Ruler of the Shadows

Pairings: YamixYugi with other minor future pairings

Summary: Yami was every bit a normal teen ready to take on the adventures of college with his boyfriend and friends beside him. However not everything is as it seems as changes begin to happen with Yami that he did not see coming. What does this all have to do with the strange puzzle Yugi wears around his neck? The Shadow Games have reawakened so let the games begin!

Sakura: New story! I have wanted to do a remake of Yu-Gi-Oh for years now, but never found the time. Well I finally found the time and after a little help from s2Teennovelist, this story was made possible. I know some people have done remakes before, but I promise this one will be way different from everyone else's and will be finished. So keep an eye out because there will be changes to the original Yu-Gi-Oh. Oh and one more thing this mostly takes place from the manga rather than the anime.

Disclaimer: YU-GI-OH DOES NOT AND WILL NEVER BELONG TO ME!

Chapter One

Lying Eyes

Domino University is a small college located within the city of Domino, Japan with a small population of only about a thousand or so students. Among those students was Atemu Yami Kaiba, though he preferred to be called Yami, who stood outside the main gate of the college with two of his friends waiting on another friend to arrive. The campus was quiet for seven o'clock in the morning but that would quickly change the closer it got to eight.

Joseph Wheeler, known as Joey to his friends, let out a loud yawn as he lean against the wall that surrounded the small campus. "I don't know about you guys but I'm ready for winter vacation to come on…"

Duke Devlin, another friend of Yami and Joey, rolled his eyes at the blonde's statement. "You're just not a morning person. You were like this in high school, although you got away with sleeping in class back then." He snickered as he remembered one of the professors scaring the crap out of Joey last week by dropping some heavy books on Joey's desk.

"Not my fault his lecture bored me to tears…" Joey defended himself with a glare toward Duke.

Yami chuckled as he watched the bus stop that was located across the street. The bus finally pulled up to its destination after an hour long wait. The trio waited a few minutes and once all the passengers were off the bus pulled away giving full view to the people who had gotten off. Most were already headed down the sidewalk toward their destination, while one certain individual checked the street both ways before quickly running across.

"Yami!" The petite boy yelled as he ran into Yami's arms. He was quick to wrap his arms around the taller boy's neck and pull him down for a kiss. The other two pretended to gag at the public display of affection.

When the smaller pulled away, Yami smiled at him. "Good morning to you too Yugi, you seem extra chirpy this morning."

Yugi pulled away and clasp his hands behind his back. "I just woke up in a good mood this morning," He turned his head to look at the other two who were still snickering over something. "Alright you two, if you don't behave, I won't buy you breakfast…"

Joey had a look of horror cross his face. "You're kidding right?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Yuugi said with a little smirk of his own.

Joey and Duke looked at each other before looking to Yugi with pledging faces. "Please feed us!" They begged.

Yami laughed at the two as he wrapped his arm around Yugi's shoulders. "Let's see what the university cafeteria has for us this morning. Will Tea be joining us?"

"No, she has early dance rehearsal before her first class so she texted me this morning and said she would see us for lunch," Yuugi informed his partner as they followed the two knuckle heads in front of them who happily lead the way through the small campus toward the building that held most of the food places offered on the campus. Mostly dorm students used the building for their meals, but other students were welcomed too. "You finished your English assignment last night?" He asked his taller lover.

"Yeah, but I got to tell you that our English professor is lame for making us write about ourselves. I don't have much of an interesting life…" Yami let out a sigh just thinking about the lame assignment that was tucked away in the backpack on his back. He and his friends had gotten the assignment two days ago and he had only been able to type it last night. "I just hope all the other assignments won't be boring…"

Yugi chuckled which sounded more like a giggle as he said, "Oh don't be such a baby about it. Your life is much more interesting than mine is. At least your brother is the CEO of a major gaming company."

Yami smirked at that, "True, but I'm not as famous as a certain King of Games." He pointed out as he tickled Yugi's side. Yugi laughed and broke away from Yami hurrying after the other two with Yami right behind him.

Two classes down and Yami was already ready for lunch. Their history professor was going on and on about stuff they already learned about in high school and Yami was about ready to pass out. His eyes drifted to the rest of the room and saw most of his friends either dozing off or paying close attention. Due to the fact that the campus requires students to take general education courses their first two years of college it was decided among friends to take the same courses so they could help each other study. Yami was stuck in this awful class with Tea, Joey, Duke, Tomoya, and of course his lover Yugi. Tea, Tomoya, and Yugi were all playing attention while Joey was passed out on top his desk, while for Duke it appeared he was taking notes, but Yami could tell he was taking a cat nap with his bangs hiding his closed eyes. They had one other friend Tristan Taylor, but he decided to work in his dad's mechanic shop instead of going to University.

They were a strange bunch but Yami would not change them for any other friends in the world. It used to be just him and Duke back in high school, but one fateful day allowed him to come face to face with his high school crush and then after that they all became close with one another. Yugi's friends became his friends and they all were inseparable now. Back in high school Yami had been a loner thanks to his brother Seto Kaiba before he met Duke. No one wanted to get close to him for fear of pissing Seto off. It sometimes pushed a wedge between him and his brother, but then Duke transferred to his school and next thing he knew he had a true friend.

Yugi and his friends did not come along until the end of their junior year when one fateful day Yami helped Yugi out when he was being bullied after school. It seemed they both had a crush on each other, but were too afraid to approach each other. After Yami saved Yugi he let slip that he liked him and then from that day on they became a couple. It was not serious at first given over the summer Yugi went away to some tournament for Duel monsters called Duelist Kingdom being held by the creator, but when he returned nothing had changed between them so they started a more serious relationship. The only real difference that had change was that Yugi gained a label of being the King of Games and he became a lot more popular. Thankfully Yugi knew who really cared for him and only had a few close friends.

A nudge to Yami's ribs caused the other to jerk up and look to his right. "What was that for?"

"You were daydreaming again." Yugi hissed in a whisper so the professor wouldn't hear them. "Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"No, a certain blond on the other side of you snores so badly it shakes the apartment." Yami whispered back as they both looked over at Joey who was drooling all over his paper. "I guess he'll want to see our notes again. I don't see how he passed high school sleeping all the time."

"Joey has his ways and I'm sure he'll be fine. He is smarter than we think…" Yugi replied as he went back to taking his notes. This was only their second week of University and some may have not seen it as tough yet, but every day counted when it came to getting the education to be able to build successful careers.

Yami looked down at the notes he had taken and noticed most of it was ideas for new game designs which dealt with history. That was why he was in college to learn everything there was about game design, which he could learn on his own, but figured college was a good place to start. Each one of them was there for their own reason, except Joey and Yugi. Tea was studying dance and drama, Tomoya was studying graphic design and literature, and Duke was studying business. Yugi and Joey were the only ones in their group with undecided majors. It was only their first semester in college so there was no rush to come up with a major, but Yami always wondered what Yugi would pick later on. He was an excellent gamer and had never been beaten at any type of game, but could that really count as a career.

"Alright class that is all I have for today…" Their professor spoke up gaining everyone's attention as the time neared for him to end the lesson, "I'll see you all next time we meet and don't forget to study for the quiz."

As soon as those words were spoken, the sound of backpacks being filled and closed up, along with the scraping of chairs against the floor filled the room as students hurried to leave. Yami took his time closing his binder and putting it in his bag as his friends did the same and Yugi tried to wake Joey up. They did not have another class until a little after noon. Three days a week they had three classes while two days a week they only had two. The three classes they had in one day were spread out so they could have lunch after two classes in a row. The days they only had two classes the group decided to have both early in the morning before lunch so those days would be shorter. Once their general education courses were over planning their schedules the same would be impossible unless they were studying the same major. So for now they wanted to spend as much time together in the same classes for the first two years. A few of them had jobs after school so it was hard seeing one another as much as they did in high school along with Tea who had been trying to get on the University dance team. Yami was the only one who had it easy given he was a Kaiba and had plenty of money so that he didn't have to work.

"So what sounds good for lunch?" Joey questioned as he sat up and stretched his back.

The rest of them just groan as food was always on the blonde's mind. Yami grabbed Yugi's hand as they all started to walk out while saying, "I'll pay this time, but you better get your butt in gear and figure out what you want." He did not have to say anything else as Joey was quickly in front of the group and out of the building before the rest of them.

"Come on slow pokes!" Joey shouted over his shoulder. Once food was the topic he was all ready for action. The rest of them followed at a slower pace, but were quick to catch up with the other as it appeared he had stopped not far from the building staring at the fountain plaza just across the way.

"What's going on?" Yuugi asked as he moved from Yami's side and up to Joey's to see if he could see what the blond was staring at.

Joey pointed ahead of them and it was then they all noticed some students in a crowd looking at a news van along with a camera crew setting up. "There is a news van at our school," Joey said stating the obvious.

"But why…" Yuugi wondered and the next thing he knew Joey had his upper arm and was dragging him toward the crowd. "Joey, hold on…"

"Come on Yug… Let's see what is going on," Joey told him before he yelled to the others. "We will see you in the cafeteria."

Yami sighed but simply walked off. He knew Joey would be back in a matter of minutes once he realized the news van was probably here for a sports game or something. It was probably nothing and the last thing Yami wanted was to be caught on camera. He got enough of that by being a Kaiba.

Yami sighed as he checked his phone before looking up at his surroundings as students still cluttered the campus. He was sitting on the edge of the fountain as the crowd from earlier and the news van had been gone long ago leaving it peaceful once again. He and their friends had gotten out of their last class about ten minutes ago. His and Yugi's friends had to go to their jobs or in Tea's case another rehearsal, which left Yugi and Yami a little free time together. However before their last class of the day started, Yuugi had informed him he needed to do something before they left campus for the day. Yami told his little lover he would wait at the fountain for him. The two were nearly inseparable, but there were times when Yami had to give Yugi his space.

The only problem was for the last ten minutes Yami had this horrible feeling in his gut that something was not right. He kept checking his phone and all those around him, but could see nothing out of place. It seemed he was not seeing something he should be seeing as the next thing he knew there was a sharp pain that passed through his head. The pain was there and gone before he could figure out what just happened and then as if his legs had a mind of his own he was up and running toward somewhere.

"What the hell?" He cried as he ran toward somewhere but did not know where. It wasn't until he stopped out of the blue that he noticed he was near the large garden the university had that grew fruits and vegetables along with flowers of all types. The place was empty for the most part but out of the corner of his eye he noticed a scene that caused his blood to boil.

His mind went blank as he took off and without thinking about what the consequences would be and he punched the guy who had been about to hit Yugi once again. When the guy was on the ground, Yami kneeled beside Yugi and helped him sit up.

"Yugi, are you alright?" Yami asked with concern and worry. He carefully reached out to touch the bruising left cheek Yugi had and caused the smaller to wince. Over all he looked fine, so Yami figured he had gotten there just after the guy punched his partner in the face.

Yami turned murderous eyes toward the one who had caused his partner harm. "You!" He yelled moving away from Yugi and picking the guy off the ground by his shirt. "What were you doing to my boyfriend?!"

"I…I didn't want to…really…" The other guy shuttered, "But the director…"

"Director?" Yami questioned before he turned when some guy stepped out of the bushes with a camera guy right behind him. "So you're the guy who put Yugi through this?" He dropped the guy in his hands who quickly hurried off.

The guy only smirked while Yami growled at him keeping his eye on him as he moved back to Yuugi. "What happened here?"

Yugi looked at the director to see the camera guy behind him was still filming. He could not believe he had been some stupid as to believe that fake student. Sadly he could feel tears come to his eyes and the last thing he wanted was to be seen as weak.

Yami could tell Yugi was about to cry so he kneeled down and pulled him closer keeping his face from the view of the camera.

"Stop the camera! They're lovers we get it! This kind of stuff is a waste of tape," The director yelled at the guy behind him who pulled the camera away from his face turning it off. "Look… it was just bad luck you got picked for the victim… Just coincidence about the same odds as rolling the dice and getting a one…" He explained to Yugi with a chuckle not at all feeling sorry for the boy. "But because of that we've taped a good show! The viewers will sympathize with you and send in letters by the dozen! You're a star Yugi! The star of our program!"

Yami stood back up ready to get back at the director for what he did to Yugi. Now that the camera wasn't rolling he had no fear of being caught on camera. "Are you asking to die?" He threatened walking up to the director and grabbing the much taller guy by the shirt. "I'll make sure you never work another day in television if you don't apologize to my Aibou and erase that footage you got."

"If I don't you gonna hit me…" The director said with a laugh, "Just remember, I'm recording the whole thing."

Yami was taken by surprise as another camera guy came out of the bushes with his camera rolling. He never saw it coming as the next thing he knew the director had kneed him in the gut causing him to fall to the ground in pain. The guy had gotten a lucky shot if only Yami had not been distracted.

"Yami!" Yugi shouted getting over his pain to run over to Yami.

"Don't you get it? You can't fight the power of media!" The director laughed while walking away his camera crew following right behind him.

Once they were gone Yami sat up although even that was painful. "He's just lucky the cameras were rolling…"

"Violence is not always the answer it's my fault anyway…"

Yami looked at Yugi in shock. "Getting beat up is never your fault. Some people have really sick minds…"

"Yeah, but I was the one who fell into the trap. I thought I was going to be interviewed for the campus newspaper. I thought the guy who was beating me up was a student here. He had a student badge and everything, I should have been more careful." Yugi argued with tears in his eyes as he looked away. He shouldn't have believed what he had been told. The guy had approached him while he was alone when he was returning to his friends from the restroom. He lied to Yugi and told the teen that the school was excited to have the King of Games as a student and he wanted to interview him for the student newspaper. Yugi had thought nothing of it and agreed to meet him after his class. He had been interviewed many of times before after his win against the creator Duel monsters Maximillion Pegasus. He figured it would only take a minute, but never knew he was walking into a trap for some horrible TV show. Both he and Joey had seen nothing going on by the news van and he wished he had known they were trying to find a victim like him for some cruel TV show.

Yami was never one to let his Aibou think so badly of himself. He lifted Yugi's face up and lean over kissing the bruised left cheek. When he pulled back he smiled at him. "No, it is never your fault. I will make sure that man pays for messing with someone I love."

"You're not going to do anything stupid are you?"

"No, but I will make sure he never works in television again." He pulled out his phone to look at the time. "How about you head over to my apartment and put some ice on that cheek. I'm sure it's starting to hurt." Yami said as he reached into his pocket giving Yugi his apartment key, "I need to deal with this then I'll be right over."

Yugi looked at Yami and could tell nothing he said was going to change the others mind so he sighed and took the key. "Oh alright, but be careful…" The smaller teen went over to pick his back pack off the ground, before hurrying off. Thankfully Yami's apartment that he shared with Joey and Tristan was only two blocks away from the campus so he could run there without any problems. He just hoped Joey and Tristan weren't there because if they heard about what happened to him they would be out for blood.

While he ran Yugi never noticed the small glow that came from the millennium puzzle he wore around his neck. It was his most prized possession that his grandfather gave him. The millennium puzzle was an upside down pyramid made of solid gold that he wore around his neck on a chain. The item came all the way from Egypt and had a tale that went along with it, but Yugi never believed the stories. It just became something he wore every day because of what it symbolized.

An hour later, in the parking garage of the news station, Yami lean against a car waiting on a certain someone to get there. He had already spent the last thirty minutes inside the station working his case against the man who hurt his Aibou. The Kaiba name went a long way and after borrowing one of his brother's many lawyers, he was able to get the guy fired for what he did. It seemed before he went to take his break the director had already dropped off his footage to be edited and once the board of directors saw the unedited footage and with someone like Yami breathing down their necks they had the footage erased and informed Yami that the guy would no longer be working for them. Once that was taken care of, Yami bid his lawyer farewell, before making his way into the parking garage. He had no doubt that the director would be there soon once he found out he had lost his job.

It seemed Yami was pretty good at predicting things because it wasn't long before the man he was looking for came got off the elevator to this level and made his way to his car. He looked pissed and Yami was pretty sure if anyone was in his way they would be given a beat down. Yami however was not scared as the guy noticed him and glared at him.

"What are you doing here?" He shouted already in a foul mood. They stood staring at each other for a minute before the glare became harsher. "Wait a minute are you the little punk who got me fired?!"

Yami simply smirked and a whole new aura seemed to appear around him. "You have hurt someone precious to me for that you must play a game with me." His smirk became a grin as he reached into his pocket to pull out something.

"A game…?" The director questioned clearly confused.

"It's nothing to be afraid of… Just a simple game of dice!" Yami explained as he pulled the one die out of his pocket. "People have been staking their fate on dice since ancient Egypt. Although back then, we used 'astragali' the uneven heel bones of calves and sheep…"

When the director continued to stare at him like he was crazy, Yami continued to speak, "Now let me explain the rules of this game of fate… We both roll the die. I roll first. Whoever rolls the lowest number wins. I'll even let you win in case of a tie! Sound good?" He received no answer from the man across from him, so he went on and added in, "However if I win then you have to play a penalty game as punishment."

"Ridiculous why do I have to play around with you?" The director finally shouted getting ready to walk away.

"Game start!" Yami announced as he dropped the die in his hands. It rolled and the director humored him for the moment to see what it would land on. The die rolled for a minute before landing with a six.

"Hahahaha! A six!" The director laughed in his face, "No matter what number comes up I win, I don't even need to roll the die!"

Yami stood his ground and smirked at the man, "The odds are in your favor, but the game's not over until you roll."

The director reached down to pick up the die before standing up and throwing it right at Yami's face. "Damn! Don't you ever shut up?!"

The sound of the die making impact with something was the only sound until the die dropped to the ground landing on a one. "It's a one I win…" The director announced about to move passed Yami to get to his car.

"No… you have to play a penalty game." Yami informed him causing the man to look back down at the die and finally see that the die had split into two both a six and a one. He looked up to see that Yami had covered his face with his wrist and wrapped around that wrist was a strange wisp of snake like purple smoke.

The director was not able to get another word out as Yami pointed his finger at him. "Penalty game! Mosaic Illusion!" It wasn't long before the man was on the ground screaming and Yami simply chuckled as he walked away. "Director… for bending the truth in front of the cameras all you shall see will be censored…"

The afternoon wind felt good to Yami as he exited the parking garage. A weight felt like it lifted off his shoulders and a minute later he was blinking in confusion. "Wait a minute…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Ugh I should have left him a while ago. I guess that took longer than I thought. Yugi must be so worried…" No other thoughts entered his mind as he raced for the nearest bus station that would take him back home.

Yugi sighed as finished setting the table in Yami's small apartment. It was a simple little place with a living room and kitchen/dining room. There were three bedrooms and only one bathroom. As soon as you walked into the place it was easy to tell three guys lived there. Joey and Tristan pretty much left their stuff everywhere. There were a few of Yami's things covering the coffee table but they were his future games he wanted to design. Artwork was included, but Yugi normally left it alone when he came over so he didn't mess anything up. Yami always showed him his designs when he was ready. The three had only been living in the apartment for the two weeks they had been in university, but they had already made it homey for themselves.

The smaller teen sat on one of the cushions around the table with his sandwich and chips. There wasn't much food in the fridge thanks to Joey, but it wasn't hard for Yugi to find something for him to make as a snack for both he and Yami. He just hoped Yami's little errand did not take long. The clock on the wall above the TV told Yugi that Yami had been gone for over an hour so there was no point in worrying yet.

Snacking on his sandwich Yugi place the ice bag over his cheek again hoping the swelling would go down soon. If it didn't he would have to beg Yami to let him stay for the night so his mother wouldn't fuss over him like he was a child. He and his friends were all eighteen years old but the woman treated all of them like babies. Even more so Yugi because according to her he was fragile. Sure he wasn't the strong type and wasn't much of a fighter, but he could hold his own. He proved that by winning the biggest tournament ever for duel monsters and became the King of Games.

The teen was pulled from his thoughts when there was a knock at the door. Yugi wasted no time in hurrying over and looking through the peep hole. He smiled and quickly opened the door allowing Yami to enter. "I was wondering when you would get home, how did it go?"

"It took a lot longer than I thought, but it's been dealt with and you have nothing to worry about." Yami reassured him as he slipped his bag off his shoulder and threw it on the couch. He then followed Yugi to the dining area and took a seat.

Yugi went to the fridge for a second to grab the sandwich he made for Yami before returning to the table with it and a soda. He passed the two to Yami before taking his seat again, "So I take it the guy got fired?"

Yami nodded, "I couldn't let him get away with what he did. I don't use my power as a Kaiba often but this was something that had to be done." He took a bite of his sandwich loving the way Yugi made it just how he liked it. After swallowing the first bite he took a good look at Yugi's face. "Your mother isn't going to like that bruise you got there."

Yugi blushed and looked down. "Yeah, I know she won't but I could always call my grandfather and let him know I'll be staying the night with you to study."

"I probably won't get much studying done with you around," Yami said with a smirk which caused a brighter blush to light up Yugi's face.

"Yami!" Yugi shouted in embarrassment hiding his face in his hands. Sometimes he wondered if Yami's mind ever came out of the gutter. One year of dating and Yugi still could not understand why some of the stuff that bugged him about Yami were also the things he loved about him. "What am I going to do with you?"

"You could kiss me…"

Yugi smiled and lean across the table kissing his lover on the lips. Yami was simply one of a kind and Yugi was really lucky to have him in his life.

Sakura: Done! I did not mean for it to get this long, but I ended up putting so much in the first chapter. As you can see I've left some things unanswered but as time goes on any questions you might have should be answered.

Most importantly yes Yami is a Kaiba so yes that does mean Seto and Mokuba are his brothers. There is more to their story so just stay with me until that is explained because I have a few more surprises in store.

I'm going to try my hardest to stick with the manga, but remember I'm adding my own twist. I did skip the chapter with Ushio, but I have something planned and everyone will see it in the next chapter. Oh and last thing due to the fact I want to make these chapters longer than in my other stories the updates may not have a schedule, so please bear with me and if you want to continue reading add to favorite and alert list please ^_^

Yumi: Please Review! Short and Long reviews are welcomed!