I DO NOT OWN YUGIOH
"Where the hell are you?!"
Yami bit his tongue to keep from talking. The audacity that this man had to talk to Yugi like that was irritating but not surprising. Saru thought he had all this authority to do and say what ever he wanted to Yugi. Too bad for Saru that he's not talking to Yugi and Yami was not going to give Yugi up to him.
"Don't you dare try and give me the silent treatment, brat. I will find you and when I do I will make sure you can't even walk out the door."
"You lay one hand on him and you won't be able to see tomorrow."Yami snapped back.
"You." Yami could feel the glare through the phone."I should have known he would have gone to you. That coward is too big a wuss to leave Domino."
Yami held the phone in a death grip,"If you hate him so much, why not just leave him?"
"Once I'm done with him then he can go free, but that is only if I don't like what he's got. If I do then I plan to enjoy him for as long as I can or until I get bored of him."
The phone creaked in protest of Yami's grip,"You don't care for him at all?"
"Care? That brat could go die in a hole for all I care, but he was something that I want so I'm tolerating him. However I'm getting tired of waiting. I might make my move soon."
"Don't you dare." Yami growled.
Billowing laughter followed over the phone,"You can't do anything! All you have are empty threats that hold fable promises. You think you can protect him? Ha! Don't make me laugh. You are a pathetic excuse for a guardian and anything you try is just undone when you leave. You can't stop me and you certainly can't help the pipsqueak. You can do nothing!-"
"I can do something!"The words left his mouth before he could even think. Yami's body was shaking with emotions and his breathing came in heavy pants. He cursed himself for letting Saru's words get the best of him but he couldn't help he doubt that started to creep in.
"Can you now?"the smirk dripped off every word,"You can't hide from me. I know everyone in this town and rumor has it that you're a Kaiba. Kaiba owns some land on the outskirts of Domino and I'm sure you live right in the center of that little bubble.
"Here, I'll cut you a deal. Meet me at the edge of the boundary with Yugi, hand him over and you won't get hurt. However, if you don't I'll just come get him myself, you get punishment and he gets double. You have ten minutes. Go."
The soft ring of the phone indicated the end of the call and Yami pulled the phone away from his ear and looked in the bathroom mirror. His mind was swimming with thoughts, questions, plans on what to do next. He couldn't let Saru get Yugi, he couldn't. Not knowing that Saru just wanted to use him. But what could he do though? If he told Yugi about the situation then Yami was sure that Yugi would want to go meet Saru if only to make sure he didn't get hurt.
Yami looked down at the phone and sighed. It would be right to tell Yugi and maybe he wouldn't want to go back with Saru. Maybe.
Turning to face the half open door, he walked out into the hallway and into the living room where Yugi still lay asleep on the couch. Yami stopped mid-way to the couch to take in the sight. After all the things that Yugi had gone through, he was finally able to just stop and relax. There was nothing more for him to endure and he was in a place where he didn't have to watch his back. He was safe. It was like the calm after a storm and the area was rebuilding itself but off in the distance, dark clouds promised a returning storm. Right now, Yami felt like those clouds.
Kneeling beside the couch, Yami placed one hand on Yugi's arm and shook him.
"Yugi."Nothing was is response, not even a small shift in body position.
Yami shook harder,"Yugi, come on. You have to wake up."Still, he didn't stir.
Yami stood from kneeling. Looking down at the sleeping figure, it looked like not even the end of the world would wake him up. Even though Yami would love nothing more than to let him sleep, this was not the time for that.
He climbed over Yugi and onto the couch above his body. Once he had a steady place on the couch he took a second to look down at Yugi and felt a little awkward straddling the other but he brushed it off and turned Yugi onto his back, then settled both hands on his shoulders.
"Yugi, come on! Wake up!" he shook Yugi hard enough that his body lifted up off the couch a bit. After a few seconds and nothing happening, Yami was about to give up and try water when amethyst eyes snapped into vision.
Yami had only a split second of relief before it slipped away. Yugi shot up, nearly hitting Yami had the other not moved back in time and the two locked eyes. In that brief moment, Yami saw that Yugi's eyes were glazed over and that Yugi wasn't really looking at him. He was looking at someone that Yami couldn't see.
Yugi let out a scream as he backed up away from Yami causing the male to fall over the arm of the couch and then his screaming stopped.
"Yugi!" Yami moved to look over the arm of the couch and saw Yugi sitting with his knees drawn to his chest and his eyes wide open staring at him as if he was expecting Yami to attack him.
"Yugi?" Yami started slowly,"Yugi it's okay. I'm sorry if I scared you."
Yami tried to calm Yugi but the other couldn't hear him. All he could hear was a voice whispering in the back of his mind.
'It's alright. It won't hurt. Come on it's no big deal. You don't really have a choice. Let me, Let mE, Let ME, LET ME!'
"Nooooooo!" Yugi pinched his eyes closed so much it hurt. His heart beat started to rise and a weight settled on his chest making it hard to breath. He gasped desperately in shuddering breaths to get the air he needed but he might as well have been breathing in water. He could feel it. The rough texture of the rope, the heat above him, the undying fear of what would happen next. It was there, it was all there!
Yugi felt something touch his arm. It made his skin crawl as he imagined the owner of the hand. A yelp escaped him as he shed away from the hand. The wall's were too close, he couldn't move. His skin became damp with sweat as his heart beat continued to rise. It was almost as if it were a time bomb waiting to explode. His mind began to panic. What could he do, what could he do?!
"Heeelp!" Yugi screamed,"Help, please!" It was getting even harder to breath no matter how many breaths he took. "Help!"
~o0o~
Yami stood stunned. He didn't know what to do. Touching Yugi only made it worse but it didn't look like his words were getting through either. It wasn't hard for Yami to figure out that Yugi was having a panic attack but when he tried to think about what could have caused it, he could only think of him waking Yugi up. He didn't know what to do to help and his phone and lap top were in the other room so he would have to leave Yugi in order to get help.
His heart broke when the shouting started. His voice was filled with such horror and such complete helplessness that Yami couldn't leave him alone.
Yami searched the room hoping something could help him think of a way to help Yugi but nothing did. He could try to wait the attack out but that seemed wrong. Right now Yugi needed help and Yami was the only one there to help. But what could he do?
When Yugi started to shake as the attack worsened, Yami decided to take a gamble and slowly reached out to Yugi and placed his hand gently on Yugi's cheek. Right away he could feel how hot Yugi's skin was but he couldn't fix that yet.
The other, as Yami expected, cried out and tried to shrink away but Yami noticed only Yugi's body moved away this time while his head leaned into the touch. A spark of hope flickered in Yami but he took a few breaths to calm down. Yugi didn't need him to be excited right now.
"Yugi? Yugi can you hear me?" A whimper was his response.
Taking that as a good sign, Yami continued."Can you open your eyes? Please look at me."
"He won't stop. He won't stop! Please help me!" Yugi cried.
"Shh, shh. Yugi, no one's going to hurt you, you're safe with me." His words must have finally reached him because Yugi's shaking started to slow down, if only a little.
"Can you open your eyes please now? No one's going to hurt you, you're with me now."
Yugi's shivering lessened before he opened his eyes a little at a time. His eyes were glassy and stained with fear but Yami could see Yugi was trying to look at him. Yami gave a sigh of relief.
Yugi gasped,"I can't-" he took a few more shuddering breaths,"can't b-breat-th."
"I'll help you. Breath in,"Yami took an over exaggerated breath,"And breath out." He let the breath out.
He saw Yugi try to imitate him but it ended in a breathy struggle.
"Try it with me. Breath in," They both breathed in but Yugi's was still a mess."And out."
They continued to practice breathing until Yugi's breathing evened out but it was still erratic at times.
"Yugi?" Yami called.
Amethyst eyes shifted over to Yami, "It's h-hot."
Yami nodded his head,"Okay but I'll need to walk over to the kitchen."He gestured over to the kitchen for Yugi,"Is that alright?"
Yugi thought it over as best he could. He didn't want to be left alone because if he was alone then it might happen to him. He didn't want it to happen! Yugi closed his eyes to try and block out the voice but he could still hear it, taunting, calling, constantly haunting him. His heart beat started to rise and his breathing started to race.
"Shh, I won't leave Yugi. Don't worry. Can you open your eyes please? Can you look at me?"
"Please,"Yugi took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes,"Keep talking."
Yami nodded and his eyes softened."Okay, I'll keep talking. Um... do you remember the museum? The one that we went to see?"Yugi nodded,"I heard that they're going to swap out the Egyptian section with ancient China. Maybe we can go see that too."
Yugi focused in on his voice to help him stay grounded. A few minutes latter and Yami's voice drowned out the whisper. He could feel his heart beat slow but his breathing was still erratic, though it was starting to return to normal. Again the heat started to become too much and it made him feel as if the walls were closing in. Yami must have sensed that as well.
"Will you be fine if I go to the kitchen now? You will still be able to see me."Yami reassured.
When Yugi nodded his head, Yami gave a soft smile as he stood up. It was then that Yugi noticed Yami had had a hand on his cheek the whole time. He could feel the warmth slip away the longer Yami was away and in an attempt to keep the fleeting warmth, he placed a hand over the spot. He didn't care if he already felt like he was boiling, this warmth was cool and nice and he didn't want to lose it.
A sinking feeling started to embed itself in Yugi's stomach,though, as he felt the warmth. He felt lonely and unprotected, vulnerable. He took deep breaths to calm himself down but the feeling still stuck. The heat started to increase causing beads of sweat to roll down his forehead. His focus was set on calming down but that was getting hard. There was no one there to keep him centered, no rock to keep him from floating, and no one to look out for him. He was alone, hot, and his heart was beating faster, and the voice was just waiting for its moment to speak.
There was a clatter in the kitchen. Yami had taken down a bowl and was now filling it with cool water. Yugi kept his eyes locked on Yami as he moved around the kitchen. A sense of security came over Yugi as he watched Yami. It slowed his heart beat down and calmed his breathing though the heat intensified. A whimper of want emitted from him before he could even think.
It drew Yami's head to him and he grabbed a rag and the bowl of water before he walked over to Yugi. Their eyes met and locked on each other. Yugi's cheeks flushed with color but never took his eyes away from Yami.
The other kneeled down in front of him and dipped the rag into the bowl. He rung it out with his eyes still on Yugi. Once the excess water was gone, he slowly moved it to Yugi's neck before placing it on his skin.
Yugi closed his eyes and moaned at the contact. It felt good to have something cool on him to counter the heat. He felt the cloth lift off his skin and come down on another section of skin. A shiver ran through his body at the contrast in temperature. He moaned again and opened his eyes to see Yami trying to avoid eye contact, and dusting his cheeks was a soft pink.
"Feel better?"Yami finally reconnected eyes.
"Yes. T-thank you."
"Are you up to talking about it?"Yami took the cloth away to re-wet it before starting to dab at Yugi's forehead.
Yugi starred at Yami. Was he ready to talk about it? Was he ready to re-live that entire tale that no one knew? Was he ready to share it with Yami?
Tears pricked at Yugi's eyes. Was he really second guessing his trust in Yami? He used to be so trusting, and was so willing to trust a stranger. But now that he met Saru...
He felt a hand on his other cheek. Yugi excepted the comfort and leaned into the touch. So many things had changed scene he met Saru and it was hard to count all of them. He had lost so many friends and traits of his personality to that man, that it was had to believe it could be done at all. But it did happen and it happened to him. Yugi closed his eyes when he felt Yami's thumb move to wipe away an un-fallen tear.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me."
Yugi wiped his eyes before any tears could fall. He was overwhelmed with emotions: the fear and anxiety from the panic attack, the emptiness of feeling lonely, the relief of having Yami here, and the confusion of what to do. But he couldn't cry. He couldn't. But he was overwhelmed.
"Hold me?"Yugi asked softly.
Yami nodded and drew Yugi close to him, wrapping his arm around his back and moving his other hand to the back of Yugi's head. The other just sat there in the warm embrace and before long his body began to shake with un-shed tears.
"It's okay to cry."Yami encouraged. Yugi needed to cry, now more then ever.
Instead Yugi just shook his head."I have no-no reason to cry-y."
"You of all people have the most reason to cry. It's not good to keep in all these emotions."
"I stopped cry-ing when I met Saru-u."
That sentence was like a knife to Yami's heart. Everything that happened to Yugi was because of Saru, and all of it was bad. How much he has had to struggle with and all of it happening in a year was terrible and it shouldn't happen to anyone. All Yami wanted to do was help Yugi and save him from his nightmare.
Yami's grip on Yugi tightened to which the other snuggled closer. He didn't want to let Yugi go. He'd already suffered enough, he didn't need more.
But fate was not with him as a soft buzzing drew the two apart. Over on the coffee table lay Yugi's phone, forgotten in the rush.
(Koobre: Hey, I'm back from my four month hiatus! Scene I don't want this to be long I'm only going to cover the basics of what I need to say. 1. My uploading will be different, I will not upload every weekend for that was too stressful so I will try to upload every other week end. 2. Sorry for the jumping writing style of this story, I just haven't fully settled into one and sorry if this chapter seemed off, I really only have myself to preview this and I just need to get back into the full swing of things. 3. My chapters will more than likely vary in size now. Some will be long while others will be short but I promise I will write more then 1,000 words. There, that just about covers it. Please stick with me as I get used to this, I'm also writing two other stories but they more than likely won't be uploaded until after this. Thanks for sticking with me. Please review!)