A/N: Oye. That's all I have to say about this chapter. Here comes the dark...

WARNINGS: YxYY, Mpreg, Mature Themes, Language

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters involved in this fic.

"Yami! Psst! Yami!"

The former Pharaoh deliberately rolled over; a soft, muffled groan passed through the jet-black blanket laying over his head.

"Yami! Please…I gotta go!"

Suddenly, the blanket was torn away from him and he shivered slightly as Yugi's angelic face came into focus. Sighing, he slowly sat up from his position on the floor of his room, taking a brief glance over to his bed, which Yugi now inhabited on a nightly basis. Yugi's stomach was getting bigger and bigger as the days passed and eventually, the twin bed proved not to be big enough for the both of them. Thus, Yami offered it up to his aibou, and now took a temporary residence on the flat floor.

"Yugi, this baby shouldn't be here for another few months. You're acting ridiculous."

"I'm coming to the end of my sixth month Yami! Anything could happen! I just don't want to be alone when I go to the bathroom, okay? I'm scared!"

Yami made the mistake of looking directly into Yugi's pleading eyes. "Alright, alright. Let's go," he said as he sighed and extended his arm towards the door, hurriedly ushering Yugi out of the room. He sat outside the bathroom door as Yugi did his business, afraid to rest his head on the wall for fear of falling back asleep, which would cause Yugi to be furious if he were caught. His aibou stepped out of the bathroom mere seconds later, and he winced as he held his stomach.

"He's in a bad mood today," Yugi said with a hiss.

Yami instantly perked up, walking on his knees over to Yugi and placing his hands on top of his light's. "What's wrong?" he asked quickly, eyes full of fearful concern.

Yugi let out a deep breath, then helped pull Yami up from the floor. "Kicking. I tell you, this kid is always kicking. It feels like he's playing soccer with my insides, ooh," he groaned as he let go of Yami's hand and stepped back towards the bedroom.

"Just be glad you're not growing breasts," Yami chimed in with a chuckle. "Now how odd would that be?"

He half-expected Yugi to shoot him "the look", which would have resorted in Yami instantly shutting his mouth, but he was pleasantly surprised when the boy actually laughed, and turned around to face him.

"That would be…just…weird."

The two laughed on for a few minutes, eventually hushing themselves as they remembered Grandpa was still asleep. Yugi finally locked eyes with Yami, and smiled as he reached up and held his dark's face. "Oh, I love you," he whispered. "I know I'm all out of whack now, and I'm driving you nuts, but I just want you to know that I love you, okay?"

"Yugi, I'm not crazy…yet," he added, causing Yugi to chuckle once. "I love you too. We're going to get through this. We will."

Yugi smiled, "I know. But in the meantime can we go back to bed? It's like four in the morning."

Yami laughed quietly and led Yugi back to the bedroom, helping him get on the bed, and pulling his dark comforter over him, before returning to his position on the floor. Yami made himself as comfortable as he was going to get, making sure to turn and face Yugi. He watched as Yugi's breathing eventually steadied, and as his chest rose and fell. Yugi was beautiful inside and out, that he had known since the first second his soul entwined with the boy's oh so long ago. But the pregnancy truly added an almost ethereal quality to him; Yugi was absolutely heavenly. So beautiful, so delicate, yet so capable of being harmed by the horrors of the world…Yami just watched on as his aibou slept, until he himself was finally whisked away by the dream world.

A car horn honked from outside the Game Shop, and Yami grabbed his smooth black briefcase from atop the kitchen table and stepped into the living room to give Yugi a quick goodbye. To his slight amusement, he found the boy glued to the television with his bottom and feet planted flat on the carpet, and his arms behind him for support. Yami blinked when he saw that Yugi's face was pale and his eyes were wide with terror.

"Yugi?"

Yami turned his attention to the television after hearing an intense female scream, and soon realized what Yugi had unfortunately found on TV.

"Alright, alright, Yugi, that's enough. You're psyching yourself out. Stop it."

Yami reached around to grab the remote and shut off the medical program.

"It's going to hurt, isn't it Yami?" Yugi asked blankly, reaching up to wipe some cold sweat from his brow. "I know it hurts for women when they're in labor, and I-"

"Yugi, I don't know. Maybe it'll be different for you."

"Maybe it'll hurt worse," Yugi muttered with a groan.

"Aren't you meeting with Joey today?" Yami quickly asked, in hopes of a distraction.

"Yeah, um, I should go call him. We're going to go pick out a crib. Joey wants to buy it, but I need to pick it out now so he can put it on layaway. I can't believe he's doing this…"

"We can use all the help we can get right now, Yugi."

"But we still don't-"

"Oh, Yugi," he sighed. "Well, if you change your mind Joey can always return it or something."

Yugi sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Just go Yami, you're going to be late."

"I'll see you later okay?"

"Mmhmm," Yugi mumbled, before clumsily getting off the floor and walking with Yami into the shop.

Yami kissed him briefly on the lips before heading out the door, and Yugi reached for the telephone, dialing several numbers with ease. He waited for it to ring a few times, and smiled when the accent he knew and loved reached his ears. It was familiar, and instantly calming.

"Yug!"

"Hey Joey, are we still on for today?"

"Heck yeah! I got paid yesterday so I should have enough for a down payment on the crib. Why don't ya just hang around for a bit, I'll head over to your place-"

"Actually Joey, forgive me, but I really need to get out of this house. I was thinking maybe I could meet you halfway? I could use the exercise."

"I dunno Yug, we're not supposed to leave you on your own…"

"Joey, what's the worst that can happen? It'll take like maybe twenty minutes tops for me to meet you."

"And if you run into the press or some psycho? Nah nah Yug, you wait there."

"NO!" Yugi suddenly yelled into the phone, his own eyes widening at his sudden outburst. "S-Sorry Joey, I just, I'm really stressing out. I could really use this walk. I'll meet you over at Acordia park, okay? See you in a bit."

"Yug…" Joey growled warningly.

Yugi put the phone on the receiver then headed upstairs to grab his backpack, quickly stuffing the various brochures Joey had given him from the furniture store into it. He turned to walk out of his bedroom door, before freezing and turning around to dig for his black diary. It'd been a couple of days since he'd written in it, and knowing Joey, the blond would probably be a little late meeting him. It would be nice to clear his head under the shade of the park trees.

The tri-color haired boy finally stepped away from the Game Shop and into the real world. He couldn't help but notice just how much he missed being able to walk anywhere on his own. As of now, he was constantly surrounded by either Yami or his friends, and not that he didn't enjoy their company; it just never gave him time to surrender to his own thoughts; something he didn't realize he needed so much until now. In that first ten minutes, Yugi tried to think of anything other than his pregnancy. He thought of dueling, which now seemed like a luxury since he hadn't been able to do it for so long. He thought of school, and the homework he needed to finish later. He thought about running the Game Shop on his own one day…leaving for conventions on new games, and traveling the world...but that dream was almost cloudy now.

"Yugi?" a smooth voice asked from behind him, causing Yugi to jump slightly and spin around. His eyes met with familiar white hair and large chocolate brown eyes; a porcelain face he remembered all too well.

"Ryou? Hey!" Yugi said happily, as he tried to steady his breathing. "Sorry, you scared me."

Ryou chuckled. "Oh I'm sorry!"

"Haha, so what brings you out here?"

"I was headed to see you. I heard from a friend of a friend of a friend that Yami was working at Kaiba Corp. now, and I figured it'd be a safe time to come and see how you were holding up."

"Oh, I'm alright. Well, pregnant," Yugi laughed as he gestured to his large stomach, "if you haven't guessed, but otherwise…"

"I know. It's all over the news! I meant to visit earlier and congratulate you, but I haven't had the time off work."

"It's okay Ryou," Yugi said, a genuine smile gracing his face. "You know, I've missed you. It's nice to see other people. Yami and the gang pretty much have me on lockdown."

"Oh I'm sure they're just trying to keep you safe. Wouldn't want anything happening to you or the baby, now would they?"

Yugi's hand absentmindedly ran over his stomach.

"Hey Yugi, um, would you mind if I-"

Yugi quickly turned his large eyes onto the boy's chocolate ones and smiled as he recongnized what Ryou was asking. "Oh, feel? Not at all! Here...now this baby's kicking pretty much twenty-four seven, so you should be able to feel something." Yugi took Ryou's pale hand and guided it over to the top of his stomach in search of movement. Ryou suddenly felt a sharp jab and Yugi winced sharply and closed his eyes.

"Oww, you know, that's the hardest he's ever kicked. He must really like you or something," Yugi said with a groan.

"He? It's a boy?"

"Mmhmm," Yugi mumbled with a small smile, eyes still closed.

Ryou smiled back at him, but he suddenly vanished; Bakura took this brief opportunity to take over, and placed his other hand on Yugi's stomach as well, clutching his shirt harder. The albino whispered something inaudibly under his breath while running his hand over the boy's stomach, and he soon grinned as Yugi fought to suppress a cry and Bakura felt a particularly hard jab underneath his right hand. And that was all he needed. There was a slight flash, and Ryou was Ryou once more.

"Yugi? Are you, are you alright?" Ryou asked blankly, completely unaware of the last few seconds.

Yugi clutched onto the albino, and focused on steadying his breathing. After a moment, he opened his violet eyes a bit, and smiled weakly at his friend.

"I'm just really nauseous all of a sudden, but I, I think I'll be fine."

"Oh dear!" Ryou gasped. "You should sit down or something!"

"No, no. I'll be fine. Nothing I'm not used to by now. Well, look, I'm glad I got to see you Ryou! I really gotta go though, I'm supposed to meet Joey at the park. Keep in touch, okay? I guess I'll see you around."

"Indeed," Ryou said, a warm smile plastered on his face. He wrapped his arms around Yugi when the boy came to hug him goodbye, and frowned as he watched Yugi's small frame eventually vanish from his view.

"What did you do to him…" Ryou whispered to the silent air, his large eyes sharply narrowing.

Bakura materialized next to him, a horrible, intense smirk on his face. He spoke his next words slowly, and ever so passionately: "Bakura giveth, Bakura take it all away."

Ryou's eyes snapped open, and he shook horribly, the shock driving him to his knees; his hand clamping over his mouth.

"Y-You can't…You can't do that! You, you monster!" he sharply whispered.

"Now now, Ryou-"

"You promised you wouldn't hurt him…you bastard...you promised!"

"Oh, it shouldn't hurt him physically…too much. But then ago, who knows? I'm just undoing what I did in the first place. You know, righting my wrong," he said with a short, dark laugh. "Sure, it was nice. They were distracted, but you know what? They were content. Not at all what I intended, nor what I wanted. However, they'll be distracted by this too. If the Pharaoh and his whore were so happy to conceive the brat in the first place, then they'll be devastated to lose it. Give them the candy then take it away. Distracted, and miserable. Like it was meant to be. This whole thing will prove to have worked out better than I could have ever possibly imagined…"

Ryou turned to stare at him, horrified tears filling his eyes. "You made a mistake. They-"

"Don't know it's me. They don't even know I'm back. And you, Ryou," Bakura seethed, slowly circling the albino, "are going to keep your mouth shut. Or you and your father are as good as lost."

"I don't even care! You're probably lying about the whole thing! You're not doing shit about my father…you're using me...and I-I'm not going to let you hurt them like this!"

Bakura chuckled. "The damage is done. In a few hours or so, little Yugi Muto's miscarriage will be headlined. There's nothing you can do now."

"I-I can let them know it's you. I can tell them everything…You'll pay for this, you-"

A sharp flash of light sparked from Ryou's body and the boy screamed; Bakura held full control once more. He growled and stepped forward, his eyes blazing.

"Not if I keep you in check, you weak, good-for-nothing brat…"

Yugi glanced up from his shaded spot underneath a leafy tree as he heard his named practically yelled. As sandy blonde hair came into his view, he quickly finished writing his most recent entry in his diary before closing it shut and stuffing it into his backpack.

"Yug! Dear God, don't ya ever do that again! You know Yami's gonna kill me when he finds out you took off alone?!"

"That's why Yami doesn't have to know Joey," Yugi said with a slight smile.

"Oh Yug," Joey said with a sigh. "What's gotten into ya? It's like, I dunno, you're the not the same person latey."

"I'm pregnant Joey," Yugi muttered with a groan as he stood from the ground. "That's what's gotten into me."

A couple of birds chirped, and a small dog barked. Joey finally turned his gaze away from Yugi, who kept his eyes focused on the floor. "Alright, well, we better go. Ya know which one you want?"

"Well, I've narrowed it down to about three. They're all the same price, so I need some help picking."

"No prob, Yug. Come on, let's go. You want me to carry that?" Joey asked, nodding towards Yugi's backpack.

Yugi looked at him sharply, and Joey folded his hands behind his head as he walked. "Okay, okay, just asking, Yug. Just asking…"

"Alright, so you're set on dis one then?" Joey said happily as he pointed over to the crib of Yugi's choice.

Yugi gave him a large smile, causing Joey to smile as well. "You got it, Yug. I'll be right back, I'm gonna go talk to layaway."

"Joey?" Yugi asked as the blonde walked away.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. So, so much…I only hope-"

"Please don't start with the waterworks Yug. I'm surprised you've still got tears in them big eyes of yours. You'll figure out what ya gotta figure out. K? Things are gonna be just fine."

"You promise?" Yugi muttered lightly with hopeful eyes.

"Yeah, I promise. Now just hang out here for a bit. I'll be right back."

Yugi paced around as his best friend left the room. He walked past several cribs, admiring them and smiling greatly at a fuzzy Duel Monsters blanket that was placed inside one of them. There was suddenly a harsh jerk to his stomach, and he gasped, clutching tightly onto the nearest crib rail. He winced as he looked around for something to sit on to rest and spotted a furnished couch a little ways away. Yugi slung his backpack off of his shoulder and drug it behind him as he proceeded to make his way to the couch. An even more intense pain. The small boy groaned and released his backpack, and quickly realizing he wasn't going to make it to the couch he backed up to the wall, and slowly slid down it. He took deep breaths in an attempt to settle his stomach, but a few seconds later he cried out as there was yet another hard jab. He realized his whole body was eerily cold, and yet he was sweating bullets. The next few minutes felt like years as Yugi struggled within himself…

"Ok Yug, you are now da proud owner of a…uh," the blonde stuck his nose to the receipt as he walked in and read it. "Aw screw it, a crib's a crib! This one's got like ten words in the name, sheesh…"

Joey looked up as he realized there was silence, and he glanced around, eyes immediately scanning for his friend. "Yug?"

It was a gasp and a horrible cry that caused Joey to spin around and freeze. His best friend was on the ground by the wall, clutching his stomach for dear life, his face scrunched in agony.

"Oh God, YUG!"

Joey ran over to Yugi and immediately kneeled down, tossing his receipts on the ground, and grasping the boy's shoulders uncertainly.

"Yugi, look at me!"

Yugi attempted to look up, but another inner jab made his eyes clench tight and tears begin to flow down his flushed face. Joey's shocked eyes went wide.

"Shit, Yug, y-y-you can't be going into labor. You're only finishing up your sixth month. You, you can't…Yugi, I'm no doctor. This can't be happening here, not right now-"

"No Joey," Yugi whispered, as he suppressed another cry. "Something's wrong. I can feel it, Joey, I can feel it! I need an ambulance, now!"

"Yugi, you listen, you stay with me buddy, alright?"

Yugi suddenly screamed, tears crashing down his face, causing the little passerby there were to turn to him in surprise. "Shit," Joey muttered desperately as he fumbled in his pocket for his cell phone, and clumsily dropped it as his hands shook.

"He needs help! Help!" the blonde yelled out of frustration as he picked up his phone and dialed the numbers with numb fingers. Customers and workers started curiously coming over, unsure of what to do.

"Yeah! I got an emergency," Joey croaked, his mouth going dry. "We're here at Furnished Life over downtown, and my friend, he's…uh…pregnant. Yes he, ya nimrod! Yeah, it's Yugi Muto, but something's wrong with him, he's screaming and I don't think he's having the baby. Something, something else-" Joey subconsciously wiped away the tears that had pooled at the corners of his eyes; the tears that had started as he was forced to watch his friend continue to scream in anguish. This time, there was no way he could protect Yugi. There was no bully to fight, no villain trying to take over the world, no sacrifice he could make; this was life, just life, and this time, there was little, if anything, he could do.

Joey watched as Yugi's eyes suddenly snapped open; the small boys' body trembling terribly, his face now extremely pale. Yugi gave a sharp gasp and he froze for a split second, his eyes suddenly drooping; his vision blurring. His body was now entirely numb. The pain vanished, and everything was quiet. Oh so quiet. But where's-

Ah, there's Joey. Yugi could see the blond's lips moving frantically, but there was no sound. Yugi just stared at his lips as his eyelids fell, wondering if and why the world had gone mute. Joey held him up firmly as he collapsed to his left, blinking back the inevitable unconsciousness. Yugi frowned as he soon felt a thick wetness within his jeans, and he could vaguely hear Joey as he murderously yelled into the phone.

"OH GOD! HE'S BLEEDING, DAMNIT! HE'S BLEEDING A LOT! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?"

It sounded so far away…

So muffled…as if Yugi were listening to him underwater.

Yugi tried to call out. He tried to tell him that the pain had gone. But there was no sound.

The dark edges surrounding his vision began to smudge and grow larger, and Yugi locked eyes with Joey's until the blonde's petrified face went black.

Yugi's friends watched on helplessly as Yami stormed back and forth through the hallway, his hand reaching up to desperately loosen the crimson tie he was wearing.

This was NOT a position he wanted to be back in. The second Joey had called and told him what had happened, Yami had rushed out of KaibaCorp and made his way over to the hospital as fast as he possibly could. And now he was a pale, growling beast, once again being forced to wait outside with the others as Yugi was…hell, they didn't even know if Yugi was okay.

The others sat frozen in their seats; Tea in tears, hands fisted into her skirt and Tristan with an arm draped over Joey's shoulder, who was still shaking and had his face buried in his hands. Grandpa stood rooted near the doors, his face pale; his eyes blank. He didn't even notice as the doors opened and the doctor stepped out.

Yami immediately marched over to him, his intended glare suddenly dropping as an atrocious fear ate at him; it crept over his entire being.

"Yugi, is he, is he alright?"

The doctor choked on his words, unsure of how to start as he looked at the boy's friends and grandfather who now surrounded him.

"Yugi's going to be fine. Well, eventually. He's lost a lot of blood and has required a transfusion, but he is expected to make a full recovery."

Tea and Tristan both sighed in relief.

"Well, that's-" Tristan started.

"Wait," Joey whispered, taking note of the emphasis the doctor put on Yugi's name. "And the baby? Is he okay?"

The man sighed. "That's the bad news. Yugi lost him. He miscarried. I'm, I'm sorry."

Tea immediately burst into audible sobs, clinging to Tristan for dear life as the brunette shook his head in disbelief.

Joey immediately prepped to punch the wall but stopped himself and instead threw his face into his hand, completely overcome with emotion. Tristan and Tea caught the words "Let" and "Down" leave his lips before Joey turned and ran from the waiting room. They desperately looked over to Grandpa, who remained shaken. Tea nodded to Tristan and stepped over to Solomon, clutching his arm. Tristan took off after Joey.

Yami had already left the room in Yugi's direction. He ran past the figures in white, quickly scanning the names on the medical charts sitting outside the rooms. He finally found Yugi's name scrawled on one of them and he pushed open the door. What he saw next truly terrified him.

Yugi lay on the bed, his blank eyes seeming to gaze at something past the ceiling. Something past all reality. There were no tears on his face, no sign of pain, no sign of hurt, no sign of anything. Yugi was a blank canvas.

"Yugi?"

No recognition. No change in Yugi's eyes. No acknowledgement. No nothing.

"Yugi," Yami sighed as he stepped over to the boy and sat himself on the bed. He reached for Yugi's hand which held an IV, and he gasped at how cold it was.

"Yugi…Yugi, look at me." With his free hand, he reached over to turn Yugi's eyes from the ceiling to him. The boy's face turned to the left with the help of Yami's hand, but Yugi deliberately refused to meet Yami's lost gaze.

"Yugi, please, I know you're hurt. I am to, but we, we have to carry on. We must."

A tear unwillingly released from Yugi's right eye, and it fell over his nose and onto the white sheets. As odd as it was, Yami wanted nothing more than to be glad for this sign of emotion, this sign of something, but he couldn't; his aibou's eyes remained blank and dull.

"I killed him Yami. I can't do anything right. I couldn't even...carry him to term. I killed our son. I wasn't strong enough. I failed, I-"

"Stop that right now," Yami growled low. "There was nothing you could have done…"

"I refuse to believe that. It was me, me, me. I-"

Yami shook his head. "It just wasn't meant to be, Yugi. We weren't meant to have this child. No one was," he said slowly, knowing he was lying not only to Yugi, but to himself as well.

Yugi clutched the sheets tightly with one hand, but his eyes remained focused on nothing. "So that's all you think this was? Just some experience to make me learn and grow? Well, tell me...what have I learned Yami? What? Because I highly doubt that whatever it was held more value than my son's life!"

Yami was silent.

"Just, just get out. Just go Yami, go," Yugi mumbled as he slipped his hand out from under Yami's and returned to his previous position.

"I'm not going anywhere Yugi. Know this. We lost our son, yes, but that doesn't mean I have to lose you too. We're going to get through this, Yugi."

"That's what you said last time, and did we get through it? Oh yeah, we got real lucky, didn't we? Got an easy way out! I'm serious Yami, if you don't get out right now, I'm calling security. I don't want to talk to you. Not now. Just, just go away."

Yami sat for a moment just staring at him and shaking his head, before standing up and walking towards the door. He reached for the door handle before taking a glance back at his aibou, who remained motionless. Yami closed the door behind him, and stepped out into the empty hallway. The overhead lights had been shut off; it was eerily quiet. An empty abyss that mocked his soul. He just stood in front of Yugi's door, staring at the ground, and in a sudden outburst he screamed, falling upon his knees. Everything he was holding in released in the tears that sank to the tiled floor. All the pain, the frustration, the hurt, the worry, the disappointment, the fear, everything.

And at that moment, the once cold, ruthless, bold Pharaoh wished he didn't have a heart.