DD: Hey guys. Really sorry again for the late updates. I'm doing my best and shit is tough for me at the moment. This has a trigger warning in it for sexual abuse; just so you guys know. Hope you enjoy.
Malik screamed. "I'm sorry!"
The blade dug deeper into his shoulder. History carved into him; too deep. Too painful.
His father stood above him, holding the knife. On either side of Malik stood a tomb keeper, chanting in an old, Egyptian language.
"Let him be cleansed. Let him be cleansed. Let him be cleansed by Kebechet so his heart may balance under Ma'at's gaze. Let him be cleansed."
It was repeated. Over, and over, and over. Running through Malik's head and down his spine.
The knife danced over his shoulders, following its pen-marked trail with ease.
"I'm sorry!"
"Be quiet," His father snapped. Malik struggled to lie still. "It's your fault. You'll be lucky if Kebechet saves you from Mafdet's axe!"
Malik wailed. "I'm sorry!"
"It's your fault," his father repeated. "You shouldn't have looked at the leader's son the way you did."
"I just wanted to play with him!"
The knife lifted from his shoulders and floated towards his back. "I pray Kebechet believes you. Because I don't."
Malik used the time that the knife was raised to roll away. There was a slight break in the chant but the tomb keepers kept going.
"I won't let you disrupt the ritual."
His father grabbed at him. Malik shouldn't have been able to dodge with his back in its condition, but he did.
He ducked under his father's arm and grabbed the knife.
Again, the chant faltered but didn't die. Die. Die. He would die. He deserved to die.
Malik would make him die.
The knife swung and cut into his father's arm. The man staggered back with a howl, covering the wound with his hand.
One of the tomb keepers was next. He fell to the ground, blood pooling around his head.
The chanting faltered again, but the second tomb keeper was obliged to keep going; either until the ceremony or his life ended. Whichever came first.
Unfortunately for him, it was the latter.
He collapsed, just like the first.
Malik turned back to his father. Wide eyes, crazed expressions, pale faces.
"Malik-"
The blade cut through his throat. He gagged as he fell. Scrabbled in his blood as the dusty ground was stained scarlet. Almost black.
The knife landed in his chest and he stopped moving.
Malik looked around.
Blood. Blood. Blood.
Death. Death. Death.
Silence. Silence. Silence.
Blood.
Death.
Silence.
Malik smiled. He was free. Free. He was free.
So why was he crying?
Marik caught his arm and dragged Yugi into the bathroom. He had been forced to sit through four classes with that knowledge because the bell rang and Yugi had sprinted.
Now, he was going to have his questions answered. He checked the stalls for people first before jamming the door shut. He took a deep breath and turned to Yugi. "Talk."
Yugi shrugged, rubbing one arm. "What about?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Marik narrowed his eyes. Yugi looked down. "Why would you do something like this?"
"We need change," Yugi mumbled.
"What?"
Yugi looked up at him. "We need change," he repeated, stronger this time.
Marik sighed, "Yes, but this isn't the way to do it, Calico."
"Yugi." His choker burned.
"What?"
Yugi's eyes narrowed. "My name is Mutou Yugi. Not Calico."
Marik frowned. "I know, but you know we have to-"
"No," Yugi insisted. "My name is Mutou Yugi. I'm not Calico."
Marik let out a slow breath through his nose. "Fine. Yugi." That felt and sounded better.
He had grown accustomed to using the name Calico over the years, but Yugi suited him more. Yugi was Yugi. Not Calico.
"That was the first time, wasn't it?" Yugi asked. "I'm the only one that ever calls you Marik. That's the first time in eight years you've seen your name, isn't it?"
Slowly, Marik nodded. "Yeah," he breathed.
Yugi grinned. "How did it feel?"
"For a moment? Good," Marik admitted. "Then Grizzly died."
Yugi's grin fell. "That wasn't meant to happen," he whispered. "He told me that he was going to die, and I told him he wasn't."
"You need to stop this," Marik mumbled. "You can't let anyone else die for this."
Yugi glared at him. "No." His voice was hard again. "Before he died, Ushio made me promise that I'd get everyone out of here after-after it happened. I'm not breaking that promise."
"But-" Marik's protest died in his throat as Yugi's glare darkened.
"Think of his parents, Marik." The burning was growing worse. "Think of Ushio's parents. They don't know. They don't know that their son is dead. They don't know how he died. They deserve to know."
Marik shook his head. "If you keep going, how many more people are going to die before we get out?"
"None if I can help it."
"You know that a few at least are going to die."
Yugi refrained from looking away. "If they die, I won't let it be in vain. I'm getting them out. All of them. That's why I moved it out of our section to the zoo."
Marik shook his head again. "I don't get it."
"People will see the graffiti there. It's still there; they won't get it down for a few more days." Yugi smirked. "Even if they don't agree with me, they'll see it and the message will be spread and they'll tell more people who might agree with me."
Marik closed his eyes. "This is dangerous. Too dangerous. You could die."
"I know," Yugi admitted. "But I could live. Right now, we're existing. I don't know about you, but I want to live again." He held out his hand. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Do you? Want to live?"
Marik opened his eyes and peered at Yugi's hand for a moment. His throat fell dry. Slowly, he reached out and took it.
It felt like he was making a pact with the devil. "I want to live."
"Good." Yugi grinned. "I'll need your help."
"Come on, Miho. You can do this. Watch." Mai picked up the chopsticks, careful not to use her pinky finger.
Miho hesitantly did the same. She held them awkwardly, but they didn't fall. This time.
Mai smiled. "Good. Now try this." Mai picked up a piece of chicken and popped it into her mouth.
Miho tried to do the same, encouraged slightly by her ability to hold the chopsticks.
The chicken slipped between the two pieces of wood. She tried again and got the same result.
"Here; you're holding them wrong." Mai leaned over and adjusted them in Miho's hand. "Try again."
The slid back into the same position that Miho had first been holding them in and the chicken fell again.
Narrowing her eyes, Miho pierced the chicken with one of the sticks and popped it into her mouth. She smiled at Mai. "Got it."
Mai sighed but returned the smile. "You'll need to eventually learn how to use them."
"Yeah but now no." Miho stabbed another piece of chicken as Yugi sat across from them.
"You okay?" Yami asked, looking up at him from his Geography textbook. "You look pale."
Yugi shook his head. "I'm fine. Just a bit stressed about the English test."
"Why?" Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. "You know Macbeth better than anyone. Even Blue."
"That's because I didn't study it." Seto didn't look up from his computer. "It's not a grade-determining test so it's a waste of time."
"Wait, it's not?" Honda groaned. "Thanks, Jaguar."
"I thought it was." Otogi shrugged as he swallowed a piece of his sandwich.
Jounouchi rolled his eyes. Yugi kept his gaze on the table. "I'm just worried about it, okay? I always get stressed about tests." He looked around. "Has anyone seen Giraffe?"
"He was with Phoenix last I saw," Otogi replied. "Hey, anyone know what's going on with them?"
"Who cares?" Honda shrugged as he swallowed a bite of his burger.
Yami frowned when Yugi didn't berate him. "Are you okay, Calico?"
Yugi looked up at him. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just lost something."
"Do you want to tell me what it is?" Yami raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I can help you find it."
"No. No, it's fine." Yami blinked. Yugi sighed. "It's not that important anyway. A cheap collar I got for Rosa. I just don't like losing stuff."
Slowly, Yami nodded. "If you're sure."
"I am." Yugi looked up as Malik and Marik approached the table. "Finally." He jumped up and grabbed Marik's wrist, pulling him away.
Ryou frowned and followed them out of the canteen towards the boy's bathroom. Why, he didn't know. It was a pretty obvious place to hide. But he didn't question it.
"I lost it," he heard Yugi say as he caught up to them. "The notebook. It's gone. I don't know where."
Marik paused. "Are you sure?"
"I brought it to school with me." Yugi opened his bag and brandished it. "Look; it's not inside!"
What's going on? Ryou wrote. He was ignored.
"That doesn't mean you lost it," Marik tried to reason.
"But I bring it everywhere!" Yugi insisted. "I don't leave it anywhere; I always put it back in the same place in my bag so I don't lose it!"
"I'm telling you; it's not lost," Marik soothed. "You probably just left it in your cube."
"But I-" Yugi glanced at Ryou. Arms folded, scowling. "Sorry. Didn't see you."
Ryou gave him an exasperated look before waving his What's going on? message at him again.
Yugi glanced over it. "Nothing. It's fine."
Bullshit. Come on; you can tell me. Who am I going to tell?
Neither Yugi nor Marik even grinned at his joke. "Dove, it's nothing," Marik sighed. "Just drop it."
Ryou narrowed his eyes. No. I'm not leaving unless you tell me what's going on.
Yugi scowled at him. Marik caught his arm. Yugi wanted to tell people; he was naturally a person who dealt with problems by talking about them. Not bottling them up for six months – not by watching someone die and partially explaining it to one person.
He talked to a few people, got their views and then dealt with it.
"Don't-" Marik began but it was already out.
"I'm the Artist."
Ryou blinked slowly. That's all? I've known that for two months.
Yugi's eyes widened. "What?"
Yeah. Nothing on you; you were great. I just had a hunch. Ryou shrugged. So what's going on?
Yugi glanced at Marik. Marik frowned at him. "Well you told him. You may as well tell him the rest."
Yugi sighed. "I keep plans and quotes in a notebook. The one I got for my birthday; the purple kitten one."
Bad idea, but continue, Ryou wrote.
Yugi scowled but obliged. "It's gone. It's not in my bag and I'm certain I brought it to school today."
Ryou nodded. Okay. The likelihood is that you lost it, but it might be in your cube. Yugi relaxed slightly. Just say you forgot homework, go back at lunch and check for it.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay. Okay. Yeah, that's… that's a good idea." Yugi ran a hand through his hair.
Marik clapped his shoulder. "Calm down. It'll be fine."
Yugi nodded. "Yeah. I know." He glanced at Ryou. "We should've told you sooner, huh?"
Yes. Ryou nodded. You should have. I could have prevented this entire thing. He cracked a grin.
Soon, all three of them were laughing.
The whistle blew; deafening. Malik winced at the sound.
It succeeded in its mission anyway. The chattering died down.
"Alright." Their gym teacher took the lollipop out of his mouth. "Today we're looking at trust exercises." Chumley from section eleven snorted. "Think it's funny, Marshmallow? Keep laughing and I'll pair you up with Aqua. We'll see who's laughing when you face-plant into the floor."
Chumley glanced at Syrus from his section. A third of his size, a sixth of his weight. He stopped laughing.
"That's what I thought." Their teacher smirked. "Alright cupcakes. Every second person step forward; you're the ones. Turn around and pair up with whatever two is on your left."
A minute or two of confusion ensued, the wrong people occasionally stepping forward. The gym teacher eventually sighed and pulled all of the ones forward.
Malik turned to see what two was on his left. Marik.
Marik grinned at him. "Fancy this."
Malik returned the grin. "No kidding."
"Everyone find a place on your own with your partners!" The teacher called. "And if I find anyone making out in the closet again during class, they're going straight to the zoo."
Marik cringed. He had occasionally been that person when he and Bakura had been- not dating. Hating? Hate-fucking? Something along those lines. "Come on."
He led Malik over to a corner of the room.
"Which one should we do first?" Malik mumbled, glancing at the board. Three trust exercises.
Falling back and allowing your partner to catch you. Seeing how far you could lean forward while leaning on one another. One person blindfolded and running; led by the other person.
It sounded mildly terrifying. Scratch mildly. It sounded terrifying.
Malik turned back to Marik to see the latter frowning. "Well?"
"Are you okay?" Marik asked. "You seem a bit out of it."
"I'm fine." Malik shrugged. "I didn't sleep well last night. I'll make up for it in SPHE. Now which one?"
Marik sighed. "May as well do the falling one first. That seems pretty simple."
Malik nodded in agreement. For a few minutes, they just practiced holding one another upright to make sure that they could hold each others' weight.
Marik went first. He leaned back and Malik caught him. A bit soon, but he still caught him.
Marik smiled as he stood again and walked behind Malik. "Ready?" Malik nodded. "Fall."
Malik leaned back, but righted himself again. "Shit, sorry."
Marik shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Do you want to try again?" Malik hesitantly nodded. "Okay." Marik placed his hands closer to Malik this time. "Three, two, one, fall."
Malik leaned back again, but quickly righted himself. "Damn it, I'm sorry."
Marik shook his head. "Phoenix, it's fine. Don't worry about it. We can try a different exercise instead; I'm not a fan of falling either."
But Marik had managed it. Malik hadn't.
Malik gritted his teeth and shook his head. He didn't want to do this. Any of it.
"Or we could sit down?" Marik offered, softer.
Malik nodded and walked over to the wall, plopping onto the bench sitting against it. Marik sat beside him. The gym teacher ignored them. They weren't the first to sit down.
"Is there…" Marik hesitated. "Something you want to talk about?"
"No," Malik muttered.
Marik edged a bit closer to him. Subtly, he placed his hand on top of Malik's. Malik didn't flinch away, but he tensed – a bit.
"Are you sure?" Malik nodded – silent. Watching the others try the trust exercises. Marik squeezed his hand. "You know you can talk to me, right? About anything?"
Marik decided to ignore the fact that Malik mightn't trust him yet after a day of dating.
Malik nodded. "Yeah," he mumbled. "I might talk to you about it later."
"Not now?"
"Not at school."
"How much later?"
"Marik," Malik sighed, "just drop it."
They haven't fixed the light yet? Ryou had to wait until they were in adequate lighting to sign.
Bakura glanced back at the club.
The back door where the dancers and bartenders entered and exited was shrouded in darkness. Total darkness.
Several lights had gone bust and they hadn't been fixed, despite the numerous complaints from the workers.
"Nope." Bakura shook his head.
Ryou frowned. That's ridiculous. Did you say something?
Bakura nodded. "Yeah. Me, and Griffin, and Crystal, and nearly everyone else. Nothing's going to change. It's a section nineteen club, Dove."
Ryou let out a low breath. What if a customer complained?
"It would be thrown in the suggestion bin because customers aren't meant to be back there," Bakura replied.
But plenty go back there.
"Yeah. For the 'free samples' they assume they get with our dances." Bakura shook his head. "Not to get inside."
Ryou let out a low breath again and handed Bakura his jacket. You need to start remembering your own.
Bakura hadn't even noticed he was shivering. Navy jacket that was too small for him, navy booty shorts, thigh high black boots. No less than he usually wore.
He took Ryou's jacket and pulled it around his shoulders. "Yeah, I know."
It had become routine. Bakura would forget his jacket, Ryou would bring a jacket when he picked Bakura up, he would give it to Bakura and tell Bakura to bring his own next time, he would forget to take it from Bakura that night, Bakura would give it to him the next morning and promise that he would remember his own that night, but he never would.
They both knew that the pattern wasn't about to change.
The cubes between section nineteen and eighteen grew better. The buildings were cleaned better and the path smelled better.
Still not as good as section seventeen. And none of them would be as good as section sixteen. But it was better.
"You could always stop collecting me," Bakura commented.
Ryou threw him a sharp look. Why would I do that?
"It would save your jackets." Bakura meant it as a joke, but in truth, he had already been the end of one of Ryou's jackets.
An old one, but still Ryou's jacket. Bonz had torn it off him one of the mornings.
It had been before Ushio had been killed. He had helped Bakura get it back. Bakura knew that had Yami been with him, Ushio wouldn't have helped. He had been lucky.
The jacket, not so much.
I don't care about the jackets. Ryou shrugged. I care more about you getting a cold and having to stay in all week.
Bakura rolled his eyes. "We're already inside."
Yeah, but the temperature doesn't say that.
"True." They fell silent for a minute. The cubes faded from eighteen to seventeen.
Zorc's was the first. There was still some red residue on it.
MARIK ISHTAR IS NOT THE ARTIST.
They kept their eyes down.
"Why do you collect me every night?" Bakura found himself asking.
Ryou shrugged again. I don't want you getting grabbed by someone who wants a 'free sample'.
"I can take care of myself."
I know. Ryou didn't look at him. Bakura knew he was also thinking of the day he had saved Bakura from Keith. But you could get hurt in a fight, even if you came out better. I don't want that.
"Why not?" Bakura tried to grin. "You care about me?"
Ryou looked at him but didn't reply. Neither of them tried to pick up the conversation as they reached Bakura's cube.
"Thanks for walking me back again." Bakura held Ryou's jacket tighter around him.
Ryou didn't ask for it back. You're welcome. He leaned up and kissed Bakura's cheek. It wasn't hesitant; Bakura wasn't sure if Ryou even thought about it. His eyes widened as Ryou pulled back, and he wanted more.
Ryou just gave him a small smile. Goodnight, Necro.
"I still can't find it," Yugi hissed as he closed his locker. Then he opened it and began rooting through it. Again.
"Are you sure that it's not in your cube?" Marik pressed. "It's the only logical place. Maybe Rosa stole it?"
Yugi shook his head. "No. No it's not in my cube." He took out his maths book and shook it out. Despite the fact that his notebook was too big to hide in it.
"But Rosa-"
"Rosa can steal a lot of things and do a lot of tricks, but she can't get into a locked box and then re-lock it." Yugi replaced his maths book and took out his English book, repeating the procedure. "It's not in the box. The box was locked. It has to be here somewhere. I wouldn't have locked the box if it wasn't in it."
"Sleepwalking." Marik folded his arms. "You used to sleepwalk, right?"
"When I was a kid, once," Yugi reminded him. "The day we got into section seventeen. I sleepwalked into the lake and nearly drowned. Haven't since then." He slid his English book back into place and took out his art folder.
The folder slipped out of his fingers and hit the ground. Multi-coloured papers showered over the blue-tiled floors, but no notebook.
Marik bent down to help him pick up the papers. "You need to calm down."
Yugi's head shot up and he glared at Marik. "Calm down? No. No. Marik, do you know how much is in that?" He hissed.
"There can't be that much." Marik handed him some of the papers. Yugi jammed them into his folder. "You only got it a few days ago. It's the one I got you, right?"
Yugi nodded. "Yes, but it has more space than my old one." He replaced his folder and took out his history book, shaking it out. Then replaced it, and checked for any more books in his locker.
Finding none, he took out his maths book again and shook it out.
Marik swallowed. "How much?"
Yugi slammed the door shut. "All of it. I transferred everything into it. If anyone but you, Ryou or I read it, we're dead. I'm dead."
He hadn't mentioned Ryou or Marik yet. Yet.
They were lucky.
"We'll find it."
Yugi just sighed, resting his forehead against the cool, metal frame. "Yeah. Yeah, it might be in lost and found."
"Or it could be somewhere in your cube," Marik suggested. Again. "You checked your locker multiple times. Maybe it's just somewhere you haven't checked in your cube."
"I've checked literally everywhere," Yugi mumbled. "It's not there." He looked up as white hair flashed into view. "Hey, Dove."
Ryou waved. His eyes flitted to his left. Then back to Yugi. Then to Marik. Then to his right.
Marik frowned. "Are you okay?"
Ryou nodded. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. Yea. Fne. He corrected the spelling mistakes moments after making them.
Marik's frown deepened. "You don't look it."
I am. Ryou looked at Yugi. Any luck with the notebook?
Yugi shook his head. "Nothing. It's gone."
"We don't know that," Marik argued.
Yugi shot him a look. "It's gone."
Lost and found? Ryou had stopped shaking. His mind elsewhere; focused on the notebook now.
"Maybe," Yugi agreed.
"Possibly," Marik said at the same time, trying to make it seem less likely.
"Probably," Yugi countered.
The bell rang. Ryou glanced to the left. I need to get to class. See you later. I'll help look for it then.
He left before they could say anything else; before Marik even finished reading what he had written.
Yugi sighed and opened his locker again, taking out his history book. He shook it out once more before placing it in his bag and closing the locker.
"We'll get it back." Marik patted his shoulder.
Yugi shrugged. "We'll have to."
"Have to what?"
They both jumped, and Yugi turned to see Yami walking up to them. "Nothing. I just lost a notebook and I need to find it."
Yami nodded. "Want some help finding it?"
"It's fine," Yugi cut in before Marik could even try to say something. "I probably left it in my cube. I'll check there once school finishes."
Again, Yami nodded and offered Yugi a smile. "Alright. Let me know if you need help later on."
Yugi returned the smile with a grin; only now did Marik realise how many times he had seen the same grin – how many times he had been on the receiving end of it.
Plastic, impassive, slightly forced. Crinkling lines at the side of his eyes, smaller eyes, slight nod.
"I will." He turned away. "See you guys later."
"How are you doing?"
Heru didn't look up from his maths book as Akefia's arm draped across his shoulder. "I'm fine." He slid ten Zira across the table to him.
Akefia blinked at the sight of the money. Then grinned. "Which bet did I win?"
"Chimp and Jaguar," Heru muttered, turning the page. "They went to the zoo to visit their friend from section fifteen, and then went to the movies."
Akefia took the money and slipped it into his pocket. "And what did you bet again?"
Heru huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of his eyes. "Zoo and then bowling."
"Told you Chimp wouldn't go for bowling." Akefia slipped into the chair across from Heru. His boyfriend gave a noncommittal grunt in response. "So seriously. How are you?"
Heru glanced up at him. "I told you; I'm fine." He scribbled something down in his book. "Why do you ask?"
"You've seemed off the past few days." Akefia watched as he jotted down a side-note. "Your maths has been off."
Heru's eyes shot up to meet his. No longer than a second. "My maths is never off."
"It was off by two points the other day."
"Yes. Two points." Heru scowled and scribbled down the answer to a sum. "You're often off by twenty. Or thirty. Once you were off by over two hundred and fifty seven."
"Yeah, but that's me." Akefia folded his arms on the table. "I'm a chef. Not a mathematician."
"Neither am I." Heru blew the same lock of hair out of his eyes again.
"You want to study engineering and maths once we get to college."
"Not a mathematician. Mathematicians don't get paid particularly well." Akefia raised an eyebrow. "In the ICU. They don't get paid well in the ICU."
Akefia sighed. "My point is that I know something's off."
Heru tucked the same lock of hair behind his ears as it fell out again. "Nothing's off." He checked his answer. A brief frown crossed his face and he corrected it.
"See?" Akefia jabbed his book. "You wouldn't have gotten that wrong if nothing was wrong."
Heru frowned at him. "Diabound, I'm fine. This book is a PhD maths book. One wrong sum won't kill me."
Akefia shook his head. "Talk to me. Please."
Heru licked his fingers and forced the same lock of hair out of his face. "There's nothing to talk about."
"Was it the execution?" He pressed. "Giraffe nearly dying? Did it scare you?"
"I'm fine," Heru insisted.
"Grizzly? Was it watching Grizzly die?"
"Diabound."
"Was it seeing Giraffe cry?"
"Diabound!"
Akefia fell silent. He reached across the table and took one of Heru's clenched fists in his.
Heru took a slow breath and unclenched his fist. "Let it go," he muttered. "I'm fine."
Akefia gently squeezed his hand; still tense, still ready to clench again. "This isn't fine," he murmured. "Please, Shrew. Heru. Talk to me."
Heru's eyes flickered to Akefia's earring and reached out, brushing his fingers against it. It was hot to touch, even though the initial burning was gone.
And yet Akefia hadn't even flinched at the feeling.
Heru swallowed. Black claws wound around his throat; tightening, choking. He moved from Akefia's ear to his cheek; caressing it.
"I want to help," Akefia whispered, reaching up and taking the hand resting on his cheek.
"I know." Heru forced his voice not to crack.
"Talk to me," Akefia pleaded. Pleaded. "Please, Ru. Please."
Heru swallowed – hard – and pulled his hand away. He picked up his pencil again and looked down at his maths book.
His bangs hung in front of his eyes as the sums blurred into one another. "I can't."
Yami knocked on the door to Yugi's cube, and he heard a groan come from inside. Moments later, the door swung open. "Hey, Griffin," Yugi greeted before darting back inside.
Yami stepped through the door and closed it behind him. "Everything… okay?" He asked, looking around.
Clothes were strewn across the wooden floor and the posters Yugi had hung on his bathroom wall looked like they had been torn down with no regard multiple times.
Yugi shook open a box. "Yeah. Fine."
His walls were already dark. They had been for half an hour already.
"You're not going to use the black-outs to fall asleep?" Yami raised an eyebrow.
"Nah." Yugi shook his head. "Everyone else does, so there's no fear of being watched by someone."
Yami nodded and picked up one of Yugi's t-shirts to put away.
"Leave it!" Yugi called over his shoulder as he pushed through the pile of clothes he had emptied out of the box.
Not finding what he was looking for, he huffed and grabbed another box.
"Is it the notebook again?" Yami asked.
Yugi gave a distracted grunt as he shook out an oversized jumper. One of Yami's; he had forgotten it here while they were working on their project.
"Here." Yugi threw the jumper back to him.
Yami glanced at it. The Dark Magician one; black with a picture of the Duel Monster on the front and the name of the card in white decorative font on the back. One of his favourites.
"You can keep it," he decided, folding it and placing it in one of the piles.
Yugi took a moment to glance at him but didn't say anything.
Yami looked around as Yugi grabbed his last box of clothes. "What's so important about this notebook anyway?"
"Giraffe got it for me," Yugi replied. "For my birthday." He shook out the box. "I don't want to lose it."
"They sell them in the icuMall," Yami pointed out. "You could always get another one."
"No. I can't." Yugi rummaged through the clothes. Not finding the notebook, he sighed and sat in the pile.
"Has it got something in it?" Yami sat across from him, on another pile of clothes.
Yugi shrugged. "You could say that."
"Do you want to talk to me about it?" Yami leaned on his knees. "It seems to be bothering you." Yugi stayed silent and Yami sighed softly. "He used to throw them at me." Yugi blinked and looked up at him. "Knives. My dad used to throw them at me. He was an alcoholic. He started drinking after my mom died. He used to go after Atem." Yami took a shaky breath. "I kept stopping him so he got angry with me. For about a month before we came to the ICU, he told Atem that he was sending me to boarding school. The one Atem had wanted to go to since he started school. In reality, I was in the basement. He would…" He paused, searching for the word. "Torment me. He used to chain me to the wall and throw knives at me. The walls were wooden so the knives just kind of… thudded into it. He sometimes made one hit me. My finger. My arm. My ear."
Yugi's eyes flickered to the dip in Yami's ear. His cousin had something similar since birth, so he had never thought much about it.
"It was actually kind of a relief for me when we first got here," Yami admitted. "I was free, in a way. He couldn't hurt me anymore." He smiled. "I got to see Atem again. But Atem still thought I had gone to the school he wanted to go to. He still does."
Yugi's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell him? Even in the last few years?"
Yami shook his head. "I couldn't let him live with that. I was down there because I stopped dad from hurting him." He let out a slow breath. "Now, I want to get out. I want everyone to get out. Even if we had to go back to that." He shook his head. "It's not right here. The Artist sees that."
"You still agree with them?" Yugi swallowed. "Even after what happened to Grizzly?"
"Of course." Yami looked at him. "Don't you?"
Yugi shrugged. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess."
Yami cleared his throat. "But yeah. That's why I hate knives. It reminds me of him."
Yugi watched him for a moment. "Why did you tell me that?"
"To show you that you can talk to me," Yami replied. "You asked me about knives a while ago. So there. I told you; I talked to you. You can do the same for me."
Yugi closed his eyes. "This is different."
"No it's not." Yami shook his head. He reached out and took Yugi's hand. "Talk to me."
Slowly, Yugi opened his eyes and let out a slow breath. "You really want to know?" Yami nodded. "You won't be able to come back from this. Are you sure?" Again, Yami nodded. Yugi let out another slow breath. "I'm the Artist. I'm the Artist, and everything is in that notebook. Everything. Everything. If anyone reads it…" Yugi shook his head. "I'm dead."
Yami was silent for a moment. He squeezed Yugi's hand and smiled softly at him. "Then we'd better find it before anyone else does."
Yugi shook his head. "It's in lost and found. Lost and found. It's not here or my locker. It's in lost and found. I mightn't get it back from there."
Yami squeezed his hand again. "You will," he disagreed. "We will. We have to."
The ICU was never a good place to lose something. Especially at school.
"Are you positive it's not in your cube?" Marik asked. Again.
"Yes." Yugi didn't slow his pace as he walked down the corridor. "I checked it six times." His pace began to slow as they neared the office door.
Marik noticed. "Can't you get someone else to go in for you?" Marik pressed. "You know which leader is on duty today."
Section seventeen. Their section. Their leader. Zorc.
"I know." He swallowed and pushed open the door. The words 'Lost and Found' stained the door in deep brown. "Wait here. I'll be out soon."
Zorc was leaning on the counter, scribbling something into a notebook as Yugi entered the office. He only looked up when the door clicked closed.
"What do you w-?" His scowl morphed into a smirk when he saw Yugi. Zorc always smirked around him. "Calico. How can I help you?"
Yugi withheld a shudder. He was the same.
The black hair, the red eyes, the pale skin. The smirk.
But that was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream.
His grandfather had promised that it was just a dream. He would never lie. "I lost a notebook earlier," he mumbled. "Did someone hand it in?"
Zorc tutted, still smirking. "You need to be more careful, Calico. You don't want a restriction, do you?" Yugi looked down. "But I'll check the box."
He disappeared through a door behind the counter. Yugi sank into one of the hard, wooden chairs behind her. Seeing him was growing harder.
He was having the dream again. He never even knew that it was possible to dream about a dream.
But it's what he was doing. He was seven; just after his parents died. He was at the day-care.
His grandfather arranged for an old friend of his father's to take him home; that's what the day-care said.
He had stopped halfway there and climbed into the back with him. Pushed him down.
"Let's play a game, little one."
Pain. Tears. Blood. White. Beeping. Hospital. Grandpa. Doctors.
"I want him arrested!"
"Sir, calm down."
"Yugi! Yugi, sweetie, are you okay?"
Sobbing. Arms holding him. Hiding beneath the duvet.
"It's okay, Yugi. You had a bad dream."
Where was he?
"You were sleep walking again. You fell and hit your head so I rang an ambulance."
"Don't cry."
"It was just a dream."
"Just a dream."
"Just a-"
"Calico?"
Yugi jumped. His breathing came in ragged gasps. "Y-Yes?"
Zorc was still smirking. "The notebook. Is this it?"
"Let's play a game, little one."
He held up a purple notebook with a kitten on it.
Pain. Tears. Blood.
"Y-Yes." Yugi took it. "Thank you."
"Be more careful this time."
"Let's play a game, little one."
Yugi turned towards the door.
Pain. Tears. Blood.
"Oh, and Calico?"
"Let's play a game, little one."
"Yes?"
"Next time I won't be so… lenient."
Pain.
His hand shook.
Tears.
Tears stung his eyes.
Blood.
"Yes, sir." He opened the door, clinging to the notebook.
Marik was waiting for him outside. "Did you get it?" Yugi nodded.
"It was just a dream."
"He didn't read it, did he?" Yugi shook his head.
"Just a dream."
A tear rolled down his cheek. Marik frowned. He wrapped his arms around Yugi. The latter clung to him. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Just a dream."
His voice cracked. "It wasn't a dream…"
DD: Hope you guys enjoyed! Thanks so much to my new beta reader fitzyfoop for checking over this for me. Please review. I'll start replying to reviews again at the start of September. See you next time, Killer Queens!