Caution- This chapter contains kind of graphic rape... sorry.

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

*************Chapter 5 *************

The next week and a half passed rather uneventfully. Seto still got distracted by the spikey-haired boy in the front of the classroom, and said boy continued to make an effort to ignore Seto completely. The Thursday after Seto had first showed up, they received their chemistry tests back. The entire class groaned as the teacher wrote the class average on the board: a fifty-four. Seto was pleased with his score of eighty-three (it was passing!), but he saw Yami's face pale drastically when the teacher announced that anyone with less than a sixty-five would need theirs signed by a parent.

After class, Seto moved very slowly as he listened in on the conversation between Yami and the teacher.

"But it's so close! It's only like two points away!" The boy sounded panicked. The teacher shook his head sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, Yami. I can't make an exception for you, though. That wouldn't be fair to anyone else..." Yami's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry..." He dejectedly walked from the room. Seto picked up his pace to catch up with him, and before he had even called out, the other boy spun to face him. Seto was shocked to see that Yami looked close to tears.

"What the fuck do you want?!" Yami snapped at him. "Why do you keep following me?" Seto was at a loss for words.

"Uh, I-I'm not, I just, um, wondered if you were okay?" He knew that he sounded like an idiot. Yami sighed in irritation.

"Look, I've told you before to leave me alone. Okay? I'm fine, and we're both better off if you just leave me the fuck alone." With that, he stormed off. Seto's forehead wrinkled in concern. Clearly, something was very wrong.

Yami couldn't believe it. Why? Why hadn't he studied just a little longer, been just a little bit less stupid? Why hadn't he paid better attention? He had made stupid mistakes on the test. Why this week when his mother was out of town?

"Fucking hell," he cursed under his breath, knowing that he was stuck. Hopefully, his dad would be in a decent mood tonight...

Smash!!! Yami's vision blurred as he hit the wall hard, sliding to rest on the floor, only to be roughly hauled up by his arm again.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you fucking stupid, you useless piece of shit?!?" His father's breath reeked of alcohol. The man spat in his face. He tried to stick up for himself.

"D-dad! Wait! Listen, please! E-everyone failed this test! The class average was a-" He was cut off as a large fist connected with his head. He could already feel a trickle of blood running down his scalp from where his father's ring had slashed it open.

"Shut up, you little fuck! After all I've done for your lazy ass! I let you live in my house, I feed you, I raised you! And for what? So you can go and fuck around like the bastard you are and just throw all my work away?!" Yami lay in a heap on the floor, but the man grabbed a fistful of his hair, painfully pulling his head back. "Shit, boy. You don't know how good you got it here. Hell, maybe I should show you just how much worse it can get." the predatory eyes left Yami with no doubt what the man intended, nor did they miss the look of dread that flickered across Yami's already battered features. "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you, you little slut?" His father laughed cruelly as a small whimper of fear and pain escaped the boy. Suddenly, the man flung Yami once more against the wall as the door opened and slammed shut.

"Hello? Dad? Yami? I'm home," Yugi called. Yami had never been happier to hear his voice. "Oh. Uh, what's going on?" he asked cautiously as he walked into the living room, unsure of what to make of the scene that lay before him.

"Yeah, you see your brother, Yami?" Their father hissed, kicking Yami sharply in the ribs. "He tries. He's not a fucking waste of space," He spoke as if Yugi wasn't standing right there in the room. Then, leaning down so that only Yami could hear him, he whispered venomously, "Don't worry, slut. I'm not done with you yet," before storming into the kitchen where the brothers could hear him rummaging through the refrigerator.

"Jesus, Yami," Yugi spoke in a hushed tone as he bent to help his brother to his feet. "What the hell did you do?" Yami grimaced.

"Bad test...You'd better stay away from both of us tonight. You know how paranoid he gets if you hang around me all the time, and he's... especially bad tonight," he warned Yugi. Yugi nodded, but couldn't hide his concern for his brother.

"Will you be... okay tonight?" he asked tentatively. Yami gave a short, bitter laugh.

"Probably not. I'll survive, though. Don't worry about me."

He closed himself in his room, locking the door behind him, knowing full well that it would make no difference whatsoever later. Shit, he wanted Yugi to stay with him, with his soothing presence and kindness... he knew that would be a bad idea, though. The farther away from Yami he was when their father got like this, the safer he would be. He couldn't stand the thought of Yugi getting hurt because of him, and he would rather take the brunt of their father's anger than allow him to take it out on Yugi.

He sat on the bed, his stomach churning violently. It kept trying to expel its contents despite the fact that it was empty. Yami could feel his heart speeding up, and his breath became short and erratic. Frantically, he dug through his bag, searching for the one thing that could lessen his panic attacks. He felt calmer the second his fingers closed around the cool metal. He ran his fingers over the edge of the razor, savoring the sharpness. Tonight called for drastic measures. Usually, he didn't cut on his wrists or ams (too noticeable), but it was the best place to cut, and right now, he didn't care who noticed and who didn't. He needed this. He examined his arm, searching for the right spot. He pressed the edge against the taut skin on the inside of his forearms, closing his eyes before slashing quickly downwards. His breath hissed out of him at the feeling of release. He examined his work. It was very... pretty, very well done. It wasn't deep enough to be anything serious, yet it was deep enough that the skin spread apart, making the cut look wider. It was like when a surgeon made the first incision on a patient, and the skin spread open beneath the blade. These left the nicest looking scars...

He repeated the process a few more times, until his head felt clear and the blood ran freely on his arms. Frightened, exhausted, and aching, he drifted off into a fitful sleep, dreading what was yet to come.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep when the rattling of the doorknob awoke him, then the sound of metal on metal as a key teased the door open. Yami realized that he was trembling. He tried to still his motions, feigning sleep, but was shocked by a hard blow to his "sleeping" form.

"Wake the fuck up, whore," His father snarled at him, not loudly enough for the sound to carry down the hall to Yugi's room. He closed and locked the door behind him, and Yami's stomach lurched even more.

"Dad, don't do this. This isn't necessary, I'll try harder, I swear, I-nngh-" His pleas were cut off as the drunken man smashed his lips into Yami's. Yami tried to pull away, the smell of alcohol and filth as well as the situation sickening him. The man slapped his face.

"Hold still." Yami fought back tears as the large man undid his pants. He grabbed Yami by the hair and forced his face into his crotch. Yami closed his eyes in resignation. If he cooperated, it wouldn't be quite so bad. Defeated, he opened his mouth and took the man's penis into his mouth. Almost instantly, the large man began yanking Yami's head back and forth, thrusting into Yami's mouth and making him gag. Dear god, please, just finish quickly, please please please... Just when he thought that his father was about to come, he stopped thrusting, pushing Yami back onto the bed.

"What-no! Dad, no, please! Please..." he sobbed helplessly as he was forced out of his pants.

"Shut up and hold still, you whore," his father ordered, slapping him hard. Yami bit down on his pillow, bracing himself for what he knew was next. He screamed into the pillow as the man thrust brutally into him, pulling his hair and wrapping his fingers around Yami's throat. Yami's vision started to go blurry as more pressure was applied to his windpipe, and he hoped that he would pass out from lack of oxygen, or, preferably, just die outright. Unfortunately, his father released his grip on his throat, taking one of Yami's wrists in each hand, pinning him down and making him feel even more helpless. Yami knew that he was babbling, begging, pleading, but he didn't care. Anything to just make this stop... and then, as if he hadn't already done enough, the man began stroking Yami. Yami cursed his body as it instinctively responded to the physical stimulation.

"Yeah, you really are a little slut, aren't you? You love this, you bitch," his father kept up the constant stream of cruel words as he continued. Finally, Yami's body betrayed him completely, and he came, tears flowing freely. "Fuck! Fuck yes!" The man on top of him thrust a few times more, more violently and cruelly than before, then released inside of Yami. After slapping Yami harshly on the cheek, he pulled out of him, spitting on his prostrate form. "Tch. Look at you. You're disgusting, you know that?" He laughed as he left Yami laying crumpled on the filthy sheets. All Yami could do was hug himself, shivering violently, his body curling in upon itself as he cried silently.

His only consolation came from the knowledge that the man was done for the night; Yugi would be safe. Unable to stand sleeping in the bed, he dragged himself to the floor, where he curled into the fetal position, cursing both himself and his father, unable to sleep, until morning.

The next morning, Yugi knocked on his door.

"Sorry, Yugi. I-I don't feel too good. I'm not going to school today..." He called out, his voice hoarse from the crying and screaming.

"Oh... uh, Yami? You okay?" Yugi's voice wavered.

"Uh..." Yami moaned in pain. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a cold or something." the words sounded weak to Yami.

"Oh, um... okay. I'll see you later, okay? Um... I...I love you," his younger brother called to him, making Yami's eyes tear up and his chest ache.

"I love you too, Yugi. See you later..."

A little while after Yugi left for school, Yami heard footsteps on the stairs again. He flinched violently as the door was pushed open and his tormentor stepped in. The man laughed.

"Wow, you really are pathetic. What a useless piece of shit." Then, with a kick to the ribs, he left Yami on the floor again. Unable to stand the filthy feeling of his body, he tried to drag himself to the shower. Yami barely had time to reach the bathroom before he passed out on the floor, his head hitting the cold tiles with a loud crack.

He woke up God only knows how much later, his entire body aching. He struggled to sit up, his head pounding as the memories from earlier came back. He moaned, angry with the disgusting man who had hurt him again; angry with himself for allowing that to happen again. He dragged himself to the bath tub, filling it to the top with hot water. It hurt his skin terribly as he lowered himself into the steaming bath, but he could feel it burning away the filth. He turned the shower on as he sat in the bath, letting the hot water fall on him like a cleansing rain. Sitting in the safety and warmth of the bathroom, hugging his knees to his chest, he closed his eyes, pretending, as he had done since he was young, that he was somewhere far away, sitting in a tropical pool underneath a waterfall.

"Why can't I just be someone else?" he lamented absentmindedly. "Anyone else, anywhere else." Although he knew that others were in his situation, he felt completely alone, alienated from the rest of the human race. He felt like a freak.

A/N: Hey, everyone. Don't hate me for this chapter... I'm so sorry Yami! I am really sorry! *cries*

I didn't really know that this was going to happen... but then... it just sort of did. Again, I'm really sorry if you don't like it.

As always, please review... be brutally honest. It's okay, really.

I appreciate your support, as well as all of you who point out stuff that I've messed up. Sometimes I don't notice things while I'm proofreading, so thank you for your kindness in pointing out my errors.

A few quick notes, just for the heck of it. ~I kind of based Domino after my hometown. There is a trailerpark across from the elementary school and cows across from the high school. The trailer park is kind of scary, actually. A kid was stabbed to death there a few years ago, actually. T_T (RIP Brian. He was a nice kid.)

~When I was little, I used to pretend that the shower was a waterfall. Sometimes I still do, actually. Makes life more interesting.

~The cutting... yeah, that's from personal experience. Last time I did it, I was in the bath tub, actually. It turned out like Yami's did in this one, except there were only two or three. By the time I was done, the bath water was orangish... I know, I know. It's bad. Sorry if you didn't want to know that... :/

Well, thank you for reading, and tell me what you think! I'll be waiting!

~alex~