Sorry for the delay in posting… I have been busy and distracted.

Thanks for kaitenzero for pointing out a major flaw in my writing, in that I referred to Yami as a Hikari. That is a mistake and probably a result of writing the chapter very quickly at like 1am haha. Apologies for this! I considered deleting the story entirely and re-writing the chapters and reposting… but decided that was overkill. Mistakes happen I suppose! I hope you are able to ignore this and enjoy the rest of the chapter/s. :)

~Jehbel

/Boku no naka ni
/dare ga iru no?
(Just who is it that exists within me?)

-Unravel- Fantastic Magic

Yugi sat within the shaded reach of the tree, his knees drawn up to his chest. It was a glorious day, cheerful yellow light filtering through the canopy, the air warm but not too heavy. Around him, the crew lounged about in various positions, everybody enjoying the unseasonably pleasant weather. Yugi's large eyes were far away; nearby, the sounds of Joey and Kaiba arguing good-naturedly barely penetrated his conscious mind, but rather provided a comfortable background noise. To Yugi, it was the sound of normality and contentment. Looking down at his hands, Yugi noticed detachedly that he was once again holding the Millennium Puzzle, turning it slowly around in his hands as though looking for answers amongst its convoluted joins and folds. Sometimes the puzzle faintly glowed; it happened most commonly when Yami was in retreat.

Yugi leaned his head back against the rough bark of the tree, sighing. He just couldn't shake his melancholy mood today; he felt like crying, or shouting, or even hitting something. Anything to release some of this pent-up emotion! He was surprised at his own feelings; these kind of dark thoughts were more on par with Yami's personality than his own and despite his recent feelings of guilt and unrequited yearning, Yugi was never normally this downcast.

Yugi was jolted out of his reverie by a twig bouncing off the top of his head. Glancing up automatically, the teen jumped with surprise to find himself staring into the brown eyes of Ryou's Yami. Bakura hung casually from a low tree branch, his arms crossed over his chest and his long mane of white hair dangling inches from the top of Yugi's own spiked bangs. The thief stared unabashedly back at Yugi, a faint smile twisting his mouth.

"Problem, O King of Games?" Bakura idly flicked an insect off his shoulder, scoring a direct hit on Yugi's forehead, before unhooking his knees from the branch and landing like a cat beside the smaller teen with a soft thump. Yugi shifted slightly in discomfort; while he liked both Ryou and Bakura, the thief spirit was unpredictable at the best of times and downright malicious on a regular basis. Besides that, Bakura had lately been paying Yugi much more attention than he normally would; Yugi had caught the white-haired teen staring at him an awful lot in class and he often got the uncomfortable feeling that Bakura could tell what he was thinking or feeling.

Yugi twisted a long lock of hair between his fingers, giving Bakura a swift glance. "Hello Bakura. Ryou is giving you the day out of the Ring, huh?"

Bakura leaned back against the tree, his arms propped comfortably behind his head, his long legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankle. "Like he had a choice in the matter. I tell you, all you Aibous are the same; so malleable, so hopelessly human. I have drunk coffee with more fight in it than you and Ryou." Sniggering, Bakura closed his eyes, turning his grinning face upward into a filtering beam of sunlight. His eyeteeth were unnaturally sharp.

Yugi waited a moment to see if Bakura would continue, but the thief was now humming quietly to himself, fingers lazily scratching his head through his thick hair, eyes closed in apparent bliss. "Well, that's your opinion I suppose, Bakura; I have to disagree. I think both Ryou and I have proven ourselves to be just as strong as you and Yami!" Bakura's comments rankled Yugi; he had always been conscious of everybody's opinion that Yami was the driving force behind his duelling success, and had striven to prove that he was as tough and skilled as his partner. It had led to some tricky situations in the past. Rising, Yugi brushed the leaves and dirt off the seat of his pants, scooping up his backpack as he did so. He had decided to head home for the day; he had no work to hand in and he could barely concentrate in his current mood. Turning, Yugi began to walk away, his palm rising to wave goodbye to Joey and the rest.

Suddenly, from behind him, Bakura spoke. "If you are so tough, King Of Games, why does your Yami feel so greatly obliged to protect your sorry arse?"

Yugi pulled up in surprise, his heart stuttering madly. Unbidden, the sickening guilt rose like bile in his throat. Spinning, Yugi turned to face Bakura, his eyes glistening with anger, hands clenching to fists by his sides. The white-haired teen sniggered, staring at Yugi from the corner of his slitted eye. "Oops, did I hit a nerve? What- you aren't surprised, are you? Do you think he lingers so loyally out of some sort of affection? Do you think he enjoys babysitting you, while you run around and use the skills you inherited from him to win duels? Oh my, this is amusing."

"Shut up! You don't know anything! We are friends, ok? I don't need him to protect me!" Dimly, Yugi was aware that his outburst had drawn the attention of the gang; he could see Joey wandering over with deceptive casualness to see whether his shorter friend needed backup. Only Kaiba remained seated, thumbing through his list of emails with a bored expression on his face.

As if on cue, the air began to shimmer around Yugi. Bakura gave a gleeful cackle. "Yes! Come on out, Pharaoh! Come like the dog you are, on demand!" He broke off into a peal of laughter as the air coalesced and formed the familiar shape of Yami. The taller teen blinked a few times, taking in his surrounds, before turning immediately to Yugi, purple eyes snapping with concern. "Yugi, what is wrong? You are distressed." Looking about, Yami spied Bakura, who had risen to his feet and was now leaning casually against the tree, eyes of brown locked onto those of deep violet. Scowling, Yami took a step toward the thief. "What have you done to him?"

Yugi gave an embarrassed groan and moved forward, grasping Yami by his coat sleeve. Yami immediately turned back toward his Hikari, moving slightly so that his body blocked Yugi's view of Bakura. "Yami, it's fine, you didn't need to come out. Bakura was just teasing me, that's all. You should go back in before a teacher sees us both." Yami's eyes narrowed as Yugi spoke, a slight furrow appearing between his eyes. Yugi slapped down a desire to smooth out the crease with his fingers and instead concentrated on calming his emotions; he didn't want Yami to pick up on how rattled he really was by Bakura's earlier comments. The white-haired teen had voiced perfectly the fear and guilt that Yugi was already feeling about Yami's misguided sense of obligation to his partner.

"Yes, Pharaoh, we were just playing, little Yugi and I. My, my, we are touchy aren't we? Being stuck in that Puzzle has made you go soft." Bakura grinned as Yami scowled in reply to his words. "Why don't you be a good boy and run along back into your Millennium Puzzle? Yugi can handle himself without you; he said so himself just now." Yami blinked and glanced at Yugi with an unreadable expression. Yugi took a deep breath, schooling his thoughts and expression.

"Seriously, Yami, it's fine. I'm not distressed. Bakura was just being a pain, that's all." Yugi gave his partner a small nudge, the brief contact making his heart stutter frantically and an embarrassing flush rise to his face. Yami's eyes remained locked on Yugi's, his own cheeks pink, his expression inscrutable. After a moment, Yami stood straighter and turned to face the thief, a hand curling protectively around Yugi's wrist as he did so. Yugi's eyes closed at the contact; he felt like crying.

"Bakura. Yugi is my Aibou, and as such it is my task to protect and watch over him. I think you've had enough fun for today." Violet eyes narrowing, Yami cocked his head to the side and scrutinised the thief, his forehead dimly glowing as the golden Eye appeared on his forehead. Bakura's grin faded and he took a step toward Yami, lip curling in a snarl. "Now, hold on just a second, asshole-"

"Ryou." Yami's voice snapped with power, causing Yugi's already spikey hair to stand further on end. Bakura reeled backward, hands rising to cover his face in response, a feral growl tearing from his throat. Panting, the white-haired teen lowered his hands, eyes large and mildly confused. Now Ryou, he stood straighter, looking around at the assembled crew.

"Yami? Wh-what happened? Why did you summon me out?" He rubbed his eyes wearily. "What did Bakura do this time?"

Yami smiled gently at Ryou. "I am sorry, Ryou, to have dragged you out like that. Bakura needed a small lesson in humility. He was treating my Aibou poorly." The Pharaoh placed a hand possessively on Yugi's shoulder, but the smaller teen shook it off angrily, causing Yami to turn to him with a confused expression, concern creasing his brow again. "Yugi?"

Yugi took a step back, breathing heavily, glaring at Yami. His partner's words had been the final straw. "Oh, so it's your task to protect me is it? I never asked you to do that! Bakura wasn't hurting anybody, you didn't have to banish him like that, Yami! You didn't even check if that was what I wanted!" Yami opened his mouth to reply, but Yugi cut him off. "Why don't you just leave me alone and stop treating me like some weakling you have to look after? I'm not pathetic, you know! I don't need you!" With that, the small teen turned tail and ran toward the front gates, leaving the crew standing startled where he left them.

"Hey- Yug'! wait up!" Joey made to run after his best friend, but pulled up short as Kaiba reached out to snag his sleeve with his long fingers. Appearing to be still intensely focused on an email he was reading, Kaiba murmured, "Leave him." Joey looked between his retreating friend and his boyfriend with frustration, but nodded and remained in place.

Slowly the rest of the gang settled back to their previous positions, gossiping all the while about Yugi's outburst. Only Yami remained standing on the spot, staring at the place where Yugi had disappeared around the corner, his eyes stormy and his face a mask.