The Perfect Stranger The Revised Edition

by Princess Jadykins

Yami is a half vampire/ half human guy on the run from his vampire family, however once he meets Tea Gardner he risks the chance of falling in love, which places them both in grave danger. Warning: Lemons and disturbing plots! CHAPTER 21 FINALLY UP

17. Chapter 17

Hey Guys! I know, yes I know, okay let me finish…yes I know it's been a while…okay I totally – no you can't cut me…no, I need those…okay that's a little scary…mmmhmm? Yeah…alright…Yes, I know I'm sorry…I am I swear…can I just – please put that down – look can I just explain? Thank you!

Okay, so it's been…a while. Yes I am aware I suck, and I totally get why nobody's happy with me at the moment, but in my defence collage is not as easy as I thought it would be, plus I had to rewrite this chapter several times, thanks to several changes of mind, a computer malfunction (resulting in me having a mental breakdown as well) which wiped all my hard work clean – then I spent a few days sulking about it – and of course my all time worst enemy, writer's block. FORGIVE ME!

On a brighter note for those readers who are still with me, this chapter is going to have several surprising shockers in it, and some mysteries will finally be solved…oh and most importantly you're going to find out how Yami's doing.

And of course I'd like to thank all my wonderful reviewers (who totally don't want to kill me right?) you guys are still the best ever! And I hope you enjoy what I've got in store for you.

Disclaimer: If I did own anything Yu-Gi-Oh, I'd definitely never share Yami or Yugi. Just saying...

Rating: I'm not even going to comment.

AN: Please enjoy!

Chapter 17

The effects of the day were taking a toll on Yugi as he strolled down the steps of the apartment complex and made his way to the open parking lot, where Yami's Ferrari stood handsomely beneath a broken street lamp that had been stoned in the distant past and never repaired. He gazed up at it tiredly, able to see perfectly well without its light as he made his way round to the trunk of the sleek vehicle, opening it lazily as though he were conserving as much of his energy as he could. His eyes fell immediately on the only object it contained, a shiny, silver, portable freezer in which Yami kept his emergency supply of blood bags.

After deliberating for several seconds on how many he should take, Yugi reached in and grabbed three, deciding that he had had just about enough crap that day, to have as much as he liked of a good thing, and slammed the lid shut, before shoving the trunk closed and locking it, all in slow and tired motions that lacked their usual grace. He felt tired and drained and worst of all…worried, which was an emotion too close to human, for his liking.

He made his way back up the grungy looking steps that looked like they had been painted over several times in different shades of paint that were now peeling, and almost didn't want to touch the long door handles that let him in, afraid of what kind of dirt lingered on them, considering, with Tea as the only exception in his mind, on what kind of people lived there.

He looked down at what he was carrying, and decided it was best not to be seen, since he hadn't thought of bringing anything to hide it in, and immediately darted through the complex in a black blur that was too fast to be seen, stopping directly in front of Tea's door, and disappeared behind it before it clicked closed.

He immediately heard the light hissing of the shower still going, as Tea remained exactly where he left her, and if he listened closely enough he could hear the soft sighs of contempt that escaped her every few minutes as the water warmed her, easing the tension she'd developed from her share of the day's stresses. Earlier he had mischievously been tempted to turn on the cold water tap in the kitchen, as an innocent prank, but quickly realized how bad idea it was, a mere second before he found his finger tips lightly brush against the cold tap's, metal head.

Grinning at the temptation of trying it again, he made his way casually towards the kitchen nook and noticed the empty glass of sugar-water that he had forced Tea to sit down and drink before she took her shower in order to help control her shock, which instantly reminded him of his actual duty to her. Although a killjoy, he nodded in respect to the sobering fact, and proceeded to unload his grisly appearing packages upon the countertop, leaving one of them still in his hands, as he forced the idea out of his head. He shook the bag to stir up its contents, before making an air-bubbled space, which left him room to neatly puncture it with his fangs and lesson the risk of spillage, and then sucked up the delightful liquid it contained in several quick noiseless slurps, while the shower's delicate hiss continued to hum in the background.

He had just finished his meal, when several rapid thuds on the front door grabbed his attention.

Pizza's here!

He looked down at the empty bag in his hands that stubbornly held on to little speckles of blood, some of which was caught in the bag's grooves, as well as its large white, donor label, which was pasted predominantly on the front of it...not something that Yugi could or would want, to explain to an unsuspecting pizza delivery guy that he was moments away from opening the door to. With a small darkly amused chuckled he curled it up and tossed it into a nearby plastic trashcan, before speedily dashing over to the door in a black blur, and grabbed hold of the doorknob. He thought for a second about the appropriateness of answering it shirtless, but decided that he didn't care, and immediately thrust the door wide open, nearly giving his guest a heart attack before flashing him a creepy, overly cheerful smile. "Sup my man!"

The delivery boy wasn't older than seventeen, with a blemish free complexion, dark grey eyes and a mop of blonde hair that if brushed out would have reached the end of his neck. He also seemed vaguely familiar, but Yugi wasn't sure from where. He looked Yugi up and down as a light blush burnt on his pale cheeks, before he forced his uncomfortable and slightly embarrassed gaze away. "Uh, yeah, um hi!" he stuttered nervously as he shifted the contents his was carrying around nervously, briefly screening through the order on a notebook that he held in his free hand. "Uh, okay that is one pepperoni pizza, with extra cheese and mushrooms that is light on the garlic, one cola and…one…uh, one empty extra-large styrofoam cup?" he read it again with a frown to ensure that he hadn't read the order wrong, then turned to look at Yugi questioningly.

"I collect them," Yugi explained simply, with a cheerful smile as he handed the guy several dollar bills, who took them somewhat shyly, "Thanks."

"No problem man, uh…enjoy," the guy said, without meeting Yugi's eyes and quickly hurried away to deliver the next order, flashing one last backward glance in Yugi's direction before disappearing down the stairs…

Yugi raised an eyebrow, wondering what that had been all about, before shrugging and moving back into the apartment, using his foot to shut the door behind him. It wasn't like he had ever held any higher expectation of the normality of Domino City's locals, than the swamps of New Orleans voodoo-practicing inhabitants. He went straight back to the kitchen again, and placed the pizza onto the table, before throwing a quick glance in the bathroom's direction as the shower seemed to have come to an end. He could hear the scuffling of woolly fabric as Tea dried herself off…briefly pausing to remind himself to keep all perverted thoughts of his brother's girlfriend - if he had to call her that -at bay.

He moved on to quickly prepare his own meal, by squeezing out the blood from the remaining bags into the huge Styrofoam cup, that really was, thankfully, extra-large, and stuck an equally thick straw that came with it, into it. He had just thrown the empty bags away, when Tea walked out, still drying her hair with a pink fluffy towel.

"Your dinner's arrived," Yugi announced cheerfully, as he took a small sip of his drink, and was delighted when its delicious aroma also touched his taste-buds.

Tea glanced at him first, then at the table, and then back at him and smiled, "Thanks, it smells good too." She looked at the oversized cup in his hand and raised an eyebrow curiously with a tad bit of surprise, "Is that a giant milkshake?"

Yugi smirked and glanced down at it before returning his gaze back to hers, "Not exactly."

Tea continued to dry her hair and stared at him questioningly with a slight frown, "What is it then?"

Anyone else within the vampire category, Yugi realized, would have immediately given her an easily acceptable answer, such as for example…raspberry juice, but Yugi wasn't just 'anyone.' He grinned mischievously, before slowly holding it out to her in invitation, "Here, have a taste and see for yourself."

Trustingly, Tea reached out to take it from him, her curiosity greatly distracting her from common sense, but just before her fingertips touched its plastic surface, he pulled it out of reach and rolled his eyes. "No ways, Yami would kill me. Didn't anyone ever teach you, never to accept an open drink from a vampire before?"

Tea gave him a confused look before her eyes widened in horrific understanding, "Oh, is that…?"

Yugi grinned evilly and nodded his head, before taking another sip, "Yeah, hope you don't mind, but it'll prevent me from snacking on your neighbours." And you, he added mentally.

Tea cringed away as a shudder rippled through her body, and she instinctively closed in on herself as she felt something sick churn in her stomach, but good-naturedly, nodded her head all the same. "Not at all…though I wish you had said it was raspberry juice or something like that instead," she responded uncomfortably.

Yugi grinned knowingly, "You would never have believed that."

"Yeah, you're probably right…but still, urgh!" Still trembling slightly in disgust, she moved over to her pizza and grabbed a slice, hoping to take her mind off of what Yugi was drinking, while he made his way over to the living room and sat down on the floor in front of the couch before leaning back against it.

As she made her way over to join him with pizza in hand, her eyes inadvertently took in his form, automatically running over his bare skin that was tightly wrapped around a very muscular frame…and immediately halted in her step at her sudden registration that Yugi wasn't wearing a shirt, something that hadn't occurred to her before when her thoughts had been scattered in several thousand different places, and without realizing it she continued to stare at him, shamefully liking what she saw… When dating someone else, it was okay to look, but not touch right? …Somehow she knew that didn't apply when admiring her boyfriend's brother!

Yugi heard her heartbeat flutter slightly in its rhythm, and noted through his side vision that she was standing perfectly still, a short way away from him, staring at him intently.

"Is something wrong?" he asked without looking at her, as a tight grin played on his lips that he struggled to keep under control.

Tea blushed a deep shade of crimson and automatically tore her gaze away, feeling extremely embarrassed about being caught staring. "Um n-no, sorry, I didn't…I mean, I didn't mean to…Where is your shirt?"

Yugi managed to hold back an amused chuckle, as he flashed Tea a wide grin, "I returned it to its owner. Uh, it's not making you uncomfortable is it?"

Tea automatically looked him over again. He was wearing tight, black leather pants, with a silver studded belt, black biker boots and a thick, studded belt-choker around his neck…a style that complimented his muscular physique very, very nicely, reminding her too much of Yami. She continued to blush and immediately looked away. "No, not at all."

Yugi grinned at her, before turning back to take a sip of his drink, deciding that she'd been through too much that day to mess with her.

"Could you please take your collar off though…?" Tea requested softly, as she took a seat on the couch, refusing to give him anything more than a few quick glances.

He glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow, but she caught the slight look of reluctance in his eyes as he asked her, "Why?"

"It makes you look like a…please take it off?" she pleaded nervously without looking at him.

He looked down into his lap uncomfortably, seeming to be very thoughtful and hesitant as he reached up and slowly began unbuckling it, taking it off with an expression that seemed pained and almost…frightened? It was almost as though she had asked him to strip down into his birthday suit, as he held it in his hands and looked it over for a second, before placing it down beside him and continued to sip on his drink as though he needed something to distract himself. It was unlike anything Tea had ever seen in him before…

What Tea didn't know was that collar acted as something much more than just a cool accessory for him.

"Hey? Is that collar special?" she asked gently.

Yugi looked confused for a minute, before figuring out what she meant and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you could say that…got it off a rock band's lead guitarist while they were performing in Rhode Island a few months ago." There was something strange in his tone, but Tea couldn't place her finger on what.

"Oh, were you a fan?" she asked curiously.

"Nah, they were crap, but I loved their style…and their groupies," he grinned and winked at her, seeming to go back to his old self, much to her relief. She smiled back at him, before her eyes trailed down his bare neck, and by chance took note of an odd black mark on the back of it. On closer inspection she saw that it was a small tattoo of a sun.

"That's a strange tattoo for a vampire," Tea accidentally voiced aloud, and was a little alarmed when she saw Yugi's whole body tense, but he relaxed it almost just as quickly, making her wonder if she had just imagined it.

He turned his whole body around and rested his elbow on the couch, smirking mischievously at her with dangerous, fiery eyes that were highly amused. "Are you checking me out from behind Miss Gardner?"

Tea felt her face flame with embarrassment, "No I was just, I was just…Oh leave me alone!" She chuckled uncomfortably as she hit him with a nearby pillow, before slumping back into the couch and breathed in deeply to calm her nerves, feeling the weight of the day pull her down into exhaustion. She immediately began to wonder about Yami, and what he was doing right now wherever he was, but most of all worried if he was okay.

"You can look if you like, I don't mind," Yugi teased her, with an amused grin, "Notice anything different from a normal human's?"

At first she wanted to ignore his invitation and move straight on to finding out about Yami, but curiosity got the better of her and she once again - against better judgement - found herself observing him more closely, though this time he positioned himself in a way that gave her a better view of him…a much better view of him. There was definitely something about him that was different and somewhat strange, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly what, which was almost as though her eyes were seeing it clearly, but her mind was refusing to acknowledge it. Frowning she shook her head, "Okay, you've got me…I can see it, but can't, if that makes sense?"

"I guess in a weird way it does," Yugi grinned, before returning to the topic. "I've got more muscles than a human being - look," he stretched his arm out and she immediately understood what he was trying to tell her, which became more and more obvious when she knew what to look for. There were more bulges of individual muscle sets on his body in places which were flat on a human's, though they blended in well, and unless someone really took note and made comparisons, they'd never know the biological difference. "The benefits of being born a vampire," Yugi muttered in a sarcastic tone. "Yami's got the same muscle structure as I do, but they'll only really be visible like mine if he transforms. Next time you lovebirds 'get together' just feel around for them, and you'll see what I'm talking about."

Tea blushed shyly and brought the pillow she used to assault him with into her lap and sat cross-legged, deciding to change the topic quickly, "Don't you want to sit on the couch? It's much more comfortable."

Yugi shook his head, "Nah, comfort's overrated, and this pose makes me look way cooler." He had one leg arched up and another lying flat on the ground, with his elbow resting on his raised leg's knee, and was lying back against the couch lazily. He didn't look like he had a care in the world.

Tea grinned and shook her head, mouthing 'whatever' before turning serious. "Okay Yugi…I need answers now."

Yugi was taking a long sip of his blood at the time, and she literally felt him roll his eyes, more than see it. "Let's see…yes, no…to get to the other side-"

"Stop copying Twilight!" Tea growled as she hit him over the head, lightly with the pillow. "Though…I am surprised you remember that part, for someone that hated every minute of watching it," she admitted a little suspiciously, though impressed.

He muttered something unintelligible under his breath, and took another sip of his drink.

With a roll of her eyes, Tea shook her head, and went back on to something more important than figuring out how guys' minds worked. "You promised though," she reminded him, and folded her arms across the pillow that, "So tell me where Yami is?"

Yugi sighed and stopped drinking, before resting his head back and stared up at the ceiling. "I can't tell you Tea."

Tea narrowed her eyes and growled, "Why not?"

He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Because the less you know, the safer you and Yami are. Until he's fully recovered and can once again defend himself against 'bigger' threats, say the new vampires that seem to be crawling into town lately, Yami's location needs to be an absolute secret, and in case you are somehow used to obtain that information in some way, it's best you know next to nothing." Yugi reasoned with her gently in a neutral tone. "I don't want to frighten you…but our kind can detect when a human lies by listening to their heartbeat and we can also hear conversations very clearly from a long way away if we concentrate hard enough. I'm not saying you'll tell anyone, but you'd be surprised by the kinds of clues you can giveaway by just saying one or two things innocently."

Suddenly Tea saw and understood his point, and although she didn't like it, she grudgingly nodded her head and just accepted it, but her expression was that of defeat and most of all worry. She knew that Yami wasn't exactly human, but she couldn't help but be worried if he was in a safe enough place, with proper medical care facilities at hand. The last image she had of him was him lying in a gory, bloody mess, in so much pain and dying…and could not even comprehend how he could still be alive without having gone to a hospital first.

Yugi saw her expression and softened his, "But I can tell you that I know for a fact that he's safe… I safeguarded it myself after all, and it's the perfect environment for him to recover in as well. He may be M-I-A for a few days, but Yami's a fast healer, always has been, and the moment he's a little stronger, I promise I'll take you to him."

"Wait? A few days!" Tea's eyes widened in shock, "Why will it take that long? Aren't you guys supposed to heal like super fast?"

Yugi shook his head, crushing all her hopes, "Not from that kind of an injury, no. It's not like the movies Tea, even if I'm wounded in the chest and survive it, it'll take me a while to fully recover, and I'm a fully fledged vampire. Yami's progress at the moment is actually remarkable if nota miracle."

"Wait a second…you told me that he was going to be okay earlier today when I asked you, now you're making it sound like we almost lost him!" Tea questioned him suspiciously, to which Yugi suddenly tensed in guilty response to.

"Uh…well, um…Hey, look let's focus on the fact that he is alive and move on to more important matters-"

"I think that what I'm asking is very important Yugi!" Tea growled.

"Yeah, well what I'm about to ask is more important," Yugi claimed boldly, and flinched back slightly as he saw her enraged expression.

"Nothing is more important than knowing if Yami was hurt badly enough that he could have died today Yugi! Was he going to die today Yugi?"

Yugi held up his hands in surrender from a cowered-back position as Tea moved in on him, causing him to shrink further back, "No, Tea…of course he wasn't going to die, I was there the whole time remember, I'd never have let that happened." Of course there was something that he wasn't saying, which Tea immediately picked up on, but was either too tired emotionally and physically to press the issue further or quite simply didn't want to know any further than she did already.

Tea stared him down for several long seconds before falling back into her original position on the couch and stared at the floor thoughtfully, clawing her hands into fists at her sides, the pillow long forgotten on her lap. Yugi bounced back upright with his casual laidback expression that came naturally to him, and he took another swig of his blood-drink, before turning his own questions back on her. "What happened between you and Bakura today?"

"Nothing," she answered simply, without looking at him. "He was guiding me out the alley, because he said someone was coming after me…guess he was protecting-" Tea's eyes widened immediately; "He was protecting me from someone."

Yugi on the other hand didn't buy it. "Yeah right, I don't believe that for a second. He was playing with you Tea, its how our kind operates. There's no way in hell he'd give a damn if some prick was out to get you, he just wants you to think that so you'll trust him."

"But think about it Yugi, when he realised I was bleeding he took off because he was losing control over himself, why do that if he wanted to hurt me?" Tea argued.

Yugi sighed, "It's called working an angle Tea, he wants to get to Yami, but he knows Yami isn't stupid enough to trust or let him anywhere near him, so the only other way would be to manipulate his human blood- uh-" he faked a cough and fought back a wild grin, before continuing, "Girlfriend, by getting you to trust him and make you think that he's one of the good guys. I mean it's not like Yami could be any more obvious about caring so much for you, he may as well get it tattooed on his forehead."

"Yeah but – whoa, wait…" Tea paused in her argument as Yugi's last words played on her mind, and a tiny blush crept to her cheeks, "Yami…cares a lot for me? Really?" Although it should have being plainly obvious that he did, since he took a bullet to the chest for her and almost died to save her life…it became even more real to her, when an outsider pointed it out.

Yugi gave her a look that practically said, 'you're kidding me right?' before rolling his eyes. "I am so, never, falling in love!" he grumbled in annoyance, and Tea stuck out her tongue at him, before a curious thought occurred to her…"Yugi, can I ask you something?"

"Depends on if I can answer it," he glanced back at her expectantly.

"Is there something wrong with my blood?" she asked softly, not sure if she was asking the right question.

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't look surprised, "What?"

"It's just something that Ryou said earlier…something about it not smelling right," she briefly met his eyes before sheepishly turning them away, feeling embarrassed about asking him this for some reason that she had no way of understanding.

For a long while Yugi didn't answer, and eventually Tea grew very concerned. "What? Does it mean something? Is there something wrong with me?"

Yugi hid his thoughts well with a carefully masked expression and shrugged his shoulders, "I guess it just means that your blood smells different, duh, every human's does…Bakura's an idiot."

Tea rolled her eyes, slightly relieved and found herself lying back against the couch, feeling Yugi's eyes on her. She turned and saw him watching her, seeming thoughtful about something, and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Yugi realized that she was once again stressed, and decided to rather leave what he was really thinking about for another time and place, and instead move on to a much lighter topic, which he hoped would calm her down a little more. He grinned and rested his head on a closed fist. "Yami hasn't told you about our first drinking experience, has he?"

Tea, intrigued, shook her head, with a curious smile.

He smiled, "I forced him into that you know? Living on the wild side, doing things that were improper and dangerous…guess you could say that I was bad influence on him, getting him to do things that he would never have done on his own…and I did it on purpose too."

Tea raised an eyebrow, "You wanted him to get into trouble?"

Yugi grinned without humour and twirled his cup around, staring at it intently without really seeing it, "One should always govern himself Tea…being under someone else's control has very dangerous consequences."

Tea frowned and stared at him with a confused expression, not understanding what Yugi had meant, but the vampire soon manoeuvred his train of thought, seeming to immediately switch into his old mischievous self in the blink of an eye, which if she had thought about it more at the time, would have immediately picked up on a vital warning sign. He raised his body off the floor and sat beside her on the couch with a conspirator's look of glee. "Want to know what my brother's like after downing a whole bottle of Russian vodka?"

(A few minutes later)

Tea almost couldn't breathe from laughing so much and had to wipe away several stray tears that had formed in her eyes, as Yugi ended the story with a bowing gesture. He had been careful enough to skip the details involving Dendera seducing Yami, but he had mentioned his part about being knocked out by Seto, which she found particularly funny. "And then my dear, the morning after, when both Yami and I thought we were both dying of chronic brain cancer, our dearest cousin, as a severe form of punishment, forced us to do push-ups for three solid hours, and we had to do three thousand of them within each passing hour, or suffer a penalty round, while reciting the tomb's laws…evil miserable bastard. However, I still got a kick at seeing Yami, still high from the painkilling remedy he was given, on top of being hangover, trying to do a push-up while feeling as though the ground was crawling away from him…Ra that was a damn classic."

Tea laughed again, still trying to get the image of the crocodile scene out of her mind, only to be bombarded with the even funnier image of Yami being high and grasping onto the floor to prevent it from 'escaping' him. She eventually got herself under control, and smiled cheerfully at Yugi, "That has to be the funniest drunk story I have ever heard."

Yugi took a long sip from his cup and finished it, feeling much more refreshed now than he had in a long while. "Oh? You think that was funny, wait; let me tell you about the first time I experimented with shrooms."

Tea's eyes widened, as her mouth gaped open slightly with its corners still turned up into an amused smile, "Yugi…you didn't?"

Yugi winked as a mischievous grin formed over his lips. "I got bored one night, and bought it off a guy that worked at this shitty little motel I was staying at, just to see what it would do…and it didn't disappoint. To this day I still don't remember all the details, but I do know that for a while, it totally ruled!"

"You got bored?" Tea raised her eyebrow critically, as she pondered over his 'excuse'.

"The TV coughed its last channel and died." Yugi rolled his eyes, ending the discussion on 'why' before she - like so many females had a rather bad habit of doing - performed a psychiatric analysis on him, which would have in the end still boiled down to the fact that he had had too much time on his hands and decided to do something stupid. "So I went looking for something else to do and met up with this guy named Stan in the Laundromat. At first I didn't think it was going to have that much of an effect on me, because as vampires, our systems can tolerate heavy substances like that without too much of a problem, and may just give us a little bit of a buzz for enjoyment. So I did what any – regular idiot – would have done with a, high tolerance ability…I tripled the dose."

Tea's eyes widened in horror, "Yugi, isn't that really dangerous, especially if you've never had any before?" There had once been a girl that used to work at the club who had OD'd after doubling a coke-dose, without ever having tried it before. It still remained a fresh reminder in Tea's mind, even though it had been a year ago, of the dangers in using them. Still reminding her freshly of Chris…

Yugi narrowed his eyes disappointedly, "For you? Maybe, but I would have been extremely embarrassed to be the only vampire in existence that OD'd. So no, it's not dangerous – in a fatal aspect that is – but I can't quite say the same for my dignity. It started out with the slow, progressing sensation - that started downward from my mandible, down the back of my neck, then to my shoulders, and pretty much from there everywhere - of floating, which was kind of like a numbness that had an on and off light-weight feeling. After that, I started to hallucinate some really weird shit."

"Like what?" Tea asked curiously, with wide blue eyes.

"The uh, the dryer…started talking to me," Yugi answered quietly without meeting Tea's eyes.

Tea bit her bottom lip to hold back a grin, "The dryer, huh? Can you remember what it said?"

Yugi grinned more to himself, than to her, before slowly rolling his gaze to hers, and nodded his head thoughtfully. "The dryer was Catholic…so it basically got down to asking me to confess my sins to it."

Tea pulled the pillow up to cover her mouth as she choked on a chuckle, whereas Yugi smoothed his mouth over with his right hand, trying to keep his expression straight. "Yeah, that was weird. I believe my first words to it, when it started speaking was; 'Fuck me.' I also remember…" Yugi paused and grinned with a thoughtful look, as though whatever he was remembering was playing over in his mind like a short comical film. "I think I was trying to shut it up by stuffing the clothes I was wearing, into it…and then I stole a white shirt from someone else's laundry and walked around wearing it on my head like a turban, with nothing else on but boxers and of course my leather choker…randomly telling people I was the Hoo-Guru…"

Tea laughed, "The what, Yugi?"

Yugi waved her off with his eyes closed and a baffled frown, "To this day I still have no frikin idea what the hell that was or what I meant by it." He shook his head, "So yeah… I mean, I was so damn stoned that I couldn't even tell if the streetlights were stars or not. Another stoner confronted me about them somewhere along the line that night, and asked me what they were, and the only response I could give him, after carefully – meaning I had my head hung back and stared at them for at least ten minutes -observing them, was, 'Sorry man, I'm not from this country, I don't know.'"

Both he and Tea burst into a fit of laughter, before Tea wiped away a few rebellious strands of hair out of her eyes, and caught her breath back. "Do I dare ask what else you got up too?"

Yugi scratched the back of his head, and smiled sheepishly, "Uh well, I don't remember much after that…except, I remember having a fight with a stop street sign, before pulling it out the ground and riding it down the road like a witch on a broomstick while being chased by a phantom police force, which I thought were after me…that is until it clipped on a mailbox or something, and well…I don't think you'd need to be an expert on male anatomy to guess how badly that ended for me. I also remember fleeing the scene, for no apparent reason at all… Oh, and waking up the next morning in a trailer park, next to the scariest looking woman I've ever seen in all my existence…"

What Yugi didn't mention was that he woke up with several healed stab wounds all over his body, and wearing bloody underwear that definitely weren't his, as well as a healed gunshot wound at the back of his head. He also found a brown paper bag nearby that was filled to the top with his hair - that had obviously been shaved off and grew back immediately over night – and that the woman he had woken up next too, was drained of blood and dead. And as with the case of drinking Tea's spiked drink, Yugi had absolutely no recollection of what had happened, nor did he ever find the gun or knife that had been used on him.

Tea shook her head incredulously, "Yugi, please tell me that after that, you never did drugs ever again!"

Yugi sighed and shook his head in mocked defeat, "Tea…the day you wake up in a trailer park without any memory of how you got there, next to an unknown transvestite…it changes you."

Both he and Tea began to laugh, before eventually they found themselves breathless and somewhat tired. Tea, growing more comfortable of his presence, found herself nestling into him and resting her head on his bare shoulder. "Thanks…both of your stories, cheered me up a lot, and I really needed a good laugh after today. You sound like you've travelled a lot though."

Yugi found her closeness quite surprising, but reminded himself that Tea had yet to differentiate the real difference between him and a normal human being – and also had yet to truly get a glimpse of his kind to be all that wary of him, realizing with a start how quickly, things would soon change. However, he brushed off the invading thought and decided to savour the moment rather than ruin it, and went on to answer her question instead. "Yeah I've been around, what about you?"

Tea sighed an 'hm'imm,' before breathing in and out deeply, "I've never seen passed Domino City's borders…but there is one place that I've always wanted to see."

"Oh really, and where would that be?" Yugi asked her with genuine curiosity.

Tea blushed and smiled shyly, "Um…New York? It's kind of like my dream…"

"The Big Apple? Nice choice…you know, it's not really that far from here."

Tea nodded and smiled sadly, "I know…but I just never got the chance. Someday though, I will…"

Yugi looked down at her knowingly, "Why do I feel that there is more to this dream that is not being said?"

Tea laughed nervously, "Nah, I don't want to bore you."

Yugi cropped himself up slightly into a more comfortable position, while being careful not to disturb hers, and gave her his full attention, "I'm listening."

She bit her lip, before nervously lowering her gaze from his. "I um…wanted to be a principal in a ballet studio up there; it's been my dream career since I took my first ballet class, but um…lately I'm not sure if that's going to happen anymore or if that's even what I really want."

Yugi shot her a surprised look, "Why not?"

Tea shook her head wordlessly, with a shy smile.

Yugi's expression softened. "You should never give up on your dreams Tea…they're precious."

There was something about the way he said it that grabbed Tea's attention to a curious aspect that she had yet to even fully explore with Yami, and voiced the question on her mind, after giving it some thought. "Have you ever had any dreams Yugi?"

This time Tea was sure of it, as she saw the haunted and tormented look that moulded onto his handsome features, before he forced them away. "Yeah…but I had to give them up," he said lowly, before looking away from her.

"Hypocrite!" Tea accused playfully, but lost her smile when she saw how sad Yugi really looked. For some reason he had never seemed the type to ever look sad, or be sad, he just had that kind of personality. "Hey?" she said gently as she reached out and lightly touched his bare arm. "What sort of dreams did you have to give up?"

He gave her a very forced, reassuring smile, before shrugging and shaking his head. "Nothing major that I can't replace with others… Hey, you want to be a ballet dancer? Do you go to that prissy dancing school here?"

"It's not prissy…and well, yeah I'll be going to it soon." She wanted to get him to open up to her more about his dreams, but Yugi seemed to have already closed that discussion.

"That's nice…what other kinds of dancing does the place teach? Any ballroom stuff?"

"Pretty much everything goes over there," she said thoughtfully, "I know that they've just opened a few hip-hop workshops."

Yugi rolled his eyes and stretched, flexing his muscles as he did so, before trying to stifle a yawn. "I remember trying to sign Yami up for a belly-dancing class as a joke… but it didn't go well."

Tea chuckled, "You are so evil!"

He smirked, "You have no idea."

"Yugi?" Tea asked suddenly, to which he responded by looking at her questioningly. "Thanks for saving Yami today…and me too," she added softly, with a small grateful smile, "Even if I gave you hell for it."

Yugi flashed her, a genuine smile, "No problem Tea." He suddenly glanced up at the clock that she had hung up on her wall and realized with a start how late it was. "You should probably get some sleep…it's quite late for a human."

Tea glanced in the clock's direction as well and nodded her head in agreement. "Are you going to be comfortable on the couch?"

He nodded his head, "Yeah I'll be fine."

However, she was slightly alarmed when she saw him get up. "Where are you going?"

"It just occurred to me that my brother's incredibly expensive and prized Ferrari is sitting outside in the open, and no offence, but the neighbourhood has definitely not gained my trust as of yet…and yeah, Yami and his car…almost had to use a crowbar just to get him to give me the damn keys. I'm going to go and park it in a safe place quickly, don't worry I'll be right back." He walked over to her front door, and she watched curiously as he brought his thumb to his middle finger's tip, and sliced it open, allowing his blood to pool out in a dark, almost black river. Horrified she watched as he slowly began to use it to draw an Egyptian symbol on her door frame, with particular detail that made it looked almost as though he were using a fine paintbrush.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously with wide horrified eyes.

"Yami took you to the museum today right, to learn about our Egyptian heritage?" Yugi asked, as he added on additional detail.

"Y-Yeah?" she answered carefully.

"This here is the symbol for protection, which came from a break-off tribe of the Ancient Egyptian People that practiced magic, and was apparently wiped out before Cleopatra's reign, they were known as the Shadow People. It's most effective if drawn in vampire's blood … and basically what it does is that, it confuses vampire's sensory if they near the area, so if Bakura - or as you say, Ryou - shows up uninvited, he won't be able to detect your presence at all." He finished the last detail, before turning to look at her, with a serious expression. "So, do not leave the apartment…and since we now have human threats as well, I'm going to advise that you don't open the door, or let any strangers inside either. I'll be right back, don't go anywhere…oh, and don't rub my symbol off either – its harder than it looks to draw it." He joked, before opening the front door. "Switch off all the lights as well."

"Yes your Highness, is there anything else?" Tea joked sarcastically.

Yugi looked thoughtful for a moment, before an amused smirk curled up on his lips. "Yeah actually, by the time I get back I expect to see a fully made up royal couch setting, sprinkled with silky rose petals and tiny complimentary chocolates on the pillow…that'll be all for now."

Tea grinned, "Would his royal Highness prefer to sleep in the dog basket then?"

Yugi gave her a mocked salute of respect, "Plain couch it is then."

With that, he left the apartment and quietly shut the door behind him, leaving Tea all alone in it, which strangely, for the first time in a long while, felt completely safe. She smiled and began walking over to her bedroom, where she kept her spare bedding in her closet, briefly taking note of the empty space where Yugi had been sitting, and noticed that his black leather choker was missing…

---

The cold water felt like heavenly relief against his skin as he flung water up from the basin onto his face, rubbing his eyes particularly, which burned painfully. It was the third time that night he had thrown up, and quite frankly…he had had enough of it, as the pain alone was excruciating enough. He looked at his troubled reflexion in the mirror, cringing at his pale, sickly complexion that was lightly flushed, and didn't miss the dark, almost greenish bruising that look like coffee blotches around his eyes.

He moved in slow, jerky motions, careful to avoid moving his shoulders to much as it pulled the muscles in his chest, and made his way back to the bed that he had spent most of his evening on, writhing in pain. Luckily most of his internal injuries had healed by now, meaning that at least he wasn't losing anymore blood…but tissue fragments as well as his breastplate were starting to grow back, and in doing so, interfered with his other healing body functions, resulting in constant friction between them and therefore, ungodly pain, for several long hours. Not to mention the nausea that came with the healing process.

As he lay back, he plucked up the ice-cream dish that sat on the bedside table beside him, and hesitantly placed a spoonful of chocolate ice-cream into his mouth, ambitiously hoping that it would soothe the fire burning within his throat…which it didn't. He also had a raging headache that made it hard for him to concentrate on anything that required it, making his recovery not only a painful and long process, but an extremely boring one as well. He continued to spoon ice-cream down his throat, hoping that this time it would stay down, when his thoughts vaguely returned to their same and favourite obsession…Tea.

Ra he worried about her. If it was not bad enough that she was almost shot earlier, she was in the hands of his psychotic vampire brother that often had a problem with keeping his words filtered and his hands to himself, but Yami had no other choice, but to trust him...which made him feel even worse, now not knowing if that may have altered his judgement somehow for the worse. There were a lot of what ifs going on through his mind, and before Yami knew it, he had worried himself into such a state that he felt like throwing up all over again. He clutched the sides of his head and calmed his breathing, clenching his teeth tightly together as pain swirled within him, and lightly settled his nerves down…

He wanted to talk to her, he wanted to make sure she was okay; in fact he had to make sure she was okay, before he went insane.

He pictured her walking patiently alongside him earlier that day, listening intently on his lecture of ancient history, and suddenly felt more annoyed with himself for not having being more enthusiastic about it - for not having made it more interesting for her in a way that he knew he could have…little moments like that in life mattered, and his was nearly over without even realising it. However, the smiles, cute nods, and compliments she gave him throughout it all, brought a smile to his own lips, because despite his monotonic attitude, she still loved every second of it. Tea…

He had to tell her, but how?

There were so many things that they still had to talk about, but this one was the most important, and Yugi was right. She couldn't find out by accident from another source, it had to come from him, and somehow he didn't think she'd forgive him for keeping this from her as long as he had, though in all fairness it wasn't exactly a light subject that could just be brought up.

Once again the what-ifs plagued his mind, adding to his headache's intensity.

He had just discarded the ice-cream dish to the side, feeling too sick to continue eating it, when he heard the front door open downstairs and shut immediately after with a glassy rattle, and cocked an eyebrow. "Honey, I'm home!" Yugi's voice called up annoyingly, as he casually made his way up the modern, glass finished stairs that led up to the second floor. "Damn this place is big, did I mention that earlier? I can hear myself echo! Check! Echo'oooo, echo'oooo, ha-ha this is so fun!"

Yami sighed and shook his head, before cringing in pain. Yugi had indeed mentioned that earlier - several times in fact … - In fact it was the reason that it was so big that they spotted it in the first place. It was called the Light House, situated on top of a huge cliff that overlooked the ocean, and was completely secluded by a few acres of lush green garden that forcibly kept the nearby mansions at bay. Yugi spotted it immediately from the docks, and thus Yami, without any say in the matter, was carted off and placed in it, before he could even process what was happening, apparently renting it according to the owner, who after 'negotiating' with Yugi, happily wished Yami to get well soon and left him the keys, probably forgetting everything he saw the minute he walked out the door.

It wasn't such a bad place either, with upmarket finishes and design, such as an indoor heated pool and jacuzzi, stylish barroom, with sliding doors that lead out to a wooden-platform patio overlooking the beach, and a TV room that had the biggest flat-screen Yami had ever seen in his life, with a gaming console and collection that even managed to make Yugi envious. Yami knew that there was more to see, but he didn't have the energy nor had the want, to explore any further, as he laid in one of the four bedrooms that he had to choose from, on a bed that smelt the cleanest.

Yugi stuck his head in through the doorway, "Hey, hey bro…how you doing?"

Yami just glared at him wordlessly, which seemed to have the same effect. "Not good huh?" he then walked into the room, carrying his portable cooler, that he kept in the back of his car, with a small grin on his face. "Brought you some medicine, the best there is, restocked and ready to drink."

Yami eyed the box as Yugi placed it down beside him, and pulled out one of its bags and a champagne glass. "I thought that since you're living in such a classy place, I'd get you something classy to drink out of, here." Yugi tried to hand Yami the glass, but he seemed reluctant to take it. "Come on Yami, we've gone over this before, if you want to get better, you need to drink…"

Yami glared at the glass, forcing himself to refrain from taking it, deciding that he'd rather endure the pain than submit to his instincts, whereas Yugi just rolled his eyes. "Okay…let's try this again, drink the damn blood-"

"Or what? You'll force it down my throat?" Yami growled and then cringed in pain, as he accidentally tugged on a muscle surrounding the wounded area on his chest.

Yugi narrowed his eyes with a bored seeming expression, "Tempting, and it would be easy too, with you in this condition, but I was actually going to say – drink the damn blood and heal faster, so that you and Tea can see each other again."

That got a better reaction out of him, and Yugi smiled smugly as Yami grudgingly allowed defeat and swallowed the glass' contents down in one swift motion. He could already feel an improvement within five minutes, as the pain immediately began to subside, and the nausea almost completely disappeared.

"How's Tea?" he asked immediately with a healthier sounding voice, "Did she kick you out already? That's a whole five hours later than I predicted."

Yugi made an odd sound, and flipped him off, before rolling his eyes, "She's fine; I got her back safely and put a shield on the place, very concerned about you and not very happy about being left out the loop."

"Yeah I can imagine…so she's really okay? Ra I was so worried."

Yugi rolled his eyes again, "She was with me the whole time, what was there to be worried about?"

"There was not a word in that sentence that didn't raise my stress levels to critical," Yami grumbled roughly, as he elbowed his pillow into position, before slumping back against it.

"So how are you finding it here?" Yugi asked, while taking a seat at the foot of the bed.

"I'm bored most of the time, it's too quiet, and like you said, too big…and it's missing something," Yami complained grouchily, while Yugi nodded his head slowly in acknowledgement.

"In other words, you're lonely?" he summed up, quickly adding, "Or just full of shit?"

"You are the most, sorriest excuse for moral support ever Yugi," Yami muttered dryly.

"Good, because you aren't that much better as a patient," Yugi retorted, and then smiled, "But you're still my brother, so I'll tolerate you."

Yami snorted and rolled his eyes, before reluctantly grabbing another bag from the cooler, catching sight of Yugi watching him smugly, and growled lowly, "I'm doing it for Tea."

Yugi nodded, "I know - I'm smiling about it, because I think I've just found your weakness for future feedings."

Yami shot him a warning glare while taking a long chug of his drink.

"I'm guessing Tea doesn't know yet?" Yugi stated more than asked, as he lay back down on the bed and folded his arms behind his head.

Yami drank the last of the blood, and held the empty glass in his hands, staring at it intently, but without actually seeing it. "Well, I didn't exactly get much of an opportunity to," he mumbled under his breath, but even he heard the evident lie in it.

However, surprisingly, Yugi didn't get into it and seemed to just accept his response, which was very unlike him, and made Yami incredibly suspicious. "Let's discuss our wannabe assassin, got any, any idea at all, why he'd want to use you for target practice?"

Yami sighed, "Yeah, a lot more than I'd care to know actually, and apparently you two have been acquainted before in the past…he was one of the guys that you beat up at the club, one of James' goons."

Realization dawned on Yugi, "Of course! Why didn't that ever occur to me before?"

"James did threaten Tea about owning the backstreets, guess he made good on his promise," Yami sighed, now more worried than ever on what the moron would try next.

"Well that's a threat he's going to live to regret, for fucks sakes what is he, a scrawny little soiled sock-puppet godfather of the Domino Mafia? This place is already a fucking joke, now we've got a whole bunch of clowns - acting as the Ra damn Adams Family swishing guns around, under the order of the biggest asshole in the world, with an IQ score that could compete with the temperature fluctuation in the South Pole - after us! Have I also mentioned, Bakura?"

"And Tea's stalker," Yami added, without thinking.

"Back up, what? What stalker Yami?" Yugi asked suddenly alarmed.

Yami opened his mouth, then closed it and shook his head, "Do you remember that guy you said was always hanging around her, before her suicide attempt?"

Yugi's eyes widened, as he had actually completely forgotten about both incidents, and slowly nodded, "Yeah, I remember him."

"Well he…hey, wait a second, how did you know that?" Yami narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his younger twin, and realized something else as well, "And in fact…how did you know where she lived?" It had never occurred to Yami before, but that night Lamia had first showed up, Yugi had rocked up at Tea's house, even though Yami had never mentioned where she lived before. Yugi had known things about Tea, even before he did.

Yugi gave Yami a sheepish grin and bobbed his head, seeming to desperately grasp around for explanations, "Uh…the phone book?"

Yami glared at him, "Start talking."

Yugi flinched back from his brother's murderous glare, "You're scary for a wounded and slowly recovering patient…but anyway, for your first question, I often saw him around the club where she worked at, because I was often there myself, hunting…"

"Yugi the full story, not the shit-bits," Yami growled threateningly.

"Okay, okay…just don't get pissed off alright?" Yugi sighed, and waited for Yami to give some sign of acknowledgement before he continued. "I got here a week before you did, waiting for you, and often hung out at the club, hunting for fresh meat so to speak, and of course I saw Tea regularly – don't worry I never hunted her," Yugi added quickly, as his brother's eyes narrowed dangerously into angry slits. "Just saw her around, don't think she ever saw me though, but anyway, long story short, there was this one night that I roped in a girl from that neighbourhood, I think it could have been just a block from hers, but I couldn't wait that long, so I just pulled her into that same alley we were in on 'said-night' and yeah, I don't think you want to know the rest…"

A look from Yami confirmed it.

Yugi nodded with a small, put on grin, "So yeah, I looked up and saw Tea on her way home, and just three minutes later saw her 'stalker' follow close behind, but the way he was doing it was like an amateur spy, ducking and diving around like an idiot so he wouldn't be seen. It had entertaining potential, so I went to check it out, and that's how I found out where she lived. Then after that night, I saw him occasionally around the club in all the dark corners, but didn't really take all that much interest, it was kind of like just taking note of someone you saw around, if you get what I mean…and of course when you started taking an interest in her, I did too, so I went over that way a few times, and every time I did, I noticed that creep lurking around in the shadows."

"And somehow, it never occurred to you that she was being stalked?" Yami growled irritably.

"Well honestly, it only clicked now when I really thought about it…" Yugi answered in a low voice, desperately trying not to provoke his older twin negatively, who still needed to recover from his injuries.

Yami grew thoughtful as he took it all in, not really happy with Yugi, but deciding to let the past go, and instead focussed his concern on another more ominous problem that was slowly starting brew into place. "Damn it…when last did you see him?"

Yugi breathed out a sigh of relief soundlessly; glad Yami had let him somewhat off the hook. "Honestly, not since that night in the alley, but I'll admit I haven't really thought about him since or particularly looked out for him."

"I don't like this…" Yami muttered irritably as he picked at the bandage around his chest. "Damn it, I've got to get out here, she could be in danger right now!"

"Yami calm down for Ra's sake, you're being ridiculous…again! Sure, I get that you want to protect your girl, but right now, you need to focus on recovering first…unless of course, you've changed your mind?"

Yami glared at him, and slightly bared his fangs, "No, I haven't and I certainly never will."

Yugi held up his hands, "Okay, forget Tea for a second, and let's talk about this-"

"Let's not," Yami stopped him using a dangerous, warning tone.

Yugi shook his head, "No, let's. Yami, you know what will happen if you don't…and just think how much better you could protect Tea-"

"By becoming a killer?" Yami asked sarcastically with a piercing, venomous glare.

"We prefer the term vampire." Yugi's smartass retort nearly earned him a punch right between the eyes, but Yami managed to restrain himself, after reminding himself of how badly injured he still was. "Look, I don't know if you've noticed, but lately there are a lot of new fangs making their way into this area, and Bakura might even be making more for all we know-"

Yami lay back with a growl, "Yeah and let me guess what you're going to say next – if I want to keep her safe, I need to be stronger, right? Is that how you do things now Yugi? Are you going to use Tea against me?"

Yugi's gaze turned dangerously serious, without even the slightest trace of amusement. "No, as much as I like her Yami, it's not her safety I'm concerned about, it's yours."

Yami whipped his gaze to Yugi sharply, as his younger twin went on, "Bakura is not after her, he's after you, and you know that. You know what kind of world we come from Yami, you've lived in it for nineteen years, and now we're on our own. We need to be stronger…you need to be stronger. It's either that, or…we're going to have to start making more-"

"No!" Yami gasped in horror.

Yugi held up his hands once again to calm his brother down, "Look…you know what I'm saying right? We can't afford to be vulnerable."

"Is that why you turned?" Yami asked him unexpectedly with a cool gaze that was just short of a condemning glare.

Yugi returned his gaze with an even colder one, "Why I turned, Yami…is none of your damn business." The temperature in the room suddenly turned icy, and Yami admittedly felt a chill dart up his spine, as Yugi slowly, but gracefully, climbed off the bed, his movements every bit that of a skilled hunter, soundless and flawless.

Yami frowned, but said nothing, as he watched Yugi closely.

"I better go back to my bodyguard duties," he said, before turning around to leave, but Yami stopped him abruptly before he could walk away.

"What are you so scared of Yugi?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Yugi turned and stared at him through a small frown, "What do you mean Yami?"

Yami stared at him thoughtfully for a few seconds, "Whenever I've brought it up, there's always been an emotion in your eyes that up until now I haven't been able to place…fear. So tell me Yugi, what are you afraid of?"

Yugi glared at Yami, baring his fangs slightly, "Nothing…"

Yami cocked an eyebrow, "Nothing?"

A sly, but still ice-cold look glazed over Yugi's wide ruby eyes, "Tell you what Yami, the day you decide to turn, I'll tell you anything you want to know, no exceptions…but until then…" his eyes blinked a dismissal with a cocky smirk spread over his lips. "Sleep well big brother, I'll drop by tomorrow night again to see how you're doing." As he turned to leave, Yami stopped him once again.

"What happened to you before I got shot? And don't tell me 'nothing' Yugi, because you looked sick."

Yugi bit his bottom lip, without turning to face Yami, before breaking into a small, humourless smile, "What the hell did you expect Yami, I haven't slept for three days, or had a decent meal, not to mention my nocturnal schedule is fucked up...so what the hell do you want me to tell you?"

Yami went quiet for a while, seeming to process this over in his mind silently. Yugi listened to the steady beat of his brother's heart, which was comforting in its own way, but didn't give away any clues to his trail of thought. "Fine…" he said at last, but Yugi picked up on the blank space that came after that one word, aware that this discussion had been dropped for now, and saved for another time in the future. "Just two more things before you leave."

Yugi rolled his eyes before turning around, and leaned against the doorframe, his posture slouchy and lazy, "What?"

"Where the hell, is your shirt?" he asked in a slow, but extremely strained voice.

Yugi's lips twitched into an almost-grin. "My shirt?"

"Yes, pray tell, why you aren't wearing one, I'm dying to know," Yami muttered sarcastically, while still glaring at Yugi's half naked form.

"Because darling Lamia has shredded them all, and yours that I borrowed was soaked with blood," Yugi shrugged, wondering what everyone else's problem was.

Yami's eyes widened in shock, "You mean you've been hanging around Tea this whole time without a shirt on!"

Yugi shrugged again, "Yeah, so?"

Yami glared darkly at Yugi, as he gritted his teeth irritably, "I swear that if I felt half, even a fraction, better, I'd get up and fucking kill you!"

"What's the big deal? You're not jealous are you? I mean for Ra's sake Yami, you're more ripped than I am," Yugi rolled his eyes.

Yami blushed lightly at being, partly, caught out, before shaking it off firmly. "It's not that you idiot, you just don't do that! Where the hell are your fucking manners and the social skills?"

Yugi cocked an eyebrow, "I've been more than shirtless around a lot of girls Yami, and they all didn't seem to mind…in fact as I can recall, they're usually the ones that take it off me."

Yami growled an exasperated sigh, "I don't give a shit what you do around other girls; I care about what you do around mine!"

"Because you're jealous?" Yugi smirked. "Or, a little insecure?"

"No…because…oh fuck, Yugi just put on a damn shirt before you go back there, okay?" Yami grumbled before reaching over and grabbing another blood bag from the cooler.

"Whatever," Yugi grumbled back. "What's the second thing?"

"Keep Tea in her apartment tomorrow, if James thinks that I'm out of the way I'm sure he'll be on the lookout for her next."

Yugi cringed and shot Yami a comically tragic look, "Oh dear Ra, again? Haven't I kept enough females under house arrest for a while?"

Yami actually laughed this time, which broke some of the tension between them, "I'm sure this time will be much easier. By the way, how is Lamia doing?"

Yugi's hand automatically stretched up to the left side of his cheek, "Um…I guess she's coping…in her own way."

Yami noticed where Yugi's hand was, and cocked an eyebrow in sneaky suspicion, but didn't voice it. Instead, he tore open the pack of blood, meeting Yugi's eyes, before rolling his, as if to say 'piss off,' and began squeezing out the blood into his glass. "You should have one of these before you go back," he suggested.

Yugi shook his head, "Nah, I had mine back at her place."

Yami paused as he registered Yugi's words…before slowly looking up from his drink. "You drank blood in front her?"

Yugi nodded, not seeing what the big deal about it was.

Yami gaped his mouth open in horror, "Yugi you fucking idiot, what the hell is wrong with you? I mean, w-what…why? WHY?"

"Relax; it was in a styrofoam cup."

"Did she know?"

Yugi nodded his head, "She asked."

Yami slumped back against the pillows that were propped up against his back, with an incredulous expression, "So you just told her, just like that? Why didn't you just say it was fucking raspberry juice?"

"Come on, that's every vampire's excuse, how much more obvious could I have been? And besides Yami, I'm a vampire, Tea already knows I drink blood, so what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that I have a fucking moron looking after my girlfriend! Yugi, she's a human being for Ra's sake, a race that is not accustomed to drinking blood as easily as they would drink a soda!" Yami stressed, through clenched teeth, before wincing in pain.

"Um Yami I don't know how to tell you this, but have you ever heard of the Bite Club?" Yugi asked with an odd, knowing sparkle in his eyes.

"The what?" Yami asked, with a disinterested expression, not really wanting an answer.

"It's an underground organisation that Goth humans make use of to dress up like freaks, indulge in hardcore sex games, and drink each other's blood. I went to one of their events once, it was actually quite pleasant, but they eventually freaked me out."

Yami narrowed his eyes into a squint with his lips parted into a disgusted snarl. Yugi didn't need mind-reading to tell what his brother was thinking, 'why would humans do that?' But he soon held up his hands as if to say, no more and shook his head. "W-whatever, my point is, just don't do stuff like that around her, ever."

Yugi rolled his eyes, "Yes Dad, whatever you say. Look I better go now, before she starts to get worried, I did say I was going to be right back and oh – I brought your car back, it's parked in the indoor carport – Man I love this place! Oh, and here's your keys," he flung the set at Yami, who jerked too quickly to catch it, and immediately felt a sharp stabbing pain in his chest, and gasped hollowly. "Oops, sorry about that." He wasn't. "I'll see you tomorrow night again, okay?"

He left before he could hear Yami's whispered threats and curses as he struggled for pain relief, and made his way down the grand corridor towards the glassy stairway, making his way down them soundlessly, taking in his surroundings with awe and fascination, before slipping out the front door into the coolness of the night. He sped forward as an invisible haze, and ended up passing three blocks in less than ten seconds, before casually walking down the street, his senses alert for any signs of danger -

Thud!

He fell backwards and landed hard on the tarred road, staring up at an incredibly pale figure that loomed over him with a very unimpressed and pissed off expression. Yugi's mouth gaped open in surprise as his eyes met solid black and angry ones, and almost recoiled beneath them. "I hate you!" Lamia hissed, slapping back a long wave of silky white hair with the back of her hand, just lightly brushing past her waxy skinned cheek.

Yugi stared at her for several seconds before recovering, and leapt to his feet in one graceful motion that almost look as though he had levitated upright. "Wow that's something I haven't heard from you before," he spat sarcastically as he brushed himself off, a little unnerved that he had once again failed to sense her approach. "But humour me – what have I done this time?"

"I was waiting for you, for six hours, and you never showed up! You told me to wait for you, so I did, and then you never showed up!" she growled angrily, punching him in the shoulder hard with a motion so quick he had barely seen it, but he sure as hell felt it.

"Uh! What the fuck La-"

She punched him again for swearing, then spun around on her heels and stormed off down the road, though her speed was relatively that of a fast-walking human's than a vampire's.

"Lamia!" Yugi growled through clenched teeth, before hurrying to keep up with her, cursing lightly under his breath. "Stop for just a damn second okay! I had shi-stuff I had to do, so I'm sorry about leaving you alone in the apartment all by yourself-"

"And not calling to tell me about it!" Lamia added huffily, stopping in her tracks to throw him a murderous glare, before shoving her arms crossed around her chest, and stamping her foot on the crusting tar impatiently.

Yugi bit his tongue and breathed in deeply to compose himself, "Yeah…and not calling too, I'm sorry. Tomorrow we'll go out again, and I'll teach you how to use your vampire abilities, okay?"

Lamia glared at him, and Yugi could have sworn that he saw her pout as well, "Why can't we tonight?"

Yugi shoved his hands into his leather jacket's pockets, "Because I have somewhere I need to be right now, we'll do it tomorrow night."

Lamia narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, "Where?"

Yugi inwardly sighed in frustration, "That's none of-"

"You leave me alone in some horrible, dirty apartment and tell me to stay there until you come back, which you were obviously never going to do, and then cancel our plans to be somewhere else, and expect me to be cool with it? I did exactly what you told me to, and you can't even tell me why you're blowing me off? Forget it!" Lamia huffed and continued storming off down the street like a vamp on a mission, until Yugi stepped into her path.

"Okay, fine. I'm staying over at a girl's place tonight…for reason's which I'll explain to you in due-"

"What? Are you serious?" Lamia yelled angrily, briefly flashing her fangs. "A girl, you're blowing me off for another girl?"

Yugi held up his hands defensively, "Whoa wait, it's not like that! She's-"

Lamia covered her ears childishly, and shook her head violently, "I don't want to hear it, you're a liar! Liar, liar, liar!"

Yugi backed up slightly and raised his eyebrows. The girl was crazy. "Lamia, just listen to me damn it!"

"Why should I?" she screamed, using both her hands to shove him back, non-to-gently. "You obviously don't care about me!"

What was her first clue? He wondered, before shaking his head and trying to compose himself, remembering that they needed Lamia…for some reason. "Lamia…I'm looking after Yami's girlfriend tonight…come on, even I have standards. And before you ask why, I can't tell you now, I'll fill you in later…so please, we'll do it tomorrow."

A strange look of calm came over Lamia, as she lowered her shoulders into a more relaxed line and seemed to visibly regain her old 'normal' composure. "Oh…so you're not feeding tonight?"

Yugi found her immediate switch of mood quite unnerving, and was caught off guard by her question. There were two types of feeding that vampires did, one was where they simply drank a human's blood to satisfy their hunger, but the one that he suspected Lamia was asking about, was a sexual feeding where they satisfied both physical needs. "Um…no."

Lamia cocked an eyebrow at him, as a light, gentle breeze, ruffled her silky, white strands, "Don't you need to?"

Yugi gave her a confused look, "What do you mean?"

Lamia rolled her eyes, "Oh please don't give me that, you've reeked of sexual frustration since I've met you, and your mood swings and odd cravings are dead giveaways too, please, where does a vampire eat sour jellybeans or any of that other human junk that you've got stored away in that shelf. Come on! Ryou used to be a pain too, when he went through it…" her voice trailed off as a haunted look formed in her dark eyes, and Yugi would have given anything at that moment to have had Yami's gift, to see what was going on through her head, because what he saw in her eyes, was a pain and fear so raw that he knew whatever it was that she was reliving, cut deep within her. "But whatever…Just make sure you don't ditch me again tomorrow you jerk."

"Whoa wait a sec! I'm not-" Yugi tried to defend himself, but she immediately interrupted him.

"Yes Yugi, you are, don't even try to deny it."

"B-but," damn it, she was much more observant than he had realized.

She waved him off and continued down the road casually, before stopping suddenly and turned back to him, "Hey…are you okay though?"

Sill annoyed that she had busted him with a rather embarrassing secret, Yugi straightened up, and glared at her, "Why the fuck wouldn't I be?"

She immediately narrowed her eyes into a venomous glare, "You're absolutely right, why I even bothered to ask, I'll never know!" She instantly dashed away at an incredible speed, wanting to be as far away from him as she possibly could. He was such a waste of creation, an arrogant jerk that she had never liked from the start…but that wasn't exactly true, which she always found herself admitting soon after thinking such things about him. There had once been a time where she had had a totally different opinion of him…not that he'd ever know that.

She rounded the corner of a dilapidating building and felt all her strength leave her body as she slumped down into a huddled position and buried her face in her arms, allowing the world's darkness to close in around her, and shield her body from sight.

Yugi had watched her form disappear into the night, and sighed tiredly. He didn't like that she was able to notice things about him that he had being able to hide, even from Yami, which made him extremely uncomfortable - and not because it was a powerful skill that could be used against him in terms of finding his weak points of attacks - but because she had the potential to unravel the only secret he couldn't let Yami know about just yet. The bitch complicated things, and he had no idea what to do about it.

Other than that though, she was right about the sexual frustration… Rebecca had been the last girl he'd touched, and for a vampire that was a very long time ago. He realised that he may have held the record for his kind in managing to refrain this long from sex, but quickly remembered his cousin Seto, which he still didn't know if he was a virgin or not, gay or straight, and decided that perhaps he had come a close second instead. Yami didn't count, because his hormones weren't nearly as uncontrollable as a fully fledged vamp's, and he also didn't count because his older twin was just one of those kinds of people that were put on earth to naturally suck – no pun intended – and make everyone else look really bad.

Sighing, he turned and started walking in Tea's direction, hoping that she hadn't had a panic attack yet on his unknown whereabouts – seems as she was quite prone to them - and prayed more than anything, that she had already fallen asleep. In his opinion, a sleeping female…was the best kind of female.

---

His hands ached from being clenched into tight fists for too long, but he had been greatly angered by the sight of the same man he had seen hang, shamelessly, around his daughter, leave her apartment building once again, which was becoming quite a norm for the arrogant little bastard. Tea's father growled in rage, as he watched the prick, casually stroll to his expensive, shiny black car, like he owned the whole damn world, and drove off into the night, like a man who had got what he came for…and Tea had obviously given him the whole damn package. "Fuck that little slut!"

He slammed his hand flat against the alley wall beside him, and clawed it downward until it reached his side. He gritted his teeth together loudly, breathing in rapid breaths as his blood boiled through his veins. She had been a very, very naughty girl while he'd been away, completely forgetting that her body belonged to him and him alone. He made her, and he was the one with the right to claim her, not the weird, leather clad prick that thought he could just take her from him. No one took what belonged to him, no one!

He stalked off across the road toward the apartment building, and stealthily made his way up the different floor levels, with wild, insane blue eyes, that Tea had inherited from him. Each step brought on a new sense of excitement and sexual agony. Oh what it would be like her hold her down beneath him again, to see those startled and pleading eyes, filled with agonizing pain, look up at him while he rammed into her, crying out as he forced his way through her tight space. He sighed, remembering that Tea had always been so unusually tight.

He finally reached her floor, and slowly made his way to the door, gently laying a hand against it, and planting his forehead against its rough wood. He could hear her strutting around and moving things, which sounded like fabric, and immediately felt his body tense in rage. The boy had fucked his possession! He had to sum up all the will power of the universe to muster enough strength to hold back a punch that he had planned to throw at the door, reminding himself that it wasn't time yet…

He bit his lip that had curled into a delighted smirk, and pulled himself away from the door, hungering lustfully for her body, but refraining himself from taking it just yet. He walked backwards towards the next flight of stairs, and threw one more look at his daughter's door, before making his way up to the next floor above her own…to his own apartment.

She had no idea that he lived directly above her, or that he had been watching her very closely for a long, long time. At first he had planned to drill in spy holes from his apartment into hers, so that he could keep a better watch on her every movement, but architectural factors, which were surprisingly quite advanced for such a dump, made that impossible.

His apartment was relatively the same size as hers, but if anyone had stepped through his door for the first time, they would have immediately recognized it as that of psychopath's. The atmosphere of the room was cold and heavy, with an odd unrecognizable scent that although not putrid or sour, would have made anyone sick to their stomach. Every piece of furniture he owned was carefully and neatly placed, just like everything else in his apartment, which was chillingly clean and well organized, in such a way that one would fear to even move something slightly in case it sent him into a wild frenzy of rage. However, it was the contents on his coffee table and pictures on his walls that gave a clear picture of the type of man who lived here.

There were pictures of Tea everywhere, all without her eyes and mouth, which decorated the full space of the side wall, like one huge, fleshy collage. On the table however, he had a variety of different objects that he had collected in preparation for the final stage of his plan. One was a small flick knife that had an ancient, almost sacrificial charm to its appearance, with the carving of a cobra engraved on its handle. He had seen it in the window of a dodgy pawn shop in Amsterdam during his travels. All his plans had centred on that very knife, for what he planned to be the most memorable reunion his daughter would ever have.

But first, he needed to get rid of the little fucker who had dared to place a claim on her. The kid was much scrawnier than he had at first thought, and for some reason appeared shorter as well, but Mr. Gardener didn't care, because size and physique meant nothing to a dead body. He ripped his black trench coat off his body and flung it over a hook behind the door, once again irritated about the boy's interest in his property, his daughter. He was about to lash out and punch the already dented wall, which had been assaulted many times before, but stopped just in time as an idea occurred to him.

An insane and deeply disturbing smirk, curled onto his lips as a maniac light, lit up his blue eyes. No, he wouldn't just kill the boy, as that would be a mercy killing, and Tea wouldn't be punished for her sins against him. No, killing the boy would be easy on them both, and he couldn't allow that…Tea needed to be reminded who was God in her life. No, he'd make her watch him kill the boy, he'd make her watch him torture and strip the kid to pieces before finally complying with her wish, and only her wish, to mercifully end him. That would show her who was boss, and it most certainly would show the fucker who had dared to touch his possession, who was God in this world. And after that, he would fuck her…he'd make her scream in unholy pain, for days on end, until he had fully decided on what to do with her...maybe even kill her.

Yes, Tea would suffer…just like his sister.

Thinking about his sibling brought about a sharp and unimaginable pain to his chest, and he buckled down under what seemed to be the weight of the universe. He could still smell the dark blood on his hands, even though it had been scrubbed off twenty years ago. His darling older sister, who he had especially named his own daughter after, in her honour, was long dead and buried in a ditch on the family farm, reported missing, but never found. Everyone else suspected that she had run off on a drug escapade with her fucked up loser boyfriend that often looked like he'd crawled out a trash heap and just threw on a leather jacket and shoes. Mr. Gardner however, knew better.

'Georgie' was what she used to call him, which was a fond pet name that only she was allowed to use. They were three years apart, but they got on like twins, each knowing the other so well that they often didn't even need words to communicate, which was vital for their survival in the house that they grew up in. Their father was a mad drunk, who came from a long line of alcoholics, and their mother wasn't that much better at holding back her drink either, only she was born without a backbone and wouldn't have stood up against her own shadow if it loomed over her. She was pathetic and stupid, which is why when her husband started beating them and raped their daughter, she turned a blind eye and kept downing the bottle of Jack she hid behind the bookcase, letting it happen because it was easier for her that way.

But he never hurt his sister Tea, oh no. Georgie was there for her, whenever she needed him to be, and he was anything she wanted him to be too. A brother for family functions, a best friend to tell all her secrets to when she had to get them out her system, a playmate for all the games she wanted to play…and eventually when he was ten, a lover and sex partner…and he fell in love with her.

He ground his teeth together as the painful memories of his past came back to haunt him, and bulldozed his way to the kitchen where he ripped out a bottle of gin, and downed a huge gulp of its fiery substance. "Fuck Tea!" he roared angrily, as tears stung in his eyes. "Fuck her to hell!" He hiccupped and took another swig of his drink, before stumbling his way through the house, desperately trying to block the memories of his sister. "I have my own Tea now! Mine! All fucking mine! Nobody else's you fucking cocksucking bitch! Mine! Mi-hi-nnne…" he wailed as he slid down the wall that sat opposite to the one with the collage. "Sh-he's mine," he sobbed, covering his eyes with a rigid hand. "She's all fucking mine!"

---

Seto turned off the shower and grabbed a white towel from its hook, before wrapping it around his waist and shook the water out his hair with a few swipes of his right hand, as he made his way over to the marble sink, wearing a slightly more relaxed look on his face, but his annoyance was still evident. That had been a very long trip that he was not looking forward to taking again, but knew it was inevitable. He irritably cleared the misted mirror, with one irritable swipe, and stared at the reflection of his glowering face, before wiggling his eyebrows at it, and then grabbed another towel off the hook beside it and started to dry himself off.

He listened in, to all the sounds that were made around him, forcing himself to ignore the Ra awful racket that the freezer made in the kitchen on the far side of the building, as well as his worse technological enemy as of late, the frikin pool pump that sounded like a drunk snoring underwater. A human probably, would never have noticed it, but regardless of how much he lowered his sensory focuses, his sensitive hearing was still much more, sharper than a human's…and it was driving him crazy.

He slid into a pair of comfortable black slacks, before rolling his shoulders back, trying to loosen his aching muscles that had been tightly clenched together in the tight and constricted space of the coffin he had travelled in. He rubbed the towel over his hair and made his way through the bathroom door and into the bedroom, which was styled in a way that would have satisfied a spoilt prince, making it hard to believe that it was once a basement.

He had just made it to the edge of the bed, when he heard light footsteps make their way down the stairs and towards his door, in a rushed, but quiet pace. It wasn't too long after that he heard a polite knock at his door.

"Since when do you knock?" he asked in a lazy, unfazed tone, as he continued to dry his hair.

The door jolted open and in walked a young woman, with long elbow-length black hair and a pair of dazzling blue eyes that mimicked his, carrying a silver tray that held a large crystal jar, filled with blood, and an empty wineglass. His candle-lit room, did wonders with bringing out her honey-tanned Egyptian complexion, which seemed to glow darkly beneath it, and her silky white night-robe, also complimented her hour glass figure wonderfully…but the dangerous and all too familiar angry spark in her eyes, was the only thing Seto took notice of as she stood tensely in his doorway, hands clawed around the tray's handles.

"Why is the museum's curator in the ICU?" she hissed through clenched teeth, obviously trying to control her voice, and temper.

He simply stared at her, still unfazed as he dried his hair, and shrugged without answering.

She lowered her head with tightly shut eyes and ground her teeth together, now clenching her hands into solid fists, before taking a deep – supposedly calming – breath, and began her 'lecture' in a very low and calm voice that Seto found to be the equivalent of a cat sharpening its nails on a chalkboard. "Sire, if you're going to go around killing people could you please at least complete the job? That woman was no ordinary citizen, she is highly respected in her field of work, and an incident like this could really have caused us problems, particularly you, if I hadn't gotten to her first, at least now they think that she suffered a mental breakdown and tried to commit suicide, as I was able to wipe most of her memory, regarding you, clean…but I won't be able to all the time! My shadow-powers are weak here, so far from home…so please be more considerate next time." She walked over to the small dining setting that she had set up for him earlier that day, and gently placed the tray down on the table.

If any other slave had spoken that way to a vampire, they would have been immediately killed on sight, however Seto just rolled his eyes and grunted an incoherent response as he flung the wet towel onto the bed, to which she sighed in an irritated response to. "You are going to make the bed damp that way!" she muttered before snagging the towel off the silky bedspreads and shot him an exasperated glare. "Honestly, men! Thank the gods for the creation of women!"

Seto uncharacteristically smirked, "Indeed."

Ishizu disappeared into the bathroom and returned several seconds later carrying an armload of discarded clothes as well as the other wet towel in her arms, while Seto casually searched for a shirt to wear. "Wear the black one," she advised as she walked hurriedly passed him.

Seto shrugged and pulled out the same shirt she had suggested, before turning to look at her retreating form, taking note for the first time that she was wearing the golden hairclip he had given her, with the eye of Ra. He heard her hurry up the creaking stairs and make her way to a room above him, before he heard something been flung in a hollow object, which he assumed was a laundry basket, and then heard her make her way back.

He rolled the shirt over his head, while making his way over to the desk on the other side of the room, stepping through a soft lake of carpet that felt like cotton wool beneath his bare feet. There was work that needed to be done, regardless of how tired he was. The time zone difference was also killing him, as it felt like his days were that of a constant state of night, and his body was still functioning on Egyptian time. He heard Ishizu return, and had just managed to sit down, pull out the Domino City map, and find their area of location, when she walked in through the door for the second time that night.

She walked over to him soundlessly and quietly neatened some of the stray papers that fluttered untidily around the empty space of his desk, before turning to address him. "I've already sent for any information regarding Prince Atem's whereabouts, we should have them at the latest in three days. However, Domino City isn't nearly as big as most, in fact I'd rather call it a large town more than anything else, so it shouldn't be too easy for him to hide."

"I'm not so sure of that, but I do appreciate your efforts, thank you Ishizu." Seto often spoke kindly to her, though there was never a moment quite so much that she heard warmth in his voice, as he had now, clearly slipping away from his stony, cold authority figure when drained with exhaustion, but Ishizu knew better than anyone to think too much of it, because Seto, would never be fond of anyone or anything, other than peace and absolutequiet in solitude.

She reached into the pocket of her night-robe and pulled out a silver device, and gently held it out to him, "I replaced your Nintendo's batteries for you."

He side-glanced at it with an almost wary and resentful glare, like she had handed him something that spontaneously bit people.

Understanding immediately – an ability, which was something she had developed after serving him diligently for most of her twenty-three years of life – she found herself grinning in amusement. "Played it too much, eh?" she said, while stifling a small snicker, "I understand. I shall order you a newer model with new games before our trip back home. Would you also like me to replace you're romance novel with a Playboy magazine – I'm sure that the addition of visuals will you keep you more entertained…" she knew that she was looking for trouble with that last suggestion, but she just couldn't help it, though she grew slightly nervous when his whole body tensed.

Vampires didn't really blush, or at least Seto didn't, but she didn't need to see the light rosy burn on his cheeks, to know how he felt, as he didn't turn to look at her.

"Aren't you a little young to know of such things?" he asked quietly, as he returned his focus to the map in front of him, only half-paying attention to her.

Ishizu rolled her eyes, childishly annoyed, "Sire, I'll remind you that I am twenty-three now."

Seto whipped his gaze to hers a little astonished, "Really?"

Ishizu narrowed her eyes at him with a 'oh come on!' expression.

He leaned back against his chair with a small smile on his lips, "My…time has surely escaped me. I still remember the days when you were just short of teenage-hood. Forgive me." He turned back to his work and continued looking for something that he only knew of, while Ishizu felt her face blush with slight embarrassment.

"Have you thought of me a child up until now?" she muttered lowly under her breath, taking deep offence.

Seto sighed tiredly, "Ishizu, to me you're still a child."

Ishizu bit her bottom lip before one very nasty retort left her lips, remembering her place, before closing her eyes, and composing herself. "Is there anything else that you require Sire?"

Seto shook his head without turning to look at her, totally engrossed with the information he was reading off the map. Ishizu shifted uncomfortably as she looked back towards the direction of the stairs that led up to the top floor of the mansion she had rented for the duration of their stay in Domino. "Um…Sire?"

Without looking up at her, he mumbled, "Hmm?"

"Um…would you mind if I read down here with you for a little while? This place is so big and lonely to be alone in…" she expected an immediate rejection from him, like he had been known to do with almost any personal request made to him by her family that too, had served him for many generations. If it didn't benefit him in some way, he didn't allow it - that was it. However, exhausted Vampire Seto was full of surprises.

"Of course, make yourself comfortable," he answered softly, and began to circle certain locations with a red permanent marker, his attention and focus clearly elsewhere.

Ishizu raised an eyebrow wondrously before shrugging slightly and made her way to the soft velvet loveseat, and did indeed make herself comfortable, by propping up a pillow behind her back, and pulled out a book that she had left there earlier by mistake on the table beside it, before opening it to a page just short of the half-way mark. She grinned at its title, wondering what Seto would have thought if he had seen her reading it, 'Bram Stoker's Count Dracula.'

An hour went past silently, and before she knew it sleep had consumed her. Seto who had been working non stop, by mapping out the city with strategic intelligence, heard her breathing deepen behind him, and turned around in his chair, to catch sight of her deep in sleep. He then glanced over to his bed, before using his telekinetic ability to lift one of its velvety blankets spread over it, up into the air, and drifted it over to the other side of the room where she lay, before wrapping it around her sleeping form, aware that she had the right idea and that it was time to call it a night.

He looked back once more at the map, that was decorated with red, blue and green marker lines and circles, and decided that in three days, he would find Yami…and so help him, when he did.

---

Lamia strolled down the deserted streets, making her way back 'home,' and glanced around her for any signs of danger. She heard footsteps following close behind her, and knew she was being pursued, but didn't care. Ever since Bakura had changed her she didn't need to fear any human threat, as to her threats, meant free lunch.

She looked down at her clothes, which were still bloodied and torn from fighting off Yugi when he held her captive, and suddenly she felt a little self-conscious. She needed to get new clothes…

She heard her pursuer running towards her from behind, and sighed. She had already predicted all his moves and wasn't surprised when he got right up against her back, and swung an arm around her neck, pressing a cold, sharp knife against her neck, while reaching to grab hold of her right arm. "If you scream I'll fucking cut ya!" he spat warningly into her ear, as he tried to yank her arm back, but it wouldn't budge. He grunted as he tried to force it back, but she still wouldn't give, and remained absolutely statue-still...

Usually she played with them, and allowed them to think that they had the upper hand, but tonight her confrontation with Yugi had sucked all the play, out of her.

He grunted before shoving his weight further on her and whispered menacingly in her ear, "Now be a good little girl and come with me, or I'll slit your throat."

"Try," she encouraged darkly in a low, emotionless voice, still not making a single move to thrown him off her.

"What'cha say you little bitch?" he hissed angrily and pressed the knife deeper into her skin.

"Don't swear," she muttered lowly, her voice still devoid of all emotion, "I don't like it."

She felt him tense in astonishment before rage rippled through him, "You little fuck- Ah"

She elbowed him hard with one fluid motion that didn't at all affect the rest of her body - which had remained upright and solid - as though her arm was separate from the rest of it. She heard a loud crack as something inside him broke, before hearing his body thump loudly to the ground, and loud whimpers of pain escaped his lips. She turned around on him slowly and took note of his features, which she could see clearly in the dark. Her first impression of him was a low-life loser, with a bald, tattooed head and a scruffy five-o-clock shadow that looked like it was been grown to cover a scar on his left cheek. However, what surprised her, was that his clothes smelt and looked very clean, for their surroundings and circumstances. He glared at her with dark hostile eyes and bared his teeth angrily, "You fucking little whore!"

Oh no, he didn't…

'Bitch,' she could handle, but not that word. That word was the vilest and ugliest of them all, and only the slimiest of men would ever dare call a woman that. She flashed over to him with an inhuman speed that startled the man beneath her, as he jerked out the way with a frightened, wimpy cry of a coward.

"Call me that again…" she challenged darkly as she reached down and grabbed him around the neck. "Say it!" she flung him sideways against the wall, high enough that by the time he hit the plaster, he was in a standing up position before she flashed forward, and grabbed hold of him again. She grinned at him maniacally, baring her fangs, "Silly boy, never hunt the hunter! Didn't mommy ever teach you that?" She laughed insanely and tightened her grip around his throat, before loosening it and letting him fall away from her, covering her eyes and steeping back away from him.

Her body trembled as several different and confusing emotions swirled within her. The thug however took advantage of the situation, and dove into her holding out his knife. He imbedded the sharp blade just below her belly button, and thrust into her, but he was in for an awful surprise when all she did was hiss in pain. Unlike his previous victim, she didn't double over or even sway on her feet, but remained stationary as though she's been hit with a pillow and not brutally stabbed.

She instantly back-handed him, and sent him sprawling across the ground, before ripping the knife out her gut, and glaring at him angrily, while holding the bloodied weapon stiffly at her side. That was highly unnecessary…

"Idiot!" she screamed angrily before violently flinging it at him. The knife bounced off the side of his head hard enough to make him cry out in pain, though luckily he was only hit with its blunt side and not its sharp point. His hand immediately lifted to where the knife had assaulted him, covering it from her view, which made her even angrier. She rushed at him and powerfully lifted him up by the neck yet again, before forcing his body against the wall hard enough to crack the plaster behind him. "Weakling!" she hissed at him angrily, before giving his body a quick shake, "You hide your face from me and cry about a little blow to the side of your head? And you call yourself a man!" She pulled him a little way away from the wall before shoving him back into it hard, winding him slightly. "How do you think I handled it, huh? How do you think I handled it!"

The man began to sob breathlessly in pain, "Please, please! What do you want? What do you want, I'll give you anything!"

Lamia bit back a growl and flung her free hand against the wall, right beside his neck, hard enough to explode right through the plaster. She breathed heavily into his ear, dangerously on the verge of feral growling. "I – want – your – jacket!" she spat each word venomously, and within seconds, the thug had stripped it off his shoulders and held it out to her at his side.

"It's yours!" he vowed with wide and frightened eyes.

Lamia glared into his, her eyes merciless and almost evil-seeming with hollow blackness, before snapping her arm out and grabbing it away from him harshly. "Don't run…" she warned threateningly, as she released her grip around his neck, and took a small step back.

He didn't listen, and immediately tried to make a break for it, but Lamia instantly caught him around the scuff of his shirt and flung him back into the wall hard. His legs buckled beneath him on impact, and he slid to the floor, staring wide-eyed and frightened, up at her, as she glared down at him murderously. "Are you deaf or stupid? I said don't run, what's the matter with you?" She huffed angrily as she lifted the jacket up to her gaze, and inspected it. It was a clean-smelling black leather jacket, with a simple design, but good quality nonetheless.

She quickly shrugged into it, and found it to be two-sizes too big for her, before zipping it up, happy that it covered most of her damaged clothes, while still giving her, a similar style to Yugi's. She smoothed the jacket's front over, before looking back at thug, who was still cowardly, crouched against the wall, looking up at her with frightened almost pleading eyes. "What do you think?" she asked him enquiringly, before giving him a small, twirl on her heels.

The thug trembled slightly, almost too afraid to answer, "It…it…it uh, looks…looks great...m-much better than it…than it did on m-me."

Lamia smiled at him, before her eyes caught sight of the discarded flick knife that was still caked with her dark, almost black blood. "I want that knife too."

The thug only dared to move his gaze over to it, while keeping the rest of his body perfectly still. "T-the knife, w-wa-why?"

Lamia breathed in and out deeply, "To castrate this jerk I know."

The thug's eyes widened, "Uh…a-alright."

Lamia bent down and plucked it up from the ground, flicking it slightly from side to side in her hand, before turning back to him. "Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked him unexpectedly.

The thug nodded his head hesitantly, still fearful of her, and convinced that she was crazy.

"Do you treat her well? Hmm? Do you call her when you're going to be late? Do you call her when you can't make it? Do you cheat on her with other girls?"

The thug felt a cold sweat break out from the base of his neck, and his heart jolted into a rapid beat. "I uh, I uh, I…"

Lamia frowned and glared at him darkly. "You're all the same!" she spat angrily, clenching the knife-bearing hand into an iron tight fist. "Do you know what I am you filth?"

Terrified, the thug shook his head violently, trying to crawl back into the wall that he was leaning against.

"I…" she paused, before glaring at him murderously, "Am your worst nightmare! The avenging angel of women everywhere! You know the story of Adam and Eve right? I'm Eve's best friend, you little insignificant cockroach…I'll let you live tonight, on the condition that you go straight back to your girlfriend and do ever single little thing she asks you to do…do you understand me? And if you don't…if you hurt her, or mistreat her, I'll know about it! Do you understand me? I'll know about it! And I'll hunt you down…I'll hunt you down and remove your testicles, so you'll know exactly what it's like to be 'ball-less' and have to constantly submit under you arrogant bastards. Do you understand me? She's everything to you now, got it? Good…now get out of here!"

Without needing to be told twice, the thug nodded his head fearfully, and continued to bob it up and down as he scrambled off the floor and fled down the road, disappearing into the night faster than a bullet could fly. Lamia watched after him with a raised eyebrow, wondering what his problem was, before shrugging it off, and hiding the knife away in one of her new jacket's front pockets. She shook her right hand free of its oversized sleeve, and punched her shoulder hard, before wincing in pain. That was for swearing…

After throwing one more glance at the thug's retreating form, Lamia began on her way home, suddenly in a much better mood than she had been in all evening…

---

Yugi entered the apartment quietly, and slowly closed the door with a light click, before stepping over to the living room, partly confident that Tea was asleep, when a light flared on above him. "Where've you been?"

Busted!

Yugi's shoulders slumped in defeat and his mouth twitched, before he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, and slowly turned around to face her. "Hey Tea, are you still up?"

She had her back leant up against the doorframe of her bedroom, with her arms folded across her chest, and blue eyes both suspicious and annoyed, glaring at him from across the room. "What does it look like? I've been up worrying about you!"

Yugi smiled, overly cheerful upon hearing her words, "You were worried about me Tea?"

Tea narrowed her eyes at him, "Of course I was worried about you! You've been gone for nearly an hour, where'd you park Yami's car, on the other side of the city or something? I thought you said you'd be right back."

Yugi sighed and straightened up, chewing on the inside of his bottom lip as he contemplated on how to go about explaining everything he needed to, briefly wondering where he could find chains if he needed them. "I uh, went back to check on Yami."

Her expression immediately lit up, "Really? How is he? Is he okay? Can I see him yet?"

Yugi nodded, "Yeah he's fine…um…Tea, look."

She immediately became alarmed at his lowered, almost regretful, tone, and her eyes widened with worry, but she didn't interrupt him, unable to voice her fears in preparation for the worst.

"Yami wants you to stay in with me tomorrow, where you'll be safe…I can't go out into the sun, so I won't be able to protect you anyway else…you totally understand right?"

Unfortunately not…

"What?"

Yugi cringed at her shrill tone, his immediate thought being, 'here is comes.'

"I can't just stay in the whole day, what about work? I've already missed enough of it, and it's a wonder how I haven't been fired yet! No! I can't do that, I'm sorry," Tea shook her head stubbornly and immediately went on before Yugi had a chance to open his mouth. "Shootings happen all the time in Domino, just like everywhere else in the world. Things aren't any different now than they had been before you guys arrived, and as much as I love Yami, I can't just hide from the world every time my life is in danger, I'm not that kind of girl! I'm going to work tomorrow and that's final!"

Yugi cringed yet again at the high pitch in her voice, before wetting his lips, and giving her a small, nervous seeming grin, "Uh yeah, I totally see your point and where you're coming from Tea…but you see, here's the big picture, okay? This wasn't a random shooting, this was personal…and there may be more of these still to come, okay? Now visualize this – you going to work – me and Yami MIA – second killer jumps out and shoots you – you die – and I have to explain to Yami why…now I don't want to Tea, but I'd rather face your bitching than explain to him why I let his beautiful girlfriend, that he risked his own life to protect, die on my watch, so If you're going to make this difficult then I'm going to have to force you to stay…do we connect here?" He motioned a back and forth motion with his hands, smiling nervously as her eyes darkened.

"What do you mean it was personal?" she asked him with a concerned frown, "Do you know who shot him?"

"I uh…" Yugi scratched the back of his head nervously, not quite sure if he had made a wise move by telling her this, "Well, your wannabe assassin today, was hired by that guy, James."

Tea's eyes widened in horror, "N-no…no!"

Yugi raised an eyebrow, "You don't think so?" Tea looked close to tears, which alarmed him immediately. "Hey, Tea, what's wrong?"

"Oh my god…it's all my fault. James warned me he would, but I didn't listen!" she burst into tears, and shuddered violently, falling back against the wall as she covered her eyes with both hands. "It's all, my fault!"

Yugi gripped her gently around the shoulders and held her up, giving her a gentle shake. "Tea, hey! Listen to me, it is not your fault, don't even think it! This is all James' fault and he will pay for it… Mark my words, he will." There was an unnatural darkness about the way he had said that last part, in a voice almost too low for Tea to hear, but he didn't give her time to ponder over it as he took her into his arms and hugged her. "He wants you Tea, but Yami will never hand you over to anyone or anything without a fight, and if James wants to try, he can…but he'll lose. You just have to trust him."

Tea hesitantly hugged Yugi back and buried her face into the crook of his neck, sobbing quietly. "I do trust him, but I don't want to be the reason he gets hurt!"

Yugi hushed her with a low whispery voice and stroked the back of her head, gently entwining his fingers between a few of her chocolate strands. "Tea…" he didn't know what to say, without sounding too sappy and utterly fake, so he decided to rather leave this one for Yami to deal with, who was a natural at the art of consoling. "Look, today's been a really stressful and hard day. Let's both get some sleep, and tomorrow…I'll take you to see Yami."

Tea's head whipped up, and she gently pushed Yugi away to look at him, with wide partly excited eyes that were also a tad bit suspicious. "You'd really take me to see Yami tomorrow?"

Yugi nodded, "Look, it's totally a bribe okay; I'm not going to lie about that. So if you stay in here with me tomorrow, without giving me any hassles, I'll gladly reunite you two lovebirds."

Tea blinked her eyes disbelievingly, "B-but what about… Y-you said that I couldn't until Yami was better, because I might let something slip-"

Yugi held up a hand to stop her, "Yeah I know what I said, but I've figured out a way to do it without risking either of your safeties. That is, if you trust me."

Tea frowned thoughtfully, before lifting her gaze to meet his, "You've never given me a reason not to trust you Yugi…so of course I do."

Shows how much she knew, Yugi realized, before smiling back at her. "Good, so do we have a deal?"

As realization dawned on what Yugi had offered her, excitement grew wildly within Tea, and she nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yes!"

Yugi nodded and then pointed to her room, "Go get some sleep. Yami will kill me if I don't bring you to him in peak condition."

Tea sighed and rolled her eyes, "Goodnight Yugi."

"Night Tea, don't let the bed bugs bite…I can think of better places to donate your blood to." He winked at her.

Tea, flinched one eye closed slightly and stared at him with a mocked look of wariness, "Yugi, I swear, if I wake up and find you biting me tonight, I'll shove a stake right up your ass!"

Yugi raised both eyebrows and nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah…wouldn't want that now would I? But you don't have to worry about that Tea; you're perfectly safe with me."

"Hmm, I wonder about that," Tea mumbled under her breath as she stepped backwards into her room, and was about to turn around and walk back to her bed, when an odd, random thought came to her. "Hey, Yugi? Can I ask you something totally weird?"

Yugi shrugged, "Sure go ahead."

Tea stared at him thoughtfully for several seconds, pondering over her question, before meeting his gaze with a curious one. "What's it like being bitten by a vampire?"

Yugi raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Want me to bite you so that you can find out?"

Tea gasped and instinctively took a step back, shaking her head, to which he chuckled in amusement to. "Relax Tea, I wouldn't ever do that to you…I value my existence." He rolled his eyes before continuing, "It depends."

"On what exactly?" Tea asked curiously, unconsciously raising a hand to stroke the side of her neck where she'd imagine being bitten.

"Well, on where you're bitten…if our fangs bite into certain pressure points, you can actually experience quite an orgasmic thrill, which by the way is the safest way to be bitten by a vampire, because it produces the least blood, and the endorphins that are pumped into your blood during that scenario, manipulate the taste, so to prevent us from going into a wild frenzy, which sometimes happens. Otherwise it's pretty much just as you'd expect any foreign, sharp object being plunged into your body…painful."

Still interested Tea asked yet another curious question, "You're kind actually pumps endorphins into people when you bite them? How does that work?"

Yugi shrugged, "I don't know, it's just something that 'is' without that much of a real explanation, what we use it for though, is generally to enhance sexual pleasure, because when in that state we also reap the sexual satisfaction in the same way a human does…but the endorphins can be used for something else as well…you see, if a human is bitten that way by the same vampire enough times, it mates them."

Tea gave him a confused look, "What does that mean?"

"It's a physical bond that ties a human to a vampire permanently, which disables other vampires from feeding off them, or even touching them really…it's kind of like a natural 'hands-off' warning that affects our sensory-systems."

Tea stood staring at him quite flabbergasted, unable to think of a single thing to say, "That's um…wow, quite something."

Yugi raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Do you have anymore questions you'd like me to answer, or are we done?"

Tea immediately shook her head, "No, no, I was just curious about that one, thanks. Um, night Yugi."

"Night Tea," Yugi grinned as she disappeared into her room, before shaking his head. Humans.

He walked over to the couch, and smiled when he saw two silver-wrapped sweets, placed neatly on his pillow. Glancing to the side, he also saw that she had blocked her windows out with newspaper and cardboard, before hanging up new, dark drapes, to block out the sun. He had not expected that, and was quite impressed, briefly wishing he had noticed sooner so that he could have thanked her before she went to bed.

Slumping down on the couch, he unwrapped one of the sweets and slipped it into his mouth, before resting his head back and stared up at the ceiling. Finally in three days he could get some sleep - his sensitive hearing picked up on heavy breathing and panting, as well as pleasurable moans of ecstasy and loudly whispered dirty talk, exchanged by lovers from one of the apartments next door, as they got hot and heavy in a moment of passion – and suddenly realized he had spoken too soon. Feeling as though he wanted to cry, he flung a pillow over his head, and whimpered tragically beneath it, as passion increased, noisily, between the lovers, reminding him too closely of what he was missing.

'It's official…the universe hates me!'he grumbled.

---

Ryou stood from a ledge that shared its space with a horrific appearing horned gargoyle, and watched a young female climb into the bed of her hotel room. She seemed to note that her curtains were still open, but was too tired to care, and immediately killed the lights, plunging her world into darkness. He watched her face closely as it slowly softened from its tense expression to a peaceful one, falling easily into sleep.

What fascinates you about this human, Ryou?' The mental voice of Bakura hissed with curious interest.

"What do you mean?" Ryou answered absently, as he kept watch over the sleeping human, whose black spiky cut hair seemed to spread out around her head like a dark halo, illuminated brightly with crimson highlights.

"Humph…I don't understand why you've wasted three nights watching her from a lover's angle, when I've seen absolutely no use for her, other than draining her dry. Do you really want to test 'His' patience? We have little time already on our hands to waste!"

Ryou rolled his eyes, "I'm aware of that already Bakura, and if you must know, I am fascinated by her warrior's spirit. The girl is much stronger than most humans, and her skilled ability to fight, surpasses even that of our Ancient Egyptian warriors, which in all, I find incredible."

'Do you wish to turn her then?'

Ryou's eyes widened in shock, "Turn her?"

'Since Lamia's demise, we have need for a new recruit, perhaps if this girl is as great a fighter as you say she is, she might have a chance of actually succeeding this time.'

Ryou looked uncomfortable and bit his lip, "We don't know that yet…"

'Don't be a fool Ryou! We'd have found her by now if she lived. Yes, it's true that she surpassed our expectations in the past, but she wasn't up against an ordinary vampire, whose powers we still do not know of, though definitely great. Accept it, she's been destroyed.'

"But…" Ryou trailed off, as his shoulders eventually slumped in defeat.

'You are such a sentimental fool! I told you not to get attached, you never listen! Perhaps learning the hard way has now taught you something valuable for your existence my friend.'

"Bakura, what if we make the same mistake, we made with Lamia? What if she fails too?" Ryou asked him thoughtfully, ignoring Bakura's harsh words.

'Then she fails, and we make a new one, it is as simple as that Ryou, you fool.'

"Why don't we just kill him ourselves?" Ryou grumbled through clenched teeth. "We're much older and stronger than him, so it shouldn't be all that difficult…we'd have a much better chance than a newborn."

'Fool!' The voice roared angrily in his head. 'We have much more important business to tend to in regards with Prince Atem to deal with that abomination! Do not ask me such a stupid question ever again Ryou, I forbid such idiocy from you.'

Ryou immediately sensed that there was more to it than that, but would never have dared voice his suspicion out loud, because what he sensed from the voice in his head, was more like fear of Atem's brother, than finding him a irritating pest; but why? Bakura had never been afraid of anyone before, and was only minutely threatened by Atem, for reasons he would not share, but his reaction to the other vampire was rather odd. "As you wish, Bakura."

'We cannot waste anymore time Ryou, 'He' is growing impatient. I'd like to see though, what this girl is capable of first, before we turn her, to see if she is worthy of the gift.'

Worthy of the gift? Ryou nearly snorted, before inconspicuously rolling his eyes.

"And if the girl does prove herself worthy-"

"Razz," Ryou muttered under his breath, "She calls herself Razz."

"I don't care Ryou, as long as by the end of this week she's leaving drained corpses behind her - personal characteristics mean very little to me. Now cease your window shopping for the night, as I've grown thirsty and dawn is near approach. You'll have plenty of time to look at her once we have her in our possession."

Ryou climbed to his feet gracefully, without taking his eyes off her face, and smiled wickedly, before nodding his head in agreement.

---

Well…the plot thickens. I've got a lot of action planned for chapter 18, which will hopefully be updated sooner. Oh yes…and as promised, a lemon scene. I really hope you guys have enjoyed chapter 17, it wasn't exactly easy to write…mmm. And hopefully you'll all love the trouble I'm brewing for our beloved characters next. Oh and as you can see, Seto's still a workaholic, even as a vampire. (Didn't see that coming did you? – rolls eyes)

Alright! Alright! I'm going. See you!