Title: The Black Tattoo
Author: SilverWing147
Part: 2/?
Rating: Yet to be classified...properly
Warning: AU, BL
Pairing: eventual YYxY, YxA, other pairings yet to be realised.

A/N: Yeah, it's a tad bit late, but I'm kinda busy, I'm just glad I'm ahead in my writing, I haven't written all week. I hope you like this chapter, and that some of your questions are answered.

Chapter 2

The Reluctant Team

Yuugi gently cracked an eyelid open, staring blearily around his room. He was in bed. In his favourite soft, blue cotton pyjamas. His mouth tasted foul, and his teeth had that fuzzy feeling to them that told him he really needed to brush. It wasn't morning. He could see the sun form his window, which meant it was some time in the afternoon.

He groaned, trying to rolling over only to cry out in pain as an agonising sensation flared up his back and along his front, the tattoo flaring briefly before he stopped his attempt to move. His body ached terribly, his shoulder blades felt torn, and his muscles were sore as though he had tried to run one too many marathons, not that he could even manage one.

He let out a long, slow breath. He had almost been kidnapped, but he'd been saved. Saved himself and damned them. When had he become so selfish? He knew that releasing the tattoo, calling for the dark would ultimately mean death to many others unless he could gain control, which seemed an impossible feat.

He could hear his grandfather talking to someone downstairs, likely Jounouchi, or not so likely, Anzu. Ignoring the pain, he moved to his side, huddling down deeper in the blankets as a chill swept over him.

What would they think if they knew? What would Anzu think if she knew about the curse on his back, and the dark personality in his mind? That his had been the hands that had killed so many so far. His the body which had channelled the energy into setting fire to a warehouse of gang people. What would she say? Would she even talk to him, look at him the same way?

His heart clenched at the thought of her rejection. Just suddenly turning to go, a look of disgust on her face. No… they needn't know that he had chosen himself over the lives of others. They didn't need to know how much of a coward he was.

A tear slipped free of his eye. He was so damned useless against practically everyone. He could defend himself to an extent, but the moment they threw him off balance, caught him by surprise or started laying into him, he was screwed. It was always the bigger meaner ones that came for him, and last night he'd been chased by the scariest woman he'd ever seen. He could've taken it, he was sure it couldn't have gotten much worse but… but he'd still, he'd called Yami. He'd feared for his life, feared for himself and drawn forth a sword he'd finally sheathed.

You kill to survive. But how many is it okay to kill to save your own life? It was hardly survival with the black tattoo. He could survive, with the wings of the curse he could flee, or with the magic disarm them, knock them out, but kill? Was it always necessary to kill them?

A weight settled over his heart.

How many had he sentenced now? His fingers clenched in the sheets. He was so selfish.

There was a hesitant tap on his door, before the distinctive squeaking sound of said door being crept open and a head poking into his room.

"Yuugi? You awake?" His grandfather.

"Mm. I'm awake Grandpa." He said, voice slightly raspy. He tried to sit up, but his weak muscles hurt then failed, and so he remained lying in his bed.

"Thank gods. How are you feeling?" He asked, quickly entering the room, and perching on the edge of his bed, staring at him through worried old eyes.

Yuugi forced a smile. "I'm okay. I've been better but I'll be fine."

His grandfather frowned. "Yuugi, you've been sleeping since I found you unconscious in your room with the skylight window open at one am yesterday morning." He said flatly. "And you're still covered in the tattoo's."

Yuugi blinked and looked at his hands. He hadn't even noticed, but he was covered in black cruel marks. He'd never seen them before. Only in pictures of Black Raven, but never on himself. They were gone when he woke up. He guessed the tattoo was making sure he knew it was attached to him again.

"Yuugi." His grandfather said seriously. "What happened?"

He glanced away. "I…" He had to lie, close to the truth but still leaving out the important things. He couldn't admit to his grandfather what he'd done. "I… I was chased by someone grandpa, that's all. The same as always."

"There was a car accident not too far from our home Yuugi, the roof of the van was burst open by something from the inside. You weren't just chased." His grandfather said quietly.

He winced. He needed to explain more, but his grandfather would never believe that he'd been captured while the tattoo was in control of him… or at least while Yami was.

"I…I was caught and thrown in a van, they were going to take me to a house or something." He replied softly. "One of the guys, started hitting me in the back of the van because I was yelling, and it activated the tattoo."

His grandfather gasped in shock. Kidnapped?!

"B-But I'm fine!" Yuugi said hastily. "I-I think because I was hurt before, it took the tattoo longer to take control, which is why it didn't activate until later, that's all. It's fine, I'm fine, really grandpa."

He'd never felt so old as then, staring at his grandson who was trying to reassure him that everything would be fine, when really he should be the one reassuring his grandson that it would be okay. But Yuugi had always been a different than other boys.

He folded his news paper irritably, another tragedy making headlines. Disgruntled, he rose from his chair, a little slowed by age, but otherwise spryly. He had to be spry, taking care of his grandson full time now. His mother had hardly been home since the stillbirth of her daughter. She had run to her husband in Tokyo, and then kept running.

He smiled at the sound of his bubbly young grandson in the next room, laughing at whatever toy had caught his eye. Even though he was small, he had a gamer's instinct. Yuugi just… knew things.

He hadn't told him his mother wasn't going to be home for a long time, but he had a feeling that the inquisitive boy already knew somehow.

"Yuugi?" He called, entering the room that was now permanently Yuugi's.

"Yes Grandpa?" He answered brightly from his place on the floor, turning around to smile at him with a wide cheesy smile. He couldn't help but grin back.

"Look Grandpa, look!" He exclaimed, bringing the toy from in front of him to show his grandfather. It was a puzzle. Just a small simple one but he'd solved it.

"Wow! Well done Yuugi!" He proclaimed proudly, walking over to crouch down before the accomplished child. "That's very good. You're so clever Yuugi. How long did it take you to do it?"

He scrunched up his face, concentrating as he tried to figure out the time. They were only just learning that in school, but he picked these things up quickly. "The big hand was on the three and the little one was on the four, so it was four… four…"

"Four fifteen." He supplied.

Yuugi nodded. "Mm, four fifteen, when I started."

"That was only a little while ago! You did that really quickly Yuugi. Your mum will be so happy when she hears." He encouraged, ruffling his soft hair.

Yuugi's demeanour changed drastically at the mention of his mother. His smile faded quickly, and his eyes looked away from his grandfather, to the corner of the room.

"Yuugi… what's wrong?"

Yuugi's head dipped slightly, obscuring his face from proper view. "Mummy is… she's gone for a long time isn't she Grandpa? Because of, because of the baby that went away." He looked up; face serious as he stared unwaveringly, unnervingly at his grandfather. "She's not going to come home soon, is she?"

He could only stare at Yuugi's insight. He hadn't mentioned it to him, but he knew. He always seemed to know so much about other people, and so little about himself.

"She's gone away, so she can feel better hasn't she?" He asked.

"Yes Yuugi. Yes Yuugi, she has. But never think that means she doesn't love you." He pulled the smaller into his arms, hiding that serious, staring face away beneath his beard. "Your mother loves you very dearly, she'll come back when she's feeling a bit better. She just doesn't want to worry you by letting you see her sad." He explained.

"But Grandpa." Yuugi said, leaning back to stare once more at his grandfather, however eyes not so disturbingly serious as they were earlier. More innocent and childishly confused. The way a normal kid would be. "I thought you said that everyone gets sad, and it was okay to get upset when bad things happened."

"That's true." He admitted, rising to his feet then scooping up his grandson. "It is okay to get upset; but you shouldn't be sad now! You finished that puzzle!"

"Yup! I finished the puzzle!" He cheered, squirming slightly, all traces of his previous behaviour gone. He sighed.

"You act so strangely sometimes Yuugi. Sometimes I feel like I'm not even sure it's you I'm looking at." His Grandpa joked exasperatedly, holding the young form of his grandchild.

The smaller giggled. "Of course I'm me grandpa! Who else would I be?"

"I don't know." He whispered dramatically. "Maybe a mad scientist who's been drinking potions!" He cried, tickling the small boy's sides mercilessly, listening to him squealing in delight as he attempted to squirm away.

It had all been a joke, those words. But how true they became. He stared at his grandson, smiling at him though it was obvious all he wanted was to collapse from exhaustion. What he wouldn't give for his grandson to be selfish like a normal human being, and wince and moan and complain about how he hurt everywhere; that his stomach and back where severely bruised. How it hurt to breathe. That he hated the black tattoo and the world wasn't fair; seek the support of others instead of thinking only of not burdening them. To tell him what was wrong in every detail.

No.

His grandson only smiled and told him that "It's okay grandpa, I'm fine."

Why wasn't Yuugi ever selfish?

It was dark and once again he was running home. It was just a bad scenario that kept repeating. He'd gone to visit Anzu, after having to spend so long recovering, and her unable to visit as the tattoo's just wouldn't disappear. As soon as they had, he had gone around to her apartment to apologise and spend time with her.

Time had of course gotten away from him, and he had no money for a taxi, and there was no way he was going to impose on Anzu to get him a taxi home or drive him, so he'd left with a smile, and as soon as he was out of sight, started running.

It hadn't helped. His scalp prickled in awareness to the figure following him. It was her again. He could feel it, the tattoo warmed, and the tattoo's showed slightly on the back of his hands as he glimpsed them, pale skin flashing under the streetlamps he passed. It was ready to spring into action, smelling his fear as he was pursued.

He couldn't run home though, leading her there would only mean trouble for his grandfather. No… he had to run somewhere else safe, like into a hotel or something… not that he could afford a hotel. Maybe he could hide… in the park somewhere. He knew all the hiding places there from when he was a child, though somehow he doubted that they would really stop this lady finding him once again.

'Into the alley bearer, the dark will conceal thine light.'

Grudgingly he obeyed, darting into the alleyway, instantly feeling the tattoo burn and the shadows of the alley stretch out to him. What was…? He heard Yami whisper something strange and foreign, the sound soft and loud as though his lips were beside his ear. It was a trick? He thought Yami meant he'd just hide in the dark and she wouldn't find him!

His awareness greyed, his jacket was pulled free and thrown into the shadows of the alley as the tattoos tore through his shirt and the wings burst from his back. In a breath the shadows whistled through his blood again. Yami had taken control now.

"Hello." Yami greeted, voice sultry with almost sadistic glee as a shadow appeared in the mouth of the alleyway. He was defending his host again. The darkness of his soul should conceal Yuugi's so for all purposes the light the lady had been chasing would be gone, instead she would find nothing but night. A night that would swallow her sanity if she dared step closer to it.

"Who…" She stared in puzzlement, before suddenly her face broke out in a grin and she stood a little straighter. "Black Raven. The little bird they twitter about." She chuckled. "Well this is fortunate. I get to be the cat that swallows the bird."

Yami smirked, something which widened as she continued to talk. Obviously she hadn't dealt with proper shadows before. Not just the trick to enhance a little strength.

"Where was that light I was chasing? It was a bit dimmer than when I had first spotted him; probably tired from our last encounter." She pondered aloud looking around the alleyway as though he was standing at its edges. "I saw him run down here but now I can't feel it."

She narrowed her eyes at him in a glare. "You. What have you done with him?!"

"Should the shadows starve when thou art so willing to chase food to their maw?" Yami replied, voice rich with confidence and mockery, goading her to fight.

"Bastard." She spat. "You'll pay."

"Ladies first." He smirked.

His wings flattened and he shot forward, but he was slower… what was going on?! He threw his fist forward to strike only to find her dodging it, and bringing her knee up into his stomach. What?

He gasped as he was winded, and felt a hand grip one of his wings painfully, as though to use it to throw him, but heard her scream in pain, flinging him away instinctively. He attempted to chuckle, though because he was winded it only came out as a raspy breathless sound.

"Do not try touch the purest night, when thou still hath glimmers of dusk in thine heart." He chuckled. "The first lesson."

He felt the dark tattoo's on his skin burn slightly, though outwardly showing no signs, he frowned in confusion. What was going on?! Why were the shadows fluctuating?!

'I won't let you control me all the time.'

Yuugi.

Yuugi was fighting for control. He wasn't fighting the tattoo, just for control. Fighting with him though meant that briefly neither of them were in control, and the shadows fluctuated as they were left to their own devices in the body.

"Birds shouldn't fight with cats." She snarled, launching herself towards him.

His control greyed as he tried to dodge, the reaction slowed. He was caught by a vicious right hook and slammed to a wall. Lunging blindly, he amassed shadows and scattered them forward, hearing a grunt of bitten back pain as one hit.

He had to make this quick, before Yuugi could interfere further and jeopardise their lives.

He dodged, narrowly evading a blow to his chest, striking and catching her face. Yes. He continued to attack, landing a blow to her stomach, though not as powerful as normal.

One arm stopped listening, and he missed rhythm, leaving an opening. She took it.

He was kicked in the ribs, feeling them bruise under the blow, had it not been for the shadows in his body, they would have broken. He'd barely taken a breath when the next blow landed and he felt his stomach muscles begin to cave as a fist buried deep. Blow after blow. The head. Chest. Head. Stomach. Back. A kick to his face and he went flying into the brick of a building. He coughed, tasting blood in his mouth that was his own. He used one arm to lift himself, the other not fully co-operating. He winced as the shadows flared and burned.

He had to get out of here. He was badly injured. The shadows were growing out of control. He had to-

He bit his lip in an effort not to scream blue murder as his arm was trodden on and he was flung into another wall, a blast of darkness striking his chest as he weakly tried to shield.

His control was fading. The pain was weakening his concentration.

"Oh, mighty black bird; you're not a match for this little kitty." Her voice jeered from the other wall. Her footsteps sounded closer and closer. He had to maintain control to hide his bearer's soul from her, especially while he was so weakened. If only his bearer wasn't making things so difficult.

He staggered to his feet, legs trembling slightly. He was so weak, his concentration was split and the shadows took their toll on this body more speedily with their fluctuating.

"I have no time for little bird tonight, you're of not threat to me and given your weakness you couldn't have fed that light to your shadows, so all he's doing now is getting further from me." The woman concluded, sneering at the one they called the Black Raven. "You're only good for taking out thugs."

She hit him again and his legs collapsed. Too weak.

"My boss doesn't hire me to take out little black spots like you, and you keep the focus away from us, so I'll let you leave with a warning little birdie. You interrupt my hunt again, and next time it'll be your wings and your life." With a farewell boot to his face she left.

He was defeated, lying on the cold stones of the alleyway, the shadows stretching out lick his wounds hungrily. It took him a few moments to gather the strength to stand, and pumping the rest of his energy to his wing he flew out of the alleyway, toes skimming the roof tops as he headed back to the dwelling of his bearer making sure that lady was out of range. The shadows pulsed again as his bearer attempted to take control from him.

Bitterness whelmed in his throat like bile. Yuugi wanted control he could take it!

Under Yuugi's shaky will, the shadows flared with raw power, burning themselves out quickly, but not quickly enough to let Yuugi fall from a roof. They faltered as he flew to the ground with unexperienced wings. He crashed into the biting asphalt, grazing his skin to a rawness that bled liberally.

It was in a very sad and sorry state that Yuugi staggered in home, collapsing just inside the game shop door. A weak cry for his grandfather, the last words to leave his mouth before black rushed into his mind.

He could hear the distinctive sound of his grandfather's rumble.

He was home.

He hurt.

Bruises. Lots of bruises. Lucky nothing broke. It'd take a take a while before he would be all pale skin again.

He hurt everywhere. His ribs felt sore when he breathed, as though someone was pressing on his bruised chest. Hurt. He hurt even more than he had when he woke up last time he got beaten up. At least he wasn't exhausted to go on top of that, just pained.

'Blame thine self for this injury.' A voice murmured. 'Had you not resisted, then she would be licking her injuries like a wounded dog.'

The voice grew louder, and seemed to have direction as well. Eyes still hazy, he could see a figure at the end of his bed. It sounded like Yami but… Yami was just a possessing voice. What was…?

'Thou art pitiful.'

He couldn't retaliate. Words a dry rasp in his throat, mind throbbing when he attempted to use it.

Anger. 'Because of you we were defeated, nearly killed. Had thine effort been towards our enemy…' He growled, but released it, trailing away angrily. 'Do not battle me, oh bearer, thou hath real enemies elsewhere.'

On that bitter note he disappeared, like a wisp of vapour in a strong breeze, leaving Yuugi's mind and body aching. What greater enemy could there be than the one within him? Then again, the tattoo had never hurt him just everyone else.

"Yuugi!" He turned a bleary eye to the doorway, a distinctively female figure standing in the door way.

"A-An…zu?" He rasped.

"Oh Yuugi!" Her voice with thick with both shed and unshed tears of worry as she quickly moved forward, wrapping her arms around him, hardly hearing the groan of pain. "Yuugi! Oh Yuugi! I was so scared. I just came to visit and there was blood on the game shop floor and your grandfather wasn't there but the door was open. I thought something really terrible had happened! I should never have let you walk home at night like that! I should have stopped you! Oh Yuugi."

"Anzu…fine…I'm fine." He continued to rasp.

"Y-Yuugi." He cheek was damp with tears as she held his palm to her face, staring down at him with glistening wet eyes. "What happened? Your grandfather said he didn't know you just collapsed in the game shop."

Yuugi was glad that the sheet of his bed covered up his chest; it would undoubtedly be black with bruising. "No-Nothing. Just some thugs… I'm fine." He coughed weakly and quickly found a glass of water at his lips.

He drank thankfully, feeling the cool water soothing his throat. Anzu didn't leave his side until she had to leave for work. But she had sat there, running her fingers through his hair, over his forehead in quick nervous motions. He had reassured her he was fine, just a bit of bruising, he'd be fine in a few days.

Night came and light from the streetlamp outside shone in his window. He couldn't sleep. Yami's words ringing in his ears. This was all his fault, these injuries. He caused them. These were the wounds you got, when you fought your own sword.

It was a few days later, while Yuugi was still bed ridden and sore, that he saw just how much he could curse himself his own actions.

People were going missing. The newspapers crowed about it, the TV screamed about it, and the radio ranted about it. People were going missing; people that were only ever described by their families and friends as nice, honest, caring people who wouldn't hurt anyone.

They blamed the Black Raven, saying that for some reason he must be stealing the people, after all, many people close to the place where the victims were last seen remembered seeing a flash of something dark. So of course it had to be the Raven. If Yuugi's grandfather hadn't been aware that his grandson was in bed and confined totally to the house these past few days, he might even have believed it.

That was the conclusion they drew, and as Yuugi listened from his bed, his stomach dropped. It had been five days and he was practically recovered. Well recovered enough to get around without his stomach and ribs screaming at him. For those five days he'd heard it on the radio all the time. They were blaming his other for missing innocents, when really it was that woman. The woman that may have been defeated by the Black Raven had it not been for his resistance.

Yami had not ushered a word to him, since that first time he regained consciousness.

Inhabiting the same body, they couldn't avoid each other. Though so far they were managing well. But how could he ever come to treat his other with anything but fear. He was a murderer. He'd killed so many.

"Why?" Yuugi murmured to himself, mentally screaming it, waiting for his other.

'For you.' The voice whispered from the back of his mind.

"You kill for yourself." Yuugi murmured in reply, eyes closing.

'For you.' He insisted. 'All is for you.'

Yuugi grimaced. "All is for me? You tricked me, telling me to run into that alleyway just so you could take control. Pushing me the furthest away from control I've been since the first time the tattoo activated." He replied quietly. "You do this for yourself."

'I concealed thine light from the she devil with my darkness. Thou art a fool for thine interference with matters thou doth not understand. For you I became a shield beaten from both sides.' Yami snapped, voice barely concealing his hurt and frustration. Receiving such a beating did nothing or his nerves, giving them a raw edge which chafed against any mention made which would only usually slightly irritate him.

Yuugi flinched, though the voice had no origin to flinch from. His fingers tightened slightly in his sheets. 'A shield beaten from both sides? What does…!' His eyes widened slightly. A shield!

He understood now why Yami referred to himself and the tattoo as a shield. The darkness of the tattoo and Yami must hide his own light from visibility. He supposed while Yami wasn't in control it was just the tattoo that was shielding him so that he wasn't so noticeable, that's why when the tattoo and Yami were both gone he was attacked by nearly everyone.

That was why the crazy lady chasing him had said to Yami, that the light she was chasing had dimmed from before. It hadn't dimmed, the tattoo was shielding him, and when Yami assumed control she couldn't sense him at all. How could he have been so stupid to have not realised this before?!

Yuugi's eyes clenched closed tighter than before, fingers gripping the sheets harder. He really had brought this on himself. What had he done? He understood Yami to be a dangerous thing, but still he was shielding him and he had tried to fight for control back, fighting him when he was only trying to defend him… gods…

"Yami I…" He words dried out in his throat. He felt remorse well from his chest at the concept that Yami had been trying to help him and he'd been doing the opposite of help, and yet, instead of just handing the control back to him, Yami had continued to take the beating. Yuugi had barely felt an echo of what the pain must've been, he'd experience first hand how strong that woman was. He owed Yami an apology, but it was hard to say. Hard to apologise for to the inhabitant of your body, to something you didn't trust, something you weren't sure existed beyond that voice, something that may very well be an extension of the tattoo. Perhaps he was the personality it had formulated to correspond with him, but he had still wounded him, he'd wounded them both.

"I'm sorry."

There was no answer, just a subtle brush against his mind that felt vaguely like an acceptance. He wasn't sure about this whole deal, he thought about it more and more often about how his life would progress from here, Yami controlling him to control the shadows that coursed through his body... but… he'd had control afterwards, when the tattoo had still been active… did that mean…

"Can I use the magic of the black tattoo like Yami can?" He asked his room quietly.

'Yes.' Yami's voice replied, quietly. His tone holding no sternness, mockery, anger, none of the vividness it had held previously. It was grey. 'Thine spirit is not yet strong enough to control the shadows in thine body, soon though, the shadows shalt listen to thee.'

He could control them soon?! Would that mean that Yami wouldn't be able to control him anymore? Yami wouldn't be able to…

'I am a shield. Shadows a sword. The tattoo a door to both. I will still be with thee but not in singular control, shadows respond better to kin than power.' Yami's voice whispered.

A shield and sword. He had to learn how to control both. How to co-operate with his shield and wield his sword. But in the mean time…

"We have to stop her."

He was running. It was always the same scenario, though this time it was on purpose. A poorly drawn up plan, sketched in his mind. Run around town, attract her. The tattoo was being withdrawn slightly by Yami, and Yami buried deeply beneath his soul, so that his soul was slightly brighter than it was usually when the tattoo was still there. He was trying to lure that woman into attacking him, so that Yami could fight. Yami had agreed to share more of his conscious with Yuugi, and Yuugi for his part not to try fight for control.

It was a step closer to merging rather than fighting. Partnership rather than rivalry, together they formed a reluctant team to unite against the "crazy lady" as Yuugi had dubbed her.

Yuugi wasn't quite sure about how he should feel with the situation, considering how easy it had been for Yami to agree, he had barely said anything to persuade his dark controller into not suppressing his consciousness.

'She chases.' Yami whispered into his mind, his voice distant.

That woman had started to track him. She was a little while away but Yami could feel her now that Yuugi was co-operating, even while the tattoo was inactive.

Yuugi turned down an alleyway, smartly discarding his jacket and shirt as the tattoo activated swiftly. Yami relished in the willingly given body, feeling Yuugi's presence pressing close to his, a warm breath on the back of his neck. He licked his lips, flaring his wings and springing to the top of a nearby roof, smirking as the shadows flooded his blood, his senses, and the wind rushed his face.

It was so good to feel.

She was closer, and with Yuugi presence so close to his, at least a small portion of it would glimmer through, if she could detect it.

He stood perched upon one of the taller building in the area, scanning the area for the woman if she was running rooftops again. Yuugi was watching through his eyes he could feel it, that press.

They were hunting now. They were the ones tracking down her instead of her tracking Yuugi down to capture his light.

Yami smiled like so much wicked glee and dark chocolate. "Here here kitten, the Raven wishes to play with thee."

She was drawing closer. Left.

He swivelled darting quickly to the next roof. She appeared at its edge a breath later. Her hair was wild and red, flashing around her face now she was still enough and in enough light for Yami to see her properly. The signature of her shadow was enough to know it was her but appearance would help in the event that she escapes.

Yami smirked in dark promise. In the unlikely event she escapes.

She was dressed in nothing but black, a wild black trench coat, black boots. Her eyes were an intensely dark brown, darkened with sins and the light she'd stolen from the world. Her skin was pale and marked with a few light scars. Not unusual for someone who dealt in shadows and darkness.

"The little black birdie is back I see. There are easier ways to commit suicide you know." She goaded, smiling to reveal crooked teeth.

Yami chuckled in return. "My shadows shalt speak to thine life and end it."

She sneered, racing forward. "Whatever you say black bird!" She yelled, throwing her fist.

Without Yuugi restraining him in anyway, the shadows were steady. He easily blocked the first blow, and the second, returning strike with a blow to her stomach, swivelling to round house kick her in the head. He grinned in satisfaction. Oh yes.

He called the shadows, and they eagerly gathered to his hands, so that when next he struck the blow sent her reeling back, blackness covering her front before dispersing.

"How did you get stronger?" She rasped, steadying herself and wiping the blood from her lip. "How did you get so much stronger, and so fast?"

"Control." Yami replied simply wings flaring out and then flattening to boost his speed as he rammed his knee into her stomach, spin-kicking her into the nearest brick wall. "Thou art no match for me." He taunted.

She screamed in outrage charging at him throwing shadows and punches alike. Some barely even clipped Yami as he avoided the blows. She screamed once again in frustration calling shadows to rise from the ground and snap Yami's feet to it.

"Dodge now birdie." She called, striking out, a blow hitting Yami's face before he was able to suck enough shadows into his wings to free himself the shackles on his feet. He retaliated, striking blow after blow on her, feeling her bones touching his knuckles beneath the skin.

Not only had she assaulted his bearer, but she had beaten him, something he couldn't forgive. He had no mercy. The shadows hummed in his veins, making him stronger in their eagerness for blood shed. His knuckles were bruising from her shielding weakly with shadows. It wasn't enough to stop the blows but the impact against her wasn't nearly so bad as it should've been.

Yami smirked. She was prolonging the inevitable. She would fall to his shadows. That was her fate.

In a last ditch effort she struck forward with a knife, Yami was forced to avoid it drawing back. Oh well, it gave him a chance to admire his work. She was a mess of bruises, her lips red with blood from her mouth. Her breathing was ragged at best. It was nearly over.

He felt Yuugi coil back, before pressing forward with one clear thought imprinting itself to Yami's mind. He didn't want this.

She launched another attack, sending shadows flying towards him. His wings instantly came forward, cocooning around him, protecting him from the dark arrows, and as his wings consisted mainly of shadows they suffered no damage from the weak attack. She was close to finished.

But his bearer. His bearer didn't want her killed, and… he couldn't go against that wish without loosing the fragile trust he had gained.

"Surrender." He demanded. Perhaps she could be given to the police, stripping her of her shadows shouldn't be hard. She could be rendered harmless enough to be easily.

"Death first!" She cried. Fists clenching hard enough to draw blood from her palm.

Quickly she began murmuring under her breath, gathering shadows in an all or nothing attack. If she truly went through with this he wasn't sure wether or not he would be able to comply with his bearer's wishes.

"Don't make me kill thee woman."

She cackled in response, black energy sparking and crackling around. "I'd like to see you try little black bird."

The magic snarled and whipped around her, all consuming and dangerous as flared and hungry eyes settled on those it had been told was called 'enemy'.

Her eyes were white as she surrendered sight to them. Yami flinched back, this wasn't good. The sheer vastness of shadows she was calling, there was no way her body could sustain them, no way she'd be able to control them.

"Stop this!" He roared, raising a wing to quickly defend as a tentacle of darkness lashed at him. "Thou art insane!"

"No." she murmured, gazing at him with unholy eyes, the air around her sparking. "This is true sanity."

Her voice was sick joy, and while Yami didn't flinch it sent a chill down his spine. This much uncontrolled darkness. The shadows sung in terrible joy, spiralling and lashing.

She screeched leaping forward in attack, shadows forming pikes before her. There was no way he'd be able to block that with a simple wing. He leapt, wings flaring as he took flight out of range of the attack, dodging quickly as shadows whipped towards him, changing direction as they pushed her from the ground in a mockery of flight.

Yami cursed something under his breath, the shadows growing heavier, the lines on his torso darker. Black leapt towards him, missing him by a hairs breath as he dropped his height slightly, keen eyes following the shadows path as more struck towards him.

He dodged again hearing the crashing of glass exploding behind him.

Her shadows were stronger now she'd given herself to them, and he couldn't dodge forever. No, he had attack.

He dropped low again, before pushing backwards with wing and shadow magic, soaring towards the crazed woman, eyes as dark as the abyss from which darkness was born.

Shadow magic prickled over his senses, sparking his skin as he flew at her. Her magic tried to lash, but it managed only a few weak blows, nothing powerful enough to stop him, deflect him, or change his path as he flew straight for her. His lips parted in a vicious smile. Yes, she was helpless.

'Don't kill!'

He drew his arm back, crying out in nearly malicious exultation, muscle and shadow rippling, tensing to strike. One blow was all it would take.

He struck.

Her dark shadows clung to him, trying to pull him away as the shadow encasing his hand remained lodged in her pale flesh, easily having parted the skin. He invaded her, his darkness streaming through her body, poisoning her as the talon he had formed from the darkness excreted the venom to her body.

'Y-Yami.'

'Fear not. She lives.'

He drew in a long breath, the shadows which had previous been called to her, wildly screeching in uncontrolled madness. He grabbed them, pulled them back to himself. His iron will forcing. Obey.

They lashed wildly, wounding him shallowly in a few places, but soon he had them conquered, obedient as the rest of his shadows were. They soon recognised him, slipped into his awareness and cooed into his mind their delight at the new sensation of fresh blood welling from their enemies wound. A wound their brethren had caused. They shivered in delight.

He withdrew his claw, the shadows withdrawing back into the marks of the tattoo. The woman slumped, eyes wide and unseeing, saliva slipping from the corner of her mouth as is gaped open in a silent scream. The poison in his shadows would render her incapable of massing the dark to her cause ever again. She was trapped in a shaft of light, as weak and pitiful as a newborn kitten. She had relied too much on the shadows as her strength, and now without them her body had none.

He smirked in victory. No one threatened his bearer, it was only a shame that it was wished for her to live.

'Bearer. What wouldst thou have me do with this one?' He queried, gazing her over with contempt.

'Police.'

He grunted. That was two blocks from here from what his bearer mind provided him. Sighing he gripped tighter the limp body of the woman, her body light and frail. Pitiful.

Satisfied that there was no longer any shadows in the area, that he had managed to reign in the those shadows of hers that she had called, he left, the only signs of the battle left behind was the shattered glass and black score marks on the concrete roof top

Yuugi had a problem.

This problem wasn't the glaring red light of his alarm clock, nor was it the incessant chirping of a family of birds outside his window, who had nothing better to do with their lives than squawk about absolutely nothing. It wasn't even the fact that there were still marks covering his body, and one or two small cuts on his back and chest.

It was the fact that Yami had co-operated with him.

This wasn't so much a problem as a dilemma. What was he going to do now? Yami had actually listened to him, hadn't killed the woman as he would've. He didn't completely disfigure her with a brutal beating, beat her to the point of disarmament, but she was still entirely recognisable. He had been somewhat merciful instead of insanely violent.

This changed everything.

Could he begin to trust Yami now? Could he even begin to hope that one day they would trust each other? Or was this a ploy? Behaving so that he would drop his guard and Yami would have a chance to do something truly wicked, something like permanent control.

He shook his head. No. That was too terrible to even think about at this point. He fisted his hands in his sheets. Things didn't make as much sense now. Yami had listened; had paid heed to his appeal to spare her. He seemed to want to appease him, but…

He closed his eyes, suddenly tired. But why would he when he already had control?

Last night… when Yami had fought that vicious woman, he'd felt more. He'd been able to feel the ghost of wind across his face, he'd felt Yami's exhalation, the adrenaline in his body as he made that final and critical strike. He could feel strongly the echo's of his bodies movements. The tightening of his muscles as they sprung to attack, how good it felt when the shadow magic seared through his body and formed that wicked talon. He didn't feel the blows as they landed; he felt a slight echo, but no pain, as though he was sheltered from that. He could hear the complexities of his other thoughts. Nothing exact, he couldn't quite focus on them, couldn't quite hear them clearly. They flittered anxiously with strategy, small commands, thoughts, spying weakness, analysing the best way to attack, he felt the brush of his heart thudding in excitement.

But before that, he'd felt a quiet peace radiating from him. A simple joy as the night air brushed over him. Yami had relished in it. Something so simple. He'd been peacefully happy. While he was fighting he was viciously happy, but prior to that there was a peacefulness to him, a serenity to his mind as he enjoyed just being there.

He sighed. He wanted to speak to someone about it, but who would understand? Who would be able to say, 'Yuugi, I've been through the same thing.' and then provide him all the answers?

He didn't want to worry his grandfather, who already had to worry about so much as it was. He didn't want to worry Jounouchi who already worried enough about him, and would only worry more now that he was over in Tokyo with Mai. He could pose it to Ryou and Anzu as a hypothetical where it was a separate living entity he was having this problem with, but Ryou would probably become suspicious of him, and Anzu…Anzu could take it as meaning them if he said it wrong, or worry about him. No one really ever took a hypothetical question as not relating to a problem the person asking the hypothetical was having.

Why wasn't there just an answer? It wasn't fair for there to be just questions.

Slowly the light faded from his room, the sunset a splash of angry red as the night fought the day, and it was the night who won and Yuugi quickly fell into an uneasy sleep.

When he woke, it was in a cold sweat, trembling as liquid fear leaked from his pores. His eyes were wide with imagined horror. In a terrible sensation he realised he was sitting upright in his bed. It had felt as though he'd been upright all along and had suddenly been flung back against his sheets only to bounce up again.

He was lurched forwards, shaky hands gripping the sheets, feet tangled in a snarled mess at the bottom. His hair was a disarrayed mess, his lone blonde forelock, irritably close to his eyes, the rest of his bangs concealing his face. His heart pulsed like the bass speakers of a night club, loud and all consuming. A chilling spider's web lay across his frazzled nerves, tickling at the hairs on his arms as they prickled in the cold outside his bed sheets.

But as he calmed, something caught his eye. At the foot of his bed, staring out the window. The figure looked just like him, except for minor fact that he was littered with tattoo's. They curled around a bicep, and swung dangerously down to his hips. They twitched nervously around his fingers, and curled wickedly at his wrist. They were mesmerising and dark, standing stark against pale skin as it shone from the moon light. Each graceful sweep ended in a wicked point. His hair was black as the night sky, but flashed with blonde highlights as they flung back in jagged groups into his hair.

He was perched on the end of his bed, one knee drawn up for an arm to rest against, as the other propped his torso from the back. Yuugi's mouth felt painfully dry, his breath froze and he stared, nightmare forgotten. Was this…

"Yami?"

The figured turned his head, inclining it slightly as he look at him in one deeply powerful gaze. Eyes a startling garnet.

"Ah, bearer." Said a voice that Yuugi had only ever heard in his mind, smooth and pleasant, though he had a feeling that he had… heard it this way once before. "I see thou hath roused thyself from thine nightmare at last." He commented lightly.

Yuugi merely stared. Yami's face was solid and angular. It curved smoothly but sharply. His accent sounded strange now he actually heard it with his ears; it was similar to his own but tinged with something else.

Yami smirked, catching his stare, and turning his face back to the window, while Yuugi continued to stare openly at the being at the foot of his bed.

Heya, I know the fght scene was really lame. I hope you'll forgive me... or at least reiview to tell me how much it sucked. don't forget the feed the author.