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

19. Chapter 19

Hey Guys! Okay yeah I know I'm in trouble, trust me I'm booing myself here too! It's just been chaos since Christmas with my folks, and moving into my new apartment, and preparing for the next semister. I'd also like to apologize ahead of time for my lack of creativity in this chapter, because it had me in tears of frustration by the time I was done with it. I'm also going to...(hide behind this bullet proof shield)...apologize for the absent love scene that I promised you, my reasons being that since this is the month of love, you'll be more in the mood for a lot of smut on Valentine's day...I promise I'll update by then (You have my word seriously.) But anyway, I really hope you'll enjoy this chapter anyway, as well as another - and totally lame - Yugi rip off song, which I strongly advise you listen to the real version of, because well...I ruined it. Sorry Puff Daddy.

Shout out to - I Love Manicures! I dug your long review and glad that you enjoyed chapter 18 so much. Seriously, my sister and I were like literally fighting over the laptop to see who'd get to read it first, and then we were like wow, it's the longest ever written...you should get an award for that. Thanks buddy!

As for all my other wonderful! incredible! (And non lethal) huggable, loveable and simply awsome reviewers, thank you all so much for your support, I love you all, and owe you all for making my day. Especially new reviewers, Cindy and RJ (Rose Jane). You guys all rock!

AN: Okay, okay, story time...

Disclaimer: I do not own the super special awsome show, Yu-gi-oh.

Rating: T...it has a very mild orange.

---

Chapter 19

A heavy and dry, desert scented breeze, drifted in through the doorway that led onto the balcony soundlessly, wafting aside the silky drapes that hung over its entrance and gently caressed Tea's smooth, bare skin, awaking her gently, from a dreamless sleep. She tiredly fluttered her sapphire glazed eyes open, to a strange world, and gazed around at her unfamiliar surroundings, which all seemed royally grand and ancient, as though she had travelled back in time, several thousand years.

However, she curiously, remained indifferent to the unusualness of her surroundings, as the only worrisome thought that crossed her mind was that Yami wasn't lying beside her like he should have been. Frowning slightly, she slowly pulled back the white silk sheet that hugged her body, until she managed to slip it off, and gracefully climbed out the bed, which was unusually oval shaped and hidden from view by a tirade of silky drapes cascading from the ceiling in white and gold colours.

Her bare feet touched cold stone, and she briefly glanced down to take notice of a bronze, tiled floor, that sparkled as though it had just been finely polished. Remembering Yami, her hand rose up to the side of her face where she absently stroked away a strand of hair, and then lightly caressed the side of her cheek, before closing her eyes and imaging his gentle touch. She began to trail several intricate patterns along the bare surface of her skin, starting from her cheek to along her jaw line, to the tip of her chin, and then down the length of her throat to her collar bone, before finally dragging the trail down to the groove between her breasts, sighing in contempt. This was how Yami had touched her the night before, with his dark, scarlet eyes gazing intently into hers before they had made love.

Vivid images of Yami taking her by the waist, and placing her on his lap, before pressing her up against his dark tanned and godly toned chest, as he planted hungry kisses on her neck, awakened in her misty memory. She could faintly feel each phantom touch on her skin, such as the hardness of his member nudging against her entrance through the silk cloth that held them separate, as well as his roaming hands roughly caressing her thighs. It was due to these that she suddenly had an uncontrollable urge to be with him, wanting to be nowhere else in the world, but in his arms. Her eyes immediately snapped open as an idea on where he could be, dawned on her.

Of course, he would be in the royal chambers.

She darted out the room, passing several remarkable sights, without truly seeing or taking in their true splendour. She breezed through many rooms, which stood grandly above her form, which suddenly seemed so tiny and insignificant in comparison to the tall walls and high arches that seemed to reach the edges of heaven, before the ceiling closed off their ascent. She also failed to take notice of the beautiful, painted ceramic floor tiles, or the magnificent furniture and pottery that decorated the rooms she crossed through, not even taking a moment to marvel at the softness of the rugs, which felt so much different to the synthetic kinds bought in the stores in the modern world. The only time she did stop to marvel something, was when she reached Yami's room, closed off to her by an enormous double door, which was made entirely out of pure gold and priceless red rubies.

There was something familiar about the door, which she recognized subconsciously by means of a sudden warm and sentimental sensation that coursed through her being, as she gazed at the carved image of a man like figure, with a falcon's head and wore a large sun disk as a headdress. For a single moment she was able to go back to the memory of the museum date with Yami, and remembered that he had pointed this carved figure out to her, as the sun god Ra. However, before the differences between that reality and this ancient one she was experiencing dawned on her, she became distracted by the door's sudden parting as it opened just a few inches, by itself.

As eerily strange as it was, she didn't ponder over it, and instead just pushed it all the way open, before floating in through them with a warm smile on her face and called out his name in a hushed, and breezy voice that seemed almost transparent and faraway to her own hearing. Almost instantly the colouring seemed to darken and grey, as all the happiness and light hearted energy in the room's atmosphere seemed to drain and fade out, taking on a gloomy edge. She immediately sensed the changed, and shivered in slight fear, but her heart was set on finding Yami, both knowing and relying on her instinctive intuition that he would make her feel safe again.

Putting on a strained, but frightened smile, she made her way into his grand and royally decorated chamber, stiffly pulling away several loose hanging and semi-transparent, beaded drapes out the way, which made a light tingling, bell sound behind her, as she made her way over to his oversized golden four-poster bed. She called out his name, but only her lips moved, as her voice evaporated into the hot, musky air that was somehow becoming increasingly claustrophobic within the room.

There was no answer, and suddenly it became, for Tea, like watching an old fashioned silent horror film, as all the sounds around her, became absolutely dead silent.

Subconsciously her instincts were screaming at her, warning her not to draw back the veil that was hiding the gold bed from sight, but just as before, her limbs moved without her consent, just like she couldn't wipe off the almost relieved smile on her lips at the thought of being near to him… to have him take her into his arms again…to protect her from the obvious danger she was sensing. It was as though she were in a semi conscious trance.

Her panicked mind's eye, watched in terror as her finger tips gently clasped around the soft fabric, and pulled it swiftly to the side, exposing the sight of Yami's bed. For the first time since she had sensed the disturbance of this strange reality, she felt genuine terror swell up within her gut, as a high pitched and terrified scream exploded from her throat.

Blood! And so much of it, soaked through the once white linen sheets…his blood! She didn't know how she knew it, she just knew, and the realization of this, came to her with such overwhelming force that any hopeful denial about it, was shoved completely from her mind. She covered her face with both her hands and stepped away from the grizzly sight, trying to block what she had seen futilely. Blood streaked the veils that hid the bed from sight, as well as his gold silk pillows, and even the wall the bed was rested against. She screamed again, and thrust her body around in order to run for help, but her body remained frozen and unable to move, as though gravity held her to the spot. She tried to fight back, but it was like walking through quick sand, waist deep, and overpowering.

Suddenly two sides of the room started to glow differently in colour. One side became vibrant in a golden, orange and red like glow, whereas the other became dark and dingy, both sides seeming to reach out towards her with mist like claws. As these two forces seemed to rush in at her like warriors to a battle, she sensed someone, or something, approach her from behind…something evil and dangerous. She jolted in her restraint, and suddenly realized what was holding her in place. She glanced down with wide, terrified eyes, and saw a pair, of lightly tanned, pale arms, gripping her sides, with sharp, black claws, embedded deeply into her skin, so much that dark stains of blood were pooling around them.

The floor started to shake around her, and she fearfully glanced back at who held her captive, feeling her heart rate accelerate to critical, when she met face to face with the smug and terrifying face, of her vampire captor…Bakura. She immediately took note of his eyes, which were by far the most unnatural and evilest pair, she had ever seen. His pupils had slit into an almost evil snake like sharpness, and his irises slowly changed from their light brown shade, to a gray and white one, seeming eerily like the eyes of a dead fish. His lips curled up into a mean smirk, fully exposing his long and lethal fangs.

Tea tried to scream and pull away from him, but she was frozen in fear, unable to look away from his cold, dead eyes. However, just as she had grown as about accustomed as she could to his unnatural appearing eyes, they had started to bleed. Long, almost black trails of dark blood pooled from the corners of his eyes, and swirled around his irises, changing them from white, to a gruesome rusty colour. He gave a low, almost satisfied growl, which rumbled in his chest like a warning a volcano would give before exploding, sounding like hurricane thunder as the storm approached. Speck of clotted blood gushed from his mouth and spluttered across her face, making her cry out in both disgust and terror.

He dragged her body up closer to him, and growled in a demonic voice, which wasn't even remotely close to the normal voice that she knew, was his. "I warned you to forget about Prince Atem while you still could! Now you die!" and with that, he tore out her throat with his fangs, stifling her screams...

---

"Tea, come back to me," Yami gently coaxed her out her dream, by whispering her name softly and gently stroking the side of her forehead. She followed the warm sound of his voice, and woke up breathing hard, with her heart pounding painfully against her chest and her cheeks burning red from the partly dried and freshly topped tears that were cascading from her eyes. Yami tightened his hold around her and pulled her body more firmly against his, which was more of an impulse than an actual productive thought. "It's okay Tea, you're safe."

She gulped painfully as realization set in that it had all been a dream, a really horrible and bad dream, and she immediately rolled over onto her back and stared up at Yami with wide, frightened eyes. "Y-Yami!"

Yami's eyes widened with worry as he stroked the side of her face, "It's alright, you're alright-"

She jolted upright and into him, violently clawing onto him as though he were her lifeboat and she was sinking…briefly forgetting that he was still hurt. Yami winced slightly in pain, but made no sound, and silently stroked the back of her head, trying to release the tension in his muscles so that he wouldn't alarm her, as she cried into his bare chest.

"Y-Y-Yami…" she sobbed, "I-I…the blood!" She made a choking sound, before a new flood of tears sprang from her tightly shut eyes, and Yami forced himself to pull her further into his protective embrace, despite the incredible pain it was causing him. "T-there w-wa-was, ss-so m-much…"

Yami gently kissed the side of her neck, before giving her a gentle squeeze. "It's okay now Tea, I'm right here, it was just a nightmare-"

"It felt so real," Tea choked, before resting her forehead against his collarbone. "I thought you were…" She gulped, unable to even imagine what it would have been like to lose Yami that way. However, scarily enough, she almost felt as though she could imagine it, and quite accurately too, almost as though it had already happened to her, and this, being with Yami right then, was in fact the real dream.

Yami ingeniously connected the dots and pretty much figured out the basics of the dream, before giving her a small, brave smile, which he hoped would ease her fears away. "It's okay Tea, it was just a bad dream…see?" He first stroked the side of her face, before claiming her lips with his, in a soft and gentle kiss.

A lot of the tension in her muscles relaxed, as she moulded into him and the kiss, relishing at the fiery sensation of his touch against her skin, which was too real to be a dream. She allowed him to dominate the kiss without much of a fight, and it was as though he had the power to kiss away the very memory of her nightmare, as its details became sketchy and practically faded away to the darkest corners of her memory.

Yami hesitantly pulled away from her, and smiled at her lovingly with only a small gap between them. "There…are you feeling a little bit better now? You had me worried you know," Yami whispered to her in a husky voice.

"I…I'm sorry," Tea apologized, before turning away from his gaze. "I didn't-"

"Hey," Yami whispered lowly, before stroking her shoulder in a slow soothing motion, "Don't be sorry, just tell me what happened in your dream that made you so scared?"

Tea frowned slightly as she tried to remember, but the only thing that popped up, was a river of blood gushing around her. "I…I don't remember…just that there was a lot of blood. And you were…you weren't there."

Yami embraced her protectively, and began to stroke her back soothingly, giving her time to catch her breath back and recover from her ordeal in comfortable silence, before she broke it. "Please don't ever leave me Yami…" Tea whispered, the words leaving her lips before she could properly process her thoughts.

For some reason the words sent a chill up his spine, and Yami lowered his concerned gaze to hers, with a slight frown that indicated his confusion. "Don't leave you Tea?"

She bit her lip, before turning her gaze to look to the other side of the room, staring at nothing in particular as she tried to figure out how to put what she was feeling into words. Don't ever die on me? Live forever so that I will never feel that pain…All things she could never fairly ask of him. Defeated, she slowly shook her head from side to side, before giving him a tired, sad and strained smile that reeked of falseness. "Never mind…I'm sorry that I woke you up."

Yami frowned slightly, before softening his gaze and immediately shook his head. "You didn't, I was already up and watching you sleep… but Tea-"

She placed a finger on his lips to silence him, and gave him a more, genuine appearing smile. "Shhh… I'm okay, really," she whispered, before biting her lip a little shyly, "Could you please hold me, until I fall asleep again? I'll feel a lot safer…"

Yami kissed her finger and lightened his gaze, before gently nodding in acknowledgement of her shy request, deciding to leave his private thoughts for a later discussion. He carefully wrapped an arm around her waist, and lay back down on his side of the bed, holding her gaze with his warm one. "I'll hold you close till morning, and this time no dream's going to be able to sneak passed me and take you away again." After hearing him say that, Tea smiled at him lovingly and kissed him, before closing her eyes and soon fell back into a deep sleep.

For the rest of the night, she didn't dream at all.

---

(And now – performing Puff Daddy's hit song 'I'll be missing you' – The vampires – In memory of Ally.)

Verse one; Yugi (AKA - Puff Vampie)

Yeah…this right here…goes out to everyone who has lost their car that they truly love…uh huh

Seems like yesterday we used to rock the show

We raced the track, drove with the flow

Thought it would be forever, but no

Notorious, everyone's got to know that

Life ain't always what it seems to be (Yami; that's right)

Words can't express what you meant to me

Even though you're gone, we're still a team

With you're old parts, I'll fulfil our dream (Yami; that's right)

In the future, can't wait to see

If you open up the 'garage' for me

Reminisce some time, like the night they bombed my friend (Yami; uh-huh…karma…just saying)

Try to black it out but it plays again

When it's real, (like) bruises hard to conceal (Yami; deserved it)

Can't imagine all the pain I feel (Yugi; fuck you!)

Give anything to hear half your engine's breath (Yami; half your breath…what the fuck is that line supposed to mean?)

I know you're still racing your life, after death

Chorus; Lamia (AKA - Snowy)

Every step I take, (Yugi; woohoo) every move I make (Yugi; woohoo)

Every single day, every time I pray

I'll be missing you

Thinking of the days, when you drove away

What a life to take, what a bond to break

I'll be missing you.

Verse Two; Yugi (Puff Vampie bitch!)

I miss you Ally…yeah

It's kinda hard with you not around (Yami; yeah)

Know you're heaven honking down (Yami; eheh)

Watching me while I drive on without you

Everyday I'm missing you (Yami; for Ra's sake it's only been a night you dork)

Till the day we meet again

In my heart is where I'll keep your keys

Memories give me the strength I need (Yami – uh huh) to proceed

Strength I need to believe

My thoughts Ally, I just can't define (Yami; he can't defiiii'ne!...no surprises there)

Wish I could turn back the hands of time

Us in the auto shop for new parts and kicks

You and me picking up super hot chicks (Yami; girls you had to pay for right?)

Stopping traffic on whatever street we were on

Still can't believe you're really gone (Lamia; can't believe you're gone)

Give anything to hear half your engine's breath (Yami; half your breath…seriously what the fuck does that mean?)

I know you're still racing your life, after death

Chorus; Lamia (Call me Snowy one more time…)

Every step I take, (Yugi; woohoo) every move I make (Yugi; oooo yeah)

Every single day, every time I pray

I'll be missing you

Thinking of the days, when you drove away

To the big garage up in a sky so blue

He'll be missing you

Mini hearse-uh verse three; Lamia…(just Lamia)

Somebody tell me why

One black evening

When this life is over

I know

I'll see your headlights glowing on

Background vocal verse; Yami (AKA Vamp Suckular!)

Every night I pray, every step I take

Every move I make, every single day

Every night I pray, every step I take (okay, I'll just keep repeating these verses from now on)

Yugi; Every day that passes

Every move I make, every single day

Yugi; Is a day I get closer…to driving you again

Every night I pray, every step I take

Yugi; We miss you Ally…and we won't stop

Every move I make, every single day (we won't stop because he won't stop bitching bout it)

Yugi; Cause we can't stop…that's right

Every night I pray, every step I take

Every move I make, every single day (Ra when is this song going to end?…)

Yugi; we miss you Ally

Verse four; Lamia

Every step I take, every move I make

Every single day, every time I pray

I'll be missing you

Thinking of the day, when you drove away

What a classic to take, what a bond to break

We'll be painfully missing you

Every step I take, every move I make

Every single day, every time I pray

The readers wonder why we're missing you

Thinking of the day, when you drove away

I didn't know you then, I don't know you now,

But somehow I'm missing you…?

Every step I take, every move I make

Every single day, every time I pray

We'll be missing you

Thinking of the day, when you drove away

What a car to take, what a bond to break

What's he going to drive now?

Yugi;…Tell the world you're coming home soon Ra damn it!

---

(Three years ago)

The young woman whimpered weakly as he drained the last few pints of blood from her body, which had already grown cold and limp in his loose hold. Yugi didn't know anything about her, and didn't care to either, though he had hunted her down specifically. She was an easy target, an irresistible temptation, one that he could not ignore while on the hunt. She had clearly being a foreigner, seeming lost and confused in the deserted streets of Aswan, all alone and predictably vulnerable. Yugi had immediately noted her nervous, skittish behaviour, which automatically sparked off his predatory instincts, as her actions seemed to scream for it.

First, he played with her in a cat and mouse game; using his abilities to make her see things until eventually he had her trapped in a corner. He had only hesitated for a second, when he had first laid eyes on her in full view, momentarily taken aback at how beautiful she was, but recovered quickly, when the need to feed, became too great. After that, he finished up quickly, and drained her until she was mostly dry, before becoming bored with the taste and allowed her to fall from his arms, distastefully licking the insides of his mouth as he tried to rid the unfavourable taste from it.

He only spared her body, one final glance, just to pay respect to her fallen beauty, before he sensed the approach of another vampire, luckily one that was familiar to him. Mahad stepped out from the shadows at a respectable distance, having allowed the young prince privacy during his feeding, while still being able to guard him, as such was his responsibility if any of their enemy clans dared to enter their territory. His eyes automatically darted over to the drained girl's body, taking note of her features in habit, although he already knew what he'd see.

The young prince had a very specific taste of the woman he preyed on, whether he was aware of it or not. They were all dark haired and young, often between the ages of fifteen and twenty, and generally shorter than average. This particular girl was no different, with long hair that spread out to the ends of her elbows in a shade that was as dark as a starless sky, and pale skin that was as light as a full moon. What was strange though, was that her heart was still beating, although very faint. "My Prince, did the taste of her blood not satisfy you?"

Yugi scoffed at his question and violently tugged his leather jacket into organisation, before turning to smirk meanly at Mahad, "Of course it didn't. Finding a virgin is so hard these days…this one tasted like a prostitute." He began to casually stroll up to Mahad, with his hands in his pockets, until he eventually fell into step beside the tall warrior, who used to be some all-important sorcerer of his father's during the ancient times. The elder vampire bowed respectfully at the approach of the young prince, though his thoughts played on the young vampire's last words. Had the young prince not had his chance to devour the richest and purest of virgin blood when he came across the window of a young eight year old child, still so angelically pure and beautiful, but had instead gone after the girl with tainted blood?

However, Mahad wisely chose not to voice his thoughts, remembering Yugi's new found and violent temper, and instead turned his attention elsewhere. "You wish to leave her alive?" he asked uncaringly, not really concerned about her well being since it was evident that she had no chance of surviving anyway.

Yugi shrugged indifferently. "She won't be alive much longer regardless, and besides I cannot stomach any more of that tainted taste," he muttered in disgust.

Mahad nodded in understanding, remembering all too clearly of his unquenched thirst for virgin blood in the early days that followed his transformation. The prince was still quite young to the life of darkness, having only been a true vampire for six months, and he knew from experience that it would take years for him to grow accustomed to 'tainted' tastes. However, there was something more important that he had been tasked with that night, than dealing with Yugi's fussiness. "My Prince, there is something I need to speak to you of-"

"I'm not in the mood," Yugi answered simply, rudely interrupting the elder warrior.

Mahad blinked once, "My Prince, I have not yet told you what I needed to-"

"Don't care, it's boring," Yugi growled in response, before leaping up into the air and smashing out a streetlight's globe, just for the fun of it, and landed on his feet gracefully like a cat, while glass showered over him.

Mahad had to cautiously strain himself from losing his temper and ripping Yugi's head off for being so ignorant. "It concerns your brother, my Liege."

Yugi paused in his destructive activity, after having trampled the glass into a fine, shiny powder, and turned to glare at Mahad over his shoulder. "What about Yami?"

Mahad gestured out to the desert, which was in the opposite direction of their tomb. "If you will, your Highness, please follow me." With those words he sped off into the night, appearing as nothing more than a black blur, until he reached the destination, in which he had been tasked to lead the young prince to. Yugi had followed reluctantly, not enjoying that he had had to be lead by someone who was in essence, beneath him, but didn't voice it. He glanced around at their new surroundings with an unimpressed, raised eyebrow, as it viewed as nothing more than a sandy clearing, surrounded by tall sand dunes, and a simple rock formation that looked exactly like several hundred others in the Sahara desert. There was nothing special about it at all.

Mahad however, knew that there was more to this place than what met the eye, as he himself had been involved with the construction of the secret, thousands of years ago. Being as great a magician as he had been, Mahad knew the secrets of light and darkness, as well as using it to his advantage. Although plainly seen during the night, the location was completely invisible to the naked eye during the day, which was why none of the pesky archaeologists had been able to find it, and presently weren't poking their unwanted noses in it. He moved over to the rock formation, and triggered a well hidden lever that opened a secret sinkhole beneath them. Sand gushed inward and fell from sight, leaving nothing more than an ominous appearing hole, which looked too much like a giant mouth that wanted to be fed, for Yugi's comfort, as he inconspicuously took a small, wary step back.

"I have a question for you Mahad; why in Ra's name do you expect me to go down with you into a dirty, black hole, that smells of death and stale air, to discuss my brother Atem, while he remains sulking and confined to his room?" Yugi asked in evident annoyance, folding his arms with an angry huff, wondering what could be so important.

Mahad wisely ignored the younger's attitude and dutifully continued, "Forgive me sire, but the Pharaoh and Lord Aknadin have requested that you learn-"

"Learn?" Yugi exclaimed incredulously, before giving into a dark fit of laughter, which was far meaner and horrifically unpleasant, compared his old, lighter one that Mahad had remembered him having, before his change. "My days of studying are long over Mahad, and I can think of many things I would rather learn about than my boring twin brother anyway!"

Mahad clenched and unclenched his jaw in an attempt to keep his calm and patient composure, and shook his head when he was finally ready to deal with the insolent little brat. "It is not Prince Atem that I'm referring to, my Prince…"

The wind suddenly seemed to eerily pick up at the strange vibe Mahad's words gave, and Yugi eyed his taller companion with a suspicious glare, though he already knew what Mahad's next words were going to be, and didn't want to hear them.

"It is your other brother I speak of."

---

Yugi's eyes opened slowly, before he immediately blinked them shut again, as a massive headache erupted from the core of his brain, practically paralyzing him. Groaning in absolute regret, he daringly shifted slightly in his bed, and found himself to be completely bound by a white sheet that had managed to tightly wrap itself around him like a python, and hold him captive while he slept. He clumsily jerked his arm out to the side and knocked an almost, empty glass bottle of Jack Daniels from the night stand beside him, sending it to the floor with a loud clang that instantly made him cover his ears.

"Mmmmmoww unnnnn…" he complained in pain, with his eyes shut tightly, and blood boiling through his veins. He had been up most of the night sulking in his dark, sun blocked, tinted window room, drinking himself 'better' while watching some crappy porn on a flat screen, with the worst acting he had ever seen, and a bag of chips…all the while, mourning the loss of his car.

Worse yet, was that what had awakened him, was the terrible and Ra awful buzzing of his cellphone, which had a horrendous vibrating sound - that was driving him insane - and would continue to make it until he finally picked up…and he was definitely not in the mood or the condition to get up from the bed (the only thing in the room that wasn't moving), which he unfortunately needed to do, because it wasn't next to him like it should have been…in fact he couldn't even remember what he had done with it.

But he sure as hell could hear it.

Getting up from the bed with a classic drunk's clumsiness, resulting in him somersaulting off the wrong end of the bed, and tiredly fighting his way out the python like sheet, before crawling out of it like a caterpillar…Yugi began to follow his aching hearing to help him locate his misplaced cellphone on his hands and knees, cursing like a sailor, until he eventually found it in the pocket of his torn, discarded pants, but one look at the caller ID immediately had him reeling away from it as though it shocked him. He really didn't feel like this right now, it would be just too much after a very bad night. He silently watched, without doing anything, as the caller went to voice mail, which according to the network had already been the fourth time that morning. He was going to be extremely pissed…

Yugi cringed uncomfortably as he waited for his phone to start ringing again, but this time only an alert came through, informing him that someone had left him a message on voice mail. That, was somehow even worse, providing him only with one of two options; Listen to the message now and immediately return the call like what was expected of him, or be a coward and listen to the message later…

"Be a coward," Yugi grumbled, before closing his phone and flinging it back onto the bed, deciding that the phrase 'no better time than the present' was vastly overrated. "I might be a weasel in comparison to an eagle, but at least weasels don't get sucked into jet engines," he muttered at the phone, as though it had personally offended him. He then yawned tiredly and glanced over at the clock on the night stand, and frowned. He was waking up earlier and earlier lately, throwing his nocturnal sleeping patterns completely out of order, which was definitely going to start catching up with him in the near future. Something, which he probably could not actually afford.

He stretched out his limbs like a cat, before scratching the back of his head and looking around the room, which seemed almost vandalised with the destruction he caused during his drunken outburst. He also wondered briefly where the hell all the socks came from, and what they were doing in his room…and why, as hundreds of different pairs and colours were spread out across the room, dangling from the ceiling fan and shelves, as well as decorated the floor like a messy rainbow.

Strange…

Yugi shrugged, finding it to painful to think about or try to remember what he'd gotten up to the night before. Not only that, but he was well aware that he did strange things when he was majorly hammered, and had grown quite used to waking up with such scenarios the next day. A needy tingle trembled within the inner muscles of his throat, before a light, but easily bearable burn commanded his attention, acting as the vampire equivalent of a tummy rumble.

Feeling peckish, Yugi decided to leave his room to get what he considered to technically be a midnight snack for himself, despite the fact that it was nearing two hours till dawn, and walked across what seemed to serve as an open plan entertainment lounge and mini bar-like thing that opened up to an indoor barbeque patio, which also served as a private indoor garden. Thinking more about it, it suddenly occurred to Yugi how vampire friendly the mansion seemed to be, as several coincidental factors seemed to pop up in his mind unexpectedly. First, the house was completely secluded with a natural salty shield protecting it. Second, the previous owner had had the windows UV protected, which gave them a slightly darker tint than normal glass windows, and also had remote controlled dark blinds that completely blocked out the light for additional comfort. And third, most of the normal outdoor utilities were also made indoors, such as the private indoor gardens and pool. It was a whole three in one, package deal.

This should have made him suspicious, but Yugi's hangover prevented him from giving it too much further thought, other than, 'whoa, nice!' as he made his way over to the kitchen and straight to the freezer. It took him a minute to remember how to open a freezer door again, and then another minute to remember, which one of the two stainless steel freezers was the one they used to the blood bags. After eventually finding what he needed, he shook his head in disbelief, briefly wondering why he let this happen time and time again. By now, he was well aware of the evils of alcohol, and its painful consequences, and yet he knew that he'd do it again. Was it really, as Yami had put it, just plain stupidity?

A brief memory flashed through his mind about the time he had been out on a drinking rampage, and had somehow locked himself in the trunk of his car, before passing out in it, hugging a bottle of tequila to his chest like a teddy bear. Although he had intended to remember that day for a good chuckle about his previous misfortunes, he instead, almost felt like crying, as once again Ally plagued his mind. He had really loved that car…but it wasn't just about his ride, it was about everything!

Those bastards were going to pay if he ever found them. Blood, sweat and lots of girl's…uh…went into that car, lots of fond memories, lots of hard work, and so much more that had taken so much time to build, and yet a group of dumbass punks blew it all away in a couple of seconds…and not in the good way. He'd kill them if he ever found them; fuck Yami's rules and conditions. He refused to allow any human to openly belittle him and claim supremacy; especially low filth such as they that even their own kind looked down on.

Instead of punching a straw into the bag or finding a glass to pour his blood in, Yugi angrily ripped it open with his teeth and savagely downed it in one go before flinging it across the room to a waiting trashcan.

Right now…he hated every single one of them.

---

Yami had been up for hours, unable to get back to sleep after a nightmare of his own, long before Tea had endured her nightmare. His was the same bad dream that had plagued him throughout the many nights that had followed Yugi's transformation, and sometimes even still plagued him while he was awake. It had left him breathless and anxious, but after an hour of watching Tea sleep, his thoughts had become lighter and more, pleasant…until she of course began to tremble and moan in distress.

Once dawn approached however, he could no longer stay in bed, having always been unable to remain inactive for too long a period of time, but still kept his promise to Tea and waited for morning to part from her. At first everything went smoothly for him, as he carefully detached himself from her and rolled over to the other side of the bed, accidentally getting up too fast for his recovering wounds. A white hot searing pain tore through his chest at an awkward angle, causing him to gasp through clenched teeth, and he suddenly became painfully aware of the consequences of his intimate activities with Tea the night before.

Biting his tongue to prevent an unmanly groan escape his lips, he slowly climbed off the bed with a lot more care than the last attempt, and succeeded through a pained wince. It felt as though the soft tissue below his left rib cage had been torn apart, and his chest ached so much that he was now sure he knew what a heart attack felt like, as the pain seemed to constrict painfully in that general area without loosing up or easing away in the slightest.

Being careful, not to wake up his sleeping love, he crept out the room silently, and used the wall to support his weight, as he practically staggered down to the stairway, grudgingly deciding that he needed blood. When he reached the kitchen, he found his eyebrows rising in surprise, upon discovering his younger twin, sitting at the table, centred in the middle of the room, watching TV, which hung from the ceiling on the left side of it. There was a dark aura around him, and Yami could sense the negativity swirling around him in black tendrils, which was both angry and gloomily depressed.

"Um…morning?" Yami mumbled, as he rubbed sleep from his eyes, and winced at the sharpened surge of pain in his chest.

Yugi grumbled something unintelligible, which Yami took as some type of response, before he made his way over to the second freezer, eyeing Yugi carefully. Yugi was once again shirtless, and was dressed only in boxers, which had what appeared to be skulls on fire, decorated on it. Beside him was his shiny black cellphone, with a picture of a car as its screensaver, and every now and then, Yugi's eyes would trail away from the flat TV screen, to glance at the picture on the phone, with an almost pitiful longing gaze, before he'd quickly return them to the screen.

"What's wrong with you, bad night?" Yami asked in a somewhat casual tone, still in too much pain to make any accurate assumptions.

"Best night of my fucking life," Yugi grumbled irritably, before flicking through channels, without really seeing what was on them.

"That's good," Yami mumbled in response without giving too much thought to his words, as he pried out a blood bag from the special cooler-compartment, and closed the freezer door.

"No wonder you don't watch TV, it's fucking depressing," Yugi growled, his tone seeming angrier than the last. "There's about four hundred fucking channels, but not one of them has anything decent enough to be called entertainment!"

"Have you tried Cartoon Network? Maybe Ben Ten's on," Yami recommended dryly, before pouring the blood out of the bag into a plain black coffee mug.

"Fuck off Yami," Yugi growled. "That's a sorry excuse for a kid's show!"

Yami frowned slightly, as he got the last of the blood out of the bag into the mug, and threw his brother a quick glance. "What's wrong with it?" Truthfully, he had never seen the show, Ben 10 himself, only the trademark merchandise and of course by word of mouth as he passed by several of the show's fans, catching snippets of their conversations, but from what he understood, it didn't sound so bad, and most kids loved it.

"The girls aren't attractive, their love scenes suck ass, their action scenes suck even more, I mean you don't even see blood! And come on, the plot man! A kid's wristwatch that doesn't even tell the time turns him into one of ten aliens. That's bullshit, who the hell would want to watch that? It's practically about a guy whose stylish accessory makes him bipolar."

Yami rolled his eyes, "First of all Yugi, it's a kid's show, not porn, sorry to disappoint you on behalf of the parental faculty who don't want their kids turning out like you. Second, you should be able to identify with the character; he's also got ten different alter egos that he can slip into when he feels the need for it."

Yugi grumbled something that Yami probably didn't want to hear anyway before he landed on the Discovery Channel, which was featuring an episode on Ancient Egypt. "Look's like they're running a marathon on Egyptian history today," Yugi commented dryly, which almost sounded annoyed. "Earlier they had an item on the theory that our people were actually aliens, who came from another planet, to build the pyramids."

"Well that finally explains where you came from," Yami said through a smirk as he heated his blood in the microwave. "The question I've been asking myself for years has finally being answered."

"Hardy ha, ha, ha…" Yugi grumbled sarcastically, "And fuck you." He flicked through several other channels, before the bright image of a blue, unidentifiable, costumed figure hopped along the screen. "Oh my fucking Ra," Yugi drawled out in a toneless voice that seemed pained. "You have got to be kidding me."

Yami looked behind him at what was happening on the screen, and immediately felt like responding in the same way Yugi had. "Eh-oh!" the blue 'thing' said in a deep manly voice, as it stared into the camera with a pair of dark, black eyes and seemed to have a triangular shaped thing on the top of its head. Suddenly the show's narrator seemed to fill in the blanks of what was going on, 'Tinky-winky has come to play…'

"Ooo, Tinky-Winky play! Tinky-winky play!" the thing responded, while performing a little wiggling jive, like a lunatic.

"What the hell is that thing?" Yami asked, staring at the little blue weirdo on screen, with a wary gaze, as though he expected it to climb through the screen, with the intention to rape them.

"An alien maybe?" Yugi suggested, with the first sign of genuine humour that Yami had heard from him all day.

Yami couldn't help but grin, "Must be from the same race as our descendents who built the pyramids."

"Not a fucking chance, this thing looks as thick as pig-shit," Yugi grumbled, as he continued to watch.

Said alien, suddenly pulled out a red handbag of sorts, and began jumping around the set, speaking in broken English about how much he loved his 'magic bag,' causing both twins mouths to gape open in blank disbelief.

"Is this purple gumball gay?" Yugi choked, before raising an eyebrow at the rest of the colourful figures that were running onto the screen, his eyes picking out one in particular, which flaunted a lime green colour and had a long dip stick antenna on his head. What the fuck is that?

Yami pondered over Yugi's question for a silent minute, while taking a few small sips from his mug, before answering. "I think the name Tinky-Winky is self explanatory."

Yugi snorted, "So you're telling me that showing something as natural as blood in a show like Ben 10 when one of the characters get fucked up, is a no-no…but having a gay alien thing, walking around with a red handbag when it's clearly a guy, for kids younger than…I'd say about four, is an A-okay? That's fucked up! Watch out Greenie, he might have something else in mind for what you could use that stick on your head for!"

"Yugi!" Yami hissed, before smacking him on the back of the head warningly.

"Ouch!" Yugi complained, before using his free hand to rub the back of his head, while changing the channel. "Why'd you do that? Got something against gay sex?"

"No, I've just got something against you," Yami muttered simply, as he made his way over to a free stool on the other side of the kitchen island. They sat in silence for several minutes, before the events that surrounded Yugi the previous night, resurfaced in Yami's memory. "So…what exactly happened last night?"

Yugi's whole body tensed, before his shoulders slumped in defeat, and he shifted in his seat slightly. "Just shit."

"Who would have destroyed your car? And why?" Yami asked him, suddenly thoughtful, "And how did they do it again?"

"Yami," Yugi began in a warning tone, "I do not want to relive last night."

"Alright," Yami stated calmly, allowing the topic to be dropped before it started a full out brat-fight, but no sooner had the words briskly left his lips that Yugi dove into a maniac outburst of feelings.

"Someone bombed my car down man, my beautiful 1970 convertible Dodge Challenger, Ally!" He whined heartedly, seeming close to tears, when the cat, who had for most of the night, slept curled up on the edge of Yami and Tea's bed, and had followed Yami down the steps, jumped up onto the counter, and began licking its paw, before stopping to stare at his younger twin with an odd look. "What the fuck are you looking at fur ball?" The cat remained staring at him, with an odd and almost judgemental glare, never blinking.

"You know…" Yami started casually, after taking a long sip of his liquid breakfast, "Cat's have the kind of stare that makes their owners want to explain themselves…wouldn't you agree?"

Yugi made a weird hissing sound in his throat, before muttering something unintelligible under his breath, and then slammed his head down onto the hard, counter top, creating a loud thud that scared the cat off. Yami winced at the painful sounding contact, remarking at how stupid that actually was, "You just head-butted marble Yugi-"

"I felt that, asshole!" Yugi retorted immediately, before slowly bringing his head back up, with a pained and miserable expression that was partly embarrassed. "Dear mother of Ra," he choked in pain, as he massaged his forehead. "Fuck…holy shit it hurts!" The pain seemed to get worse for him, and pretty soon he was clutching both sides of his head in both hands, secretly wondering why the hell he had ever thought that slamming his head into it, would be a good idea.

"Look on the bright side," Yami directed at him cheerfully with a grin, as he shook his head at his brother's idiocy and misfortune, "It's not like there was anything in there to get damaged."

Yugi ignored that, and glanced to the side where the cat had been, but found the spot empty. "Where's that furry little asshole?"

"He fled when it became clear that he was challenging a lunatic," Yami grumbled, before swiping the remote out Yugi's hand, and changed the channel to the morning news.

'- The victim was found early morning yesterday, by a local fisherman making his early rounds-"

"Ey! I had the remote first you bastard!" Yugi growled before trying to yank it back, when Yami hissed a warning.

"Shut up!" he immediately turned up the volume, before skilfully elbowing Yugi to the side, his focus entirely on the TV screen as he instantly recognized the background scenery the camera was focussing on.

Hey, that looks like the…oh," Yugi caught on immediately. The harbour.

'Here with us today is the gentleman who discovered the body, Mako Tsunami. Mr. Tsunami?" The news reporter, who was kind of cute in Yugi's opinion - and with an annoying voice in Yami's opinion - turned to direct her attention on a rather young looking guy, who seemed to be in his late twenties, with an intimidating looking face and long dark blue hair, messily tied back, and ocean green eyes that were hard with emotion. "Can you tell us how exactly you found the body?"

Yugi raised an eyebrow, "Do you think he'll leave out the wrestling back of the giant crabs and falling deaf to the seductive song of the mermaids in order to do his civic duty?"

"Shut up!" Yami hissed again, as he frowned at the screen.

"Well…I was busy fishing…on my boat-"

'No shit buddy, for real?' Yugi thought sarcastically. "An' ye, I was on me boat in the 'iddle of thee ocean – fishin' – fir crah'bs an' fish wit me fish rod an' nets. It was a fool moon I tell ye, o'll thee weirdoes wer ow't, 'specially the mermaids, nasty cree'tures I tell ye, I tell ye that to yer face Yami. While fishin many yee'rs ago, before ye were born even, I caught me'self a mermaid, an first me think 'Boy yo, what a fine lass she is,' but then she open'd her mow'th an by god Yami, ye hav'nt 'eard a devil's wail till ye 'ear that me lad-"

"Ra damn it Yugi, shut up! I've missed everything he's said now, because I was distracted by your crap!" Yami growled in annoyance, as the camera shifted back to the news reporter.

"- Police have yet to identify the victim, but it is suggested that he may have been a victim of a brutal boating accident, though this has yet to be confirmed. An autopsy held later today will confirm the exact cause of death-"

"Ai, t'was a boating accident lass, indeed! Ev'ry night when the moon is fool, the Kraken cooms up an-"

"Yugi, you do realize that they've found the body right?" Yami hissed irritably, briefly showing only the tips of his fangs.

Yugi breathed in a deep sigh. "Well duh, it's not like I expected it to stay hidden forever," he mumbled in response and rolled his eyes. "I mean, I wasn't given all that much time to hide it, if you'll remember correctly."

"This is serious!" Yami rasped angrily, forcing himself to keep his voice down. "We can't be involved in a murder investigation, it'll put us right back onto the radar!"

"Yami, relax will you?" Yugi sighed, "That body was so badly torn up, that even if they do manage to identify him they'll mark his death off as a boat or a shark attack, anyway."

"You idiot! There is no ways that a body is going to be torn to pieces by a shark in the ocean, and then conveniently drift into the harbour and then into someone's net. What about the broken bones?" Yami argued logically, his gaze darting between Yugi and the TV.

"No of course not!" Yugi mocked an energetic sounding 'serious' tone that briefly reminded Yami of a lawyer in court about to win his case, as he slammed his closed fist down on the counter and sat upright. "The only other explanation would be that a vampire did it!"

Yami narrowed his eyes, "Don't be a smartass."

"Yeah, well right now my ass is way smarter than you're being." He rolled his eyes, and went back into his half dead and sulky mood. "Come on, there's no evidence to tie us to the case, and if there is, I promise it won't be a problem for long…now give me that!" Yugi swiped the remote out of Yami's hand, and quickly changed the channel, landing upon a wild action packed zombie movie.

Yami let it go, and took another sip of his drink, hoping that it would calm him down, as every fibre in his being reacted to what he had witnessed on the news, and realized that ever since Yugi had arrived in Domino there had probably been several other murders just like it, that he had blissfully been able to miss and remain ignorant of. One day it would be bound to catch up with them, and then all hell would break loose…literally. He glanced to the side, and became aware of a slight discolouration around the left side of Yugi's face, with his skin appearing slightly darker than the rest of his unnaturally paler complexion. "What happened to the side of your face?"

Yugi grimaced darkly and cringed his eyes closed for a second, before slowly opening them, revealing a darkened scarlet that would have frightened away a small fire's self esteem. "Ally's engine, bitch socked me."

Yami frowned in confusion, "Who, did what?"

Yugi massaged his temples in slow circular motions, "A part flew out of my engine when it exploded and got me on the side."

"Oh…" Yami ended carefully, realizing that it was a touchy subject, before he trailed his gaze downward and realized that the bruise seemed to stretch all the way down the rest of his torso, in a healed and slight discoloured texture. "And the rest of it?"

Yugi glanced down his bare upper half and shrugged casually, "Those I got when Lamia had to drag me away, so that I wouldn't get burned."

"You mean you actually tried to put the flames out?" Yami asked incredulously.

"No, I was trying to get into the car," Yugi growled, correcting him.

Yami blinked, "I always knew you were crazy Yugi, but I thought that even you had your limits."

Yugi shot him a look, before grinning at him without any sign of humour, "I had my reasons for risking my existence."

"Which were what exactly?" Yami asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Just a priority of mine," Yugi answered simply before deciding to change the topic. "What have you and Tea got planned for this lovely summer's day by the deep blue sea? And what I'm really asking is what are you going to do that isn't going to bother me?"

Yami rolled his eyes, "I don't know, I haven't thought about it, but it won't be much..." Yami refused to admit it, but he was in so much pain that he felt as though he had somehow ended up back at square one when his chest had only just healed up. Yugi however, didn't need his older twin's words to realize what he was going through.

"Hurts today doesn't it?" it was more of a factual statement than a question.

"How'd you guess?" Yami responded with a small wince, as he felt the blood begin to work.

"Well you don't often drink blood, unless you really need to, and you weren't exactly taking it easy last night…and action like that is not exactly a good idea for a recovering patient." Yugi winked, with a wicked grin.

"Really Yugi? You're talking to me about sexual restraint?" Yami patronized.

"Yeah…imagine that," Yugi smirked, before he softened his features into a slight emotion of sympathy. "Take some aspirin with that, you'll feel different immediately. I think there's some in that cupboard over the sink. And maybe a day in the hot tub will do you some good too; heat generally works well for humans with sore muscles…"

"Uh…thanks," Yami responded somewhat gratefully, before he walked over to the cupboard he was directed to, and glanced at its contents before pulling out the box he needed. As he swallowed the two pills and downed his mug of blood, he remembered something Yugi had revealed to him the night before. "Hey, don't you have a date tonight?" he asked, as he washed out the mug, listening behind him to his brother's edgy movements that had suddenly tensed.

"…Crap. Yeah I do."

Yami raised an eyebrow, and slowly turned to look behind him. "Your enthusiasm is inspiring."

"Dinner is at the Redbird Hotel…catching on yet?" Yugi groaned, before rolling his eyes impatiently at Yami's shrug in response, "It's like a formal setting isn't it? You know where the girls are in cocktail dresses and the guys in suits and ties...something I never thought necessary to have on me, so I kept it in the trunk of my car, which is now ash and metal."

"What time is your date?"

"Eight."

"You have plenty of time to resolve that issue, so what's the real problem?" Yami knew him well, and Yugi hated it.

He glanced away uncomfortably. "Just…stuff."

"You're nervous, aren't you?" unlike Yugi had expected, there was no teasing or any amusement in Yami's tone, only a sense of knowing, which was probably worse.

Yugi scoffed, "Nervous? Give me a fucking break Yami; I don't get nervous for anything-"

"Except maybe for a girl you might actually like…not so?"

Yami was reading him like a book, something that he hadn't done in ages, and it was beginning to worry Yugi. "No…"

"It's that girl isn't it, the one who came to the apartment?"

Yugi grudgingly nodded his head, "Don't get my intentions wrong, she's just a girl posing an irresistible challenge at the moment…there's nothing more to it."

Yami shook his head, as a knowing smile lightly touched his lips. "Are you sure about that Yugi? You've been hung up about her for a while…"

"Yami, seriously what could I possibly gain out of a relationship with a mortal?" Yugi sighed irritably, this time meeting Yami's gaze with an honest one. "It's not like there's anything in it that I'd want to gain other than sex anyways isn't there? Emotional connection? Firstly, not my style and secondly, due to her fragile and mortal state, one accident and she's dead, and then I suffer the pain that I really don't need. And most of all, comes the pressure, because after a few years human women expect you to be on the same page as them, and then comes the Ra forsaken idea of marriage and children…and I just can't be a part of all that...even if I wanted to be."

"I'm surprised you've thought that deeply about all this," Yami commented, realizing he had once felt exactly the same way, before he had met Tea. However, most shocking of all, was that Yugi was right…to an extent. In most senses it would never work out between Yugi and a human being, their difference in species was just too great. Yugi would live theoretically, forever and never age a day beyond his tender age of sixteen, Razz on the other hand would continue to age and lead a human life, exposed to humanly dangers and additional dangers brought on by him being a vampire, until she eventually died. Eventually the differences between them would put too much of a wedge in their relationship, Yami could see that all too clearly, and knew that it would just end in disaster.

"And that's why tonight is just a date. I'll get what I want from her - the fun way - and then it's all going to be over, and I'll find my next victim."

Yami frowned at him, "That's a rather low thing to do to her Yugi, I mean at least have some decency to let her walk away with a little bit of pride if you're going to play with her emotions."

Yugi rolled his eyes, "Yami I swear I'm not going to manipulate her into it, powers or no powers, she'll be in control of what she does the whole time, and if she wants to go further that will be her choice entirely. Besides…It's highly unlikely anyway, she's already decided that I'm a loser, and unworthy of her time."

"How did you get her to go on a date with you then?" Yami inquired, while folding his arms.

"Cornered her into it…I offered her the idea that after tonight she'll never have to see me ever again."

Yami nodded his head in approval, "An offer no one could ever refuse."

"Hey!" Yugi protested, with a slight pout. "Some people would kill to have me spend some quality time with them."

"And then they'd kill you too," Yami concluded dryly.

"Fuck you!" Yugi grumbled back.

"Takes two to fuck, Yugi, and you are not invited," Yami retorted, using a very old and childish gag that they had once shared when they were much younger.

Yugi mocked a puppy dog pout and fluttered his eyes girlishly, "Aww…are things not working out between us anymore?"

Yami rolled his eyes, "No, I found someone way better in bed." The words had slipped out his mouth before he could properly analyse them, and he instantly shut his eyes in regret as he waited for Yugi's predictable reaction. Not only were those words just inappropriately wrong and terribly gross, he had also overstated that which he had wished to remain unspoken between them…which of course was the only thing Yugi picked up on.

He flashed Yami a grin of triumph, "Ah…so you admit Tea's good in bed?"

Yami choked slightly and shot a glance in the staircase's direction in alarm, before smacking Yugi on the back of the head for the second time that morning. "Dude, shut the hell up!" he rasped lowly.

"You said it!" Yugi taunted as he rubbed the back of his head. "What's her specialty? Hand job, blow job-"

"Yugi I swear, if you don't shut up about this-"

"Man you should see your face right now…any redder and you'll pass off for a stop street sign!" Yugi laughed, as he neatly dodged Yami's punch. "Or maybe…a rose!" Yugi added dramatically, before ducking his head again. "Aye, ze' wonder'zz of romance!"

"I am going to fuck you up!" Yami growled, before managing to get Yugi into a headlock.

"Ewww! We're brothers! Go fuck someone else!" Yugi wheezed as Yami cut off his air supply.

"If you say one more word, I'll break your neck, I swear. I've done it before!" Yami threatened darkly, tightening his grip to make his point, before Yugi jerkily nodded his head in understanding, and he reluctantly released his hold.

"Yeah, how could I forget, took a lot longer than your damn chest, to heal too," Yugi muttered bitterly as he squirmed out of Yami's hold. "We had the best of times didn't we Yami?"

They both stiffened as they heard the soft padding of footsteps above them as Tea made her way downstairs to join them. "Dropping subject?" Yami suggested.

"Subject dropped," Yugi concurred, immediately before her delicious and sweet scent wafted in through the room, seconds before they heard her reach the landing. "So!" Yugi began in a much louder voice, "Any ideas on what I should wear tonight?"

Yami's lips parted to say something, but Tea beat him to it as she gently breezed into the room, wearing a silky nightgown that had been hanging from a coat peg behind the bedroom door. "Good morning boys," she greeted shyly, with a light blush burnt on her cheeks.

Yami extended his hand out to takes her before pulling her into him, and giving her a small, sweet kiss while holding her around the waist. "Good morning Beautiful," he whispered in her ear tenderly, before kissing the spot just below it, sending electric shivers through her body.

"Morning Tea," Yugi responded tiredly, and yawned softly.

"Hey Yugi, did you sleep well?" Tea asked him politely, though it was clear that her attention was on no one else but on Yami, who still held her close to him.

Yugi watched the pair with a bored expression, before rolling his eyes. "Fine I guess…and you?"

Tea grinned knowingly at Yami, before her blush deepened in its shade. "Very well thank you…"

Yami shared in her grin, before giving her a wink, and then turned his attention back on to Yugi. "The Redbird isn't that fancy, they'll allow you in with your leather jacket…though maybe not with that face."

Yugi narrowed his eyes at his older twin, "Because we're in the presence of a beautiful young lady, I'm not going to tell you to go screw yourself."

Tea's eyebrows raised slightly, "Oh? Are you going somewhere tonight Yugi?"

Yami chuckled lowly, "He's got a date tonight."

Tea's eyes widened as she gasped in surprise, "A date? Wow, I never saw that one coming, with who Yugi?"

Yugi rolled his eyes, "Just some girl…it's not a big deal."

Yami and Tea secretly shot a knowing grin at one another, before Yami pressed on. "He's as nervous as hell, but won't admit it, because it might just affect his indifferent, tough guy image."

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, I'm friking terrified! Look at me quaking in my seat!" he mumbled sarcastically, as Yami had managed to use his free arm to turn on the coffee machine beside him, while Tea giggled.

"I hope you're not going to be this snarky with your date tonight," Yami said lowly, before reluctantly pulling away from Tea and pulled out a chair for her to sit on, gesturing her to it with a swift and charming motion that had butterflies immediately swimming within her stomach.

"Why not? Its part of my charm," Yugi said with a roll of his eyes. "Some of us can't be Mr. sensitive Prince Charming."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to be the thing that lurks in the sewers either," Yami retorted back.

Tea burst out laughing, "You know for twins, you two can be so completely different. I mean I always thought identical twins were supposed to be exactly alike, from what I heard, and get along better than most siblings."

Yugi sighed, "That's a myth."

"For once, you and I actually agree on something," Yami muttered in response, before also sighing and turning to Tea. "In ways we are too different to see eye to eye…however, in most ways we are far too similar, and thus tend to clash."

"How we ever shared a womb, I will never know! I mean that's as confined as space gets," Yugi mumbled, with a wondrous look in his eyes.

"I'm more astounded by the fact that we came from the same egg," Yami chortled.

"For real?" Yugi's mouth gaped open incredulously. "You're meaning to tell me that you're not amazed that we managed to keep the peace between us in the womb, but instead, the fact that we came from the same egg…?"

Yami rolled his eyes, "It's not a great mystery how we kept peace in the womb idiot, we didn't even know there was an outside world, as well as the fact that we couldn't speak to each other – that probably contributed the most to your 'little miracle,' whereas on the other hand I find that the fact that we were once one person, and split into two separate individuals, and yet are so completely different from the other, to be an absolute wonder of creation."

"Did you guys ever do any of the twin'ish like things?" Tea asked curiously.

"Yami please translate what she said," Yugi requested with a half bored, and half confused expression.

"Pardon him Tea, it's too early for him to think apparently," Yami muttered dryly, before throwing her a smile. "And we did actually. From what I can recall, we used to be able to finish each other's sentences, before Yugi got so stupid it became physically painful for me to complete any of them, anymore."

"Oh!" Yugi caught on belatedly. "You mean that?" he asked her rhetorically, before nodding his head. "Yeah and sometimes like if Yami got hurt, I'd feel it, and vice versa. But we never wore the same clothes as far as I can remember…and what the hell do you mean I got stupid?"

"No, and we weren't allowed to either, they had to be different so they could tell us apart," Yami added with a small frown, ignoring his brother's ranting and raving like a lunatic.

Tea frowned in response, "Couldn't they do that already though?"

Both of them shook their heads, before Yugi added, "No ways, we may have been fascinating objects for the normal ranking vamps that surrounded us, but none of them really studied us enough to figure out how to distinguish Yami and me apart from one another, which is why from day one, they ensured through various and creative methods, that Yami was always well defined as the great and mighty, firstborn Atem."

Tea frowned considerately before asking, "Well that shows they cared right? I mean, they didn't want to confuse you two or something…"

Yugi grinned before shaking his head, whereas Yami remained silent, wearing a dark, grim expression, before sighing deeply. "No that's not-"

"You think too highly of the undead Tea, no, it wasn't because they had any maternal issues with on maybe the off chance of mistaking two little newborns names. No, they were concerned about mistaking who was the first born son was-"

"And that's all there is to it…" Yami interrupted, giving Yugi a brief, warning glare that commanded him to shut up immediately, before forcing a small smile in Tea's direction, "The twin'ish traits disappeared as we got older."

"Sadly he's right," Yugi grinned and winked at Tea, "I started getting cuter, and eventually hotter, and way more attractive than him, and he just got nerdier and uglier…ain't that a damn shame."

Yami, glanced up at him with a cocked eyebrow, and held his younger twin's amused gaze, silently.

"What's up Yami? Am I even better looking today than usual?" Yugi taunted with a wide and amused grin. "I haven't given any of the mirrors an opportunity yet, to compliment me, this morning."

"So vampires do have reflections?" Tea inquired jokingly, with a small grin as she watched the one-sided verbal exchange.

Yugi narrowed his eyes at her in disappointment, "You see; this is why we need more Egyptian authors, this crap you've been reading from the Europeans about our kind, was and is, raping our dignity and credibility! Of course we have reflections…honestly." He rolled his eyes.

Yami took in his younger twin's partly discoloured complexion amongst its deathly paleness, as well as the slight darkening beneath his eyes from a lack of sleep. Even his eyes, which were usually extremely bright and lively, seemed to be duller than normal, and his hair seemed less glossy and dull. "I think that in your case Yugi, it would be a good thing not to have a reflection…" he said, without lowering his raised eyebrow.

Yugi focussed his gaze on Yami, and snorted, "If I looked like you Yami, I'd run from my reflection too!"

"…?"

"…?"

Yugi noticed the sudden silence in the room, as both Tea and Yami tried to hide their grins, and suddenly became aware of the flaw in his insult. "Okay, not my best retort…"

Tea giggled lightly, before turning in her seat to face more towards Yugi, "Tell us about your date, what is she like?"

Yugi raised both his eyebrows, before giving her a thoughtful expression, as he tried to sum up his perception of Razz into words, without sounding too soppy or like he actually cared. "I guess she's hot," he stated simply, before shrugging his shoulders.

Tea gave him a questioning look and smiled awkwardly while waiting for him to say more, whereas Yami, who had been busy making two cups of black coffee, slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder at Yugi, with a raised eyebrow and unreadable expression. "Hot and?" Tea tried to coax him.

Yugi looked at her, "…sexy?"

It was like watching two foreigners, who spoke two completely different languages, trying to communicate with one another in a very limited vocabulary. Yami rolled his eyes at Yugi's hopelessness, and turned back to the cups of coffee as he added in the sugar and cream. "Personality wise?" he suggested in an attempt to help Yugi out of the shallow depths he was sinking into, of Tea's perception.

"Oh…" Yugi mumbled with an almost disgusted expression, as though the mere thought was poisonous in his mind. "That…well um, she seems great." After noting the look and side-glance he received from those around him he quickly added, "I mean great as in, she's…you know, cool."

Tea reluctantly nodded her head in partial satisfaction, whereas Yami felt like banging his head against the cabinet, which slightly above him. "Cool, so what's her name?" she tried again, and Yami had to admit, her dedication was inspiring.

"Razz," Yugi responded automatically.

Tea nodded her head, and looked at him expectantly, to which he raised an eyebrow in question, unsure of what she wanted. "Um…" she mumbled, before straining a smile, "Razz who?"

It suddenly occurred to him that he didn't know her last name…or his in fact. "Oh shit! I don't know."

"Well you'll find out tonight won't you?" Tea suggested, but Yugi's mind was somewhere else, and he hardly registered her words.

"Crap…that might come up tonight," he said to himself, more than to anyone else, before shifting in his seat to look at Yami. "Hey Yami, Tea's brought up a very good point that I have somewhat…overlooked-"

"What's with the formal language? Or is that how you intend to woo Razz into a false sense of-"

"Think it'll work?" Yugi interrupted him, briefly distracted.

"No," Yami stated factually, as he brought the cups over to the counter once again, and took his seat next to Tea.

"Okay, then I'll go back to my simpler vocabulary, and get straight to the point – what is our last name?"

"We don't have one," Yami muttered in response. "Our father was from a time where last names weren't given."

"Really?" Tea inquired curiously, as Yami handed her, her cup.

He smiled at her, before giving her a firm nod. "Yeah, it was only when the clans started forming in the world, that last names were used." He turned to Yugi, and sighed, "But if it comes up in conversation, just give her the last name you're registered under."

Yugi gave him a blank look, "We're registered with one?"

Yami rolled his eyes, "Of course we were, you wouldn't have been able to get out of Egypt without that kind of…okay, maybe you would have, but surely you have one on your driver's license?"

"What driver's license?" Yugi asked; his expression still blank and clueless.

"Yugi do you have any of your documents on you?" Yami asked him incredulously. "And what do you mean, 'what driver's license?'" he mocked in a whiny, higher pitched voice.

"Well whatever I used to have went up in flames last night, so at present, nothing…and I never had a driver's license." Yugi answered with a shrug.

"What do you mean Yugi? Was there a fire?" Tea inquired worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Yugi bit his lip before turning to Tea with a small, sad sigh. "Ally was blown up last night by a couple of lowlife bastards."

It took a while for Tea to figure out that he meant his car, and not an actual human girl, but when she did she immediately felt sympathetic towards his situation, knowing that Yugi cherished his car above all else, and that it may as well have been human to him. "Oh…that's terrible Yugi, but you weren't hurt or anything though were you?"

He wanted to get angry with her, he wanted to throw a childish temper tantrum and point to his face and ask if she could see what his ordeal the night before had done to him, and he wanted to call her a dumb bitch for even asking…but Tea had a really unexpected effect on him, which soothed away that inner rage he felt, making him almost feel numb. He paused for a minute, before shaking his head jerkily from side to side, with strained control. "Nope…just my car…which got killed…violently…horribly…turned to ash-"

"And you'll move on," Yami said, as he nudged Yugi hard in the back with his elbow. "Now back to your other problems – the last name we're registered under is-"

"I thought you said that we didn't have a last name, a few minutes ago?" Yugi mumbled, proving yet again how short, his short attention span, really was.

Yami sighed, begging Ra for more patience, "It isn't our real surname, it's fake…for emergencies and official purposes-"

"Well for Ra's sake why didn't you just say that earlier, do you think I give a shit on whether it's real or not? I just need a last name," Yugi interrupted him yet again, shaking his head as though Yami had completely wasted his time.

Yami glared at his younger twin, before clenching and unclenching his jaw, taking a deep breath before he answered. "It's EL-Hashem."

"EL-Hashem…" Tea automatically tested the sound of it from her own lips, finding its foreignness somewhat exciting and yet strange at the same time. Yami EL-Hashem…Atem EL-Hashem… She liked the sound of both versions of his name, and smiled up at him. "I like it."

Yami returned her smile, and parted his lips to reply, but Yugi cut off, whatever he was about to say completely, with a negative comment of his own. "I don't, what the fuc-uh-fudge is a EL-Hashem?"

Yami resisted the temptation to punch him, and instead just shook his head, "Change it to Smith then if you like."

"Smith? Have you been doing lines or something? No ways! And besides, I think I'm more Asian than Egyptian, I want a cooler surname like…Kurosaki! Or Shishigawara!"

Yami shook his head dismissively and rolled his eyes, "Whatever you like Yugi." He suddenly wondered why he even bothered with his brother, sometimes, when it was so obvious there was hope for him.

"Okay…so help me get my story straight…err…ish. I'm obviously Egyptian, just touring through America-" Yugi began.

"I thought a moment ago, you were more Japanese?" Yami pointed out, reminding his younger twin of his very own dumb words.

Yugi narrowed his eyes, "Well duh, yeah, but claiming Egyptian, makes me more exotic to her, and girls like exotic don't they?" He directed the question to Tea, who blushed, and awkwardly shrugged a response.

"I…well, yeah some do," she babbled, before giggling lowly.

Yami restrained himself from laughing at her discomfort, and instead wrapped an arm around her waist. "Just continue on with your idiocy Yugi."

"Okay well…you're my brother obviously, I'll say older – and begrudgingly if I may add! – so to prevent confusion. I won't mention…the others." He and Yami briefly shared a serious glance, before he continued. "And I think that pretty much covers it."

Yami nodded once, before taking a small sip of his coffee, and instantly felt its warmth caressing him from within. Tea on the other hand frowned, aware that they were talking around her about something, and grew a little annoyed. She couldn't help but look back on a topic earlier that they had long passed, where Yami had stopped Yugi from revealing something about why he had to be defined as the first born, and now they had shared a silent acknowledgement about these 'others' that they obviously didn't want her to know about. A niggling voice in the back of her mind, warned her that it was none of her business, but she had never enjoyed been left out on anything, especially by her boyfriend.

Yugi suddenly got up and pushed his stool in, seeming unsteady for a second, before managing to gain his composure. "Um…I should go back to bed, it's late."

Yami nodded a dismissal, before giving his brother a raised eyebrow observation, as he too noticed the unsteadiness, but said nothing about it. "We'll try not to disturb you."

"See you later Yugi," Tea said softly, before lowering her gaze to her half empty mug, thoughts swimming through her mind.

Yami noticed the sudden change in her, and frowned in concern, whereas Yugi gave them both a fond farewell, which was a polite 'see ya' to Tea and an extended middle finger to Yami, before leaving the room, and them to themselves.

"Are you alright Tea?" he asked, gently, once they were alone.

Tea thought carefully about what she wanted to say, before turning her gaze to his. "I am, but I just can't shake the feeling that I'm being left out on some things…I mean I know it's none of my business-"

Yami shook his head, stopping her in mid sentence, "I do not wish to you leave you out on anything my Love, what gave you that impression?"

Tea suddenly felt really stupid, and wondered if she had just simply imagined it. She shook her head, with a sheepish smile, and desperately wanted to take it all back. "N-never mind, I was just been dumb, sorry."

Yami rested his hand over hers, and continued to hold his powerful soul searching gaze on her. "You're not been dumb if you are concerned about something. Is there something you'd like for me to clarify on…I know that sometimes when Yugi and I speak of our pasts in Egypt, I sometimes forget that you weren't there and would have no way of knowing what we're sometimes referring to."

"Yeah, but some of it is also none of my business-"

Yami gently clutched her hand, "As long as we are in a relationship, everything you need to know about me, is. You can ask me anything and I'll answer."

"Like what your most embarrassing moment was?" Tea asked jokingly in a soft, barely audible voice, which made Yami chuckle.

Even though it was only a joke, Yami still answered her. "I once woke up with a spider in my bed, and literally leaped onto the drapes that hung from my ceiling, to get away from it, screaming like a little girl…and Yugi will never let me live it down."

They both chuckled lowly, before Tea became a little more serious, but her mood had definitely lightened. She blushed shyly before deciding to voice her question. "Who…are the others?"

For a minute Yami's eyes darkened, and then he turned them away from her, "Yugi's…referring to our several other brothers, who were born stillborn. He'll never say it, but it affected him a lot when we were kids, when the babies were born, but…well, Yugi always wanted to believe that one of them would make it. He always saw them as his little brothers that he needed to protect."

Tea gave him a slightly surprised look, "And…you didn't?"

"I couldn't…It would have been…in a way, like losing Yugi, over and over again. I detached myself completely, from any of them, after the first time one of our brother's was born; it was just too painful to go through again. We were both young and mostly human then, and the vampires weren't caring enough to tell us that the baby wasn't going to make it, so we got excited by the idea that we were going to be big brothers… I was there for the birth, despite our cousin's efforts to get me out of the room, and I held his tiny, little body in my arms…" Yami realized suddenly that he had begun to drift off into the black world of his memory and shook himself back into reality. "I apologize Tea; it brings back some very unpleasant memories."

Tea moved over to wrap her arms around Yami's firm stomach, and looked up at him with sad, but proud eyes. "You're a good person Yami…and you're a great brother. I'm sorry about what happened to you and Yugi, but you're always going to have each other…and you're always going to have me…if you want me to stick around that is."

Yami was momentarily taken aback by her words, but found quickly found himself beaming down at her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her onto his lap, ignoring the painful protest of his wounded chest. "Can I have you forever then?" he then said in an extremely alluring, and deep voice, which made Tea's breath hitch in her throat, and butterflies roll in her stomach.

She smiled, "Always."

Yugi having overheard Tea's words, slumped back against his closed bedroom door, and sighed tiredly.

'But you're always going to have each other.'

He smirked without humour, as he felt all the strength leave his body. She had made it sound like he and Yami would be brothers forever, but Yugi knew better, way better than either of them did…even better than Yami. What Yugi knew, for a stone cold fact that neither Yami, nor Tea could even comprehend, was that forever would only last just a few more months.

---

Alright, alright...let's all calm down and not stab the author. I know it's a little bland, but I promise to make up for it next chapter. Which I'll update on Valentines Day. It's going to be romantic, and Yugi is going to suprise most people more than usual. Guaranteed Lemons for my Lemonade-shake friends, fluffy puppy love for the more innocent ones. Oh, and appearances of some old Yu-gi-oh characters... Thank you so much for reading and putting up with me all these years (that's right, years!) and lovies!