He ran but the shadows seem to be endless. Inescapable. He was near to breaking down. His eyes burned with tears unshed, lips trembling with every breath he takes in and his legs already weak from running. How long has he been trying to escape that monster? About an hour? A week? Then he thought that it wasn't important right now. Yugi didn't know where he was as well; all he knows is that something sinister was after him. It laughed which made Yugi run faster, not caring how long his short legs can endure the extra effort he put in.

"Nowhere to run, little one!" The booming voice said.

Yugi shook his head, trying to block out the voice. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" He shouted, finally letting the tears free. Whoever was tormenting him just continued to laugh. So he closed his eyes, chanting to himself that this was all just a dream. That whoever was the person behind that voice was just a created by his tired mind though deep in him, he knew who the voice belonged to. He knew the name of his imaginary tormentor that might not be so imaginary at all. It was hanging at the tip of his tongue.

Yugi opened his eyes and slowed to a stop. "What the heck?" The darkness was gone.

The black abyss was replaced by a hallway he was oh so familiar with. There were rows of lockers on either side of the walls, the floors were maroon and the walls were white and so was the ceiling; glass like doors at the end of the hallway. It was the hallways of Domino High but this wasn't the reason why Yugi was frozen in place like a statue, eyes wide in either horror or shock (could be both but it was hard to tell).

There, waiting by the door were two familiar faces: a girl about five or six inches taller than he was with dead pale skin, dull black hair with blue streaks and green lifeless eyes. Elizabeth Herald? The other was a boy that was about the same height as Joey. He has the same skin complexion as the girl, messy black hair and void black eyes. Daisuke Oda?

"Yugi," the girl struggles to say as she slowly wobbled to the tri-colored haired teen, who was taking a step back as she took a step forward.

"Y-you a-are… you are…" Daisuke breathe out as she followed his lover's lead.

Yugi was about to make a run for it when his back collided with something or someone behind him. Confirming his thoughts that I was indeed a someone, this person wrapped his arms around his waist which made the small teen hold his breath. The tears that stop some time ago started to flow down his cheeks again as a smooth, silky low voice whispered into his ear, "You are mine."

"YAMI!" Yugi screamed as he bolted upright on the bed, waking up from another nightmare and not realizing the name that slipped out of his lips as the hellish dream ended. His forehead was covered in sweat and his breathing uneven; he tried to remember where he was and what happened last before he blacked out.

"Yug?" he heard a familiar accent whisper. Yugi looked to his left where Joey was sitting on a wooden chair, leaning on the bed he was on and rubbing his right eye off sleep. "Are ya a'ight?"

"Ye-yeah" he replied, suddenly feeling guilty because he woken up his best friend. "Just a nightmare."

Joey looked like he was about to push the subject further but dropped it once Yugi gave him a reassuring smile. "A'ight, but if you need somebody to talk to just call me? You hear?"

Yugi nodded, gently pushing the white blanket off of him to free his legs of its confines. Then he swung his legs, dangling off the edge of the bed and pushed himself off the mattress to land on the tiled ground, faking enthusiasm to not worry Joey further. He didn't want to be a burden to his friends. His problems were his own, whether it was about his health or his personal life.

Speaking of his personal life, he recalled that before he fainted, he was talking to Yami. "Hey Joey." He said looking around the clinic; he just then realized that Yami wasn't the only one that was gone. Daniella was nowhere in sight as well. "Where are Yami and Daniella?"

Joey scratched the back of his head, eyes cast down with a look that says: "How do I explain this?" Yugi raised an eyebrow at the blonde's behavior. Yes, Joey could be a bit— how could he put this without being mean?—Stupid. In spite of that, he could explain any scenario he witnessed himself (this very reason was the cause of his failure in History).

"Well," Joey started "When we put ya in bed, when I meant we, I mean Yami put ya in bed when ya fainted." For some reasons that got Yugi's blood boiling. He fainted in front the one person he doesn't get along with and he was the one that helped him, that means they are even. HE wanted to use his kind act towards Daniella (he didn't want to refer, even THINK that she was blood related to that moron) to black mail the annoying imbecile. "The nurse examined the wound that was on Daniella's head and found… Nothing."

"What?" Yugi voiced out his confusion before giggling that adorable giggle. Yes, his giggles are mighty adorable that no one can resist it. "You're joking, right?" the smile on his face disappeared when Joey shook his head to a no; his face clearly indicated how serious he was when he said it. "That's impossible! Joey, we saw her laying there bleeding with our own eyes!"

"But-"

"Where's the nurse?!" Yugi whipped around looking for the woman in white. In the process of looking around for the one in charge of that office, he realized that the school as pin-drop silent. "And where are the other students?"

"Dat I can explain," Joey said as he hooked his arms around Yugi's shoulder, leading him out of the room and out in the hallway. No one was roaming the hallways and no students or teachers are present in their respective rooms. "Ya see, Yug" the blonde started. Yugi crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping what the blonde was about to say was good news. "Your look-a-like was permitted ta take his sister home—" that was good news. "— 'coz Daisuke decided ta commit suicide then when he was about ta change his mind, he kinda slipped and fell ta his doom. Da principal dismissed classes for da rest of da day 'coz da police said so."

Who would have thought that two questions can be answered with that one reply? Huh. So now, Yugi looked at Joey in shock, his eyes bigger than usual. That explains why the there was another flash of red but the fainting was new. His situation just got more complicated than it was before.

Joey noticed the change of his best friend's expressions. It was like: Shock. Snap. Enlightened. Snap. Thoughtful."Hey Yug," he waited until Yugi's eyes met his before breaking out one of his infamous grins. "Race ya ta Burger World! Last one dere pays!" Then he broke into a run, ignoring Yugi's protest about giving him a head start and complaining about his short legs.

At about eight o'clock in the evening. Yugi stared at the television, numbing his mind on whatever was being shown with a glass of orange juice in his hands. He was either watching "New Girl" or "Glee". He can't tell because he actually doesn't watch those shows. Tea just talks about them. So, he has little knowledge on what is the difference between those two. Yugi does know that one of those shows have singing on them but can't remember which one. Or does both series have singing?

Anyway. In the end, he lost the race and ended up paying for the burgers they ordered. Thank God Joey felt a bit full and just ordered one burger, or otherwise his allowance for the whole month will be gone. Sometimes, he wondered where Joey gets all his energy from. He seems to never be somber, always the one that cracks a joke here and there. That resulting to the fact he developed a crush on his blonde friend, which he dismissed quickly for he is straight.

Straight! He is bloody straight. He had a crush on Tea since they were in sixth grade. He, uhm, do THAT just thinking about the brunette's… torso. Yup! He is goddamn straight! Did he mention he was straight?

Yugi was pulled away from his inner turmoil when the incident from earlier that day was suddenly heard from the television.

The tri-color haired teen watched as the cause of their early dismissal was broadcast by the male news caster for a flash report. The ones they show in between advertising commercials. Yugi was not paying attention to what he was saying or what part of his school was being shown at the moment or who was being interviewed by the field reporter when the task of giving out information was past to her. All he knows is that he felt sick once more.

Then the flash of red that over took the technicolor of his surroundings from earlier that day returned to him. He still has no clue why he fainted after. Usually, the red will just make it self-known and the next day somebody will be reported dead because of suicide. The person was either depressed or somebody that will make the world better if his/her existence in this realm of the living will be rid of. Yugi wanted answers. No. Yugi needed answers.

And there was only one person who could provide him just that.

Yugi shook himself to stop from forming a possible evil plot. He was not evil. He is Yugi! The guy in school who wouldn't harm a fly. The one that would be stupid enough to say yes to any request. The small weakling that wouldn't fight back, even against those who harm him.

Thinking it would be best if he returns his attention to what he was watching, he pulled his legs up to curl up against the arm rest of the couch and sipped his half-finished orange juice. Music made by the mouth alone was heard and the credits of the show were shown. "So, it was Glee after all." He thought aloud, humming along to the tune that he now found interesting. Maybe he should watch this show often.

Just when he was enjoying the catchy tune, the news network's flash report logo appeared once again on the screen. He was about to change the channel and curse whoever invented flash reports to the deepest corners of hell—bad thoughts, Yugi! Bad thoughts!—did the familiar face of his principal appeared on the screen.

"For now, I won't be commenting on whether or not the school will be held liable for the student's death. That is still being discussed," the principal said, clearly masking his annoyance from all the questions being thrown at him at once. "Though due to the investigation, we will have to cancel classes for tomorrow."

The amethyst-eyed boy practically jumped from his seat. He was free from school tomorrow! No algebra. No annoying seatmate. No physics. No annoying seatmate. No world literature. No annoying seatmate. No art-class and the best part of it all: No annoying seatmate! He was a freeman!

Quickly grabbing his cellphone, he dialed Joey's number, hoping that his best friend wanted to celebrate their one day freedom at the arcade tomorrow.

"Yo! You've reached Joey Wheeler' answering machine! Leave a message 'fter da annoying sound dat would make ya curse for no reason!"

Beep.

"Hey Jou, its Yugi. Call me back as soon as possible, alright?" Yugi ended the call and returned the phone to where it was sitting beside him on the couch. Even though he was a bit disappointed that Joey wasn't able to pick up him phone, the smile never left his face.

Too giddy to stay in the suffocating silence of the living room (save for the advertisement about Kaiba Corp's new duel disk system), Yugi once again grabbed his phone and flipped it open to search through his contacts. He was still grinning as he looked through the list.

Bakura, Ryou.

Devlin, Duke.

Gardner, Tea.

Hawkins, Rebecca.

Motou, Grandpa Solomon.

Osaka, Miho.

Sennen, Yami.

Yugi's smile dropped upon seeing the name. He can't remember asking for his look-a-like's number and yet there it was.

He pressed the options button, scrolling down when new set of commands appeared on the screen until the word "delete" was the one highlighted. He pressed "select" and a pop up window appeared asking if he was sure if he wanted to delete the number. All he had to do now is select "Yes."

The house was a little quitter than usual. The only sound that was heard was the night time symphony of nature. An owl "woo-ing" from the tree it was sitting on just outside the window, crickets seemed to harmonize with audible chirps and little rustles from creatures that were still roaming around at night.

Adding to this little concert was the steady breathing of the Sennen siblings that lay on the bed in the middle of the crimson and charcoal colored room.

Yami watched his sister's unmoving form, the day's events replying in his mind. Her hair was much shorter now, reaching only her shoulders, her skin has a bit more color now but still dull in comparison to his. Her school uniform was replaced by a black night gown that reaches below her ankles with laces on the rim of the bell like sleeves that barely concealed his hands.

The spiky-haired teen sighed. He once again proved why his own sister should hate him. Yami admits that he has anger issues, making him act on impulse and regret his actions later on. Sometimes he does the opposite of what he thought should have been the right course of action in that particular situation.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered, stroking Daniella's brown locks, careful not to wake her up.

The younger Sennen stirred, startling Yami. She absently wrapped her arms around her older brother, snuggling in the warmth of the other, burying her face in the material that covered his chest. "O… Oniichan…" she mumbled.

At that, Yami almost burst into tears. When was the last time Daniella called him that? A hundred years ago or two?

A ringing from the night stand interrupted his musings.

Cursing the soul of whoever decided to ruin such an emotional and heartfelt moment he was having at the moment, he reached for his phone and looked at the caller ID.

An unknown number.

Now, he was really pissed off. Whoever it was, he was going to hunt him/her down, kill him and leave no trace.

He pressed the green button and said to whoever was on the other end, careful not to wake the sleeping form he was cradling in his arms, "You better have a good reason to call or I'm going to track you down and feed you to my pet shark."

"Wow!" a shrill voice came from the other line, "You have a nerve to say that when you were the one that saved your number in my phone without my consent!"

A smirk graced the receiver's lips as he remembered whose voice was heard on the other end. "Yugi. Sorry I didn't know it was you. I thought you were other stalker." It was true. Oddly, he was getting anonymous calls from girls two hours after dismissal. He is going to have a talk with a certain white-haired idiot and his blonde-haired sidekick who was a bigger moron than the aforementioned idiot later about that.

"You didn't even think of ringing your own phone with mine so you could save your number while you're at it?!" Yugi screeched that made him pull the phone away from his ear slightly with a cringe. He never thought the little one's voice could damage his ear drums. "Why are you whispering anyway?"

Yami looked at his sister's sleeping face again, answering Yugi's question, "Lala's asleep beside me," his voice got softer without him knowing, "Don't wanna wake her up, do I?"

He heard Yugi mumbled an apology, making him chuckle slightly. "You don't have to do the same, you know? She won't be able to hear you."

"W-whatever!" The caller said, the annoyed pitch of his voice returning. "How is she?" his tone changed again. Yami is now questioning if Yugi was emotionally stable. Wait, it was his doing that mad the kid act like that. Never mind.

"Fine. She's doing fine," Yami replied with a little smile. "What about you?"

"Feeling a bit sick but I'm good." Hey! They were talking to each other like friends now. That's a start, right? Gain his trust then use it to destroy him.

"Which reminds me," Yami said, the smile becoming a smirk. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing yet. Why?"

"I asked you if you wanted to hang out tomorrow, remember? Since there are no classes tomorrow, we could walk around downtown Domino. What'd you say?"

"Sure!" Yami was surprised at how excited the other was. He was sure Yugi will reject the offer. Why was he questioning the struck of good luck?

"Then, it's a date. Let's meet up at the arcade at two in the afternoon. Ja ne," he hang up, ignoring the loud: "Wha-?! Wait!" from the other end.

Chuckling to himself, Yami slid his eyes close, letting sleep overcome his senses. He didn't know that a pair of brown eyes snapped open, her hands tighten its grip on his shirt as she whispered in a barely audible voice, "Please, don't do it again." She closed her eyes once more, this time, letting a single trail of tear slide down her cheek. "I beg of you, don't do it again."

Yugi threw the phone next to him, groaning. He just agreed to go on a date with him! He should have known that annoying imbecile wasgay. Why else would he be hitting on him?

His thoughts were interrupted by a call from Joey. So he quickly answered it.

"Hey Yug! Sorry I was out watching a movie with Tristan." Joey said. The rustle of people and Tristan's voice was heard in the background. Was Tristan quoting Fast and the Furious as a form of hello to him? Weird guy. "So, wanna celebrate our one-day freedom by spending it at the arcade?" The blonde seem to have taken the words right out of his mouth. Then he remembered Yami.

"Sorry Jou, but I think I already made plans," he said slowly "And I have a bad feeling about it."

"Huh? What?" Joey said, sounding confuse at what his best friend had just said.

A/N: Huh? I've let this sitting on my notebook for a while now... I don't even know why? Maybe I was busy with thinking of something for HM:YGOV. Well, here's an update.

If you noticed I'm using the wonderful line of doom again... that's because my time breaker won't show DX

Anyway, review and let me know what you think of this one :) Toodles