Okay guys, thank you so much for helping me to reach my review goal! Whoop whoop! Now, my new goal is 50 on by the end of this chapter, so please help me to reach that!

To my wattpad readers, I now have close to 400 reads on this story, thank you SO MUCH you guys! It's gaining popularity insanely quick for a yugioh fic! Okay, and also, pretty soon I'm going to have a Destiel (the Supernatural fandom's pairing) fanfiction coming out, so if you're a fan, or you just like my writing, (it's an AU so you don't have to watch the show to get it) then please consider reading that! Without further ado, please enjoy the story~

I do NOT own YuGiOh, only the plot to this fanfiction!

When Yami woke in the morning, he knew immediately that something was off. He couldn't put his finger on it right away—the sunlight was streaming through the window, Yuugi's ears were just barely tickling the bottom of his chin—

Wait. Yuugi!?

Yami backed up in his bed, coughing the sleeping Yuugi to be jostled awake. His wide, innocent eyes shone with confusion for a moment before he looked up at Yami and blushed, remembering what he'd done.

"I'm sorry, Yami." He said sheepishly. "I got scared last night so I came to sleep with you."

Yami was still trying to recover from the shock of waking up to find someone who wasn't there before laying in your bed, snuggled up to your chest.

"It's fine. I just—it surprised me, that's all." He said, blinking. Yuugi smiled and yawned again, a pout gracing his lips.

"It was warmer with you over here." He complained, holding out his arms to signal to Yami that he wanted him back. Yami snuggled up with Yuugi again, disbelief running through him. What had happened to make him suddenly feel like snuggling? Not that Yami was complaining, of course.

"Is it better now?" He asked, feeling a bit awkward as Yuugi burrowed into his chest happily, beginning a loud purr.

"Muuuuuuch better!" Yuugi said, though you could barely hear it over the purr. Yami couldn't help but smile just a little bit, reaching up to rub Yuugi's ears. He hadn't tried it before, but now seemed like the perfect time, honestly.

Yuugi froze up and completely stopped moving, his eyes immediately becoming distant as the purring increased. Yami was afraid that he'd done something wrong, until Yuugi turned to absolute butter and rolled over, exposing his chest upwards and wiggling a bit. Yami remembered that in the papers he got on cat behavior, this meant that he wanted to have his stomach rubbed and he trusted Yami not to hurt him. Yuugi would take it as an insult if he didn't.

He awkwardly reached over to begin rubbing small circles across Yuugi's stomach, his purring thundering in Yami's ears.

"Ya-Miiii~!" Was purred out, Yuugi's tail wiggling wildly under the covers. Yami let a small smile creep onto his face, watching as Yuugi closed his eyes in bliss. Yami could get used to that.

"Good… job…" Panted Yuugi as Yami stopped, unable to catch his breath from all the purring he'd been doing. Yami smiled again, that is, until he glanced at his alarm clock.

"Crap! Yuugi, we have to get up and go! Like, now!" He said, throwing off the blankets and jumping out of bed, "I'm going to be late for work!"

"But Yami, it's so warm in bed!" Yuugi complained, watching as Yami rummaged around in his closet, looking for a clean shirt. He finally came across one that was good enough and he put it on, grabbing his lab coat to put on over it.

"It doesn't matter, we have to go!" He declared urgently. Yuugi groaned, but he hopped out of bed and began to follow Yami, watching him as he did his daily routine, slightly intrigued by how practiced it seemed. Did Yami never do anything different?

Eventually, Yami threw everything into the car and drove off like a mad man, trying not to scare Yuugi but wanting to be on time. Plus, he still had to stop and get Joey.

He pulled up at Joey's house, seeing Joey pacing back and forth on his front porch. His eyes narrowed when he saw Yami, and he looked a bit pissed off. He opened the front door, his eyes widening in response to seeing Yuugi firmly situated there.

"You have to ride in the back seat." Yami informed him flatly, giving Joey a look that said, 'don't argue'. Joey climbed into the back seat without too much complaining, and he crossed his arms, giving a slight huff at the situation. This really freaking sucked. He was being upstaged by Yami's stupid little cat-boy crush.

Yami rolled into the office driveway five minutes late, and he hopped out immediately, grabbing Yuugi's hand to pull him along, too. Yuugi went willingly enough, smiling as he was pulled along, pausing and waving a goodbye to Joey.

"Yami, dear! How lovely to see you! And Yuugi, too. You both look fine this evening." Pegasus greeted them, smiling and looking back and forth between the two. "Yami, can I have a word with you in my office?" He asked. Yami shook his head yes, walking over to him, releasing Yuugi's hand as he did. Yuugi's eyes shone with disappointment, but he knew that Yami had to leave him at some time.

"I'll be right back." Yami promised as he followed Pegasus. Yuugi looked around the small office, finding that a lot of eyes were trained on him and his tail. Joey busted into the room, having not been able to walk as fast as Yami and Yuugi. Yuugi watched with intrigue as he slipped into Kaiba's office to talk, and he noticed that Joey had accidentally left the door open a crack, a bad habit that Yami could've told you numerous stories about.

Yuugi crept close, just barely peeking into the cracked door, curiosity radiating through him.

"So, how do you think he managed it, anyhow?" Seto's voice reached Yuugi's ears. He knew instinctively that they were talking about Yami. "Two weeks, when the project has been at an almost complete standstill for the past three years."

"I'm not sure. Your guess is as good as mine." Joey said with a shrug, not meeting Kaiba's eyes. Kaiba's eyes narrowed, as he knew Joey well by this point.

"You're lying. You may not know for sure, but you think you know something." Kaiba mused. Joey wasn't sure whether to be happy that Kaiba knew him so well, or miffed that he was so freaking readable.

"Okay, fine. Are you sure you want to hear my theory?" Joey asked. Kaiba crossed his legs and leaned up against his desk, his body language displaying that he was all ears for Joey's explanation. Joey took a deep breath and started.

"Well, Yami never wanted this job in the first place. He felt like it was sort of mediocre, he felt like it wasn't going to go anywhere. So, he declined their offer several times, until they offered him something he just couldn't refuse. You see, Yami came out of college with bills out the wazoo, and this company offered to pay all of his college bills, give him an extremely high pay, and guarantee that he'd be paid for life if the project ever shut down. So, with the thought of all that, he made one final request, which was to have me work here.

"To his great surprise, he was accepted. So, we both started our long and happy careers. You know, of course, that Yami's always wanted to help people, right? Well, this job doesn't help people. I think that he stepped back and took a look at everything he could do if this project wasn't running, and he woke up and smelled the roses.

"So, with that in mind, he started working as hard as he could. He got all that done in that time period simply because he detested project RT-57." Joey finished with bravo.

Yuugi stood there for a second, blinking as he came to terms with this new information.

Yami… detested him? Yami had only gotten him his own body so he could be finished with him, so he could never have to see him again? Yami thought he was pointless? Yuugi fought back the tears, but it was futile. Now he knew the truth, and there was no going back.

Yami hated him.

The realization stung him like a slap across the face, and he felt a tear spill over and trail down his face. He backed up from the door in horror, staring at it with a mixture of hatred and serene knowledge. It all made sense now; that was why Yami had gotten like that when Yuugi had talked to that woman in the store and told them they were a couple; he hated him! So of course he didn't want people to think that they were going out, he'd be disgusted by the very idea of such a thing!

Yuugi let out a small whimper and turned away, looking towards the door.

Of course, he didn't hear Joey's final sentence of, "I think his feelings have changed since he met the little runt, now."

Yami was in Pegasus's office, forced to give a debriefing of everything that had happened. He'd been pushed and prodded for any kind of details he could provide, and honestly, he was sick of it! He just wanted to go out and spend some more time with Yuugi; was that really so much to ask?

"So, he watched the movie and went to sleep. Where did he sleep?"

"Umm… In a regular bed. He started out in the cat bed, but then he switched sometime in the night."

"Do you know when he switched?" Pegasus asked, raising his eyebrows. Yami could feel the light blush on his cheeks, and he squirmed a bit uncomfortably.

"No. He- He did it while I was asleep." He mumbled, hoping to avoid further questioning on the topic. Of course, there was no such luck for people like him.

"Really? So… He climbed into bed with you? Pegasus clarified. Yami shook his head yes and Pegasus smiled broadly. Yes, he shipped it. It was so obvious and adorable, who could resist?

"Can I go now? He's waiting for me outside." Yami asked. Pegasus smiled even wider and shook his head, feeling refreshed from this little meeting.

"Go ahead. And go on home, you still have a great deal of things to check off of the check list." Pegasus said. Yami still hadn't read through the entire check list, so he knew he should probably get started on that.

Yami nodded his head and eagerly stood up, turning on his heel immediately, eager to see Yuugi. When he walked out of the door, the only thing he could tell was that Yuugi was walking out of the door, his ears sagging and his tail dragging across the floor.

"Yuugi, what are you doing?" Yami asked, walking towards him. He broke into a brisk jog to catch up to his little light, concern radiating through him. "Yuugi?"

"I'm going back down to my room. I wouldn't want to bother you." Yuugi mumbled, tears still streaming down his face. Yami's brow furrowed in confusion, and he put a hand on Yuugi's shoulder, only to have it shrugged off.

"You don't bother me, Yuugi." He said.

"Why don't you tell that to Joey and Kaiba?" Yuugi mumbled, choking up a bit. He just couldn't understand why! Why did this have to happen to him?! He finally got out of that virtual nightmare, only to have the person he thought cared about him hate him! So, he ran. He broke out in a jog, running down the stairs with tears trailing down his face as he held back sobs.

Yami turned back to Joey and Kaiba, who'd just heard the small exchange and were utterly confused.

"What did you two tell him?" He asked in a low and dangerous voice. Joey stuttered a few times while Kaiba thought, searching for a reasonable explanation.

"He may have overheard part of our conversation about how you originally thought the program was pointless." Kaiba rationalized. Joey paled, and he covered his mouth up.

"I'm so sor-"

"Don't, we'll talk about it later. For now, I need to go and find Yuugi!" He said, turning and running after his love. Joey was promptly hit upside the head by Kaiba.

"YUUGI!" He called out, running down the stairs. He stopped on the floor with Yuugi's old room in it, praying that that's where he went. He busted through the door and grabbed one of the nurses by the shoulder. "Has Yuugi come by here?" He asked. The nurse shook her head yes, and Yami immediately ran towards his old room.

"Wait! Sir, he went into the closet." She called, causing Yami to freeze in his tracks. He turned back to look at her with wide eyes, questioning.

"Where's the closet?" He asked immediately. She made a face that showed how confused she was and gestured towards a small door off to the side. Yami immediately approached the door, pausing before he knocked. He could hear soft sobs coming from the other side, and he felt a pang of guilt go through him.

"Yuugi?" He called softly. Yuugi cried a little harder and didn't respond for a second.

"Go away!" He said. Yami sighed and gently opened the door, his boots clacking softly against the hard floor of the closet. Once he opened it up, he slipped inside to see Yuugi curled up in a dark corner, tears rolling off of his cheeks and onto the floor. He shut the door behind him, not wanting anyone else to see how broken and sad Yuugi looked. "I told you to go away."

"I didn't listen. Yuugi, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Yami said gently, leaning down next to him. Their legs were barely touching in the tight space, and Yuugi held back his purrs with another soft sob.

"They said you hated me!" Yuugi wailed, his eyes filling with tears again.

"What? Yuugi, I could never hate you. In all my years of life, I've never met anyone as nice and charming and sweet as you, Yuugi." He said honestly.

"They said that you thought I was useless, and the only reason that you gave me my own body was so you could move on to bigger and better things." Yuugi relayed, "They were having a conversation about why you got me a body so fast."

"Yuugi, the reason I got you a body so fast was because I liked you. I didn't want you to suffer in the way that you were. I wanted you here with me, so I worked hard to get you here. It had nothing to do with the fact that I wanted the project done." Yami said genuinely. Yuugi shook his head back and forth as if to clear it.

"Even if that is true, you don't love me the way I love you." Yuugi whimpered out. Yami's brow furrowed.

"What do you mean? Of course I love you, aibou." Yami said. Yuugi shook his head back and forth in denial, letting out a small whimper as if he were in pain. Which, of course, he was. His heart throbbed in his chest and his lungs burned from breathing and sobbing so hard.

"No, not the same way I love you. I- I love you the way that Joey loves Kaiba." Yuugi whimpered, crying harder. He was sure that Yami was going to be angry; he was sure that Yami was going to yell at him and call him stupid and be disgusted by the very idea of them being together.

"What?" Yami asked, his eyes widening as he pulled back slightly in surprise. "What do you mean, how Joey loves Kaiba? Joey and Kaiba hate each other."

"No, they don't. Joey wants to stay with Kaiba forever, I can tell when they look at each other." Yuugi said, shaking his head. He looked up at Yami, making eye contact with his beautiful, red eyes, wishing desperately that Yami would like him back.

"You… Are you trying to say that you're in love with me?" Yami asked. Yuugi looked away sadly, not wanting to have to say it out loud. Yami lifted one of his hands and reached over to guide Yuugi to look at him, his eyes searching Yuugi until they had their answer.

"I'm sorry." Yuugi whispered, closing his eyes. Yami moved the hand that had been holding his face and used it to gently trace over his lips, causing Yuugi to gasp and his eyes to snap open in surprise.

Yami gazed into those large, beautiful orbs and he knew exactly what he was going to do. He felt joy rise up inside of him, and he couldn't contain the smile that was currently stretching across his lips. Yuugi's lips parted slightly by instinct, his ears rotating back a bit and his tail twitching with excitement.

He leaned forward just a little, making sure that Yuugi wasn't going to back away. Yuugi's head tilted just a bit backwards, which actually gave Yami better access as he set his hand on the floor and scooted closer to his aibou, feeling the warmth radiating off of both of them and filling the small closet space.

Yami leaned as close as he possibly could, leaving his lips hovering over Yuugi's. Yuugi was purring at this point, a sound that went straight to Yami's core and seemed to fill him up with happiness and hopefulness. When neither of them could take it any longer, together they sealed the distance between their lips.

It was like lighting a match. Yami could feel every cell of Yuugi's lips on his own, and he wished that it would never have to end. He felt Yuugi's fingers tangle themselves in his already messy hair, and pull him even closer, a purr ripping itself from him as he trembled with the touch. He was still crying, but for a different reason now, the intensity of the kiss being overwhelming.

Yami wrapped his arms around Yuugi's waist, enticing a squeak from the young boy. He couldn't help but smirk a bit when Yuugi made a small sound of surprise. It felt like their souls themselves were meshing and mingling, and he couldn't get enough of the feeling.

Yuugi was the one who broke it, off, gasping for breath again as more tears ran down his face.

"I feel exactly the same way." Yami said earnestly. Yuugi shook his head, a dizzy feeling coming over him. He couldn't think with Yami so close to him, making him feel weak in the knees. "I used to resent the project, that's true. But that was long before I met you. You made every second of work I did worth it, and I would do the exact same thing a hundred times just to get something half as precious as you."

"I love you, Yami." Yuugi said affectionately, wrapping his arms around Yami's neck. Yami smiled widely and scooped Yuugi up bridal style, carrying him through the door.

"I love you, too. Now, do you want to go home and do something fun?" He asked. Yuugi shook his head yes vigorously and Yami gave a small chuckle.

"I'll have to go upstairs and talk to Kaiba and Joey about being stupid, though." Yami said, giving a slight chuckle. "They'll be wondering what happened. Do you mind if I go upstairs real quick and tell them what happened?" He asked.

"No. But… I don't want to go back up there, Yami. Can I just go back out to the car?"

"Of course. Just don't run off or get yourself hurt." Yami warned. He was confident now that Yuugi would be okay on his own; Yuugi was a smart creature, who would be just fine taking care of himself for a little while.

"I won't. I'll see you soon." Yuugi said happily, wrapping his arms around Yami as Yami set him down. Yuugi walked off and to the elevator, knowing that it would take longer, but also not wanting to have to take the stairs again. This building really needed a new elevator.

Yami walked upstairs briskly, taking the steps two at a time. He felt like everything in his life had just suddenly clicked together, and he felt like dancing and singing, honestly. Yuugi had been everything he was looking for; a perfect soul mate, an amazing balance to his gloomy personality.

"Seto, Joey! Guess what-" He cut off, looking around. There were men in black suits there, and they looked like they meant business. One of them turned to him with a fiery glint in his eyes, and Yami gave a gulp, fear pulsing through him. They were government workers.

And things were never good when the government got involved.

"Excuse me. Do you work here?"

"No, the lab coat was from Halloween last year." Yami snidely replied, resisting the urge to growl. These people were getting much too controlling and possessive of their citizens, and everyone could see it.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said flatly. "Do you know where experiment RT-57 is?"

Yami thought. No, this couldn't be happening. It was impossible, that was—but then he saw behind the man. There were crates of half human, half-animal things being carried out of the door leading into the other department. He felt his eyes fill with tears. No, this couldn't be happening. Yuugi was a joint project.

Which meant that if the other sector was getting shut down, so were they.

"He ran away, sir. I was just coming to find my colleagues and ask that they aid in my search." He lied quickly. With the tears in his eyes to give it good effect, the man shook his head.

"When he's obtained, you'll need to take him to the government pound for extermination."

"WHAT?! Why the hell would you KILL him?!" Yami asked, his eyes widening in fear. The man flinched at the sudden yell, and he could see from behind him that Cecelia was crying.

"Because this sector has been doing unauthorized crossovers. We need to eliminate it immediately, and the government always does a thorough job, sir." He said. Yami could hear the slight threat in his voice and he gulped, nodding.

"You're killing a lot of people's work, here. RT-57 is more human than it is animal." He said, trying to remain calm. The man shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I'm just under orders." The man apologized. "I'll have my men looking for him, so if you'd like to assist us, feel free. But I'd like to warn you that here, we don't take funny business too lightly." He said. Yami shook his head yes.

"Okay. But, when will the other animals be… exterminated?" He asked, closing his eyes. The man looked at the bundle of fur and teeth and scales and feathers, and he gave a sigh.

"I think we're giving them two weeks to come up with evidence that they didn't break the law in any way. After that, we're gonna kill them." He said. Yami felt his stomach drop to his feet.

Yuugi. He had to get to Yuugi and protect him, no matter what the costs.

"Okay." He responded dryly. "Thank you. If we find RT-57 before your people do, we'll give you a call." He lied, shaking his head a bit. The man nodded and turned away, no longer interested in Yami or what he was going to do.

Yami walked out of the room and down the stairs immediately, trying to remain calm. There were cameras everywhere on the stairs, and he knew that the government would have access to these tapes later, so he had to act normal. Every step he took felt like agony, and by the end, his muscles burned with the effort of restraining himself. He made it eventually, stepping into the cool parking lot and his eyes scanning the place, softening when he came across Yuugi.