Title: The Black Tattoo
Author: SilverWing147
Part: 5/?
Rating: Yet to be classified
Warning: AU, BL
Pairing: eventual YYxY, YxA, other pairings yet to be realised.
Summary: He didn't know when it came, or where from, but he'd been cursed with a mark on his back. A tattoo of a pyramid with an Egyptian eye, a black tattoo. What some people call a hero, and others a menace, emerges under the name of The Black Raven, and Yuugi's life has never been more complicated.

A/N: Delayed again, oh well. You'll live dahlings. Another action sequence in here, I hope it works out okay, as usual I'm very nervous about its success, but there's only one way to know. Hide under the table, they've got Kaiba Corp.

Chapter 5: Know the Enemy

"Kame Game Shop, how may I… oh hi Jounouchi!" Yuugi chirped brightly from his place behind the counter. His grandfather had gone to collect a delivery that needed his signature, and so he had been left in charge of the game shop – not a particularly hard task.

"Hey Yuug' you been able to get in contact with Ryou and Bakura yet?"

Yuugi shook his head slightly in a 'no' though he was on the phone. "No I haven't, I tried Ryou's mobile, and I don't have Bakura's, tried the home phone. I even stopped around yesterday but no one is home and Ryou's boss says that Ryou's called in sick."

"Hmm, dat's weird."

"Yeah… I'm a bit worried actually…" He said, playing with a paperclip on the counter as he spoke.

"Yeah… but I s'pose there's not a lot we can do ey? Who knows with those two, Bakura prolly dragged Ryou out into some cabin in the woods so their neighbours wouldn't hear them.' Jounouchi laughed.

Yuugi chuckled weakly in reply, though that did seem to fit in with Bakura's behaviour, and he'd appeared really bored at work, so he wouldn't put it past him to do something like this. "But Ryou would've taken his mobile."

"Yeah…I'll ask Honda to check around again, he's gonna go call in on Kaiba, so maybe after he stops by there he can go visit the house of the Bakura's." Jounouchi offered.

"Yeah, that seems like a good idea. Wait, Honda's going to see Kaiba?"

"Yup, at Kaiba Corp. even." Yuugi could hear Jounouchi's grin.

"Well... at least we'll know that he got the message." He replied.

"Yup, he's not getting out of it this time."

At least once every four months, everyone would organise time off while Jounouchi and Mai were in town, to meet up and catch up over card games. They usually tried to get Kaiba to come along, and were usually dismissed, but it wasn't quite as much fun without Seto Kaiba attempting to beat all of them at Black Jack when two worked in the casino industry. It was still fun to get everyone together, and this time it was Yuugi's turn to play host to the gathering, not that he minded, everyone bought lots of food, and most went unopened into his cupboard, so grandpa had no troubles either.

"Well Yuug' I better... holy shit!"

Yuugi started. "What? What's going on?!"

"Channel Nine, Yuug'! Channel Nine!"

Perplexed by his friends sudden outburst he quickly bolted into the lounge room, flicking on the TV and quickly changing to Channel nine. The sound was down from when he'd been watching last night, but its declarations were loud enough to shake the house.

"Are you seein' this Yuug?!" Jounouchi cried as he stared, dumbfounded, at the television.

It was Kaiba Corp. The building was lit up with flashes of red and blue, police cars dotted the base, a crowd had gathered but where being held back. The voice over explained that a few moments ago the police had received a security alert, it appeared that the Kaiba's were being held hostage in his office as well as some other man who is unidentified at the current time.

Honda...

"Jounouchi! When did Honda say he was going to see Kaiba?!" He asked frantically.

"I-I dunno! He just said he'd go today or something!" His voice was tightened with panic. "I'm going there."

"Me too. Meet you there." He swiftly put down the floor and headed for the door, grabbing his jacket and stuffing his feet into his shoes.

'Bearer, dost thou require my assistance?' Yami voice smoothed over his nerves, but couldn't stop his shaking hands as he fumbled the lock. He paused. Yami could... they could.

"I..." He frowned opening the door and heading into the street. He could go in as The Black Raven and stop them, or at least do something. With wings he could enter the building soundlessly...

He felt Yami's conscious press against him, urging for an answer. His fingers twitched. "O-Okay, but...together" He replied.

He felt Yami's smile against his mind. 'Together.'

Ground floor was panic. Kaiba Corporation provided a lot of jobs and held a lot of authority in Domino. This was almost like holding the head of a bank hostage. He removed his cap, wiping a layer of sweat from his forehead. What was worse was that they were in stand still. They couldn't risk the life of Kaiba Corporation's CEO, his little brother or the mysterious third person now held hostage in the office at the top of the tower.

It had almost been an hour and there had been no demands made. Ten minutes ago the camera crews had arrived and started broadcasting, stepping on toes as usual.

"Kimari-san, what's the stat?" He yelled over to a young man with headphones clapped around his ears as he glared angrily at a monitor within the van. Kimari looked over to him, agitated as he reported.

"I can get signal on all floors, but the cameras surrounding and within Kaiba-san's office are suffering some sort of interference, but I can point a source. They're not hacked or anything, but I can barely see anything. The system in there is perfect, and the security passwords sent with the distress signal work like a charm, but I just can't get a clear picture." He huffed, glancing over to glare at his monitors again.

"Keep trying!"

"Without fail Kuro-san." Kimari replied.

Inspector Kuro, from special ops quickly turned back to the building in front of him. They couldn't 'copter in, and walking all the way through the building while easy, wouldn't be worth the risk when you neared the top. They need the security footage to check how many were in there and where so they weren't sending blind men into the maze of Kaiba Corporation.

He tapped his fingers against his side urgently.

"Sir! Sir!" He spun around, staring at Kimari.

"What?"

"I've got something. It's just an empty corridor, but the picture has just come clear and there's something I think you should see." He said pointing at the screen. Narrowing his eyes Kuro tried to piece out exactly what he was seeing. There was something written on the wall... but what was it?

"Shit, I can't read that."

Kimari rolled his eyes, quickly hammering in some commands. The monitor display flickered briefly before a close image of the wall appeared. Scrawled in black, paint still dripping from some corners, was written 'Can the bird come out to play?'.

"What the..."

"Sir you don't think they mean..." Kimari started, silenced with a quick look from Kuro. A face appeared on the monitor next to the words, grinning madly as he held up 1 finger and mouthed "hour" then drew the finger across his throat.

"Sir..." Kimari said uncertainly as his boss stared intently at the monitor as the picture quality returned to its reduced state.

"Get me Carter from special ops division six, and release that message to the press. In one hour we won't have any hostages to save and a heck of a lot of trouble." he barked out.

Quickly recognising the no-nonsense tone of the inspector he picked up his head set and called out. They were in some serious trouble if they didn't move fast. Though he could only guess why the message was being released, he suspected the bird they were talking about might be the criminal/hero Black Raven, and that the inspector hoped that he was watching the news. He didn't like the idea of broadcasting an invite to that weirdo but, they only had an hour, they had to at least try to appease the bastards. Was probably against some sort of protocol as well, judging by the tightness in Kuro's face. Ah, well, whoever got here first, Carter or that Raven guy, they had to move quick.

Little did either of them know that The Black Raven was already well on his way.

He took a deep breath and leapt from the edge of the building. His eyes lit up with adrenaline induced pleasure, a wicked smile forming as he felt his shadow magic curve and tear. They spread from the black pyramid shaped tattoo, tearing through the back of his shirt, latched to his skin. The wings grew, not black, but full of nothingness. They reflected no light at all, absorbing it, drawing it within the pitch darkness of the pseudo feathers. He let loose a wild scream as lines of black spread from the tattoo, gold and red splintering over the top of them, until he was tribally painted from head to foot. They curled into wicked spikes and symbols telling of their darkness, of their power.

Yami was in control now. God help him.

They quickly careened along the rooftops and between buildings, Yuugi's breath (if he'd truly had any) would've been still in his throat at the daring plunges and twists that Yami made as he travelled at breakneck speeds towards Kaiba corp. staying low so that he wouldn't be detected. But how to get in?

'Helipad entrance.' Yuugi offered.

Yami smiled and sharply shot directly up, wings pumping powerfully as the drag of gravity began slowing him. Before he knew it they were atop the Kaiba Corp. building crouched just below Kaiba's personal helicopter. A quick glance told Yami that the roof and door were abandoned. Yami smirked, pushing the door open and skulking inside.

His shadows were already creeping through, telling him the location of the offenders he was hunting. There were three of them, one of them was impressively dark; the other two were similar to the shadow users he'd faced before, one slightly stronger than the other. Maybe the pool had grown too shallow, and at last the owner of the little miscreants he'd been tracking was luring him to confrontation. He scoffed lightly, if that's what he wanted then.

The last shadow using miscreant he'd found had divulged more than enough information, but nothing regarding his boss. Among other things he'd discovered that the modern name for what he had once been was a Shadow Reaper. One who reaped the benefits of the dark by sacrificing the light. He shook his head, these guys were wrong. He was shocked that the dark let such disrespect stand unattended.

His wings were pressed flat to his back as he edged around the corners, he couldn't fight them all at one time. The two minor Shadow Reapers he'd be able to take, but the darkest one would be another battle all on his own.

'Yami, there's another entrance to Kaiba's Office. Left here, its long way so no one bothers with it.'

Yami blessed his bearer's co-operation. His host was helping to get their presence greyed rather than one way or the other. He could easily be mistaken for some poor staff member or police officer, not a user of the shadows. Once again Yuugi was pressed to the back of his mind and whispering like a breath on the back of his neck. The closeness surprised him after the kiss that he'd inflicted upon his bearer, but surprisingly he seemed willing to give him a chance to redeem. Was it the victory of an apology that won him the chance?

Shrugging out of those thoughts he quietly made his way through the corridors, alert to the movements within the building. There wasn't much he could do to hide his presence as a being, but hopefully they wouldn't perceive him much of a threat and perhaps send the weakest to deal with him. He could then surprise the shadow reaper and save some energy for later.

The stillness of the corridors was eerie as he rounded another bend. Yuugi's mind grew tense behind his; they were obviously drawing very close to their target. He could feel the three greyer souls just beyond the next corridor; however there was something in his way.

One of the weaker ones. They were moving slowly towards him. He pressed himself flat to the wall at the corner. They'd get a surprise when they found him. Yuugi was tensed in his mind; he could feel the nervous energy and the slight musk of an adrenaline induced excitement. He held his breath as they approached the corner.

It had only taken two blows to fell him. He was completely unprepared to deal with the strength of shadow enhanced blows. As soon as he was in sight, Yami had struck. Unmercifully pummelling him with a kick to his kidneys and then a crippling blow to the head when he was within range. The would-be attacker was face down, motionless but for the light movement caused by his breathing.

'They'll know we're here now.' Yuugi said quietly.

'True bearer, but they would have discovered us eventually.' He replied, edging around the corner, using his wings as balance as he pelted down the corridor. Stealth was no longer such an issue, but if he could get there quickly.

'Left!'

His wings flared (as much as they could in the narrow hallway), slowing him to make the quick turn before he took off again. 'That door at the end of the corridor is the entrance to the secretary's office, the only way to Kaiba's office is through there.' He nodded in affirmation as he pelted at the door not slowing. He was going to give the guy in there the surprise of his life.

Setting a barrier around his front he crashed in through the door, not hesitating before launching himself in the direction of the second Shadow Reaper. This Reaper was more prepared, shielding the blow quickly as Yami's fist glanced off and Yami's motion carried him behind the Reaper.

Wings tucked back he spun around to deliver a high kick to the Reaper's head but was quickly blocked and a pulse of shadow slid him backwards towards the wall. His opponent was wearing a set of black cargo pants, complete with black belt and silver chains. His eyes were narrowed in distaste and a dark thrill, staring out at him from beneath a black hooded jacket. He was slightly muscled although with alliance to the shadows that meant nothing, and was irkingly taller than Yami. He wore a grey vest beneath the hoody, marked with scorches and dark stains that smelt of copper death.

"Hi." The Reaper smiled, his teeth almost disturbingly white. "I'm Balthazar; I noticed you took quick care of my friend a moment ago." Yami's eye twitched. He sincerely didn't like this man already. He spoke in an arrogant drawl, as though he thought himself higher than royalty, speaking with a feigned disinterest in the situation and with no care for his so-called 'friend'. "I imagine you surprised him, I mean, I myself was quite surprised when I felt someone else's shadows move in this building. But I can handle a surprise. My Boss has requested I leave you alive, but beating you beyond recognition is well within my bounds I'm afraid."

Yami chuckled. "I do not think that is what one such as thou should fear."

Balthazar just tilted his head to the side, his eerie smile still sparkling from between thin lips. He felt Balthazar's Shadows slide over his senses, plucking at his own shadows and reaching towards his wings for inspection. He jerked in reflex, rustling his wings to dispel the film of the others shadows as they drew nearer. His own shadows lashed out restlessly against the invaders. Balthazar was stronger than the other man that he had just taken care of and obviously more experienced in controlling the shadows he'd amassed.

He needed to move quickly if he wanted to defeat him with enough energy left to take care of his boss. However... he wasn't sure how long Yuugi's body would be able to endure the toll of magic, as well as how many shadows his soul could sustain. He didn't want to over-clock his host's body so dramatically while it was still not particularly used to the shadows. He didn't want to harm Yuugi in any way at all. He could still remember how exhausted Yuugi had been when the tattoo had activated that first time.

"Aw, that wasn't very polite." Balthazar jeered. "No handshake, no show of power?" He said while his shadows retreated to him.

Yami sneered. "I do not shake with shadows." He growled.

That was all the invitation Balthazar needed. His shadows reared back and then flung forward at Yami who dodged them narrowly, feeling the brush against his tightly draw in wings, cringing as they leapt towards his eyes. He drew his own shadows up, deflecting what he couldn't dodge feeling the glare of Balthazar's narrowed eyes.

With all the deflection and dodging he was doing the attacks he made were quickly dispersed by the others shadows. This was impossible!

He growled, spinning away from another cascade of shadows, pressing his wings in closer to himself to avoid them clipping on anything. He needed to attack, effectively attack. But he himself was being pinned by all the other attacks!

He growled in frustration, flipping back further to try and gain some breath back.

'Yami!'

He drew in a breath, deflecting the weakened blows while Balthazar smirked from the other end. He was stronger than Balthazar, his shadows knew it as well, but he didn't want to tax Yuugi's energy early on with a power struggle.

'There's a way. Haven't you noticed that Balthazar hasn't moved since we came in?'

Yuugi was right! While he was being harassed by shadows, Balthazar himself had kept his distance, not engaging Yami at all. He was fighting only with shadow, and he didn't dodge Yami's attacks, he deflected them. He was relying on the shadows to manage both his attack and defence.

The way to get him, would be with a direct physical assault. If he could put his shadows into deflection and speed, using his wings to shield his back; he could attack Balthazar directly! This meant he'd be forced to dodge to avoid the strike (because it would take too much energy to deflect a physical blow) or be struck by Yami's fist.

He grinned, leaping forward, feeling shadows patter against his front as his own shadows batted them away. He charged, relishing Balthazar's shocked face as he drew back his arm. His muscles grew tense with magic, fist clenched, muscles taunt. He flung himself forward, feeling his fist connect first with the shadow barrier, feeling it struggle briefly and then give way beneath his shadow charged blow. He continued on, putting his whole body into the punch, feeling his fist connect with Balthazar's unprotected side, rib crack, and muscle bruise.

He grinned in vicious victory and satisfaction as his opponent went flying, his shadows stopping their assault as the pain broke his concentration. Yami didn't pause for breath, leaping after him to bury a fist in his stomach, bringing his knee up under Balthazar jaw watching his head snap back from the blow.

Balthazar's shadows flared briefly but were subdued by his own. He quickly fashioned a wicked claw, lashing into Balthazar's side once more and injecting his shadows. Balthazar was through. He no longer had shadows; Yami's were quickly disconnecting them from him in every way before absorbing them.

He smirked victoriously. His opponent was unconscious and free of shadows. The other was out cold as well, but with his shadows and the third... was no longer in the building. He growled. Damnit, he got away!

He staggered slightly, adrenaline wearing away, the magic he'd used making him weak. He'd done more than he thought. He needed to get out of here, Kaiba was no longer in danger, the police would be in soon, and he definitely didn't want to be around for that.

Yuugi's mind pressed gently against him, the tint of worry carried in a carefully insinuated question.

Yami smiled. 'We'll be fine... they'll be fine. Let us depart.' He assured his bearer, quickly making his way back to the roof.

"B-Big brother." Mokuba's fist clenched in Kaiba's trench coat, as he remained huddled behind him. "Is... is it over now?"

He'd been terrified the moment that masked man had entered the room. His elder brother had called security but they had no effect, they were quickly dispersed with. He shuddered, the scent of old blood still heavy in the air. The man hadn't made any demands, or even spoken. It was his underling who had told them what was going on, they were being held hostage, though they didn't make any demands.

"I think so." He answered quietly, blue eyes still narrowed in a glare towards the doorway.

"O-Okay."

"I think it's over. I can't hear anything."Honda said from his place just beside Kaiba. His hands were shaking as the CEO of Kaiba Corporation stayed motionless.

They'd seen through the frosted glass, the ghost figures of two men fighting, one with jet black wings. It'd have to be The Black Raven. When it looked like he was winning, the masked man who had entered originally, had clicked his tongue lightly and vanished into thin air.

Gods, this had to rate at least a 15 on his Weird-o-Metre.

They remained motionless; however sure they were that it was over Kaiba's hand remained wrapped securely around his younger brother's bicep.

They all tensed as they heard footsteps scurrying in the room opposite. "Mokuba, stay behind me." Kaiba ordered quietly, feeling rather than seeing Mokuba nod in response, huddling further behind him.

"This room looks clear."

"Yeah."

"That's his office right?"

"Right, heat sensor's only picking up three. This must've been the last of 'em."

"Only two?!"

"And they weren't packin' guns either."

"Christ. Come on."

The door creaked open, the nozzle of a gun poking in, before a wary face followed, glancing around the room quickly. Spotting no one he completely opened the room and ran in.

"Mr Kaiba! Are you alright?" The man said, quickly rushing forward, eyes still darting from corner to corner.

"Fine." Kaiba replied in a clipped voice as three other agents darted into the room. "Have you apprehended the men responsible?"

"Both cuffed and being hauled off as we speak." He replied quickly. "I'm Inspector Kuro by the way. Can you tell me what happened to the men outside?"

"We don't know." Honda answered, stepping forward, relief making his legs tremble slightly. "We think it was that Raven guy."

"Ha!" said one of the other men, a grin on his face as he came forward. "I knew it. Heheh, guess that kid got to play hero today."

Kaiba sneered, bringing Mokuba forward and into his arms now it was safe, taking comfort in the trust in his hold as Mokuba tightened his grip on him. He was like this after scares. "That boy is shorter than Mutou and probably more annoying. I wouldn't laugh about admitting that a dangerous vigilante was more efficient than the Domino city's Police Department."

"He's a hero!" Honda argued.

"No he's not! He's just a kid!" Kaiba retaliated.

"He saved all of us!"

"I do not need saving!" He snapped, blue eyes narrowed.

He tightened his grip on Mokuba and stalked out of the room, leaving Honda to be escorted out by a flighty Inspector Kuro, unused to people being angry after 'rescue' arrived.

"Damn Kaiba." He growled, entering the elevator.

Jounouchi was shuffling his feet nervously, Anzu beside him, clutching at her shirt as she watched the building with hawk like eyes. There were three reasons that Jounouchi was nervous.

The first was that Kaiba, Mokuba and possibly Honda were being held hostage in Kaiba's office. Honda wasn't answering his phone, and he usually kept it on him since it was a gift from Shizuka for his twenty first, so there was a good possibility that the third hostage was him. He wasn't that bothered with Kaiba 'cause god knows that megalomaniac could take care of himself, but Mokuba was a good kid, and didn't deserve this kind of crap so often in his life.

The second issue was that Yuugi hadn't arrived and he lived closer to Kaiba Corp. than he did and so was probably now under the suppression of his other half, and lurking around inside that building trying to get himself killed. He wasn't sure how Yami and Yuugi were getting along, but he hoped that Yami was at least taking care not to get himself killed. Maybe Yuugi had talked him into helping out... but he wasn't going to put too much in that hope basket.

The third and final issue was that the police had entered the building not so long ago, so now the Kaiba's and Honda (if he was in there) were in danger, because the people holding them hostage could shoot them if they were feeling threatened by police, or a police bullet could stray and hit one of them. As well as that if Yuugi was in there, lurking around as The Black Raven, he was also at risk of being shot at by the friendly gun toting law enforcement officers.

The mix of Police, Hostages, and Yuugi all in the same building, didn't sit well in his stomach. He stared up at the building as the lights of the police cars played along the glass of the outside. Right at the top was where Kaiba's office was. The biggest office in the tallest tower.

He frowned, squinting. Was that... there was something at the top, moving away from the building. Was it Raven?! Damn video games damaging his eyes. It was a dodgy guess, but it quickly moved away from the building and vanished along the roof tops. It'd have to be him, unless little black dots were floating in his eyes again.

He heard a quiet gasp from Anzu and quickly glanced towards her. He swallowed thickly as he noticed where she was looking before she dashed out of the crowds. Shit!

She must've spotted Raven too. Damnit, why was she so interested?! Then again, he'd caught her reading over an article about him in the paper not so long ago, maybe she was curious to see if she could unmask him. Crap! He knew for a fact that Yuugi hadn't told Anzu about his dangerous little secret, and her finding out this way...

He quickly sped off after her. He had to stop her finding out. For Yuugi's sake.

'I am sorry.' Yami's voice said quietly as the descended into an alley not far from Yuugi's home.

Yuugi shirked the apology off. 'It's okay. We saved my friends and that's what counts. I should really... I should really be thanking you for helping.'

'It is not necessary bearer. Thy happiness is my happiness.' He replied, boots thudding as he landed as lightly as he could on the ground. He quickly took inventory, a few cuts from narrowly dodged shadows, his hand was bruised from that punch, and his body was weak from using too much shadow magic. He had pushed it today with his host's body, but it would recuperate quickly and perhaps soon it would be able to handle more magic. Maybe it was a good thing the boss had vanished. Things would've been much worse if he hadn't fled.

But what had he gained from his little stunt? A test of Yami's power? He obviously didn't want him to know just who his adversary was yet, but what had he gained. From that the news had said before his bearer had rushed from the house, no demands had been made, so it was just... just like a test.

His bearer was concerned as well; he felt it in his soul as he handed control slowly back to his other half, bracing him for the condition of his body. He felt Yuugi stagger slightly as he gained control of his weakened legs.

'...Thank you, Yami.' He sighed, as full control returned. He could feel the wings on his back relaxing, slowly drawing themselves back in so they would cause the least amount of pain as possible. The shadows were slowly withdrawing as well, the marks fading away.

Now how to get home from here... he'd have to take less travelled paths to avoid too many stares from being without shirt this time of day. Maybe if he-

"Y-Yuugi?"

He froze, muscles locking into place even though there were trembling and he slowly turned to see. He shook, oh gods no, no, no, no, no, no.

"You're… you're."

Blue eyes met startled amethyst as Yuugi backed away, clothes torn, arm bleeding.

"The Black Raven."

He had been caught.

"I've loved you all along."

"No. Not me." He replied carefully, voice quivering. His body was so tense that his wings were quickly drawn into his back, but he didn't feel the sting. "A-Anzu I..."

"Yuugi!"

Yuugi leapt for joy mentally as Jounouchi surged forward, freeing him from the awkward situation and he pulled off his jacket and quickly wrapped it around him. "Yuugi, shit man, are you okay?"

His body trembled in shock of being caught by his girlfriend, his bones ached from magic, his hand was bruised from the punches, and he was nearly completely exhausted. He leaned forward and Jounouchi carefully wrapped arms around him. "J-Jounouchi."

"Come on buddy, let's get you home and into the shower and Grandpa can make you some nice chicken soup or something." Jounouchi reassured him. He sighed thankfully. Jounouchi would always be his rock.

He smiled weakly, his body falling limp as Jounouchi scooped him up and began to carry him home. To his shame he couldn't even look at Anzu as he was carried past her and towards his home.

Upon his entrance, Grandpa had instantly began fussing, checking his knuckles and torso while Anzu stood awkwardly in the corner watching over the proceedings. "Shower." He commanded, and Yuugi nodded quietly slipping upstairs and into the bathroom where he instantly collapsed against the door.

"Oh god..." He whispered to himself. "What am I going to do? I've been lying to Anzu this whole time, and now she knows about about, well she knows nothing but that she thinks that I'm the Black Raven. But I'm not, I'm just the host, I'm not and she knows, and gods, she said she, she... she loved 'me' all along, but I'm not... I'm not..."

His hands tightened. That's why she hadn't mentioned The Black Raven; she'd been harbouring a crush on him. Meeting him must've been the greatest fangirl moment of her life, no wonder she hadn't run. It made sense now. Things hadn't been going well with Anzu until Black Raven had appeared, and then everything was fine. He tugged at his hair, was it because they looked alike... she stayed with him because he... he looked like the Black Raven and she must've know she'd never get the Black Raven and so settled with him?

And he thought he'd been lying. They both had. Oh gods, she was... she...

'Easy bearer, easy.' Yami's voice rippled across him. 'One thing at a time. Shower first, tend thy injuries and rest. No doubt come morning she will still be waiting, your grandfather shall take care of her until then.'

Yami's words strangely comforted him. Simple instructions to follow, easy. He slipped out of his pants and underwear, Jounouchi's jacket had been long since taken from him, and gently sidled into the shower, immediately sighing at the blessing of deliciously warm water. The spray from the nozzle was relaxing as the jets of water soothed his muscles and skin, washing away the dirt and blood. He winced as it pried into wounds, but the sting soon wore away until everything was just perfect. It was warm, the water so calming as it trickled along his skin and rushed through his hair.

He hmm'd to himself as he washed his hair, the aroma further relaxing him as he allowed the knots to be carefully worked out. There were no problems in the shower. He could forget about Anzu downstairs, no doubt firing questions at Jounouchi and his Grandfather with all the speed of a semi-automatic on crack.

He quietly let himself enjoy the feeling of being clean, and the gentle press of Yami's mind against his own as he soothed him, that soft weight in the hollow of his chest. He felt the contentedness of the other at just being present, and let it wash over him as well. By the time he was clean and out of the shower, he'd be ready to collapse into bed and let the day end.

He washed the suds from his hair and then turned off the water, grabbing a towel and quickly drying himself. He scrutinised his wounds, deciding they didn't need any covering; they weren't going to bleed anymore and they were fairly shallow. So he gently climbed into his pyjamas, flexing his bruised hand to disperse some gathering stiffness.

He quietly padded his way down the hall and into his room, closing the door behind him and crawling beneath his bed sheets. Today hadn't been a good day, but he supposed it could've been worse.

And there it be. Apologies for lateness, please review, my stomach is rumbling.