking in defense of your love."

"Shut up, Kaiba. Baby, are you okay?" He crouched beside his lover with worry in his eyes, but stopped short at the pure rage present on Malik's face. Ryou, for his part, regarded his friend with fear; he hadn't meant to land on Malik. It just happened.

He apologized profusely, but was met with silence. Malik glowered at Bakura, tears growing in his eyes. Marik looked between the two perplexed. He was unsure whether to comfort Malik or beat Bakura for whatever he presumably had done to Marik's love. Since he was unsure of what exactly their white-haired friend had done, he decided on the former and bent further towards Malik only to be pushed away as the other Egyptian boy rose to his feet, never moving his eyes from Bakura.

"You bastard!" He screamed. Bakura – with everyone else, of course – stared at Malik in bewilderment.

"Wha- I didn't do anything to you!"

"Oh, sure. Of course. You never do anything, do you Bakura? No responsibility on your shoulders. No convictions, no beliefs. And you take it out on the rest of us with stupid snide comments and judging when you know we just want to be with you. God! You're such an inconsiderate asshole, you know that?"

They stared at Malik in silence, most with bewilderment and fear but the last with absolute amazement. How did Malik convey everything he wanted to say to Bakura without ever hearing about it before? And why did he choose this moment to bring it all up?

"Um…" Marik cleared his throat, completely irresolute. "What?"

Malik looked to his boyfriend, then to the others and back again with tears overflowing at this point.

"M-Marik wh-" He sniffled. "Why…where did that come from?"

The addressed boy shrugged; how was he supposed to know why Malik said anything let alone something like that? Instead of using words to comfort – which, fairly, weren't his forte anyway – he hugged Malik with all the love and comfort he possessed. This seemed to calm down his lover long enough for his tears to subside.

"Perhaps we should cease practice for the day," suggested Seto. The others nodded in agreement, except for Yami. He was examining Malik with curiosity and getting closer to the couple still in each other's arms.

"Malik, I'm going to try something, okay? I don't think this is just random." Malik furrowed his brow, but nodded while hiding in Marik's arms. "Jou, come here."

After whispering something in Jounouchi's ear, Yami stepped back and allowed his blonde friend to take his position in front of Marik and Malik. He smiled warmly at his friend before reaching out a hand slowly and grasping Malik's shoulder. The tanned boy gasped sharply. He looked at Yuugi with love and gratitude in his eyes.

Yami nodded as if confirming something. He clapped his hands together and smiled. "Malik, you're an empath."

"…What."

"An empath. Someone who can channel the emotions of others and express them. Some can even transfer those emotions to people other than the originator."

Silence reigned for a good while until Yuugi finally rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the floor, moving closer to his still visibly upset friend. His glare never once faltered.

"He's having an off day, that doesn't make him automatically magical, Yami." The taller boy gritted his teeth. What the hell was it with this kid? One minute they were flirting and kind of civil and the next simply holding himself back from a fight took all his will power.

Yami moved forward as if to charge at Yuugi and released a feral growl. His back twitched ominously as he moved, as if the muscles were begging to breach his skin. Jou rose to catch Yami's glare and wordlessly warned his friend to calm himself before he approached Yuugi. Tension clogged the air around them as the two boys stared each other down; it was suffocating to the others around them. The anger wrapped around their throats and squeezed threatening their very lives.

In an effort to shake the vicarious rage, Ryou turned his head to look away and unintentionally locked eyes with Bakura. God, how could his irises speak of lust and want at a time like this? They reached down through his own eyes and teased his skin from the inside out. Desire twisted in his gut and rubbed his groin in such a way that even licking his lips and swallowing the lump in his throat couldn't get rid of it. And as much as he wanted, he could not look away.

Seto could hardly breathe even though his head reached above all the others. Their emotions climbed to dangerous altitudes, polluting every inch of air in the room. His head began to ache and he knew that if they didn't separate soon, someone would get their ass handed to them.

And he'd be gone to hell if that person was Jou.

A cry from Malik brought them to their senses, releasing the hold all those emotions had on them. They looked fearfully at him, completely unsure of what to do. Seto was the first to move, fueled by his eagerness to remove Jou from the situation.

"Enough. Let's just go upstairs and relax." He reached between Yami and Jou to grab the blonde's hand and pull him away. "Maybe we can try learning this in smaller groups next time."

Before anyone else could leave the room, Yuugi stormed through the crowded circle and out the door, his leg brushing against Malik's shoulder in the process.

"There won't be a fucking next time." Yuugi practically ran out of the door, shouting obscenities about 'goddamn tanned assholes' and their 'stupid freaking perfect abs', or something of the sort. Jou and Ryou – who had finally ripped his eyes away from Bakura – ran after him along with Seto, who was really only concerned for the objects in his house that may suffer Yuugi's fury. Perhaps he was worried for Jou, as well, but it was literally mostly his valuables.

"No, Yami." Said boy halted his pivot towards the door, looking back at Malik with confusion for what felt like the millionth time that day. "You can't. I know you want to, but Yuugi needs some time to himself."

Malik's eyes filled with tears that even the presence of Marik couldn't cure. Bakura backed away towards Yami, unfit to deal with a crying Malik.

"But I-"

"No, Yami." Malik sobbed slightly into his hands, overcome by the emotions drowning him from just a graze of Yuugi's leg. "I can feel it. He's alone. Even after everything I've been through, I've never felt as alone as him. But that's how he deals. He needs this time, okay? You can go to him later but god just give him some time or he might burst."

Yami sighed angrily, turning his eyes towards the door where Yuugi had left before.

"Why don't you guys go to a room away from the rest of us for a bit and get calmed down?" Bakura suggested. He wanted desperately to speak with Yami alone, just for a moment.

"I can bring you my mom's information on empathy, if you want."

Marik pulled Malik's arms around his neck and lifted the other boy. With a solemn nod towards Yami to confirm their desire for the books, he carried his boyfriend off to their room to calm him down.

The remaining two stared at each other with clenched fists, communicating with their eyes what it was that they needed at the moment.

Then they lunged at each other.

Bakura's right fist swung towards Yami's face and was blocked by the other's left forearm. Yami brought his knee up towards Bakura's gut, but the white-haired boy spun to his right and jumped away before charging at Yami's back and jumping on it. Yami grasped Bakura's arms around his neck and bent his knees, jumping to flip them both forward and land on top of Bakura, breaking out of the other's hold.

He lifted his knees to his shoulders before shooting his legs up into the air and landing on his feet in front of his raggedly breathing friend. Bakura then swung his legs around to stand and raised his fists at Yami. Through grunts and punches, they spoke.

"I love him," Bakura growled. He grabbed Yami's right hand as it reached him and twisted so it was over his own shoulder, with Yami in pain behind him.

"Me too," Yami replied. His left leg rose to rest against the arm Bakura held in place and he used the leverage to swing his entire body and throw Bakura onto the floor. "That's two."

Bakura yelled barbarically and threw himself at Yami's torso, pummeling the other to the ground.

"And there's one." Using a back handspring, Bakura put some distance between he and his sparring partner. "What are we gonna do?"

Yami placed his hands flat beside his head and raised his body into a bridge position before kicking his legs up and over to a standing position. He rolled his shoulders and wiped the sweat from under his eyes. Fuck if he knew what they were going to do. But god did he need this fight right now.

He charged at Bakura and before the other could even defend himself, Yami jumped with all his might and slammed his feet into Bakura's chest, knocking him on his ass. Yami landed on his back and used the strength in his upper arms to fling himself back up.

Panting heavily, he reached a hand out to Bakura to raise the other to his feet. "That's three."

Bakura begrudgingly accepted the hand and heaved himself to a stand. The two of them made their way over to the bench against the wall and sat, letting oxygen catch up to them and fill their lungs, making it slightly easier to breathe. Bakura lifted his hand and slapped it against Yami's shoulder, gripping slightly and shaking his friend.

"We'll figure it out," said Yami. "If we don't, there is always your promise."

Bakura let out a barking laugh and shook his head. "If we can't figure out what to do with them by the time we graduate, we are going to move to Tokyo together and get married. Fucking seriously, you remember that?"

Yami smiled wryly at his friend. "Of course. I've practically lived off that promise for the last…like four years."

They chuckled together, sharing a brotherly look. They had been together as best friends for nearly their entire lives; no one knew Bakura like Yami and of the few people who really knew Yami, Bakura was the closest to actually understanding him. Someone leaned closer, looking for reassurance through the kiss of a friend.

It was quick and chaste, something they had done a million times. Yami moved one large hand behind Bakura's neck and placed his forehead against his friend's. They looked at each other with the same sarcastic, arrogant, loving look.

There's nobody better to console you than your best friend, you know?

"Yuugi, come back!" Jou raced out the door after his friend. Yuugi had somehow managed to call a taxi driver – the same one with that uneasy, unmoving glass eye – and was currently throwing his duffle into the seat. He looked back to his best friend tearfully, completely aware of Ryou and Seto standing on the stairs watching them.

"Jou, I promise I'm not leaving you." Yuugi's voice shook, but he refused to cry. "I will come back. I couldn't abandon you, dude. You know that."

Jou looked away from Yuugi, angry yet understanding. If there was anyone who knew how badly Yuugi needed time alone – even if the smallest boy was alone more often than he realized – it was Jou. Against his gut, the blonde nodded and pulled Yuugi into a strong bear hug. He kissed the top of his friends head before letting him go.

"Text me when you're home. And let me know if you need help at the shop or anything." Yuugi nodded confirmation and smiled a sad, yet grateful smile. He closed the door, not looking back as the cab drove off toward his home. His game shop.

A hand landing on his shoulder caused Jou to jump; once he realized it was only Seto, he relaxed exponentially, placing his head against a broad shoulder. They didn't speak. Kaiba knew better than to attempt consolation when such an important person was leaving Jou in a state of distress. Ryou wiped a tear, staying in his position on the stairs. He sniffed a little before walking back inside.

Even though they were fighting, he was sure Bakura would accompany him back to their apartments for more clothes and other items. Their store of clothes from the camping weekend was out and as much as he liked how Seto's shampoo smelled, he would rather have his own bottle.

Besides, a little bit of home-air would probably do wonders for his nerves. As long as they promised to not take long, it would be more than okay with their friends. Right?

Stifling his tears, Ryou made his way down to the gym to find Bakura. All the while thinking to himself that the ability to communicate with animals was definitely not worth the turmoil it was causing him and his friends.

Thank you for reading! 5,776 words this time round! Please review on just one of those words, I'd love you forever. ;)