Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh GX, Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds or the song Evil Angel; they both belong to their respective owners.

Chapter Fifteen

The red haired woman checked the address on the piece of paper, looking at the old church before taking a firmer hold of Rebecca's hand. Normally, she would never consider one of these places, but then again, Dartz had left her a note; the same note that she read nearly obsessively. He had been right about the game shop, so she would trust him on this.

"Mommy," she looked down at Rebecca, the blonde girl clutching her bear, "the people at school say that this is a bad place."

"Well-"

"Hello." Iona was startled by the deep voice, turning quickly and then relaxing as she stared at the teenager behind her. He offered a smile as a way of apology before walking towards them. She took in his tri-colored hair and the golden bracelet on his wrist before she looked back up at his eyes, shocked by their crimson color.

"Hello." She offered her own hand to shake, smiling when the teenager accepted her hand. He let go and rocked back onto his heels, staring at the church that loomed over them.

"So, interesting in helping one of these guys out?"

Iona nodded, giving Rebecca a fond glance. "My husband and I could never have kids of our own and we wanted a big family. But, he died, just a few weeks ago." The teenager bowed his head for a moment before looking at her. Iona was relieved that he didn't offer the same condolences that everyone else did. "I still want a large family, but I'd rather adopt children who need the homes."

The teenager nodded, seeming to thing something over before shrugging and beginning to walk towards the church. "Well, you've come to the right place. Although, I have to warn you, this is the best we can do on our own. And, no, we're not turning them over to the system."

There was something in his tone that made Iona ask, "Why?"

"My sister was in the orphanages of Domino after she had been here." The teenager paused, Iona following his gaze to the weed ridden graveyard. "She never left."

Iona glanced at the graveyard and then at the teenager who was walking into the church, feeling a rush of sympathy towards him. Of course she knew how most people would treat those who lived over here, she had grown up in this city. But she had never thought, not even once, that they would think that of children.

She took a better hold of Rebecca's hand before they walked into the church after him, her eyes going wide at the disarray that greeted her. Iona easily found the teenager waiting at the base of a set of stairs, a sheepish smile on his face. "It's the best we can do."

He was moving off again before she could speak, leading her up onto the second floor. As they walked she could hear the voices of children getting louder, Rebecca perking up at the sound. Iona smiled fondly at her adopted daughter, feeling bad that she had to be brought into the sight of this so soon. Iona shrugged to herself, helping Rebecca over the uneven last step as the teenager waited for them at the top.

He smiled before opening the door and stepping into the room. Iona got a glimpse of a group of children playing with worn toys before they all rushed forward with a cry of, "Uncle Yami!"

The teenager was pushed to the floor under the flood of children, Iona chuckling to herself as she watching him flail, the children finally moving back far enough for him to sit up, a few still clinging to him.

"Yami, I got a new motorcycle and it's better than Jack's!"

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah. Mine is red!"

"Yami, Yami! Look what I can do! Martin can sit on my head!"

"Yami I got this new card! Isn't it cool?"

The teenager paid each child equal attention, congratulating them on all the discoveries that they had recently made. He looked back at her once, a slight jerk of his head an invitation for her to join them. Iona cautiously slipped into the room, feeling Rebecca sticking close behind her.

The children looked up at her as she entered, staring before looking at Yami for an explanation. The teenager smiled, sitting back. "Everyone, this is Iona, she's come to adopt one of you."

Quiet settled over the room with that statement, the children looking at each other before looking back at Yami. Finally, one spoke up, a blonde who's hair rose up in spikes and wore sweats. "You didn't get adopted."

"No. I didn't." Yami sat back, allowing freeing up room on his lap. The young boy with the brown fur ball rushed to take the available space, smiling at everyone as he settled down, the fur ball immediately going back onto his head. Yami smiled at the child, shaking his head.

"Then why do we?"

Yami gave a shrug. "Maybe some of you want to be in a family."

The blonde kid made a face. "Families are no fun. I'd rather stay here with Yusei. He's more fun."

The teenager looked like he was about to answer that question when the boy on his lap piped up. "Will they get to come back and visit? 'Cause we were their family first."

Yami tipped back, looking at Iona from a partially upside down position. "Will they?"

Iona nodded emphatically, a smile breaking across her face. "Of course. We'll come back to visit." She turned to get an agreement from Rebecca suddenly noticing that the blonde girl had gone off. She searched for her adopted daughter and found her sitting near a brunette girl with her hair in braids, both of them playing with Rebecca's teddy bear.

Iona made her way over to Rebecca, the blonde girl smiling at her before returning to her play. "This is Kris. She's really nice."

"Hello Kris." There was a mumbled reply back as Kris refused to make eye contact. Iona smiled to herself and looked up at a chuckle, finding herself looking at a young woman. The woman gave a short wave of welcome, her eyes scanning over the children before returning to Iona.

"She can be shy around strangers." There was a pause, the silence on the brink of becoming awkward when the woman motioned for Iona to follow her. "Yami can make sure that these guys don't get into any trouble. Let's talk."

They found a place where they could still see all the children, falling into a conversation. Iona spoke of her life up to now, the woman, whose name was Malinda, offering condolences. In exchange, Malinda spoke of how the children had come here and why they were here and no where else.

"They aren't treated right, Yami can attest to that." A jerk of her head brought Iona's attention to the teenager, who had been roped into a game of hide and seek. "He lives over there now for the most part and has had threats almost daily. It scares me to think that they hate us that much."

"They're all just idiots."

Malinda gave a laugh. "That's what I think too." They fell back into silence as they watched Yami chase after Jaden, faking a mortal injury as Chazz used Martin as a weapon. The children immediately swarmed over Yami, the teenager laughing. Iona was brought back to Malinda as the woman sighed. "He's good for them, but they need something more. I try my best but sometimes it's not enough."

"They're all really sweet."

Malinda nodded. "And this is normal for them. They love it whenever someone comes over because, mostly it's only me. And, sometimes, I think that they deserve much more."

Iona sighed, resting her chin in one of her hands. Kris and Rebecca had joined the group now, demanding stories from the teenager which he happily obliged. She sat up, looking over at Malinda. "Would you mind if…"

Malinda shook her head. "No. They deserve a chance at a better life. Just come back every once and a while. This is the only family they've know, and they'll miss it."

The two women smiled at each other before Iona went over to retrieve Rebecca, lingering among the children for a while before approaching Kris. "Would you like to come home with us?"

The brunette hesitated, looking over at Rebecca who nodded. "Please. We could be sisters!"

Kris gave a little laugh at Rebecca's enthusiasm before nodding herself. "I'd like that, but…"

"We'll come and visit! Mommy said it was alright!" Kris brightened at that, a real smile crossing her face before she impulsively hugged Iona. Iona laughed and looked up at Yami, who gave her a nod and stood up, removing kids from his limbs.

"I've got to get back, guys." There was a chorus of disappointed shouts with his announcement, Yami having to reach down to pry Syrus off one of his legs. "I'm sorry, but Yugi will worry."

"Bring Yugi next time. Then you can stay longer." Jaden offered the snippet of logic, nodding his head until the winged Kuriboh that perched on it fell off. He squeaked and rushed to pick it up. "Martin!"

A few more good-byes and the four of them were walking out of the church, Kris clinging nervously to Yami. The teenager walked them as far as he could, stopping at one bridge over the river and carefully pulling Kris away from him. "Be good, alright."

Kris nodded before giving him a quick hug and rushing over towards Rebecca. "Can Yami come over sometime?"

Iona gave a nod, already beginning to usher her two charges away. "Of course he can. As long as he behaves."

Yami put on a fake look of shock, Kris laughing at that. "Hear that Uncle Yami? You have to behave."

The teenager rolled his eyes and pretended to walk away angrily, pausing once to wave back at them before breaking into an easy jog and disappearing over the bridge. Iona watched him go with a smile on her face, most of her attention on Rebecca's endless chatter about what they were going to do as soon as they got home.

"See ya tomorrow, Yug'. I'll beat ya yet!" Yugi laughed and waved to his friends, hearing the inevitable argument between Tristan and Joey as the brunette doubted Joey's ability. Tèa would probably let him fight, annoyed after having to mother the two all day.

He stretched out his back, a bit sore from hunching over the video games at the arcade. Yugi gave a happy sigh, tipping his head to look at the sky before turning towards his home. Hopefully Yami would be back but now, having to turn down the invitation to the arcade to go back to the old church. Although his boyfriend hadn't told him much about the errand, Yugi trusted Yami to fill him in later.

The short teenager was about to walk into his home when he spotted Tomoya walking out of his house, the two of them looking at each other for a long while before the blonde teenager turned away and began walking off. Yugi sighed and shook his head, walking into the shop and automatically greeting his grandfather. His thoughts were occupied with his oldest friend as he walked up to his room, intent on finishing what homework he had left.

The friendship between Tomoya and himself had himself felt strained now, better in the times that Yami wasn't around. But Yugi had expected that, especially after how Tomoya had approached him about Yami in the first place. After years of believing that Yami had kidnapped him, it would be hard to trust him. Although, Yugi couldn't understand how Tomoya had kept his hatred alive for almost four years.

It was an impossible thing to Yugi.

He trudged down the hall, shouldering his door open and flopping on the floor, staring up through the skylight. His homework could wait for a little while more, right now he wanted to figure this thing out.

He still wanted to be friends with Tomoya and that feeling seemed to be mutual. The bespectacled teenager fit in with their group to the point where it was almost automatic to include him in things without thinking. But it was Tèa who always brought up Yami, a fact that Yugi was thankful for.

To the rest of them, Yami was an extension of Yugi and, therefore, part of the group. It was assumed that, unless either one of them spoke up about it, that Yami would be coming along if Yugi was. Tèa saved them from those awkward gatherings by actually voicing the question, which gave Tomoya a chance to back out; a thing that was happening more often as time went on.

Yugi rubbed a hand over his face, shaking his head at the same time. Tomoya would have to get over this himself, but that didn't meant that Yugi was less frustrated by his friend's avoidance of Yami. It would make things so much easier…But if Yugi had learned anything, it was that life never went as smoothly as people wanted it to.

He picked himself up from the ground and shuffled to his desk, sitting on the chair and staring at the homework that he had left until now, his mind barely comprehending it. Thankfully, for a while, the problem with Tomoya was pushed out of his mind for a slightly larger problem. "When did she teach us this? "

"ARGH!"

"Homework that bad, aibou?" Yami barely had the time to get the sentence out before Yugi had thrown himself at him. Yami hugged his boyfriend back, laughing as Yugi expounded on how horrible the homework really was. Yami moved awkwardly over to the desk, Yugi still attached to him, and peered at the paper, a smile making its way across his face. "Oh, I finished that in class."

"How?" He was shoved back onto the bed by a frantic Yugi, laughing as the shorter teenager attempted to calm himself down. "How could you do this in class when I don't remember learning it at all?"

"Well, for one, I didn't quite do it the way they taught us." Yugi raised an eyebrow, Yami laughing and patting his back. "Don't worry, I got the teacher to admit that it was an alternate way of doing it…grudgingly."

They both laughed, Yugi settling into a comfortable position in Yami's arms and yawning. Yami gave his aibou a gentle shake, ignoring the sleepy attempt at a glare that was aimed at him. "Come on, you still have to finish it."

"Yami, I'm sure heaven doesn't care about my math scores."

"You never know, Yugi."

He was waved off, Yugi curling into his usual sleeping position, using Yami as a pillow. "I'll do it tomorrow. Comfy."

"Aibou…"

"Tired."

Yami stopped trying to argue with him at that, relaxing as Yugi drifted off to sleep. He felt his own eyes starting to droop closed, but kept them open to watch Yugi for a little while longer. He had to convince himself that it wasn't a dream, this amazing new life that he had found was not just a dream. He wouldn't wake up tomorrow and find himself back with Ryou and Bakura, having to trudge to the Baroness to argue with Noa.

His thoughts were interrupted by Dartz slipping in through the wall, the angel hesitating before walking over. Yami looked up watching as the angel flinched before carefully making his way across the room. Dartz hesitated by the bed before giving a nod and whispering, "Thank you." He walked out of the room again, presumably to go back to his own charge.

Although there had been no formal apology for the accusations, they had fallen back into their normal pattern, Dartz a bit more worried about the strained friendship that Tomoya had with all of them. But that would pass, Yami was sure about it. Tomoya would figure out what he wanted and then…it was anyone's guess.

He leaned up to kiss Yugi's temple, getting a coo from the shorter teen, Yugi snuggling closer. Yami began to absently stroke his back, staring up at the ceiling above them. With the sun setting the view from the skylight would be fantastic, but Yami was too comfortable to move. And, after all, he could just watch the play of light over Yugi which was, in his opinion much more beautiful.

Yami shifted slightly, keeping a hold on Yugi so the shorter teen wouldn't wake up with the move. These were the parts of the day that he enjoyed the most, these slow moments where he could just breathe and enjoy. Yugi twitched in his sleep, mumbling something. Yami smiled to himself, kissing Yugi's forehead again before settling back. "You're cute aibou."

END

And there you have it. Thank you for all the reviews and for reading this, I hope you guys enjoyed this fic.

Also, as a quick announcement, instead of immediately posting a new story, I'm moving Across the Cosmos: The Nameless Pharaoh to update on Wednesdays and Fridays instead of the usual Saturday and Sunday.