DD: Okay, I know, I know, I'm super late, and I should have updated, but I had state exams, and right now it's nearly 2 am here and I stayed up to finish this for you, so I hope you like it. I own nothing.

Ern Estine 13624: Sorry it wasn't sooner.

Death By Heart DBH: Sorry, but I can't kill them just yet. Maybe later. Or maybe not. [evil laugh]

San child of the wolves: Really glad you like it and I'll delve into everyone else's conditions soon.

crazy and random child: Sorry I didn't update sooner; hope you didn't lose hope in this.

Miqu: Hope this is soon enough for you, if not, sorry.

Digidestined Ninja of Sunshine: Thanks so much, and believe me, it'll get a lot worse.

Myfanfix: Yeah, I tend to do a lot of cliffhangers.

yuukifudo: Really glad that you like it, and I'm glad you didn't need to wait long for an update! Thanks so much!

"Yugi… My brothers and I… We need your help."

No matter what Yugi did, he just couldn't get Yami's voice out of his head. He groaned and leaned back on his bed. His hair was even wilder than usual due to his lack of sleep the previous night.

But how could he have slept after what Yami had told him? And he didn't even know how to help.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

"We're locked in the attic."

That explained why he never saw Yami outside or in any other room in the house.

"Our father tortures us every day."

That explained why Yami often disappeared at random intervals without much warning.

"We need help, Yugi. I…I don't know how much longer we can go on like this."

That was the part that didn't make sense. Of all people, why would Yami, Bakura and Marik turn to him? Little Yugi Mutou who was often mistaken for a ten year old, who had the strength of an eight year old. No, a seven year old! What could he do?

"We can't call the police; if he finds out, he'll kill us."

That limited him even further. Without the authorities, he could do nothing. He couldn't even tell his grandfather; if he did, Solomon would just call the police, which was the only thing Yami had specified that they couldn't do under any circumstances.

"Please Yugi. You know I wouldn't ask you if there was any other option."

Yugi swallowed and sat up, his feet not even touching the ground as he swung his legs over the edge of his bed.

There was a soft knock on the door. Yugi sighed and stood up, swaying before walking to the door and opening it. On the other side stood Ryou. "Breakfast's ready," he said only to see how tired Yugi was. "What's wrong?"

"I just… I didn't sleep well," Yugi mumbled, shaking his head.

"Why? What happened?"

Yugi sighed and walked back over to his bed. He sat down, gripping the sides of his head. "I need to help them… They need my help, but I don't know if I can do this?"

"Who needs your help?" Ryou asked, sitting down beside Yugi.

"Yami and his brothers," Yugi whispered. "Their dad… He… He does things he shouldn't and he locks them in the attic… If the police find out and he knows about it, he'll kill them all… I can't even tell Grandpa because he'll just call the police and say that their dad wouldn't know about it…"

"So why are you telling me?" Ryou asked in confusion.

Yugi grabbed his head again. "I need to tell someone, Ryou; I can't do this alone! I'm not good enough! Not strong, or smart enough!"

"Yugi!" Ryou gripped Yugi's wrists and pulled them away from the smaller boy's head. "You're all of those things, and more." Yugi opened his mouth to protest, but Ryou cut him off. "No, listen to me, Yugi." Yugi hesitated but closed his mouth again. "They wouldn't have asked you for help if they didn't think you could do it. You are strong; you're smart, you're brave and you're definitely good enough. Sure, you might need help, but that doesn't make you weak. The fact that you told me makes you even stronger because you were able to recognise that you need help even if you mightn't want it." Ryou squeezed his hand. "So how about this; we call up the others and get them to meet us at Burger World later today and you can tell them about it and I know that they'll want to help as well."

"Ryou…" Yugi hesitated before smiling and nodding. "Thanks."

Ryou returned the smile. "Think nothing of it. Now come on; breakfast's ready and you know how your grandfather gets about being-"

There was a loud crash from downstairs. "Yugi Mutou, if you don't get down here this instant, this Xbox will meet a fate much worse than just 'falling'!" Solomon yelled up to them.

Ryou sweatdropped. "-late…"

Bakura looked around. He was in a dark cave. Behind him, the exit was in sight, but something was pulling him further down the tunnel. His footsteps were soft, and he could feel that he wasn't wearing any shoes. However, no sharp stones assaulted his feet.

He heard a yell of pain from further down the tunnel and his eyes widened before he ran towards it. He stumbled once or twice along the way even though the path was smooth.

Reaching a large cavern, Bakura pressed himself to the wall of the tunnel and peered around the corner.

Blood. There was blood everywhere. People were screaming and others were sobbing. Some were hugging their children or partners. Bakura watched as one was pulled forward.

He recognised her brown hair and eyes. "Mama…"

His eyes widened as the person who had pulled her up brought out a sword. He tried to run out to her, knowing what was coming, but he was frozen in place.

His mother didn't even get the chance to scream before the blade was plunged through her heart. Bakura shakily looked up at the wielder of the sword.

He had tanned skin and hair that had turned white with age. And piercing blue eyes that looked straight at Bakura before the man smirked.

The man opened his mouth. "Bakura! Hey, Fluffy, wake up!"

Bakura blinked in confusion as darkness covered the scene. He closed his eyes and opened them again to find himself lying on his bed with Marik leaning over him. "What the hell do you want, Marik?" Bakura groaned, sitting up.

"Will you duel me? Yami doesn't believe that I can beat you even though I did before."

"You never defeated me; it was a draw!" Bakura snapped, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

Marik smirked at his words, knowing that he had pushed the right buttons. "Well anyway, Yami wants to see who'll win."

Bakura glared at Marik before picking up his deck from his bedside table. "Fine."

Marik's smirk became a grin and he pulled his own deck out of his pocket before making his way over to the small coffee table that the ate and duelled at.

Yami watched with vague amusement as though already knowing the outcome of the match. Bakura's eyes lit up at the sight of his hand while Marik pouted. "First, I'll place one card face down and summon Goblin Zombie in attack mode."

Marik looked at his hand. "I'll also place a card face down and I'll summon Drillago and-"

Before they could continue, Yami held up a hand and pointed to the door. They paused as footsteps reached their ears. Bakura shoved their phones between the couch cushions and Marik slid the computers under the mattress before all three of them backed away from the door as it swung open.

Aknamkanon watched them with a smirk. "Hello again, boys." There was no response as he strode into the room.

After a minute of silence, Yami swallowed. "What do you want?"

Aknamkanon's smirk grew. "If I wasn't in such a good mood, I'd punish you for that, Yami." Yami withheld a flinch. "You see, a relative of mine is visiting soon. One you might remember, Bakura. My brother, Aknadin." Bakura's eyes widened and he tried to stop himself shaking. "Yes, he'll be here for about a week to keep an eye on you all with me. If it works out well, he may even move in with us."

"You son of a bitch…" Bakura's voice was soft, yet angry.

Aknamkanon narrowed his eyes. "Care to repeat that, Bakura?"

"You son of a bitch!" This time, Bakura's voice was loud. "You bastard! You fucking-!"

"Bakura, calm down!" Yami pulled his brother back, pinning both arms to his sides.

"Let me go!" Bakura yelled, squirming to get free.

"Yes, let him go, Yami." Aknamkanon's eyes glinted. "Before you get punished too."

Yami was about to refuse when Bakura managed to pull himself free of Yami's grip. However, the force that he used to break free made him stumble, which Aknamkanon used to his advantage. He grabbed Bakura's wrist and yanked him towards him. "You're coming with me, boy."

Bakura gulped as Aknamkanon pulled him out of the room and locked the door behind them.

Aknamkanon smirked and pinned Bakura against the wall just outside the attic. "Listen."

Bakura tensed but obliged. He heard footsteps and a slight rustle. "You'd have won that duel," he heard Yami say to Marik, his voice tense.

"No, I wouldn't have."

"Your cards-"

"I don't give a damn about the cards. I still wouldn't have won. Not if I knew that was going to happen."

Aknamkanon smirked at Bakura. "Sweet, isn't it? Your brother throwing the duel for you." His grip on Bakura's wrists tightened. "What a pity. It's a sign of how weak he is."

"No, it's not!" Bakura spat at him.

"It's also a sign of how weak you are; appreciating that kind of thing!" Aknamkanon growled. "You should want him to duel you at full power so that you could destroy him or be destroyed!" He smirked. "But you don't. That makes you weak, Bakura. These feelings, these emotions. Compassion. Gratefulness. Love. Kindness. It's all weak." His smirk grew and he pulled Bakura away from the wall and towards the stairs. "And you know what I do to people who are weak."

"Are you ready to do this?"

Yugi looked up at Ryou as they reached Burger World. "No…"

Ryou gave him a reassuring smile. "It will be fine, Yugi."

"Easy for you to say; you're not the one who has to tell them," Yugi mumbled as they walked through the electronic doors.

It wasn't hard to find Joey and Tristan, who were already eating the largest burgers that the restaurant had to offer. Anzu and Serenity were watching them with an exasperated expression while Malik just took a secretive photograph of them.

Yugi saw Ryou sweatdrop before smiling at the group. "Hey, guys."

Joey waved a hand while Tristan nodded before the two resumed their eating competition. Anzu glared at the two boys before smiling at Ryou and Yugi. "Hey. What took you so long?"

Ryou looked over at Yugi as they sat down. "I think it would be best if Yugi explained that."

Anzu looked over at Yugi. Yugi didn't say anything, waiting for Joey and Tristan to finish eating. Seeing this, Serenity put a hand on her brother's arm. "Joey, put your burger down for a minute. Yugi has something important to say."

Joey blinked before setting down his burger and looking across at Yugi. "Everything okay?" He asked after swallowing the food in his mouth.

"Not exactly," Yugi sighed. "But before I say this, I need you to promise you won't call the police."

"Did you kill someone?" Malik asked.

Yugi blinked. "What?"

"Cause if you did, we need to get the body into water. That way, the blood will be washed down the drain along with fingerprints and we can get Tristan to drive it to the dump."

"Why me?" Tristan raised an eyebrow.

"You've got a motorbike," Malik reminded him.

"So do you."

"You've got a less expensive motorbike that doesn't have leather seats that are frigging hell to get stains out of."

"Mai has a car!"

"She's still in America, remember?"

"But the evidence would be on the seat of my motorbike!"

"Guys, I didn't kill anyone!" Yugi groaned. "It's something else entirely!"

"Oh." Malik leaned back in his seat. "Well in that case, go right ahead. I won't tell anyone."

"I might tell Kaiba if he can help us, but aside from that, my lips are sealed," Joey agreed.

Tristan and Serenity both nodded in agreement. Anzu pursed her lips before forcing a smile. "Mine too."

Yugi sighed in relief. "It's… about Yami. My new neighbour."

"So Yugi's neighbours are locked in the attic of their house and are being tortured?" Seto raised an eyebrow, arms folded. "Doesn't that seem a bit extreme?"

"Weirder stuff has happened," Joey pointed out, his head resting on his folded arms. He was lying stomach-down on his bed with his laptop on his pillow. "Anyway, will you help us out if we need it?"

"I already said I'd help you." Seto rolled his eyes. "Do you need a second verbal confirmation?"

"It would be nice."

Seto sighed. "I'll help you get Yami and his psychotic brothers out of that house."

"Without telling the police?" Joey raised an eyebrow, raising an arm and propping his chin up on his hand.

He saw Seto frown. "Wheeler, what's that? On your arm."

Joey blinked and looked down. The sleeve of his green jacket had slipped upwards, revealing a large, hand-shaped bruise on his wrist. "It's nothing for you to worry about, Kaiba," he muttered, pulling his sleeve down. "Anyway, promise not to tell the police?"

"Wheeler-"

"Kaiba, do you promise?"

Seto rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll help you without calling the police on them." His eyes narrowed into icy slits. "Now. Where. Did. You. Get. That. Bruise?"

Joey hesitated and looked behind him. "Uh… I-I need to go…"

"Wheeler."

"Talk again tomorrow, Kaiba?"

"Wheeler!"

"See you then!"

"God dammit Wheeler, answer me!"

Joey's gaze met Seto's. "I'm sorry… I can't…" Without another word, he ended the video chat and closed down the gateway to his daily salvation.

"You know, I'm surprised you didn't have more of a reaction," Aknamkanon admitted as he held a sharp needle over a candle. "Considering your past with my brother."

Bakura looked down. His wrists were tied to the armrests of the chair. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Foolish boy." Aknamkanon examined the needle before striding over to Bakura. "Thinking that you can lie to me about something like this. I've known about it since I brought you in."

"You mean since you kidnapped me," Bakura snarled.

"You were the one that ran from the orphanage," the elder man reminded. "In fact, I recall saving you from dehydrating and starving to death in the middle of the desert. You were just lying there, unconscious. If I hadn't picked you up, do you really think that someone else would have?" Bakura flinched. "I thought as much." Aknamkanon held up the needle. "Still. I suppose you have proven to be useful in some aspects. You do provide me with entertainment after all."

Without warning, he pushed the needle under Bakura's nail. Bakura's eyes widened and he bit back a yell of pain. Aknamkanon pulled the nail out again. Bakura looked down at his finger, shaking. It was inflamed, but there was no blood. "W-what…?"

"The beauty of heated needles is that if you're fast enough, the wounds that are inflicted by them are healed fast enough to prevent bleeding and infection." Aknamkanon pressed the needle beneath another fingernail. "Which makes it so much more efficient."

Bakura hissed in pain, stopping himself from clenching his fists. "Y-you… You bastard…"

"Oh no, I can assure you, my parents were together when I was born." Aknamkanon pulled the needle out and re-inserted it into another finger. "But unlike yours, they lived to see past my third birthday."

"Shut up…" Bakura whispered, his voice cracking.

"I didn't let them die." Aknamkanon pressed the needle beneath another nail with each sentence he spoke.

"Shut up…"

"I didn't watch as a man slaughtered my entire village, including my parents and friends."

"S-stop it…"

"I didn't stand by helplessly as they were murdered in cold blood."

"Don't…"

"I didn't sacrifice them to save myself. I wasn't a selfish coward."

Bakura yelled in pain as Aknamkanon reopened the first wound. "Shut up! Just shut up!" He took a shuddering breath. "Please…"

"And why should I do that?" Aknamkanon traced the hot needle up Bakura's arm and to his neck, leaving a thin trail of swollen skin on Bakura's arm. "Especially when you're so fun to play with?" Bakura swallowed, closing his eyes. Aknamkanon smirked and pressed the needle beneath a nail. "If you scream, I'll let you go back up to them." Bakura gritted his teeth. "Just scream and it'll be over." Aknamkanon pushed it deeper. "Scream and you won't need to hear about how he murdered your family." Deeper. "How he spared your life so that you could live with the guilt and pain of your loved ones." Deeper. A strangled whimper of pain escaped Bakura's throat. "Good; almost there, 'Kura. Just a little-" He pushed it deeper. "-bit-" Deeper. "-more."

Bakura screamed.

Aknamkanon's smirk grew and he wrenched the needle from beneath Bakura's nail. The needle had cooled, so this time, there was blood. And plenty of it. "Good boy."

"I can't believe this! We should be trying to help Marik, and Yami, and Bakura! Not doing some stupid English project!" Malik groaned as they walked along the street to the public library.

"Like it or not, Malik, we still have to do schoolwork, and that includes Yoshikuni-sensei's projects," Ryou sighed before mumbling, "even if they are a bit long…"

"See? See? Even Ryou agrees that they're impossible!" Malik groaned, turning so that he was facing Ryou and Yugi as he walked backwards.

"That's not what I said and you know it," Ryou sighed.

"Yugi, you agree, right?" Malik gave Yugi a pleading look.

Yugi shrugged. "Sorry, Mal. I don't really mind them."

Malik groaned again, burying his face in his hands. "I'm doomed. Doomed to a lifetime of hanging out with hopeless friends who don't mind English."

"I am English," Ryou reminded him.

"Good point. Ryou doesn't count."

"Oh, thanks." Ryou huffed, crossing his arms.

"You know what I mean." Malik waved a hand in the air in a lazy manner.

"You know, if you actually did her assignments, she mightn't dislike you as much?" Yugi offered.

"I would do them if they weren't so frigging difficult!" Malik shot back.

"Maybe you should learn to speak English instead of Egyptian then, freak."

All three boys froze at the sound of the new voice and Malik felt his back hit something sturdy. He swallowed, looking up at the tall seventeen year old behind him. "U-Ushio…"

Ushio smirked and placed a firm hand on Malik's shoulder. "I have a matter that I want to discuss with you. All of you." He steered Malik towards the alleyway nearest to them with a steel grip. "And I don't advise trying to run."

Without a second thought, Ryou and Yugi ran after Ushio and Malik. Ushio smirked at them over his shoulder before throwing Malik against the wall. Malik hissed in pain as Ryou and Yugi ran over to him.

"Fools," Ushio muttered, watching as they helped Malik. "Your compassion is always your downfall."

"What do you want, Ushio?" Ryou asked, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice as he saw two burly friends of Ushio block their exit.

"It's simple, really." Ushio cracked his knuckles. "You guys owe me."

"What for?" Yugi asked, his eyes wide. "We never asked for your help!"

"No, but I helped anyway."

"You beat up Joey and Tristan!"

"They were bullying you. And bullying is something I won't stand for."

"You're bullying us right now!"

"Shut up, you little runt!" Ushio snapped, glaring at them. "My point is that you three owe me." He smirked, advancing on them. "And I want my debt paid in full."

Yami looked up as Aknamkanon pushed open the door. It was late; later than usual for his father. Marik had already gone to bed.

He caught Aknamkanon's vicious smirk before Bakura was thrown into the room and the door was locked again. Bakura hit the wall and slid to the ground.

Yami frowned when Bakura didn't get up again. Something was wrong.

With slow, careful movements, Yami made his way over to his younger brother.

He was trembling and his shoulders were heaving. His head was lowered, covering his eyes, but Yami could see a small, tear trail leading down his cheek. "Bakura…"

"What?" Bakura's voice cracked. "What do you want, Yami?"

Yami crouched down beside him. With slow movements, he placed his hands on Bakura's shoulders.

When the white-haired boy didn't respond, he threaded his arms around him and drew his brother closer.

"What did he do?" He murmured as Bakura clenched his shirt.

"Which one of them?" Bakura's whisper was bitter, even as he buried his head in Yami's shoulder.

"Either one. Whichever you don't mind talking about."

Bakura swallowed. "He pushed needles under my nails… Taunted me about his brother… About my family…" His grip on Yami's shirt tightened. "Aknadin… He was t-the one who… w-who…" He shook his head, choking back a sob.

Yami rubbed comforting circles into his back. "Let it out, Bakura. You know it doesn't help to keep it in."

"But I c-can't…" Bakura choked back another sob. "I can't l-let it out, because if I do, e-everyone will get h-hurt… Everyone who t-tries to h-help me ends up getting hurt or k-killed… It's what happened with Atem… Heba… Akefia…" Bakura shook his head. "T-they always l-leave…"

Yami held him closer. "It's okay… I'm not going anywhere…"

They stayed there for a few minutes before the dam Bakura had built up began to collapse, piece by piece. It always did on this night. And Yami was always there to help him through it.

There to help him up, even though his blood was probably staining his top.

There to let him cry into his shoulder, even though Bakura's tears soaked him.

There to let him vent his anger or grief out on him, even if it hurt Yami more.

There to stay with him, long after he had cried himself to sleep to help him through any nightmares that he would experience during the night.

It was only on those days, just once a month, that Yami really felt like and older brother.

DD: I'm really sorry if it's a bit crappy but I did finish at like half one. I should really get some sleep... Anyway, to make up for my absence, I'll update the next chapters quickly! Promise! Please review, Killer Queens!