-Past Yami pov-

I couldn't help but be worried. The last time I spoke to Yugi I could tell we hurt him, even though he tried to hide it. It's been three days since he disappeared and I was ready to call the police to report him missing when I heard the dinging of the shop door bell. I excitedly look up, hoping for it to be my Hikari, however I was disappointed to see Joey and the others with grim and angry faces.

"Yo!" Joey waved at me as I frantically paced across the game shop to meet them. "You'll never believe who I saw today." He looked annoyed and hurt which made me question what could make him this upset. However, the only thing I could focus on was Yugi.

"You saw Yugi?!" I ask hopefully. "Is he okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, the little twerp is alright. Turns out he's traded us in for a new group." 'What?' I thought, shocked.

"That's why he hasn't been hanging with us anymore." Joey continued.

"What?" I ask, shocked and confused.

"Yeah." Tea pouted. "Saw him at the park with Ryou, Malik, Bakura and Marik! He looked like he was having a great time. And you won't believe who they had with them. Kaiba!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Yugi wouldn't just abandon his friends like that, would he?

"So this whole time we thought we did something to him when really he just traded us in for richer and better friends- And then doesn't even tell us, just leaves us to wonder why. And to make it worse he chose our enemies to be buddies with, the people who tried and nearly killed us!" Tristan growled angrily.

I rushed out of the game shop. 'I have to see this for myself.' I decided.

"Yami!" I heard Tea call out, however I wasn't about to stop. When I arrived at the park I saw exactly as they described, Yugi, Ryou, Bakura, Malik, Marik and Kaiba. Yugi, Ryou and Malik were sitting on the swings, talking and laughing while Kaiba and the other two were standing close to the jungle gym talking- the anger was plainly written across their faces but at the time I didn't think about it.

'This whole time, my Hikari.' I thought solemnly. 'Did you just grow tired of us? Did we do something to push you away?' No matter how hard I thought back to it I couldn't find an answer. Instead of going up and confronting him like I knew I should have, I allowed my jealously and hurt to sway my judgement and turned and walked away.

"I see, if this is who you wish to be with, I will not stop you. I hope you're happy, Hikari."

He returned back to the shop two weeks later but I couldn't bring myself to even glance at him because I still felt the sting of betrayal. I listened as he rushed to his room and locked himself away from us. 'Hikari.' I think solemnly.

-Now-

No PoV

"I just wish we could go back to the way things used to be." Yugi sighed. He strummed a tune on his guitar for a few moments before humming along. He slipped out a small mp3 and turned the volume as loud as it would go. Drums blared rhythmically and Yugi tapped his foot to the sound.

fifteen seconds into it he began to sing.

"Tearing me apart with words you wouldn't say,
And suddenly tomorrow's a moment washed away.
'Cause I don't have a reason, and you don't have the time,
But we both keep on waiting for something we won't find."

He had wrote the song out of anger and frustration, believing that he would never regain the friendship he had with everyone, especially Yami.

The drums sped up then slowed slightly while the summer wind whisked his spiky hair around, creating a fantasy-like atmosphere

"The light on the horizon was brighter yesterday,
With shadows floating over, the scars begin to fade.
We said it was forever but then it slipped away,
Standing at the end of the final masquerade.

The final masquerade!"

He had always known deep down that when Yami told him that he would be by his side til the end it was a lie. He knew things would never last forever but never had he expected things to end so soon. His physical scars were fading, but the ones on his heart would remain for a very long time.

"All I ever wanted, the secrets that you keep,
All you've ever wanted, the truth I couldn't speak."

Anger boiled in his veins. Yami and he had always been honest with each other, yet Yami constantly hid things from him. He was honestly sick of the lies and judgement coming from everyone of them. But he just couldn't find it in himself to tell them, not after that night.

Letting his feeling flow out he sung angrily to the music.

'Cause I can't see forgiveness, and you can't see the crime,
And we both keep on waiting for what we left behind."

The music slowed as he felt his anger and frustration melt away with it.

The light on the horizon was brighter yesterday,
With shadows floating over, the scars begin to fade.
We said it was forever but then it slipped away,
Standing at the end of the final masquerade.

The final masquerade!
The final masquerade!
Standing at the end of the final masquerade!

The final masquerade! Oh

As the music faded he heard a loud clapping from behind him.

"Wha-" Yugi gasped as he turned around, alarmed from the sudden noise. He sighed with relief when he realized it was only Ryou and the others.

"Oh, hey guys." He said casually. "You heard that, huh?" He chuckled while rubbing a hand through his tri-colored hair.

"Yeah, a bit." Malik answered. "That the song you been working on?"

Yugi shook his head calmly. "Nah, this is the one from that time."

"Oh. Well, it's a really good song." Malik complimented.

Shrugging, Yugi replied casually. "Thanks."

"What about the new song?" Ryou asked.

"It's finished, well mostly." Yugi exclaimed.

"What do you mean by that?" Kaiba questioned, pretending to not really care.

"Well, I haven't actually practiced the song completely yet." Yugi admitted.

"Really?" Mirak questioned.

Yugi shrugged. "Yeah, It just came to me, but I never actually never even sang the full song together, just in pieces."

"Well, how about now?" Bakura pointed out.

"What?" Yugi sweat dropped.

"You're not scared, are you?" Bakura teased, earning him a jab to the side by Ryou and a stuck out tongue by Yugi.

"Yeah, you can play the song now to see if it's any good." Malik agreed. "Though I know it's gonna be, judging by your recent history of music." He added silently to himself.

"You kidding? Of course it'll be good. Yugi's the one who wrote it." Malik grinned widely.

Blushing, Yugi chuckled. "I don't know. I never practiced a song in front of others before. I usually wait until I at least practice the song once."

"Aw, come on. Please, Yugi?" Ryou pleaded. "It's just us. You know we won't judge you... Well some of us better not, anyway." He sent Marik and Bakura a glare and in return they held their hands up in defeat.

"Hey, don't look at us. When have we ever made fun of Yugi?" Marik grinned jokingly, Bakura agreeing.

Ryou and Malik just rose their brows, indicting that they could think of more than one occasion.

"Okay! okay! We'll behave! Promise." The group laughed at the two ex-villains.

"Fine. I'll play it." Yugi grinned happily. "Let me re-tune my guitar real quick."

"Kay!" Malik and the others waited while Yugi sat on the park bench, tuning his acoustic. When he finally got it to sound right he decided to take a few minutes to practice the strumming.

No PoV

The group exited the theater; Joey, Tea, and Tristan laughed and chatting away about the movie.

"I loved the parts where he broke the fourth wall." Tea announced.

"No kidding," Joey agreed," But I like the part where he shot the three guys in the head in one bullet. Epic."

"What about when he called that dude by his real name?" Tristan offered.

"Oh my Ra! That was too good. " The three laughed humorously.

Yami followed behind the three, clearly having no interest in the movie discussion- mostly because he barely even focused on the film, having more important things on his mind. Namely Yugi.

"Hey, Yami!" Joey waved a hand in front of the ex-pharaoh's face, causing Yami to stop in his tracks and slightly jumped back.

"What's up? You've been out of it lately, something bothering you?" He continued questioning.

"Kind of." Yami answered honestly.

"You know you can tell us, right? We're your friends so that's what we're for." Tea declared.

"I've been thinking a lot. Yesterday I ran into Ryou. Well, more like he sought me out." This seemed to get their interest.

"What happened?" Joey questioned.

"Nothing, he asked me something that I can't get out of my head. And the more I think about it the more disturbed I feel."

"What was it?" Tea pushed.

Yami glanced up at the group, "He asked me to think back to after I came back. Wanted me to closely think about my interactions with Yugi since then."

Joey scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Why the hell would he say something like that!? We all know what happened, Yugi stopped hanging out with us because he was too busy hanging with them."

"I'm not too sure of that anymore." Yami's face showed nothing but regret and dread.

"What do you mean?" Tea replied, confused.

"I mean, when I think back to the conversations we had I can vaguely recall something that really bugs me."

The three silently stare at Yami and he takes that as his que to continue. "I recall Yugi trying to be involved, but we- I was so focused on you guys at the time that I just completely shut him out. I remember, oh Ra! I kept making promises to hang out with him but I always forgot about them. He tried to tell me, but I never listened and on top of that I kept getting made at him. I called him selfish! How could I do something like that? No wonder he went to Ryo and the others. It wasn't just me, we all said things like that to him. We left him out and forgot about him, and we dared call ourselves his friends? We failed Yugi. No worse we've betrayed him." When Yami finished all four of them felt sick to their stomachs. "It wasn't until halfway through the movie that I was able to recall. That's the worst part. It took me this long to realize- and I would have likely never have done so if Ryou hadn't told me anything."

Tristan could now clearly remember all the times he flat out lied to Yugi for no real reason- he didn't even know why he did it for the most part. Maybe it was because he wanted Yami to have some time away from Yugi, considering they did live together and all. In all honestly he had no answer, like a reason would make what he did forgivable.

She always knew what they did had hurt her childhood friend. Wait did she even have the right to call herself his friend anymore? Tea dreadfully realized. Judging by the looks on the others faces, they most likely realized this fact as well. Tea always thought she was being a good friend by asking Yugi if he was okay when she knew he obviously wasn't, however because she always wanted to get back to Yami- who she soon realized would never look at her the way she did him- she ignored the signs and gleefully accepted the lies he told. At some point, she couldn't recall when though, she just started believing what she told herself. ' 'He's fine!' I said. 'Yugi doesn't lie so it has to be true.' I said. I'm so stupid!' She yelled internally at herself. Why did she get so caught up in trying to impress someone she knew didn't like her? She knew the answer to that. "Because I'm stupid." She mumbled silently. All those speeches about friendship and how they should always stick together and be there for each other. "I'm such a hypocrite."

Oh my Ra! He basically stabbed his best buddy in the back, Joey realized. He swore that he would defend Yugi, like he had tried to do for him so long ago. Instead he had always pretended to not see the bullying taking place and kept walking. He was supposed to be his best friend, what kind of best friend lets his friend get bullied? Answer. A shitty one. He could also clearly remember how Yugi's eyes dimmed dramatically every time he had stated Yami was his best friend in the world. He could practically hear his thoughts now. 'I thought we were best friends. Was it all just a lie? Did you just use me to get to Yami? Do you hate me that much?' Joey felt like repeatedly punching the brick wall he was currently supporting himself on.

Realization hit all of them like a ton of bricks. They had all called Yugi selfish when in fact they were being worse than selfish. They were being blind, ignorant and selfish pricks to the most caring and unselfish person they knew.

"Guys we screwed up big time." Joey stated bluntly, earning nods from everyone.

"How are we ever going to fix this?" Tea asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"I don't think we can. He was being bullied and we did nothing- even though we all knew. That alone should be enough to never be forgiven for, but we did so much more. We hurt him, and in the ways we swore to never do! Even with his forgiving nature, I'd be surprised as hell if ever forgave us. " Joey's face contorted in regret.

"Yeah but there's no way of ever knowing if we don't even try to work things out." Yami stated. The others hesitated before nodding.

"He's right. We need to find Yugi and apologize! Even if he never forgives us at least he'll know that we're sorry." A fire lights in Joey's eyes as he exclaimed.

"Yeah. We may not deserve his forgiveness, but he deserves to know that we still care about him." Tea agrees.

"What are we waiting for? Let's find Yugi. To the game shop!" Tristan announced gleefully.

"We can go through the park, it's quicker." Joey informed, leading the way.

All the while, thoughts of his Hikari hating him terrified him. He was snapped out of his thoughts not long later by the sound of an instrument, the sound and sight made everyone freeze in their tracks.

Back turned to them was Yugi, in his hands was a acoustic guitar.