Here's today's update! This one gave me a LOT of trouble, I've spent the past five days trying to think of what to write for it... I wanted a few prewritten beforehand, see, so after I finished Insomnia I immediately wanted to work on this, but it didn't work out... Hopefully this drabble seems okay, and it's another one that's most likely getting a sequel sometime.

UPDATE (29/3/14) :

Fixed a little bit of the ending to make it clearer. (Pointed out by TheCrystalEevee)

I'd forgotten to add a warning since I was in a hurry to update, fixed. Also, made a typo. (Pointed out by Scaehime)

UPDATE (5/4/15) :

...Oops. Apparently I forgot to repost the update. I left it in document manager and didn't replace the chapter... *Sweatdrop*

#37 - Pain

Words - 879

Setting - AU

Shipping/s - Eventual Puzzleshipping vaguely implied (Will be continued)

Warning/s - Strong language towards the middle. If this offends you, skip some of the dialogue spoken by the unnamed characters towards the middle.

Yu-Gi-Oh doesn't belong to me, but to Kazuki Takahashi.

Yuugi winced, clutching his gut in pain. It would've been easy to prevent, but the mere thought of someone else suffering made his heart pang, and he completely refused to let it happen.

Contrary to what some people he'd met thought, Mutou Yuugi wasn't a bullied child. He was, however, due to his short stature and passive behavior, considered an easy target by those looking for trouble. This time, however, neither of these were the cause.

It had been months since anybody had caused any trouble for him, and he was walking home from school, when he'd seen three boys, dressed in a similar uniform to his own, surrounding another and kicking him in the stomach repeatedly, hissing out threats that Yuugi was too far away to hear. While his own uniform jacket was a deep royal blue, theirs was a light blue-green color, and he recognized it instantly; it was the uniform of Rintama High.

The boy on the floor cried out in pain, and he glared, feeling his anger surface. Normally, the purple-eyed teen was well-known for being very calm and not easily angered, but if one of his friends or even simply someone he deemed innocent was harmed, that was the last straw. He didn't really care if he himself was injured, as long as he was able to protect others... After all, he wasn't exactly well-built and fighting wasn't really something he could ever be good at. At least this way, he could be useful.

"H-hey!" He yelled. Slight fear slipped into his tone, but it was quickly masked by the anger he felt. What could the other have possibly done to deserve such a violent beating?! They spun around at the voice, and for a brief moment, their faces were frozen in terror at the fact that they had been discovered, only to morph into smug amusement as they took in his appearance. Yuugi wasn't seen as a threat to them, they could easily take him down... "Leave the kid alone."

'Actually, he looks about the same age as you...' A nagging voice at the back of his head noted, and he ignored it. What did it matter how old the victim was? He was still being beaten up!

One of the bullies, a tall brunette with a dangerous smirk and an off-center nose, kneeled down and poked the rib of the injured boy, amusement seeping into his tone as he spoke. "Hey, that guy's trying to help ya... Why's that?" He snorted. "He your boyfriend or summin'?" The other two laughed harshly at him, and a different one, taller than the boy who had spoken and with a head of blond hair, kicked him in the gut, resulting in another cry of pain.

Yuugi blinked in confusion at his words. "I've never seen him in my life... I just don't like seeing people being bullied..."

The brunette snorted. "Pfft. Bullying? We're not bullying him, this is just a warning! This piece of shit broke my sister's heart! He'll fucking pay!" He raised his foor to kick the boy again-

"Wait!"

"What now?!" The bully was getting rather annoyed. "Can't you just fucking leave? There's nothing to see here!"

"No!" His glare intensified, before his gaze lowered to the ground. "Look... If it comes to it... I'll trade places with him..."

The three boys exchanged glances, before the third finally said something. "Hmm... This is getting interesting... I don't see why not, we'll only corner this one again after school tomorrow!" They began to laugh harshly, reminding Yuugi strongly of hyenas.

He stared forward... Only to be met by pleading crimson eyes.

He could imagine that on a good day, those eyes would be bright and full of life, possibly playful and mischievous. At that moment, however, they were dull, lifeless. The other boy's resigned expression only spurred him on, convincing him that he had to do this. He couldn't let this kid lose all hope.

"Don't..." The voice was faint, and slightly weak, but Yuugi heard it. The other had spoken, desperately, fearfully, and he looked away, scared that he would give in if he stared into those red pools for too long.

"I... I have to do this..." He gulped slightly. "Run. Run and don't look back. Please."

It all happened so fast.

Barely a moment later, the three teens had abandoned the red-eyed boy, aiming their attacks instead at him. Yuugi let out a cry of pain as one kicked him particularly hard in the gut, but he managed a faint smile as he saw the other boy vanish from sight. At least he'd been useful. At least he'd saved somebody.

It hadn't been long before they seemed to change their minds, letting him himself escape home. And that was what had confused him. Yes, he'd been injured, but it was nothing serious, and he was relatively okay. He couldn't help but wonder if the red-eyed boy had anything to do with it.

'Don't be silly... He escaped. And there was no way he'd have been able to help in that state... He looked really badly hurt!'

No matter what he told himself, he still didn't feel it was over. He had a feeling he'd meet the other again some time...

Completely oblivious to a pair of crimson eyes fixated on his door as the boy took a nervous gulp, before finally knocking.

Is it okay? Sorry, I don't really have time to check it... It's almost 11:00PM, and I'm supposed to be meeting a few friends on my DS... Whether I'll get the chance or not is another matter. Feedback is appreciated, guys!

Speaking of feedback, last chapter got eight reviews! Thanks to ChangeOfHe4rt, samaurai, ASAP Rocky, Scaehime, happychica, TheParasiticComplex, TheCrystalEevee and Doragon-chan!

Also thanks to Envytastic (Wow, you reviewed this?! XD) and Tearjerker for reviewing chapters 35 and 33 respectively since the last update! All of you are awesome, and remember to review! Even if you don't usually, I appreciate it a lot! :D

Next drabble - #38 - Ignore