Sage: Why so sad, DarkHeart?

Well…you see…I got 9 reviews last chapter, which is a record for me, but I had about 20 people story alert this that didn't review. I just wish that one of those twenty people would've taken the two minutes out of their day to tell me what they liked about my story.

Sage: Hmmm? Did you say something?

….Never mind.

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-Two Years Ago—

Yugi Motou was working his job at the small diner that belonged to the father of one of his friends. His face was flushed from working all day and beads of sweat were forming at his brow. He wiped his face with his sleeve and continued his work, scrubbing down the table he had been waiting earlier that day.

The people had been total slobs. They left crumbs all over the seats and floor, and had managed to get the table covered in a thick layer of ketchup and mustard. Yugi had worked hard to please them, but they always disapproved.

He either had taken too long to bring them their food, or he had put their food down in the wrong order, I asked for a re-fill five minutes ago, where is it?

Yugi sighed as he stopped his scrubbing movements and rubbed his arm. Some people just couldn't be pleased. Yugi worked his hardest and in the end all he could walk away with was a lousy two dollar tip. He threw the dirty towel over his shoulder and made his way over to the register.

The clock-out counter was positioned by the computer and Yugi's shift ended over twenty minutes ago. His friend and manager of the restaurant, Anzu, had been empathetic towards Yugi's position, but explained that the table still needed to be cleaned before he left.

Yugi held no ill feelings for Anzu. He understood her position in the battle. If the diner was in a messy state, it would reflect badly on her, which in turn would reflect badly on her father, owner of the establishment. He grabbed his card and punched out, throwing the dirty towel into a small bucket to his right.

As Yugi was about to exit the store, a blonde man stood up from his table and walked over to Yugi. He stepped in front of the shorter boy and looked down on him. Yugi froze as he stared into the icy green eyes of the taller man.

"Hey kid." He said, looking down at Yugi. For a moment the shorter boy was sure the man was staring straight into his soul. "I saw how those punks earlier were treating you. I just wanted to say I'm impressed with how you handled the situation. If I were you, I would've just left them."

"Yeah well," Yugi muttered, looking down. He was not enjoying this, even though the man appeared to be nice. "I need this job and I don't think my boss would appreciate ignoring customers."

"You seem to be very mature for your age."

Yugi was silent.

"There's another reason I wanted to talk to you."

"There is?"

"I'm wondering if you would be interested in hanging out with me sometimes."

"You mean…like a date?"

"If you want to call it that."

Yugi was stunned. He'd never been on a date before, never. He knew he was gay from the time he was twelve, but he had still been two shy to confide that with anyone, other than his two friends. He didn't even tell his grandfather. He always dreamed of what it might be like to go on one. Yugi felt his heart fly up inside his chest and he felt light as a feather.

"I'd like that." He said shly.

"Perfect." The man said. "My name is Jack. I can't wait to get to know you."

-Present Day—

Joey Wheeler stumbled into his dark apartment at ten o clock. He flicked on the lights in the living room and the overhead lamp came on, the bulb making a loud buzzing noise. Joey coughed as he entered his dust filled apartment. The first thing he did was walk over to the hallway were there were three doors, each filling a part in a triangle like shape. One door was to his bedroom, one door was to the bathroom, and the third—

He knocked on the wooden door.

"Joey?" came the soft reply.

"Yeah, Yugi." Joey said tiredly. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm home. I'll be staying up for a little bit, but I'll probably go to bed within the hour."

"Okay." Yugi's voice came.

Joey walked back over to the living room where he fell onto the puke-green couch. He fished for the remote between the couch cushions, finding it at the very bottom. Joey clicked the power button and the old TV began to whine as it came on.

A pixelated news anchor came onto the screen, staring at the camera in front of him, to make it look like he was staring right at the viewer. He began to list off all of the stories he would be covering within the hour, from a murder on tenth street, to the bank robbery on eighth.

But Joey wasn't really paying attention. Instead, his mind was focused onto his best friend, and roommate. He and Yugi had been living together in this crappy apartment for about a year now. Joey demanded that the smaller boy moved in with him after the "Incident" that landed him in the hospital for several days.

Joey mentally shuddered at the memory of seeing Yugi in the hospital bed. He had been pale, and if not for the steady beeping of the heart monitor, Joey would've sworn his younger friend was dead.

Joey wouldn't admit it, but he was still scared for Yugi. After the "Incident" he had been scared to death that something awful would happen to his small friend. He always made sure to keep an eye on Yugi.

It was taboo to talk about the "Incident", so Joey kept his fears to himself. All he would do was each morning, as they each headed off to their work, was tell Yugi to be careful. And Yugi would always reply that he would.

Of course, it wasn't Yugi Joey was fearful of. He trusted Yugi with all his heart. No, instead what Joey was fearful of was everyone else. People always tried to take advantage of his smaller friend. It could be anything from teasing him to pick-pocketing. Sometimes, things could be more violent.

They had been more violent.

Joey shook his head and pushed all those negative thoughts out of his head. They wouldn't do him any good now. He knew that Yugi was safe inside the apartment. He was just on the other side of the wall, most likely asleep in his bed.

Thinking of sleeping, Joey's eyelids became heavy and he stood up, turning off the TV before throwing the remote down onto the couch. He switched off the light before exiting the living room and making way to his own bed.

Without bothering to change out of his clothes, the blonde fell face first onto his lumpy bed, where he fell into a light, uncomfortable sleep.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Yugi was sitting at the small table the next morning, mindlessly chewing on cereal. Joey came in in his uncomfortable outfit. He worked as a bellhop for an old hotel just down the road. The pay could barely cover the bills and he had to wear a green monkey suit, with the gold buttons and ridiculous hat.

"'Morning, Yugi." He said tiredly, reaching for the box of cereal.

"Hey Joey."

Joey poured a handful of cereal into his hand and picked at it, eating it dry. "Is anything going on today?"

Yugi shook his head, taking a bite of food. "No…just work."

Joey looked at his friend sympathetically. "And…everything's been alright? You haven't had any problems with…" Joey motioned at his temple, conveying a secret message.

Yugi nodded shakily. "I…don't...think so."

"Well," Joey sighed. "If you have any problems, let me know, okay?"

Yugi nodded, finishing up the rest of his meager breakfast. He stood up and went to the sink, where he washed out the plastic bowl. He dried it with paper towels and placed it on the foam dish mat. He and Joey often had to re-use disposable items, like spoons, forks, cups, and bowls. Even with both their jobs, the two had trouble meeting the rent, and even buying a small luxury such as a set of utensils and platters.

He turned and faced Joey who was finishing up the last of his breakfast. He dusted off his hands and stuck them inside his pockets. He gave Yugi a small smile. "One day, Yuge." He sighed. "I promise you. It's only a matter of time before we save up enough money to move out of this crap-hole."

"Yeah." Yugi said quietly, his eyes wandering their small apartment.

Joey frowned, suspecting something else was wrong with Yugi. "Is everything okay, Yugi?"

Yugi shook his head, casting his eyes downward. "I…I don't know. I feel like I'm forgetting something…but I have no idea what it might be."

"Should we call Anzu? Can you work?"

"I'll be fine." Yugi muttered. "I have my cellphone. I'll call you if things get worse."

"Alright then." Joey mumbled, heading for the door. "I need to get to work, but I should be back at around nine tonight, okay?"

"Okay."

"Remember, if things get worse, call me, or tell Anzu. I'll come and get you as soon as I can."

"I'll be fine, Joey." Yugi said, feeling tears sting his eyes.

Joey didn't see them, so he waved good bye to Yugi and exited. Yugi sniffed and stumbled over to the couch. He lay down and pulled his knees to his chest where he let the tears fall down his face silently.

He was such a nuisance to Joey. He knew that. Ever since the "incident" he's needed Joey to look after him, like a mother bear looks after her cub. Joey's had to leave work many times before to come and save Yugi from some danger within the past year they had been living together.

Joey was on the verge on losing his job. Yugi could just sense it. If Joey had to leave work early one more time to come save him, his boss was going to let him go. Yugi let out a small whimper. He was a liability not only to Joey, but to Anzu as well.

She had been kind enough to let him keep his job after the "incident", even when the customers complained of how slow he was bringing orders, or how he often asked customers to repeat something. The complaint jar that was kept at the front counter was full of nasty notes, demanding that the "idiot waiter" get canned.

It used to be part of Yugi's job to go through the complaint jar. Now, Anzu wouldn't let him near it. He understood that she was just trying to protect his feelings, but he hated being treated like a child. He hated needing the constant help of his friends. He hated having to depend on Joey for almost everything.

Blowing his yellow bangs out his face, Yugi sat up. He had to get to work. He knew what he would do after his shift was over, of course. But it would have to wait.

He was going to relieve the burden that was himself, from Joey and from Anzu. He could take off a lot of the stress the two went through during their everyday lives. He should've listened to Jack and done the deed years ago.

Now, his fantasy could become a reality.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Yami sat anxiously at his desk at work, eagerly awaiting his date with Yugi that evening. His eyes were constantly dancing between the plain environment of his desk, to the dull analog clock hanging on the wall. Currently, he was playing phone tag with a possibly sponsor for Seto's tournament. It was a hotel right on the edge of the outer city, close to the diner where he met Yugi last night, actually. The manager seemed to be very excited about the tournament.

However, it would involve canceling reservations on his part. Yami doubted any guests who had book their honeymoon at this hotel would want to deal with all the videogame nerds. It seemed like he and the manager had agreed on the location, it was only the date they needed to debate.

While he waited for the important call, he tried to keep his mind off his date by going through all the Duel Disks sales. The sales at the one electronic store in Domino were doing well. They had an average monthly profit of 18%. However, the other stores, the ones outside of Domino, weren't doing as well. In fact, Duel Monsters seemed to be losing its popularity everywhere besides the city he was currently in. Even sales in the United States had dropped.

Suddenly, his phone began to ring, causing Yami to jump out of his seat. His hand reached straight for the phone and he nearly pulled it out of the phone jack.

"Hello?" He said, hoping to hear to hear from the manager of the hotel.

"Yami." Came the dry reply.

Crap. Yami thought, clenching his eyes shut.

"Yes, Seto?"

"I need you to leave."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean leave!" Seto snapped. Yami flinched and pulled the phone away from his ear slightly. "Take your crap and go on a vacation!"

"Why the sudden—"

"Just can it, Sennen." Seto interrupted. "You've collected twenty vacation days over the past two years and haven't used any of them. I need you to use them before the ethics department gets on my ass and fines me."

Yami sighed and rolled his eyes. He held his head with one hand and leaned his elbow against his desk. "Why does the ethics department care about my vacation days?"

"They'll claim I overwork my employees, and if it gets out that you're my younger cousin, a court won't be too keen to turn a blind eye."

"I don't want to go on a vacation." Yami argued. He didn't have anything he could do on a vacation. His life seemed to revolve around work and sleep.

"I don't give a damn want you want! Now, you can leave for vacation now, a paid one, I might add, or I can put you on academic probation where you won't get anything."

"Seto, I—"

"We're done with this conversation. I want you out of this building within the next ten minutes. Good bye."

Yami listened to the dull dial tone, letting him know that Seto had hung up. Sighing, Yami placed the phone back into the receiver and stood up. He was going to question about who would handle the tournament, but figured that his know-it-all cousin already had that figured out.

He stood up and left his office.

"Well," he said to himself quietly, "it looks like I have a date to get ready for."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Yami stood outside the Mazaki diner at precisely six o clock, waiting eagerly for his date. He was wearing only a dark sweater with khaki pants, but he didn't want to appear too formal. After all, he and Yugi hadn't even discussed what they would be doing that evening. He also figured that if he dressed too formal he might make things awkward, considering Yugi would be coming in his work clothes.

Every time a customer would exit to diner, Yami would stand up a little straighter, holding his breath, hoping for Yugi. After he was waiting for some time, Yami felt nervous. He looked down at the watch on his wrist. It read 6:15.

It wasn't that late, but Yami still felt the time a little off-putting. Still, he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

When his watch read 6:45, Yami got fed up. He entered the diner, determined to find his date for the night. There was the same blonde hostess from the previous night, waiting at the counter. Her head shot up when he entered and she smiled.

"Hey there. Liked our food that much?"

"Actually," Yami said as he walked to the counter, "I have a date with one of the waiters."

"Oh." She said, intrigued.

"Yeah. We were supposed to meet nearly an hour ago. Did he have to do overtime?"

"I can check to board for you. What's the lucky guy's name?" She asked.

"Yugi….I don't know his last name."

"Let me see…" She turned around and looked at the clock-out board. Yami watched as her fingers tipped each card just enough to see the name. She ran them down several, and then stopped at one. "Hmm." She said. "That's odd."

"What?"

"Yugi clocked out at 5:30. Anzu let him go home early."

"Oh." Yami said, feeling his heart sink into his stomach.

"I'm sorry, honey." The hostess said sympathetically.

"It's fine." Yami said dully. "Thank you for your time."

Yami didn't give the hostess time to respond. He left the building, fighting back angry tears. He couldn't believe he got stood up! Yugi looked so nice and sweet. Yami couldn't believe Yugi was someone to do something like that.

He became angry at Yugi. He wanted to find the boy just to scream at him and shake him. Yami couldn't get him out of his mind all day. He had been looking forward to getting to know his waiter since they locked eyes last night. And for the little bastard to just stand him up!

Yami thought he might have actually loved Yugi, even though he knew nothing of the boy. He was never one to believe in love at first sight, but now that he was experiencing it for himself, nothing seemed impossible.

Yami stumbled to his car and slammed the door angrily. He didn't even have any notion of returning home. Instead, he turned on the ignition and pressed the gas, driving his car into the ghetto of Domino. His shiny red Lexus stood out against the other cars parked on the side of the road, but Yami didn't care. He was upset and angry. He needed to do something to get his mind off the little jackass.

The windows were rolled down and Yami could hear everything from the street. He could hear the women talking about their cheating husbands, the boys talking about getting stoned and banging a chick, and then he heard something that made him slam on his breaks.

"—This knife will look very pretty in that skinny little neck of yousr, Yugi." Yami stopped his car instantly. He heard the name Yugi. His head turned and his mouth fell open at the sight he saw.

There was Yugi. The very Yugi that was supposed to go on a date with him just an hour ago. The small boy was leaning against a brick wall. A larger man was standing in front of him, pushing Yugi into the wall. Yami saw a flash of metal pressed against the boy's neck. He put the car in park and grabbed the keys, pocketing them before running over to the boy.

"Whassa matter, Motou?" The bigger man said, licking his lips. "Scared?"

"P-please, Ushio." Yugi stuttered. "Just get it over with."

Ushio's large black eyes stared at the smaller boy with a bit of a bored expression. He imagined killing someone would be more…entertaining. "If you say so."

"Stop!" Yami cried, shoving the man, Ushio, away from Yugi. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. As the larger man fell to the ground, he turned to Yugi and grabbed his wrist. He saw a flash of fear in the boy's violet eyes, but he ignored it. While Ushio tried to get up off the ground, Yami pulled the boy by his wrist and dragged him to his car.

"What are you doing?" Yugi cried.

"Saving your life!" Yami screamed, practically throwing the younger boy into the passenger seat of his car.

The taller man was on his feet now, blood flowing from a scrap on his cheek. Yami expected him to be mad, but instead he chuckled. "Looks like it'll have to wait for another time, Motou." Then, he turned and exited the alley, still chuckling.

Yami, furious, got into the driver's seat. "What the hell were you thinking?" He screamed at Yugi. He could see many emotions in the younger boy's eyes: fear, anger, despair. But he didn't care. He wanted to know why the hell the kid almost got killed, and why he got stood up, and if the two had anything to do with each other.

"Why did you do that?" Yugi cried, angry tears falling down his face.

"Do what? Save your life?"

"Yes!" Yugi screamed.

Yami felt his heart drop. Yugi wanted to die? His eyes went up to Ushio who was walking away, the blade of his knife reflected in the moonlight. Suicide by assassination. That was what Yugi was trying to accomplish?

Yugi shook his head and his hand went for the door handle. "Forget it. I need to get home."

"Wait." Yami said, putting a hand on Yugi's shoulder. The small boy flinched at the touch. "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" Yugi said tiredly.

"Stand me up."

Yugi turned around and looked at Yami, a look of confusion in his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"We had a date scheduled tonight. You stood me up."

Yugi scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You must have me confused with someone else. There's no way I had a date with you tonight."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because, I've never seen you before in my life."

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