Summary:: The city or Domino is under complete control of the trusted man called "Father", who keeps his true name and face hidden from the world in a tall tower in the center of the city. Though nobody has seen him before, they treat him like their only God; no other man compares to him in their minds. Yugi, who attends Domino High, is soon exposed to the dark truth about the city's beloved "Father", and desperately fights alongside Yami and his comrades to take down the Utopian leader before the city collapses on itself. But when Father's subordinates become their close friends, they suddenly find themselves having to make a painful decision between friendship and freedom.

Pairings:: Mostly HikarisXYamis, with occasional minor mentions of others to make the plot flow.

A/N:: I don't own anything here~

The plot for this actually came to me in a dream last night... so if it's been done before, I truly apologize. A;;

I also intend to use the Japanese names as opposed to the American dub names, do here's a quick reference if you don't know the names well!

Jou(nouchi)=Joey
Honda=Tristan
Anzu=Tea
Otogi=Duke
Shizuka=Serenity
Haga=Weevil
Ryuzaki=Rex

That's all, I think. ^ u^ So, on with the first chapter! It's non-beta'd, so please excuse all of the errors that I'm sure are somewhere. n;;

"Yugi?"

The boy with amethyst eyes gazed longingly out his bedroom window, chin cupped carefully in one hand. The elbow propping him up above the table was slowly beginning to ache, but he barely noticed. His mind was in a different place, focused on nothing but the skyscraper off in the distance. 'Father,' he thought with a quiet hum. 'I wonder what he's like.'

"Yugi!"

The boy blinked once, lifting his head out of his hand slightly in surprise. He hadn't noticed the presence of the other at all until then, which was rather unusual for him, having such sharp senses. Turning to the doorway behind him where the voice had come from, he smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, what was that?" he asked, giving the elderly man in the doorway an apologetic look.

The man just sighed, and gestured to the stairs outside his room. "You need to leave for school soon, don't you?"

Lazily, Yugi raised an eyebrow and glanced over to the clock on his wall before springing out of his seat in shock. The school day was set to begin in ten minutes; how on Earth he managed to lose track of time so badly, he would never know.

"Well," the man started, turning to walk back down the stairs. "Come down to the kitchen and drink your water before you leave. And be quick, alright?"

"I'll be right down, Grandpa!" Yugi exclaimed, snatching his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Catching sight of the notebook on his bed, he paused for a moment and smiled warmly before picking it up in his free hand. Bounding down the stairs, he stopped briefly to slip on his shoes and dart toward the kitchen.

Something inside him twisted when he saw the bottle sitting on the wooden table in the middle of the room. Oh, Father, what was that feeling called again? Uneasiness? Doubt? Fear? He couldn't remember. That feeling always seemed to come up right before taking a drink of that liquid; that feeling that, for some ridiculous reason, he wasn't supposed to be drinking it. But it was the law to do so; Father himself had instructed everyone to drink it. So every morning and every night, every single person in the city did. Yugi, of course, was not about to defy Father; not when everybody did as he said. Letting out a breath he hadn't remembered holding, Yugi reached out to take the bottle in one hand. But a dull shock wave rushed up his arm on contact, causing him to shudder violently and accidentally drop the water to the ground.

Looking down at the water on the floor, Yugi felt his heart throb against his chest. It was wasted now; Father would be so displeased to see his water spilled like this. Reluctantly looking up to his Grandpa on the other side of the table, Yugi gulped quietly.

But to his surprise, the man didn't seem terribly upset. Or mad, even. "No worries," he laughed quietly. "I'll clean that up. Just get some water from school, alright? We'll have more by tonight."

"I'm sorr-"

"Yugi," his voice was darker now. Somehow, it seemed almost like the light in his eyes had darkened. "You're going to be late."

The boy paused for a second, then his eyes widened. "Oh!" he gasped, and picked up his bag again. "I'll be going then, Grandpa! See you later!" And with that, he ran out of the kitchen to the front door, opening it and slamming it shut behind him in a split second's time. "That's right..." he muttered to himself aloud, sprinting down the street. He ignored the quiet whispers and confused stares of the neighbors, and continued running. "I don't have time to worry about spilled water, I'm going to be late..!"

When the school finally came into view, he let out a relieved sigh and picked up speed. But just as he stepped through the gate with the sign labeled "Domino High", something else caught his eye. It was the skyscraper again; the only towering building in the city. It had such an ominous look to it, standing up so tall all on it's own. The building was suited for such a man as Father, Yugi assumed. No other man deserved to be in a place that high, right?

With a low hum, Yugi pried his eyes away from the structure and headed inside. His classroom wasn't a far walk, luckily, so he didn't bother to move too quickly. But when he approached the doorway, he got a sudden feeling of nervousness. Hardly anyone was every late, and he didn't have an excuse... would he get in trouble?

"Only one way to find out," he sighed, sliding the door open. Before he even got the chance to step in, all eyes turned to him in almost perfect unison. His friends over in the corner smiled brightly toward him, but the teacher at the front of the room looked slightly less pleased. "U-um... good morning." Yugi muttered quietly, blushing heavily. When he took a step forward, the teacher cleared his throat loudly.

"Care to explain your tardiness, Mr. Mutou?" he asked coldly, folding his arms over his chest. Yugi let out a small squeak and shook his head.

"I-I'm sorry, sir..."

The man snorted and gestured towards the back of the room. "Apologize to Father, not me. And your desk is being borrowed by the cleaning crew for the next week, so sit in the empty chair next to Yami for now."

"Yes, sir..." Yugi nodded and scampered back to the empty desk and sat down, sinking into the chair as everyone turned their eyes back to the front. He sighed heavily to himself when in the teacher began speaking about the day's lesson plan, and set down his half-open bag on the floor next to his feet. Glancing over to his far left, Yugi caught eye contact with his friends and smiled half-heartedly. While Jou simply snickered at his misfortune, Anzu gave him a sympathetic look. Honda, on the other hand, simply gestured to Yami with a ridiculous smile on his face. Rolling his eyes, he turned his attention back to his hands in his lap, determined to make them seem like the most interesting thing in the world.

"Oi."

That didn't last long. Yugi's head shot up to face directly ahead, before slowly turning to the one next to him.

"U-um... yes?"

Yami cocked an eyebrow questioningly, leaning back in his seat a bit. "Yugi, right?"

"Yeah, uh, that's me." he chuckled quietly, scratching the back of his head modestly.

Looking forward to the teacher, Yami let out a quiet hum before turning back to him a few moments later. "Yugi?"

At the awkward sound of his own name being spoken again, Yugi couldn't help but squirm in his seat. It sounded weird when someone he didn't know said it. "H-hai?"

"Don't stutter so much. It's only charming the first few times."

'What the heck is he talking about?!' Yugi wailed to himself, eyes darting back to the teacher. Forcing the blush off of his cheeks and ears, he nodded once. "I'll.. do my best."

---

The remainder of the class when by agonizingly slowly. Something inside Yugi was aching as if he were attempting to digest a baseball of some sort; he couldn't remember the last time he'd had that feeling before, or if he even had at all. Standing up to head to lunch, Yugi was cut off suddenly by a dark voice that was steadily becoming very familiar.

"Hey."

Yugi turned to the boy with a questioning look, noticing his friends standing off to the side, most likely waiting for him. "...Hey."

"That bag of yours," Yami started inquiringly, although he made it sound more like a statement. Even as Yugi was standing, Yami only had to look up from his seat slightly to make eye contact. And even though they were almost the same size, it somehow made Yugi feel sort of... small. More so than usual. "There's a notebook in it?"

Yugi's eyes widened. He was right; there was. It was a very important possession of Yugi's although all notebooks and papers alone outside of school and the workplace were strictly prohibited. "Yes... there is."

"It's yours?" Yami's voice apparently had a way of always sounding factual. Yugi couldn't recall ever noticing that before, not that the two of them had ever really spoken directly to each other.

The spiky-haired boy nodded slowly, his eyes suddenly not so keen on making contact with the others.

"I'd... like to see what's in it sometime." Yami started, standing up with some freakishly unparalleled grace that seemed to fit his image perfectly.

"Oh, I guess that's oka-"

The boy cut himself off when Yami took a step to the side staring forward coldly at the wall to Yugi's right, while also standing closely enough to whisper audibly. In a low tone, he muttered, "You didn't drink it."

For the umpteenth time since the beginning of the lesson, Yugi's eyes widened. Father, this Yami boy was full of creepy surprises. "Pardon?"

"When the water boy brings your supply tonight, do exactly as he says. Understand?"

"Y-Yami?"

With a quick sigh behind closed lips, the taller of the two smiled. "I told you not to stutter."

Phew, that was good start. I'll update soon, so don't forget to review!

Happy Friday the 13th!