Disclaimer: Same as usual, I don't own Yugi or any of the characters.

Bakura and Marik are not evil. Yami is very self-centered in this fic, in the beginning he only thinks of himself.

(AN) author notes

'Thoughts'

:::::flash backs

This story is being revised, tell me if you think the changes are better or worse

Summary: In order for Yami to rebuild his reputation with the public he lets an orphan live with him for a month. Can little Yugi crack through Yami's tough shell or will Yugi end up getting hurt again?

Orphan Yugi

Chapter 1

Yami...meet Yugi

Yami grumbled as he made his way home from work. He really had had a bad day and was going to blow up at the next person who so much as looked at him the wrong way.

:::::::::::::::::::::flash back

"Yami?" Bakura said as he walked into his friends office. He found Yami sitting as his desk glaring at his computer screen as if it was the cause of all his problems.

'Probably was.' Bakura thought with a snicker as his friend turned his glare on him

"WHAT!?" Yami yelled.

The yell didn't even phase Bakura, he had known Yami for years now and was used to his temper. He knew that Yami had a very bad day at work and wasn't going to like the idea that the partners had, but he decided it would be best if Yami heard it from him and not the stuffy businessman who worked on the council.

"With all the bad publicity your company is getting, the business partners thought of a way for you to get back in the public's good graces." Bakura replied taking a chair across from Yami.

(AN: Yami, Bakura and Marik had a hard time staying out of trouble, they all had really bad tempers, and the business partners and the public is a little leery about doing business with them.)

"Yeah, and what great brainstorm have they come up with this time?" Yami asked annoyed, "The last stupid idea they had got the public to hate us even more. Remember? They wanted us to host a nice and quiet party, and what happened? Party crashers showed up and destroyed the entire house. I had every right to get angry."

"I admit, that one was not our fault" Started Bakura putting his hands up in defense, "But this is an even better idea and it only involves one other person."

"Okay, you have my interest. What is their latest idea?" Yami questioned, almost afraid to ask.

"They want you to take in an orphan for a month and let them live with you." Bakura said while he cringed while waiting for Yami's response.

"THEY WANT ME TO WHAT" Yami yelled. "I DON'T LIKE KIDS."

'Yeah with your personality I wonder why' Bakura thought, then out loud he replied. "They think it would help your image and I agree with them. Come on, it will be good for you and its only for a month."

"Who picks out the brat?" Yami questioned.

"A kid not a brat, and I guess you could," Bakura answered relieved that his friend would go along with the idea,"or if you don't want to, Marik or I could."

"Fine, if some kid," Yami sneered unhappily, "Is going to stay with me, I would rather pick them out myself."

"You make it sound like your going to the pound to get a stray animal," Bakura rolled his eyes at the response,"You want Marik or me to go with?"

"No, I can do this alone" Yami stated "Thanks anyway." Yami, like his friends, showed a completely different side when he was around his friends and didn't care how he acted or treated anyone he didn't know.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::End flash back

Yami's POV

"I can't believe I have to deal with a snot nosed brat for a whole month' I thought as I drove to the local orphanage,"I can't believe I am actually going through with this.'

As I pulled up, I could tell from the outside of the building that it was really old. It looked run down and in bad need of repair. The paint was nonexistent, shingles were missing off the roof. I didn't care. I didn't even stop to think that there were children inside, to me, they were just another burden on society. Needing help from others just to take care of themselves.

I entered through the dirty and cracked glass doors and was greeted by an elderly lady who looked like she had no sense of humor at all.

"Yea, what do you want?" she snapped, irritated by the interruption.

"My name is Yami Moto and I am looking for a kid to stay with me." I cringed while saying this.

"Oh, I've heard of you, I've seen your picture in the paper a few days ago" Mrs. McGuire said "Okay follow me."

She got off her stool and led me down a dimly lit hallway to where the children's rooms were.

I felt slightly bad for the children that lived here but it didn't last very long. I looked into the rooms as we were passing and, in every single one, saw the same sad and hopeless expression on each childs' face. I wondered briefly on what must be going through these kids heads as they watch, day after day, people looking at them like they were window shopping only to turn around and walk away.

Mrs. McGuire finally stopped at a room that had three children in it. The pea green paint was peeling and the dirty grey carpet was threadbare.

As I looked in, I saw that two of the kids were playfully fighting and one was sitting in the corner staring out the window.

The one by the window caught my eye, 'Wow, that kid looks just like me.'

I came out of my thoughts as the woman began to speak to the children.

"Okay now everyone" Mrs. McGuire said clapping loudly to get their attention "Stop fighting and come here please, this man would like to speak to you."

The two boys immediately stopped fighting. The boy with the long white hair went over to stand by Mrs. McGuire. The other boy, however, went over to the child by the window. He tapped the boys shoulder and made some kind of gesture to the small boy, which I didn't really think much of at the time, and then he led him to stand in line with the other one.

"Now, this is Ryou," Mrs. McGuire explained, pointing to the white haired boy with brown eyes.

My eyes widened in surprise, 'He looks just like Bakura.'

"Hello." Ryou said.

"This one" Mrs. McGuire said indicating the boy in the middle "is Malik."

'Wow, this is getting creepy,' I thought, 'The first one looked like Bakura, this one looks like Marik, and the youngest looks like me.'

"Hello." the boy replied in a defensive tone and I could tell that he was very protective of the smaller two in the room.

"And last but not least," Mrs. McGuire said pointing to the one who looked like me,"Is Yugi."

Yugi just stared at me and I was captivated by his eyes. 'I have never seen eyes like that before, they were sparkling amethyst.'

When our eyes met, Yugi quickly lowered his head and looked at the ground trying to hide behind Malik.

This one intrigued me. 'Why do I feel like I know him when we just met now.' I wondered.

"I'll give you a few minutes to get to know the boys," she replied, breaking my thoughts, "I'll come by later and see if you have decided yet."

After she left, an uneasy silence filled the room.

Wanting to get to know the smaller boy better, I slowly walked up to him and I saw Malik tense up as I approached. When I kneeled in front of Yugi, I noticed sadly that he wouldn't look up at me, he just kept inching closer to Malik while keeping his gaze on the floor.

"Hello Yugi," I said quietly, then I changed to a more playful voice, "Don't you want to talk to me?"

When Yugi still didn't respond, I looked over at Ryou and Malik curiously. Malik wrapped his arms protectively around Yugi, who tensed briefly at the contact. I was about to say something but then Mrs. McGuire walked back into the room.

'That sure was quick,' I thought as I stood back up, 'Not nearly enough time to pick a kid.'

"So, Mr Yami did you find what you were looking for, or do you want to check out the other rooms?" Mrs. McGuire asked.

'Why didn't he answer or respond to me?' I thought for a minute, 'I really want to get to know him better. Wait a minute, why do I care?'

Then I said out loud "I'll take little Yugi."

As I answered, I noticed Malik and Ryou were both looking at Yugi. Malik had his fists clench together and Ryou looked worried as he tapped Yugi on the shoulder. When he finally looked up, Ryou quietly told him what was going on. I wondered briefly why it had to be explained to the small boy, but I brushed it off just as quickly.

I left the small room and followed the elderly lady back down the dim hallways and back to her office. When they reached the office, Mrs. McGuire closed the door and turned around to face me with a sad expression on her face.

"Yami, before I give you the papers to sign, there is something I must explain to you first that's quite important." Mrs. McGuire paused for a second before continuing "Yugi came here a couple of years ago. And I must say his was one of the worse cases of child abuse I have ever seen or heard of."

'Child abuse? That's why Malik was so defensive when I approached Yugi, he must have thought that I was going to hurt him.' I was interrupted from my thought when Mrs. McGuire started to speak again.

"Yugi has not spoken a word since he arrived here. I must warn you that he needs lots of attention, so if your not willing to make a commitment this large, I will please ask you to choose another child. I am afraid that if you go in halfheartedly, it will completely break his trust in people and it might ruin his chances for recovery, even though we are not even sure if he will ever recover. It's still too soon to tell." Mrs. McGuire explained. "So I will ask you again. Are you sure your willing to make this large of a commitment."

I thought for a minute 'I am only taking him for a month, I don't know if I am ready for a commitment of this magnitude. Especially since I am only doing this to get back in the public's good graces. But then again, because he is a special case, it might help my chances even better.'

I know my thoughts were quite selfish. As long as got back in the publics good graces, I'll just drop the kid off at a different orphanage and get on with my life.

"Yeah, sure. I'll take care of him." I said.

She looked at me questionably.

'He really doesn't know what he is getting into.' Mrs. McGuire thought 'I have a bad feeling that this could seriously hurt Yugi's chances of recovery since I really don't trust this man.'

I could see that she was debating on whether or not to let Yugi come with me. 'Is his case really that serious? Maybe I should reconsider my choice,' I thought, then i started to get annoyed, 'Great now she has me questioning myself.'

"Your positive you can handle this?" Mrs. McGuire asked again. I nodded at her.

"Okay, let me ask you another question. How long are you thinking here? I mean, adoption or are you just going to give up on him when things become to hard? I am only asking to find out what is in the childs best interest. He has been hurt so many times, returned so many times. I'm afraid if it happens again he will completely shut down and refuse to ever allow anyone to get close to him again. It took years for him to finally make some friends and for that reason, they are extremely overprotective of him"

"Well" I said pausing for a second

'How do I tell her. It is only for a month. Just long enough for the public to like me again. I could lie to her and when the month is up just bring him to a different orphanage that way his friends will never know.' I smiled to myself. 'Yeah, that's what I will do. Perfect.'

"I am thinking of possible adoption. I mean my house is kind of too big for just one person, it would be nice to have some company, it justs to quiet sometimes." I replied.

Mrs. McGuire looked very doubtful about my answer. 'He's hiding something. I don't trust him at all.'

"Okay, if your sure." Mrs. McGuire started "I just need you to fill out this paperwork, then you can be on your way. Oh, one more thing. Just so you know, Yugi is completely deaf. His father and mother beat him on a regular basis sending him to the hospital many times. One night, they hit him in the head with a metal baseball bat and Yugi spent the next few months in the hospital in a coma. When he finally woke up, he was completely deaf and had a mild concussion. He has not spoken a word to anyone since. The doctors are not even sure if he can talk at all. They don't know if the blow he took to his head might have damaged the part of his brain where speech is or if it impaired his mental abilities. He can lipread so he can understand you. Just make sure you don't talk to fast, but don't talk to him like he's an infant either, just talk normally and I'm sure it will be fine." Mrs. McGuire explained before she left the room to get the appropriate paperwork.

'That's why that Ryou boy had to explain things to Yugi. I get it now.' I thought.

She reentered the room and handed me a stack of papers, and after what felt like hours, I finally finished the stack of paperwork and handed it back to her. She looked it over to make sure nothing was missing, and that it was all in order. She nodded her head and put the paperwork into Yugi's already large folder. Thinking we were finished, I stood up and headed toward the door. Just as I put my hand on the doorknob, she stopped me.

"Just one more thing, please, if you have any questions or if anything good or bad happens. Please call me. I would like to know how he is getting along. I just want to make sure that he is happy." Mrs. McGuire stated.

I nodded to her. Then she stood up and replied, "Just wait here Mr. Yami. I will be right back with Yugi."

I sat back down and waited patiently for Mrs. McGuire to return with the small boy so I could take him home, but I couldn't help my mind from wandering off.

'Am I really doing the right thing? I mean I could be seriously messing with this poor kids mind just for my own personal gain. Maybe I should have just picked someone else, someone strong enough to be able to put this behind them and continue on with their lives. He intrigues me though, and I really want to get to know him better. After what I just heard I can understand his friends need to protect him.'

I was pulled from my thoughts when I noticed Mrs. McGuire return with the small boy. I watched them quietly enter the room and noticed how frightened Yugi looked as he tried to hide behind the woman with his eyes on the ground. I could tell he was extremely shy and quite scared by his posture.

Mrs. McGuire gently brought Yugi in front of her. She put one hand gently on his shoulder, the other guided his chin up until she was looking directly into his eyes. He quickly darted his eyes off to the side and put his head back down. She then brought two fingers in the direction his eyes were looking until he saw them, then she moved her fingers towards her eyes. His eyes followed her fingers until they were eye to eye again, only this time he didn't look away.

"Yugi," She said gently "This is Yami."

She pointed to me then, while still maintaining eye contact with Yugi, she turned to me and said,"Yami, this is Yugi."

Yugi looked at me briefly before quickly lowering them to the floor again. Mrs. McGuire sighed and guided Yugi to a vacant seat and gently pushed down on his shoulders until he was sitting. Yugi kept his eyes on the ground the entire time, and just let her guide him.

She motioned for me to follow her back into her office, once inside, she shut the door again and then she looked over at me.

"Did you see what I did with my hand a minute ago?" She questioned. I nodded at her and she continued, "If you want him to look at you, so you can talk to him and he looks away, for some reason that is the only way to get him to do it. I don't know how or why it works, but it's a method people used with Autistic children and it seems to work well with Yugi as well. His parents drilled it into him at a young age that if he looked at them then he was severely punished and, as a result of that, he is afraid to look anyone in the eye. Hopefully, with time, he will understand that he will not be punished for looking at anyone."

I nodded again as I listened. I wanted to remember everything she told me so I could communicate better with Yugi. I don't know why, but I was beginning to feel something for this boy and I felt a stong need to protect him from harm.

I shook my head and quickly dismissed the thought, 'I don't need anyone, I'm perfectly happy with my life the way that it is.'

I noticed Mrs. McGuire left her office so I got up and followed her as she went to Yugi, she kneeled down in front of him and gently put her hand on his knee to get his attention. He raised his head to look at her and she immediately noticed the questioning look in his eyes.

"Yugi, Mr. Yami here is going to take you to his house now. You're going to stay with him. Is that okay with you?"

At first, Yugi looked unsure, then he glanced back and forth between us. After a few minutes, he slowly nodded to show that it was alright.

"Okay Yugi" I said "Come on, I'll take you home now."

Yugi didn't say anything, he just rose from his seat and followed behind me. I led the way down the dim hallway back to the exit where my car was parked. On the way back we were stopped by his friends, as we passed his old room, who just wanted to say good-bye.

The boy name Ryou came up first. He put his arms around Yugi in a good-bye hug. Even though they were friends, I saw Yugi tense up at the contact.

"Ja ne Yugi." Ryou said

"Ja ne Yugi." Malik said while eying me suspiciously.

Yugi looked to the ground after the good-bys and nodded to his friends. I put my hand on Yugi's shoulder signaling it was time to go. I felt Yugi tense up again but he followed me. We went outside to where my car was parked and I walked up and opened the door for him. He gave me a questioning look and when I smiled, he quickly looked back to the ground.

'This definitely is not going to be easy.' I thought.

The ride home was very quiet. I kept glancing at Yugi, but his eyes stared at the floor and he didn't even want to look out the window. When I pulled the car into the driveway, I saw that Bakura and Marik were outside waiting for me. I parked in the garage and got out of the car. I walked around just as Yugi was getting out himself. Once again he fell into step right behind me as I approached my friends.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked. I noticed them both look behind me to look at Yugi. They both raised their eyebrows when they saw the resemblance between Yugi and I.

"Guys," I said "this is Yugi."

Then I turned to Yugi who still had his gaze on the ground. I lifted his chin so he would look at me but, as soon as he caught my eye, he quickly shifted his eyes and looked away. I did what Mrs. McGuire showed me and was mildly surprised that it worked the first time. When I knew that I had his attention, I finished the introductions

"Yugi, these are my friends," I started "this is Bakura and this is Marik."

As I said their names I pointed them out to Yugi.

He stared at them for a minute with his eyes wide, 'If I didn't know better, I would've sworn that Ryou and Malik were here with me.' Yugi thought, not able to look away, then when he noticed he was staring his eyes quickly went back to the ground again.

I sighed as I could feel Bakura and Marik watching me. So I glanced at them, they still had their eyebrows raised in a questioning manner.

"Come on in guys, let's go inside and I will explain everything." I went into the house with Yugi walking right behind me as usual and Bakura and Marik followed behind him.

"Bakura, Marik can you guys wait down here for a second? I'm going to show Yugi to his room." I asked.

Both of them nodded and waited for me in the living room. I turned and walked toward to stairs, glancing behind me to make sure Yugi was still here, and sure enough he was right behind me. I walked up the stairs and stopped at the first door on the right. I turned around to face him and noticed that he was still looking at the ground. I gently tapped his shoulder and when he looked up at me, I pointed to the first door.

"This is the bathroom, the next door on the right is your room, the one across the hall is mine."

Yugi nodded but didn't say anything, not that I really expected him to, "Do you want to see your room or do you want to go back downstairs with me?" I asked.

Yugi thought for a minute and I could tell he looked unsure on how to answer, like it was the first time he ever had to make a decision on his own. I waited patiently for him and I could tell that he was starting to get nervous under my gaze because he started to shift on his feet and fidget with his hands. I gently placed my hand on his shoulder, and he look up briefly, but as usual when our eyes locked he quickly darted in another direction. I moved my two fingers until they were in his line of sight then slowly moved them towards my eyes. His eyes followed my fingers until he was looking directly at me once again.

"Do you want to come back downstairs with me?" I asked again.

Yugi lowered his eyes and very slightly nodded. I sighed again as I headed back downstairs with Yugi following right behind me. I reached the bottom I heard my friends voices coming from the living room, but before I went in I turned back to Yugi. I tapped his shoulder and asked if he was hungry. He nodded again so I went into the kitchen. After making him a quick lunch I left him at the table and joined my friends.

As I walked in the living room, both of them were giving me questioning looks. I sighed and sat down in the chair.

"Well?" They said together.

"Well What?" I tried to make it sound like I didn't know what they were talking about.

"What's with look-a-like?" Marik asked.

So I told them everything Mrs. McGuire told me about Yugi and his life before the orphanage. They were both stunned.

"Yami," Bakura said unsure on whether or not to continue "If this is only going to be for a month, why did you pick someone like him? I really think you should have picked some other kid, I mean its not very nice what your going to do to this poor kid."

"Yeah, Yami I agree with Bakura for once on this one, I mean look at the way the kid follows you everywhere you go. It could permanently damage him and for what? Your stupid reputation?"

"Look guys, I may have felt that way at first, but for some strange reason when I first met Yugi I felt like I wanted to know everything about him." I explained. "I don't understand it myself but I felt myself drawn to him , I just can't explain it."

"So, your really thinking of adopting this kid? I knew you had a heart in there somewhere." Bakura laughed dodging the pillow that was thrown at him.

"You both should have come with man. There was this kid named Ryou, he looked just like you, Bakura. And their was another that could pass for your twin also Marik" I stated enjoying their shocked expressions as I explained what had happed.

Bakura and Marik paled slightly, "Looked just like me? You mean like the kid looks like you?"

"Yeah, and 'the kid' has a name ya know, its Yugi so please stop calling him that. The one that looked like you, Bakura, was quiet and shy like Yugi. The one that looks like you, Marik, seemed to be the protector for the smaller two. You should have seen the look he gave me when I walked over to talk to Yugi."

"What" Bakura was about to ask another question but he stopped when he noticed someone standing by the door. I was about to ask if Bakura was okay until I followed his gaze. There standing in the doorway was Yugi, he looked unsure on wether or not to enter the room. I got up off my seat and walked over to him. Yugi quickly looked to the ground like he had done something wrong. I got Yugi to look at me using the method I learned from Mrs. McGuire.

When Yugi was looking at me, I asked "Do you want to watch some TV with us?"

Yugi looked down again, but nodded. I led him into the room and over to the couch. At first Yugi just stood there, but then I remembered what Mrs. McGuire did to get him to sit down so I placed my hands on Yugi's shoulders and gently pushed him down so he was sitting next to Bakura. I then sat on the other side of him. As soon as I sat down, I noticed Yugi tense up. 'Must not be used to being so close to people.'

"Hey Marik, would you mind switching with Yugi?" I asked.

"No problem." Marik got up and moved over to the couch.

I led Yugi to the chair and gently pushed him down until he was sitting like I did before. At first, he seemed unsure but then he settled down and got comfortable. He seemed more comfortable sitting alone, not between Bakura and I. Marik took Yugi's spot on the couch.

When I noticed Yugi looking at me I asked him "Is there anything you want to watch Yugi?" He lowered his head quickly, then shook his head.

'How can I get Yugi to open up to me?' I wondered 'well I have time, I mean its only been a few hours since he's been here.'

I started to channel surf until I came upon a movie that looked like something Yugi would want to watch. It was a Disney movie called '101 Dalmatian's' I left it on this channel and watched Yugi closely for a reaction. He looked up at the movie and, although his facial expression didn't change, I saw his eyes light up when he saw all the puppies on the screen. Bakura was about to ask me why I stopped it here but then he also saw the way Yugi's eyes were dancing while he watched the movie with interest. Bakura looked at me and we both smiled. It was not a big victory, but at this point we'll take whatever we could get.

It was late at night when the movie ended. As the three of got up to stretch, I noticed that Yugi had fallen asleep in the chair. I debated on whether or not to wake him up, but he looked like a little angel while sleeping and I didn't have the heart to wake him up. I felt Yugi tense up when I put my arm around his back, but he relaxed once I had him in my arms. Yugi head flopped to the side and rested gently against my shoulder.

I looked over at Bakura and Marik.

"You guys can crash here if you want." I replied as I headed for the stairs with the sleeping child.

"Thanks Yami, I think we will." Said Marik.

We all headed upstairs. Just as we were almost to the top of the stairs the phone started ringing.

'Now who would be calling at this hour?' I wondered. I looked towards Bakura.

"Hey Bakura, would you mind laying Yugi down while I answer that?" I asked him.

"No problem, Yami." Bakura replied.

I gently passed Yugi to Bakura, but the second my arms left Yugi, he started to whimper. At first I thought it was nothing, but then Yugi started thrashing and shivering in Bakura's arms.

"Here Bakura, let me take him back." I said worriedly.

The second Yugi was back in my arms he settled down immediately. Bakura and I were just amazed.

"I guess I'll carry Yugi up to bed" I said, still confused as to what had just happened and I could tell that Bakura was also confused, "would you mind getting the phone?"

"No problem." Bakura replied.

I watched him head to the kitchen to answer the phone while I walked down the hall to put Yugi to bed. I carried Yugi into the room that I picked out for him, and gently lay him on the bed. I took off his shoes and debated on wether or not to change him into more comfortable clothes, in the end I just left him in his clothes and covered him up. I left Yugi's door open, since this is his first night here, and I didn't want him to get scared. And then I headed back downstairs to see who had called.

Normal point of view

Bakura in the kitchen

Bakura ran to the phone and answered it on the fourth ring.

"Hello?" Bakura said

"Is Yami there? I must speak with him. This is Mrs. McGuire from the orphanage." The voice replied.

"He's here but he is putting Yugi to bed." Bakura answered. "He tried to answer the phone himself but the second I tried to take Yugi from him, Yugi started thrashing and shivering really bad."

"Did you calm him down?," She asked worriedly, "Is he okay?"

"Yes, Yugi is fine now" Said Bakura "It was the weirdest thing, the second he was back in Yami's arms he calmed down almost instantly."

"That is amazing." came the shocked reply "but I still need to speak with Yami right away."

Just then Yami walked into the kitchen and gave Bakura a questioning look.

"Hold on a second," Bakura said, he covered up the mouthpiece on the phone and spoke to Yami "It's that lady from the orphanage, she said she has to speak with you."

"Hello, Mrs. McGuire what can I do for you?" Yami asked.

"Yami is what your friend said true? Did you calm Yugi just by holding him?" She asked.

"Yea I did, it was the weirdest thing" Yami replied "all Bakura did was hold him and Yugi started freaking out, and when I took him back he calmed down immediately."

"Actually that's part of the reason I called. I forgot to warn you that Yugi gets terrible nightmares sometimes, and I needed to tell you how to handle them. I am surprised that you were able to calm him so quickly, hopefully, if he gets nightmares that will also work."

"What is the other way to calm him" Yami questioned "I mean the way to calm him that involved calling me."

"Well, since Yugi can't hear you, its important that he can see you" She answered "Do you remember the method I show you to get him to look at you? Well, no matter how hard he fights it, and believe me he will fight it, you have to make him see you, especially when he is really scared, but you also have to remember to be gentle with him." She warned "Although I am really surprised that it just took you holding him to calm him, he has never calmed down that quickly, Malik was the only one who could calm him down after a nightmare. I am also surprised you were able to especially since you have only known him for a few hours. You might just be the thing he needs to help him recover. I wish you luck Yami. Sorry again for calling so late. Have a good night." And with that she hung up the phone.

"Well" Bakura asked "what else did she say?"

"She just called to warn me that Yugi gets nightmare sometimes and she told me what to do if he had one" Yami replied "She also said she was really surprised that I was able to calm Yugi so quickly, she said he has never calmed down that quick before, unless his friend Malik was near him."

"Yeah, that surprised me also." Bakura said.

"You and me both." Yami replied "Well I don't know about you, but I am going to bed now. Good night."

"Good night Yami."

They both made their way upstairs and went to their own rooms. Yami walked into his room and got ready for bed. He decided to leave his door open incase Yugi needed anything in the middle of the night. As he lay in bed he couldn't get what Mrs. McGuire said to him out of his head

/Although I am really surprised that it just took you holding him to calm him, he has never calmed down that quickly, Malik was the only one who could calm him down after a nightmare. I am also surprised you were able to especially since you have only known him for a few hours. You might just be the thing he needs to help him recover./

'Could that really be true?' Yami thought 'Could I really help Yugi recover just by being here? Does he unconsciously trust me already?'

After what felt like forever to Yami, he finally fell asleep.

It was in the middle of the night when a strange sound woke Yami up from his sleep. 'What was that?' Yami thought. Yami decided to get out of bed and investigate. 'Oh no, its coming from Yugi's room.' Yami quickly ran into Yugi's room to see what was the matter. When he walked in the door, he saw Yugi crying and thrashing wildly on the bed with sweat and tears streaming down his poor face.

'He must be having a nightmare' Yami thought as he entered the room, turning on the light.

Yami walked over to the bed, sat down and then gently shook Yugi trying to wake the young boy up. After a few minutes of gently shaking Yugi he finally woke up. He sat up like a shot and looked wildly around the room with large, frightened eyes. Yami tried to comfort him but Yugi was shaking uncontrollably. Yami wrapped his arms around Yugi and held him close, but it wasn't working, Yugi was still trembling violently. So Yami lifted Yugi onto his lap and gently raised his chin until their eyes met but Yugi quickly looked away. Yami then used two fingers and put them in Yugi's line of sight, then moved his fingers slowly towards his own eyes, Yugi's eyes followed his fingers and once their eyes met again Yugi moved his eyes to look anywhere but at Yami's face. Yami continued trying, waiting patiently until Yugi's eyes finally looked at his and didn't move them away.

"Its okay Yugi" Yami whispered, rocking back and forth, making sure Yugi was still looking at him "Your safe, its okay now."

The rocking motion was finally starting to calm Yugi down. Yami tried to wrap his arms around Yugi again to comfort him, but felt Yugi stiffen when he touched his shoulders. Yami withdrew his arms, but kept whispering comforting words to Yugi, always making sure that Yugi was still looking directly at him. Yugi was so exhausted from the stress the dream caused, that he slumped against Yami, resting his head on Yami's shoulder. Yami tried once again to wrap his arms around Yugi, except this time Yugi didn't flinch away. Yami continued to hold him until he noticed that Yugi breathing evened out signaling that he finally fell back asleep.

Yami sighed and gently lifted Yugi off his lap, laying him back down and then he covered him up once again and then walked over to the door. Before he shut off the light he looked back at Yugi once more. Then he turned off the light and walked into the hallway where he almost knocked Bakura over because he wasn't expecting anyone else to be up at this hour of the night.

"What happened?" He asked "What was that noise?

"It was Yugi, he had a nightmare" Yami replied "I am just really glad that Mrs. McGuire called tonight, otherwise I wouldn't have know what to do."

"Is he okay?" Bakura asked concerned.

"Yeah, he finally fell back asleep," Yami answered, then he yawned and replied sleepily, "Well, morning comes too early, Good night Bakura."

"Night Yami." Bakura replied as he too headed back to his room.

The next time Yami was awakened, it was because of the sunlight shinning into his crimson eyes, as he slowly opened them.

'Morning already? Its too early go get up.' Yami looked at the clock on his night stand, it read 8am. 'Yup, like I said it is too early to get up.'

Yami was about to stretch and go back to sleep, but then he remembered Yugi's nightmare last night. He got out of bed to check on the boy, when he left his room, he noticed delicious smells coming from downstairs. Deciding not to go back to bed, Yami went to check on Yugi to see if he was still sleeping. When he went to Yugi's room, he was surprised to see that Yugi awake. He was sitting on his bed facing the window with a lost expression on his face. Yami slowly walked up to him, so as not to startle the young boy. Yami walked around the bed until he was facing Yugi.

Yugi looked up when he noticed a presence near him, and he was slightly startled to see Yami there. He looked Yami in the eye and for the first time he didn't look away. Since for once Yami had his attention, he decided to ask him a question.

"Are you hungry?" Yami asked "lets go and see what Bakura made us for breakfast."

Yugi lowered his head again and Yami wasn't sure if Yugi was going to answer him or not, then Yugi nodded. Yami smiled and went to leave the room and he noticed Yugi fall in step behind him as Yami walked downstairs. Yami entered the kitchen and saw Bakura by the stove cooking and Marik standing by Bakura arguing with him.

Yami walked up to the arguing pair and asked "Can't you guys do something besides argue all the time?"

Marik snorted "Well, if Bakura knew how to cook then there wouldn't be an argument."

"Ha, that's a laugh" Bakura replied adding another fluffy pancake to the already towering stack "Atleast everything I cook doesn't taste like cardboard."

"Cardboard?" Marik questioned "I am a way better cook than you are, right Yami?"

"No way," Yami said putting his hands up, laughing, "I am not getting in the middle of this one, you guys can work it out yourseves."

They both glared at Yami but he only rolled his eyes at the pair and turned around to sit down, then he noticed Yugi watching the pair fight with mild interest.

Bakura noticed Yugi standing there watching them and got an idea. "Hey Yugi" Bakura said "Come here for a second."

Yugi looked unsure, but slowly made his way to the pair. He looked at Bakura with questioning eyes.

"Yugi, can you be our judge?" Bakura asked "You can be the official taste tester, how does that sound?"

Yugi didn't know what to think.

'Should I?' Yugi wondered lowering his eyes when he saw everyone staring at him, 'What if they get mad at me? What if I choose the wrong person?'

Yami, Marik and Bakura could tell that Yugi was nervous and that he was debating what to do.

'Maybe it was too soon to ask him to pick between us, even if is just a food judging contest' Bakura thought. "You don't have to if you don't want to, Yugi. We won't get mad at you, this is really just for fun, that's all."

Yugi slowly nodded his head at Bakura, and all three guys smiled.

'I think he's really getting more comfortable around us' Yami thought with a smile,'maybe he will finally found a place where he doen't have to be feel nervous and frightened all the time.'

Bakura put his hand on Yugi's shoulder to led him to the table, but quickly removed it when he felt Yugi tense up. "Alright Yugi, come here and sit in the official judging chair."

When Yugi was seated, Bakura walked back to the stove. "Alright Marik, you cook your breakfast and I will cook mine. The loser has to do all the dishes, Deal?" Bakura asked.

Marik shook Bakura's hand "Deal, and I promise you're going to lose." Marik smirked.

Yami laughed at the two and sat at the table with Yugi. After a few minutes and a few choice words from Marik, breakfast was finally served. Both Marik and Bakura put a plate in front of Yugi for him to judge as they both crowded around him, waiting for his ruling. Yugi immediately tensed up by how close they were to him, Yami noticed.

"Guys, back up and give Yugi a little space would you." Yami said.

Marik and Bakura saw what he meant and decided to sit in the chairs at the table. Yugi visibly relaxed, and shyly took a sample off Bakura's plate first. He put it in his mouth, chewed a little, then smiled shyly.

Yami thought 'I'm happy that Yugi is finally somewhat relaxing around us, this is the first emotion I have seen him actually show on his face, not just with his eyes.'

'He's smiling, at least it's a start in the right direction.' thought Bakura with a smile.

Yugi then turned to Marik's plate. He repeated his same process except instead of smiling, he scrunched up his face, which made Yami and Bakura start laughing, while Yugi tried to discreetly spit the food out into his napkin. Bakura and Yami were practically rolling on the ground with laughter.

Yami finally contained his laughter and walked over to Bakura. He raised Bakura's right arm and said "I think Bakura is the official winner."

Yami looked at Yugi for confirmation and Yugi nodded happily while Marik went over to start the dishes. Eventhough he was sulking on the outside, his friends could see that he really wasn't that upset since they had a small victory in getting Yugi to trust them.