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

18. Chapter 18

Hey guys ! did you miss me? I missed you! And welcome to chapter 18! I'm going to make this short because I know you want to get reading ASAP, but I would like to thank you all for still sticking with me, even though i'm not as fast with as updating as I used to be.

Now as promised I have given you guys a lemon. For sensitive readers I suggest you skip the first part and start by Yugi's song instead.

I'd also like to welcome and thank Dany, for reviewing Perfect Strangers, um in my first year of Spanish my teacher told me not to come back or ever speak it again, so I'm just going to say 'Gracias' and that I have no intention of going anywhere.

Rating: Rated M!

Disclaimer: Some day...

AN: Let's party!

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Chapter 18

(Three years ago…)

The fire-lit torches cast a soft red glow against the tomb walls, creating an eerie yet darkly charming atmosphere as Yugi made his way silently down the long winded corridor towards his new chamber. His head still ached from the transformation, and his body sagged on each step as exhaustion rested heavily on his shoulders, while the drying blood from the slave girl he had just killed, thickly caked the front of his torso. He couldn't think of anything further than the need for sleep, as he felt the electric current of the sun's nearing approach, hit the invisible shield that made up the atmosphere around their dark world, like an instinctive warning.

There was a lot that he still needed to learn about his new found abilities, things that his father had ordered his uncle, Aknadin, and his cousin, Seto, to teach him that following evening, but there were some things that he knew he'd have to learn himself…Like how to navigate with temporary 'light-blindness.' His eyes were like a newborn's, still adjusting to the world around him, only with heightened vision that had only one catch…it only worked in the dark!

He stiffly, felt along the walls with one outstretched hand, using them to guide his way to his new room, until a soft, icy cold hand gripped him around his wrist and forcibly tugged him backward. Reacting instinctively to a 'threat,' Yugi immediately thrust his arm back, bringing along the vampire that had dared to cease him, before spinning its body around and shoved it up against the wall, latching on to her familiar scent in the process, and visibly relaxed, before pinning her arms to her side. "What do you want Dendera?" He growled huskily, not in the mood for her games.

He struggled to see her clearly through his new heightened vision that gave him an image of a blurry world with shocking-coloured sharpness, but he recognized her long, silky flowing midnight black hair as it poured over her shoulders and down her waist, as well as her glowing golden eyes that sparkled brightly in the light like a yellow diamond under a spotlight, as well as her oddly sweetened and delicious scent.

Her dark ruby red lips curled into a flirtatious smirk, mesmerising him almost into a trance, as she gently flicked out a light pink tongue and ran it slowly over her top lip. "I thought you'd like to know that Prince Atem is in good health and well." She purred hotly in his ear, before gently flicking her tongue along his earlobe, sending a familiar, needy chill through his body.

Yami! Yugi cringed back, suddenly enraged. Yami had attacked him from behind in anger, and Yugi had almost killed him, that much he remembered, but the rest was pretty much still a blur. He remembered that it wasn't intentional; in fact Yugi hadn't actually realized what he was doing until he had Yami up against the wall by the throat, while his chest bled badly from an open wound that stretched right across his torso in a deep gash, along with the memory of Dendera, desperately trying to yank him back by his right arm, begging him to release him. "Of course he is; you would never allow him to die."

Dendera pushed herself up against him, closing whatever little distance they had between themselves, and gently nipped along his neck, before trailing her tongue apologetically along them. "Now, now…my Prince," she whispered seductively, rubbing her chest suggestively against his. "There is no need to be jealous, for I have reserved my evening schedules solely to satisfy your needs and desires…alone," she purred breathily, and Yugi assumed that the disappearance of her one golden orb meant that she was winking at him, before he felt her bring up a knee to gently nudge his member, causing him to hiss in erotic need.

"That is…" she purred delightfully in his ear, "If you need me?"

His body screamed for hers, demandingly tightening every muscle within it, and a hot chill seemed to course through all his sensitive regions, making it impossible for him to concentrate, and consequently made him release the tight grip he had on her, allowing her to squirm free of his hold. Bigmistake! She immediately attacked his chest by running her hands roughly over his firm abs, purring in contempt before extending her cat-like claws and slicing him open in long thin bloody trails, which only intensified his arousal.

"Dendera…" he groaned lustfully as the sharpness of her claws ripping through his skin, sharply heightened the pleasurable sensation that coursed through his entire being. "S-s-stop…I'm tired."

Dendera ignored him and began to suckle along his neck, finding and teasing all his sensitive spots, which brought on several kinds of different pleasures. He unconsciously found his hands snaking up the sides of her thighs, roughly pulling up her silky flowing, mini dress, before thrusting up against her, and pushing her further against the wall, while placing his lips against the smooth, bare space that her shoulder offered him, growling into it with evident frustration.

"My Prince, the light must be killing your young eyes, shall we take this affair to your chambers?" Dendera whispered into his ear seductively, encouraging him further by rubbing up against his hardened member that was screaming for release…andherattention.

Yugi panted frustratingly as his body burned with need that desperately needed relief. "N-no, I'm too tired for this…we've had enough fun for one night."

Dendera lightly stroked his member with a teasing amount of pressure that he could barely feel, yet was powerfully overwhelmed by. "You are mistaken my Prince, you are referring to our time together that took place seven nights ago…you've been in a transformative coma for a week now. Letmetreatyou…"

Yugi whipped his aching and confused head up, and stared at her with a bewildered expression, "What?" A week long transformative coma was highly abnormal, as it only should have lasted ten hours, or a day at most.

Dendera hushed him by placing a finger on his lips and shook her head softly from side to side, without taking her golden feline eyes off him. "Do not concern yourself Sire, all is well now…ah, you are so much stronger now." She breathed in deeply as she ran her hands over his body, finding all his muscular bulges before moaning huskily. "Take me into your arms once again my Prince; I crave your touch as much as you crave mine!" She thrust her hand into his pants and squeezed the hardened bulge of his member, to prove her point, to which Yugi could only growl in relief to, his mind growing completely blank of all thoughts and centred on the intense pleasure.

Instead of questioning her like he would have liked, Yugi found his arms tighten around her waist and pull her body closer to his, before twisting it around and lifting her up into his arms, supporting her back with one arm and her legs with the other, roughly showering her neck with kisses as she purred in sexual delight. He sensed his way skilfully down the corridor to his room, and dove behind the door, shutting it loudly behind them with a nudged of his elbow, and allowed a relieved moan to escape him as pitch black darkness drowned them both welcomingly, enabling him to see with perfect clarity once again.

Dendera smirked up at him seductively, before giving him a suggestive wink. "The darkness welcomes you Sire."

There wasn't a single detail he could miss, even though there was not a trace of light to bee seen, which was almost as though the room was as bright as day. His huge golden four-poster bed stood magnificently on a raised platform, decorated by magnificent sails of silky, semi-transparent red and gold sheets that hung lazily from the ceiling, which exotically mystified the bedroom area of the room, whereas long red, velvet curtains, hid the bed completely from view, giving the activities which took place within it, absolute privacy. He hurriedly carried Dendera over to it, and laid her down on the soft sheets that slid easily beneath their skin.

He had her beneath him, as he started to tug up her dress, quickly growing impatient, when she gently pushed him back and narrowed her eyes at him, playfully. "You destroyed my dress last time when you played so roughly with me, so allow me to assist you-"

Yugi ran his hands inward from her shoulders and down to the slight curve of her dress that showed a lot of her cleavage before violently ripping it open, and shot her a not-so-apologetic smirk.

Dendera breathed out an annoyed breath and narrowed her eyes yet again at him, but wisely, said nothing. Yugi then began to attack her throat with violent, needy kisses, and made his way down her collar bone, and then to her light pink nubs that were left exposed and suckled on it teasingly until her irritated breathing was turned into hotly excited pants. His hand roamed sneakily in between her thighs and gently teased her inner lips, which she immediately responded to by arching into him and moaning loudly.

"Do you like that?" Yugi growled in her ear playfully, before thrusting two fingers into her a little harder.

She panted into the bare skin of his shoulder and lightly nipped it, before growling in acknowledgement. Yugi began to thrust back and forth into her, nipping and sucking on every inch of her delicately soft skin, before making his way back up to her neck. He felt her inner walls tighten around him, and pulled out just before she could climax, to which she whined in protest to, before giving him a questioning glare. He pressed her body back down onto the bed, before hovering over her, staring down at her with large, scary red eyes that had grown somewhat strange for him. He didn't miss the slight look of wariness that formed in Dendera's eyes, with an evident uncomfortable fear, but ignored it as he tore the remainder of her dress off her cold body and flung it swiftly to their side.

Dendera rose on cue and began to unbuckle his belt, flashing him semi-confident smirks, before flinging her long veil of black hair back, over her shoulder, and jolted the button of his blood stained jeans upward, before yanking the zipper down. She was about to touch him again, but he quickly grabbed hold of her wrists and laid her back down beneath him, before climbing out of the constricting clothing, never taking his darkened ruby gaze off her. Without looking away he reached out and tugged a long golden rope, which unclipped the dark red curtains around his bed, covering them completely from the potential sight of others.

She gave him a seductive look, before squirming beneath him, and invitingly fluttered her eyes. "Do you want me Prince Yugi?"

Yugi looked her stunning body over, hungrily, allowing just for one night, his hormones to take control over his thoughts. He would never want Dendera in any other way, than a sexual way, just like he suspected he would feel about any girl. He nodded, before leaning down and claiming her neck yet again, and violently thrust himself into her, gasping at the electrifying pleasure that coursed through him, which was unlike any sensation he had ever felt before, and paused while breathing heavily.

Dendera smiled blissfully as pleasure took hold of her as well, before chuckling lowly at his reaction. "Y-yes my Prince…for us…our kind…the feeling is much more intense," she whispered breathlessly.

Yugi thrust himself deeper into her, growling at the intensity before quickening his pace, his breathing becoming laboured and agonized as an overwhelming sensation of intense, almost raw, pleasure, which he had never experienced before, took hold of his entire being. Dendera, also reaping in the enjoyment, clawed his back open in deep slashes with her sharp nails. "H-ha-harder!" she squealed, as her body strained and tensed. Yugi complied and immediately felt his climax near.

He reached in behind Dendera and pulled her up slightly, before thrusting in so hard that the bed lurched forward and smacked against the wall, causing a loud thud, and she screamed in absolute bliss, as he hit the right spot within her, before doing the same thing again, and again, and again…until eventually on the fourth time he violently and hungrily bit into her neck, bringing forth a prolonged, mind blowing and body shattering orgasm. Yugi collapsed on top of her, before rolling off onto his side, and stared up at the dark stone ceiling, panting heavily with a dazed expression.

Dendera immediately curled up next to him and began licking his chest, where dry blood still lingered, and briefly allowed her fangs to gently caress his skin.

"I think…that's the best we've ever had," Yugi commented, before blowing a rebellious blonde streak off the side of his face.

He felt Dendera smirk against his chest, before giving him a small nip that drew blood, and sucked on it, causing another pleasurable chill to dart to his lower region. She then rose up slightly and held herself up by her elbows, smiling up at him seductively. "I'm inclined to agree, Sire," she ran a hand over his abs and rested it on his heart, "But that's not to say that all the other times weren't just as great."

"But it would have been better if you had bedded my brother instead, correct?" Yugi muttered bitterly, before folding his muscular arms behind his head and tearing his gaze away from hers.

He felt Dendera's body tense, for several seconds, and then felt her slide her way up the silky bedspreads to his side, and gently stroked the side of his face. "No Sire…It is your touch and only yours that I truly crave."

Yugi actually laughed at hearing that, finding her lie to be absolutely ridiculous. "Only mine? Please Dendera do not insult my intelligence, for I have only granted that right to my brother."

Dendera sat up with a concerned look on her face, "I'm being perfectly serious my Prince."

Yugi smirked humourlessly up at her with a knowing look in his eye, "Who nursed my brother back to health then?"

Dendera looked away to the other side of the room, "It was my duty Sire, which you are well aware of already…"

"And you except me to believe that the treatment you bestowed on him was completely innocent?" there was a certain bitterness, evident in Yugi's voice, but Dendera ignored it as she continued to stroke his bared flesh with intricate patterning.

"Believe me Sire, Prince Atem would not allow me touch him at all, once he awoke from his injuries. In fact we've had to sedate him several times this past week to keep him under control." This was news to Yugi, who up until now had not had a word of Yami mentioned to him by anyone else.

"Keep him under control?" Yugi repeated questioningly, and narrowed his eyes slightly when Dendera confirmed it with a small, gentle nod. "Why?"

Dendera smiled at him with a less than innocent look in her eyes, before shaking her head gently, "Do not let it concern you now Sire, there will be plenty of enough time for all that later."

Yugi once again returned his gaze thoughtfully towards the ceiling, too tired to dwell on any Yami related thoughts, however thinking about his brother, reminded him of another sinful, earlier activity that he had partly forgotten about in the heat of the moment between him and Dendera. "I killed a girl earlier, and practically tore her body apart…and yet I feel absolutely nothing."

Dendera gave him a curious side glance, before slowly turning to face him. "You mean initiation gift, Sire?"

Yugi nodded, and then shrugged with an almost bored expression, "Well I assume, since she was chained to the wall in the room I awoke in…but it would be impossible to identify her now though, whoevershewas, unless of course if I feel like building a human puzzle later on…Her blood though was the sweetest I have ever tasted."

"Virgin blood," Dendera purred, before she leaned down next to him and gently flicked her tongue along his collarbone, making her way to his ear. "You'll be drawn to innocence now like a moth to a flame, virgin blood specifically. You are now a creature of the dark Sire, your heart is now as black as mine, and you'll never experience your old pitiful half-human emotions ever again…your days of being weak are now over," she whispered breezily in his ear.

Yugi smirked, before grabbing her around the waist and lifting her onto him, giving her an intense, perfectly serious look that only contained a slight trace of amusement. "You know that I've never hadaheart, Dendera."

---

(Yugi's version of the Lazy Song, by Bruno Mars - opening!)

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like picking up my phone
And listening to my brother moan
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

I'm gonna kick my feet up
Then stare at the fan
Flip the neighbours off just because I can

Nobody's gonna tell me I can't

(Fuck them if they do!)

Yeah…

I'll be lounging on the couch,
While burning down the study

Call up my ex and tell her that she's fugly
'Cause in this world I'm the freaking man
Oh, oh!

Yes I said it
I said it
I said it 'cause I am

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like picking up my phone
Because my brother is gonna moan
- 'That today I'm not doing anything…
Nothing at all!

O-oo' o-oo' boo-hoo-hoo, nothing at all o'oo o'oo boo hoo oo

Tomorrow I'll wake up, do some P90X
Meet a really nice girl, have some really hot sex
And she's gonna scream out: 'This is Great'
(Oh my Ra, this is great) (-inYami'svoice)
Yeah….! (WTF?)

I'm going to mess around, and be a Dupree
Get Yami so damn tired of me
But sorry Bro, you'll just have to deal
Oh, oh

Yes I said it
I said it
I said it 'cause I can

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like picking up my phone
Fuck off Yami - I don't like your tone
And today I still swear I'm not doing anything (hahaha sucker!)

No, I ain't gonna comb my hair
It's going to stay like that anyway…
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, oh

I'll just strut in my birthday suit
Till Yami gives me the boot
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-eah

Oh

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like picking up my phone
Yeah Yami you can just go on and moan
'Cause today I swear will not do anything

Nothing at all (woohoo woohoo woohoohoohoo)
Nothing at all (boohoo boohoo fuck-yo'oou-all)
Nothing at all

---

Yugi's eyes fluttered open drowsily as his dream came to an end, feeling the tight and painful ache of his lower region swelling in protest of both the arousing dream, and probably also because it was missing its familiar grounds, or attention so to speak. He had almost completely forgotten about that early morning dawn, three years ago; when he had staggered weakly out of the initiation chamber, with a slave girl's blood soaking him from chest to knees, and being partly blinded by the candle lights, before falling right back into Dendera's clutches. All of which made up the dark chapter of his life…

Yami didn't quite know about their 'relationship' just yet, in which a confession, if Yugi could help it, would be dragged out for as long as he could possibly chance it…not that it was much of a confession though. What could Yugi possibly tell Yami? That he had been sleeping with their arch enemy for years, right under his nose, in which several times, Dendera had gotten the names wrong and called out his name instead of Yugi's in a bliss moment of passion?

Yeah right!

He grimaced slightly as his aroused member, burned with pain, which then briefly subsided before aching again, and growled lowly under his breath in frustration of his own, before shifting onto his side, registering for the first time since he awoke, on how limited his space was. He narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion as he observed the sickly green coloured corduroy surface that was a little rough to the touch, before glancing up and taking note of somewhat familiar furnishings. However, it was the small, softly spoken voice that came from the corner of the room that immediately reminded him of where he was.

"Sorry, did I wake you, Yugi?" Tea asked softly from her corner, in a concerned and somewhat regretful voice.

Yugi instinctively backed into the couch and pulled the blankets more firmly over his early-evening boner, making sure that it was well-hidden from sight. "Uh…um, no you didn't," he causally stretched out his arms from behind his head and yawned, before bringing one back and folding it back, behind his head, giving her a cheerful smile. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hi yourself…I thought you'd be asleep longer, it's only three," Tea mimicked his smile, though there was an odd look in her eyes of a misty emotion that Yugi couldn't quite place that seemed just short of grim discomfort.

Yugi glanced warily at the boarded windows, and could sense the instinctive warning sensation of sunlight behind them, before yawning again. "Yeah, ever since I've left Egypt my nocturnal schedule's gone haywire, so it doesn't really make much of a difference to me anymore." He turned his gaze back to her, and observed her a little more closely, sensing a little uneasiness within her and wondered why. She was sitting in an armchair, with her legs crossed, in a tensed and rigid posture, with her arms half folded on her lap; her hands covering what appeared to be a letter.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. Did you sleep okay though?" She was trying to be normal Yugi realized. His first thought was that somehow, while he'd been asleep, her stalker had made an appearance and freaked her out somehow, but on closer observation, he noted that Tea was only trying to mask her unease, notfear.

"Well, by okay, you mean I was able to at least catch a few hours of sleep after your neighbours quietened down from their four-hour ecstasy marathon…yeah, I slept okay." He once again yawned, and uncomfortably shifted onto his side, still paining from his all too existent boner that didn't look like it planned on going anywhere, anytime soon.

Tea's eyes widened, before softening apologetically. "Oh, I'm sorry Yugi that must have been Abby and…one of her clients last night."

Yugi sniffed dismissively, "Figures. Its okay Tea, I got the sleep I needed…what have you been up to all morning, and uh, afternoon?"

Tea inconspicuously folded the letter she had been reading, while keeping her eyes on Yugi, smiling at him gently. "Well fortunately Mr. Hardwick had somewhere he needed to go urgently today, so he called to tell me I had the day off, and I didn't have much else to do except re-read my copy of Breaking Dawn."

Yugi's eyes widened in shock, "You…read?" He said the word 'read' as though he had bitten into a lemon.

Tea rolled her eyes, "Don't tell me you're one of those kinds."

Yugi narrowed his eyes, before scratching the back of his head, deciding to rather ignore the topic he instigated, and returned his thoughts to a more curious one, unable to help his simple, one-tracked mind. "What does this Abby look like exactly?"

Tea shot him a look, before mumbling something that sounded like 'typical' and decided to ignore him instead, as she rose up from the couch. "Can I get you something…other than blood?"

Yugi pondered over this for a minute before shaking his head, "Nah, I'm cool."

Tea raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? You haven't eaten anything since last night…can't vampires like eat, normal food, or something?"

"Well…not really, but seriously Tea, I'm fine." Yugi smiled up at her convincingly, before giving her a charming wink. "Thanks for offering though." Please leave now! He thought secretly, as the pain grew more intense, making it harder for him to keep up the act of normality.

"No problem…um, Yugi, can vampires really not eat or drink anything but blood?" Tea asked curiously.

Oh for the love of Ra! Yugi sighed, "We can, it's just…it's not our natural diet, and depending on how much we eat can sometimes lead to well, a bad reaction…like food intolerance." Or food poisoning, he wasn't exactly sure which, but they had the same effect.

Tea cringed sympathetically, "That must really, really suck." She couldn't imagine living without having a variety of different foods to choose from, with different flavours.

Yugi just grinned at her, "Nah, it only seems that way when you're alive." In truth, Yugi preferred blood, though that may have just been instinct at work.

She walked over to him slowly, and then knelt down beside him on the couch, getting too close for comfort to him than what he would have liked. It was a lot harder to hide a boner from someone up close. "Are…we still going to see him today?"

Yugi nodded once, his breath slightly hitching in his throat. "Yeah, um…we're first going to his apartment to get some of his stuff." If he hadn't known any better, he would have sworn Tea knew something and was playfully getting him back for keeping her cooped up indoors all day, by menacingly sticking around just to prolong his agony.

Tea smiled at him excitedly, before turning to glance at the lock with a thoughtful expression. "Um…I should probably take a little nap or something, if we're going to be out late tonight."

If the circumstances were different, Yugi would have deemed a nap highly unnecessary, but if her taking a nap meant that she would be out of the room, there was no way in hell that he was going to stop her. "Yeah, that's a great idea!" he encouraged with an overly cheerful smile. "The longer you can stay up, the longer you'll get to spend with Yami tonight."

Suddenly her expression grew curious, and her lips parted softly, before closing, as though she thought better of what she had wanted to ask him. However, Yugi was born a curious individual, which was probably why Yami inherited the mind reading ability instead, and couldn't help but pry for it. "What?"

"I-it's nothing…" she said, as she slowly rose to her feet again. "I'm going to take a few minutes nap, you can watch some TV, or get some more sleep, if you like."

Yugi nodded in acknowledgement to none of the options in particular, but it was deemed, good enough by Tea, who nodded back before making her way to her bedroom allowing Yugi a brief moment of relief, before finally giving in to a groan of pain that he had up until now been suppressing. How the hell did he get out of this situation? A brief, but crazy thought came to his mind, as Abby's name once again crossed his thoughts. Pay by the hour, whore, who had kept him up the night before, right next door, one the same floor…

He shook off the idea as crazier than usual, before rolling onto his back and gloomily contemplated his options. The most, easiest and most likely option was to simply sneak off into the bathroom and take care of it himself, but he couldn't help but be tempted by the idea of taking advantage of the next door service centre, even without having ever heard (correction he had heard her pretty loudly last night) - of her, or ever having seen her before…but he assumed she was pretty anyway. The only problem was…it didn't feel right, and he had no idea why.

This never used to be an issue for him in the past.

While squirming uncomfortably, his eyes travelled to his discarded cellphone that he had placed beside the couch, and found his hand automatically reach down to it, in an almost subconscious way. He touched its screen, which immediately activated it, and was confronted by the bright flashing image of a yellow envelope, courteously of Yami that had been sent somewhere soon after the time Yugi had left the house that previous night. It was a simple message, filled with the kind of love and warmth that any brother would feel from another brother, consisting of only three cute little words that really showed how Yami really felt about his younger twin, showing just how far they had come from their broken and estranged relationship in Egypt… 'You fucking bastard!'

Yugi smiled fondly at the screen, before scrolling down and finding another message, this time from Lamia, and was almost too scared to open it. 'Don't forget our date tomorrow night butt-hole!'

What teenager called anyone a butt-hole anymore? He really had to teach her how to swear properly before she actually started embarrassing him. The third message however, made his eyes widen. He cautiously glanced in Tea's direction, out of habit, already aware that even if she did sneak up on him and catch sight of the message, she wouldn't have been able to read or understand it, or even know who it was from, but he was still cautious non-the-less. He read it over once, and then nodded his head in understanding, before replying back to it, suspiciously glancing over his shoulder to ensure that he was still alone.

When that was over, he decided to send a text message to Yami, informing him that he was bringing Tea over later and asked if he was cool with it…yet somehow Yugi knew that Yami would have had to be literally in death's doorway, practically only holding on by one finger, to reject the idea of seeing his precious girlfriend. He watched as a yellow envelope danced along the screen before disappearing off to the side, and then found his way into his contact list, and then scrolled down until he found a familiar name, smiling at the same time. There was one last thing he had to do on his to-do list, which he had spontaneously thought up during his hours of audible-agony from the night before, to set his plan into motion.

The phone on the other side rang six times before a bubbly and sweetened voice answered on the other side. "Yugi, baby, what can I do for you today sugar?"

Yugi grinned, "You know if you speak to me like that in front of your other customers, they might get jealous."

He heard a cute snicker spill from her lips, before she replied, "Well my favourite client should get to enjoy some special perks don't you think?"

"I thought the only special perk I was given, was having access to your private number?" he smiled amusedly.

"Consider it personal then," he could blatantly hear the smile and wink in her voice.

"Oh we've been down that road before, if I can recall correctly, but really Joy, this is neither the time nor the place for phone sex," he grinned as he heard her begin to laugh hard on the other end, once again enjoying their ongoing private gag that they had flung back at one another in the past. "I have a favour to ask."

He heard her immediately straighten herself up, but he was sure the smile never left her lips as she got down to business. "Sure honey, just tell me what you need," there was a light southern accent in her voice, which was warm and often almost homey in a relaxing kind of way, the kind that Yugi could never imagine angry.

"Do you think you can make miracles happen?" he asked her.

"Honey, for you, I'll find the dam end of the rainbow and get you a Leprechaun for St. Patrick's day…just tell me what you need."

---

When the sun had finally set, Tea had just woken up from her nap and was fetching herself a glass of water from the kitchen, as Yugi poked his head in the doorway. "Hey?"

She turned to him cheerfully, and smiled. "Hey!" she greeted warmly, before setting her glass down. "Should I be getting ready now?"

"Yeah, but there's no rush, I'm just going out to fetch some uh…medicine, for Yami quickly, okay?"

Tea paused at what she was doing, before turning to him curiously, "Medicine?"

Yugi nodded, "Blood in other words, best medicine there is for our kind."

Tea's face suddenly went extremely pale with a slight tinge of green to her complexion. "Uh…oh…okay."

Yugi chuckled, "Sorry, Yami said I should be a little more…discrete around you, but I sometimes forget myself."

Tea shook her head dismissively, "No, don't be, don't worry either I have to…um, you know, get used to stuff like this…I am after all dating a vampire…and friends with another one."

For some reason, referring to him as a friend, made Yugi do a double take of all that she had said, quite surprised by her words, but didn't voice it. She thought of him as…a friend?

However, before he could think of anything else, she absently continued, "Go ahead, don't worry I've memorized all the rules, don't open the door to anyone, don't rub off your weird, and somewhat creepy blood sign, keep the lights off and stay here."

Yugi, still partly stunned, nodded half-heartedly and muttered a 'good' or something like that before making his way to the door. His hand automatically ran up to his black, leather, silver studded choker, making sure that it was still firmly wrapped around his neck, before he walked out the apartment. This whole thing…just got ten times harder.

---

(Warning…Pathetic male and car bonding moment,alert!)

Getting blood from the local blood bank was a piece of cake with his unique ability, and he was even able to get the really fresh stuff, still warm in the bag as it was handed over to him with a free storage box that was used for transporting them across the country. He was even able to pick out his own donors, which of course were all 'A' candidates, and ensured that each of them had indulged themselves with candy first, before they gave their blood donations. The sweeter, the healthier, he had always said.

He carried the box across the parking lot, passing by a lot of curious onlookers, who didn't quite know what to make of him, before he made his way to his own car. A car that up until now had been in the protective custody of Jim the mechanic, the local mechanic who had just redone the car's paintwork, tuned up the engine, and put on new tires, and of course had allowed Yugi to keep it in one of his garages for safe keeping…because it wasn't just any car…it was a Dodge Challenger.

When he had bought it, it was a piece of shit on four wheels, but a frikin rare and sought after piece of shit on four wheels. The owner didn't have a clue about cars, and was just an old widowed woman, who had lost her son in the 9/11 incident, and needed to sell his car in order to afford her heart medication and probably also to move on from grieving. She had offered him a ridiculously low amount for it, but Yugi needed to lighten the load of cash he had on him, so he tripled her offer, but still managed to practically steal it off her.

However, when he rolled it in to the nearest mechanic with only half the engine still functioning, all four wheels flat and worn down, a non-existent exhaust, steering wheel just hanging on by a near thread, tail lights out of commission, passenger door ready to fall off at any second, and the back window completely knocked out…the mechanic, who looked to be in his early twenties, just shook his head and said, "Dude, I don't think that the Pope could put both his hands on the hood and pray for a miracle that would turn this into a car."

Amazingly, money could though, and in just one month, Yugi was driving around in an almost brand new car, which he later, fondly named 'Allison,' or sometimes 'Ally' for short. It was his second, most prized possession in the world, which is why he treated it to a check up and a tune up every three months and of course a weekly bath. However, on his last trip he had realized that the lime green paint had not been the best choice of colour for her, and had thus opted for a darker purplish almost burgundy colour this time round.

Her only downfall though…was that she wasn't really all that fast…yet.

Yugi popped the trunk and stored the box of blood in it, instinctively tuning in to the sound of approaching footsteps. He shut the trunk closed and peered over to the side, noting the approach of two young men, which were near the same age as him, one brunette and the other blonde, and both looked a little rough.

"Yo man, is that a Challenger?" the blonde asked in an evident Brooklyn accent.

"What does it look like to you, a Mustang?" Yugi retorted with a sarcastic smirk.

"Neat ride man," the brunette commented with wide and impressed, olive coloured eyes that were as round as saucers.

"Thanks," Yugi answered politely as he made his way over to the driver's side.

"Where'd you get it?" the blonde sounded almost jealous, which Yugi couldn't blame him for. Anybody who knew anything about cars knew that the classics were always the better ones.

Yugi used the car's inside ledge-way as a step, so that he could peer over the car at them, and supported his elbow on its top. "At a garage sale," he answered simply. "Bought a scented plush dice with it to hang on the review mirror there too."

The pair laughed amusedly at this and nodded their respect, before waving him off. "Have a good one man, you got an awesome car." The brunette congratulated, before starting off in the opposite, "Come on Joey."

"See ya chump," Joey waved him off, before turning to the brunette. "Man and all I got at Marty's garage sale was that crappy electric guitar with the rusted strings."

Yugi started the engine, and was quite amused when he saw the amazed and awed expressions of the friends' expressions when they heard its powerful roar. Usually he would have felt obligated to show off, by making it spin on its wheels for several minutes, but he didn't have the time, which he realized he was running quite short on. Instead he lurched the car forward at a hasty pace, and sped down the street, turning the corner at an, impressive stuntman sharpness, before driving away out of sight, and making his way back to Tea's apartment with a tight, amused and satisfied grin on his face.

---

Yugi parked his car in front of the apartment building and slowly climbed out of it, taking a careful, observant glance around himself, ensuring that Bakura wasn't anywhere near enough to spy on them. However, Tea surprised him by dashing out the large metal doors, fixing a faded blue denim jacket as she hurried towards him, with an excited smile on her face.

"Hey!" he spluttered with wide eyes, "Didn't we agree that you didn't leave the apartment while I wasn't around?"

Tea stopped just a few feet away from him with a wide, rebellious smile on her lips. "You are around."

Yugi sighed, "Cut the wise chirps, are you trying to get me killed?"

"Funny," Tea grinned mercilessly, "I thought vampires were already dead."

Yugi smirked at her spunk. "Ha, ha, ha," he laughed sarcastically. "Seriously though, what were you doing outside the apartment?"

"I wasn't," Tea rolled her eyes, feeling as though she were a child being reprimanded, "I saw you come up."

Yugi nodded his head twice before shrugging, and opened the passenger side door for her, which she raised her eyebrows in response to. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I never would have guessed you'd be the gentleman type."

This time it was Yugi's turn to roll his eyes, "Believe me, I'm not by nature, I mean I'm all for woman equality and totally share in your gender's opinion that you are more than capable of doing things yourselves without any assistance from 'the man,' but Yami raised me differently, so I'm guessing he'd be thoroughly pissed if I did not carry out his same mannerisms around his precious little girlfriend."

Tea cocked her head slightly to the side and gave him a soft smile, "Yami raised you?"

"Uh…" Yugi looked away and opened the car door further for her, before stepping slightly away from it, holding it at arm's length, wary of meeting her gaze, "Yeah."

Tea slipped into the vehicle with a curious frown as she took in the car's unusual and old-style curves, and was able to detect a distinct strawberry like scent dangling softly in the air among the strong odour of expensive leather, which the seats were covered in. Unlike Yami's car though, Yugi's was incredibly spacious, and almost seemed to flow quite easily from the front seat to the back seat. Yugi quickly jumped in on the driver's side and shut the door, before turning to lock gazes with Tea, and smiled. "What do you think of Ally?"

"Ally? Whose Ally?" she asked, confused.

Yugi raised both his eyebrows, before fondly stroking his steering wheel, "Tea, meet Ally, and Ally meet Tea."

Tea shot him an incredulous look, "You…named your car?"

Yugi nodded his head, before giving her a partly amused grin, aware of it's seemingly ridiculousness and still able to make fun of himself for it. "Yeah, isn't she a beauty? She's the only woman that actually gets me…isn't that right my adorable Ally-Wally!" he said as he stroked the dashboard vigorously, with softened eyes, while Tea looked at him as though he was crazy.

"Yugi you do realize that you're talking to your car, right?"

Yugi's eyes widened in bewilderment, before he turned to look at his dashboard apologetically and began softening his strokes on the dashboard, "Ssh, honey she didn't mean it."

Tea rolled her eyes and covered her face, "Can we please go now; I feel like a third wheel here!"

Yugi smirked menacingly as he placed the key into the ignition, "Now you know exactly what it's like having to be around you and Yami...ha,ha,ha! Now listen to this." He started up the engine, which roared to life powerfully, startling Tea into attention, before he turned to her expectantly. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah," she muttered with a little bit of uncertainty.

"That Tea is the friking orgasm of engines. You are sitting in a 1970 model of one of the most classical types of cars ever to have been manufactured in the world, the awe inspiring Dodge Challenger, if we put Yami's car and my car in a boxing ring, mine would totally reign supreme and kick it's shiny ass," Yugi lectured proudly, before lurching the car forward. "And you can totally get back to Yami on that one."

Tea, whom wasn't in the least bit interested, just smiled and shook her head at him, guessing that Yugi was just like any other normal guy, down at heart. Though she was glad that unlike one of her many exes, such as Chris, Yugi didn't show off with her in the car, putting both their lives at risk, because he thought that it would impress her. In actual fact, Yugi drove rather well and seemed to be closely obeying the traffic laws, which didn't seem to suit his temperament at all. It seemed to her that there was a lot about Yugi that was still left to discover, and one of them evidently seemed to be that he was full of surprises.

She suddenly became aware that they were slowing down near an apartment complex just up the street from hers, and remembered that this was where Yami lived, from the time that they had had to drop Yugi off, when he was too wasted to realize what was going on around him. Yugi grinned as he smoothly slid into a parking space, which wasn't exactly marked with painted lines.

"Just to warn you," Yugi continued to grin, as a sudden thought occurred to him, which stopped Tea in her tracks as she returned a nervous, expectant stare in his direction. "Lamia…you know, our new, sunshine-personality, that's joined our group, threw a little tantrum a while back, so the place looks…um," Yugi stared ahead of him thoughtfully, wondering how to phrase what the place looked like, as he hadn't forgotten his 'vandalistic' artwork that stretched through most of the apartment's walls, with some…suggestive images, either. "Well, disorganized…the kind of surroundings Yami would generally have a regular fit in if he had to spend more than ten minutes in."

Tea raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know that Yami's a neat freak; is he?"

Yugi grimaced slightly in an uncertain way, and nudged his head to the side with a shrug, "Yee-ah, no, not really…he likes his space organized and neat, but he doesn't have like a mental meltdown…it's just that…he cannot take clutter in his space,it frustrates him and puts him in a really bitchy mood. We shared a room for sixteen years, and I wasn't exactly as tidy as him, or really cared where my stuff landed up, and Ra…he used to get so damn pissed off with me, and we used to fight about it…a lot, sometimes quite violently too, until eventually he painted a long white line across the floor in which one side was mine, and the other was his. So you can imagine what the insane kind of contrast looked like, whenever someone walked in to it."

Tea smiled fondly at the story, both believing the amazing difference each side would have had with the two almost completely different personalities, but also surprised by the fact on how normal the twin's relationship actually was back in those times, and realized that being vampires didn't seem to make much of a difference in their developing stages as any other human sets of twins. "You two used to fight? A lot?"

Yugi grinned as he pushed open his side of the door, "We had our days where we'd hated each other, and got along just about as well as Hitler would have gotten along with a Jew, both stuck in the mid morning traffic…but on most days we were pretty much, uh…tolerant of each other." In other words Tea thought secretly despite herself, on most days they actually got along just fine and adored each other's company.

She climbed out the car with a small smile, and made her way over to Yugi's side, with her hands in her denim pockets. "Who would have been Hitler?" she asked curiously with an amused grin.

"Probably…" Yugi rolled his eyes with a dramatic slowness, seeming to mock the concept of deep thinking, "Me…well at least I know that would have been Yami's immediate answer, and he'd probably be right…I was a destructive, instigative little prick with the power to manipulate people, and a sharp tongue that could have sliced iron…"

"Come one, you couldn't have been that bad," Tea said with a roll of her eyes.

"No way…I was way worse," he opened the building's front door and held it open for her, making a bowing gesture at her. "After yer me lady."

Tea rolled her eyes and stepped through the doorway, finding the interior somewhat very similar to her own apartment's building. "It's cold in here," she commented, though it was more like an instinctive coldness and not a physical one.

Yugi shrugged, "I wouldn't really know, you okay though? Do you want my jacket?"

Tea automatically found herself glancing at his leather jacket, before shaking her head. "No I'm good, it's not that cold."

The pair walked up the stairway in comfortable silence, both avoiding to look at their strange surroundings and uncomfortable scenarios, such as a half-clothed couple getting hot and heavy as they made their way through one of the apartments. Yugi just briefly flashed them a raised eyebrow, before shaking his head and muttering something unintelligible under his breath, before they eventually came to Yami's front door…well now Yugi guessed it was kind of his and Lamia's front door, but he shook off that thought immediately, sternly reminding himself, that Lamia and he would never share an apartment together, nor would he ever let it be implied.

"Ready yourself," he warned her as he pushed the door open, and gently guided her in, confronted by and awe inspiring sight that left him wide-eyed and immensely surprised.

"Okay…?" Tea asked cautiously as she stepped into the apartment, gazing around it carefully as though she were waiting for something to jump out at her. "Where exactly does the damage start?"

The once vandalised walls now sported a flawless and smoothed crimson surface that hid any evidence of previous damage, and still smelt of fresh paint. Yugi also noted a new, thick black carpet ran up the hallway with a snug and flawless fit, which smelt of lavender carpet cleaner and a slight bit of dampness. "Um…I don't know," he started uneasily as he began to cautiously walk forward, realizing immediately that the only reason the carpet looked and felt thick, was because it was placed on top of the old one. It seemed as though Lamia had been rather busy…

He was in for a bigger shock as he reached the living room, which had been completely redone. The extremely damaged and bloodstained carpet had been removed, leaving behind an exposed, dark wooden floor, which she had only half covered up with a medium sized square rug that took up about half the floor anyway, seeming to contrast it brilliantly with a creamy white colour. Somehow she gotten rid of the damaged furniture, which no longer occupied the dark corner of the room in a discarded heap, and replaced them with a new, but cheap looking white desk and matching chair, as well as recovered Yami's horrifically uncomfortable couch, with a fluffy black fabric that looked very similar to what was used for a baby's blanket. He also noted that the walls had been repainted to a light, tropical blue, which also smelt of fresh paint, and that there were several hanging plants from the ceiling, as well as a pot-planted fern beside the door, which Yugi immediately recognized from having once been standing outside the building. Lamia…

"Wow, this is actually quite nicely decorated…I was imagining a CSI crime scene kind of scenario," Tea commented while gazing around the room with curious fascination. "What were you talking about Yugi, I mean if this is what you and Yami called cluttered, I don't want to know what you think of my place."

"Uh no, this is actually the best I've seen this place look…um, I guess Lamia fixed it up a little," Yugi couldn't believe the vast improvement, and wondered where she had found the time to transform it in such a way, or why she had even done it all in the first place, not to mention where she had found the stuff that she had needed to fix it. "Um okay, make yourself comfortable while I go grab some of his stuff." He scratched the back of his head, bewilderedly as he made his way over to Yami's old room, dreading what he would find in there, and wasn't left disappointed.

He stifled a gasp for Tea's sake, as he made his way into a room that was once at least boring and bland enough to be neutral ground in a unisex kind of a way…now it was just unfamiliar and pretty much uninviting…at least towards men that was. Hot, shocking pink walls confronted him in an almost intimidating kind of way, decorated with two neatly placed posters, one of Titanic and the other with a more, clearer picture of a younger Leonardo DiCaprio. The mattress on the bed seemed to have been completely replaced, though the only bedding that had been changed seemed to have been a light, washed out pink sheet, which Yugi knew about, because the duvet and its inner were missing all together…meaning that she had done something with the blankets. She had left the original carpet alone, but had placed a fluffy, bath mat looking rug beside the bed, and the only other invading and totally unmanly object in the room, was a small carry-friendly teddy bear, with one missing eye, that sat in between the two pillows, with a seemingly unwelcome glare in his glassy eye as he stared at Yugi.

He would never sleep in this room again.

Shaking his head, he moved over to Yami's closet, suddenly afraid to open it, in fear that Lamia may have thrown his stuff out and replaced it with girlie stuff and a thousand pairs of damn shoes that would launch at him like blindly aimed nuclear missals the moment her pulled the wooden door open. He gently coaxed it open, flinching slightly in preparation for an attack, but was surprised when Yami's rich scent warmly wafted out of its closed confinement. Yugi's eyes widened as he saw that Yami's clothes were not only still there, but well organised and neatly placed as well, sort of in the exact way Yami would have occasionally neatened his wardrobe in, in the past.

Yugi glanced towards what had once been the empty side of the closet somewhat expectantly, hoping to see some of his stuff there as well, since it was only his shirts that she had wiped out and destroyed, but no such luck…in fact, the only thing that hung from a hanger in there, was small black, zip-on dress…definitely not his. His stuff, was ironically, packed in a suitcase on the last shelf, with a neatly written note on its surface, kindly requesting that Yugi removed his 'junk'…

Who exactly did Lamia think she was anyway?

Yugi childishly flung the bag's contents out onto the floor, with an evil chuckle, before untidily stuffing Yami's clothes into it. He figured that when she got home and saw the mess, she'd just throw it out and not bother to keep it for him this time, but Yugi didn't care, the satisfaction of disrupting her well organised life and making it even slightly more difficult, was well worth it. He heard Tea pacing the living room calmly, when she stopped and made a small gasping sound. Yugi became quite alarmed, figuring that perhaps she had seen something like a blood stain, but he heard her heart's normally paced beat, and figured that it couldn't be that serious. "Hi there," she whispered softly in a warm and friendly tone, which confused Yugi.

He stuffed in the last pair of pants, and curiously poked his head out the door, looking in the direction of the living room, where he heard her low voice continue its one sided conversation. "No, no, don't run away!"

He walked over to the room curiously and was surprised when a fat black, furry cat hurried past him towards the kitchen, and instantly recognized it as one of Yami's strays. Tea met him at the doorway with a slight pout, which she immediately changed to surprise when she almost bumped right into him, and jumped back. "Oh Yugi…sorry I didn't hear you coming."

"Trying to make friends with ole Charcoal over there?" he said through an amused grin as he nudged his head in the retreating cat's direction.

Tea grinned sheepishly, "Is that his name? He doesn't seem to like me much."

Yugi shrugged, and allowed her to pass him, "I'm not sure what his name is, I don't actually think Yami gives them names, just feeds them."

Tea shot him a confused look, before Yugi decided to explain, "They're all neighbourhood strays, but Yami being Yami, feeds them and allows them full reign over his apartment, you know, doing that nice guy saint thing." This earned a smile from Tea this time as she nodded her head with understanding.

Yugi looked in the direction in which the cat had disappeared to, as a thought came to him. "You know what…why don't you go and try to make friends with him, and then we'll take him back to Yami with us, for extended company?" he suggested, with an encouraging smile, and a shrug when Tea shot him a questioning look. "My brother likes cats, so it might cheer him up."

"Yeah, but he didn't seem to trust me all that much earlier…" Tea said with a sheepish grin, "He might just run away again."

"Nah, he won't," Yugi told her confidently and gestured her back to the kitchen, "Cats can sense a good soul from a mile away, he was just a little startled a second ago, so go and try again, I guarantee you that this time he'll come to you when you call him."

Tea looked a little uncertain, but did what Yugi wanted her to do, and made her way quietly into the kitchen, meeting her gaze with the cat's somewhat startled and wary green ones. She slowly knelt down on her hinges and steadied herself by placing both hands on her knees, and smiled softly at the black cat across from her that was cowering from behind a kitchen chair, growling lowly in a whiney tone. "Here kitty, kitty," she called softly.

The cat stared at her suspiciously, before glancing to the side, looking as though it was ready to bolt, when its eyes became almost hazy and blank. Tea frowned at seeing the immediate change, and was surprised when almost instantly the cat was waddling towards her, with its tail high up in the air, and its glassy blank eyes refreshed with a look of excitement and absolute joy, as though he had been her pet for life and hadn't seen her in a long time. He fondly rubbed right up against her, meowing loudly, as though demanding for her attention, which surprised her greatly into action, as she immediately began petting him.

She turned to see Yugi, suddenly looking very much like Yami, while leaning up against the wall and watching them with a distantly satisfied smirk on his handsome face, and arms casually folded over his chest. "See? He likes you."

Tea smiled back at him, somewhat flattered, but still had the nagging feeling that something wasn't right around here. "He's such a sweet cat," she commented as she scratched beneath his chin, finding a certain weak spot that had the cat purring within seconds.

Yugi however, bored with watching the bonding session before him, walked over to one of the kitchen cabinets and began looking for pet food, finding it rather quickly with once again, a completely reorganized cupboard, though he knew for a fact that this was Yami's doing and not Lamia's.

He began picking random flavoured cat food, before glancing around the room to see if he could find their food bowls, and was surprised when he saw one of them, with fresh traces of food lingering on its surface…had Lamia been feeding them?Or leading them to their deaths?

"What about getting him a litter box?" Tea asked, as she watched Yugi collect several food cans in his arms.

"He doesn't need one," Yugi answered simply. "You'll see what I mean once we get there. Come on, let's get moving."

Tea gently scooped up the cat, making sure that he was firmly secure in her arms and was surprised by how calm and lax he was in her hold, not at all putting up a fight and continued to purr in content. She continued to scratch him behind the ears, wondering how long it would be, before all hell broke loose…which surprisingly didn't happen, until Yugi shut the passenger side door after she climbed in. It was almost as though the cat was suddenly aware of where he was, and jolted in her arms a little fearfully. As Yugi climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine, the cat became uncontrollable and began to pull away from her violently. "Oh crap, Yugi his-"

Yugi turned and glanced at the cat, with a concentrated look in his eyes, and suddenly the cat was completely calm again, even purring in her arms. Tea glanced at him suspiciously, suddenly connecting the dots, and frowned. "What did you just do?"

Yugi's expression softened into a genuine appearing, yet suspected put-on look, of confusion, "What do you mean?"

Tea's frown deepened, "To the cat, what did you just do?"

Yugi shrugged and threw her a look as though she were crazy, "I told it to behave itself…that's all."

Tea was about to tell him to be serious, when she remembered that Yugi had the ability to get into people's minds, and blushed. "Oh…sorry, I forgot about that…thing you do."

Yugi chuckled lowly as he drove the car away from the dodgy part of town and moved more into the elite territory, and immediately choked when Tea asked him an unexpected question. "What's Yami's special ability?"

He coughed, feeling a cold and uncomfortable sweat at the base of his spine. "Uh…Yami's special ability?"

"Yeah," Tea confirmed with a small nod, her gaze settled on the cat, though her attention clearly focussed on what Yugi had to answer. "Does he have one? Is it also like yours? Or is it different?"

"Um…you know, that's actually a funny story, you should ask him about it sometime…perhaps when he's fully recovered," Yugi answered quickly, as he turned a corner.

"Oh…" Tea responded gently with a somewhat thoughtful expression, "Okay then."

'Good luck getting around that one Yami,' Yugi thought with a bemused expression, wondering if his brother would lie about it or somehow avoid answering it, after all, how healthy would their relationship be when she knew that Yami was capable of reading her every single private thought? Looked to be like trouble was about to brew in that side of paradise.

Tea glanced out her window and took note of some of the mansions they were passing. "Uh, Yugi…where exactly are we going?"

Yugi smiled mysteriously and spoke without turning to glance at her, "You'll see pretty soon."

Tea groaned exasperatedly, "You are just like Yami, you know that? Everything has to be a secret."

Yugi just smirked without saying anything, which only irritated Tea more. However, she eventually sighed and gave up, as more mansions whizzed passed them, each one bigger than the last, until eventually they passed Shane's house, which was a huge, three storey high, modern building that Tea had only been inside once in her life, for a house party that he was throwing while his parents were on a ski trip in Switzerland. It was so big that Tea remembered getting lost somewhere on the second floor and accidentally ended up walking in on Shane and Serena's 'best friend' in a rather compromising position. Tea also remembered that there were three pools on the property, one on the lawn, the other indoors and heated, and the third was on the second floor balcony that overlooked the ocean, which boggled her mind. Surely one pool was enough?

Thinking about Shane gave her the shivers; as she remembered what a creep he could be, and briefly wondered what she had ever seen in him. She remembered that the first time he had cornered her into sex, was by taking her out on a supposed expensive 'date,' where he lavished her with a ridiculously priced meal at a fancy restaurant, then drove her around in a limo to see the city at night, taking her to a movie, and then bought her an overpriced sweater at an equally, ridiculously priced boutique…and in the end used it all against her. After all, how could she turn down the one thing he wanted when he had easily paid a small fortune on her that could have easily fed six starving kids in Africa for the whole month? Of course, the next day, the whole school knew about what a 'slut' she was, and the guys all knew her as 'easy meat,' and pretty soon after that, every guy she knew, with the exception of a small few, made passes at her, while Shane pretended not to even know that she existed. Apparently it wasn't even a date at all, but in fact a test in which the kids at school had made bets on how easy it would be to get into her pants.

And yet somehow, although angry with him for telling everybody…and most importantly for not defending her, Tea had held on to her crush on him, right through high school, until their graduation year, when he came right up to her with a bunch of his up-class lowlife friends, and offered to pay her a thousand bucks to do each of them in the back room of his house during a house party he was hosting…including tips if she was good. She remembered how angry and disgusted she felt at the suggestion and turned her back to him, not trusting herself to say or do anything, and ultimately just wanted to get away from him, when he grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the circle they had formed around her. "Unless of course, you just want to do it for the experience?" he asked her in a low, mocking voice, before letting her go, and laughed along, with his friends.

Tea would never forget that day, and she hated herself for reliving it now. The kids at school hated her, and they were never discrete about it either. Girls in general tortured her the most, by writing words like 'slut' and 'whore' on her locker, some of them used to put up flyers at a downtown pay phone, advertising her as a call-girl, Serena once even gave her a full bottle of strong sleeping pills and told her to down them all while she was still young and would look good in her coffin. The guys weren't all that much discrete either, which was probably the worse, because their name calling actually killed her self esteem. Somehow it's always different when social rejection, comes from the opposite sex, and it was so much worse when all you were ever known to them as, during your whole high school career…was the Domino Whore.

Tea was shocked when she felt her eyes sting with unshed tears, and knew that her glassy eyed appearance would soon gain Yugi's attention, something that she definitely didn't want nor need from him at this time. The cat however, seemed to sense her heartache, and gave her a wise, almost ancient, knowing look from her lap, before nudging his head into her hand and purred comfortingly. It was the kind of affection that almost made her cry more, because it also reminded her of that absence in her life, which made her seek the attention of those around her, despite knowing how much it was actually harming her. She had never had someone protect her from anything, no one to hold her and whisper that things would be alright, or that could be anything that she wanted. She had never had support or encouragement to do the things she wanted, or to make something of herself, despite her dodgy background. She had always been alone…and was always made to feel absolutely abandoned.

Yugi of course, was no idiot, nor naïve. He sensed her sadness before he heard her swallow the heavy lump in her throat and the laboured panted breaths that escaped her lips, but he also knew that the minute she turned her gaze to look back outside the passenger's window that she didn't want him to know about it, which was also a clear indication that she didn't want to talk about it. It wasn't that he was insensitive when he decided to let her sit and suffer in silence - because as surprising as it was even to him, when he felt the overwhelming sense of protectiveness and concern for the girl beside him - he knew that his comforting efforts would not be nearly as effective as Yami's would be…and Yami would not miss it, even if he didn't have mind-reading powers.

He allowed the rest of the way there to be in remarkable silence, allowing her to get her thoughts in order, and perhaps emotionally-mend herself before she got a chance to see the 'love of her life,' who would hopefully fix whatever was hurting her. However, when he parked in front of the large and golden electric gate, he heard a startled gasp escape from Tea's lips. "Y-Yugi…what are we doing here?"

Yugi chuckled under his breath as he pressed a button on his key chain that automatically opened the gates. "I don't know Tea…seeing if the gates work, maybe?" he answered sarcastically before driving through, and pressing another button which made the gates shut behind them again.

Tea glanced around her, with somewhat amazement and horror as she took in her surroundings. This wasn't just any house; this was The Light House, the third most expensive property in Domino City. She knew this, because Serena had often made it known that it would one day be hers the moment its present owner, who was a rich foreigner from either Canada or Australia, she didn't know which, sold it, which of course was supposed to make everyone envious, because of its amazing view and private strip of beach that was off limits to the public. They drove up a long gravelled road that passed large strips of lush green lawn, and passed by an enormous Greek styled fountain that flowed beautifully in the moonlight, creating a lively sense of an unseen mystical world.

"The salt in the sea air manipulates our scents out here," Yugi explained as he slowed the car into a crawl passed the fountain after noticing Tea silently marvelling at it from afar, which allowed her to get a better and longer look at it. "So if Yami needs to get some fresh air he can do so without having to worry about being discovered."

"Oh, I see," Tea whispered in response, still taking in all her surroundings with curious fascination and awe. "But…what about using that symbol thing that you used on my place, wouldn't that help as well?"

"Place is too big, to be totally shielded…I'm not that powerful you know." He drove straight into the carport and hurried straight over to her side in order to open her door for her, giving her a small, charming smile and bow, as she climbed out the vehicle, holding the unnaturally calm cat securely against her chest. He led the way up the glassy steps to the door that went into the house and unlocked it, glancing back at her to make sure that she was still okay, before noisily entering into the house, with a mischievous smirk on his face. "Yo ho! Yami, we're he'eee'r!" he said in a high pitched, radio alien-like voice, before chuckling amusedly, seeming to hear something that she couldn't.

---

The day had started out pretty much as gloomy as his mood, despite the seeming blue clarity of the sky and toasty warmth of the sun. Yami could instinctively sense the sinister swirl of something heading their way, though he was not exactly sure of what it was, only that it made him uncomfortable. On the bright side, he could at least move around again, having most of his chest healed from the inside at least, but still felt bruised and quite frankly, beaten up. The best part was that he no longer felt nauseas, which was his personal killer and pet hate, allowing him to eat something solid once again, which came as quite a welcomed relief.

Did he feel better enough though? Not really. It had always amazed him that although the worst of injuries could heal, it was always the smaller ones that took the longest to disappear and recover from, such as muscle ache and fatigue. No matter how much blood he downed, he still felt pretty weak and ultimately sick, most probably because whatever damage was left simply had to recover in its own human way…but how long was it going to take?

He was busy sulking about it, when he heard his phone vibrate from beside him, a gift from Yugi. He had a suspicious feeling that it was a belated retort to the message he had sent him the previous night, and was somewhat tempted to ignore it, not really inspired with any brand new chirps to challenge him with…but he had to make sure, just in case it was something about Tea.

Now, as he lay thinking about her, with a slight headache that was more, uncomfortable than really painful, Yami tried to be in a more positive mood…but the moment he heard Yugi's irritating voice, he found himself growling under his breath as a few Egyptian curse words involuntarily left his lips.

"Whoa, this place is…it's…" he heard Tea's soft, low voice speak from down below, sounding extremely surprised and awed. He heard Yugi chuckle lowly at her in response, before casually climbing up the stairs that led to the second floor, seeming to be more respectfully quiet in her presence than what he was the previous day when he came alone, which was a good thing, Yami supposed, though he couldn't help muttering 'two faced, little bastard,' under his breath.

"It's incredible right?" Yugi commented lowly, before ascending further up the stairs. "You should see the view from Yami's room." Yami heard two sets of different footsteps make their way up the stairs, getting closer, and glanced at the door expectantly as the pair slowly walked in.

His dark, ruby red eyes immediately met with Tea's crystal azure ones that were tearing up dangerously fast, and smiled reassuringly at her. "Hey Beautiful," he said in a low husky voice, which seemed to draw her right of her trance as she dashed forward toward the bed, releasing the lively, moving bundle in her arms, and hastily, though somewhat as carefully she could, wrapped her arms around him.

"Yami, oh Yami, you're okay, you're alive!" she choked, seeming to try and hold back a sob from escaping her. "I was so worried, I'm so sorry." She kissed his forehead first, before hurriedly claiming his lips in a bittersweet kiss, and the briefly pulled away to squeeze him into a lovers embrace, never wanting to let go of him ever again.

Yami, not at all minding the close contact, wrapped his arms tightly around her, and kissed her exposed neck. "Ra, I've missed you, are you alright? You weren't hurt were you? I've been worried…"

Tea pulled back to give him an incredulous look, "You've been worried about me, when you're the one that was shot and almost killed?"

"Yeah, tell me about it," Yugi muttered sarcastically, as he folded his arms and leant back against the doorframe. However, his words seemed to fall on deaf ears, as the pair seemed to be totally unaware of anything else, but each other.

Yami smiled up at her, before lovingly stroking the side of her face, to which she automatically leaned into. They seemed to exchange a silent conversation with their locked gazes before Yami leant in to catch her lips with his, pulling her closer to his body and deepening the kiss, with his hands roaming up her sides to the small of her back.

"Uh-hum!" Yugi coughed loudly, before making a series of gagging splutters. "Pardon me my dearest brother, but I came to visit you too you know!" Yugi whined from his from his corner, with a very unimpressed look on his face.

Yami paused in their kiss, and sighed softly as he reluctantly pulled away from Tea, though still held her close, while turning his gaze to Yugi's with an equally unimpressed and disgruntled look. "Hi…dearest brother," he greeted without affection, seeming to mentally add a 'youcanleavenow' with his gaze.

"Hey," Yugi grinned, seeming to catch on to the 'game' now, nodding his head with satisfaction. "How are you?"

Yami raised an eyebrow, and felt Tea's body tremble slightly in his arms while she chuckled under her breath. "Much better, thanks." A dark, shadowy movement in the corner of his eye, caught his attention, and he whipped his gaze over to where a furry black mass sat cleaning itself beside him. "What the…?"

"Oh!" Tea remarked with a slight blush, as she reached over and gently stroked the cat's head. "Yugi thought you could use some company when we're not around, so we brought you a little present."

Yami smiled fondly at the cat, and soon joined Tea, in adorning him with affection by stroking his back. "Thanks…though I'm immensely surprised Yugi is actually capable of thought at all…"

"And the said - 'incapable individual'' - is surprised that the -'surprised'- is taking cheap shots like that, when he knows that the - said 'individual' - has got a lot of dirt on him that he most certainly wouldn't want a certain girlfriend to know about…oh now he's paying attention isn't he, mwah-ha-ha-haaa…" Yugi smirked, while throwing Tea a mischievous wink.

"Don't you have anywhere you need to be, and like go to, right now? A gay bar maybe, the local dump, prison…maybe hell?" Yami muttered irritably.

Yugi rolled his eyes, "Fine, let me go get you're shit first, and then I'll leave…but I'll be back because I always-"

"Come back, yeah I know, now go!" Yami finished for him, before grinning amusedly as Yugi flipped him off and disappeared out the door. He turned back to Tea, and quickly kissed her again. She sighed in contempt and tightened her grip on him, before gently pulling back and looking him over.

"Are you still hurt?" she said lowly, her eyes trained directly on the centre of Yami's chest.

He breathed in deeply, before answering. "Not nearly as badly as what I was."

She hesitantly reached out her hand to the centre of his chest, stopping herself just short of where the wound had been. Yami didn't flinch or pull away from her, trusting her completely. However, when she began to pull her hand away, he quickly reached up and caught it, before gently guiding her to where his heart was, until he felt the light pressure of her hand against it. "It's almost healed," he confirmed, holding back a slightly uncomfortable grimace.

"C-can I…see it?" she asked quietly, her eyes still trained on the spot.

Because Yami's old shirt had been severely damaged and ripped to shreds in the shooting, he had randomly picked an oversized one from one of the closets in the house, which hung loosely around his frame in a, rich silky cotton that was gentle against his skin. He nodded his head slowly and began to take off his shirt in a natural, almost painless motion, with only a few, slight jerks to indicate any sign of difficulty. He heard her gasp in amazement when he finally pulled free of its fabric hold on him, and turned toward her with a small smile as she examined the evidence of his ordeal with wide and surprised eyes.

"I-is that really it?" she asked in a voice that was just short of a whisper, as only a coin-sized, cherry red bruise remained, surrounding an almost completely faded scar that was only slightly raised above the skin. Neither looked overall threatening…

Yami nodded, "Yeah, it healed fast. It's just a little sensitive now that's all. All I need time for now is for my strength to return and probably for my muscles to stop aching." He rolled his eyes comically and shook his head, as though to mock the fact that he was so used to been almost killed by now that it was more of an inconvenience than anything else, but a small gulp from Tea, brought his attention back to her immediately. "Tea?"

"I-I'm sorry Yami…it was my fault-"

"No!" Yami shook his head furiously with a concerned frown. "This," he said in a stern tone, while gesturing to his formally wounded chest, "Was not your fault. This was actually my fault, because I should have been paying better attention to what was going on around us."

Tea shook her head disbelievingly, "I'm the one James wanted dead."

Yami frowned at her, before lowly growling in a dangerous voice, "Yugi told you about that?"

Tea nodded her head, but alarmingly held up her hands to calm him down, "I cornered him into it, it wasn't his fault…don't be mad at him."

"Yeah don't be mad at me!" they both heard Yugi's voice, sounding lightly amused, call from downstairs, and despite her turmoil Tea found herself grinning at him.

"He's been taking really good care of me," she informed Yami in Yugi's defence, hoping that that at least would settle his mind.

Yami looked at her suspiciously, before nodding his head. "Well I guess…that's good to know."

"Okay…I'm leaving now!" Yugi informed them from down below. "I'll be back later."

"Bye Yugi!" Tea called back, with a small smile, as she heard him make his way towards the door.

"Yeah, what she said," Yami mumbled back lowly, before giving her a wink, as they both heard the front door shut behind the young vampire, and immediately their worlds were centred on each other again, where nothing else mattered in the world.

The cat caught both their attentions when it let out a loud meow and jumped off the bed, before disappearing out the room. Both watched and smiled, before turning to smile at each other, and suddenly Yami became highly aware of something else. "Have you've been crying...?"

Tea looked at him startled, before shaking her head. "N-no, I was just…happy to see you, that's all."

He stroked an area on her cheek with his index finger, gently trailing it along a dried tear stain. "Tea…" Yami said softly, with a knowing gaze. "You can tell me anything…what's wrong?"

Tea smiled sadly, suddenly feeling as though she was going to start crying all over again, and looked away, embarrassed, taking note of the huge glass window that made up most of Yami's bedroom wall, and agreed with Yugi on the amazing view from his room. She watched the dark blue waves tower over each other, before crashing into one another, as she wondered where exactly she should even begin, before shaking her head. "No, no way, from now on the only thing you should be worrying about is getting better, not me and my totally unimportant problems." She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but the moment her gaze met with his stern, unconvinced one, she knew he saw right through her act. "It's nothing Yami…"

He gently cupped her side cheek once again, and shook his head, before giving her a small smile. "You know that I'm not going to let it go…"

She grinned in his hold, before laughing softly as a single tear dribbled from the corners of her eyes.

He gently tugged her down with him as he lay back, so that she was half lying over him, all the while holding her gaze with a softened and concerned one, "There…now tell me everything."

Tea rested her head against the side of his chest, and breathed in deeply in an attempt to calm herself down, when she felt him softly stroke the back of her head in a soothing motion. "I-it's stupid…" she whispered huskily, her throat aching in the way it always did when she felt like crying.

Yami continued to run his fingers along the brunette strands of her hair, breathing lightly as he listened to her. "Not to me it isn't," he whispered lovingly, as he wrapped his free arm half way across her waist, making her feel more, secure and protected in his embrace.

Tea felt her tears shed more freely now, and buried her face against his bare chest, sobbing quietly under her breath as memories of her whole high school career came flooding back to her, and without a single coherent thought to stop her, she began pouring her heart and soul out to an ever eager, listening Yami, whose mouth had hung open in absolute horror at what he was hearing. She told him about how Serena had victimised her, by sometimes buying cheap thongs with really cheap and trashy brand names, and stapling it to the notice bored with an ad informing the school that Tea was back in 'business' if anyone was interested, or how she had sometimes opened her locker to have an avalanche of condoms fall out on her. She also told him about how Shane had treated her, including both the kind of 'date' and the business proposition he had for her…and all Yami could think of, was thank Ra, he hadn't known all about it the day he actually met Shane.

By the time she had finished her sad sob story, Yami was holding her firmly in his strong arms, as he allowed her to cry it all out on his shoulder, never letting her go for a second, while he inwardly fumed inside. When her sobbing had finally subsided, she pulled away and rubbed her eyes dry. "I'm sorry; I didn't want to put all that on you."

"Tea…" Yami whispered, as he adjusted himself slightly, trying to mask the pain he felt from it. "You're too hard on yourself, I'm fine, and it's my job to make sure that whatever is hurting you stops."

Tea laughed without humour and shook her head sadly, "No its not, your job right now should be to get better, mine was supposed to be trying to make you feel better, not worse."

Yami smirked, before shaking his head, "Do I look worse to you?"

She observed him closely, before reluctantly shaking her head, "That's not-" He stopped her by taking both her hands in his and made her look in his eyes.

"I'll never be okay, if you're not okay…understood? And if it's not my job to protect you, then what exactly is my job?" His voice held an evident trace of amusement in it, and Tea couldn't help but grin. "Just to stand around and look good?"

Tea shook her head, "No…stand and look hot – definitely - but if you want a job specification…" She gave him an evil smirk, before lightly pecking him on the lips, while gently trailing her finger tips along his toned chest. "I can think of a few other, really good uses for you." Their lips locked violently and hungrily in a passionate kiss, and Tea felt her body heat up with a desiring fire that was threatening to consume her sanity if she allowed herself to fall any further into this passionate trap.

Yami pulled away from her slowly, also struggling for control over his own lust, and held her gaze with his, the pair silently exchanging another mental conversation, each mentally stating that they would forget about what had been discussed earlier and just celebrate being back in each other's arms tonight…

(Lemon Warning! Not for young untainted minds;-)

Tea got up slowly and straddled his lap, before running her hands up his bare, muscular arms, towards his shoulders and then gently placed them on the sides of his neck, before leaning down to kiss him, which automatically made her lower body down onto him, and was surprised when she felt his hardness nudge her. Yami however, stifled her small gasp of surprise when he pulled her further into him, briefly forgetting about his sensitive injury, and crushed their bodies together a little more forcefully than he had intended. He choked slightly and unintentionally jolted away from her, before glancing back at her apologetically. "Sorry, I momentarily forgot myself there."

Tea looked at him a little uncertainly. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, you're still hurt…"

Yami raised an eyebrow and looked at her as though she had just asked him a really ridiculous question, to which she smiled and rolled her eyes at, "Right…stupid question." She gently grabbed hold of his hands and guided them up her chest, making sure that Yami could feel every bit of her from her toned stomach right up to her perky nubs, before throwing her head back and moaning loudly. Yami growled slightly, as his lower region demanded attention, and he leant in to kiss her neck hungrily.

Tea released his hands, giving him once again full ownership of them, which he used to his advantage as he slipped them beneath her shirt, relishing the feeling of her soft silky skin beneath his finger tips. His touch was like fire dancing against her skin, burning patterns of electrifying desire within her, which only heightened her pleasurable sensitivity.

She had her eyes closed, but she could still feel Yami's intense, heated stare on her form, devouring her very being with its fire, as she felt her shirt been tugged up her body. She lifted her arms to help him get rid of it, before she felt her whole top half been engulfed in a fiery warmth as he protectively embraced her, though this time more gently than the last. She felt her exposed skin press up against his hard, muscled torso's, and relinquished in the arousal that spiked through her whole being, at the powerful sensation it gave her. She briefly remembered what Yugi had told her about half vampires being born with more muscles, and felt her way around him, picking out the additional sets with curious fascination, touching him in every place possible. Yami moaned lightly as she massaged a particular spot on his side, before trembling slightly.

"Ra…you have no idea…what you do to me," he whispered in between pants, using one of the most alluring tones she had ever heard him speak in.

Smiling, Tea grinded herself against him, and loved the way he growled and struggled for control over himself. Not for long though…she could see desire and lust burn brightly in his dark crimson eyes, and knew it wouldn't be long before he'd grow tired of the foreplay…after all, she'd come to know Yami quite well in bed. She smiled up at him seductively, before trailing her hands down to his hardened crotch, and with a little more force than all her other gentle strokes, rubbed it.

Yami gasped, and then groaned, feeling tiny ripples of unsatisfied pleasure darting from his swollen member into the pit of his stomach, where it all seemed to centre, like some kind of orgasmic command-centre. He then felt the pressure of her hand leave him, before hearing and feeling the gentle tug of his zipper being pulled down, and dared to open his eyes, only to marvel at the beauty that the gods had blessed the world with that made up his beloved Tea, who was propped up on top of him, semi naked and as dominating as a Greek goddess was to a mortal. He could get used to that…

She slipped her hand into the opening that she had created, and stroked his member eagerly, especially paying attention to the head, while she used her free hand to gently coaxed the rest of his pants downward, enjoying every sound Yami made. Once he was somewhat freer from his conservative constraints, she took him into both her hands and began pumping him, rocking her body in time with the rhythmic pace she was setting, while Yami squirmed beneath her, panting loudly. However, before he could reach his limit, Tea released her hold, and grinned at his flushed face that was strained into a mixture of pleasure, frustration and pain.

He slowly opened his eyes, and raised an eyebrow questioningly at the almost sadistic look in her eyes, before she leant down and gently flicked her tongue along his member's head, causing him to gulp and stiffen in response to. "T-Tea…I can't h-hold back much longer," he silently pleaded with her, to which she nodded and flashed him a warm, understanding smile in response to, before carefully rolling off, onto the side of him, and squirmed slightly into the sheets, making herself deliciously available for any craving he had.

Yami was a little unsure about it as first, fully aware that his injury was still in a fragile state, and that some rough activity like what they were most likely about to do, put him at risk of reopening those wounds, particularly the damage to his breast plate. However what he wanted to do, and what he knew he shouldn't do, kept very little company in his hormone crazed mind. He leant down slowly, careful to balance his body well without putting on too much strain, as he gently touched his lips to hers, delighting in the fresh strawberry taste of her lips. Tea's hands roamed down the sides of his body and made their way to his back, darting expertly over his toned back muscles that felt powerful and godly beneath her touch. In the back of her mind, Tea felt a deep sense of comfort in being held by someone so powerful loving the body, in which he so heroically jumped to defend, in such a way that it made her feel so fulfilled and complete.

Yami risked losing the support of one arm, in an attempt to begin 'helping' her out of her skirt. "Mmm," Tea mumbled into the kiss, and pulled back slightly, stopping him immediately. "Let me rather," she winked at him, before skilfully slipping out her skirt and panties, without hardly moving a muscle and using her legs mostly to do the hard work for her, before capturing his lips again in another passionate and heated kiss.

Yami then lifted her up slightly against him, before slipping a hand behind her and unhooking her bra that had been silently taunting him since the beginning, and flung it over to the side where the rest of their clothes had ended up. She moaned in gratification at being freed, and Yami took the opportunity to jerkily position himself at her entrance, growling lowly as his arousal spiked harder through his system. Tea pulled back to look at him, and smiled before nodding her consent, her eyes telling him that she was more than ready for him.

He slid into her easily, and growled at the immense pleasure that consumed both him and Tea at the same time. She groaned into the crook of his shoulder, and gasped loudly as stretched further into her, until finally hitting her core. Her body adjusted to him quickly, though her walls were still unusually tight, and oh-so-damn-good that there was really no other feeling like it. He thrust in and out of her, slowly at first, but then began to quicken and thrust harder, much to Tea's absolute delight

She clawed her way down from his back, groaning and moaning, before panting in time with his rapid thrusts, whispering his name in a husky voice, and experienced several electrifying sparks of pleasure all on their own, whenever he moaned her name back. She felt his grip around her waist tighten, and his hands explore her skin as they ran up and down her sides, before tugging her into him, immediately colliding with her sweet spot that had her calling out his name loudly and gripping at the sheets, unable to figure out what to do with herself.

Yami thrust once again into the same spot, and earned the same gratifying reaction he had wanted from her, and did it once more. She began chanting his name in a desirable low voice, which turned him on even more, if possible, and he instantly began attacking her neck with needy and hungry kisses, suddenly aware of a dangerous urge that forced him away from her neck immediately. He had never felt a more powerful instinct to bite into a human's flesh, as he did so now, and had to fight desperately for control, as his thrusts became harder and his concentration became dimmer. He heard Tea's hitched breath and knew she was just as close as he was, and breathed in deeply as their muscles tensed in a stone like way, before a floodgate seemed to open within them and the most incredible sensation either of them had ever felt before, totally engulfed them.

They both held onto each other tightly, as they rode out their pleasure, unable to think or speak, as each were blinded by the sun burst stars that plagued their vision, until eventually the white haziness lifted, and their eyes met. Yami had never seen a more beautiful pair of azure orbs before in his whole existence, as Tea had never seen a jewel that sparkled as brightly as Yami's ruby ones. However, despite anything they had ever thought or said to each other before, they both knew at that moment, when they looked into each others eyes…they were completely and erratically in love with one another…

---

(Okay kiddies, it's uh…safer to read again!)

Yugi made his way passed several piles of wooden crates, stacked on top of each other dangerously, with suspicious dark and wet seeming patches on the wooden surfaces that smelt musty, and overall like rot. He paused for a minute to curiously stare at them, always having wondered on exactly what the crates along the docks contained within them. He was almost tempted to punch a hole in one of them and take a small peek at what was inside when Lamia's voice called out eerily through the fog. "Bout time you jerk!"

Yugi sighed and rolled his eyes, "Actually Lamia, the Standard English for your little chirp is, it's about time you jerk."

Something black and unidentifiable flew out of the white curtain of mist, directly at him, which he casually dodged by shifting his head out the line of fire, and heard it thud lightly on the ground behind him, as he slowly walked towards her. "So, what do you want to learn first huh, anger management perhaps?"

Lamia's blurry form stood tensely in a straight line, and Yugi could hear her foot's impatient tapping as he neared her. He was suddenly taken aback at how ghostly she appeared, with her pale, washed out skin, and long white hair that drifted in a light breeze, as well as her unnatural and dark seductive beauty that all female vampires naturally contained. "Did you have to exist?" she asked rhetorically, as she unfolded her crossed arms and brought both hands up to the back of her head, grabbing her hair up into a bundle so that she could tie it up into a high ponytail.

"Did you?" Yugi retorted as he rolled his eyes, and began pacing his way to the wooden platform that she was standing on, taking a seat on a square wooden crate and looked out over the dark black, ocean water that was softly stirring in the low tide. All was rather peaceful at this time of the day, or early morning in technical terms, with no one in sight, except them. Every now and then there would be the stiff creak of an old boat slanting to its side, or a soft splashing from somewhere out in the water, as well as the harmonious chirping from the many thousands of crickets that surrounded them.

"It's nice out here," Lamia commented softly, mimicking his exact thoughts, as she finished fixing her hair, "Peaceful."

"Yeah, do you feel a little bit out of place?" Yugi couldn't help but add, as he rose to his feet. "Kind of like a camel wondering around the North Pole?"

Lamia shot him a hostile glare, "No, I was just trying to have a civilised conversation with you, but I forgot I was dealing with twelve-year-old. It must really suck not to have a brain."

Yugi grinned, "Nah, it gives me extra space to store things like chips and porn."

Lamia smiled, before looking him over, "How old actually, are you? Thirteen?"

Yugi frowned, "No damn it, I'm nineteen!"

Lamia raised an eyebrow, "You are really short for a nineteen year old…"

"First off, I would have been exactly the same height as Yami if I had of turned later in life, and second, I'm short because I have a direct linage from my Ancient Egyptian ancestors, who were incredibly short. Thirdly, I make up for height in other ways…and that's all you need to know," Yugi stated defensively, before stepping off the edge of the platform and landing on the one below it. "Now do you want to learn something or not?"

Lamia shook her head and rolled her eyes at the same time, "Fine, whatever, but just so you know, you totally contradicted yourself there…but let's get down to business, I don't want to spend my whole evening with you."

Yugi rubbed his temples, before giving her a serious look, "Okay, listen…until we're actually done with these nightly sessions, we're going to have to pretend to like each other…or at least tolerate one another. When they're over, we can go right back to hating and ignoring each other, how does that sound?"

Lamia nodded her head, "Sounds perfect…now why don't you just shut up and start teaching me something…darling?"

Yugi cringed at the sweetness of her voice, before nodding back at her uncomfortably. "Okay honey-pot," he mocked before straightening out his posture, "Let's see you run along the river."

Lamia widened her eyes in confusion, "Run along the river?"

Yugi nodded his head, "Yeah, along the surface…go on. I need to see what you are capable of first before I can teach you anything."

Lamia shook her head violently, "N-no way…that's impossible!"

Yugi rolled his eyes, "Lamia, you can run almost faster than light. The speed will prevent your weight from sinking into the water, so run!"

Lamia backed away from him, almost as though she expected him to throw her into the water. "I-I can't."

Yugi growled impatiently, "What the hell are you afraid of?"

"I-I can't swim…" She whimpered softly.

Yugi stared at her in amazement, "You can't what?" He wasn't sure if he had heard right, having previously believed that all those above the age of ten automatically knew how to swim.

Embarrassed, Lamia looked away from him with, "I don't know how to swim…and I'm afraid of water."

"You're kidding me right?" Yugi couldn't believe this.

"Why would I joke about something like that?" Lamia growled defensively.

Yugi scratched the back of his head, trying to shake off his shock, "And what are you afraid of what exactly? That you'll drown and die?"

"Just shut up Yugi!" Lamia growled, before biting her lip irritably.

"Fine…we'll skip that lesson for today. How well can you use your senses? Can you hear conversations clearly from the beach next door, or just inaudible fragments of it?"

Lamia had folded her arms around her chest protectively and was rubbing her leather clad arms in slow motions, comforting herself, rather than pretending to keep herself warm. She cocked her head to the side slightly, and listened, before turning back to Yugi, and shrugged. "I only hear muffling."

Yugi looked at her for a second, before nodding in understanding, "Okay, try to listen to the west side now, and tell me what you can hear from one of those houses." The houses were much closer than the beach, and it shouldn't have been too much of a problem for Lamia to listen in to one of the human's snoring.

"I can't really…tell." She struggled and strained her hearing in that direction, but eventually gave up with a frustrated sigh. "I don't understand I'm usually able to hear perfectly!"

"It's because you're at the ocean now, and there are a lot more distractions and audible complications, plus you're not concentrating hard enough. I want you to listen to the same house, but this time I want you to relax your mind and block everything else out, shut off all your other senses, and maybe close your eyes too." Yugi instructed expertly.

Lamia did as she was told, but was still unable to block out the sound of crashing waves in the distance. "I can't block out the waves."

"I'm starting to wonder how you ever managed to find me, if you're still battling with the basics," Yugi commented dryly, which earned him a cold and defensive glare from her.

"I just told you, I don't usually have a problem; it's only…sometimes." she looked away from him a little uncomfortably, and attempted to try again, but failed miserably in the task.

Yugi finally figured her out and gave her a small nod, "And let me guess, the only time you struggle is when you're fully in control of yourself?"

Lamia shot him a look, which Yugi took as a sign of confirmation and nodded again, "You can do it, just concentrate and try again, harder this time," Yugi responded apathetically. "You've been able to do it before, and you'll be able to do it now."

"I can't, the waves are too loud!" she growled through clenched teeth.

"So is your voice, but I've had to work around it."

"I hate you!" she spat, trying to strain her hearing further.

"Now, now, we're supposed to be getting along, remember? Use all that 'love' you're feeling towards me right now to focus all your background attention on."

"Will you just shut up!" she barked commandingly, before closing her eyes yet again, and reattempted to concentrate without having to hear Yugi's annoying voice in the background. However, she took his advice, and focused her wondering attention on her feelings of annoyance towards his cockiness and moronic sense of humour that grated on her every nerve, while straining her hearing to the second floor bedroom of a nearby house, soon discovering that it was someone breathing heavily as they drifted into sleep. "I got it! It's someone breathing!" she called out excitedly. "Wow…it's so clear!"

"There you see, it's not that hard, and eventually the whole 'hour' of concentration thing will become like second nature to you, so it won't take nearly as long." Yugi smirked, before looking her over. "Hey, where'd you get the jacket?"

She was wearing the same jacket she had taken from the thug that had attacked her the night before. "Someone gave it to me last night…it's cool huh?"

"Yeah, it's a bit big for you though, don't you think?" he commented moronically.

"There's nothing wrong with it, just leave it alone!" Lamia growled warningly and held the jacket closer to her in an almost defensive manner.

"Okay, fine, I won't comment on it anymore!" Yugi said with his hands held up in surrender. "I didn't know you liked leather though."

"Leather's nice…it's much stronger than fabric and lasts longer."

"Yeah…looks quite good on you too," Yugi said with a small nod, before glancing over to the side when he saw something black dart passed one of the crates.

"Really?" she said in a low, almost shy sounding voice.

"Yeah, the contrast is pretty cool too; you'd make an awesome heavy rocker chick with a few cool accessories," he said without looking at her, as his gaze followed the scampering trail of an unusually large, black rat. Eek!Rat! He cringed away slightly, with narrowed and wary eyes, hoping that it wouldn't spontaneously change direction and start coming right at them…

"Like a Three Days Grace groupie?"

Yugi's eyes widened in surprise and he risked losing sight of the rat to turn his gaze towards her, "You know Three Days Grace?"

Lamia nodded her head, "I'd love to see them live the atmosphere must be amazing!"

"Are you a fan of heavy rock?" Yugi asked her, with a slight trace of wariness in his tone, treating her like somewhat of a spy.

"Rock in general, what about you?" she answered easily, while wiping away a few rebel bangs from her eyes.

"Yeah…it inspired me to become a guitarist."

"Oh really, you play?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah, for six years now, I used to sit on top of the sphinx and practice sometimes. What about you do you play anything?"

Lamia's eyes glazed over with a dark and haunted expression, as she seemed to travel back in her memories, which Yugi somewhat sensed were far from the happy ones that most people had. "Y-yeah…I um, used to play the piano and church organ…family tradition."

Yugi was startled to realize that they had two things, so far, in common. "Do you…remember your family?"

She hesitantly nodded her head, "Yeah…I remember them very well…both of them."

Yugi glanced at her curiously, "Both? Were you're parents split up or something?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Lamia in a low and uncomfortable voice, as she once again folded her arms around herself, and shifted her gaze to the floor, seeming to close in on herself defensively.

"Okay, I get that, no problem…so-"

"How many girlfriends have you had?" she asked him suddenly, stopping him in mid-sentence.

Yugi glanced at her nervously before shrugging, "Um…well, I've never had a 'girlfriend' in the sense that I'm sure you're referring to."

"Me too…though there was one guy that I liked to pretend was my boyfriend." She laughed nervously, and once again dealt with the same uncooperative strands of hair that managed to crawl out their previous constraint.

"Oh really, how come you two never got together?" Yugi could think of several idealistic reasons why, but he wasn't in a mean enough, mood, to point any out. His best guess however, was that she was a major wacko even before she became a vampire.

"He didn't know I existed, I was just a play thing for him," she answered softly, with hardly even a trace of emotion in her voice, but in her eyes Yugi could clearly see the slight hurt and bitterness towards the fact that she had so easily seemed, to have come to accept. "I don't think he even knew my name."

Yugi scratched the back of his head, "Oh…what a major dick."

"He can be…Did you have anybody like that?"

"Yeah, except she knew I existed, that is to say, when my brother wasn't around." Yugi didn't mean for the bitterness he felt, to enter his voice or manipulate his tone, but he knew it was there the moment he heard the words leave his lips.

"Oh…" she exclaimed softly, watching him with wide and pitying eyes.

"Yeah but I grew used to it a long time ago, I mean, Yami's just that kind of guy, and I'd be an idiot if I thought I could ever measure up to-" he could not believe how much he had said to a total stranger, and Lamia of all people, and stopped himself immediately. "You know, we shouldn't be talking about this…we need to work on your hunting instincts. Do you know how to stop yourself if you need to, even if you're in an instinctual haze?"

She appeared slightly disappointed that he didn't want to finish what he was telling her, but seemed to brush it off quite quickly, as she shook her head. "Not exactly, I once took out an entire group by accident because I couldn't break out of it, until the very last heart stopped beating. It was by the city entrance, you know, beneath the city bridge?"

"That was you?" Yugi had come across a flyer from the Domino Police, requesting for any information regarding one of the most horrendous slayings of a street gang in the city's history, though he honestly believed it was the work of a satanic cult…after all, most of the victims were completely dismembered, which was not exactly a natural feeding method for most vampires…except for the psycho ones.

Lamia nodded sheepishly. "I didn't mean all of it, in fact I wanted to keep the youngest one alive, but then he turned his back on me and started to run and…I just couldn't control it."

Yugi's suspicions about her dangerous abilities as well as her self control, functioning only on her instincts, were confirmed.

"O-kay…we've got a lot to work on then, because right now…you're incredibly dangerous."

Lamia smirked at him, "I thought you'd be the kind to like dangerous girls?"

In habit and as more of an impulse than anything else, Yugi flirtatiously smirked back, "Only if they get wild on me." He immediately bit his tongue in regret and turned away, realizing that this was a highly inappropriate dialogue to share with his former enemy and bane to his existence. "Okay," he announced in a serious, back-to-business tone, "Let's first find a target."

"Isn't that dangerous?" she asked quietly with wide, and cautious eyes.

"Not exactly, you're going to have to first learn how to control your instincts, before you can learn how to use your powers, accurately…and it'll be safer for your moving target if a skilled vampire is around to supervise it all."

"Skilled huh…last time I checked a female rookie, kicked your ass…" Lamia grinned amusedly.

"Come on, I don't hit girls," Yugi muttered with a roll of his eyes, yet inwardly…his ego was severely bruised at that fact. "Now we need to find you a target-"

"Are we going to the beach?"

"Not a good idea, there are too many people around, and not too many hiding places to sneak them off into," Yugi concluded after a few seconds of thought, working out the lay out of the beach in his mind.

"Yeah, but it sounds like there's a party going on over there…it'll be fun don't you think?"

Yugi slowly blinked at her, "Lamia, we're not supposed to be having fun, I'm supposed to be training you!"

"Fine…but I'd bet you a million bucks that the girls down there are going to get so drunk that they'll be stripping down any minute and skinny dipping in the ocean-"

"You know what, on second thought; let's go find you a target on the beach, after all a missing partygoer will hardly be noticed in a crowed like that." Yugi grinned and began leading their way there.

Lamia smirked triumphantly, sopredictable, she thought. "Hey Yugi, do you like blondes?" she asked him, as she fell into step beside him.

Yugi raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you really asking me what my type of girl is?"

Lamia shrugged, "Yeah."

"Um…well no, I like brunettes," he finally concluded.

Lamia lowered her gaze to the ground and stuffed her hands in her pockets, "Oh…"

"Um…" Yugi didn't quite know how to deal with the awkward topic, and decided to try and be nice about it. "What's your type?"

Lamia smiled softly and shrugged her shoulders yet again, "Dark, mysterious types I guess."

Four things that they now had in common…

Yugi smirked, "Ah, let me guess, he's got to be tall, impossibly handsome, muscular, with a deeply attractive voice…crystal blue eyes, maybe even gold, and tanned skin?"

Lamia chuckled lowly under her breath, "Well you're right about the tanned and muscular part, but the eye colour's wrong."

"Oh really, what colour would you prefer then?"

Lamia's lips parted slightly as though to answer him, but then she shook her head and smiled, as they came to the end of the docks, and the beginning of the sandy landscape. The scent of a wood-burning fire invaded their nostrils, as well as the tang of alcohol and sweat, mixed within the salty air. Shouts, calls, and cat whistles, bellowed out loudly in the distance, as the festivities grew wilder between the partiers on the beach.

"Okay this is what we're going to do; we're going to find a physically capable human, lure him off in this direction, and take him back to the port…you game?"

Lamia nodded, "What are we going to do with him though?"

"We're going to scare him, and then he's going to run around like a frightened little animal, and you're going to hunt him down, and at the same time, learn how to control your instincts. Simple enough?"

"Okay."

"Right, I'm going this way, you go that way," Yugi instructed, as he made his way over to the sandbar, which 'coincidently' happened to be surrounded by pretty, young teenager girls.

"And exactly what are you going to find over there?" Lamia asked in a slightly irritated tone.

Yugi smirked and winked at her, "It would be rude to crash a party and not talk to the other guests."

"Typical…you're supposed to be helping me!" she whined in annoyance.

"I will, I will, I'm just going to engage in a little bit of small talk for a while, and besides one of these girls are bound to have an oversized and equally over-territorial boyfriend that'll want to beat the crap out of me for flirting with his girlfriend." He winked at her.

"You're seriously going to be flirting with girls, while I'm scouting for a guy to play hunting practice on? I'm sorry, but I'm not happy about our time together been used so that you can rope in a girlfriend! I don't care how sexually frustrated you are!"

Yugi shook his head and rolled his eyes, "Lamia, seriously, the last thing I'll ever do, is date…that's Yami's thing, not mine. I'm simply provoking jealous boyfriends to attack me, while practicing my womanizing skills."

Lamia rolled her eyes and strolled away from him, shaking her head dismissively, though seeming to buy his 'excuse.'

Yugi eyed a young red haired girl, with hair that flowed past her elbows and just touched the start of her hips. She seemed familiar, but Yugi was sure that he would have remembered such a beauty, with curves in all the right places, and slim in all the rest. The fire behind her, seemed to illuminate all her features, warming her complexion with an orangey glow, and lighting what appeared to be a pair of light hazel eyes. She was seated beside two other girls, one that was either punk, or emo, with bright bubble gum pink dyed hair, tied in two pigtails, and looked just about ready to pass out, as she swigged from a label-less glass bottle, before passing it to her other tomboyish pal beside her, who looked zoned out and ultimately - stoned.

"Hi girls," Yugi greeted politely in a smooth charming voice that immediately won him favour with the female trio.

The girl, who Yugi had already nicknamed Pinkie, immediately reacted to his presence, with a wide, inviting smile. "Hi! What brings you here to the loser's corner, surely you belong somewhere higher up-" she shook her head, which Yugi assumed was to clear her misty vision, before smiling back up at him. "You're really cute!"

"Shell!" the redhead gasped, giving her friend a firm, yet gently shove on the shoulder, before turning to him apologetically, "I-I'm sorry, she's…"

Yugi held up his hands and nodded, "No worries, and to answer you're question, I was just wondering by when I saw these three really cute babes sitting here, and just couldn't bring myself to walk by without at least offering to buy one of them a drink."

The redhead smiled sheepishly and shook her head, "Thanks, but no thanks, I think some of us have had just about enough to drink tonight-"

The pink haired girl slapped her on the back and waved frantically at him, "Don't go though! I mean, we want you to still stay, right guys?"

The tomboyish girl looked up dazedly and nodded her head, before giving him the thumbs up, seeming stoned enough to have being cool with just about anything her friend suggested. She was a weird impish looking girl, with a short blonde haircut and dim grey eyes, wearing an oversized black T-shirt with a pair of headphones on the front of it, and a dark blue denim jacket. The redhead girl however, looked just about ready to sink into a dark hole.

"Well, I would never pass off that invitation…I'm Yugi," he introduced, reaching out his hand to the pink haired girl first, since she seemed the most enthusiastic about taking it.

"I'm Shelby! It's so great to meet you Yugi, you're like so hot!" she was pulled away by the redhead, who once again, shot him an apologetic look.

"Hi," she said softly through a small, shy smile, "I'm Serenity…and that over there is Jo." Jo smiled at him and waved, but didn't seem to be overly interested, or even really aware that he was in fact there and not something she had hallucinated.

"So, Yugi…" Shelby interrupted him, roughly rubbing his right arm as though trying to feel through the leather of his jacket, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Yugi smiled at her somewhat humourlessly, "No, I do not in fact."

She smirked at him flirtatiously, "Well you know, if you're looking for one, I could totally-"

"Um Shelby, you should fix your shirt," Serenity suggested quickly, eyeing the midriff skin tight shirt that was dangerously close to exposing too much of her cleavage. Shelby immediately looked down to see what Serenity was talking about, allowing Yugi enough of a gap to escape the awkward situation. He turned to Serenity and gave her an inviting smile.

"You must be a model."

She blushed darkly and shook her head somewhat shy, yet also flattered. "N-no, I actually work at a restaurant on the other side of the city, as a waitress…but that was sweet of you to think."

"W-what do I look like I do?" Shelby interrupted, grabbing on to Yugi, leaning most of her weight against him, and battered her eyes at him cutely. Yugi's immediate mental response to that, was telling her she looked like some metal band's crazy groupie that worked part-time as a ghost tour guide through cemeteries.

"Whatever you do, must be one hell of career path to follow now that you've joined it."

She blushed, flattered by his words, "Oh, you…" She playfully smacked his chest. "I'm part of an apprenticeship program in beautyschool."

For who, the undead?

Yugi had to hand it to her however, as she seemed to sound much better than most sloshed girls when she spoke. "I see, well if you can get any of those girls to look as good as you do, then I'm sure the world will be a much more beautiful place…" he winked at her before turning back to Serenity. "Now how come you three are sitting here and not joining in the festivities over there?"

Serenity shrugged with a small smile, but her friend simply moved in on him further, this time actually pulling herself into him and squeezing him around the ribcage, before jumping up and down, almost falling over, but he caught her just in time. "That's a great idea! Let's go dance! Come on Jo, dance with us!" She reached out and pulled Jo to her feet, before swaying in the opposite direction, almost falling over again. "Come on Yugi, join us too hot-stuff!"

Yugi smiled apologetically and gave them a half wave, "I'll join you in a minute."

The pair rushed off, leaving him and Serenity behind, which Yugi was somewhat glad about. "You're not going to, are you?" Serenity said softly with a knowing grin.

Yugi smiled back at her, before taking Shelby's vacant seat. "Are you kidding me? With my awesome freestyle skills, I'd cause a jealous riot out there; I'd rather leave it alone to the amateurs." He joked, giving her a wink.

Serenity chuckled and then blushed, acting very much like a young girl who was interested and didn't know how to go about it. "So um…are you enjoying the party so far?"

Yugi smirked and nodded, "Yeah, are these kinds of things hosted a lot around here?"

Serenity threw him an amused smile, "Yeah, pretty much every weekend."

"Um…don't take this the wrong way, but, you don't really seem to be the wild party type," Yugi observed, taking note of the conservative way in which she dressed, as well as the lack of alcohol in her system, which just didn't fit the environment she was in.

Serenity giggled softly and shook her head, "N-no, um…I'm not. I usually play the designated driver when they're too wasted to drive home themselves."

Yugi was about to respond to her, when he sensed the fast, incoming of something - heavier than air- coming right at him, and turned to react just in time, when a petite girl fell right into his arms. Her brightly coloured hair gave her identity away immediately, and it didn't take Yugi more than a second to realize he was holding Shelby, while a zoned out Jo, just breezed passed them, barely giving her fallen friend a second glance, as she plopped down beside Serenity.

"Cra'aaaap!" Shelby moaned, before squirming around in his arms. "Wha'- mmm – what ha'append?" she sighed, fluttering her eyes open and then wincing them closed again. "Lights…too bright!"

"Shelby, I think it's time to take you home," Serenity said alarmingly, throwing Yugi an apologetic look again, before nudging her friend's shoulder. "Come on!"

Shelby opened her eyes again and instantly found Yugi's, which suddenly woke her up completely, with excitement, "Oh it's the hot single guy!"

Yugi smirked down at her amusedly, "Hi…again."

She squirmed around in his arms until she was sitting upright in his lap; in a rather suggestive way that was a little too close to his crotch…forcomfort. "You kno'oh that I…am really, reee'ally…I," she paused for a moment seeming to collect her thoughts, before flashing him a wide, totally drunk, smile. "Reee'ally, like you…cause you're hot! I like hot guys!"

"Shelby, I really think you should-" Serenity tried, but Shelby immediately continued where she left off.

"And!" she gestured with her pointing finger, in a hammer-down motion, "I…would like…to show you a really good time!"

Serenity's eyes grew as wide as saucers as she jolted forward to try and save what was left of her friend's dignity, accidentally knocking Jo aside, who had been trying to light a cigarette, "Ah Ser, what the fuck man!"

"Alright, serious Shell, we're going home now-" Serenity tried once more, but Shelby immediately slapped her hand away.

"No way Ser-Suri," her brow knitted closely together in deep concentration as she tried to remember her friend's name, before giving up with a loud, hysterical laugh and a roll of her eyes, "Go get your own hot guy! This one's mine!"

"Shelby-" Serenity hissed, while trying to grab hold of her wrist again, only to be interrupted this time by their other friend Jo.

"Dude, just leave her, she's fine!"

"No, she isn't Jo!" Serenity hissed, before throwing Yugi a small, almost pleading and embarrassed smile.

"Of course I am!" Shelby bellowed loudly, to which Yugi winced in response to, as its shrillness went right through him. "Um…it's Yogi-?"

"Yugi," he corrected her with an amused smile.

She gave him a wide grin and snickered, "Riii'ght! Yugi! Well Yugi…do you…?" She moved her lips over to his ear and gently purred into it. "Want to go some-hair, where we can be, all'lll alone?"

"He can't!" the angry growl startled all four of them, as their heads whipped around to the enraged, white haired female that stood before them, with an angry scowl across her face. "Because he's got somewhere he needs to be right now…doesn't he?" Her black eyes burned into his soul as she cast him a spine chilling glare that would have cracked marble.

"Uh…ladies?" Yugi once again put the charm back on as he addressed them. "Meet my um…sister…Snowy."

Serenity gave her a small, friendly smile, and brushed a few strands of hair from her eyes, "Hi there I'm-"

"I don't care," Lamia growled, cutting her off icily. "Yugi, I'm done here, let's move on."

"Oh shizz, I think I'm gonna-" Shelby slapped a hand to her mouth and shut her eyes tightly, as her stomach heaved slightly against him, alarming Yugi at once.

"We need to get her to a bathroom!" Serenity advised wisely, after recovering from Lamia's cold assault.

Yugi picked her up off him slightly, before rearranging her so that her legs were no longer straddling him and rose from his seat with her securely in his arms, while she squealed with drunken delight. "Okay, let's go then." He side glanced at Lamia, who was throwing him an incredibly dark and murderous glare, and suddenly wondered what the hell the little psycho's problem was, when Serenity jumped up and began leading the way.

"This way Yugi!" she called from behind her, and Yugi immediately began to follow, mentally praying to any god that would listen that the girl he was helping, would not throw up all over him. He had never been able to handle vomit before his transformation, and most certainly would not be able to handle it now after, when his senses were almost a thousand times more, sharper.

Lamia fell into step once again beside him and hissed lowly under her breath, "What are you doing?"

"Snowy just stay here!" Yugi snapped, as he carried on walking ahead of her with the overly cheerful and bubbly girl in his arms, not giving her a backward glance as she fell behind. He felt Shelby stir in his hold and noticed her complexion turning slightly green, as her stomach heaved and fell with sickness. She wasn't going to last long. "How far are the bathrooms?" he asked Serenity in alarm.

Serenity shot him a concerned look before shaking her head, "The other side of the parking lot!"

Yugi shook his head, "She'll never make it that far." His eyes darted skilfully around the beach where he noticed a strange shack like thing nearby, with a large trashcan barrel in front of it. "What's that?" he asked her with a nudge of his head in the same direction.

Serenity barely glanced at it before answering, "It's a shower."

Yugi started to make his way towards it, and beckoned Serenity to follow him, which she did without questioning him. The pair made it there just in time, with Yugi just placing Shelby on her feet besides the metal barrel, a second before she upchucked into it. Needless to say, it was disgusting…and made Yugi quite thankful that he hadn't taken her up on her suggestive offer, beforehand, which he had been tempted at first to do.

"I'm so sorry Yugi," Serenity apologised, while holding Shelby's hair back so that it didn't get in the way. "She's not usually like this…"

"Don't be a fuh-blaa'aaar!" Shelby continued to gurgle up the contents of her stomach, and Yugi could only pity her, while trying desperately not to breathe in its awful and sour scent.

Jo slowly strolled up to them with a blank expression and regarded Shelby with a raised eyebrow, before shrugging and taking out another cigarette, offering her pack to Yugi, who politely shook his head, and then lit hers with a small shrug. "Hurry up man, I gotta take a piss!"

Serenity shot Jo an incredulous look, before blushing wildly and turning her face away so that Yugi couldn't see it, clearly embarrassed. Shelby coughed and spluttered, before muttering something unintelligible and rolled off to the side out of Serenity's grip, though luckily Yugi could react faster and once again caught her before she hit the ground. Her breathing was laboured and deep, and every now and then she would moan, with her eyes shut closed, tightly.

"Thanks Yugi, you're a lifesaver, can you please help bring her to the car?" Serenity asked him softly with a tired and miserable voice, and was hardly able to make eye contact with him.

"Sure, no problem," he said through a smile, as he lifted her limp body back into his arms.

When they reached the parking lot, Jo quickly disappeared into the girl's bathroom, while Serenity led Yugi to her car, opening up the backdoor seat for him. He gently lifted the semi-conscious girl onto the seat, and positioned her upright, before trying to pull away, when she grabbed hold of his arms. "No!" she squeaked, before pulling him back. "No, don't leave me too!"

"Hey, hey, it's going to be okay, alright? Your friend is just taking you home now," Yugi tried to pry the girl's hand off him, but she held firm, and gave him a sweetly seductive look.

"Come home with me!" she purred huskily before leaning towards him and grabbed hold of his crotch, when the unthinkable happened… The sudden motion of dropping down in such a violent and unexpected way, disrupted the contents of her stomach, which immediately flooded out her mouth in an uncontrollable gush, and Ra help him, directly onto his chest. Yugi quite felt like gagging himself…

"Oh crap!" Serenity cried out miserably, "Yugi, gosh, I'm so sorry…oh man, let me – wait, I've got some napkins in the car-"

Yugi held up a single halting hand with his eyes closed, "Its okay…its okay…don't worry about it…no big…deal. Shit happens, all the time right?" His voice was painfully strained, but he managed to hold onto a tight smile, before gently shutting the car door closed on Shelby's alluring suggestions and protests, and turned to regard Serenity, with what he hoped looked like an image of calmness. "It was really nice meeting you tonight Serenity, as well as your friends. Drive home safely."

Serenity forced a small smile, "It was nice meeting you too Yugi…and once again, seriously thanks for helping out and I'm really sorry-"

"Fucking hell, you won't believe the shit ya gotta do to take a piss in there! Fucking toilets are all blocked and some asshole took a dump in the fucking sink!" Jo yelled loudly as she jumped into the passenger seat, throwing a glance back over her shoulder at Shelby. "What the fuck are you going on about you cheap bitch?"

Serenity sighed and breathed in and out deeply, staring up at the sky with the same kind of questioning emotion people got on their faces when they asked the supreme forces of the world, 'why them?'

"Goodbye Yugi," she said softly as she grudgingly climbed into the driver's seat and buckled herself up.

"Bye Serenity!" Yugi responded as he stiffly waved her off, almost gagging when he felt his shirt, wetly stick to his torso. Oh my dear fucking Ra. Worse was the fact that he didn't know how the hell he was going to take the shirt off either, without having it touch his face, which was completely out of the question. There was noway someone else's vomit, was touching that area of his body.

Once her car was out of sight he began to walk along the parking lot, which was unusually quiet, of bustling activity. In fact the only other people in it were a young couple making out heavily in a parked car to his side, and four stoners sitting along the railing that separated the beach from the parking, randomly discussing on whether or not what had happened to the ocean was that it had mysteriously turned into sand, or that the water was disguised as sand to confuse them. Yugi grinned and shook his head, as he casually made his way around the parked cars. He had just neared the entrance that led back to the beach, when a metallic clank caught his attention. He whipped his head to the side, half expecting to see Lamia tearing across the way towards him with a metal pole in her hands to assault him with. What he saw instead however, was a handful of oversized basket ball player types, ganging up on a smallish female, who looked just about ready to start fighting back.

Morality struck him, and he simply couldn't allow a girl to fend off so many men all by her human self…well in theory. He had quite enjoyed the live porn aspect of it a while ago, and didn't always mind the blood fests and idiotic violence brought on my mindless and short tempered morons with knives…but hey, he needed an excuse for getting rid of some of his frustration. He whizzed up towards them in a black blur, just in time to stop one of them from launching himself at her. "Hey Goliath, you're a long way away from the land of barbarians here my mindless friend, we treat our girls with a little bit of more respect!" Yugi called out threateningly, as he made his way over to step in front of her with long confident strides and tensed shoulders. "So why don't you and you're scumbag pack scurry back to whatever cave you came from, and leave her alone."

The big guy squared his shoulders and straightened up to full height, practically towering over Yugi. "What did you say to me pipsqueak?"

"What, did a plane get lodged in your ear? I said leave her alone."

"Kid's brave," one of his intimidating friends commented, as he stepped around the group and made his way to stand just a few feet short from Yugi, "But really stupid."

"Get lost punk, or the cleaners are going to have to scrape you off the tar tomorrow in pieces."

"Yeah, go back home to mommy!" another one called out and then laughed.

"You mean yours? Sorry, but last time I banged her, she gave me herpes," Yugi retorted.

The guy tensed up with a murderous expression. "What did you just say about my mother?"

Yugi rolled his eyes, "Nice, you'll defend your mother and prove that chivalry is in fact still alive, but what do you think she'd say if she saw you pushing around a girl in a parking lot-"

He was cut off in mid sentence when his eyes met with the girl's dark ones, recognizing her immediately.

"That's it kid, I was just going to let you go, but now me and the boys are going to fuck you up so bad, you're going to eat through a straw for the rest of your life!"

"…" he and the girl continued to stare at each other, seeming to exchange an entire mental conversation, before he forced his attention away, "Actually, I already do, most of the time, and second, if you touch her, I'll take you apart piece by piece, now beat it."

"Ooo, I'm so scared, this kid sounds like he really means, business Jake," one of his friends behind him called out, while holding up both hands and wiggling his fingers. "Maybe we should run now while we still can?"

"Yeah maybe we should, or maybe we should just tie him and the little bitch up to a heavy anchor, and sink them in the river-" she immediately socked him a hard punch to the side of his jaw, and spun around on her left heel before delivering him a lightning quick, and ultimately powerful kick to the gut, sending him sprawling backwards, before leaping out the way, and standing somewhat close to Yugi, whose mouth was hung open in both surprise and awe.

"Bitch, get back here!" The guy who was standing closest to Yugi, suddenly leapt in at her, but Yugi simply elbowed him backwards, sending him much farther than what should have been humanly possible. The girl turned to see what had happened, having only vaguely seen movement in her side vision and was surprised by it. Yugi however, had his attention on the guys that were now menacingly surrounding them.

"Get behind me," he commanded her, while trying to step in front of her protectively.

"No way, you get behind me!"

He smirked, loving her spunk, but at the same time, realized that these guys weren't just knocking her around for fun, and really meant, as that one guy had so nicely put earlier, business. He could see the flick knife quite clearly from its concealed location in his gloved hand, thanks to the assistance of his additional vamp sight. The chances were though that she didn't, and if she went for him too hastily, she'd get seriously injured.

When the guy rushed forward, so did Yugi, at a speed much faster than he had intended, and caught the guy by surprise, kneeing him in the gut, which instantly winded him, before grabbing hold of the other guy's arm and flinging him over onto his back.

However, in all the commotion, someone had snuck up from behind her, and caught her by surprise, and by the time Yugi had put their third gang member out of commission, the girl was been held at gunpoint. "Y-Yugi!" she squeaked warningly, not seeming too concerned about herself, but rather more concerned about him getting shot.

Yugi turned around slowly and raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him. He realized, especially after what had happened to Yami that he needed to be a little more wary of these kinds of weapons. "Come on dude, we both know that you're not really going to shoot her, so just let her go."

"I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but I'll frikin kill you and her, if you take one step towards us!"

"Look, take me okay, let her go, and take me…come on man, she's just a girl."

She pulled a face that seemed quite offended by that remark, but was violently shaken in his arms as he forcefully pulled her along with him. "I can't do that, man...she's gotta come with us."

Yugi rolled his eyes before deciding to try a different approach, using mind control. He was able to freeze the thug to the spot, before he darted up to him, and socked him a hard punch to the side of his face, knocking him out cold, before flinging him to the ground and kicked the gun away. "There, now stay down!" He heard running footsteps, and saw the cowards of the gang sprinting across the lot towards a shiny, yellow car, parked right at the very end and mostly out of sight, leaving their fallen buddies behind.

"Thanks," she said, while rubbing her right wrist and throwing a dark, vengeful glare at the retreating creeps, "But I could have taken them by myself, I didn't need your help."

"Ah Razzy, it's so good to know you haven't changed since the last time we spoke, but you totally know that you could never have gotten out of that without my help," Yugi said as he turned to regard her with an admiring eyebrow. The girl was tough, and awesomely kick-assed.

"Of course I could have!" she argued defensively.

"Yeah, yeah, okay sure, but what do you think of my awesome moves? Did they impress you? How'd you like that cool kung fu number I did on that last guy, to save you?" Yugi said, as he demonstrated a movie-like martial arts movement with his arms by slicing them through the air in a circular motion.

"You mean to help me right? You didn't rescue me; I wasn't some damsel in distress," Razz said coolly with a warning glare.

"Is that a yes?" Yugi tried, with an amused grin and a daring wink.

"No, now if you'll excuse me-" The screech of tires sliced through the parking lot's silence, and Yugi grabbed hold of Razz just in time, to pull her out the way of a racing yellow car, which flew passed them at an illegally high speed, and knocked over a trashcan as it sprinted out into the night. Yugi released her reluctantly, while watching the red tail-lights disappear into blackness, and turned to look her over to make sure that she was okay.

"You alright?" he asked her in concern.

"I'm fine, thanks." She responded, while stepping away from him stubbornly, before catching sight of his shirt. "What the hell is that?"

Yugi looked down and growled lowly, "Um…some chick threw up on me, no big deal, and thanks for your concern."

Razz threw him a disgusted look, and almost looked like she wanted to throw up as well. "That is just so gross that I wish I'd never even asked, but I'm sure you deserved it." She turned to leave when Yugi stopped her.

"Whoa wait, hold up, you can't just leave me like that, come on, I just saved your life!"

"No you didn't!" Razz corrected him with a, certain stubbornness.

"Yeah I know I did, thanks for acknowledging that," Yugi winked teasingly. "Now about paying me back-"

"You are friking impossible, you know that?" Razz growled irritably, before folding her arms and glaring 'ninja darts' and 'throwing daggers' at him.

"Look, just go on one date with me, okay! Just one, and you'll never have to deal with me ever again, I promise."

"You're kidding me right?" though when she saw his perfectly serious expression she frowned, "No way!"

"Come on, please…I swear I'll never bother you again! Come on, you know you want to bite…and it'll be the perfect way to thank me for saving your life!" Yugi gave her a charming grin, and worked his equivalent of the wide, puppy dog eyes on her, which she seemed to be quite immune to, as the frown never left her expression, and her eyes still remained in their usual guarded hardness.

"You didn't save my life! I could have taken them on by myself; I didn't need your help at all!" She continued to argue, but the line was getting old, and she knew it.

"Yeah, but you still got it," Yugi winked at her yet again.

Secretly finding his charm somewhat cute, Razz finally rolled her eyes, "Fine, one date and then you're out of my life forever, got it?"

Yugi smiled triumphantly, "Got it, how about tomorrow at 8?"

Razz glared at him darkly, "Fine, and don't you dare take me some sleazy, seedy place with strippers and drug dealers, cause then I'm going to kill you!"

Yugi gasped and raised his eyebrows in mocked offence, "I think I have more class than that…there wouldn't be drug dealers."

Razz blinked her eyes once, completely unimpressed. "Wouldn't be drug dealers…" she trailed off, before narrowing her eyes, "You're really not that funny."

"Of course I am you just need to get to know me better," Yugi promised with a grin.

"Oh gee, can't wait!" she muttered sarcastically. "Look, I'm staying at the Redbird's Hotel, there's a restaurant at it too, be there at eight."

"No problem," he winked at her, "By the way, do you need a ride somewhere? I mean, I don't want you to get in the same situation as-"

"No. Thanks, but I'll be fine, and I think I've just had about as much of you as I can take for tonight," she muttered under her breath as she made her way towards the beach, with her hands firmly in her pockets.

"Okay then, see you tomorrow night Razzy!" Yugi called after her, before walking off on a path of his own, heading back to the docks.

---

Ryou's eyes bulged in their sockets as he took in the sight before him. It was Prince Atem's twin brother, heroically coming to the aid of the girl he had been pursuing.

'Well, well, well…this is indeed a treat. It seems this human girl will be of use to us after all.'

Ryou could say nothing and remained frozen in shock, as he watched the scene play out before him, with wide eyes.

"Fine, one date and then you're out of my life forever, got it?" she hissed at Yugi, completely unaware that by saying those thirteen unlucky little words, she had unintentionally sealed her fate.

'This is perfect! We have now found the key to exterminating this little pest once and for all!'

Ryou finally snapped out his trance, and hesitantly shook his head, "Bakura, maybe we shouldn't-"

'Do not finish the rest of that idiotic sentence…have you forgotten what our primary objective is in all this?'

"Of course I haven't, but perhaps turning her against him won't work now, since she seems to know him personally…and intimately," Ryou argued reasonably.

'I know that you fool, which is why I've changed our plans…'

"Changed them…to what exactly, Bakura?" Ryou said with slightly narrowed eyes, keeping his gaze firmly on the tarred ground below them.

'Bait of course!'

Ryou's eyes widened, "Bait?"

"Yes…we'll allow him some time to grow attached to her, and then when his attachment has reached its prime, we'll capture her and lure him into a trap."

Ryou disagreeably shook his head. "Bakura, that is highly unlikely. He's probably just toying with her, for all we know. Come on, this is the perfect opportunity to kill him ourselves while still under the protection of the shield, he'll never see us coming." Ryou made a move to jump into action, but Bakura's cold, mental voice halted his every movement.

'Are you questioning me Ryou? How dare do you act without my permission!'

Ryou grimaced and immediately backed down, while placidly shaking his head. "No Bakura…I'm not questioning you."

'Listen to me well boy…if you want power, you'll do exactly as I say, and exactly when I say it. Have I ever being wrong before, about anything?'

He had in fact, Ryou soon realized, as he recalled Bakura's confidence in Lamia's ability to destroy Yugi once before, despite his protests and claims that she wasn't ready enough; but he wouldn't dare point out that fact.

'Exactly!' Bakura's satisfied voice growled in response. 'So from now on, be smart enough to keep your mouth shut and do as you're told.'

---

Yugi had just made it to the wooden platform of the docks, when a light wind rocked his jacket and gently flapped his shirt, and he found himself looking up into Lamia's death-glaring eyes, which seemed to literally burn with black rage. "You don't date huh?"

He sighed tiredly and rolled his own, "Weren't you supposed to be looking for something, instead of listening in to my private conversations?"

"Weren't you supposed to be helping me? All you did tonight was flirt with other girls! Be honest, you never went there to find me a target, you went over there to find some cheap and easy girl to ease some of your tension on!" Lamia growled angrily at him, with folded arms.

"Hey do you want to get a bite to eat before we leave? I'm kind of hungry," Yugi mumbled casually, while he stretched, and flexed his muscles.

"Don't change the subject!" Lamia yelled.

"Come on Lamia, you don't need to make a sceneabout everything, so what if I spent my evening with a few other girls instead, I thought you would have been happy to take a break from me for a little while, anyway?" Yugi muttered, getting slightly irritated. "We've still got plenty of time on our hands."

"Who's that girl you're taking out on a date tomorrow night? Do you even like her?"

"Who gives a shit, and why do you even care?" Yugi snapped.

"I don't care!" Lamia snapped back icily.

"Then don't ask about it!"

Lamia huffed angrily and flung her icy gaze over to the other side of the dock, where they both heard the distant sound of squealing tires. "Since when, am I your sister?" she all but growled after a long and silent pause between them.

Yugi shot her a confused look. "What?"

She shot him an irritable look, "On the beach, you introduced me as your sister…and lord forbid, as Snowy!"

Yugi choked on a chuckle and was unable to help himself from grinning amusedly. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Um, we've got to keep your real identity a secret…we don't want your other psycho 'friend' to know you're still alive…and Snowy just seemed really appropriate at the time."

"Yeah sure, because so many parents call their daughters Snowy!" Lamia spat sarcastically.

"Well…minecalled me, Yugi, you know that means 'game' in Japanese right?" Yugi retorted, while wiggling his eyebrows twice in triumph. "From now on, I'm going to call you Snowy."

Lamia gave him a threatening look and growled, "I hate that name!"

Yugi shrugged with an amused grin, "I know, why do you think I'm going to start using it?"

Lamia opened her mouth to respond when a loud bang thundered from their side, starling them both, and leaving them partly deaf. Her hands shot up to cover her ears, which rang loudly with an annoying mosquito-whine, whereas Yugi muttered and cursed in a series of different languages, before straitening up slightly, to see what had exploded. "What the fuck was that?" he growled eventually, before narrowing his eyes angrily in the direction from which the noise had come from.

"It s-sounded like a car bomb going off!" Lamia whimpered in a whiny and pained voice.

Yugi's eyes widened in terror, "What did you just say?"

"It sounded like a car-" Yugi vanished before she could fully complete her sentence, and raised an eyebrow confusedly as she watched his retreating form, disappear out the docks, before hurrying to catch up with him.

They both arrived in the back parking section of the docks, in time to see Yugi's prized vehicle bursting into flames. There was shattered glass surrounding the car, and bright yellow flames licking along its edges, tragically blackening the paint, while a single, lonesome wheel rolled towards them and fell directly, and cruelly in front of him. There was another loud explosion, as another hot, burst of flame shot out the engine like a volcanic eruption, and the remainder of the car's metal body collapsed into a pathetic heap…breaking Yugi's heart.

"Ah-Al-A…Al…Ah…Al…" he stuttered, unable to turn away from the horror, and jolted slightly when the driver's side door, fell off its hinges and twanged loudly, as it hit the ground.

"What the heck happened?" Lamia asked inquiringly, as she glanced around at their surroundings, almost as though she expected to find the answers from them.

"A'aaa, a'aaa…" Yugi choked.

Lamia glanced over to him questioningly, and frowned, "What the heck is wrong with you?"

"A'aaaa'aaa," Yugi's breath hitched, and he felt his eyes slightly burn with tears he refused to shed. "Al…!"

Lamia narrowed her eyes as she tried to figure his mumblings out, "Al what?"

"Allison…!" Yugi choked, before falling to his knees and placing both his hands on the badly burnt tyre. "Oh…Ally."

Lamia raised both her eyebrows, before darting her gaze to the destroyed vehicle and then back to an almost sobbing Yugi. "So this was…your car?"

"Why?...Why'yyy?" Yugi groaned before making an odd sound in his throat, which reminded Lamia of dry sobbing. "Ra damn, sick bastards!"

She gently cupped the sides of his shoulders, and cautiously pulled him upward from the ground, feeling awkward and unsure of what to do. He didn't resist her, and rose easily, away from the tyre, forcing his gaze low so that he wouldn't see any more of the damage. "It's okay Yugi…it was just a car…"

"Car…Ally…car? My porn collection was under the back seat…" Yugi said in a jumbled up sentence. "Car…? My car?"

Lamia shot him a concerned glance, wondering if Yugi was somehow losing his mind. "Yugi? Are you okay?"

His mouth opened slightly as though to respond to her, but another loud explosion cut him short, as a silvery object was flung out of the car's bonnet and smacked him squarely on the side of his left jaw…

---

They were snugly laying in each others arms, with Tea resting her head on his shoulder, as he lay staring up at the ceiling, smiling warmly at nothing in particular, other than enjoying her company and presence. "Is Yugi going to come back soon?" she asked him in a rather unhappy tone, as though the mere thought of having to part from him so soon, killed her inside.

Yami's smile widened, as he turned to look down at her. "Actually…I've been meaning to ask you something."

Tea raised her eyebrows expectantly, and gave him her full attention.

Yami lifted himself up slightly, and with a slight jerky motion, propped himself up on his elbow, never leaving her gaze. "How would you like to stay here with me for a while?"

Tea's eyes widened in surprise, "Here, with you? Really? It's not like going to put you in danger or anything?"

Yami shook his head, and suddenly Tea realized the answer to her own question. "Of course, me being here is the safest option for both of us."

Yami confirmed it with a nod, and then gently stroked her cheek.

Tea then groaned and laughed nervously under her breath, "Do you think that Yugi could then somehow organise a doctor's note for me or something so that I won't get fired?"

Yami laughed and nodded his head, "He could actually, but I think he's got something better up his sleeve, you'll see when he gets here. In the meantime…" Yami pressed her back against the bed and attacked her lips hungrily, his hands sliding back down her body, and stopping just by her hip. "I'll just have to show you all the reasons on why you should agree to stay," he whispered against her lips seductively, once again sparking her arousal back into play.

Tea giggled sweetly beneath him, "Oh really? Do you really think that sex is going to cut it?"

Yami mockingly gave her a thoughtful glance, twisting his lips slightly to the side, before shrugging. "Well…" he hummed in an almost uncertain way, "Just sex, might not…but hot sex? Hmm…" he winked at her.

Tea was inclined to agree, not that she would have left him for the world, regardless. "Now that might work," she teased him, mirroring his wink, before they once again locked lips and wrapped arms around each other.

Yami was just about to deepen the kiss, and start up another steamy love session, when a muscle pulled painfully at his chest, and he jerked away, wincing. "Um, okay…I think I'm going to have to stop there."

Tea gently stroked the side of his face, and nodded with complete understanding, not wanting Yami to hurt any more than he already did. They adjusted themselves so that they were sitting upright, snugly covered by the silky sheets that hung loosely around their bodies. She ran her fingers through her hair, smoothing it back as she decided to bring something up that she had wanted to, all evening, but hadn't quite gotten the chance. "Yami…I need to tell you something."

"Sure Tea, go ahead," Yami encouraged with a warm and inviting smile, taking one of her hands into his own.

Tea stared into space for a moment with a thoughtful expression before quietly beginning. "I got a letter today…it was from my mother." Yami looked at her in surprise, as up until now he had not actually been aware that Tea still had one.

"Oh…I thought that she was…" he began, but stopped himself before he finished that sentence, when Tea smiled bitterly.

"She was kind of dead to me for a very long time… There's one more part of my life that you still need to know about, and I'm sorry for not bringing it up sooner," she gave him a regretful look, but Yami shook his head, brushing it off with a forgiving smile. Tea returned a grateful one to him, before wetting her lips nervously. "When my dad started…you know…my parents were actually separated. My mom moved out the house and lived with her long time 'lover' whom she had apparently been seeing since the year, after I was born, taking along with her, my…half sister." Tea noticed another surprised look widen in Yami's eyes. "We don't talk at all; we don't even co-exist with one another. She…never mind, I'm supposed to be talking about my mom, look she was the one who busted my father. She came home one day to get some of her stuff that she kept in the basement and found some of his photographs. I don't really remember much, but I do remember that she remained strong for a long time after that…but when my dad managed to escape the authorities, and disappear off the face of the earth…I don't know, it like hit her hard and she cracked. She began drinking a lot…"

A haunted look glazed over Tea's eyes as she seemed to travel back in memory. "She became really, really depressed, and I saw things, bad things that a fourteen-year-old shouldn't have had to see. My mom was a cutter, and I remembered once waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and I saw her lying in the bathtub with blood splatters all over the place, and her arms were so badly cut up, I thought she was dying… Then there was the suicide attempt, in which she swallowed a whole bottle of pills and passed out in the living room. I called an ambulance, and they took her away on a stretcher." Yami softened his gaze sympathetically as she gave in to a low sniffle. "Um…they um, locked her up in a psychiatric ward…where she's been ever since. I was sent to live with her boyfriend's sister Mabel, who was a hectic Christian, and hated me with a passion, because I would not share in her beliefs."

Yami sighed tiredly and closed his eyes with a dramatic kind of slowness, before shaking his head. "I'm not even going to comment."

Tea laughed softly, before snuggling into his arms for comfort. "Anyway…she wants to see me about something, and I…I haven't seen her in months…and the last time ended so badly that I'm terrified of going back."

"Do you want me to come with you this time then?" Yami offered with a small reassuring smile, "I mean I could dress up a little more 'mom friendly' you know, with a buttoned up shirt, right to the collar, maybe get a pair of reading glasses…and a tie?"

Tea chuckled, genuinely amused, "And you know what, I'd bet you'd make it look super hot too." She winked at him, before looking away, shyly. "But…I'd really appreciate if you did come along with me…for moral support."

Yami leant down and gently kissed her forehead, "You know I would."

They briefly kissed, when they heard the front door rattle open, and a thundering set of footsteps pound along the ground, before it slammed shut. They broke apart immediately and looked in the direction of the bedroom door. Yami glared at it, seeming to listen intently on what was happening down below, whereas Tea, grabbed on to his arm, frightened.

"I'm back!" Yugi growled angrily from below, as he stomped over to a different part of the room. "I'm not going to come up there, for obvious reasons, so just come down here instead!"

"He sounds really pissed off," Tea whispered, with wide eyes, reluctantly releasing her hold on Yami's arm.

Yami nodded, "Yeah…maybe you should stay here."

"No way, let's go down together," she whispered back, before getting up and glancing around the room. They quickly gathered up their clothes again and hurriedly got dressed.

Yami decided to forget his shirt, and instead just threw on his pants. However, while he was zipping himself up, Tea found herself admiring his perfectly muscled physique, and once again felt the overwhelming need to run her hands along his chest - when he caught her staring at him and smiled with a raised eyebrow. She blushed and quickly glanced away, suddenly becoming very interested in fixing her hair, when his body disappeared and immediately reappeared behind her, wrapping both arms around her from behind, and gently kissed the back of her neck, sending electric shivers through her body. "Hold on," he whispered, huskily in her ear, which sent more chills up her spine, before she felt him lift her body off the ground and a cold wind wrapped around them.

When she looked again, they were in an all white living room, with Yugi, grumpily sitting in a slouched position on an uncomfortable looking, designer's couch, with an expression that closely resembled a thunder cloud that was about to spark lightening at any minute. He was also incredibly grungy looking, as though he had just crawled out a chimney.

"And your problem tonight would be what exactly?" Yami asked him, with a raised eyebrow, while he gently guided Tea to a seat of their own, seeming to particularly observe his younger twin's dingy appearance.

"Just fuck off Yami," Yugi grumbled without looking at him, before taking a deep composing breath. "Okay…so are we all agreed that Tea is staying here with you for a while?"

"Yes," Tea answered in a cautious voice, "Um Yugi…are you okay, what happened?"

"Fine – Peachy – The king of the Ra damn world," Yugi grumbled under his breath, before going right back to the previous topic. "Good, so you're staying here with him," he concluded, before folding out a brochure looking file. "Okay, we knew that your main concern was about missing work, so I came up with a solution that would work out for all of us. Today Mr. Hardwick got a call from a certain 'organisation' called Jewel Travels, that wanted him to go on a once in a lifetime - all expense paid - world tour, if he could just answer one question correctly…which he did, so tomorrow he'll be presented with an awesome travelling package, for him and a friend of his choice, for an eight week long vacation…and by then Yami should be able to happily lift minibuses again."

Tea's eyes went wide, "Wait, I don't understand…how did you…?"

Yugi grinned at her, "We organized it, the competition is just a cover up. I've got people that are going to pretend to be the organizers tomorrow. It's just to get him away and give you a long, well deserved break."

"But Yugi, Mr. Hardwick's old, I mean something might happen-"

"Don't worry Tea," Yami said softly, "He's going to have a private tour guide with him on every tour that knows the area and location extremely well, plus a private on-hand nurse, who is going to go undercover as the tour guide's assistant."

"Not to mention he'll be staying in five-star accommodation venues and driven around in luxury vehicles, plus travel from country to country in a private jet," Yugi informed her, with a very impressed tone, clearly pleased with himself. "And he won't have to pay a cent for any of it; Yami's got him totally covered."

"He'll be fine," Yami assured her confidently.

Tea glanced at him with wide eyes, "You covered all that? Wouldn't it have been easier just to buy a doctor's note off the black market?"

Yami smiled and nodded his head in amusement, before shrugging, "Yeah, probably…we could have also reported you as missing under the impression of kidnap…but, I like the man."

"Thank you," she whispered softly, before gently kissing him on the cheek.

"Yeah he's just so fucking awesome," Yugi mumbled under his breath, as he arranged the brochures, in the file, of all the incredible places Mr. Hardwick was due to tour.

Yami locked gazes with Tea, in which they once again shared an entire mental conversation that didn't need words. She nodded in agreement and flashed him a small smile of 'good luck' before rising from the couch. "Um…I'm just going to go to…the bathroom."

As soon as she left the room, Yami rounded on his younger twin. "Okay, what the fuck happened to you this time?"

Yugi raised his scarlet gaze to Yami's and glared at him. "I have just had the worst fucking night of my life, so excuse me for being a little Ra damn moody!"

"What happened?"

"First, this drunk bitch grabbed my fucking crotch and then threw up all over my Ra damn shirt, so yeah! This yellow shit is someone else's vomit! – Don't you dare even throw me one of your fucking lame insults, about it, asshole!"

Yami held up both his hands and shook his head, not having ever, even thought of insulting him, when Yugi just rushed on. "And then some Ra damn dumb and stupid fucker blew up Allison!"

Yami shot Yugi a strange and confused look, "Allison?"

"My 1970, Dodge Challenger!" Yugi whined, before rolling his head into his hands, and massaging his temples.

"You named your car?" Yami asked him cautiously, and jolted backwards when Yugi's head whipped up at him angrily.

"Yes I named my fucking car!" He yelled out loudly. "After the first whore I fucked in it! What the fuck does it matter?"

"Okay, okay…just calm down Yugi…" Yami said gently, waving a series of calming gestures at his younger twin, who looked just about ready to have an emotional breakdown, while throwing a nervous glance at the direction in which Tea had left in, hoping that she hadn't been alarmed by Yugi's outburst.

"I can't fucking calm down! Do you have any idea what it's like to walk around in someone else's vomit and your car's ashes? Huh, do you? Because if you don't then just shut the fuck up!"

Yami opened his mouth to say something, but Yugi stopped him, with another irritable outburst, "I don't want to hear any of your bullshit wise cracks!"

"Actually, I was just going to ask you if you wanted another shirt…that's all," Yami responded quietly, holding his younger twin's angry and miserable gaze.

"Yeah I'd love one, but there's one big fucking problem! How the fuck am I going to get this one off?" Yugi spat irritably, which Yami knew was not directed at him, but rather at the situation, as Yugi tugged at the clean sides of his shirt.

He rose from his seat and casually walked over to the back of his younger twin's, and looked him over. "Take your jacket off." Yugi grudgingly, shrugged out his jacket and tossed it to the side a little harshly, before waiting impatiently for Yami to do whatever he wanted to do, when he felt his brother's hands grab the base by his neck with both his hands and tore it open from behind.

"There…you owe me two new shirts now," he commented dryly, before walking back to over to his seat.

"Thanks," Yugi mumbled under his breath, before tearing the rest of his way out.

"Your welcome…how did training with Lamia go at least?" Yami asked him, while propping his elbow up on the couch's armrest and leaning his cheek against a closed fist.

"'Girl's got a major attitude problem," Yugi commented before peeling the rest of the shirt away, "Though I'll admit I didn't make things much better when I cancelled our 'meeting' for tomorrow night."

Yami looked at him in surprise, "You cancelled it, why?"

Yugi grinned sheepishly, before slowly meeting Yami's gaze, "I um…got a date."

Yami laughed at him disbelievingly to which Yugi soon, nervously joined in. "Yeah," Yami snorted, "Right…seriously though, why?"

Yugi laughed, "I am being serious."

"Ha, ha, ha, Yugi, come on," Yami grinned, and rolled his eyes.

"Hehe…ah," Yugi trailed off before looking to the side, and fidgeted slightly, when he heard Yami gasp.

"Oh my Ra, you're not kidding…"

"No…no, I'm not…" Yugi finished.

"Wow, I never thought I'd live to see the day that you converted to the dating-society's ways," Yami said in awe.

Yugi rolled his eyes, "Fuck off! Listen I'm staying here tonight, so please keep it PG up there, and if you need me, don't look for me in the bottom floor's spare bedroom…goodnight!"

"Who's the girl?" Yami called after him, before he left the room.

"None of your fucking business!" Yugi mumbled back, before disappearing out of sight.

"Will we meet 'none of your fucking business,' tomorrow?" Yami asked in a low voice that only Yugi would have been able to hear, unable to help a smirk from forming onto his lips.

'Yami…go fuck yourself,' came Yugi's irritated, mental voice.

---

Sheesh, are you as tired as I am after reading all that? Haha! Anyway, how many of you were all suprised to come across the second lemon? That's my peace offering to all of you who have been waiting so patiently for me to update! I hope you enjoyed it. And man, Yugi really dealt with a lot, that's karma in its finest form.

Now pay attention reviewers, because this is very, very, veeeeery important. I realy need your help and insight on this, so please don't ignore me! I'd love to put another lemon in the next chapter, but I want to know from you guys specifically who it should be between. I love a challenge - so bring it on! The pairing with most votes win. (and if you're struggling with this decision to respond or not just ask yourselves...what would Yugi do?) [hmm...wonder if they're going to fall for that?]

On another note - ILoveManicures, I promise that 'Even Angels Fall' will be updated soon, I just need to go over it again and then proof read it.

On a whole thank you to everyone who took the time to read chapter 18, and I hope to see you again soon with chapter 19. Love you lots

XOXO...;-)