DD: Hi everyone. Here's the new story I made. It's just Yu-Gi-Oh this time and it's a high school AU. Warnings: yaoi (boy x boy), swearing, abuse, angst, drugs and a bunch of other things. So don't read it if these things make you uncomfortable and if they do, don't flame. This will contain Puzzleshipping (Yami x Yugi), Tendershipping (Bakura x Ryou), Bronzeshipping (Marik x Malik) and Puppyshipping (Seto x Joey). Enjoy and I own nothing!

Yugi Muto sighed as he stared out of his bedroom window above the Kame Game shop. He loved snow, but when it prevented him from going outside for three days, it irritated him. Especially since it meant that he couldn't visit their new neighbours. However, the storm had let up and he would be able to go to Ryou Bakura's house later for the movie marathon that they had planned to have.

Yugi yawned and stretched, glancing at the house across the road in which their new neighbours now resided. He blinked in surprise.

Someone was looking back at him from the attic window of the bungalow.

Like Yugi, the boy's hair was tri-coloured. But while Yugi had blonde bangs and black roots that were bordered by purplish hair, the other boy's bangs were more of a golden colour and his black roots were bordered by a mixture of red and purple. There were also three streaks of golden hair amidst the black that reminded Yugi of lightning. The boy's hair was spikier than Yugi's own, star-shaped hairstyle. His features were also sharper than Yugi's, and his crimson eyes were narrower than Yugi's large, amethyst orbs.

Yugi waved. The boy seemed to hesitate before waving back.

Yugi grinned and looked around his room before grabbing a marker and a pad of paper. He scrawled a small message that was large enough to read from a distance and held it up to the window.

Hi; I'm Yugi Muto.

He watched the boy's piercing eyes scan the message. His lookalike went out of sight for a moment before returning with a pad of paper as well. Yugi watched as he wrote a reply and held it up to the window.

Yami Sennen.

Yugi smiled.

Nice to meet you. How old are you?

Sixteen.

Yugi felt his smile grow.

Cool; you're only a year older than me! :)

He saw Yami grin.

So you're fifteen then?

Yugi nodded, hoping that Yami hadn't thought that he was younger. But with his short size, rounded features and large, childlike eyes, it was very likely.

Want to play twenty questions? I'm bored.

Yugi watched as Yami read the message and met Yugi's gaze before shrugging. Yugi felt like the older boy's eyes were boring into his soul.

Okay. Um...What's your favourite food?

Curry; I love spicy food. Favourite band?

XP I hate them. They always make me feel sick. I like Linkin Park. ^-^ Do you have any siblings?

Yugi saw Yami roll his eyes at the question.

I like Linkin Park too, and that's how I feel about sweet foods. Yeah; I've got two psychotic brothers that drive me insane.

Yugi giggled and was about to reply when Yami glanced over his shoulder and scribbled another message.

Sorry, but I need to go.

Yugi's eyes widened.

Wait, can I have your number? It'd be easier to text you.

Yami hesitated before nodding and writing down his number, holding it up for Yugi to see. When Yugi had inserted the number into his phone, he looked up to find that the blinds in Yami's house had been closed, blocking the attic from sight.

Yugi shrugged and text Yami.

Hey, Yami. It's Yugi. Here's my number.

He then turned his phone off and went downstairs to help his grandfather in the shop before going to Ryou's.

He was at Ryou's when he got the text and his phone went off with a loud 'ding!'.

"Who's that?" Ryou asked, looking over Yugi's shoulder.

"Oh, is it your boyfriend?" Malik teased, poking Yugi.

Yugi felt his cheeks burn - even though there was no reason why they should. "I already told you; he's my neighbour!"

The platinum blonde Egyptian snickered. "Doesn't mean he can't be your boyfriend."

Yugi rolled his eyes. "He's not my boyfriend."

"He could be."

"Malik, leave Yugi be," Ryou sighed, cradling a cup of steaming tea.

Malik pouted but left the tri-coloured teen alone. Yugi glanced at his phone.

Hey, Yugi. How are you?

I'm good. I'm just about to watch a movie marathon with my friends.

I really wish I was there instead of here...

Why?

The two psychos keep messing with my stuff.

"No! We are not watching another friggin' romance film, Ryou!"

Yugi looked up to see his two best friends arguing over the film.

"Well we're not watching another horror film," Ryou decided, firm finality in his tone. "Lily didn't sleep properly for a week after the last one."

Yugi hid a small smirk. Lily, Ryou's bunny, may have been watching The Conjuring with them, but she had spent the duration of the film napping on Yugi's lap. He had a feeling that it was the white-haired albino that had trouble sleeping.

"No more romance!"

Ryou shrugged. "I saw the romance films as something the three of us could do alone, since the others won't watch them and we don't spend as much time together anymore." He tapped his chin and looked up with a sigh. "I guess I was wrong." Yugi could see Malik's resolve crumbling already. Ryou turned to walk into the kitchen, his tone heavy. "I'll get some snacks. You two decide which film we should watch..." He trudged into the kitchen.

Yugi hid a giggle as he watched Malik's resolve completely shatter. "Ryou, wait!" Ryou paused and glanced back at Malik. "We'll watch Pretty in Pink with you..."

Even if Yugi didn't see it, he would have been able to hear the large smile in Ryou's voice. "Great! You put the film on and I'll get the snacks."

When Ryou left and Malik turned around, Yugi let out his laughter. "Malik, you cracked like an egg!"

The smile that had appeared when he saw that Ryou was happy again melted off Malik's face as he realised what he had agreed to. "...Ah, dammit..."

Yugi shook his head, still laughing, and glanced at his phone once more.

In any case, enjoy the marathon.

Yugi smiled as Ryou returned and Malik turned the film on.

Thanks, Yami.

Yami smiled.

No problem.

Then he turned his phone off, knowing that Yugi wouldn't reply for a while.

"Who was that?"

Yami looked up to see his younger brother Bakura leaning on the back of the couch that he was sitting on, arms folded.

"Neighbour," Yami replied, stowing his phone away in his pocket.

Bakura raised an eyebrow, a smirk sliding onto his pale features. "Is that so?" He glanced back over his shoulder. "Hey, Marik! Yami's texting our 'neighbour'!"

"Oh really?" The sun-kissed platinum blonde cackled as he sauntered over to his older brothers. "Lemme see!"

"I'm not letting you read my texts," Yami replied in his smooth, baritone voice.

"I'll give you a video of Fluffy running from a puppy," Marik bribed.

"You what?" Bakura yelled, glaring at Marik.

Marik just snickered and produced his phone, flashing Bakura a glimpse of the video. The white-haired boy was in clear sight, ducking behind a couch with a wide-eyed expression as a small dog chased after him, tail wagging.

Yami snorted. It was perfect blackmail material.

"Marik," Bakura growled, his eye twitching. "Delete the video."

"Nope," Marik laughed, his expression gleeful.

"Delete the video or I'll break your camera," Bakura threatened, holding up the camera.

Marik's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"Believe me, it'd give me great pleasure," Bakura snarled.

Marik swallowed before half holding out the phone. "Trade?"

Bakura nodded and grabbed the phone, giving Marik the camera. He pressed a few buttons and the video was deleted.

Yami shook his head, turning away from Bakura to smirk at Marik. "That camera will be the death of you."

Marik shrugged. "Well it distracted you, didn't it?"

"What?" Yami blinked and looked back at Bakura, who had successfully taken Yami's phone without him noticing.

"There's nothing interesting here," Bakura complained as he swiped through Yami's texts to Yugi.

"Then let's text him ourselves!" Marik laughed.

Yami leapt up, his eyes sparking. "Give me the phone!"

His two brothers glanced at each other before snickering. "Nah," they decided in unison.

Yami lunged forwards, grabbing Bakura by the hem of his blue-and-white striped t-shirt. Bakura just smirked and tossed Yami's phone over to Marik. Marik leapt onto a chair and held it just out of Yami's reach. "Reach, Pharaoh, reach!" He cackled.

Yami growled and tackled him out of the chair, sending them both crashing to the ground.

They didn't seem to notice how loud the crash was on the wooden attic floor. The duo wrestled for the phone for a minute before Marik managed to throw it to Bakura, who caught it just before it would have hit the floor.

Bakura opened the message box again and sent the number to himself and Marik as Yami struggled to his feet again with Marik clinging to his legs to slow him down.

"Bakura," Yami growled, narrowing his eyes.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to text your boyfriend anything he could misinterpret." Bakura rolled his eyes.

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"So he's not a boy who's your friend?" Marik raised an eyebrow.

"What? Well, I… I mean…" Yami's face turned slightly red. "Shut up and give me my phone."

"No can do, Pharaoh!" Marik grabbed the phone from Bakura. Yami lunged for them again.

Bakura managed to dodge the attack, ending up near the door, but Marik yelped and crashed to the floor. Yami smirked in triumph as he took his phone back. "Gotcha."

"Spoil sport," Marik muttered, rubbing his head, which he had skimmed off the wall.

Before Yami could reply, the door was thrown open and the trio froze.

"I thought I was very clear," Aknamkanon Sennen growled, "that you were notto make noise." He stepped into the attic and silently closed the door behind him.

Bakura, who was closest to him, tried to edge away without being seen.

Aknamkanon growled and grabbed him by the hem of his shirt. Bakura hissed and tried to pry Aknamkanon's hands off of him, his feet dangling a full inch above the ground. "Let… go…" He growled, struggling to breath due to Aknamkanon's tight grip.

Aknamkanon smirked and dropped him. Bakura landed heavily on his feet and Aknamkanon used the opportunity to swing a hard punch at the albino.

Bakura bit back a yell of pain as he was sent flying back, if only because it would make Aknamkanon even angrier. That, and it would make him seem weak. The only reason that he didn't slam into the wall was because Yami managed to catch him.

He brushed his fingers against his cheekbone, wincing. Aknamkanon just calmly straightened himself. "Now…who was it that was making the noise?" He asked.

No one spoke. Marik and Yami glared at him.

Aknamkanon shrugged, spreading his hands. "Either you tell me, or I blame all of you."

"I was." Bakura stood up again, trying to ignore his throbbing cheek. His red-brown eyes were hard. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Bakura, are you nuts?" Marik hissed.

Bakura didn't reply. Aknamkanon looked at him again. "Follow me."

Bakura didn't move. "What are you going to do about it?" His voice was monotonous as he repeated the question.

Aknamkanon smirked. "Either you follow me and find out, or you all follow me."

Bakura scowled but took a step forward. Yami caught his wrist, forcing Bakura to turn to look at him. He met his gaze, as though saying 'you don't have to do this'.

Bakura held his gaze for a minute before pulling his wrist free and leaving the attic with Aknamkanon.

The lock clicked into place once more and silence filled the air. Even if Marik and Yami wanted to, they wouldn't have been able to hear what was going on.

The basement that Bakura was walking towards was soundproof.

Halfway through the film, Yugi noticed that Ryou was distracted. This wouldn't be unusual for the albino. Had it not been a romance film that Ryou himself had picked out.

The English boy was staring at the wall above the television with Lily in his lap, one hand resting on the bunny's back, one hand propping up his chin.

Yugi frowned slightly. "Hey, Ryou, could you make me a cup of tea?"

"Hm?" Ryou blinked and looked over at Yugi before smiling. "Sure." He stood up and walked into the kitchen with Yugi behind him.

"Do you want me to pause it?" Malik called.

"No; we can hear it in here," Yugi responded. Then he turned to Ryou. "What's going on?"

Ryou blinked, his hazel eyes wide. "What do you mean?"

"You're so distracted today," Yugi replied.

Ryou looked down. "Sorry for worrying you. I'm fine." Ryou shrugged and turned towards the kettle. "It just… turns out that my parents aren't coming for Christmas after all."

Yugi's eyes widened. Ryou's parents had divorced when he was very young, his father remaining in England while his mother brought him to Japan. His mother was rarely around, often having to go on business meetings according to Ryou. And he never did seem very happy when she came home.

But Christmas was always one of the few times that she made an effort to come home that Ryou seemed happy to see her. And with his father promising to visit for Christmas as well, Ryou had been ecstatic about the upcoming holiday.

He had decorated the entire house, which was far too big for one person to live in alone, and even planned out the dinner with the help of Joey Wheeler.

And it was all for naught.

"Ryou… I…" Yugi paused, unsure of what to say.

"Here's your tea," Ryou murmured, handing Yugi a mug of the steaming liquid.

Yugi set the mug down on the pristine marble counter and wrapped his arms around Ryou in a comforting hug.

Ryou hesitated before returning the hug and they separated. "Thanks, Yugi."

"It's nothing," Yugi replied, although feeling as though he hadn't done much to help.

Ryou smiled as Yugi picked up the mug again. "Come on; let's go back inside."

Yugi nodded and they returned to the sitting room to watch the end of the film.

"I can't believe we didn't hear him come back," Marik growled, resisting the urge to stab one of the cushions on the moth-eaten couch.

Yami didn't respond.

"I mean, we should know better by now!"

Yami didn't respond.

"And now Bakura's paying the price…"

Yami didn't respond.

"Would you say something already?" Marik snapped, glaring at Yami.

Yami glanced over at him. "What do you want me to say? All you're doing is rambling about things that we can't change at this stage."

"Anything!" Marik threw his hands in the air. "Anything is better than just talking to myself with you ignoring me!"

"You know talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, right?"

Marik rolled his eyes. "Please, we all know I'm crazy." By the end of his sentence, he was wearing a proud smirk on his face.

Yami didn't respond.

"Oh, come on," Marik groaned, flopping down on his mattress.

Yami sighed, looking out of the window and into Yugi's room. It was empty. He must still be at that movie marathon he mentioned.

Marik sat up Indian style on his mattress and followed Yami's gaze. "Is that where the shrimp lives?"

"He's not a shrimp."

"He could be," Marik replied.

"He's not that short." Yami glanced at the Egyptian out of the corner of his eye.

"But you admit that he is short?" Marik's triumphant smirk returned.

Yami sighed. "You're unbelievable…"

"Love you too, Pharaoh." Suddenly Marik's eyes brightened. "Hey, maybe you could ask Yugi for help!"

Yami turned towards him, his eyes devoid of emotion. "We tried that before."

"Yeah, but this is in the city; not the country!" Marik shot back, jumping off his bed and running to the small, rickety excuse for a table in the attic. "He wouldn't be able to hurt Yugi!"

"Marik," Yami cut off the excited Egyptian. "He still has the gun." Marik froze in the middle of turning on his phone. "We can't afford to let innocent people get hurt because of us again," Yami continued. "It would be-"

"Selfish, right?" Marik's voice sounded hoarse. He looked back at Yami, his lavender eyes pained. "Why can't we be selfish every once in a while, eh?" He shrugged. "Everyone is selfish sometimes. Why can't we be selfish now?"

Yami held his gaze. "Because if we are selfish now, it won't just be our lives in danger anymore. It would be the same as last time."

Marik's movements were slow as he put the phone back on the table. He turned and walked back over to the mattress that he slept. As he passed Yami, he whispered, "What happened to Heba and Atemu was not our fault. They were the ones that chose to get involved."

Yami felt anger begin to bubble in his system, but he forced it away with a calm wave of self-control. "We were the ones that got them involved."

"It was their choice to help us." Marik lay back on his mattress, arms behind his head, legs crossed.

Once again, Yami chose not to respond.

Silence filled the room until the sounds of two pairs of footsteps reached their ears, one pair heavy and firm, the other light and uneven.

Yami and Marik tensed and Marik lay down properly, pretending to be asleep while Yami remained where he was.

The door was unlocked and Bakura was thrown in. Aknamkanon smirked as he watched the albino stumble and fall.

He glanced at the sleeping Marik and scoffed before turning to Yami. "Next time, don't disobey me."

He left the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Instantly, Yami and Marik ran over to Bakura. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Bakura snapped, forcing himself into a standing position. Bruises, welts and gashes covered his pale skin and his jean jacket was torn in multiple places. Through the tears, they could see blood staining Bakura's t-shirt.

"Bakura, you're obviously not," Marik replied, his rarely-seen serious side appearing.

"If I say that I'm fine, then I mean it!" Bakura growled, shoving Marik back when the younger boy tried to help him. "And I don't need your help!"

He whipped around and stormed into the small bathroom that Aknamkanon had fitted into the attic. The door clicked shut and inside the bathroom, Bakura let out a slow breath. He leaned over the sink, clenching the sides so hard that his knuckles turned whiter than before.

His back stung, his face throbbed and his cuts burned. He ran the water and splashed it over his face before taking a washcloth, wetting it and running it over the injuries. He winced at the sting that it brought, but he continued to clean the wounds on his face and arms.

Then he sighed and pulled off his jacket and shirt, glancing at his back in the mirror. He ground his teeth together at the sight of the bloody whip marks.

He hastily washed them, although not able to reach some of them due to the fact that they were on his back. Then he pulled back on his shirt, threw his jacket into the bin and walked out of the bathroom again.

He ignored the gazes of his brothers as he lay down on his mattress and stared at the ceiling. Until Marik shattered the peace. "Do you think we'll ever get out of here?" It was one of the few times that Bakura had heard him sound vulnerable.

"...Eventually..." Yami replied, gazing out of the window at Ra knows what.

Bakura snorted and turned on his side, closing his eyes. "Don't lie, Yami."

It was late when Yugi got home. So late that Solomon Muto had given up on waiting up for him and went to bed an hour previously.

Yugi felt a pang of guilt, but it was Solomon that had insisted he go out today. Sighing as exhaustion crept up on him, he trudged up to his bedroom, checking his phone.

There was one new message from Yami. He smiled softly.

Hey, Yugi.How was the marathon?

It was good. We ended up watching a bunch of romance films though. But Malik managed to convince Ryou to watch a horror. I don't think the poor guy will sleep for a week.

That sucks. Well, the romance part anyway. The horror sounds good.

Yugi couldn't help but laugh.

I actually liked the romance more than the horror.

Why? They're mindless films with the same basic plots.

Well horrors are mindless films with the same basic jump-scares and bad guys. No plot line.

It was a full minute before Yugi's phone let out the 'ding!' noise that notified him about a text.

That's a lie! One of these days, you need to watch Insidious and Oculus! They have brilliant plots and Insidious has a few jump scares, but they don't really scare you unless you understand the plots, and they're pretty complex.

Yugi hesitated before replying.

I'll think about it. Hey, maybe we could go together!

When he didn't get a response after five minutes, Yugi assumed that Yami had fallen asleep. Glancing at his clock, Yugi felt his eyes widen. "No wonder...it's nearly two am..."

He yawned, stretched and pulled on his blue pyjamas with stars on them. Growing too small for him? No. Childish? Yes. But warm? Definitely.

He curled up under his blankets and was asleep in a matter of minutes. He didn't wake up when his phone released a final 'ding!', announcing a text from Yami, before remaining silent.

That sounds good, Aibou.

DD: I did warn you. So you know the drill; please review and keep reading! Bye!