I DO NOT OWN
Yugi was walking down the sidewalk back to Saru's place. His head was down and he stared at the amulet in his hands. A smile spread across his face as he remembered his time at the museum. It was nice of Yami to invite him to come,well, more like force him to the museum. In the end, Yugi was once again glad that Yami had taken things into his own hands and do something they both enjoyed. Despite all that though, he knew there was a consequence to having that bit of enjoyment, but right now Yugi chose not to care. He didn't want to worry about that for as long as he could. All he cared about was that someone wasn't afraid to be with him, to look out for him even.
Yugi gave a bitter laugh at that. Yami could look out for him? No. Yami could give him freedom and enjoyment but as soon as he was gone, he was alone. Alone to face what ever he had left back in that controlled nightmare. No. Yami couldn't look out for him. He was alone.
Tears started to well up in Yugi's eyes which he blinked away before any could fall. No tears needed to be shed over this. They had stopped falling when he got himself into this mess and he learned to deal with the pain. So why did they want to come back now?
Once a door stopped him from continuing, he looked up. Yugi let out a sigh and let the amulet fall back to its' place on his chest before opening the buildings door. He trudged up the stairs slowly, not wanting to go back to Saru. He perked up a bit when he remembered that he hadn't seen one of Saru's friends at any time. Maybe no one had seen him and Yami and he was safe from Saru's wrath. No. Someway, somehow, Saru would know. He always knew.
Yugi slumped as he came face to face with Saru's apartment door. Glancing back tot he heart amulet, Yugi quickly moved it under his shirt so that Saru didn't see it. If he was to at least hope that Saru wouldn't find out then he could let the amulet be seen. Finally ready to head inside, he opened the door. Silence. Whenever the apartment was silent, something was wrong. Even the simple sound of a running faucet was better than silence. Yugi closed the door and cautiously walked down the small hallway and into the living room. When he looked at the couch he saw Saru sitting cross legged and arms firmly set across his chest. A sharp, cold glare was set directly on Yugi. Right next to him was Inu with an all knowing smirk on his face.
Without a word, Inu stood up and walked past Yugi. When he passed Yugi, he didn't try to push him over like he usually does and instead continued for the door. This was not good. The sound of the door clicking shut momentarily broke the thick silence but neither moved.
Yugi's heart beat sped up when nothing continued to happen. His mind was blank and all he could do was wait for Saru to make the first move. He was scared to say the least. He had hardly ever broken any of Saru's rules sense he had been with him and through the year he tried to keep it that way. He had seen what Saru did when Yugi annoyed him or when he didn't do something to Saru's liking and those were painful enough on their own. At times he wondered what would happen if he really made Saru mad but he never wanted to experience what could happen. Now, Yugi felt like he would finally find out what would happen.
After several torturous minutes, Saru finally stood from the couch and let his arms drop to his sides. His walk was fluid and screamed attention but the dark mood rolled off him successfully scaring away any thought of escape. Dark green eyes never left Yugi's who was to scared to blink.
"So you disregarded my rules and you spent nearly four hours with him." Yugi gave a timid nod.
"It wasn't Inu who told me. He was just here when we got a call from the museum telling me that you were with some other man. I think that you have forgotten that I have eyes everywhere and not just with the people I know."
Saru stopped in front of Yugi, his gaze never breaking.
"You know, I've been thinking that you don't remember the rules anymore and that you need a bit of reminding."
Yugi cried out as e was thrown against the kitchen counter. When he pushed himself up to stand, he was quickly pinned against it, the edge of the counter digging into his spine. A hand came to his chin and forced him to stare into furious green eyes.
"Rule number one: You are mine. Rule number two: You obey every thing I say."
Saru swiftly picked Yugi up by the collar of his shirt and threw him over the counter and over to the other side. Yugi groaned as the back of his head hit the cupboards above the counter before falling to the floor. He barley had time to sit up before a heel slammed down on his spine.
"Rule number three: You never go anywhere that I say isn't allowed." Saru spoke in calm anger from the kitchen.
A gasp escaped from Yugi's mouth as a hand clamped around his neck and lifted him off the ground. He was held in the air for a second before the grip tightened and he was thrown into the wall. As he slide to the ground and cold feeling wrapped around him and dragged him into despair. It cut deeper then the physical pain he was receiving. Alone. He was alone. Even through all the pain, what hurt the most was that he was alone. No one to help him. No one to stop the pain. Just, alone.
The sound of a drawer being open drew him out of his thoughts. Dull amethyst eyes looked at Saru who stood in the kitchen looking into the drawer. An evil smile stuck itself on Saru's face as he held up an intricately decorated knife. Yugi could only stare in horror as Saru neared, the sharp blade seeming to glow in the light. He scrambled to his feet, ready to run, when Yugi found himself paralyzed by Saru's eyes. He wanted to run but his legs wouldn't work and all he could do was watch as a crazy glint stained the green eyes.
Saru raised the knife above his head. "Rule number four:" the knife swung down across Yugi's chest.
CRACK!
Yugi opened his eyes, not realizing he had closed them. There was no pain from where the knife should have hit him. He saw Saru look at his blade in disgust. The blade was chipped in multiple places and the tip was gone. A jewel or two that sat on the blade was loosened and looked like they could fall off at any second. Yugi starred at it in horror and shock before looking at what should have been a large gash across his chest. Instead he saw a clean cut in his shirt that stopped when it reached the heart amulet that Yami had given him. Across the heart amulet was a deep cut where the knife had hit it.
Saru growled. "You broke my f***ing knife!" he bellowed causing Yugi to flinch.
Saru glanced at the slash in Yugi's shirt and followed it until his eyes landed upon the stone amulet. He grabbed the object and pulled it closer, slightly coking Yugi. His eyes darkened in rage at the slice across the stone. How dare his favorite knife be broken by a stupid, measly stone while all the thing get's is a clean cut!
"Did that devil Yami give this to you?!"
Yugi gave a hesitant nod.
Saru's eyes flashed angrily before he yanked the necklace off Yugi's neck.
Yugi rubbed the back of his neck where the rope snapped and rubbed harshly against his skin. He watched in fear as Saru moved to the counter and raised the amulet then slammed it against the surface. When nothing happened, he growled and continued to roughly pound it against the surface.
Yugi internally begged for the stone to hold out. Yami had given that to him as a gift and he didn't want it destroyed. It was special to him! The sound of the stone hitting the counter kept getting louder and louder as the hits became stronger and stronger. Yugi let out a cry of despair as the stone finally broke into pieces. His broken amethyst eyes stayed glued to the stone fragments as Saru stood, panting over them.
"Go to your room." Saru demanded in stained voice.
When Yugi didn't move Saru spoke up again. "GO TO YOUR ROOM!" he yelled
Without a glance back, Yugi darted down the hall and slipped into his small room. He starred at nothing as the events played again and again in his head. The stone fragments flying through the air, the sound splitting his ears as they fell to the ground, the dark feeling of loneliness closing tightly around him. As his thoughts swirled around in his mind one caught his attention and he widened his eyes. The stone took the damage for him. The stone saved him. Yami's gift saved him.
"For protection."
Yami's voiced echoed in his mind. Yugi's throat chocked up and tears brimmed his eyes. No! Yugi shook his head and closed his eyes to keep the tears from falling. His body leaned against the door and slid to the a small way Yami had saved him. At the thought his tears became harder to keep from falling.
(Three Days Later)
Yami opened the door to his house and walked in. Again, he couldn't find Yugi anywhere into no matter where he looked. He had tried the park, the museum, the small gun shop, even the small alleyways thinking that maybe Saru was dragging him off someplace. He hoped that Saru wasn't the reason that he couldn't find Yugi, even though it was starting to sound like that was what was happening. Maybe Saru really didn't want them around each other and this was the only way to do it.
Yami smiled a bit at that. it gave a small boost to his ego knowing that Saru couldn't just intimidate him into doing what he wants. Instead Saru had to work to stop Yami. However that could mean that Saru would hurt Yugi. Yami growled in frustration at the thought. Saru might not have control over him but he still had a good handle over Yugi. It irritated Yami that he couldn't really help Yugi despite the fact that he tries. That's all he can do. He could try but after that bit, it was out of his control.
He kicked off his shoes and strode into the living room. Without spending time with Yugi, he was bored and often led to him hanging out with Malik, Joey and Bakura. The three weren't hard to find but it was the bickering that was hard to deal with. The three always seemed to be picking on one another but most of the time it was Bakura and Malik against Joey. Yami laughed as he remembered a time when Joey and Malik were fighting over some comment the other had said. Soon Bakura had gotten tired of the fight and walked off saying that he would be back. When he returned he had two cups of grape slushy in his hands. Yami had snickered at Bakura but took a step back when he offered one to Yami. Bakura shrugged and walked over to the ones fighting. Both frozen when they felt the cold liquid dump on their heads. The two glared at Bakura who was walking over to Yami with an accomplished smirk on his mouth.
Although they were fun to be with, Yami still missed being with Yugi.
Yami stopped when he heard a faint buzzing sound. He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. It was Joey. Opening the phone, he brought it up to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey. What are ya doing?"
"Something as the last three days."
"After two days of testin' Saru's authority, ya finally stop. Don't tell me he scared ya off."
Yami shook his head. Joey and Malik, sense they learned that he was spending time with Yugi, would often tease him for being stupid for challenging Saru. They would even ask if Saru had finally scared him away but they knew the answer was no. Bakura, however, didn't joke around at the fact. When the subject was brought up, Bakura would remain silent and seem go into deep thought. Yami had wanted to ask what he was thinking about but held back hoping that the other would tell him later. Maybe.
"No. It's more of the fact that I can't seem to find Yugi anywhere."
Silence. "Oh. Don't worry about it. I'm sure ya'll find him somewhere."
"Yeah, I hope."
"Anyway, sense you aren't doin' anythin' I was wonderin' if ya wanted to hang with me today?"
"No Malik and Bakura?"
"Nah, they have other things to do."
"Alright. Where do you want to meet?"
Joey paused for a second. "How 'bout the park?"
"Sure."
"See ya there."
When Joey hung up, Yami took the phone away from his ear. He looked at the phone before pocketing it. Yami gave a small smile as he put on his shoes before walking out the door.
Yami was glade that he made some friends in this town and was happy to be able to spend time with them. Back in Northwood he hadn't made many friends and the ones that he did make were always busy with something. It was nice to not be alone when he wanted to go do something. Although it would have been better if Yugi was with them. He thought that Yugi would fit into their group of friends nicely. Something though, told him that maybe Yugi already knew them. The others have talked about Yugi before but he guessed that was just due to the fact that Yugi was with Saru. Joey, Malik and Bakura don't talk about Yugi but when he brings him up, they all go silent or joke about the manner.
Yami looked up as he reached the park entrance. He searched the fairly empty park for his friend before spotting him over by a bench. Joey saw him a second latter and ran over.
"Hey."Yami greeted once Joey was closer.
"Hey. So, where do we want to go?" Joey asked as they walked away from the park.
Yami shrugged his shoulders."Don't know. We could walk around town until we find something."
Joey nodded and the two wandered around. After a minute of silence Joey spoke up and talked about the food places in town. Yami was half listening to what the other was saying for he was more focused on the area around them. Not only was he keeping an eye out for Yugi but he noticed the further they walked the more off the area felt. They were close to the better side of domino, dubbed Hights by the locals, but it was emptier than usual. there was till people around but not as much as there should have been. The streets where quieter then normal and the people who were here didn't seem to walk over to the area that they were heading in. Then Yami could make out voices over Joey's. They sounded familiar bu he couldn't remember where he had heard them.
The two were rounding a corner when both suddenly stopped. Across the street, talking to another gang, was Saru and his friends. Yami looked at the group of people with interest. If Saru and his gang were here then maybe... aha! Standing behind Saru and out of the ring of gang members was Yugi. The shorter stood with his head bowed and was playing with his hands probably due to boredom. Neither gang even seemed to notice that yugi was there. They just talked to each other without regarding the younger.
Yami had to fight the urge to run over there and drag Yugi away from the group. The excitement of seeing the other was hard to contain but he knew that if he went over there it would stir up unwanted trouble. He starred in longing at Yugi for he wanted to talk to him but knew he couldn't.
At that moment Yugi rose his head and made eye contact with Yami. Amethyst eyes widened and a display of emotions flash through their depths. First was shock that molded into excitement and a wide smile graced is lips. Seconds later the smile fell as fear and sadness replaced the happiness. Yugi glance at Saru then back to Yami. Yami gave a small wave. The other just shook his head and made a 'shooing' motion with his hands. Joey got the message and broke out of his shocked state to drag Yami away. Or at least try.
Yami got out of Joey's grasp and shook his head at Yugi. Yugi rolled his eyes upward and muttered something. After a second, he shot a glare at Yami then to Joey. To Joey, Yugi pointed at Yami then back the way they came. Joey nodded his head and tried again to drag Yami away, who just shrugged it off.
Yami took a step toward Yugi , much to the other horror, so he was easier to see. Ygu kept gesturing for him to leave but Yami ignored him. Yami spread his hands out in front of his to ask "why?".
Yugi rolled his eyes and nodded at Saru.
Yami gave a dismissing gesture at which Yugi stomped his foot in frustration.
Mike turned around to look at Yugi with a questioning look. The latter turned his gaze to the ground and hooked his hands behind him. Narrowing his gaze, Mike looked across the street. Upon seeing nothing, he looked around the surrounding area before turning back to the conversation.
Across the street and around the corner, Joey let out a sigh of relief. He had seen Mike about to turn around and pulled Yami behind the corner so they were out of sight. Honey eyes glared down at his struggling friend.
"Look, he doesn't want us here. You should respect that and leave."
Yami glared at Joey in response sense he couldn't speak due to the hand over his mouth. The taller caved under the glare and let Yami go. Imediently Yami spoke.
"I won't let him be controlled by someone who doesn't even diverse the authority." and with that, Yami jumped back around the corner so Yugi could see him.
He saw the younger look relived until he saw Yami come around the corner. The shorter deflated in defeat at the confident smirk that Yami displayed. Not even with the help of Joey, could he get Yami to leave. Yugi looked up with pleading eyes to Yami. He held his hands up to his chest and mouthed "Please?"
With his smirk still in place, Yami shook his head. No matter what Yugi tried, he would not leave. All that Yami needed to do now is find a way to talk to Yugi. Yami perked up as took his phone out of his pocket. When he showed it to Yugi, the latter just shook his head with a smile. Yugi nodded his head at Yami then waited for the other until he was ready before signing him his phone number. One the number was passed a faint buzz in his pocket made Yugi take out his old phone.
As expected, the number on the screen was one that he didn't know. Yugi gave the phone a soft smile before flipping the screen up.
'Hey.' it read
'You are a very stubborn man Yami.'
'If I wasn't then you wouldn't have had ice cream again or go to the museum.'
At the mention of the museum, Yugi's eyes darkened and a sober mood swept over him.
'What's wrong?' Yami sent
'You shouldn't be here.'
'Yugi, what happened?'
'Nothing. Go.'
'No. If something happened to you I want to know. I want to help you Yugi.'
Yugi starred at the message. He knew Yami wanted t help him, that was obvious. However, how could Yami do that? All Yami could do was make him happy then leave him alone to deal with the consequences.
For protection.
Over the three days, that line has plagued his mind. Those two words held so much, yet so little, promise that Yugi didn't know what to think of them. But every time he heard them a little of the emptiness went away. He hesitated another minute before texting back.
'He broke it. Saru smashed the amulet after it broke his knife.' he sent the text before he realized what he typed.
Yami's eyes lit in rage. The amulet... broke Saru's knife. The amulet was around Yugi's neck Saru tried to cut Yugi! To say he was mad was an understatement, he was livid. He turned his fiery glare to Saru who shuffled under the gaze. He felt a buzzing from his phone before he was pulled back behind the building by Joey.
Saru turned around. The tall brunet shot a glance at Yugi who snapped his phone shut and put it away. Reaching an arm out, Saru drew Yugi into his side. Yugi wanted to struggled against the grip but thought better of it and let Saru hold him. He glanced over his shoulder toward where Yami once stood. His longing gaze stayed a moment longer before he was moved away by Saru as the group moved.
Rage boiled inside Yami as he watched the two gangs walk away. His continuous glare at Saru was only broken when Joey stood in his way.
"Let's go."Joey suggested
Yami set a hard stare at Joey before turning it to his phone. He clicked on the message on the screen.
'I'm sorry! I shouldn't have told you that. Just... go. Please.'
He shook his head at the message, a small smile place o his lips. Looking up at Joey, the blonde groaned before following Yami as he walked after the group. They followed the group at a safe distance around town. Joey would protest every now and then but other wise stayed quiet.
The two gangs stopped at the popular dinner, Burger World. Yami and Joey waited a minute before going in as well. Joey and Yami found a table across the restaurant from Saru and sat down. Once the waiter took there drinks,Yami looked over to Yugi's table and growled inwardly. Saru was sitting next to Yugi with an arm draped over his shoulders. Yugi was starring down in his lap while the rest of them talked. Yugi jumped a bit when he felt his phone buzz gaining an annoyed glance from Saru.
'Look up.' Yugi silently hoped that this didn't mean what he thought it meant. He stifled a groan as he saw Joey and Yami wave at him.
'Why did you follow?'
'To keep you company.'
'What if Saru sees you?'
'Then isn't it a coincidence that we are sitting in a popular restaurant in Domino.'
'You know that's not what I meant.'
'Are you hurt any where?'
'Just a bit bruised and my back hurts but nothing other than that.'
Yami looked over to Yugi in time to see Saru take Yugi's phone. He watched as Saru played around on the phone for a bit. Then it it him: Saru was looking at the messages. A pang of guilt ran through him as the phone was handed back with a snarl. He saw Yugi wince, probably Saru hitting him before he turned to his phone.
'Did he see the texts?'
'No.'
'You deleted them?'
'Yes. Even the ones I sent you.'
'Smart. Why did you wince?'
'Oh. He just stepped on my foot. Hard.'
'He had no reason to do that.'
'Sigh. Are you going to be like this the entire time?'
'Depends.'
Yugi looked up from his phone and sent a playful glare at Yami who smiled in response. Their conversations continued like this once the subject was changed. They would send each other texts and sometime chance glances at the other. They added Joey onto the conversation when he swiped the phone form Yami and started talking to Yugi. At one point they started a game of tic tak toe to help pass the time, which ended in a tie between Yugi and Yami.
After Joey and Yami ordered, Yami looked over to Yugi's table were their orders were being taken as well. Yugi picked out a meal and showed it to Saru, asking his if he could have it. Saru gave an annoyed sigh, unhappy to ave his conversation interrupted, and shook his head no. Yugi's face fell into a sad look as he quickly searched for another option. Yami asked what was wrong after Yugi had ordered and Yugi simply replied, 'It was too expensive.'
Ysmi looked up what Yugi had wanted and began to fume about how $9 was not expensive. The three stopped talking when their food came but once they were done, they jumped right into conversation. Every once and awhile Saru would take Yugi's phone and look for the deleted messages , only to hand it back in frustration. Luckily, through the entire time Joey and Yami had not been spotted or caught during their conversations. Though in bouts of exasperation from not knowing what was going on, Saru would deliver a strike to Yugi who could do nothing but take it. Many times Joey had to hold Yami back so the other didn't go over and spark a fight. At the end of the meal both tables paid for their food and left the dinner.
'It looks like the other gang is going to leave now.' Yugi sent
'Will ya be able to hang out with us?- Joey' Yugi was shocked that Joey had sent the message. He knew that blonde wanted to do nothing that would upset Saru and being around him was sure to get him that. Yami must be rubbing off on him. Yugi wanted to turn around in Saru's grasp to look at Joey but didn't want to risk them getting caught.
'No. Saru has me on lock down right now.'
'That jerk.' Yugi knew this was Yami.
'You guy's won't be able to follow us, you know that right?'
'...' Yugi chuckled at the message before shrinking away from Saru's gaze.
'I'll delete your number so that Saru can't have it.'
'No keep it. That way any time you need to talk, I'll be there.'
Yugi gave the message a warm look. As his finger hovered over the delete option a shot of loneliness came over him for a second before he brushed it away. He didn't have to have the words to know that Yami would always be with him.
'You sure?'
'Yes. I trust you to keep it safe.'
'Alright. Bye Yami. Bye Joey.'
He flipped his phone shut and the feeling of abandonment washed over him ,although, it was weaker. Now he had a way to talk to someone. To find some relief even with saru there. Now he wasn't completely alone.
(Koobre. Wow. By the way, sorry about the last chapter incident and that I wasn't one of my best quality chaps. I'm not sure if the rest of my chapters will b this long but if you like long chapters, tell me and I'll see what I can do. Also, can you tell me somehting that I need to work on in my chapters? This way I can improve the quality of my stories. Please review.)