Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I've last updated, but . . . . Sorry? Hehehe and, I just wanted to tell y'all . . . . . which I'm so very sorry for the confusion, but, I reaaaaaaaaaally hate writing in pre-tense for this story. You don't know how badly I want to pull my hair out because it frustrates me! So, from this point on, I'm changing the tense to past tense. Whenever I get the chance, I'll go to the other chapters and update them. So sorry for messing everything up! T.T

Yugi: About time if you ask me!

Shush up Yugi! And I thought, again, that you didn't want me to keep writing to this story!

Yugi: *Looks away* I just wanna know what happens, alright?

Of course you do, wanna do the disclaimer?

Yugi nods his head, but before he could, someone pounces on his head.

Joey: Kairi don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or any of us!

Yugi: Joeeeey! Get off! *He whines*

Chapter six:

Six more months later:

Two small boys are on their hands and knees on the floor, with a bucket of soapy water in between them. They softly talk to each other as they mop the already cleaned floor with their rags.

"Hey, Yugi, wanna continue our duel after we're done with chores?" One of the boys asked. Devin leans back, stretching his back. Over the year, Devin' short black hair had grown so that it hung in his eyes. He swished his bangs out of his eyes so he could see the other boy.

Yugi pushed his sleeves up, not wanting to get his hoodie sleeves wet. "Um . . . maybe not today," He answered. Devin's face dropped but suddenly goes to a smile. "But tomorrow?"

"Sure! I was thinking, maybe this time I can beat you!"

Yugi gazed at the boy with a determined look. "You sure about that?" Devin nodded. "Well, we'll see tomorrow. No one could beat me, well, maybe if Yami tried he - -"Yugi quits talking and looked away.

Devin mentally slapped himself. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring him up; I was just tryin' to cheer you up."

"I know," Yugi shook his head. "But, you don't have to be sorry; it's not your fault." He stood up and dropped his rag into the bucket. "Come on; let's go see if we can get a snack before we do the remaining of our chores."

Devin stood up too, but he only nodded, afraid that he brought up sad memories of his yami; memories that could put Yugi in a very depressed mood.

The first month Yugi was here, was probably his worst. (Like everyone's!) He was picked on many times from Mark and a few others about his appearance and about dueling; his height, hair color, and, well, dueling. (Don't ask, this sentence SUCKS!) But, what really surprised Devin, was Yugi ignored them. Whenever they picked a fight with him, trying to fight him, he simply just walked away even though that pissed Mark off.

Like everyone, it took some time to get use to life under Cassandra. For the first few months, everyone; all the guys, cried and had that scared look to them. (1) Yugi was one of them, but liked the others, he stayed strong. He was scared, but he never showed it. He did cry, but he never let anyone hear it or see it.

It had taken a few days for Yugi and Devin to become friends, yet, it took a lot longer for them to share their life story with each other. Devin was the first to open up; he talked a lot about his family and friends. Devin is the middle child of three; he has an older brother named Derik, age nineteen and a younger sister named Dezi, age fourteen. He has two loving parents and a group of loyal, great friends. In school, he was a quiet and shy kid, well, except for when he was with his friends; all his shy-ness vanished and a cocky side of him replaced it. He was an overall A student when it came to grades, sometimes with some B's, but not everyone is perfect. The small boy wasn't very good at card games, but dominated anybody that challenged him to a video game. (Random!)

The two boys walk down one of the many, windowless halls. Devin looked over at Yugi, who still had his hands in his hoodie's pocket. His head is casted down, but Devin could see a teary amethyst eyes.

Devin's stomach twisted itself in a knot. How could he bring Yugi to think about Yami? Even worse, talk about him?

Back when Devin was talking about himself, Yugi started to open up, but much slower than Devin. He first talked about his grandfather and their game shop. Then, he explained each of his friends, including the Kaiba's. And let's not forget all the duels he has ever participated in. One thing Yugi never mentioned, for it was somewhat a secret, was his yami, until it slipped out when Yugi was describing one of the many duels against Kaiba.

Devin got curious about Yami, so he asked about him. Yugi didn't know what to do when he asked. He thought it would have been better to not tell him anything, but decided against it. So he explained that Yami was a spirit, living in the millennium puzzle and that he usually took over during duels and dangerous times. (i.e. Shadow Games. :P ) However, Yugi didn't tell him about their mind connection.

From the way Yugi talked about Yami to Devin, you could tell they were really close. Instead of Yami being a three thousand year old pharaoh, he was like the modern older brother. (That's what it sounded like to Devin) Yugi always spoke about the duels they shared together. (2)

"Hey Devin, what's today?" Yugi suddenly asked, snapping Devin back out of his thinking world.

"Twenty-seventh of April. It's Thursday. Why?"

Yugi looked up from the ground at his friend, all traces of tears gone. "I have to go see the girls today." He smiled in a cocky, but sad smile.

Devin's blue eyes widen. He lowered his voice as the two continued down the bare hallway. "But, you're going to get caught this time!"

Yugi just shook his head. "I'll be quick. I've been doing this at least four times a month. Just be my lookout, kay?" Yugi pleaded with his eyes. He gave him his best puppy dog eyes he could manage.

Finally, after a few moments of pleading, Devin sighed in defeat, knowing that he always gave in too quickly. "Oh alright, but you have to hurry. The boss has those cameras's everywhere and I'd hate to see something happen to you, Yugi!"

By now, they arrived at a black door; the door leading down to the basement. Yugi, instead of leading Devin to the kitchen, lead him to the basement door without his knowing.

"Alright, just give me five minutes and I'll be back up. If not, then knock on the door." Yugi said before opening the door. Devin nodded and took he handle from his friend. Yugi stepped lightly down on the top step, then to the second one when the door closed behind him, leaving him in utter darkness.

About halfway down, Yugi called out in his normal voice, "Alex? Krissy?" He stopped and rested on the wooden step, listening for movement further down.

"Yugi?" A familiar female voice asked aloud. Alex.

"Yup," He started back down the stairs, quicker this time. At the last step, two figures awaited him. Two girls, who are both taller than him, one of the girls now has long brown hair, but instead of her normal dull eyes, they are bright with cheeriness. The other girl has warm, chocolate colored eyes and dirty blond hair that went all the way down to her waist.

"Hey Yugi!" Krissy walked up to the boy and wrapped her arms gently around him. Yugi hugged back, a bit awkward and nervous. Having to be around Cassandra when it was their day left the boys feeling weird when they come in contact with girls.

They part and Krissy took a step back. Even though it was still dark down in the basement, you could still see. There was one window that leads outside, it doesn't let in a lot of light, but enough that it illumed the darkness. ((Right wording?)) Yugi looked to Alex and found her smiling at him so he smiled back.

The three didn't take long to exchange their greetings; the girls knew how Yugi couldn't stay down here for very long.

"So, have you thought of anything?" Krissy asked.

The small boy had been going down to the basement four times a month to gather any information about Cassandra he couldn't get from upstairs. While he's also down there, he and the two girls try to come up with any escape plans they could think of. So far, no luck.

Krissy, Alex, and Devin all think that Yugi is the one to help everyone escape and shit Cassandra and her charade down, but Yugi thought negative of it, though he still tries to help out.

"Well, kind of. You know how Cassandra goes out twice a week?" Yugi stated. Both girls nod their heads. "Well, she keeps everything locked up and - -"

"You want to try and unlock everything?" A voice said behind Krissy. Dixie walked up to them, rolling her baby blue eyes. Today, her hair was put into a high pony, though it was sagging a bit. "Yeah, like that's going to work. If we do manage to escape, she'll come after us, no matter what. She's going to have to be like, tied up or something."

Yugi grinded his teeth in annoyance, as well as Alex and Krissy. Instead of being scared of Dixie, he hated her. When he was down in the basement the very first time, he had a right to be scared. Now, he just finds her annoying.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Dixie's right." Alex said glumly. "If we do manage to escape, it's a guarantee that she'll be after us." Yugi opened his mouth to add something but Alex already guessed it. "She'll make it to us before we have a chance to look for help."

"We still, after three years, don't know exactly where we are." Krissy added.

Yugi's shoulders drooped a bit. "Yeah, I know, but that's all I've come up with. How 'bout you guys, thought of anything?"

Both girls shook their heads. Then, as if rehearsed, (which probably was, considering that they've been doing this four times a month, every month) they all sighed.

"Hmph. This is sad." Dixie snorted. All three pair of eyes rested on her face. They all thought that she had left their three-man group. "After, what, five months, this is all you've come up with? Aren't you supposed to be a genius? Always have a plan?"

Yugi puffed up like a plow fish. "It's really hard to think of something when you're in our position!"

"'Ours' meaning you and the other boys?" Dixie asked, rolling her eyes. Yugi nodded, still angry. "Well, how is it supposed to be hard when all you boys ever do is clean and have sex with Her?"

Yugi opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Yet, thanks to Alex, someone did.

"They don't have 'sex' with Her, she practically rapes them! They don't have a say in anything!"

"Tsk, whatever. Sex, rape, same difference. At least they're living comfortable while we have to live in the dark, dirty basement . . ." With that, Dixie turned around and walked back to wherever she appeared from.

"Er . . .! She drives me insane! Sometimes I just want to k- -" But Krissy got cut off by three soft knocks at the basement door.

Both Alex and Krissy looked at Yugi in alarm, but he just shook his head at them.

"It's alright," He reassured them. "It's just Devin. Either my five minutes are up or someone's coming."

"Oh, okay," Alex said, sounding a bit relieved, but then, in an urgent voice, "but if someone's coming, then you need to get out of here!"

"Oh, right!" Yugi was about to turn around to run up the stairs when Alex grabbed his wrist. Yugi looked at Alex, his amethyst eyes meeting her bright blue.

"Yugi, we'll keep thinking of something. There has to be a way!" Alex exclaimed.

Yugi nodded and Alex lets go. "I won't stop thinking either, I promise." He smiled. "But, I have to go now." Alex nodded. She and Krissy watched him turn around and sprint up the stairs, his bare feet making no noise against the wooden steps.

By the time he made it up the stairs, another three soft knocks sound, but this time sounding more urgent.

"Be careful!" Alex called out as Yugi opened the basement door. He glanced back, his smile still perched on his face before slipping through the door.

Once the door closed, leaving the two girls (plus Dixie, wherever she was) in almost darkness, Krissy softly elbowed Alex in the side.

"You like him, don't you?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

Being glad that she couldn't see the blush that made its' way on Alex's cheeks, she responded, "What? Of course not! Why-why would I like him? That's stupid! Why would you think such a thing?"

Krissy shrugged her shoulders with the smirk still on display. "Okaaaay, whatever you say, Al. Whatever you say." She walked away from her still blushing friend, trying real hard to stifle a laugh.

XxxxX

Yugi opened the door quickly but quietly and almost knocked Devin over in the process.

"Yugi! Mark's coming! I heard talking and went to go investigate. He should be here any minute!" Devin said, forgetting about everything else and jumping out of the way. Yugi stumbled, but quickly caught his balance.

"What?" He looked at his friend with wide eyes. Every time Mark showed his face around Yugi and Devin, there was always trouble. "Is it just him or is he with the others?"

"Um . . . I didn't see anyone else, so I think just him. We need to get out of here before he shows up. You remember last time we crossed his path?"

Yugi did remember.

Flashback!

It was late one night. Yugi and Devin had just finished their daily chores and were walking down the hall towards the bedroom they shared with all the other guys. As they were walking, Mark and his posse came out of one of the hall doors. They were talking about something, probably something funny for they were all laughing. But, when they caught sight of the two boys, they immediately talking.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Mark asked, looking over the two boys.

One of the guys behind Mark, Greg, as Yugi noticed, has short white hair, wearing a red hoodie and had black jeans on, looked at the two smaller boys and smirked.

"Man, just who we were lookin' for too." He said.

Yugi stood his ground, looking firmly up to the guys, but Devin hides halfway behind him.

Two of the other guys, Sokko, who slouched; has bright, long orange hair that was pulled back into a loose pony tail, and has purple eyes. The other was Leon who has a rich boy stance, blond hair and blue eyes, with his blond hair spiked up. ((Yum! ^^)) The two snickered from Devin's cowardness.

"What do you want, Mark?" Yugi demanded.

Mark laughed, which invited the others to laugh with him. He took a step towards Yugi. "Well, we," he indicated himself and the three other guys who stopped laughing, "Needs to let some of our steam off." The boy started to circle Yugi and Devin like they were prey.

Yugi stood planted firmly to the ground ((Still)), but his eyes trailed after Mark. "And? What does that have to do with us?"

Mark laughed again. He continued walking, now on the other side of the boys. "What does that have to do with us?" He mimicked Yugi. "Heh, well, let me tell you, 'King of Games'; I hate you. I hate your guts and just wish you'd leave. Just because you're famous out there, doesn't mean you're going to be famous in here!" (3)

As Mark walk talking, Devin leaned over and whispered very low into Yugi's ear, "Why does he speak of this now? Everyone already knows how much he hates you."

Yugi just shrugged and whispered back, "It's best to just let him get it off his chest."

"Are you going to do anything about it?"

"What's there to do?"

Mark faced Yugi and Devin now. "You know what?" He doesn't give Yugi anytime to respond and, instead, he walked up to him and punched him in the stomach. Yugi doubled over, causing Devin to jump back and Mark and his friends to laugh. "I need to let all of my anger off and what better way to do so then letting my anger off at someone I hate?"

Before Yugi could straightened back up, much less defend himself, Mark punched him in the jaw. The force from the impact caused the smaller boy to fall to the floor.

"Yugi!" Devin squeaked out.

Greg looked at him. "Oh, don't think we forgot about you, short stuff." He walked past Mark, just as he kicked Yugi's side, grinning, and grinned.

Devin started backing up, horror filling his blue eyes.

"Devin!" Yugi managed to say through his clenched teeth.

Before Yugi could even get to his feet, Mark kicked him again. "I didn't say you could speak!" He bent down and grabbed Yugi by the front of his hoodie and lifted him up.

Yugi's feet dangled a foot above the ground. He glared at Mark as he goes numb. He learned the hard way that if he moved while being held, he got hit harder, leaving nasty purply, blue bruises. Bringing his fist back, Mark threw the punch at the kid's stomach again, knocking the breath out of Yugi.

Meanwhile, Devin kept backing up as Greg continued to come closer and closer. Finally, after several seconds, the wall came in contact with Devin's back and Greg smiled even bigger.

"Looks like luck's not on your side, Shorty." He arrived in front of Devin and like Mark, grabbed the small boy by the front of the hoodie and lifted him into the air. The horror in Devin's eyes doubled.

From behind Greg, he heard Yugi take in a loud intake of air. From the sound, he got punched in the side much harder.

"Pay attention, shrimp." Greg said, snapping Devin's attention back to him. "It's best if you don't hang around Yugi. If you do, expect more beatings. If you want to keep your pretty face unmarked, then drop the friendship bond." He brought his fist back and was about to swing and make contact with the boys face (Who squeezed his eyes shut) when a hand suddenly stopped him, grabbing his fist in mid-swing.

"Fighting ain't allowed, kid. You should know that." A familiar male's voice rang out. "Let the smaller one go."

Greg released his grip on Devin, who landed lightly on his feet, before turning to Coby, a glare set on Greg's face. Mark let out a frustrated growl before stopping his kick. He turned around to face Coby and he also glared. Sokko and Leon, who were watching and snickering, quickly became quiet and followed in Mark's and Greg's lead with a glare set on their faces.

Coby dropped Greg's fist and crossed his arms against his chest.

"What do you want, Coby?" Mark asked, clearly showing his annoyance.

Coby walked over to the group (Greg moved to stand next to Mark) wearing a grim expression. "I thought I told y'all fighting wasn't allowed?" As he was talking, Devin scurried over to Yugi and helped him up. Yugi wiped some blood from the side of his mouth with the back of his hand. "You know how pissed She's going to be to see him," he pointed to Yugi, "all lookin' like that?"

The four boys shrugged.

"Hmph. Last time I'm coverin' for you four. Next time, I'll let Cassandra deal with y'all herself. And trust me she won't take pity on ya."

"Heh, whatever." Was all Mark said, but everyone else stayed quiet.

Coby, however, kept talking, "Anyways, where are you four supposed to be?"He asked, indicating Mark and his posse. When they don't answer, Coby said, "Alright, don't answer, but good thing I know where you all are supposed to be; in bed, asleep. Come on, get moving."

He herded the six boys down the hallway; in the same direction Yugi and Devin were headed before Mark had stopped them.

As they walked, Yugi and Devin in the front, then Mark and Greg, followed by Sokko and Leon, and ending with Coby, Mark leaned forward and said to Yugi, "Consider yourself lucky; you got out of your beating today."

Yugi didn't turn around, but says only loud enough for Mark to hear, "Really? Well, next time perhaps you won't be so lucky."

"And why's that?"

Yugi didn't answer, instead, he just kept walking forward. Devin glanced over his shoulder to see Mark leaning back with a hateful expression on his face.

"Yugi," Devin whispered, looking back over to his friend.

"Yeah?"

"Are you really going to do anything?"

Yugi smiled slightly and looked at Devin. "Don't know. Just said it so he'd stop bothering us." He shrugged his shoulders and went back to looking forward.

End Flashback:

"Yeah, I remember." Yugi said, idling rubbing his jaw. He blinked a few times and shook his head to clear it. "But, yeah, we need to get out of here. Come on!"

The two boys start walking in the direction they had come from a few moments ago. But they didn't get very far when a voice stopped them.

"Hey, where do you two think you're going?"

Both boys froze and looked at each other. Slowly, they turned around. Mark was walking at a fast pace towards them, and thank the gods that he was alone and not flanked by his groupies.

"We . . . were . . . . Um," Devin stumbled out as Mark arrived in front of them. He narrowed his eyes as Yugi jabbed Devin's side gently with his elbow.

"We were going to see if we could get a late snack before returning to our chores. What are you doing?" Yugi asked.

But Mark ignored Yugi's question. "Huh, yeah right. You both know dinner is in half an hour. Can't you wait?"

"Really? It's already seven?" Yugi asked, pretending to act surprised.

"Duh, dumb ass. Can't you tell time?" Mark snapped.

Devin stayed quiet while Mark and Yugi talked, still afraid that something could possible slip if he tried to talk. He shuffled from foot to foot nervously, getting uncomfortable.

Yugi noticed and calmly told Mark, "If you will excuse us, we still have chores to attend to." Before he gives the older boy any time to respond, Yugi grabbed Devin's arm and pulled him away from Mark.

The two walk at a fast pace until they left the hallway through a door. They slowed their pace once they made it into the next hall.

Devin looked over at Yugi. "Man, Yugi, you sure the stories (The ones he swaps with Devin when they were trying to get to know each other) about yourself are true?"

The tri-haired looked confused. "Of course, why?"

Devin shook his head and smiled. "In your stories, you said you were the quiet one and was always honest and nice. Every time we bump into Mark, you're the opposite; sticking up for yourself and for me." He stopped when his friend smiled.

"Yeah, I guess that I've watched Joey and Tristan and all of my friends stanjd up to bullies enough that it rubbed off on me. They'll neber believe it whenever I tell them" A few tears prickle at his eyes, but he blinks them back. "And Devin, don't apologize. It actually makes me happy to think about them." Devin had opened his mouth to apologize, but Yugi had stopped him.

"Thank you really."

"You're . . . You're welcome." Devin mumbled, embarrassed.

After that, they continue to walk in silence until they got back to the spot they were cleaning. That's when Devin started to ramble.

XxxxX

Well, sorry its been so long! But, there you have it! My present to you! ^^

R&R

MERRY CHRISTAMS AND HAPPY NEW YEARS! HOPE IT'S YOUR BEST YEAR YET! ^^ 3

It was only for the first few weeks for each guy and they cried softly ;) lol

He don't really go into details about each game, especially when he talked about the shadow realm.

Out there real world, in here the mansion: the guys