Thanks for reading. Hope you all like it.

(I don't own Yu-gi-oh or the characters)

~*~

*******Chapter Three********

Standing there by the student parking lot were both Seto and Mokuba. Yami flinched unconsciously.

"Oh, um, hi... You two know each other?" He asked shyly. He was okay talking to the smaller boy, but Seto just made him downright nervous. Mokuba laughed.

"Yeah! He's my brother!" Seto allowed a small smile, barely nodding in agreement.

"And how did you two meet?" he asked, although Yami wasn't exactly sure who the question was aimed towards.

"It was really cool," Mokuba recounted, glancing furtively at Yami with almost reverence. Against his will, Yami could feel himself flush.

"It wasn't that cool," He cut in rudely before the story could go any further.

"Yes it was!" Mokuba insisted. "There were these guys, and they were bigger than me and I didn't like them, because they were being really mean, and they hit me." Good lord, Yami thought, somewhat in awe. This kid's energy could give even Yugi a run for his money... "And then Yami came in and was all like 'Hey, that's enough,' but they wouldn't listen so then he swore at them and one of them punched him in the face! And then the principal came out and the guy who hit Yami got in trouble!" Seto turned to Yami, one eyebrow slightly raised.

"Really? I must thank you for defending my brother." For some reason, this pissed Yami off.

"I told you, it wasn't that big of a deal. Really." The smirk that spread across the taller boy's features infuriated Yami further. He felt that Seto knew something that he didn't, and that always made him nervous. "Yeah, ok. Whatever." He turned to leave.

"See you in class tomorrow," Seto called after him. Yami refused to turn around, even as he felt the brunet's eyes following him. He reached his car to find Yugi standing outside the door, making faces at him.

"C'mon, Yami! Open the doors! I've been here forever and it's really fucking hot!"

"Oh, shut up!" Yami snarled, causing Yugi to giggle childishly. "Yugi, I'm not even kidding." Yami could see his brother shooting him suspicious looks, trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

"What's the matter with you?" the smaller boy pouted. "I'm just saying that it's really hot in the parking lot..." The hurt was evident in his voice, although Yami couldn't tell if it was sincere or not. He sighed heavily as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"Okay, yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just in a really bad mood."

"Oh." Yugi was silent for a moment. "Does it have anything to do with the people you were just talking to?" Yami inadvertently slammed on the brakes, causing their seat belts to yank them back with a bruising force. Yugi let out a strangled squeak.

"Shit! Sorry Yugi, that wasn't on purpose... Uh, no. I'm just in a bad mood... I don't like school." He fumbled with the words, returning the rude gestures he had received from the drivers around him. Yugi remained silent the rest of the way home, but he kept glancing at Yami and shaking his head sorrowfully. Finally, Yami had had enough of it. "Alright! What did I do? Why do you keep looking at me like that?" Yugi sighed.

"Yami, you need to start making more friends. Seriously. You're the most antisocial person I know." He ducked as Yami aimed a blow at the back of his head.

"Yugi, if you know what's good for you, you'll shut up. Nowish," Yami fumed.

"Well, you know. It's for your own good..." Yugi muttered under his breath. The car lurched to a stop once again.

"Get. Out." Yami demanded through clenched teeth. Yugi stuck his tongue out at his brother, then hopped out of the car, sprinting the last few yards to their house. Yami sighed as he pulled into the oversized garaged. As much as he loved his brother, he was ridiculously annoying sometimes.

The second he set foot in the house, however, he turned around and walked directly back outside.

"Shut up! I've had enough of your shit!" An angry male voice came from the house, met by an equally angry female voice.

"Me shut up? You've had enough of my shit? Look at you, you lazy ass! All you ever do is fucking watch t.v. And drink beer! All fucking day!" Yami sighed, even more depressed. What the hell was Mom doing home? It was the middle of the day, for crying out loud. Normally, she would be at work- at the firm, or "at work," which meant at the house of whichever rich lawyer had caught her eye that week.

"Pleh," He made a disgusted sound, voicing how sick he was of today. He pulled his backpack from the car, nodded to Yugi who was discreetly walking to their neighbor Joey's house, and went around to the side of the house, sitting with his back against the wall and his knees pulled up to his chest. He really should work on that chemistry work... yeah. That was the last thing he wanted to do right now, but it had to be done. Sighing (funny how often he found himself doing that), he pulled his work from his bag and, turning his ipod to full volume, fought to focus on isotopes and ions and cations and all kinds of weird shit like that. He was in the middle of balancing a reaction, 10 Years blasting in his ears, when his arm was seized in a painfully tight grip, yanking him to his feet. Startled, he lashed out, hitting his assailant in the face, before realizing it was his father.

"Oh, sorry, Dad, I didn't- shit," He ducked as the large man threw an unsteady, drunken punch. "Dad, relax," he coaxed, attempting to calm him down.

"Shut the fuck up, you little bastard!" He spat, his words slurred and his breath reeking of alcohol. "What the hell are you doing out here? You shouldda been inside making dinner- god, that bitch is useless." Yami wisely held his tongue as he listened to the man slandering his mother. Whatever. Not like he cared much anyway what he said about her. She never stood up for him, so why should he defend her?

"What you looking at?" Yami tried to duck again, but the man's fist clipped his cheekbone, sending him sprawling to the ground. He recovered quickly, gathering his work and belongings while stuttering an apology.

"Ok, sorry Dad. I'm going in to make dinner. What do you want? No! Really!" The drunkard started yelling something incoherent. Shit. It was only four o'clock, and he was already this far gone? Tonight would be interesting, to say the least...

"Where the fuck is your stupid brother?" The man bellowed. Yami hesitated, not wanting to get Yugi in trouble also. Apparently, that was a bad move, if the blow to the gut, making him double up gasping for breath was any indication.

"He-he isn't here. He h-had to stay after- something about homework..."

"Goddammit!" The man swore, spitting on the ground. "Fucking useless son. And you! What the fuck are you still doing out here?" Yes, that was the question; why was he still there? It was clearly hazardous to his health... As quickly as he was able, Yami practically sprinted into the kitchen, where his mother was screeching into the phone. He swore under his breath, digging in his pocket for his cell phone. He quickly dialed his brother.

"Yeah? What is it, Yami? Are you okay?" Yami couldn't help smiling at the concern in his brother's voice.

"Yeah, I'll live. You'd better not come home for a while, though. Just for the record, you're still at school working on homework or a project or something. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Yugi sounded depressed. "You sure you're gonna be okay?" Yami grimaced.

"Hey, I told you that I'll live. Have fun with Joey." He hung up before Yugi had a chance to protest. Rummaging frantically through the freezer, he pulled out a tupperware container with frozen spaghetti. Don't even want to know how long this has been in here... he couldn't even remember the last time they had eaten spaghetti. Oh well. Anything would do at this point. He microwaved the frozen chunk of noodles while his father resumed his station in the living room, randomly shouting unintelligible sounds into the kitchen.

Within 15 minutes, Yami had assembled what looked like a good dinner. Okay, so the noodles were kind of over cooked... and the salad was a little limp... and all they had left in the house to drink (besides beer, of course) was Mountain Dew... but other than that, it was clearly gourmet. He hurried to his room with his portion, hoping that no one would notice his absence. After securely locking his door, he mustered all of his self-control and motivation, working straight through the rest of the chemistry work and continuing to finish the English. He fell asleep fully clothed, schoolwork spread across the bed, dirty dishes at the end of the bed. All in all, it had been a good night.

~*~

A/N: Okay, so I hoped you liked this. I feel like things are moving kind of slowly, but that's okay, right? I don't want to rush things yet... heh. Sorry it took me a while to update. It won't be that long this time. ^_^

soooo tell me what you think! thank you!

~alex~

:)