What's your three favorite Yugioh-shipping's? Mine in order goes: Mobiumshipping, puzzleshipping, and liberashipping. I don't know, something about Yugi and Malik being together makes everything seem sexier. And yes, I'm talking about little Malik with the more natural hair, not Marik the insane one. I felt the need to share this with you! Anyways, on with the story!

After eating dinner at Yami's moms house, the two teenagers headed back home. They had been unusually quiet the whole time which worried Yami's mom quite a bit. She wondered if they had gotten into a fight earlier, after all, Yami did sound feisty on the phone.

But the kiss that almost happened wasn't the only thing that was bothering Yugi, and Yami could tell. He had lived with the smaller boy long enough to read his expressions and he would be sure to talk to the boy before going to bed. It wasn't long before they got home and decided to take showers. Yugi went in the upstairs bathroom while Yami went in the bottom bathroom. They both washed their hair with the same shampoo.

After they were done cleaning themselves they both wrapped towels around their waists and headed back to their rooms. Yami changed into his boxers and a tank top with some ankle socks on his feet because he knew his feet usually got cold during the night. He sorted out his hair and then took a shaky breath. Now was the time to talk to Yugi.

He soundlessly went down the hallway, towards the little one's room. He was nervous and it clearly showed on his face.

Knock. Knock. "Yugi? Can I please come in?" Yami asked gently.

He heard a thud and a low groan come from inside the room. "Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, you just startled me is all." Yugi said as he opened his door.

His hair was still wet and he only wore soft navy blue sleep pants. He obviously didn't have enough time to put on a shirt.

Yami tried so hard to keep his focus on Yugi's face, but him being shirtless was making it difficult. His eyes would quickly scan over Yugi's nice and soft chest, which he thought was beautiful, before bringing his gaze back to the color of the amethyst before him.

"Did you want something?" Yugi finally asked.

Yami sighed. "I think we should talk."

Yugi nodded and motioned Yami over to his bed. They both sat with their backs against the headboard. Both just played with their thumbs for a few seconds before Yami sighed again.

"Is… there something bothering you?" Yami asked.

Yugi stiffened beside him and he almost let out a pathetic choke.

"Y-yes…" he breathed in reply.

Yami took Yugi's hand into his own and gave it a little squeeze.

"Will you please tell me? I'm sure it would help to get it off your conscious."

Yugi was silent for a long time. He seemed to be having a hard time forming his words, but Yami waited patiently. He was going to get it out of his housemate one way or another.

"T-they died a long time ago…" Yugi began.

"Your parents?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded. "And my little brother, Heba." a few tears slid down his face which Yami immediately wiped away with his thumb.

"It's one of those deaths that would make the headline story of a newspaper. Only, it was broadcasted on T.V." he whispered.

"I was seven at the time. It was spring break and my family wanted to take me and my brother to the zoo. Heba, who was five, had never been before and he really loved animals. Oh Ra, I remember his thousands of stuffed animals that sat on his shelves, covered his floor, and rested on his bed. He was so excited and it made me excited too." Yugi smiled sadly.

"We went there Saturday morning. It was a nice day, but a very slow one. There wasn't a lot of people around since most people were on vacation. We decided to see the bigger animals first. So of course we went towards the back and looked at the gorillas, giraffes, and even rode on the elephants, which Heba loved…"

"But his favorite animal was the tiger. And we wanted to save that for last." Yugi then chuckled hollowly, almost evilly. "Oh how I wish we hadn't…"

"We did, though. We went to the tiger exhibit and watched them through a thick piece of glass. There was also a group of teenage boys who stood next to us. They teased the tigers by waving food at them and banging on the glass. The tigers paced back and forth in front of us angrily. They growled and pawed at the glass, scaring me and my mother."

"She wanted to leave, so we did. We started heading back through the brushes of plants and tree's that were along the path. At the end of it you could still see the tigers a bit in the distance. Except these tigers were in the tiger grotto. My dad and Heba watched them behind the high fence that was in front of us. I had to go to the bathroom so my mother took me to the closest bathroom we could find, which happened to be pretty far away. I did my business and we started to head back to my dad and brother."

Tears now started to trickle even faster down Yugi's soft cheeks. Yami wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulders and brought him close.

"W-when w-we came back… there were zookeepers everywhere… Four of them had tranquilizer guns. My mom and I went to see what happened…"

Yugi began to sob quite loudly, but still managed to talk with Yami being able to understand him.

"On the ground in front of all the keepers were the bloodied and ripped bodies of my dad and brother… a tiger laid motionless beside them. It was drugged and was quickly being taken away. Ra, there was blood everywhere. I had never seen so much blood in my life. The blood of my loved ones… My mother started crying in pure agony. She pushed the keepers aside and gathered the shredded bodies in her arms. I tried to get through as well, but the workers held me back and started to drag my mom away as well. I remember the way she screamed, it made my spine turn ice cold. And it all happened so fast, you know? It doesn't seem like you can be surrounded by the ones you love most and be completely happy with them one minute, and then in the snap of your fingers they can be gone. And then everything is sad and depressing."

"…The zookeepers said that the tiger climbed the wall… something provoked the tiger. The wall it climbed was supposed to be 18 feet tall. B-but it was only 12 feet."

He cried into Yami's shoulder. Yami was fighting tears of his own as he rubbed circles on Yugi's back.

"Those d-damn teenage boys are what threw the tiger over the edge… all their mocking and teasing…"

"I'm so sorry Yugi…" Yami choked. "That's beyond words of horrible… I can't believe it"

"Yeah, well, neither could my mother. After the burial's of my brother and dad… she went insane. It was just me and her at the time and I can still see her face as she held up a knife in front of my face. She told me that we should join them… We should be a family again and die with them. I didn't want to die… I didn't want to, so I ran away. I ran out the door and away from my insane mother."

Yugi now lay crumpled in Yami's lap. His whole body heaving with pain and memories.

"She was found dead the next day. And I've been living on my own since."

He let out a few loud wails which he tried to muffle by shoving the comforter to his mouth. Yami just held on to the boy, feeling cold. Yami was absolutely horrified. He had heard of a few accidents at zoo's. He just never thought that one of the accidents would have to deal with the boy in his arms who laid on him limply.

The only thing he could think of to do was to let Yugi know he was there. He held him close and whispered sweet nothings into his ear. He continued to do this until Yugi started to calm down. The boy was utterly exhausted from all the physical and emotional activity.

"Shh go to sleep…" Yami whispered.

Yugi obeyed and closed his eyes. Soon enough, both boy's were fast asleep in each others arms.

Me: "That story with the tiger is true. It actually did happen to a few teenage boys."

Jay: "That's really sad… plus you wrote it really crappy Spindle."

Me: "Well sorry I'm not good at hitting the emotional nerve."

Jay: "You hit my sleepy nerve."

Free: "Alright, now you know Yugi's sad little past. I bet you weren't expecting it though."