7-Strength

Yugi quickly walked to keep up with him down the hall. He then realized something.

"Um, don't you need to change your clothes?" Yugi asked, noticing Yami had the same attire as he had last night.

"Nope. These are not even clothes, they are my own shadows. Because of that, they have no stench. Any dirt or any unsanitary substance that covers itself on my attire, always eventually evaporates." Yami explained while walking downstairs. Yugi stopped and thought about what Yami said. That was true. When he was stabbed and cut off Akefia's ear, that black liquid was spurting all over Yami's clothes. Now...They were gone. He was surprisingly completely clean.

Yugi looked around cautiously. His grandfather was not here. Not in the kitchen, not in the dining room. Perhaps he was still asleep. That made it even more easier to leave though. He wouldn't have to explain himself and lie once again. Yugi shook his head and realized Yami was waiting for him at the bottom of the stair case. Yugi hurried down the stairs and continued to walk with Yami through the shop-part of the house.

"Come, Yugi." Yami seized Yugi's hand and pulled him toward the front door.

~Yami~

As Yami and Yugi walked out of the shop, Yugi began to lead the way instead. They were walking down the street, supposinglyto meet some of his human friends. Yami mentally groaned. The great wonders of human teenagers, what a joy. This is the one of the last things he would want to do with his ageless life. But, he had to suck it up and go with it in order to gain Yugi's trust fully.

"Oi! Yug'!" A loud voice said. Yami cringed in disgust. His accent was so hard to miss, and it wasn't hard to tell it sounded Brooklyn-ish. He remembered that annoying voice. It was that blonde kid's voice from that restaurant. Yami's ear twitched at the sound of footsteps becoming louder as they got closer. He realized there was not one pair but three pairs of footsteps. Yami turned his head slightly. OH great. Yami sighed, there was his friends.

"Hey Jou!" Yugi happily greeted back with a wave. Yami shuddered as he saw the human girl come running towards them from across the street with another kid with brown hair that oddly pointed up into a large spike.

"Yugi!" That human girl called out as she practically pounced on Yugi. Squeezing him into a suffocating embrace.

"O-Okay A-Anzu...Missed you...too..!" Yugi choked out. Anzu, that was her name. Yami will remember it. He didn't like the way she was hugging and clinging all over Yugi like that. A slice of jealousy cut through his heart, making him frown in not only annoyance, but anger. Anzu finally let Yugi go, giving him the ability to breath once more, and giggled in delight. Yami could hurl from the mere sight of that girl..

"I see you've brought Yami too!" Anzu giggled even more, making Yami bite his tongue from saying anything regretful. He heard Yugi chuckle in a nervous way and he rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Y-Yeah. He uhh..." Yugi turned to Yami who raised a brow. Yugi frowned and nodded over to his friends. Yami sighed and rolled his eyes. He put on the best fake smile he could make and turned his gaze to his friends.

"I missed you all at the party, so I wanted to see you since we were passing by. Yugi and I bumped into each other at the game shop not too long ago." He smoothly lied. He looked at Yugi and he smirked at his expression. He seemed impressed. His brows were raised and his eyes were a bit wide. Jou chuckled.

"Heh! What a coincidence! So Yug', I picked the place last time, so you say where we hang today." Jou patted Yugi on the shoulder and gave a grin. Yugi smiled and looked up at Jou, him being much shorter.

"Well, I heard a new arcade opened up a few blocks away. Not a far walk. Is it okay if we go there this time?" Yugi politely asked. Arcade? Those odd places where children usually roam with those huge neon machines? Yami has only been to an arcade only a few times in his years of roaming Earth. He was alive when they first invented the arcade machines, and he knew how to use them. Well, used to. Point is, he never really went to them because they were way too loud, way too bright from the machines despite of arcades usually being dark, and he hated children. With a passion. Though, he never realized how much Yugi seemed to like games. He remembered at the party that he was wearing a shirt that read 'KOG King Of Games'.

Yami sighed again. If this is what Yugi wanted, he'd have to comply.

"Ah I know the one your talking about." The kid with the brown hair said. What was his name? "Scorin' to make some little kids cry Yugi?" He teased, making Yugi blush a little and shake his head nervously.

"N-No! Why would you say that!?" Yugi said defensively holding up his hands. Anzu rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Oh don't play dumb Yugi. Everyone knows how awesome you are at games. It's no secret. You beat anyone in anything and almost never lose." She boasted. Why was she acting as if she was talking about herself? It was like she was talking about Yugi as if he was her trophy or something, and it made Yami want to snap her neck. He saw Yugi's face turn red, and that made Yami even more angry. Why was he blushing when ever she talked about him?! It was really getting on his nerves. But, why did he care so much?

"J-Just come on already!" Yugi yelled. He turned and began to walk away, grabbing Yami's wrist in the process and pulling him down the side walk at a very quick pace. Yami couldn't believe this, but he felt his cheeks warm up for a change. Why did he suddenly feel like this?

"Hey! Wait up! Don't be mad!" He heard Jou yell after Yugi as he and the others began to run after them in attempts to catch up.

They were walking on the pavement down the street, passing people and stores and restaurants. Mostly game shops. Supposingly, the arcade was close and they were almost there.

"So Yami," Started Jou. Yami raised his head and looked at him. "At the party, what happened? I didn't see you or Yug' the entire time. I heard from some folks there that you guys went upstairs." He began to smirk deviously and raised his brows up and down. "Were you gettin' busy~?" He used a seductive tone, making Yugi blush once again and look away, and making Yami smirk as well.

"Jounouchi!" Anzu scolded, smacking him in the back of the head. To Yami, it seemed as if she had jealousy in her eyes. He could definitely sense green aura, the color of envy. "I'm sure they just wanted to privately have a conversation without morons like you butting in!"

"OW! Geez! I'm only teasin'!" Jou then blinked and stopped walking, making everyone stop as well and look back at him. Jou slowly looked at Yugi, then at Yami. "Nothing actually happened...Right?" He said with a skeptical glare.

"NO!" Yugi yelled I response. "Nothing like that happened at all you perv!"

Yami could only shake his head and chuckle a little as they all proceeded to walk again, all but Yugi, who was pouting, laughing in the process. As the laughter died down and they passed through a couple of more people, Jou began to ask more questions.

"But wait, I don't remember. Honda who was in that fight?" That was his name! The Honda kid turned to Jou and shrugged, scratching his head.

"I don't remember either. You Anzu?" He asked. The girl shook her head with a worried expression.

"I dunno. The only thing I remember last was Yami asking me where Akefia was." She slowly drew out the last sentence. She looked down at Yami, him being only a few centimeters shorter than her. "You were in a hurry. Why were you looking for him so..." Anzu's eyes widened as Yugi made an anxious expression. Jou and Honda grinned like maniacs, amused by the realization. Yami mentally cursed to himself. He should have gave that girl special mind erasing treatment! These humans may be lower-life forms and they may be foolish, but they weren't stupid. They could connect the puzzle pieces together easily. It didn't take rocket-science to figure it out. Damn it, why didn't he erase that girl's memory of their encounter!? Damn it!

Anzu blinked a few times before speaking again. "So you guys were-"

Yami's eyes shrunk as he whipped his head to the right and turned round quickly. Something was coming, something dangerous. He sensed it. He backed up and raised his arm in front of teens protectively. They all seemed confused at Yami's sudden actions. Yugi however, was the most worried.

"Yami!? What's going on?!" He heard Yugi talk to him through their mind link.

However, Yami did not answer as he began to back step even more. It was coming closer, really close. Yami's ear twitched as he heard a scream not too far from the direction where they were walking. They all looked in shock as they watched a woman fall to the ground in the street, blood pooling under her body. It was obvious that she was dead. Yami saw the people stop walking, and began to shout or scream. Then, someone else, dropped dead just like the woman, blood spurting out of his chest as he died.

Even though they were standing a good few yards away from the dead bodies, Yami's eyes weren't normal. He could see up to any hawk's eye view easily. That wound in that man's chest, it was as if he was stabbed, but the gash was huge. Something big stabbed him.

"W-What the hell is going on!?" He heard Honda yell.

"Yami was is it!?"

He heard Yugi again. Suddenly, on the concrete, a shadow that seemed darker than normal grew beneath the two dead bodies and slithered away from them, like a worm. The people began to run away from the street, and like roaches, spread through out the entire block. They were all running so quick, the block became empty. The shadow then raised from the ground, still slithering, and began to morph it's body like goo. It began to form a silhouette of a figure, a man. Yami narrowed his eyes and sniffed twice. Whatever this thing was, it smelled like something familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

The 'man', was now no longer just a silhouette, but a completely fully figured form. Tan skin, husky features with an ugly face, a bulky think body, and two crooked black eyes constantly moving back and forth. His mouth was for some reason hung open. As if he was some kind of zombie. Black-ish aura surrounded his entire body as it twitched as he breathed. He had dark raggedy clothing, and he appeared to be bare foot. Anzu gasped while everyone else just kept a horrified expression, besides Yami. He felt Jou shiver a little at the sight of this monster.

"G-Guys. You seein' what I'm seein'?" He whispered in fear. Yami could almost laugh at their puny little spirits. But now was not the time for jokes, or was it? Yami really could laugh at this! All he was worrying about was some weak shadow walker? That's what was causing this chaos, that thing that could barely walk? Ha! What a disappointment. Compared to himself, that shadow walker was adorable, harmless like a kitten. To the teens however, he was cyclops. Yami lowered his hand down to his side and put his hands on his hips. This is gonna be a breeze.

However, as excited as Yami was, there was no turning back now. Yugi's friends has seen the paranormal. Since they're terrified, it would be easy to wipe their minds again because of their brain's vulnerable state. But if one were to be wiped of their memory too much, then their memory may never come back and be wiped almost entirely. So unfortunately, he'd have a bunch of explaining to do. Pfft, great. Another problem. Yami sighed and cracked his knuckles. He had no choice, he had to protect not only Yugi, but his friends as well. He slightly turned to Yugi, his eyes not leaving the monster that was now limping their way.

"Yugi, you all may run if need be."

"RAAUGGH..." The creature moaned, who began to run frantically towards them. Now becoming only a few feet away.

"You all need to flee now. What you are about to see, will disturb you. Though..." Yami made an evil smirk. "It will not take long at all."

~Yugi~

All but Yami began to step back as the monster was only inches away from Yami. They would turn and run, but their fear prevented them to. Yugi was shocked. Everything seem to go in slow motion. That insane looking man that transformed from the shadows, swung his fist at Yami, directly in his face. Yugi gasped. Yami made no movement to stop him, and just took the hit.

Silence.

Yami's face didn't even move. It was like he punched a wall. Yami just took the hit like it was nothing! Yami cocked his head to the side.

"My apologies, was that supposed to hurt?" He taunted as the man's fist seemed glued to Yami's face, also not moving at all.

"AARAAUGH.."

"Oh my. You can talk." Yami quickly seized the man's arm that punched him, and gave it a good squeeze. Yugi saw his friends shudder as they all heard a crunch. Yami must have broken his arm. "Well considering the fact that you cannot seem to speak correctly, I shall just do away with you." Yami then swung the man's arm downwards, flipping him on the hard cold ground hard. The concrete beneath him cracked a little from the impact.

"Woah!" Jou gasped. "Did you just see that!? He flipped him and the freakin' ground cracked!"

Yami casually walked over to the man who groaned in pain and tried to kneel to get up. Yami slammed his foot on his head to keep him down and gave a quick chuckle. The man's nose began to bleed black liquid as it crushed into the ground from the stomp. Yami reached down and grabbed the back of the man's shirt collar and picked him up easily off of his feet from the ground to his eye level.

"H-He just picked him up like he weighed nothing!" Anzu said in disbelief. Yugi couldn't believe Yami was doing this now, in front of his friends! He some-what knew what Yami was capable of, so for them to see this was bad. They should have ran while they had to chance!

Yami simply flicked his wrist upwards and letting the man go, making him get thrown into the air by a simple hand movement. He raised his hand upwards, aiming it at the man as he fell back down. Yugi closed his eyes shut, not wanting to see him fall to his death. But, there was no thud. Yugi slowly opened his eyes back again and saw that he was floating! Yami's hand was glowing with black aura. He was levitating him!

Yami's eyes glowed bright red as he jumped up into the air with black aura trailing behind him as he ascended. He was now at the man's level. He then pulled his arm back, then swung it back quickly punching the man in the face directly, making black liquid shoot from his nose and making him stumble down a bit. Yami began to punch him endlessly in the same spot, both fists, left and right, making them descend rapidly towards back to the ground again due to his punches giving a great impact.

Yami's fists were like bullets being shot from a machine gun. It was as if he was flying downwards while punching the man. No matter how much blood got on his knuckles or his face, he still kept punching and punching, all the way to the ground. The man hit the ground first, right on his back. Making a dent into the concrete street. Yami landed on top of him swiftly, with his feet on his stomach. The teens all cringed as they heard another crunch. The force made something throw up out of the man's mouth as he felt his insides burst from Yami's landing. Yugi thought it was probably an organ.

The man's face was no longer describable. It was disoriented and unrecognizable. You couldn't even tell what he was anymore. His eyes, they were mushed up into his eye sockets, his jaw was broken to the side and his teeth were showing. But there were only a few. The man fell limp, not moving at all. Yami raised his hands to own his face, and looked at them with hungry eyes. Yugi saw his expression seemed insane. Like he was possessed or something. Almost like he wasn't in control of his actions after seeing the black liquid.

Jou frowned in disgust. "D-Don't tell me he's gonna..."

Yami stuck out his narrow long tongue and slid it on his palms. Licking the black liquid like a wild animal. Jou and Honda covered their mouths and looked away.

"Aw that's fucking sick man!" Honda cried. Yugi could feel something rise up in his throat, and it did not taste good at all. He felt like he was going to puke. He saw Yami stopped and raised his hand, a red beam shooting from it onto the now dead body, and making it disappear into nothing but black ash. Just like Akefia's ear did. Yami put his hand down, the beam of light disappearing as he walked back towards the sickened teens. Yugi tried all his might not to barf. He could still smell the lingering stench of death. But apparently, Anzu seemed to have done the puking for him.

She dropped to her knees, hands on the ground on both sides of her head to support herself as she coughed and hacked. She threw up. The funk of vomit then filled the air along with the stink of death. Yugi then couldn't hold it in either as he began to spit a little. He coughed as he suddenly felt his knees buckle and finally fall to the ground. He supported himself with his hand, turning his head away and trying not to look at the small puddle of puke he made.

He slowly looked up and saw Jou and Honda help Anzu up and trying to sooth her to calm down. He then felt a hand touch his wrist. He slowly looked up, misery of sickness in his eyes. It was Yami. The black blood was no longer on his face, or his hands. He as clean once again. He pulled Yugi up, holding his shoulders so he woudn't wobble.

"I apologize Yugi." He quietly spoke. Yugi saw that his expression was filled with regret and worry. "I told you to run away. I have tainted your eyes even more now." Yami pulled Yugi close to his chest. Even more? Did he taint them in the first place? Yugi's eyes were half lidded. He did not feel good, and he really wanted to lay down. He felt too weak to speak. Yami sighed and leaned Yugi's body on his side, helping him walk over to his friends. Once they did, Yami immediately regretted it. The three teens cautiously stepped back away from Yami in fear.

"W-What the fuck are you!?" Jou yelled. He then looked at Yugi with terrified eyes. "Yug', get away from him!" Yugi shook his head slowly.

"No, Jounouchi. He's not a-"

"Dude he's not normal!" Honda interrupted. He stood in front of Anzu protectively. "Did you not see what he did?!" Yugi whimpered and slowly looked up at Yami who held a diappointed expression. What could they say? What could they do? Yugi knew very well that despite the grotesque scene they just witnessed, Yami was only protecting them. As horrible as it was, he killed that man with a good intention.

All Yugi and Yami could hear were the shots of Jou and Honda screaming and yelling, 'He's a monster!' or, 'You need to get away! He's not safe!' Yugi felt a headache coming along. He was getting annoyed and irratated really fast. Did they not realize Yami's true intentions? He wasn't a monster. Okay, he wasn't human, but not a monster. They were trying to take him away from him. They were insulting him! Yugi clenched his teeth as he felt his anger rise. He gently pushed Yami away from him and walked towards Jou. Jou sighed in relief, and grabbed Yugi's arm, trying to pull him closer. Yugi snatched his arm away and glared at Jounouch with furious purple eyes.

"Yug'? What's the big idea?!" Jou shook his head in disbeilief. "Don't tell me your siding with that thing!"

Oh that did it.

"Shut up!" Yugi screamed. Making everyone shut thier traps and stare in shock. Yugi wasn't usually the one to snap suddenly at anything, much less his own friends. He panted heavily, glaring at not only Jounouchi but Honda and even Anzu too. "Your all acting like idiots!" He yelled. "Don't you see!? Yami isn't the monster! Whatever that thing was, was a monster!" Yugi drew his hand and pointed towards the street where the man once was killed. "That monster killed two innocent people!" He then pointed to the two corpses that still lied on the ground dead. "It was coming for us, Yami even told us to run! Yet we stood like morons and watched the whole thing!"

"Yugi..." He heard Yami whisper behind him.

"He protected us! If he didn't kill that monster, it would have killed us!" Yugi put his hands down to his sides and looked downwards, clenching his fists in rage. Anzu stepped from behind Honda and crossed her arms with an angry expression of her own, looking down at Yugi.

"So your saying what he did was right? Yugi, you and I both threw up not too long ago from that!" Anzu argued. Yugi whipped his head back up at her and scowled.

"I'm not saying it was right and I'm not saying it was wrong, Anzu." Yugi hissed. Honda stepped closer and began to clench his fists as well.

"Then what are you saying!?"

"That you're all acting ungrateful idiots!" Yugi screamed again. "So let me get this straight, you all would have rather died than let Yami help you? Yeah, that was freaking horrifying, and it was disgusting to the deepest core. But it doesn't excuse the fact that Yami saved all of our lives! And you're all just ignoring that fact just because Yami isn't normal like us! You're all judge mental and heartless!"

The three teens seriously could not believe that this was same Yugi they were talking to a few blocks ago. He never insulted anyone like this, and never acted so like this before. He never expressed his anger before. Jou made a rueful expression.

"Yug' but he still killed him-"

"It was a kill-or-be-killed situation Jounouchi!" Yugi yelled once again. He turned away and shook his head. "I don't know about you guys." He stepped towards Yami and grabbed his arm, pulling him close. "But just because you think Yami is a monster doesn't mean I'm going to let you take me away from him." Yugi held a scowl and a determined expression. "He's my friend. I don't care what anyone is, human or not. If someone tries to protect me in a life or death situation, I won't label them as monster."

Anzu, Jou and Honda all looked at eachother desperately. As if trying to figure out what to say in response. But instead, they were all silent. Nothing else to say or respond to.

~Yami~

Yami was shocked. More than shocked. He was amazed, actually. Yugi actually stood up for him. At first, Yami thought they all would have just insulted Yami and took Yugi away. And he thought Yugi would comply. But no, Yugi took a stand and actually defended him. He was hodling onto his arm in such a protective way, like he was willing to lash out if anyone dared to insult Yami again. Yami could almost smile. So this must have meant that Yugi trusted him more.

Yami could almost laugh at his friends' expressions. They looked so shameful now. Serves them right, ungrateful brats. Yami only protected them for Yugi's sake. If not, he would have let them die as well. Suddenly, Yami felt something wet drip on his forehead. He looked up, the sky was dark. Dark grey clouds covered the skies. He then felt a slight tug at his arm, and looked down. Yugi looked at him with tiresome eyes.

"I want to go home." He spoke so quietly, Yami could barely hear him. It was less than just a whisper. His voice sounded so drained, he might lost it. Yami quickly nodded and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Wait Yug'..." He heard Jou speak up. It was raining now, drizzling actually. It would become heavy soon. Yugi didn't look at him, only slightly lifted his head to his direction. "We're sorry." He said with a quiet tone. No one else said anything, the three other teens just looked at Yugi for an answer. Yugi just shook his head slightly and gave a small chuckle.

"I'm not the one who you should apologize to." He mumbled. "Unless your all too scared to apologize to Yami." He countered. Yami really could not contain his laughter much longer. He never thought Yugi, the little human would have such spunk and sass. It was adorable, but even more hilarious to see his friends' reactions. They all had their eyes wide in surprise from Yugi's sarcasm. Jou scratched the back of his head and looked at Honda and Anzu. Anzu cleared her throat and gave an apologetic smile, which Yami didn't buy at all.

"We're sorry for snapping at you Yami. We were just scared and didn't realize you were only trying to help. Please forgive us." She gave a quick bow and still kept that annoying smile. Yami rolled his eyes at them. He sneered as Honda scowled at Yami.

"Hey asshole, she said we apologize!" He yelled at Yami as he began to walk away with Yugi leaning on his shoulder.

"Just accept it Yami." He heard a tired Yugi groan.

Yami sighed and shrugged. He looked back at the three teens, still walking down the street. "Sure. Whatever. Apology accepted." He turned back and continued walking, leaving the three teens behind as the rain indeed got heavier.

"So, do you trust me now?" Yami asked, sitting on Yugi's bedroom bed. Once they got in, Yami expected Yugi's grandfather to be waiting for them with nothing but lectures and scolding for walking out of the house without notifying him. However, when they checked around the house, they saw that the old man was alseep in his room. This worried Yugi, thinking that his grandpa must have been sick or not feeling well. Now they were in his room, with Yami sitting on his bed once again, with Yugi sitting next to him with his hands folded in his lap.

Yugi turned to Yami with heavy eye lids. He looked like he needed a nap. "Well.." He started. "You saved not only my life, but my friends too. So, I guess I can now." He gave a lazy smile, making Yami smile slightly as well.

"I am glad. I need to unfortunately take my leave for now." Yami pushed himself off of the bed and and turned around to Yugi. Yugi made a sad expression and looked down at his hands.

"Okay. I understand." Yugi held a sad tone. Yami sighed. He didn't want to leave him like that. Yami walked closer to Yugi and put a hand on his knee, kneeling down to his eye level. He smiled at Yugi and patted his shoulder lightly.

"If you need me, you can still talk to me telepathically. I will still be able to hear you miles away." Yami saw Yugi's cheeks tint red as he caressed his face gently with his hand. "In fact, you may see me again tomorrow. I need you anyway, Yugi. When the time is right, I will find you again, and then you can help me. This is not our last goodbye. After all, you are my friend, yes?"

This made yugi's eyes twinkle a little. He quickly nodded and smiled once again. "Yeah."

"Good." Yami patted Yugi's head. He began to stare into his eyes, as Yugi stared back. Yami then leaned his head forward towards Yugi, still caressing his face, and pressed his lips on his. Yugi's eyes snapped open at this and panicked. Not knowing what to do. Yami calmed him down however, but rubbing his arm slowly for comfort. Yugi moaned in the kiss, and began to kiss back. Making their lips fit almost perfectly with each other. This kiss lasted for almost more than a minute, until Yami broke it. He didn't put the tongue inside this time, making it short. Yami licked his lips and kissed Yugi's cheek quickly.

"Perhaps you're something more." Yami confessed. His expression seemed confused. "I am not sure yet. But I do know this." Yami made another smile and stood back up on his feet. "I will protect you whenever harm comes your way again, Yugi. You can count on that. I will look for you again tomorrow. But until then.." Yami walked towards the door and stood in the door way. He gave a wink and smirked. "Rest now. I will be seeing you, Yugi." Yami turned and walked out of the room.

Leaving Yugi sitting his room, blushing like a girl.

END 8