Ranko: Hey, everyone! Everyone one of you have been so nice with your reviews and I just love you all and I love the world and love, love, love.
Yami: It's either Ranko has finally lost it or she's on crack.
Ranko: I lost my mind a long time ago, has anyone seen it? And I may joke around with my friends and say I'm on drugs, but trust me, I'm not!
Yuugi: Why are you happy, Ranko?
Ranko: Christmas! And of course the break that comes with it!
Yami: But that also means the homework you were assigned to do over break.
Ranko: …Damn it. Let's just answer reviews before you put me in an even greater depressed mood.
SokiKuro: First off, let me just say that your review was plenty long and it made me laugh, in a good way. A lot of my friends are very hyper and I'm just the mellow one in the group that goes along with everything. But that's why I love them, they make me smile. Yeah, we love you Kaiba even though you sometimes act like a five year old girl in a haunted house. You have no idea how long I just sat in front of my computer and tried to figure out what everyone would be. Then I was like, "Duh!" Thanks for the review!
hikari no senshi17: After finishing the Yu-Gi-Oh series I just wanted friendship to go die in a hole…along with Anzu. But anyway, thanks for the awesome review, it made me smile. I'm starting to like puppyshipping more and more, it is just so cute! And I don't think Yami is going to let go of Yuugi anytime soon ;) Thanks for the review!
Aqua girl 007: I'm not sure what song was playing while they were dancing, L.J. Smith never said so I thought, why bother? But if it helps I was thinking of the song 'Kiss My Eyes and Lay Me To Sleep' while I was writing that scene.
SincereJoyy: I'm glad you liked the chapter so much! And yes, I have seen YGOTAS, I'm so happy that someone else caught onto it! Yay! And I especially loved Seto's costume, so cute! Anyway, I finally said enough of this and made Bakura and Malik make up. Yay, sweets! Thanks for the review! And suggestion ;)
lilpopslash: ALL CAPS RAGE! Ahem, anyway, I know how you feel, if you have ever watched Once Upon A Time, I was so upset at the finale! I was screaming at the T.V. at the end. I'm glad you liked the chapter and please continue to review!
Tyrant Dragon Knight: Your review made me smile, it was funny. I had to visit your profile to understand the relationship between you, Bakura, and Yami but I got it now! I'm glad you liked the chapter, I love YGOTAS! Thanks for the review. Awesome penname by the way, my favorite YGO card is 'Lady Assailant of Flames' she is just so awesome!
Ranko: How would you guys feel if you began calling me 'Lady?'
Yami: I would kick you, you are not going to change your username.
Yuugi: Unless the same thing that happened to (former) Alverna, happens to you. No offence to Magi Magi.
Yami: Before Ranko yells at me, I'll do the disclaimer. Ranko twin owns nothing.
Ranko: Enjoy!
-/-
Blood roared in Yuugi's ears like the wind howling past his head. He was suddenly thrown back to the time when he and Jou and the others had been sucked into the Game, dragged into the Shadow Realm. Where they had met Yami for the first time and they had to play that horrible Game. He felt the same hurricane feeling go through him now. The same mindless, helpless terror.
He felt like he was falling. Falling into emptiness; endless black.
But he didn't faint, though he wished he did. It felt as if even the slightest gust of wind could knock him off his feet now. Unintentionally, Yuugi hung to his arms, barely supporting his own wait. He felt like darkness was all around him, suffocating him as Yuugi realized something in horror.
Yami was going to kill him. He was the voice on the phone, he was the one that sent the wild dog to stalk him and Malik the other night, and he'd sent those strange dreams to all of his friends. He had used poor Soren as a pawn. He had killed Haga and Ryuzaki. And Ryou…
Yuugi sobbed.
Terror gave him the strength to take his own weight again, to try and get free. To his surprise, Yami actually let him. Yuugi reeled backwards a few steps and felt the odd feeling of bark from a tree prick his skin through his clothing.
Then they just stared at each other.
His first thought was how he could have been so stupid to have literally danced into Yami's hand. How could he be foolish enough to dance with a complete stranger, in general, when there were the Shadow Men running free?
His eyes were like dancing flames; soft yet commanding. The kind of eyes one would get lost in if given the chance. His face was shadowed by the moon, making his facial features look even sharper and more distinct. His hair looked smooth and soft.
Despite these human features, Yuugi knew that he was anything but. Yami was sharper, fiercer, brighter, more cunning than any human could be.
Then Yuugi realized something, Yami was in Yuugi's world now. They weren't in the halfway point like the game store they met in. He was here, in the real world, walking and capable of anything.
And now he radiated danger that sent chills up Yuugi's spine. His heart was beating so fast that he was afraid he would faint.
Suddenly, Yami pulled something out of the pocket of his waistcoat. A rose so red it looked like it had been dyed with blood. It was similar to the rose Yami had given him during Anzu's nightmare in the Game. Yuugi flinched at the memory, remembering all of the events playing out.
Yami sniffed the flower and fingered the delicate petals. Yuugi's fingers itched to feel the smooth coolness of the flower.
"Red roses mean love, you know," Yami said, not taking his eyes off the rose.
Yuugi remembered Yami's voice now. He'd been away for it for so long that he forgot what it sounded like. He only remembered that he described it as musical.
Where was that wit and confidence that Yuugi had in the Game? Why couldn't he face Yami without shaking or wanting to run someplace far away?
Maybe it was because the last time he had seen Yami, Yuugi had betrayed him. He had lied to him, made Yami trust him. Then Yuugi had slammed a door on him, to keep him trapped there forever. He had left him imprisoned there. Yuugi felt a sudden pang of guilt. He couldn't imagine what Yami must have felt like after he realized what Yuugi had done.
Now that didn't matter, though. Now Yami was looking for revenge.
"Why don't you just do it?" Yuugi asked. Yami looked up from the red rose in his hand and quirked a questioning eyebrow at the boy, as if he had forgotten that he was there. Yuugi continued. "Go ahead and kill me."
Yami tilted his head like a cat. "Is that what I want to do?"
"It's what you did to Haga and Ryuzaki, not to mention Ryou."
Yami smiled; Yuugi flinched, he had forgotten that smile. Like a lion on the hunt, watching its defenseless prey, just waiting for the right moment. Yami's smile was the sort of smile that made people want to run and hide.
"Technically, I did not kill Haga and Ryuzaki, it was that Soren fellow—"
"You made him do it though," Yuugi interrupted.
Yami just smirked. "And I did not kill Ryou, his nightmare did. I played the Game fairly."
"But that's the reason you brought me out here, to kill me?" Yuugi knew that they were far enough away from the dance for anyone to hear his screams. His composure was hanging on by a thread, soon he would break and unravel.
Yuugi squared back his shoulders, closed his eyes, and held his head high. "Just go ahead and do it. Just get it over with." He wondered for a brief moment if Yami would kill him quickly or drag it out.
He didn't dare open his eyes when he heard Yami take a step closer to him. "All right," Yami said. He then pulled the boy closer and kissed him.
Yuugi's eyes flew open in surprise when he felt the soft pressure of Yami's lips against his own. It was such a smooth and gentle kiss, Yami's lips were soft. Yuugi heard Yami sigh and tilt his head to deepen the kiss; at this point Yuugi wondered why he wasn't fighting back.
He thought he remembered how it felt to be kissed by Yami. His memories failed him. This kiss was tender and sweet but Yuugi knew that Yami was anything but those two things.
Yami didn't make him feel safe at all. Yuugi had the dizzy sensation of falling. Yami's touch sent electricity tingle every one of his nerve endings, sending Yuugi's mind reeling.
'This is wrong,' Yuugi thought, yet he didn't pull away. 'He's evil.' He looped his arms around Yami's neck. 'He wants to kill me…' but his body wouldn't listen as he began to kiss back.
Kissing Yami felt so right for some reason. He was kissing Yuugi softly, tiny sweet kisses and long ones that turned wild. As if they were reunited lovers and not hunter and prey.
"Yuugi," Yami said, speaking with his lips brushing his. He sounded glad, as if he were just proven right. "You see how it is with us? Neither of us can fight what we feel. You've tried and you've failed; you can't kill my love for you."
"No, I don't feel that way," Yuugi whispered, trying to convince himself more than anything.
Yami either ignored or didn't hear Yuugi, because he continued. "We were meant to be together, its our destiny. Just give in, Yuugi, let me love you." Yami leaned in for another kiss.
Yuugi's eyes widened in horror, with a sudden burst of strength, he shoved Yami away from him. "No!" This resulted in Yuugi flying backwards instead of Yami, his back being scratched by the bark of a tree again.
Yami looked angry and tired at the same time, as if he were dealing with a stubborn child. "You're going to fight to the end, aren't you?" he asked impatiently. Yami crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged; he smirked. "Okay. You know, you're exciting when you're angry and personally, I have been starving for the sight of you." His smirk would have put the Cheshire cat to shame. "In fact, you may say I'm famished…"
"Don't," Yuugi cut in.
"I love that costume," Yami said as if he never heard the boy. He began to eye Yuugi in an appreciating manner, as if looking at a piece of meat. "It shows off all of your curves and doesn't really leave much to the imagination but I'm not complaining, you look very sexy. Although, I do not like everyone else at that dance looking at what's mine."
Surprisingly enough, Yuugi felt sexy. He loved the attention he was getting from his peers. He may be innocent but he wasn't stupid, he saw how everyone looked at him when he passed by. They wanted him and thought he was beautiful.
But he didn't want Yami to be one of those people and he didn't like how he was claimed as his. Yuugi looked down at the ring on his left finger that he could never take off. There was an inscription, a vow, on the inside of the ring. A vow to always be Yami's.
Yami noticed Yuugi's line of sight and look the boy's smaller hand into his own, running his thumb over the ring. Yami said, "This ring, the symbol of my oath, will hold me to the words I speak: All I refuse and the I choose."
Yuugi shut his eyes as if the words hurt him.
Yami continued to look at the gold ring that glittered in the moonlight. "Don't you remember your vow to me? The promise is unbreakable. You are sworn to forever be mine, Yuugi."
Yami was the incarnation of all darkness and anything evil and Yuugi was his. He had promised himself to Yami, of his own free will of the time; even though it was all just a trick it was still his choice. But now he had no choice.
"I've only come to claim what's mine," Yami continued. "You cast your own fate, Yuugi. You spoke the words, you let them be written, and now it's done. Didn't you ever think that you would have to pay up for gambling with the devil?"
Yuugi didn't know what he was thinking back in the paper house. He just wanted to save Jounouchi and his friends. He would have done anything at that point.
All Yuugi could get out was, "I wasn't fair." Even Yuugi knew that that was a pathetic argument.
Yami chuckled, dry and humorless. "Fair…life isn't fair," he said harshly. "That's not the point, you promised yourself to me," he pushed stubbornly.
Yuugi opened his mouth to explain but found that he couldn't because he knew that Yami was right. There was no way to justify what Yuugi had done. He had sworn an oath, given Yami his word. He knew the consequences yet he played the game anyway.
Yami traced a pattern in the air, leaving a trail of glowing lines where his finger had been; it was the shape of a vase on its side. "This is Perthro, the rune of gambling, the cup that holds the runes."
Yuugi wondered what this had to do with anything. "Oh, really?"
"The people who created the runes love to gamble. They would bet anything and everything on one roll of the dice. If they lost, they would go into slavery cheerfully, because they made a promise and they always played by the rules. Honor meant everything to them."
Yuugi thought that that sounded like the exact opposite of Yami. But he also understood what Yami was saying; Yuugi was no better than he was. He suddenly felt ashamed and he hung his head.
"Are you going to keep your promise?" Yami asked.
But it was a promise he never should have had to make. Yami forced him to play the Game. But Yuugi went looking for him and bought the Game. Yami had only given Yuugi what he asked for. It was his own fault…
But he just couldn't keep that promise.
Yuugi bit his bottom lip and met Yami's eyes with a look of defiance. It took all his courage to shake his head 'no.'
Yami just stood there for a moment, as if contemplating Yuugi's answers. He thought for a moment as Yuugi stood there, stiff as a board; he was obviously afraid, he thought Yami would hurt him. "You know I could just make you," he finally said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Yuugi nodded; he wasn't dumb. But at least he wouldn't have gone with Yami willingly.
Yami remained expressionless; he looked up to the night sky and studied the stars. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heel. "What do you say we play another game?"
'Oh, no,' Yuugi thought. Yami turned to look at him and realized that he had spoken that out loud.
Yami smirked and looked back up at the sky. "I could just force you, but I'll give you a sporting chance. I gave you the same leniency last game we played." Yami looked Yuugi directly in the eye and held up one finger. "One more game. One throw of the dice. If you wind, you're free of your promise. If you lose, you keep it and I take you back to the Shadow Realm. Do you want to play, or do we resolve this here and now?"
Yuugi took a few calming breaths while the wild part of him was screaming to accept his challenge. Like a fool, Yuugi listened to that wild part.
"One throw of the dice," Yuugi repeated with an affirmative nod of his head. "I'll play."
Yami smirked. "No holds barred, then. No quarter asked or given, for any of the players."
Yuugi froze. "What?"
Yami chuckled; Yuugi was getting damned tired of that sound. "Did you think I was going to fool around? This game is deadly serious, just like the last one."
"But it's just between us," Yuugi said desperately. "Just you and me—"
"No," Yami interrupted. "This is a game for all of the original players, for everyone who was in the paper house. No more and no less. There will by myself, Marik, and Akefia on my side with their little pets. On your side will be everyone who helped to trick or betray me. I'm going to catch every one of one at a time, staring with Rapunzel."
"No!" Yuugi cried, not even paying attention to Yami's last statement. What had he done? Ryou had died in the last Game…
"Yes, and the Game starts now. Ready or not, here I come. Find my base and you can stop me from taking them to the Shadow Realm."
"Taking who—?"
"Your friends," Yami answered before Yuugi was done asking his question. "Find them after I take them and you all go free. If not, I keep them all." Yami flashed a predator smile.
Yuugi didn't understand what Yami was saying. He was beginning to panic. He didn't even know what Game they were playing.
"Yami—"
Before Yuugi could finish his desperate plea, Yami bent down and swept Yuugi up in another kiss, this one harder than the last. Yuugi found himself kissing back instantly. Yami pulled back far too soon and crushed Yuugi to his chest. Yuugi could hear the steady beating of Yami's heart, as if he were human. "The new game is lambs and monsters," Yami whispered.
And then he was gone, as if he were never there.
The music began to drift back to his ears and he realized they had never been that far from the dance to begin with. For a moment, Yuugi thought it had all been a dream but he still felt the pressure, the tingling sensation, of Yami's lips against his.
Yuugi was about to turn around to go back inside the gym when he heard two familiar voice laughing. He turned and saw two familiar figures leaving the school grounds, laughing and stumbling, as if they were drunk. One of them had white hair that glowed in the moonlight and the other's golden features were like a beacon in the night.
Bakura and Malik.
He heard Yami's words in his ear, as if he were right behind him and whispering them.
The Game starts now…I'm going to catch the one by one, starting with Rapunzel.
But this didn't sound like Yami's voice; it was more rough and edgier, like a doubled edged dagger.
Then the words finally sunk in. Anzu's nightmare. Golden hair. Rapunzel. Malik…
"Malik! Malik!" Yuugi screamed, jumping up and down and waving. They were too far away to see him in the dark and their own laughter was probably drowning out his shouts.
Bakura and Malik were walking further away from the school, as if they were heading home. They were walking right into the shadows.
"Malik!"
The boy didn't hear him.
Meanwhile ~
For Malik to say it was good to have his best friend back was an understatement. He felt great, wonderful, better than he felt when Bakura kissed him for the first time, which was like kissing his brother.
He hated those few days without him and the awkward tension between the two of them when they were in the same room. Malik finally decided enough was enough and approached Bakura at the dance, asking if this whole situation could just be water under the bridge.
And now they were laughing and enjoyed each other's company as if nothing ever happened between the two of them. They challenged each other to a race, to see who could make it to the next block first.
Malik took of running as soon as they called it. His laughter floated back and he wasn't even paying attention as the shadows seemed to come alive.
He finally made it to the next block and turned around to rub it in Bakura's face but all that greeted him from behind was darkness. His best friend was no where to be found. Malik heard a shout of surprise, seeming to come from every direction. The sound made Malik jump and twirl around, trying to find the source.
"Bakura? Bakura!"
Another shout. Louder, a terrible sound; Malik could barely tell if it was Bakura's voice past the blood rushing in his ears. Then a guttural snarl; a growling.
"Bakura! Bakura, what's happening?"
Then everything went silent, leaving Malik's ears ringing.
Then something glimmered, running towards him. It wasn't Bakura; it was something with a bluish tinge and shining. It was like an illusion, there and then gone. Malik tried to make his eyes focus. By the time he saw it clearly, it was almost on him.
It was unbelievable. It was a ghostly phantom dog. Dog put it lightly though; it was a huge beastly wolf. That is where the growling was coming from.
Malik turned around and ran, pumping his long legs into a spring but found him restricted by the shenti.
It was right behind him, he could practically feel it breathing down his neck. He could hear its growling; he sobbed as he thought that that thing probably got to Bakura and killed him.
He saw the lights of the city. If he could just make it some lighted area with a lot of people then he would be safe.
Then a giant black hole with electric blue edges opened up in front of him. Malik shouted in surprise and skidded to a stop, landing on his knees on the cold hard concrete. He fell right at the brink of the hole.
He stared down into it and gasped. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. Down at the bottom was a shimmer of blue flames.
Malik didn't want to see anymore. He ran into the wide mouth of an alley, hoping that the trash bins would slow that thing down. But it was faster. It was right on his heel. Malik cried out for help as he saw the terrifying sight of a dead end at the end of the alley. He smacked against the wall and jumped, as if that would help him.
He turned around and pressed himself as flat against the wall as possible. It was standing right in front of him. It advanced on him slowly, as if mocking him.
This time there was no way for Malik to escape.
-/-
Ranko: Don't you just love me when I give you cliffhangers?
Yami: Whatever, anyway guys, we will have the poll up until this Sunday, December 16! So please make sure to vote before then.
Yuugi: Make sure to leave a nice, long review!