Morning.

Higuchi sat at his desk as always; he had not moved all night. The room was completely silent, not even his computer was on to emit it's low hum. Hunched over his desk, leaning on his elbows with his face cradled in his hands, Higuchi thought. He had been thinking all night, unable to sleep until this problem was sorted. It had been a mere eight days, but every single one of those days, the news said the same thing, almost mocking him, flaunting it's knowledge of his predicament.

"A large, dedicated search party has been organised, and police believe they may have found evidence to the circumstances of the group's disappearance, though they has not disclosed any further details. No comment has been made by the representatives of Kaiba Corporation over this new development, at this time."

This had been the broadcast last night, now they were officially looking for Seto Kaiba, and by extension, the group. And what was this new evidence? Fingerprints? Surely not, his men always wore protection, and they were careful to leave nothing behind. In any case, this was quickly turning into a disaster. He was still confident they would have no way to trace Kaiba's disappearance to them, but still, all this attention was dangerous.

As soon as Kaiba's people had realised he was missing, they had reported it, and because of his whereabouts at the time of his disappearance, the police were now looking extensively for the entire group. This was not the way it was supposed to be, his men's oversight was threatening to expose everything.

What if the police made the connection between this group of disappearances and the other groups they'd abducted from around the country over the last number of years?

The main problem was that there was no solution. Kaiba couldn't be just released, not only did they now know about the others, but Kaiba wouldn't rest until he'd found his brother, leaving them in an even worse situation than the current one. Killing Kaiba would make no difference, they would continue to look for him and the others. No, keeping him where he was and working to make sure the police never got even close to their trail was the best option. It wasn't a solution, but if they could avoid them for enough time, they might give up on finding Kaiba. A long shot, but it was all he could do. He needed to protect his business, his clients, his bosses, and most of all, himself.

Higuchi lifted his head up, his eyes travelling, as an almost second nature now, over to the photos arranged in an array at the side of his desk, of the eight boys. This business could wait twenty four hours, today he was taking what was rightfully his at last.

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Yami felt himself drifting out of sleep, while his eyelids glowed red from sunlight. For the first time in a week, he was not sitting on rough concrete, his hands were not hung above him with wire, and he had clothes. But the bleak grip of steel around his right wrist shattered any hope given by his dreams; he was still here. He was in a different place now, but "here" had not changed, he was still in a prison, awaiting further punishment he had not earned.

He opened his eyes, taking in the bright, cheerful sunshine, a sharp contrast to their situation, almost scornful. Yami was strong, a Pharaoh, the leader of a nation once. Yet here he was, leashed to a wall pathetically. He could not even help himself, how was he supposed to help his friends? With this, he looked over to his left.

Yuugi was curled into a ball, still asleep, however, he was anything but peaceful. He looked horribly dejected, even resigned. It had only been a week, what would he be like after a month? A year? There would be nothing of his Aibou left, just an empty shell. Yami had to get him out of here, it was his duty.

"Yami?"

He spun around, and saw Malik sitting up, staring glumly at him. Yami said nothing, simply nodding. He really didn't know what to say at the moment.

"He picked me pretty good. Higuchi"

Malik's shoulders were slumped, he seemed to droop right before Yami's eyes.

"I don't understand what you-"

"I'm a virgin, like he wanted...I was. I've never been with anyone, I was always too focused on revenge, for years...I've never even kissed anyone before. Guess now I have. Got to go the whole way. Maybe I should thank him."

He shifted, holding a hand to his backside, where there was a dry bloodstain on the white cloth.

"I...used to think about it. In some quiet moments...most of the time I was working on building up the Ghouls, and looking for revenge in all the wrong places. But sometimes I got some alone time, and sometimes I thought about what it'd be like to be with someone. Man or woman, it didn't matter, I just wondered how nice it would be to let go and have someone take care of me, without having to worry...for once. Just lay back and feel someone love you. Now I've...I've got nothing left of that. It's gone, forever."

His fingers seemed to test his entrance through the cloth, perhaps seeing if it still hurt. Clearly, it did, because he winced slowly.

"Can't believe they call it "making love" in movies, there wasn't any love in that, it just...hurt Hurt...so much..."

Tears slid silently down his cheeks, and he fell back lightly against the wall. His eyes dropped down to the ground, and he said no more.

Yami remained silent also, unsure of what to say to such words. He knew he couldn't quite understand what Malik was going through, having his first intimate contact with a human be a disgusting rape. Yami had been Pharaoh, thus he of course was far from a virgin, almost by rule, but while he could never understand fully what Malik felt at this moment, simply from circumstance, he could at least sympathize with him.

He had no idea how long it would be before Blain returned, expecting to have his way with Malik, but he knew it couldn't be more than a few days. He had to do something soon, anything.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud click, the door had been unlocked. It swung open, and in walked Higuchi, alone for once. Yami so desperately wished to be unchained, if only for a moment, just so he could run across the room and strangle the man before him.

"Morning, boys, you ought to be honoured, you're the first group I've visited today."

"Where are the others?"

Yami was not gagged anymore, and with no extra thugs to intimidate him into silence, he would not let Higuchi play his games this time.

"Right beside you, their rooms are pretty much identical to yours. I'm on my way to them next after a-"

"What do you want from us? Why are we here? It's about time you gave us some straight answers!"

"What I want...is for you to not try to pretend you're in charge. You may feel buoyed up because I'm alone, but make no mistake, I won't hesitate to punish you just the same as my men would, unless you show me the proper respect"

"Go ahead then. I'm not afraid of you"

This was ultimately true, while Yami did fear what Higuchi represented, and what he brought with him, he did not fear the man himself. All he had seen was a coward, indulging his fetishes only when backed up by far stronger people. He had no true reason to be frightened by him.

"I see. I would have thought the business yesterday might have quietened you down, but it seems you're as badly behaved as ever"

"It takes more than that to break me, you and all those people yesterday, you're nothing more than filth, lower than scum"

Higuchi moved suddenly, crossing the room swiftly, reaching into a back pocket as he walked. He halted a few feet from Yami, and withdrew a short, thin object. It seemed to be a handle of some sort.

With the click of a button, a long, shining blade shot out of one end, and Yami realised it was a switchblade.

"You think I'm just some old man, who never gets his hands dirty, and lets his men do all the work? I think I ought to dispel that notion"

Yami braced himself, ready for the inevitable retribution. It would be worth any pain to have shown Higuchi he was not going down quietly, that he would not be a slave.

To his surprise, and horror, Higuchi did not advance on him, but turned and marched over to Yuugi, who was awake, watching the whole exchange with concerned eyes. His unease quickly turned to terror as Higuchi reached him. He seized Yuugi's free hand, and pulled it up, closer to him, leaving Yuugi unable to get free.

"Aibou! Let go of him!"

"Stop! Leave him alone!"

Malik had spoken again, at last, his eyes not heavy with sadness, but alive with anger and outrage.

Higuchi paid no heed to either of them them, and lowered the blade to Yuugi's palm, pausing just above the skin.

"When I tell you to do something, you do it. When you speak to me, you will be respectful. When I tell you to shut up, you shut up."

"Let him go, now!

"Shut up"

"Let go now, you bastard!"

"Shut up"

"Let go of him, right fucking now!"

"The more you shout, the further this goes in"

And with that, he stabbed the blade through Yuugi's skin, into the centre of his palm. The boy screamed in agony as the steel was forced into his hand.

"AIBOU!"

"I told you to shut up! Further again"

He drove the blade deeper into Yuugi's palm, it was now almost halfway down the knife, and the tip of the knife had emerged from the back of Yuugi's hand. Blood was streaming out, dripping onto the floor rapidly. Yuugi continued to scream.

Yami clamped his mouth shut, struggling to stop himself from shouting more. He shook with rage, his Aibou's cries echoing around him.

Higuchi paused, apparently waiting to see if Yami would respond verbally again, then yanked the blade out of Yuugi's palm, and dropped him back to the floor. Yuugi fell in a heap, clutching his bleeding hand, sobbing heavily.

"If you speak out of turn again, I'll do the same to his other hand, and then I'll do the same to your blonde friend over there. Whatever you might have thought of me before, forget it now, because I'm telling you now, you will respect me, starting from this moment."

I will kill you for that, Higuchi.

The thought was deadly serious, indeed, it was almost a vow.

"Shortly, you're going to be taken out of here by my men. You'll be fed, but more importantly, you'll be cleaned. Same as last time, you'll have a thorough bath. By late afternoon, you ought to be ready. You want some straight answers? I'll give you some. You are here to make me money. This is my business, I take groups like you as my property, and I let clients pay me a great deal of money to have some time alone with this property, to do what they like with. I would have thought you'd have figured that out by now."

Yami's heart fell, he had indeed been thinking this was why they were here, though he'd done his best not to. Confirmation, however, made it leap to the forefront of his mind, no longer able to be pushed aside.

"I run this three nights a week, so I suggest you get used to being screwed, it'll be happening to you a lot. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, that's your schedule. It's Tuesday today, so you're off duty, however, I'm not having you lying around doing nothing. So this evening, I'll be personally taking each of you back to my room, You've been mine for over a week now, it's time I enjoyed it."

He turned to Yuugi briefly.

"I'll have someone treat your hand when you're being cleaned up. I wouldn't want you bleeding all over my sheets, at least not more than necessary."

And with that, he turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Yami was numb for a moment, simply staring at the closed door in shock. Quickly he snapped back to reality, and spun to his left.

"Aibou! Are you alright?"

Yuugi sat, cradling his still bleeding hand, weeping quietly. Yami crawled as close as he could, pulling the chain taut, but was still several feet from him. Even if Yuugi came as close as his own chain allowed, they wouldn't be able to touch.

"Aibou?"

Yuugi looked up at him, his eyes almost imploring Yami to help. Yami was shocked at the depth of the sadness in his Aibou's violet eyes, normally so bright and full of life. That light had disappeared, replaced only with grim despair.

"....I want to go home"

Yami could only stare back, his mouth slightly open, unable to answer. Yuugi gazed at him a moment longer, before his eyes fell, and he dropped back against the wall, holding his injured hand tightly. The fact that he still held his wounds shut, that he was stopping himself from bleeding, proved one thing; he may have lost the light in his eyes, but he still wanted to live. That was enough for Yami.

"I...I-I know..."

Yami voice was shaking, he halted, trying to steady himself. Be stronger. He couldn't be weak in front of Yuugi and Malik, he had to show them he was still able to fight.

"I....I know you do, Aibou...we all do. We'll be going home soon, I promise, we'll get away from this."

Yuugi said nothing. Yami felt an odd prickling on the back of his neck, something usually meant someone was watching him. He turned around quickly, finding Malik staring at him, wearing a curious, unreadable expression. Almost as soon as he had turned, Malik looked away, seeming embarrassed.

Yami was about to ask what was wrong, but suddenly the door opened once again. Several men entered, as Higuchi had said. One wrapped a cloth around Yuugi's hand, before they released the three boys from their chains, and lead them out of the room.

Half an hour later, they found themselves in a huge, opulent bathroom. They had been fed (plain bread and water again), been allowed to use the toilets (the first time in a week they had needed to, finally having food in them again), and were now immersed in a warm, soothing bath. They had been instructed to perform the same tasks they had in the bath back in the warehouse, though mercifully they were allowed to do it themselves, and not to each other. There had been no sign of any of the others.

They were told by the men to be especially thorough in cleaning their back entrances, which were still horribly sore, and torn. Yami had never felt quite so disgusting, having to scrub clotted, dry blood off from the area, all the time knowing it would be freshly torn up that evening. With a dull pang, he remembered tomorrow was Wednesday, which meant it would b freshly torn open tomorrow night as well. And Higuchi was likely to do the same to them Thursday, and then Friday they would be "loaned" out once more. When would it all end?

By the late afternoon, they had been fully "prepared", and were returned to their rooms. Not once had they seen any of the others. Yami felt his worry over their absence growing rapidly. He knew it was likely they had simply been put through the same treatment, just in a different part of the building, but he could not help but think the worst. Blain had promised to personally torment Malik further, what if he or another of Higuchi's men had made a similar threat to one of the others? How could he hope to try and protect one of them in that case? He already had no idea how to protect Malik, a mere few feet from him.

Dark thoughts of the others tortured by one of these men crowded his mind as the minutes ticked away. All three were silent, lying despondently against the wall. Yuugi's hand had been properly cleaned by the men, and the wound was now concealed under a thick white bandage wrapped around his hand in a band. Yami felt simply useless, he had failed to protect them once already, and now, another assault was imminent, and he could do nothing to stop it.

Yami watched the shadow from the window bars move across the floor gradually, the light around it slowly changing to orange. The trepidation over what was coming later that day was beginning to build up. He thought once again, of his choice to stay, a few months ago. If he hadn't stayed, he was sure this wouldn't have happened. For one, Malik wouldn't be here, he would be with his family in Egypt. And they would not have needed to meet up, and fall into that trap, because the subjects they were discussing wouldn't exist. Mokuba had only been there for that meeting, he wouldn't have been taken, and his Aibou and the others wouldn't have been gathered in so confined a space, they would no doubt have evaded being abducted. It was selfish of him to have stayed, he should have left this world, and avoided all this happening to his friends.

But suddenly, he had a different thought, even if it was selfish to stay, surely now, in light of certain recent events, it was selfish to wish he hadn't stayed, also? If he hadn't stayed, Bakura would have not been returned to life either. Did he have any right to dictate, simply out of his own guilt, that Ryou should not have his companion? No, it wasn't right to wish that.

It's not use thinking about all this, just drop it. Sitting there, blaming himself, would accomplish nothing, he had to do something to fix this. He just wished he knew what that was. Even when he was let out of this room, he knew he would always be surrounded by men, and when left with these clients, he guessed he would probably be tied up, incapable of doing anything. There seemed to be no window of opportunity.

All he could do now was keep his sprit up, and attempt to do the same for the others.

Looking to his right, he realized something about the distances, even if he and Yuugi came as close as they could o each other, they were still almost a foot out of reach. But Malik was taller, and even the slightest bit of friendly contact would surely help immensely...

He crawled over suddenly, making both the others look up at the abrupt commotion. He reached out his hand towards Malik, who looked at it for a moment, before understanding. He slid off the mattress, as close as he could. Yami closed his fingers around the tanned hand. Malik's silken skin was cold, and Yami clutched the hand tightly, hoping to warm it. Malik's eyes had the same strange expression in them Yami had caught a glimpse of earlier, and were fixed intently on their interlocked hands.

"You're going to be ok, we'll get through this"

Yami whispered the words, very much meaning them. He still believed they could get out of this, that hope was what drove him. Malik finally removed his eyes from their hands, raising them to meet Yami's. He gave a faint smile, to Yami's relief. A few more moments passed, before they let go and returned back to their mattresses. Yami turned around, to face Yuugi.

"I love you, Aibou."

Nothing more needed to be said. Yuugi nodded, weakly smiling.

As if on cue, the door opened, and the men returned again, walking purposely towards Yami. It seemed it was his turn first. They released him from the chain, but immediately twisted his arms around behind his back, and placed handcuffs on him. As he was marched from the room, Yami attempted to look around at the other two, but found his view blocked. Before he knew it, he was out of the room, the door closed behind them, truly alone for the first time since they had been taken. The men around him were not people at all, just faceless drones, devoid of any real humanity. He was on his own walking down the corridor.

Yami kept his eyes on the richly woven carpet they walked on, trying to fruitlessly cast his mind elsewhere. The other night, when they had been raped, it had seemed more of a shock. They had not known what was going to happen, it had simply hit them like a freight train. This time, he knew what he was walking towards. He could not decide which was worse, this slow build up of dread, or the sudden blow. Regardless, he knew this would be his lowest point yet. He would be completely alone, and there would be no time limit, as other night had, Higuchi could take all the time he wanted, degrading Yami as deeply as he wished.

Perhaps it was better this way; the longer he took with Yami, the less time he would have for any of the others, assuming Yami was the first he took tonight. But then, what was that really accomplishing? It would merely be a delay. Tomorrow they would all be ravaged again, and the next day, Higuchi could simply select any he might have missed. It was inevitable, no matter what he did.

He could not simply "stave off" the advances of the men here, the only way to help the others was to get them out of here. Realising he was wasting an opportunity, Yami tore his eyes off the floor, looking around carefully at his surroundings.

Their three rooms were situated at the very end of an immensely long corridor, lined with dozens of doors. The bathroom and place they had been brought to eat were rooms almost beside theirs. In the centre of the corridor, it widened out into a balcony of sorts, overlooking what seemed to be the main hall and staircase, which came all the way up to this, the third floor. They passed this open area, moving to the similarly door lined corridor on the other side. It appeared Higuchi's room was at the very opposite end of the floor. Yami committed as much as he could of the layout to memory, knowing he would need as much information about this place as he could acquire, if he wanted to get the others out.

The march stopped suddenly, they had reached the last door. It was far more elaborate than the others, featuring intricate carvings on it's polished oak surface, while the door frame more resembled a sculpted stone archway than anything else. One of the men knocked on the door sharply, the thud of knuckle on wood sounding to Yami like a judge's gavel striking it's block.

Within a few all too fast seconds, the door opened, revealing Higuchi, who, smiling broadly, stepped aside, making way for the men to drag Yami inside.

The room was huge and rectangular, filled with impressive, elaborately framed paintings, imposing statues and figures, and gleaming, highly polished hardwood furniture. The carpet was thick and plush, a dark red, complimenting the panelled walls. Despite the many works of art, and other such distractions, however, Yami's eyes were drawn only to one thing.

In the centre of the right wall rested a luxuriously carved four poster bed, king size. The men wasted no time in leading Yami over to it. To his repulsion, they stripped away his clothing, before shoving him face down on the bed.

Yami gave no reaction, he merely lay there. He did not expect Higuchi to be like the man who had won Yami's auction; that man had been there only for the sadistic wish of causing pain to someone. He supposed Higuchi was unlikely to be as brutal, and more interested in Yami's body then in causing him pain. At this point, he didn't think Higuchi gave any thought whatsoever to whether he was causing pain to people.

A brief thought that if he were left alone with Higuchi he might somehow get free passed through his mind. Despite his intention to not react to anything that was done to him, as he had done the previous time, he could not stop the inner feelings of rage coursing through him. This man had, mere hours before, put a knife through the hand of his Aibou. He wouldn't hesitate to exact revenge for that, and everything else, for even a second.

However, his thought of possible revenge was soon demolished. Higuchi had little intention of doing his business alone. He turned a small dial on the wall beside the bed, which slowly turned on lights in the "ceiling" of the four poster bed, on a dim setting. He then closed the curtains around the bed, blocking it's contents from view, but far from separating them from the two men that remained in the room, standing idly by the door. Any hope of resisting was gone now.

Yami lay there still, closing his eyes. If this was to become a regular occurrence for the time being, he would need to find some way to block it out of his head. He couldn't survive much longer if this happened daily, and he gave it his attention. He could hear Higuchi conversing quietly with the two men. The feeling of dread that had been plaguing him since that morning seemed to be almost bubbling up inside him, rising like a vast wave. The voices had stopped, and now he could hear Higuchi walking back to the bed.

Each light footstep on the soft carpet multiplied his anxiety, he had to be strong, and not show any kind of reaction, but this feeling had been building up the entire day, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to ignore it or silence it.

The curtains parted, a heavy weight descended onto the bed. Yami was still nonetheless. He had to be.

He felt the greedy hands move over his body, leaving a sense of filth behind on each bit of skin they touched. He had never quite realised how unpleasant touch could be.

He thought of the feeling he received when he had resided in the Millennium Puzzle, when he "switched" with Yuugi. Whenever he had returned to the Puzzle, and Yuugi re-emerged, it was a strange sense of detachment, like he had fallen backwards out of his body. The feeling was still fresh in his mind even though it had been months since he had last experienced it.

Even as the fear reached it's crescent, he felt himself let go. He could still feel the groping fingers, but he was simply not there, managing to remain motionless and completely unresponsive. He could nearly sense the same odd impression of "falling out" of his body.

But although he knew he would be able to keep this up, another realization came to him. While he could withstand this abuse and molestation himself, the idea of his friends undergoing the same thing, possibly even in front of him, truly terrified him. In a sense, he had not won, he had simply delayed the effect.

Higuchi ultimately spared nothing, exploring every part of Yami's body, before finally spreading the former Pharaoh's legs apart, and taking him swiftly. Yami still had to bite down tightly, despite Higuchi using lubricant, and being far less violent than the previous man, it was still a sharp, stinging pain, that lasted for the entire duration of Higuchi's assault.

Despite his success in remaining indifferent, Yami felt little of the desparate elation he had felt when he had "defeated" his first rapist. Higuchi seemed to not care in slightest about whether Yami reacted or not, he only wanted his body. Thus his resistance hadn't effected Higuchi at all, he had gotten what he wanted. On top of that, being used as a toy in such an indifferent way, left Yami feeling incredibly unclean, and the knowledge that all of the others would be used the same way one after the other today, meant, in the end, Yami was more depressed now than he had ever been.

Forty minutes after he had been moved out of the plain white room, he found himself chained up once more. The men had deposited him, and taken Yuugi out in his place.

Yami sat, dejectedly, a dull pain in his backside, the awareness of his Aibou being molested at that exact moment the only thing he could think about. He was not even thinking of saving everyone, he could only reflect on the humiliation Yuugi was going through.

"Yami?"

The sudden break in the silence made Yami jump slightly, he turned rapidly to his right, finding Malik gazing at him.

"Don't worry, he's strong, he can take it, he'll be ok"

Wondering where this new found assurance had come from, Yami nodded, expecting his confusion to come across quite plainly. Evidently it did, for Malik gave an awkward smile, almost embarrassed, before continuing.

"I just thought, I can't mope about it, I have to keep things up, or else I'll never-"

His words were cut off suddenly, interrupted by an unexpected noise; the door had opened. Knowing it couldn't be Yuugi being returned already, Yami looked up, unsure of whom it could be. The sight was easily the least welcome thing that could possibly have appeared.

Blain.

Shutting the door behind him, he leaned to one side, his arms crossed, with a broad smirk on his face. He was looking directly at Malik.

Yami felt his heartbeat increasing rapidly, he hadn't expected Blain to return so soon. He glanced over at Malik, the sight causing his heart to skip a beat.

Malik had leapt backwards, flattening himself against the wall, already shaking terribly, his breathing fast and nearly hysterical. He was utterly terrified, his eyes wide with panic.

"Miss me?"

He took several steps towards Malik, who pushed himself harder against the wall, desperately wanting to get away.

"Turns out I've got some important info for the boss, that has to be shown in person, had to get here right away. Wasn't scheduled to be back here til the weekend, lucky, eh?"

"Don't you take one step closer to him!"

Yami would not stand for this man threatening Malik, chained or not. Blain looked at Yami for a moment, before suddenly moving swiftly across the room towards him. Yami attempted to move himself back, but got no more than a foot before Blain was in front of him. He reached out a large, strong hand and seized Yami around the throat. He pulled Yami up, as close to his face as he could.

"Did I ask you to say something, bitch? No? Then shut up, before I tear your tongue out"

He dropped Yami back down, before turning again to Malik. Yami coughed hoarsely, holding his throat. He looked up, still coughing, and saw Malik attempting still to retreat as far as he could from Blain, but also looking at Yami with concern. Before he could say anything, however, his attention was quickly diverted to Blain once more, as the man stepped closer to him.

"The boss is doing his rounds at the moment, I know, but he doesn't take long with people, and you're up next. It's only evening, we've got a nice, long night ahead. He'll be done by then, and he'll assume you're tucked up nice and good here. Sounds like an opportunity to start teaching you those manners I was talking about, don't it?"

Abruptly, he moved away from Malik, walking slowly towards the door.

"The boss isn't too rough, from what I know, you're gonna have an easy time of it with him, but me, I like it the real fucking way, hard and fast."

He halted just beside the door, before reaching over and tapping the wall with the back of his knuckles.

"Soundproof, eh? I'd say you can make all the noise you like."

He opened the door, giving one more look around at Malik, before winking.

"See ya tonight"

And then he was gone, the door snapped shut behind him, filling the room with silence.

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A/N:

Up until now we've pretty much seen everything from Yami's point of view, except for a couple of scenes with Higuchi, but starting the next chapter we'll be seeing a few other viewpoints, since there's a lot of characters spread around the place.

Malik's odd rambling about his first time is the start of something big for his character, also, we'll see how exactly it affected him over the next few chapters.

Hopefully I can keep updates weekly from now on.

Feel free to concrit, writing can always be improved, and I'd like to hear if anyone feels there's noticeable flaws in mine. Thanks for reading.