DD: Yeah, I'm a bit early this time. I promise, this chapter does have some comic relief. And I finally know where I'm going with this! Yes, I started it without any real plot. But the plan is that they'll get out of the attic in a while and that I'll do a few chapters with shippings and closing everything up and then I'll end it. It's not a particularly long story but I'm proud of it. Hope you enjoy! I own nothing!

Reviews:

Ern Estine 13624: Not long now!

Kigen Dawn: Yeah, me neither!

Guest: I know.

Silaqui Nailo: Not long now! And thanks!

Stephiel9816: Same... :(

NotSureWhatI'mDoing: Aww, thanks!

Bakura cringed as his wrists were bound by rough rope and he was pushed against the wall face-first. "Don't turn around," Aknadin warned in a growl.

Bakura swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut. He heard Aknadin walk over to the table and there was a quiet 'sheen' sound.

Aknadin returned and Bakura tensed as the blade of a dagger was placed at the top of his back. "Do you remember that night?"

Bakura's eyes widened and he shook his head. The knife was dragged down his back in a straight line and he yelped.

"I think you do, 'Kura." Aknadin smirked, placing the knife near the fresh wound at the top of his back. "How your mother woke you up in a panic and told you to hide with your brother?"

Once again, Bakura shook his head. Aknadin dragged the knife down again, this time making two lines. One vertical and one horizontal at the bottom of it.

"You ran out to find him. You didn't know what was going on, but you hid when he told you to."

Bakura bit his lip. The knife was plunged into his back again. Four lines this time.

"You heard all of my followers but you didn't move. Even when you heard your dear mother's screams."

Tears burned the edges of Bakura's eyes but he refused to let them fall. Another wound. Three lines.

"You managed to hide from everyone, but when you and Akefia came out from whatever bush or tree you were hiding in, you stepped in blood." Another wound. Two lines. "Didn't you?" Another wound. Two lines.

Bakura squeezed his eyes shut again. He could feel the sticky substance around his feet even now; not dried yet, but half-way there. Pooled on the ground like water after a storm. Lines of dead bodies on the streets.

"Then you saw us leading the survivors to the cave." Another wound. Three lines. "You and your brother followed us." Another wound. Four lines. "You didn't know how you weren't caught by soldiers since you were always caught by the people who worked in the market on Sundays when you tried to steal something." Another wound. Four lines.

Stop...

"You watched as we killed them." Another wound. Three lines. "You watched as mothers were forced to kill their children." Another wound. Two lines. "You watched as they wailed over their loss." Another wound. Two lines. "Such an annoying sound." Another wound. Two lines.

Bakura was beginning to go numb. The pain wasn't as bad. The physical pain anyway.

"You wanted to help but you couldn't." Another wound. A circle. "You were too young." Another wound. A semicircle. "Too weak." Another wound. One line. "And then you were found." The knife was held teasingly over his back.

Stop.

"Your brother told you to run. And you did." Another wound. One line. "You left him behind." Another wound. One line at the top of the last one. "He told me all of this when I questioned him." Another wound. One line in the middle. "And you've always lived with the hope that he's still alive, haven't you?" Aknadin leaned close to Bakura's ear. "Well let me put your mind at ease. I killed Akefia Touzoku." A final wound. A line at the bottom.

A tear leaked out of Bakura's eye and he bit his lower lip. Aknadin stepped back and surveyed his work. "Perfect." He took out his phone and Bakura heard the click of a camera. The phone was held in front of his eyes. "Look at it, 'Kura."

Bakura raised his gaze and looked at the screen. It was his back. The wounds were too deep to heal. They would only scar over. A constant reminder of what happened. Just like his memories. The two would co-exist forever.

Carved onto his back were the words 'I LEFT THEM ALL TO DIE'.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Hi! You've reached Duke. Sorry, I can't come to the phone but if you leave your name and number-"

"Dammit!" Tristan sighed and hung up. "He's still not answering..."

"Maybe you should try calling him off someone else's phone?" Anzu suggested as she sat down, pulling her hair free of the yellow scarf tying it back.

"You can use mine if you want," Ryou offered, holding his phone out to Tristan.

Tristan hesitated before nodding. "Thanks, Ryou." He took the phone and punched in Duke's number.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Hi! You've reached Duke. Sorry, I can't come to the phone-"

"Nope." Tristan hung up and passed it back to Ryou.

Malik offered him his old Nokia. "Here. He might be avoiding any number saved into his phone. I just got a new sim card and he doesn't have my number yet."

"Thanks." Tristan took Malik's phone and punched in Duke's number.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Hi! You've reached Duke. Sorry, I can't-"

"Damn it!" Tristan hung up and slammed the phone down on the table.

"Hey! Do you know how expensive those things are?" Malik protested, snatching his phone back.

Yugi tilted his head as Tristan mumbled an apology. "Why isn't he answering his phone anyway? He always answers calls in case it's business."

Tristan shook his head. "I messed up."

"Like a waiter when he brings you and Joey the wrong food order bad, or Kaiba's new secretary when she accidentally deleted everything on his computer bad?" Malik asked.

"Picture the two combined." Malik nodded, cringing. "Now double it." Tristan let his head drop onto the table with a groan.

"You really screwed up." Malik took a sip of his milkshake.

Tristan gave him a dry look. "Really?"

"No need to get sarcastic. I'm just pointing it out." Malik shrugged. He glanced at Yugi's phone, which was lying on the table between the two. "You've got a new message."

"Is it Duke?" Tristan sat bolt upright.

Yugi checked his phone and groaned. "Marik..."

"One of Yami's brothers?" Ryou blinked as Tristan buried his head in his arms again.

"Yeah," Yugi sighed. "I wouldn't mind but he texts me the most random things for absolutely no reason." He looked at the text again before shoving his phone in Malik's direction. "Here. You talk to him."

Malik's eyes widened. "No way. Your phone. Your contact. Your problem." He shoved it back at Yugi.

"No; I've dealt with him for the past week. Your turn." He shoved it back.

"You were the one who saved his number." Malik shoved it back.

Yugi stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom. You text him back."

"But-"

"You owe me!" Yugi gave him a pointed look. "Remember that time we went skiing for Christmas?"

Malik blushed darkly. He looked at Ryou. There was a small smirk on the albino's lips. "Don't look at me. I'm not getting you out of this."

Malik groaned and picked up Yugi's phone. "Fine."

Yugi grinned and walked over to the bathroom.

Tristan raised an eyebrow. "What happened on that trip?" He mumbled to Ryou.

Malik gave Ryou a warning look. Ryou shook his head, still smirking. "Not my story to tell."

Malik let out a soft breath of relief and glanced at Yugi's phone.

Hey, Yugi! Throw the cheese!

Malik chuckled. Sorry, Psycho. This isn't Yugi.

But this is his number. Did you steal his phone?

No; he just doesn't want to talk to you.

That hurts. :'(

Malik grinned. I'm Malik.

Oh yeah, you're one of his friends. I'm Marik. And I baked you a pie!

Oh boy, what flavour?

PIE FLAVOUR!

Malik's grin returned full-force. I don't get why he doesn't want to talk to you. You're funny.

Really? Most people find me annoying. I like you. You're nice.

Aw, thanks. :) That means a lot.

Hey, can I have your number? I want to keep texting you. You're the only person I know who's watched ASDF.

Malik rolled his eyes. I know; they're so underrated in this country. And sure. 03-5867-4865.

Great! I'll text you later so you get my number. :D I need to go now though. Bye.

Talk to you later. Malik almost put the phone down but then Yugi's phone buzzed a final time.

By the way; I lost the Game.

"Gods damn it!" Malik cursed.

Everyone jumped. "What is it?" Ryou asked, looking worried.

"I lost the friggin' game."

Everyone groaned. "Damn it, Malik! I had almost beaten my record!" Tristan whined, glaring at him.

Malik shrugged. "Sorry. Blame it on Marik; he made me lose it."

"Okay, stop talking about it! Yugi's still going strong!" Anzu pointed out as Yugi returned to the table.

"What are you talking about?" Yugi blinked.

"Malik made us lose the game," Tristan sighed only to clap a hand over his mouth.

Yugi groaned and hit his head off the table. "So close..."

Ryou patted his shoulder gently. "It's the one game that even you can't win."

Joey groaned as he woke up. He looked around. He was lying in a king-sized bed with comfortable sheets. His wounds had been treated and the majority of them had been bandaged.

There was a glass of water sitting on the nearby bedside table, along with two small white pills. Joey reached forward and picked the pills and glass up, downing the former with a mouthful of water.

He lay back in the bed for a minute, eyes closed. Then they flashed open again. I never went home last night. He kicked off the heavy blanket and stumbled over to the door, pulling it open.

A familiar hallway that stretched out on either side greeted him. He looked to the left. A sign hung on the nearest door reading 'Mokuba's Room' painted a variety of colours with a crudely drawn Blue Eyes White Dragon under the writing.

He looked to the right. There were two doorways, one on either side. Both had white doors. One was open. Seto's bedroom. The other was closed. Seto's study.

Most of the time, he moved between the two rooms and going downstairs to leave for school. Joey doubted that Seto had even been in half of his house in the past year.

Shaking his head, Joey walked over to Seto's study. Whichever room Seto was in always had the door closed.

Sure enough, when he walked into the study, Seto was inside on the computer. "You're fired," he said without looking up.

"I don't even work for you."

"You're still fired."

"How does that even work?" Seto didn't reply, continuing to type. Joey sighed. "Look, thanks for helping me yesterday, but I need to go."

At that, Seto stopped and looked up at him. "Go where?"

"Home," Joey mumbled. "My dad'll kill me if I don't."

Seto watched him with a blank expression for a minute before standing up. He walked over to the door, closed it and walked over to Joey.

Then with slow, deliberate movements, he pushed Joey against the wall. His grip wasn't tight, but Joey didn't fight it.

"Get this into your head, mutt," he said. "You're not going back there. I'm not letting him hurt you again."

"If I don't go back, he'll just wait for me at school," Joey protested.

"I don't care," Seto replied. "I'll give you a bodyguard if I need to. You're staying here and he's not going to hurt you again."

"But-"

Joey was cut off as Seto pressed a soft kiss to his lips. When Seto pulled back, he looked Joey in the eyes. "I won't let you get hurt again."

Joey hesitated. "Promise?"

"I promise." Seto kissed him again. This time, Joey returned it.

Favourite food?

Malik grinned. Chocolate. Favourite song?

My Eyes from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Don't judge. XP Favourite person?

Malik hesitated, biting his lip. You, he typed in but he erased it before it could send.

There was a knock on his door and Malik hid his phone under the book of ancient scriptures that he was supposed to be studying. "Come in."

Ishizu pushed open the door and walked in. "Why didn't you come home last night?"

"I was staying over at Ryou's with Yugi," Malik replied, not looking up from the book. "Didn't you get my text?"

Ishizu pursed her lips. "No. I didn't. Father's not happy with you."

Malik's head shot up. "You told him?"

"What did you expect me to do, brother?" Ishizu frowned at him. "You know one of the ten sins is betrayal."

"You wouldn't have been betraying him by making up something," Malik muttered. "He's betrayed us enough times for whoever the hell we're supposedly worshipping to cross a tiny white lie out."

"Malik; don't disrespect Alumuna," Ishizu growled, her frown becoming a glare. "She's been very good to her true followers-"

"If there's an Alumuna, then why hasn't she helped us?" Malik shot back. "This whole 'religion' is bull, sister, and you know it as well as I do!"

Ishizu's eyes sparked for a minute. "You may not believe it, Malik," she sniffed. "But I am a true Callian." She turned away from them. "Anyway, I came in to warn you, brother. Father is preparing for the annual tradition."

Malik's face paled as Ishizu left the room. His phone buzzed and he looked at it.

Mal? Is everything okay?

Malik gulped. Not really. My dad started some bullcrap religion and my sister really believes it and they're both trying to force me into it and my brother doesn't really seem to know what he believes in...

That sucks :( It doesn't sound like there's anyone there for you.

Malik's heart sank to his stomach. There isn't.

His phone buzzed a minute later. I'll always be there for you. If you ever need me, just let me know.

A smile impossible to stop crept onto his face. Thanks, Marik.

No need, Mal. No need.

"I don't know what to do; he's still not back," Yami muttered into the phone, pacing back and forth across the attic.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon," Yugi tried to assure him.

Marik watched Yami pacing, his phone lying beside him on the bed.

"But Aknadin took him. What if he went too far this time, or-?"

"Hide your phone," Marik hissed, cutting him off. Yami paused, hearing heavy footsteps. He sat on the couch, his phone beneath him. Marik slid his own phone beneath the mattress.

The door swung open and Bakura stumbled into the room, shirtless. Aknadin stood in the doorway, smirking. "Goodnight, boys. Sleep well." The door closed again.

Marik and Yami ran over to Bakura.

"I-I'm fine." Bakura pushed them away. Or tried to.

His arms shook and his body was too weak to manage to ward them off.

Marik managed to pin Bakura's arms to his sides. Bakura yelped in pain.

Yami frowned in confusion and glanced at his back. His eyes widened. "Marik, get him to the bathroom and bandage his back. Now."

Marik didn't argue, like most times. Instead he pulled Bakura towards the bathroom, careful not to aggravate his injuries.

Yami grabbed his phone again. "Yugi, I need to go. Bakura's... He's hurt. Badly."

"Hang on," Yugi said before he could hang up. "Aknadin and your dad are usually facing you when they hurt you, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you can see what they're doing?"

"Yeah," Yami replied, glancing towards the bathroom. "Is there a point to this?"

He could almost hear Yugi grinning. "I think I know how to get you out of there."

Tristan wandered around the Kaiba mansion, trying to find Duke. He knew that he was there. He had seen him earlier when he had arrived at Seto's for the New Year's Eve party. He just didn't know where he was in the mansion.

"Duke, give it up," he sighed. "I know you're here somewhere and I'm going to find you eventually. You know as well as I do that we need to talk."

There was silence for a minute. Tristan was about to continue looking in a different area of the mansion when he heard one of the doors behind him open. "Fine..."

He turned and smiled when he saw Duke. Then his smile disappeared. Duke's frame was thinner than usual, and his skin was paler. His hair was no longer gelled into a high ponytail, but loose around his shoulders, and his emerald eyes were dull. "Duke..."

"Talk." Duke folded his arms, glaring up at Tristan. Well, attempting to glare. There was no anger in his eyes.

There was no anything in his eyes.

Tristan took a step towards Duke, relaxing a bit when he didn't back away. "Duke... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have kissed you; not then. But I just..."

"You just what?" Something flickered in Duke's eyes. More relief hit Tristan. Anything was better than the blank look Duke was currently donning. "You regret it? You want to just stay friends? You were just experimenting?"

Tristan shook his head. "No."

"No to which one?"

"All of them." Tristan held Duke's gaze. "I wasn't just experimenting. I know I'm bi. I don't want to just stay friends. And I definitely don't regret it."

Duke gritted his teeth, his body tense. "Well what if I did? What if I didn't want anything to do with you?"

"I'd still feel the same way, but I just want you to be happy." Tristan took another step. Duke stayed stationary. "I'd do anything for you, Duke. Even if it meant staying away from you." He took another step. "But I don't think that's what you want." He took one more step so that he and Duke were only inches away from one another. Duke looked away. "No; don't hide from me." He grasped Duke's chin and lifted his head up. "How do you really feel?"

Duke hesitated. Something glimmered in his eyes again and finally the blank look disappeared. "...I don't know..." Tristan wrapped his arms around him and Duke buried his head in Tristan's chest. "I want my dad back..."

"I know," Tristan murmured, rubbing Duke's back. He kissed the top of Duke's head.

Duke blushed and looked up at Tristan. Tristan met his gaze. Duke hesitated before pecking Tristan. "I'm sorry..."

Tristan smiled at him. "No need."

The intercom that seemed to be set up around the house crackled. "Duke; Tristan. Stop making out and get your asses to the living room. Yugi's got an idea," Malik called through the microphone. The sound of the guard telling him to get away from the system could be heard in the background.

Duke and Tristan blushed before making their way to the living room. Everyone was sitting in a circle.

Anzu had just finished painting her toe-nails pink and was sitting on the couch with her feet on the table. Serenity sat beside Anzu, her feet on the ground, her hands in her lap. Joey was sitting next to Seto, his head on the latter's shoulder. Mokuba sat beside his brother. Ryou and Malik sat on either side of Yugi, who was wringing his hands.

Duke and Tristan sat by Joey and Seto. Joey smirked at the two. "Don't you start," Tristan warned him. "You've got no room to say anything after what you told us."

Joey blushed but stayed silent. There was a small, unnoticeable smirk on Seto's lips as Tristan said this.

Yugi cleared his throat and stood up. "I...well, I have, um... an idea to get Yami, Bakura and Marik out of their house..." Anzu grinned at him in an encouraging manner. Yugi licked his lips. "Seto, you've got a bunch of those miniature cameras that your guards have left over, right?" Seto nodded. "And you can't see them once someone's wearing them?"

"Not unless they're wearing white," Seto replied. "Or unless you know exactly where they are."

Yugi nodded. "Do you think you could spare three of them?" Seto nodded. "In that case, we could give them to Marik, Yami and Bakura when Aknadin and Aknamkanon leave the house or go to sleep next. If they all wear one, we can get footage of one of the two hurting them and take it to the police if we're quick. We'd need to all be in contact with them in case someone isn't available and we'd need to be able to go to the police at a moment's notice though..."

"That's fine," Tristan said. "What if you, Malik and Ryou stay at your house and keep in contact with them. Once you get the footage, send it to Seto, Joey, Duke and I. I've got my motorbike, Seto and Joey have got the limos, and Duke lives close to the station. Anzu can keep an eye on their house to make sure nothing else happens."

Yugi smiled. "So you think it'll work?"

"It's unlikely," Seto admitted, closing his eyes. Yugi's smile fell. "But not impossible. And it's the closest that anyone's gotten to a plausible idea yet." He sighed. "I'll give you the cameras for them in the morning." He opened his eyes again and met Yugi's gaze. "Just don't screw this up, Mutou."

Yugi smiled again and nodded. "Don't worry. I won't."

Yami sat on the couch on one end, and Marik on the other. Bakura was lying down on his side, his head on Yami's lap and his feet on Marik's.

His breathing was slow and deep, and his eyes were closed, but Yami could tell he wasn't asleep. It was nearing midnight. Only one minute to go.

No one said anything. Yami glanced at Bakura's back. It was tightly bandaged. The bandages had been changed twice because of the amount of blood seeping through them, but now they were clean.

The wounds weren't as deep as the ones on Marik's back, but they held just as much pain, and were likely to get infected with the lack of medical supplies that the brothers possessed.

For the past twenty eight hours they had been struggling to stop anything from touching Bakura's back.

Whenever anything did, it would not only cause him physical pain, but emotional pain as well.

Yami glanced at his watch.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

He hoped Yugi – four – was enjoying this day more – three – than they were. Two – he deserved it. One – and so much more.

Zero.

Midnight.

They could hear fireworks going off in the distance, but in the Sennen brothers' attic, the new year started the same way that the old one ended.

In silence.

DD: Yay! Yugi's got a plan! Hopefully it'll work out! And now Chaseshipping and Puppyshipping are official in this! Only three more to go guys! Please review! See you next time, Killer Queens!