Hey everyone! It's been a very long time since I've typed anything for this site - I was very active about ten years ago before I lost my love of writing.

The last couple of years I've been trying my upmost to get back into it and the one thing I actually missed a lot whilst writing my OG stuff was writing fanfiction. So I've decided to go back to my roots, specifically Yu-Gi-Oh. Everyone on this site has always been lovely and I really missed the community.

Now unfortunately I deleted my old account with my previous stories and made this one years ago when I was going through a tough time - I used to be SecretHikari. A part of me is glad because my writing style has changed a lot over the years and this can be a clean slate.

Now, I've always loved Yu-Gi-Oh and here are some warnings about this story. It WILL be yaoi, specifically Puzzleshipping (YamixYugi) and others. There will be swearing, blood, and potentially sex scenes if I can get the courage to write a lemon again. This is why I've put it at the highest maturity rating for now and I'll drop it if I don't end up doing it.

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh.

I will try and update this story every one to two weeks. However with work / family I might be delayed but I will try and warn you if I'm held up at all.

Please let me know your thoughts, I'm really glad to be back - Cam x

Chapter 1

The largest police station in downtown Domino City was abuzz with activity, as always. The air was filled with a cacophony of ringing landlines, laughter, and raised voices. Uniformed officers walked together gripping cups of coffee and made casual conversation amongst themselves. The bullpen was littered with nondescript, grey desks. The uniform, sickeningly bright fluorescent lights overhead.

Towards the back of the bullpen sat Domino City's newest detective, Yamir 'Yami' Atemu. Both himself and his partner, Bakura Mao, were extremely young to have made detective at the ripe age of 26 each. It did cause a lot of consternation amongst older staff when they were promoted but as far as Yami was concerned, they could all kiss his tanned, Egyptian ass. Domino City was the place to be in Japan, it's only rival being Tokyo itself. It was sleek, fashionable and where you would go to make your wildest dreams come true. The same could be said of the many criminals that littered Japan, who saw the shining jewel that was Domino City, as a mere piece of fruit ripe for plucking. That suited Yami just fine, it kept him on his toes and his job interesting. He always had a passion for helping people and he was living his dream, taking out the bad guys one by one.

Yami was extremely handsome with sharp, angular features that could cut glass. He boasted high cheekbones, full lips and a strong jaw. His skin was a deeply tanned caramel which only emphasized his angular, deep, crimson eyes. He had an unusual hair style; it was black and spiked up into the shape of a star – the tips glinted maroon under the fluorescent lights of the station. Blonde bangs framed his narrow face, some blonde streaks also shot back up into the main body of his hair. He wore a red tie with a white shirt which had been rolled up to his elbows, exposing his muscular arms. He leaned back into his desk chair and pinched his nose between two fingers, he could feel a bitch of a headache coming.

"Coffee. I need coffee," he groaned. Yet he couldn't muster the strength nor effort to stand and make his way to the kitchenette to get some.

There was the unmistakable sound of a mug being placed gently on his desk. Yami cracked his eyes open to be greeted by the smiling face of the receptionist, Ryou.

Ryou was two years younger than Yami. His hair was immaculately groomed, snow-white and hung past his shoulders. His chocolate brown eyes were shining with mirth as he nudged the steaming mug towards Yami with one slender finger.

"You looked like you needed this," Ryou's soft, British accent was tinged with amusement. His lips twitched as he fought a smile.

"Ryou, if you weren't my partners' fiancée, I would be proposing to you right now." Yami moaned in pleasure as the bitter drink flowed down his throat and warmed his stomach.

"Well, we can't drink on duty so anything stronger is out of the question," Ryou gestured to the mug in Yami's hands as he perched on the corner of the desk next to Yami's own. "That was the next best thing."

Yami grinned at Ryou before he nodded to the vacant desk chair next to him, "Where's Bakura?"

"He had to pop down and see Malik," Ryou smiled fondly at the thought of his lover. "Said something about that missing person's case you're working on."

Yami's hand tightened on the handle of his mug slightly at the mention of the case. So far, two women and one young man have gone missing. Whoever did the deed covered their tracks well, there was not a scrap of evidence to indicate what had happened to the poor souls. Yami swallowed a growl of frustration as he took another sip of his coffee. All three victims had two things in common, they were abducted in the early hours of the morning in Downtown Domino and they were all young and attractive. There were no ties between them socially or professionally. They didn't live close together at all.

What's the connection between you all? What can't we see? Yami thought, bitterly.

Yami's eyes flickered down to the file sat in front of him on his desk, the exact thing he was pouring over before Ryou approached him. The picture of their latest victim, a smiling young man, taunted him endlessly. He was cute with red hair that almost fell into his eyes, a splash of freckles decorated his nose and cheeks. Rei Dean, reported missing a week ago by his friends when they hadn't heard from him for a couple of days. Only 20 years old.

"You and Bakura are the best detectives in Domino, Yami," Ryou chirped as he swung his legs back and forth. "You'll get him."

"How many will disappear and end up Re-knows-where before we do, Ryou?" Yami sighed and ran one of his hands through his hair before he drained his drink. "Thanks for the coffee though."

"You're welcome. I'd better get back to my desk before someone notices I've been gone." Ryou jumped off the desk and turned to leave, he squeaked as he collided with a wall of flesh.

The man stood almost a head taller than the petite receptionist. His hands immediately flew to the younger man's shoulders to steady him. The man's hair was also white, same as Ryou's, but that's where the similarities ended. His eyes were dark, intelligent, and focussed. His features were sharp and handsome as opposed to Ryou's soft and gentle complexion. He and Ryou were as different as night and day.

"Bakura!" Ryou exclaimed, clutching his shirt above his heart. "You scared the life out of me!"

Bakura started to laugh, he braced his hand on one thigh as he doubled over. Yami watched with rising amusement as Ryou stomped past his fiancé towards his reception desk. Yami shook his head as he watched his partner, and best friend, plop into the desk chair next to him.

"You're a cruel, cruel man Bakura, did you know that?"

"I've been told on multiple occasions," Bakura smiled at Yami before his face grew serious. "Did Ry mention I went down to see Malik?"

Yami nodded and leaned forward on his desk, cupping his chin in one slender hand. "He said you were but he didn't say why. Did you find something after you went back to their apartments?"

"You bet your ass we did," Bakura smiled mirthlessly before he unlocked his phone and turned it to show Yami.

It was a picture of a brown business card with a picture of the Eye of Horus on it. Yami snatched the phone out of his partner's hand and stared intently at it.

"What the fuck?" Yami breathed, "Why the Eye of Horus?"

"We found one in all of their apartments," Bakura leaned back in his chair with his hands linked across the back of his head. "I was hoping you'd have some ideas, you're the Egyptian around here. Malik is running some tests on them now."

"It doesn't make sense! The Eye of Horus is a symbol of protection." Yami's left hand drifted to his right wrist where he had a small tattoo of The Eye of Horus. "It's supposed to ward off dark forces, why would our perp give this to the victims before kidnapping them and doing Re-knows-what to them?"

Bakura sat up, suddenly extremely interested. "You don't think our victims were into something shady, do you? Like maybe this guy baited them with this card, promising them protection, to lure them in."

Yami shook his head in the negative. "We didn't find anything when we looked into their backgrounds, no financial difficulty or anything like that."

"What if it was under the table, loan sharks?"

Yami groaned and banged his head on his desk. "How would we even begin to start with that?"

"By going to see the shadiest guy that we know." Bakura said, smugly.

Yami turned his head and cracked open one crimson eye. "You don't mean?"

"Yep," Bakura chirped.

"Not him," Yami moaned.

"We gotta."

"For fucks sake." Yami sighed before he stood up and shrugged on his brown leather holster with his gun, and clipped his badge onto his belt. "Are we even sure that he'll tell us anything? He's a crazy bastard."

"Yeah, but we have something that he wants." Bakura grinned as he shrugged. "Let's ask!"

"No fuckin' way." Malik growled at the two detectives.

Yami shifted from foot to foot nervously whereas Bakura merely grinned wildly. Malik defiantly crossed his arms over his chest. He was deeply tanned like Yami with smooth platinum blonde hair that almost brushed his narrow shoulders. Although his lavender eyes were wide, they were hard and full of resolve. He was about the same height as Yami but slightly less muscular. A clean white lab coat covered his white shirt and black trousers. Malik Ishtar, their best forensic analyst.

"Come on Malik, please? This could be a massive lead and Marik has always had the hots for you." Bakura pleaded as he tried to make his eyes wide and innocent.

Malik shook his head, "Mao, you're not as good at that look as your fiancé. Every time I bump into that guy, he grabs my ass! Plus, I need to run diagnostics on those cards we found."

"Come on Malik! One of your lab techs can do the cards, or you can do it when we come back." Bakura held both of his hands together, as if in prayer.

"Unfortunately, Malik, Bakura's right." Yami looked apologetically at his friend. "If you're sincere, Marik might actually tell you something that he wouldn't tell us."

"Atemu, Mao, you're not in my fuckin' good books right now." Malik shrugged off his lab coat and barked orders at one of his junior lab techs. He hung up his coat on a hook before he stomped past the two detectives.

Bakura shot Yami a discreet thumbs up before they followed Malik down two flights of stairs and into the underground car park. Yami resisted the urge to roll his eyes when he saw his partner's black Toyota parked precariously on a corner, as close to the building's entrance as he could possibly get.

"Jesus, Mao. You get lazier every day." Malik shouted, laughing as if he read Yami's mind. Bakura merely cursed under his breath and flipped the platinum blonde off.

The three men slid into the car, Bakura in the driver's seat, before they slowly pulled out of the garage. Malik sat in the backseat but he leaned so far forward that his head was practically in between the front seats. Yami felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Malik and Bakura easily slid into one of their infamous insult competitions whilst Yami checked his texts.

"Hey! Bet you're excited to see me perform tonight. I asked the boss to take really good care of my bestie! 21:00 sharp."

Yami groaned loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb once more. "Fuck. Me."

"As much of an attractive man you are, Atemu, I'm off the market," Bakura said, slyly.

"I forgot that I promised Mana I'd watch her sing at that new club on Commercial Street tonight." Yami groaned and looked at the time, it was already 19:00 and he didn't know how long this questioning would take.

"Wait, she's performing at Millennium?" Malik piped up from the backseat.

"Yeah, why?" Yami turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"That's a big deal, it's a new place but it's literally always got people packed in like sardines." Malik laughed lightly. "This could be your cousin's big break if she continues to work there."

Yami felt a well of pride swell in his chest for Mana. She was his cousin on his mother's side and after Yami's parents both died, he grew up with her. She was hyperactive and lovable with messy brown hair and shining green eyes, and the girl could sing better than any siren. He didn't know how her boyfriend, Mahado, kept up with her.

"Ryou dragged me down there the other week," Bakura grumbled. "He knows the owner or something."

"Ryou and I went to high school with the owner." Malik said. "That's why I get in there so often."

"Doesn't matter anyways," Yami sighed. "It's already seven, I probably won't make it there by nine to watch her."

Bakura raised an eyebrow, "You really think we're going to be with the almighty asswipe for two hours? Do me a favour and text Ryou to meet us there and we'll go straight after, I can leave my car there for the night, we're supposed to be off duty soon anyway."

Yami smiled gratefully at his partner. "Thanks, Bakura. I missed her last performance so I really didn't want to break my promise again. She understands that with this job I don't always have the best social life but she's like my sister."

Bakura merely nodded and continued to weave between the streets of Domino as Malik chattered happily in the backseat. Yami texted Ryou off Bakura's phone and received a happy text back that he would meet them there after he got off at 20:00. Although Bakura would never admit it, he also loved Yami's hyperactive cousin.

Not too long afterwards Bakura glided to a stop outside an ancient-looking antiquities shop. The paint was slightly flaking off in multiple places and the glass was so dirty on the outside that it was nearly impossible to see what laid within. The letters of the store, Ishmael's Antiques, were askew and fading to grey – a far cry from the brilliant white they must've been once upon a time. The streetlight outside of the store that Bakura parked his car under, had long died. The shadows seemed to lengthen as the detectives slid out from the vehicle. Yami felt the skin between his shoulder blades twitch slightly and he was thankful for the comforting weight of his gun nestled under his left armpit. Yami was acutely aware that there were a lot of cars parked on the narrow street. His lips pressed together slightly as Bakura and Malik approached the desolate shop. The bell tinkled tauntingly overhead as Bakura shoved it open.

If Bakura was nervous he definitely didn't let it show. Malik clung slightly to the back of Bakura's shirt as he led the way into the maw of the shop. Yami brought up the rear, his crimson eyes darted to every alley and dark corner as they backed into the store.

Yami was always surprised at the state of the shop whenever they came to see Marik. Although the outside was desolate, the inside was anything but. Every item was meticulously arranged and carefully cleaned. The carpets were fluffed to perfection and the counters the items called home gleamed under the dim lights overhead. Yami was half convinced sometimes that Marik never bothered to clean the windows on purpose so potential thieves would think his stock was worthless. If anyone bothered to break in Yami was one hundred percent positive that Marik would break their legs anyway.

Suddenly, a mass of wild, platinum blonde hair erupted from behind the counter. Bakura cursed and unceremoniously fell on his ass. Malik squeaked in fright at first before his face contorted into a glare at the laughing blonde. With the blonde's sudden appearance, Yami's hand had flown up to left armpit, ready to grab his gun out of his holster at a moments notice.

"You should have seen your faces!" He howled. He was doubled over with laughter, one hand braced on a black jean-clad thigh as the other slapped his free leg in mirth. Marik looked slightly similar to Malik with his platinum blonde hair, but that was where the similarities ended. Marik's features were sharp and could turn cruel at the drop of a hat. His plum-coloured eyes were flat and held a little insanity in them. He wore a black tank top which showed off the muscles that roped his tanned arms, twin golden bangles dangled off of each of his wrists. Yami was thankful that Marik was in a playful mood this evening, it might make him a bit more pliable as opposed to when the slippery gentleman was pissed off.

"You fucking maniac, what if we shot you or something, huh?" Bakura barked, he stomped forward and jerked Marik half-way across the counter by the collar of his tank top.

"You were too busy on your ass to do fuck all about anything, Mao." Marik hissed as he jerked himself away from Bakura's grip.

Yami stepped forward and laid a calming hand on Bakura's twitching shoulder, "Bakura, back off and get a hold of yourself."

Bakura growled and stalked away to lean against a free wall, his furious eyes never left Marik who merely smiled and blew Bakura a taunting kiss.

"Right," Yami sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He suddenly felt a hundred years old. "Obviously, Marik, you know that we didn't come here for a social call."

"Obviously," Marik leaned forward on the counter, his face cradled his hand as his plum eyes lit up in curiosity. "Plus, you brought my kitten with you which usually means official business, Atemu." Marik's face transformed into a slow, sultry grin as he focused on Malik.

Malik scowled, "I'm NOT your 'kitten' Marik," He snarled.

"You most definitely are, when you get angry your hair and face puff up adorably." Marik meowed and playfully clawed towards Malik, who twitched uncomfortably, "like an angry kitten trying to swipe at something with its tiny claws."

Yami shot Malik a scathing look when he opened his mouth to say something aggressive back to the irritating shop owner. Malik's mouth slammed shut instantly. Yami stepped forward and brought up the photo of the card that Bakura found earlier that day on Bakura's phone, which he still had in his pocket after texting Ryou in the car.

"We're looking for the guy behind the three recent disappearances in Domino," Yami said brusquely as he placed the phone in front of Marik who immediately snatched it up to inspect the picture. "The card you see here was found in all of the victim's apartments. Considering your interest in rare artefacts, especially Egyptian ones, you know what this is."

"Of course," Marik said, suddenly serious. "The Eye of Horus."

"We're thinking that the calling card is a taunt of sorts, it symbolises protection but obviously something terrible has happened to them. We suspect that they had been lured in by someone and then betrayed." Yami continued, smartly. "Have you heard anything from any of your sources?"

Marik sighed and placed the phone back on the counter before he slid it gently back to Yami. "No offence, but I don't think you guys want to mess with this."

Bakura suddenly straightened, his eyes alight with interest. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Look, Mao." Yami felt the hair on the back of his neck prick at seeing the normally crazy man being so serious. "I don't know anything concrete, whoever this guy is he's really fucking good at covering his tracks. Trust me when I say, nobody fucks with whoever uses this symbol, even someone as bat-shit crazy as me."