Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh

Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind.

Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse

Update Schedule: Since I've already completed this story, I am going to try to update it weekly with the edits around uploading it onto AO3.

Writing Note: This story was an attempt for me to get past writer's block and to finalize my more descriptive prose (which I am still working on). Any feedback concerning it would be appreciated. Please and thank you.

Part I

Chapter I

"Aw, come on, Yug, kick his ass already!" the blond laughed from his spot behind him. He was leaning so far over his shoulder that his body heat warmed his skin and presented itself as a strangely comforting distraction. The smell of the hamburger he had gotten earlier at his favorite fast food restaurant was not nearly as nice. The thick, sour undertone of pickle and mustard made his stomach twist as he glanced at him from the corner of his eye. When the other teen didn't acknowledge his stare, he turned back to the game he had been seated in front of for the last twenty minutes. He was struggling now that he had become distracted and his mind scrambled for the solution. He swore for a moment that the controls and buttons he needed to perform the combo he wanted was in his head. But it vanished just as quickly as it had come, replaced with a sense of sudden alarm and confusion.

It had to be something equivalent a small half-thought flittering through his mind, nothing but a lonely ember biting at the gelid winter air. But it was just noticeable enough to gather his attention and hold it for a single split second. It lacked familiarity or even the slightest touch of warmth and the frigid contact made his spine cold as if it were suddenly carved out of ice. The opponent on the screen was steadily destroying his remaining health points but he hardly had the desire to continue playing anymore. The small bite of cold nipped at him again but it was centered in his mind now. It felt like a dull ache, the beginnings of a migraine but soft enough that it lacked the pain that came with it. The sensation left him confused and more than a little dazed as he blinked. The screen flashed in front of his eyes and the music roared in his ears. The controller felt suddenly hot and clammy in his grip, almost as if mocking him now with the body heat it retained.

"No, no, Yug, he's about to win!"

He fought back a tremor to slowly turn around and survey the rather large arcade they occupied. The entire mass of students from their school who came to hang out when hours were over had spread around as they normally did. They remained in their little groups where some played games while other encouraged them to win as his friend had just been doing for him. He continued searching and tried to focus on the warmth of the air around him as the gentle brush of ice in the back of his mind grew slightly stronger. It had grown more persistent, as if he had just done something to amuse it and draw attention to himself.

The hairs on his arms were starting to stand in a bristle beneath the fabric of his uniform jacket. His finger tapped momentarily against the analog stick in his hand before he squeezed for some kind of touch of normalcy. He had to admit he had never truly been one for magic and surreal things despite having grown up with tales of it from his grandpa. But this was impossible to ignore and he could not exactly wave it off as something childish like an overreaction. It was too deep in his core and left him too violently startled to be dismissed. It lingered beneath his skin like a foreign infection and curled like icy smoke; it invaded everything in his sluggish thoughts for a long moment. He nearly scolded himself when he pictured something like a bug crawling in his head, long legs and parasitic claws. It set out grasping and digging and touching all of his memories and it drew them to the surface in the back of his mind.

There was nothing unusual to catch his eye when he looked, however. There were all the normal groups of kids. All of them still wore their school uniforms of royal blue and bright pink after a long day studying behind their desks. But they looked soft for some reason. It was as if the folds of their clothes or just them in general were too strangely made up, not at all as sharp or strongly defined as the colors normally rendered them. For a second he swore he saw something moving in the corner of his eye and turned his head but found only an abandoned game's screen lit up and awaiting a new player. The lines that made up the shape of the machine were sharp and so much more defined than anything around it. Even the light on the screen seemed far harsher than it should have been. The music momentarily grew louder and beat into his eardrums without mercy before it settled into a smooth rhythm again. He looked around again and drew his hands away from the game controller to dig his nails into his thighs.

The chill in the back of his mind was growing more pronounced with every second. It drifted through his thoughts and seemingly wrapped around each of them to draw something from them that he had no name of. The more he looked, the stronger that brush of ice became. It lingered and grasped and expanded like something was digging its nails in and spreading itself out, but no matter the effort he could find nothing. His body had begun to tighten, reacting as if someone had dropped an ice cube down the back of his shirt, rubbed it along the curve of his spine, and allowed the water to seep into his skin. It left him feeling somehow exhausted yet completely alert and confused. It was unnatural, how heavy he felt as it rendered him incapable of movement.

He swore his heart skyrocketed, but the pulse pounding in his eyes seemed to exist in the center of his mind and it was not racing. Instead it held an eerily calm quality and lacked any bit of surprise or alarm. And while he listened to it in hopes of calming his frayed nerved, he thought his blood froze in his veins to grow as cold as his icy bones.

He searched the immediate area around him again, looking over the faces that he knew from school. All of them were familiar, kids whose names he sometimes forgot but knew for the most part. A small bit of frustration mixed with the ice lingering beneath his suddenly feverish skin. Everything retained that strange, soft quality where it should have been defined. The depth seemed almost completely blurred and confusingly so to the point that shadows bled into the regular shade of royal blue and left him wondering where they began and ended.

And then the colors began to drip. It was as if the lines had blurred irreparably, becoming nonexistent, and had dissipated into thin puffs of smoke. The deeper hue which replaced them made his skin feel hot and feverish, his head spinning as he stared.

He blinked and the heartbeat in his ears sped slightly and then skipped and stopped for a long second before he swore he heard it start up again with audible effort. It lurched into a series of three that sounded distinctly like some kind of violent laughter. He blinked and then rubbed his eyes, looking a second time to keep from drawing suspicion as he found everything in black and dark blue. The colors of the very room around him had taken on a sharply defined distinction of something like an inverted picture carved on a slate of wood or stone. It was scratchy and some of the lines seemed jagged. They trailed off almost like spikes of energy, forks of lightning in white and strange hues of gold, sharp and cruel to the eye.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to suck in a breath around the sweeping chill in his body, and forced himself to slowly look again. For a moment he was almost sickly disappointed yet wholly satisfied when he found that it was completely back to normal.

It was back to bright colors, shades of red and yellow and orange, and loud arcade music, kids playing or messing around with each other. The only heartbeat he was capable of hearing was his own which shook and strained violently in his chest as if it were somehow restarting itself. His lungs ached, taking on a soft rasping quality when he sucked some more air in and managed just barely to keep himself from leaping to his feet. He searched again, his head aching and his chest feeling weak, alarms in his mind still going off somewhere in the back of his mind.

There was nothing to pop up from the air, and not a single thing proceeded to catch his eye or make him stop short, to look a second time. It was all normal again.

His exhale was soft and relaxed, the relief of familiarity settling deep inside of him and pushing away some of his former alarm. Warmth crept its way slowly through his weighted limbs and pushed outwards from somewhere deep inside of his bones. His nerves took on a tingling quality as he closed his eyes for a moment to steady himself and turn back to his friend.

"Dude, what's wrong with you? You look a little pale—well, paler than normal anyways," he snickered. His lips pulled up into a wide grin at the joke as if it was the funniest in his world. He recognized it as a diversion tactic, something that the other teen used often to make him feel better when he or anyone else around him was uncomfortable. Most often it was used to show that he did not have to talk about something if he didn't feel comfortable enough to but he was there to support him if he needed it.

"Ha, nothing's wrong." Or at least…I don't think there is. Not anymore anyways… He cast a small glance around. His body tensed, steeling itself in case of the chill that had existed in his bones moments before. It crept across his subconscious suddenly, starting to draw at his being once more as if claws were sinking into his skin and threatening to bring forth blood. But nothing came up and he turned back with a small smile. "I guess I just needed a second. I think I've been playing this game for a little too long. My eyes are kind of starting to hurt."

"Oh, okay."

He stared at the blond, taking in the way that his tall nearly six-foot frame was hunched over to watch the game he had been playing. The smaller boy took in the way that his hands still rested near the controls where his had been formerly. Despite the single health point left in the game for the round, the blond had attempted to beat the level for him, adamant about attempting a win.

They had been best friends since the first semester of the year had started and he had run into a little bully problem with another student almost three times his size named Ushio Tetsu. He was built like a brick, nasty as a rabid dog, easily offended, and just plain dangerous. The massive teen had a tendency to pick out certain students at the school that he referred to as "runts". They were then either put through his program of making them "perfect" as members of the disciplinary committee or offered "protective services" where he demanded an arm and a leg for beating the shit out of whomever he deemed that person's bullies. He had personally been the runt that had been sought out after being spotted one day in the quad. He was also the one that had been charged a "special fee" of American currency after he had found out that his father worked overseas.

He had managed to keep Ushio from beating Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor too badly with the compromise of taking it instead. The event had sort of brought them together though there were still many moments where the three of them fell flat trying to be the group of best friends they were working to become.

The blond gave him a quizzical look, brows furrowed and lips pursed slightly as he turned his head completely to stare at him. Brown eyes were hit by the light just enough to show off the flecks of cinnamon and the small bit of gray around his pupils among the honey brown shade that gave his irises the depth that they possessed.

"Uh, Yugi?"

"Hmm?"

"What's up?"

"Oh, uh…Nothing," he muttered after a moment, quickly turning away and glancing over his shoulder in a swift search of something that he was far from sure he was actually looking for. He had no idea the source of what had been tugging and crawling over his subconscious. He had nothing to go by but he guessed somewhere in the back of his mind that he would find it in whatever was not familiar.

If truly found something that caught his attention as disturbingly outside of normalcy, what was he going to do? He was pretty sure that one's vision becoming inverted and screwy around the edges was not normal. And, to face the force of it, what would that truly do for him?

If he had been alone, he would have jumped from his seat and fled. Like any normal person, he would have gotten to his feet and been out of the arcade as quickly as his feet could carry him. It was self-preservation to escape a threat, no matter how unnatural it seemed at the moment.

But to make a scene in front of Joey would mean that he would need to explain. And an explanation was not something he could give him. He blinked a few times, then drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly to keep from sighing out loud. What he would do if he found the source of his alienated sensation, he did not know, but it was kind of intriguing to him to consider. But he also knew that it helped to keep him as calm as he was at the moment.

"Yeah…okay…Hey, look, there's Mai! I didn't know she came here after school!"

Yugi turned his head and looked over at him, following his line of sight to blink as he took in the blonde senior. She was two years ahead of them and going on nineteen. Due to her birthday, she had been held back a year before being allowed into school, making her a year older than the rest of her peers.

The curly-haired platinum blonde was laughing that familiar little musical giggle that always made boys around her practically drool with anticipation. The boy beside him was no stranger to the way she did it, wrapping a single curl of her hair around her finger to entice the people around her. Yugi could have snickered at the way the taller boy looked as if he might drop his jaw and gape at her openly.

She stood with a couple of other girls from their school, a redhead he thought he recognized from the beauty pageant he had been forced into watching with Joey and Tristan after Tristan's crush enrolled. The girl standing with them had glossy black hair who he was more or less relatively sure had transferred the end of the last year. All three of them were seniors and considered the best looking at the school.

But as he looked at them, a chill trickled down his back like spilled ice water, eliciting a shiver as he turned away again immediately. His eyes sought out anything he had missed before or anything that had taken residence among the others in the arcade. The ice slipped through his bones, becoming dangerously familiar far too quickly against his subconscious as it bit at him violently enough that he had to fight off a grimace. A small bit of pain radiated in the back of his skull, flashing and flaring out several times like lines of electricity. It pulsed along his sensitive nerves and receded again almost immediately, just enough to make itself known but no more than that.

Yugi rubbed his eyes more firmly, making his eyelids sting for a moment as he turned back. He blinked first at the screen in front of him where the kung fu fighter danced in victory and then slowly lifted his gaze towards the three seniors again.

Relief swept through him like a gust of wind and he let out a small exhale that he made sure was too quiet for the blond next to him to catch as he continued looking towards the girls.

Mai Valentine was still sometimes dubbed the Domino High Queen for her looks. She still had the brilliant platinum blonde hair that cascaded down her back in soft waves. The strands all curled upwards at the ends and stopped in a long V that settled just above her waist. He had always remembered her eyes as far more brilliant than they were when they had first met.

Maybe it was because now that she wore that smoky eyeshadow and the dark eyeliner so often it made them so much bigger and far more expressive. He knew that the violet that made up her irises was sharp and cunning and devastatingly deep in shade. Her nose was dainty and symmetrically-centered and her perfectly-shaped mouth was painted a deep red as opposed to the soft pink that her lips were naturally. Wave after wave was born from her center-parted hair and semi-curls were something that Yugi always had a habit of playing with when he was around her. The forelock in the center of her forehead was almost the same as his own but much longer. Her neck was still long and slender, with a somewhat deep collarbone.

She still had that perfect posture that just screamed confidence and gave off the statement that she would never allow someone to walk all over her. And it all helped to give her a far more sensual aura than she already possessed with the way that she dressed outside of school.

Most guys—teens or grown adults—tended to do as Joey was beside him, drool and gawk and go wide-eyed when she was within close proximity. Mai had such a sensual aura that it fell into her voice, a quality that Yugi often admired. When she opened her mouth and spoke, she had a strange pitch that came out somewhat raspy when she got flirtatious.

And odds were if she opened her mouth, it came out heavily sensual. It was no secret that she was very quick to get that way when she spoke to someone. It was one of the easiest ways for her to get a guy to do what she wanted—to carry a purse around or shopping bags, to buy her lunch at the mall before she bailed when they blinked. She was more of a playful person than she ever had been serious.

It took him a moment to recognize the redhead that stood at her side as he generally avoided her. Kaoruko Himekoji was a girl with vibrant red hair like live flames in direct sunlight, falling in gentle yet defined waves to settle only a few inches past her somewhat tiny shoulders. From the front her face was heart-shaped but from the side it was sharp and defined. Hints of baby fat layered her cheeks and highlighted her dark green eyes, helping to dispel the gray hue that sometimes came with her outfits. Her eyes were not as sharp as Mai's but the color, as deep as evergreen leaves, made up for the lack of makeup she wore.

Her collarbone lacked the depth that came with the blonde's, but her lips were a little plumper. They were colored bright pink, the normal shade she painted them in order to match the school uniform she wore. She was beautiful but she had a nasty temper, and her personality sometimes reminded him of his math teacher, Ms. Chono. She lacked the mole on her cheek that Joey always joked about in class, but their attitudes were somewhat similar. Their eyes even held a somewhat similar quality but his teacher's hair was darker red and lacked the volume that the teenage girl's held.

The girl in front of him was rather mesmerizing in her own right, with an almost feral quality to accompany her choice of clothes and expression. He remembered the way such a sensation had enveloped the steps of the dance she had done for the pageant.

Her voice had a soft smoky quality that whistled softly in her audience's ears. It was what he imagined a snake's to be, seductive with a hint of menace and enticement that wrapped around you so securely you wouldn't willingly leave.

Vivian Wong had pin-straight black hair that reminded him too much of glossy raven feathers. It held a sheen to it that commonly made that comparison even more distinct in his mind whenever he caught sight of her. Her forehead was covered in chopped bangs in a somewhat feathery design that curved downwards towards the center but layered upwards towards her temples. Her hair was held in two separate strands akin to something of a pair of pigtails. She always had the same earrings on which he had heard her claim one more than one occasion were family heirlooms. They fell into long thin strips of metal that made soft whistling noises when she walked fast enough.

Her waist was incredibly petite and her brilliant chocolate brown eyes were large but heavily styled with a shadow of kohl. It ran to her temples and disappeared in a sharp point. Her eyebrows mirrored the eyeliner's path, appearing thinner as they went further from the bridge of her button nose. Her lips were always bright pink no matter the outfit she wore and Yugi was relatively sure she had seen her wearing a kimono more often than not.

A metal band was normally on her upper left arm and two large blue-violet and red-violet bangles rested on her right wrist. He thought maybe he had seen her with a fan once or twice with a fuzzy bright pink top like faux feather. And he had only ever seen it when he thought that she was flirting with someone. But the more he looked at her, the more he wondered if he had ever actually heard her speak rather than whine.

He shook the idea off after a moment to turn towards his friend and grin slyly in amusement. Joey was leaning so far forward, braced against the machine, that no one could mistake what he was looking toward. "You should go talk to her," he encouraged quietly, nearly laughing at the incredulous look he was given as the blond swung around to stare at him in response. Laughter bubbled up in the pit of his stomach, the blond's eyes far too wide to not be comical. "She's really nice."

"You've spoken to her before?" Joey demanded, looking ready to grab him by the shoulders and shake him violently. "What's she like?"

Yugi debated for a moment if he should tell him just how much he talked to her, but settled instead for a small shrug of his shoulders. Joey would figure out later if Mai chose to tell him. "She's…nice. Very nice. I don't really know what you want me to say exactly…"

The tall blond narrowed his eyes and searched his face, smirking widely before poking him in the shoulder roughly. The smaller boy had a vague idea that it would probably bruise on his pale skin. He blinked and trailed his eyes around as his spine tensed beneath his skin. Alarm surged through his system violently once more, but nothing popped out and he found himself beginning to deflate now. He had no idea if the source was going to be something that he could actually handle, but that didn't stop him from being curious about finding it.

"I knew you weren't a virgin."

Yugi froze, his face turning bright red in horror at the assumption. His jaw opened and closed unconsciously as he gagged and covered his mouth with an immediate shake of his head. "Oh my god, no," he choked out, shaking his head harder and feeling his face twist into a disgusted grimace.

Mai had always been one of those girls who sometimes dipped into the art of seduction and flaunted her skills when she was given the chance. But he probably would have died if something had happened between the two of them. "No, that is not what…Ew, Joey."

"What? 'Ew'? Are you serious, dude? She is hot."

Yugi fought off the urge to curl his lip back in blatant disgust once more. A shudder threatened to course down his spine and he wrinkled his nose in an effort to suppress it. "Not to me she isn't."

"Right, I forgot you were into Tea," he muttered dismissively, shrugging it off and turning away again to give the blonde his full attention once more. The smaller teen pursed his lips and glanced between his friend and the girl he was drooling over. He dug his teeth into his cheek, uncomfortable as he looked at the blond next to him.

Tea and Joey seemed to have some kind of feud that existed between them at the moment. He thought it might have been for his crassness during homeroom when he had all but shoved a porn tape into Yugi's hands right in font of her and Tristan, but he was not completely sure. It was just as likely she reserved some of her dislike for the blond because of his bullying him before which had brought on Ushio's "protective services".

Yugi really had no true concept of what they appeared to be fighting about and so had resolved to stay out of the situation by whatever means necessary. He planned to protect himself from the task of having to wade through all of the potential drama that existed between them. He was more or less sure that she and Joey just did not see eye to eye and maybe they never would. And that was fine by him as long as neither of them dragged him into it.

Yugi had never kept it much of a secret that he favored her over other girls. It was not something he was ashamed of but it also wasn't something he could put a label on with complete certainty. He didn't think it was puppy love or even a true crush because it was never steady and it failed more often than it stayed afloat.

He thought maybe it was just his familiarity with her that made it so difficult to name. It was only just enough to make it somewhat obvious he felt more towards her than the other girls they were often around. She was that rather regular-looking brunette, the typical girl next door that novels were written about.

Her hair was a shade of chestnut brown that rested between light and dark but appeared different some days. And her eyes were large, painted blue with small flecks of something like deep brown around her pupils. Long lashes were emphasized by the light use of mascara and helped to highlight her heart-shaped face. Her cheeks held soft tones of baby fat over her well-defined cheekbones but seemed leaner towards her rounded chin.

Despite the definition of her cheekbones they did not distract from the symmetrical quality her face sported and failed to draw attention immediately upon meeting her. She had the body of a dancer but it was not completely noticeable at times and her overall physical shape was somewhat more pronounced than other girls'. She lacked the feral grace that Kaoruko possessed or the devastatingly keen sense of beauty that came with Mai or the too-skinny and overly dominant trait that came with Vivian.

But Joey had a thing for the very many girls that he had watched in his wide variety of porn tapes and Tea was far from that category. He liked the girls with the larger-than-life breasts that seemed almost like they could suffocate someone if they got too close. He liked the strong legs attached to waists that were either far too thick or too small to be considered "normal". He had a thing for the perfect hair which had to be long enough for him to play with and cascade around the pillows while they were panting beneath him. Joey was a virgin but he had his eyes set on the perfect girl and for him that just so happened to be Mai and no one else as far as he was concerned.

Yugi had never argued or objected his opinion, just let him talk about what he would do with her in bed and how he thought she probably liked it rough. He failed to talk to him about Tea or other girls and he didn't bother with trying to point out that Mai was not some kind of sex machine as he seemed to be deluded into thinking.

"No, I've just talked to her a few times. I actually tutor her on Fridays," Yugi mumbled in response with a slow shake of his head. Pain like a fresh stab in the back of his skull, cold as ice, hit him for a split second before seemingly retreating permanently. The sensation made him nearly panic.

Despite himself, against his common sense, he had been hopeful of finding the source. He had the intense, overwhelming desire to see what it was that had been there. He wanted to know what had so keenly been a part of his thoughts, stroking and caressing in the darkness of his mind.

The idea of its absence becoming so permanent as to render him unable to see it made his head spin. He was terrified of such possibility. It scared him even more than he thought the idea of this somehow being a manifesting disease ever could.

The moment he felt that small bite of panic, it came back in the form of a tiny pinprick of an ice shard. Discomfort made him dig his fingers further into his thighs even as it once again took on something synonymous of the beginnings of a headache. The fact that it had returned almost made him cry out with relief and joy.

Now he just hoped that nothing would happen with his sight again in the meantime. He knew for a fact that he would vomit if it came over him so abruptly a second time. He waited silently for a long minute, steeling himself just in case but trying to make himself seem a little open and welcoming with an effort to sit back and relax.

Yugi prepared himself for that strange foreign heartbeat to reach his ears again, suddenly desperate for its strange melody. But nothing happened and he couldn't tell if he was disappointed or relieved. He tried to focus on one rather than the other, drawing more on relief as a minute ticked by and left him with a somewhat hollow sensation.

"Tell her that her hair looks nice or something."

Joey gave him a wry look as Yugi bit back some laughter. "Don't use my advice against me. That was good advice. I swear you could have gotten a kiss out of her if you had just complimented her a little," he grumbled, rolling his eyes and smirking playfully. "You missed your chance."

"Tea was not about to kiss me and you know that," he laughed, rolling his eyes and glancing around once more with a quick sweep of his eyes, searching and finding nothing once more. "Besides, she wasn't even happy with the curls. And I had already told her that I thought they looked nice."

"See, no. Nice is not how you compliment to get laid. You tell them that they're smoking hot and sexy and you might just get there." He held up his index finger and smirked, winking at him. "And I think this might be my cue to go in and steal Mai's heart."

"Good luck," he snickered, nodding encouragingly as the blond straightened and gave him a playful scoff.

"Luck? I don't need luck. Observe, young grasshopper," he announced, winking and then turning to walk off towards the blonde with a confidence forced into his gait. Yugi smiled in amusement at the way his back was straightened and his chin raised slightly.

The smaller boy shook his head and watched until he and the blonde were talking, Mai's expression slightly surprised but openly pleased. He saw Vivian and Kaoruko share something between them before wandering off when Mai spoke to them. He had to admit that the action struck him as somewhat odd but he didn't honestly care enough to question it. It would have distracted him from observing the blond until he was sure that they were both having an actual conversation and Joey wouldn't run off at any moment to talk to him again.

He smiled a little, seeing that the blond was working some kind of charm over her, and then turned back to the screen in front of him. Yugi watched the pixilated fighter dance on screen in challenge, flexing and gesturing towards the message at his feet saying "Pay a quarter to play".

He did have a few that he could spare and it wasn't as if the game was boring at any rate. He often spent after school hours just playing it with any challenger that popped up to fight him. It would be a good enough distraction to keep him from growing bored or worrying about Joey in the meantime.

He slipped a few coins into the slot to avoid paying later and pressed the button to activate the controls. The theme music thrummed softly in the air around him as he looked it over. He caught the tail ends of some shouts of a couple of students around him as he started to pick his character but the pressure in the back of his head hadn't grown and he was starting to doubt that anything would happen with it.

He was working on his fourth opponent when he heard someone moving from behind him to his side. He felt the disturbance of the air from their movements, beating into his back like a gust of wind that should have been soft but nearly knocked the oxygen out of his lungs.

Yugi didn't bother to look up from the black-belted white-suited kung fu artist he was controlling on the screen. They would most likely drift towards one of the seats nearby but put at least one between them. Most of the players who wanted to challenge him did it that way. He hummed and the sounds of punches and kicks and "K.O." shot into the air and across the screen, helping him to focus more solely.

Besides, he doubted that they would care for him looking up and offering a smile before going back to his game. But he did startle a split second later. The sound of weight being shifted caught his ear again.

They took the seat next to him, clothes softly rustling against the smooth stool top making his eyes widen. They hadn't moved further along in the row of games lined back to back. It was hardly the fact that they had chosen the seat beside him. After all, he was used to some other students doing so to see if they could learn a few tricks from him while he was playing.

It was the fact that he heard it over his game, over the sounds of grunts and fighting and loud theme music that should have made the noise completely nonexistent. It should have been buried beneath his game's audio. His spine tensed beneath his skin as his stomach flipped and bile rose in his throat and scorched the muscle. Alarms blared in his head, pain soaring with the noise as it echoed viciously.

He tightened his grip on the analog stick in front of him until his hand started to hurt and the grooves burned his fingers like open flames. His skin was crawling, as if it had been set on fire suddenly, and a low pulse of pain throbbed in his head. He ignored the newcomer pointedly, continuing his game despite the terror that gripped his stomach and squeezed. His head spun for a moment, mouth growing dry as he recognized the fear that had made his heart skip and his lungs constrict painfully.

Yugi stared at the belt around his character's waist, trying to focus on it entirely, swallowing hard but trying not to appear nervous. He hadn't been prepared. He had been curious but he had not been prepared.

"Hmm…you seem pretty good at this game."

Yugi stopped short, his movements ceasing altogether on the screen as he blinked and forced himself to relieve some of the tension in his shoulders and aching spine. He folded his tongue against the roof of his mouth, ice traveling down his throat as he breathed. He needed to focus on the match he was about to start in.

But the remnants of the statement echoed heavily in his ears, wisps of commentary. The voice was deep and husky, lilting in ways that Yugi didn't know it could. It was achingly bottomless and threatened to send him plummeting straight into its depths, all of it furthering the effect of the baritone pitch it possessed.

"I, um…I play it a lot," he admitted with a small laugh that he could only compare to a choked breath. The small teen fought back a broken groan at his inability to speak properly and his ignorance towards the initial decision to ignore them altogether. But if he had ignored him, Yugi couldn't see himself coming out of that very easily.

Perhaps it would have turned into something much worse than just his discomfort with the other boy next to him. Stumbling and stuttering through his sentences was something that normally pissed others off brutally for whatever reason. But ignoring another's presence—especially when spoken to—normally called upon the instinct to react and demand attention. Stuttering normally at least got them to leave him alone or earned him nasty little snickers and ruthless teasing. Ignorance probably would have gotten him a black eye or a busted lip, maybe broken ribs if he was really unlucky. Yugi had not stuttered in years, for so long that it seemed almost foreign that he was even considering it in the moment, but the shock that had come with that voice had startled him enough to fall back into it.

The person next to him let out a content hum, a deep soothing noise that made his spine tingle with confusion and warmth. He blinked and forced himself halfheartedly to concentrate on his game again, hoping that the conversation would end there. He prayed mentally to every god he knew of—Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and even the ones from the Magic card series—that it would end there.

He swallowed hard as the reality of the situation slammed into him again. He wasn't ready for this. He had overestimated himself when he had thought he would be able to see the source of the discomfort in the back of his head. He had been stupid to think he could handle the being that had brought forth the parasite that was crawling through his thoughts.

But, by the gods, if his curiosity had not burned beneath his skin with a need that left him dizzy. He couldn't help but want to risk a glance towards the other boy but the thought vanished immediately when he heard the shifting of his weight. It was soft and low and only recognizable by the rustle of his clothing being wrinkled in new ways from the change of position, the sound of the stool being weighted down more firmly.

His nose was bombarded by something that he could only ever describe as ice—simple and pure and overly intoxicating—wrapped around something like chilled moonlight—fresh and brilliant and lingering somewhere between dark and light—and hiding an undertone of ever-present darkness—seductive and cold and infinite. It was intoxicating and dangerous, sending chills down his spine that he knew were not only fear. Where he would have listened to his instincts at any other moment in his life, this scent drew him in with the exotic extremity and unfamiliarity that came with it.

It made his pulse race, exhilaration coursing through him for some reason, euphoric in every sense of the word. It drew at his very being and seemed to wrap around him so completely that it was impossible for him to turn away.

"Yes, I've noticed," the other boy murmured and Yugi blinked, gawking at the screen as his character took a hit and went flying to the other side of the platform, health points disappearing immediately. He was going to lose again. He went to grab the controls and try to turn the situation around when the smell got stronger and his hands were pushed away.

He shuddered at the chill that met his skin, almost like clammy flesh brushing against his, but lacking the perspiration that came with it. He stared down at the hands that had taken place of his, absorbing the definition of long slender digits that looked—for only a small split second—nearly skeletal in their pale hue before seeming to draw in a vibrant, beautiful shade of golden-bronze.

It was a rich color, warm to the core in shade, and gave off a strange sense of security that sent Yugi's mind into a race. He was well aware that it was his own desperation to find something normal where there really wasn't much to grasp at in the first place.

The hands pulled away and Yugi followed them to the very edge of the machine and no further, unsure of what more to do. The game went off in a chime of victory, telling him that he had won and he breathed in deeply once, exhaling a weak "Thank you" that earned him a deep chuckle that sounded oddly warm yet dangerously hollow all at once.

He shook off a tremor and leaned forward to grip the controller again, slightly unnerved by the dulled warmth that lingered there against the plastic. The smell that had burned itself into his memory so abruptly was no longer keen and seemed nearly nonexistent.

But he knew he was there, watching, and he did not need to turn his head to know; it was impossible not to. The area around him seemed blanketed in cold, lapping at his skin and seeping its way through his clothing like wind for several small split seconds before fading away again entirely. But even if that wasn't in the forefront of Yugi's mind, there would have been the fact that his aura in general seemed all-consuming and dangerous, enticing to the core and invigorating. No one could miss that.

And Yugi had no doubt that the boy knew this as well. Why no one else seemed to react to this was a mystery to him as it was impossible to miss. It was burning like dry ice against their skins. It had to be. It was like some kind of powerful force—a god of some sort—walking among them and sitting under the guise of human flesh.

He shook the thought off with a small quivering breath that seemed strangled in his lungs as he forced himself to focus on his game. He narrowed his eyes at the sudden realization that this boy beside him had no intention of leaving anytime soon. The frustration that came with the thought helped just enough to push him through the next round despite the feel of his lungs straining in his chest.

He squeezed his eyes shut of a moment and gripped the controller tighter. Yugi fought off the urge to turn his head and face him, knowing that if he looked then it became more real than he thought he could truly deal with. If he didn't look, he could maybe convince himself that he was just having an off day. He wouldn't have to try to talk sense into himself or look for confirmation of the strange sensation that had not ceased to announce itself to him.

He listened to a shift of clothing, felt the breath that left the other boy as if it were his own, and then went completely still. An inhale almost like a tiger scenting fresh blood made his heart lurch. The nape of his neck stung like someone had pricked him and his skin was falling asleep. The muscle that touched the bottom of his jaw was inappropriately cold for a split second but drew warmth as it traveled further along his face. It took a strategically, horrifyingly slow pace upwards, flattening out and then moving straight to his temple and his hairline before finally pulling away.

Images flashed through his head for a long moment. Tigers eating their catch. Wolves snarling with every tooth shown. Blood dripping from long canines. Froth bubbling out of a rabid dog's mouth. Incisors bared and cutting their way through his mind.

Yugi trembled before he knew what he was doing, his skin twitching as he turned his head without a single hesitation. He stared at the other boy with a shocked expression, his lips falling into an "o" shape and his mouth opening slightly to grasp at a weak inhale. His nerves tingled and burned, numbed with horror as he stared at the other boy. At first he thought that perhaps he was looking at a creature out of storybooks, something akin a demon. And the way that his thin lips curved up into a disgustingly sultry, predatory smirk only reinforced the idea. His body froze in place and his mind trembled as his reality shook, falling into a state of disconnect.

But…why would a demon…look so much like him?

He would have mistaken the other boy before him as his reflection in a mirror if not for the fact that he had sharper features and a more definite gaze that bore into his like knives stabbing into his skin. He was taller—he had to be; his leaner build and the position of his legs said he had a few inches over him—and his hair was wilder. His eyes were as sharp as daggers with color like fresh blood and the cruelest gleam he had ever seen before.

He was a distinctly matured jaw, beautifully carved and sharp lines of bones beneath smooth perfectly shaded skin, with thin lips that made the most dangerous smirk. It was lopsided and disarming in every way, almost feigning a long-time familiarity akin friendship in the easy pull of his lips.

He was cunning sharp teeth when he parted his lips and showed off his canines in a sultry expression of white enamel and the hint of a pink tongue and seemingly bloodstained gums.

He was a gaze of burning fire like liquid rubies and vibrant dancing flames with an intensity and depth that held far too much wisdom and strength. His pupils bled, seemingly out of center and stretched in every direction so that the circular shape was lost in comparison to staring at a burst of light in surreal darkness. Cruelty and laughter and contempt and open brutality lingered around the edges of a dangerously feral predatory aura framed by long dark lashes.

He was sharp thin eyebrows furrowed to enunciate the state of mockery as his nose wrinkled and he sneered silently in laughter with that startling smirk plastered to his face.

He was long goldenrod bangs like knives that stretched to the left and dropped to his jaw on the right with a streak of lightning traveling through pitch blackness beneath tips of fire. Two other streaks rose above his bangs and made him that much more alluringly dark and menacingly beautiful to the eye, all-encompassing and mesmerizing.

He was…the older, red-eyed version of Yugi himself…

"Oh my god…"

"You are not completely incorrect," the other boy snorted as his eyes flashed and his smirk widened. He leaned forward to touch his jaw and tip his chin up slightly to look him over with a cynical scrutinizing glare. "And look at you! You're all baby fat and soft curves. I was expecting more, honestly."

"Excuse me?" Yugi breathed out, shaking his head and trying to banish some of the shock and confusion that lingered in his system. The fingers resting beneath his chin curved upwards so that his nails dug into the tender flesh for a moment. He stared at the other boy, taking in his posture and seeing the way that though he was tipping his face up, the red-eyed teen sat with his back straight. His legs were partially open, a knee tipped further forwards, eyes keen as they bore into his, other arm resting on his thigh. And Yugi took a moment to recognize the slight tilt of his head, the way that he openly challenged him with that mere position. It was something akin what one would give another when they had encroached on their territory. "What does that mean?"

It was only after the other teen's eyes lowered themselves that he even realized that his thumb was moving over the corner of his lips, coaxing them open with gentle touches. He ignored him blatantly, instead glancing up at him for a moment so that their eyes locked.

Yugi found himself dizzy and falling under some kind of thick haze as they flickered and flared like open flames. He was staring into never-ending spirals of red that burned into his soul and engraved itself there. He was drowning in pools of bright red blood, choking and flailing and struggling.

And Yugi swore he could see himself in those distorted pupils, soft lines of flesh and baby fat with wide eyes and long lashes. He was a horrified expression and long bangs of goldenrod…almost the complete opposite of the boy in every way but the hair. He swore he saw the live terror and mystification that existed inside of him, swirling and warring with each other, confused and drowning him from the inside.

He felt a tremor rack his fame as the other teen tilted his head and his nose burned momentarily with the thin frosty scent that came with the action. His mind raced with fear, not sure of what to do and half-expecting the boy in front of him to lean forward and dig his sharp teeth into his neck. Maybe he would eat his flesh while he screamed and writhed on the floor, bled and thrashed with no hope of survival…

"Well, don't you have a beautiful little imagination?" the boy purred softly, a distinct rumble in the back of his throat that made Yugi choke in shock. Had he spoken out loud or was he…? No, he couldn't hear his thoughts…could he?

He shifted a little closer, his back still held completely straight and stiff in challenge and his head tilted so that he seemed to loom over him. His breath came out like an icy mist as it fanned his lips and left him fighting off another hint of numbness. His face twisted into a cruel smirk, voice dripping as he murmured, "Oh, but I can. And how beautifully deceiving your face is to your mind, don't you think? Blood and guts spilled in a public place. Me eating your heart out…I wouldn't have figured you could think with such disgusting vividness."

Yugi shivered and moved to reach out to push him away, hands firm even as his mind seemed to shake once more with the new reality of the boy's words and the intrusion promised with their existence. He settled a light grip on his shoulders but could not find it in himself to push the other away, instead breathing shakily at the shock that assaulted him with the action.

This boy—or creature or whatever he was—had knowledge over him, something that he couldn't fathom, let alone tap into as well. He was delving into his mind, scraping and searching and bleeding his thoughts for the last ounce of shape and being they had, parasitic in every way.

He could feel him somewhere in there as he tried to come to grips with the very idea. He could feel the chill seeping into his skull and furthering its reach among his thoughts and memory. It lingered and mapped out a path through his mind, digging into his being and holding him captive from the inside…

He laughed softly, as if Yugi had just told him a brilliant joke that was just funny enough to elicit a response though not a big one, and the smaller teen froze in place as he leaned forward and their mouths connected. He was breathing into him at first, random wisps of cold darkness and refreshing ice that seemed to travel straight through him. It seeped through his ribs and into his lungs, his heart, some kind of surreal sensation like his soul was leaving his body for a split second.

And then his lips moved, soft where he had thought they would be as hard and sharp as the rest of him, smooth and warm unlike the tongue that had scraped against his cheek. Or the hands that had touched him in order to take control of the game he was still sitting in front of, whose shrill "game over" theme he could still hear buzzing in the back of his mind as if drifting through dense fog.

Warm and soft…

Yugi trembled at the whisper that spread through his mind in a fragmented thought that he couldn't find the strength to focus on. Confusion and growing fear spread through him slowly as the other boy continued kissing him. His fingers tightened from where they rested on his slim shoulders, perhaps to the point that they would bruise. But he still could not find it in himself to push him away like he knew instinctively he should have. He was busy staring at the other boy's face from beneath his lashes. He was busy searching his golden-bronze skin for something to draw his focus and give him enough strength to push him away.

He was cold and bottomless, like moonlight on a winter night, too strange for him to truly understand as his tongue pressed into his mouth. His free hand trailed along his spine before clenching a fistful of his school uniform, sinking his nails into his skin through the thin fabrics after a long moment. He felt the stool moving before he could recognize it or the screech it let out and he blinked as he was pulled closer. The other boy's knees slipped between his and spread his legs open until he was uncomfortable and nerves drilled into him. He was pulled flush against the other boy too quickly for him to even consider what was going on. His grip was too tight to be comfortable and the nails in his back and chin dug into his flesh further.

The other boy paused just long enough to breathe raggedly through his nose without pulling his lips from his. Yugi felt a small bit of alarm at the fact that he had failed to recognize his own lightheadedness from being denied air. He pushed, relieved when he found that he did not fight him, instead pulling away with his lips curled back to show off his sharp canines. A soft snarl separated the air between them and hummed in his eardrums even as the look in those red eyes screamed frustration. The smaller boy breathed in harshly, lost about what to do at any point aside from draw in as much air as he could.

The burning gaze flashed with impatience, a soft snarl leaving his mouth and making Yugi blink once more in alarm. He squeezed his eyes shut for a long moment, drawing in some kind of false security. For a split second he felt so odd and disconnected that he couldn't even tell if his heart was still working, forcing him to focus in on the noise that it should have been making. The soft thumping met his ears, allowing him a hint of relaxation at the knowledge that it was working despite his momentary doubts. It shook slightly, beating far too quickly with anticipation and exhilaration, apprehension, but it was steady despite the chill that had settled in his chest. He almost laughed at himself, truly tempted to, but the entire situation was far too strange for him to make the noise come forth no matter his attempts.

The boy shifted in his seat, the noise startling him enough to make his eyes snap open to stare at the other. He found himself drawn into a glare of dangerously gleaming red orbs that burned into his for a moment before he smirked and pulled him forward once more. Yugi grabbed at his shoulders a second time, unsure of what else to do in his state of shock and panic. He couldn't fight the mouth that once again came over his, melting into it. He was not even sure if it was the strength that the boy's aura exerted or if it was the situation. But still he was held captive and incapable of shoving him away as he would have with someone else.

The kisses were not harsh or dominating in any way, but it was alarming and terrifying all at once regardless. It spiked at his senses and made him squirm viciously with frustration with his inaction. Especially with the way that things seemed to click and slide into place in his mind. It stirred at the inner depths of his thoughts, a familiar sensation as if he had done it before. It felt completely fluid and simple, as if the entire thing brought him serenity and surrender, a strange sweetness.

And, for a moment or two, it felt as if he were giving in to something more powerful than himself, more compelling than the will to live or the fear of death. But it didn't stop the sense of foreboding that was slowly settling in the pit of his stomach. It burned its way into the center of his mind and the confusion slowly began to pick at his sluggish senses once more.

Were those even his emotions?

He didn't think they could be. They were so disconnected and jumbled and broken in so many places that they were bleeding into one another. They seemed to build momentarily into distorted pieces of shattered glass with edges as sharp as knives before disappearing all at once. And that did not make sense to him. Yugi had never felt such a sensation before. But he had also never experienced the fear he had the moment that this boy had come near him. The taller boy dragged his nails down along the ridges of his spine, paying extra attention to the grooves between, and the pleasure sent him into a spiral. A strangled noise crawled its way upwards from the back of his throat at the action; the amusement and strange elation that came with this was certainly not his either.

Fuck, so what was his exactly?

Yugi squirmed and breathed out a broken moan into the other boy's mouth when he was pulled closer still. The hand on his chin moved down to his hips and traveled along the line of his pelvic bone to cup him through the fabric. Small tremors ran through him from the light touches, his body unfamiliar with the sensation of another's hands on him there, tracing such delicate but intricate patters through his jeans.

Did he tell him to stop? He was growing unsure of whether he should. As wrong as the entire situation was, something about it felt a little right—possibly because he had never had someone touch him there or really anywhere before—and it was a jagged piece of a sharp reality that bit at his entire body with shock and left him breathless.

The other teen pulled away, moving his mouth to his ear and hissing, "Want to bleed?"

"Huh?"

He was shoved roughly backwards but the hand still around his back held him in place even as the stool crashed beneath him and his flailing brought the other boy with him to the floor. The rattling of the stools made his ears ring and he swore he could feel the vibrations from the metal colliding with the tile, and Yugi breathed raggedly. Startled confusion slammed into him with enough force to make him cringe even as his ears continued ringing with the loud vibrations. What the hell?

"They do not exist here with us," he growled into his ear, forcing him flat on his back before he could truly think about trying to attempt a chance at fleeing. His eyes flickered around again, thoroughly confused out of his mind and feeling sick with it. This entire thing seemed like something in a story and the question of what the other meant by that statement made his heart skip and his body feel stiff with discomfort. Yugi's eyes slowly slid towards the other boy, a strange eerie glow making up the ring around those disturbing pupils. The black receded slightly as the irises took on a gleam like lights beneath a swimming pool, sparkling and seeming to twist around without form.

"What does that mean?" he demanded after a long moment, squeezing his shoulders and searching his face wildly for any clue as to the meaning behind his words. The other boy ignored him to situate himself between his legs. His knees pressed on either side of his hips and his shins forced his thighs apart in a way that was painful but sent waves of euphoria crashing through him. He took a moment to steady his breathing some, to try to collect his thoughts. But all he could do was hear those words circulate and bounce around inside his skull, desperate for attention and refusing to cease. "They're right there."

"We see them but they cannot see us," the other boy murmured in a low husky curl of his voice, lifting his head to reveal the cold smirk that claimed his lips as he glanced over at the blond. Yugi twisted awkwardly beneath him, having to wiggle his torso and stretch himself out completely to be able to see past the other boy's shoulder and spot Joey. He turned back to the smaller boy and Yugi blinked at the feel of the other boy's gaze burning into his face before he slowly looked back to him. He stared into blood red eyes that narrowed into slits of gleaming garnet before the hand that held his shirt slipped around his back. Fingers scratched a path along his skin that made him arch his spine in pleasure, breathless as he gasped softly and the other smirked widely.

"What the hell are you doing?" Yugi managed to spit out from beneath a moan of pleasure as the other's hand started to work at massaging him through his jeans. He reached up to push him away but a small wave of pleasure and desire swept through him, gentle as a breeze of wind. His hand instead slipped beneath the cotton of his shirt and felt along the knobs of his arched spine. So cold…his skin was so cold and soft, like some kind of frozen satin or smoothed out ice. Why was he so cold?

He let out a low noise like a snarl, lips twisting up to show off his teeth and gums that still looked like fresh blood. His gaze gleamed dangerously with a feral light that gave him the small answer of something that had been bothering him in the back of his mind since the very moment he had first locked eyes with the other boy. The darkness that made up those strange pupils, the way he held himself, the chill that came with him, why Yugi had been far more startled by him than he had first thought possible.

He looked, in this moment, with his eyes glowing and shadowed, as if he had no trace of humanity left inside of him. He looked as if he were a shell of a person with a foreign entity harboring his body.

The boy seemed to hear his thoughts once more because now he smirked and purred, "Smart little Yugi" in a voice that made his heart dip as it curled its way through his ears. He blinked and shook his head slightly, pulling his hand out from beneath his shirt to grab at his skull gently with his hands. The snarl that came out sounded almost startled instead of aggravated and Yugi ignored it in order to pull his mouth to his. He wondered why he chose to do so somewhere in the very back corners of his mind. But the only one that came to him was the pleasure he felt and the desire to, as the other boy had put it, bleed.

The reality of the situation burned at his subconscious and tore through him like razors cutting into his flesh. But he wouldn't stop and his grip never loosened. The boy breathed out in a sharp noise like a frustrated sigh that Yugi ignored steadily in favor of lacing his tongue with his. It earned him a spark of surprise that festered beneath his skin in the forefront of his mind and made him want to grin. The boy probably hadn't guessed that he would do something like this, but this still was not enough to make him push him away.

He wasn't sure if he was going to attempt forcing him away by scaring him into the action or if he was actually going to work to find some kind of middle ground for them to balance precariously upon. Obviously the boy had come to him for something, right? Because, now that Yugi took it into account, he had specifically waited until Joey had wandered off to come to him.

The kiss was sloppy and inexperienced, lacking the fluidity that the other teen seemed to possess, a predatory grace that Yugi simply didn't have. The boy above him didn't truly try, seemingly too startled by his actions. And Yugi had no experience with this past what he had just done with the teen himself and a peck on the cheek when he was younger. So he was stumbling along in the dark and the other teen was not willing to attempt to oblige to his tentative coaxing. He moved his left leg enough to kick the boy's knee into his wrist, enough of a hint to pull him over his thighs and straddle his hips.

"Who are you?" he finally managed to rasp out, pulling away just enough to breathe against his lips and keep his grasp firm among the silky soft strands of his hair. The other boy stayed still for a moment and failed to speak. Yugi watched him closely with darkened eyes, studying and hoping he would say something to give him some kind of idea of what to do. His instincts were screaming for attention but he couldn't decipher what it was they were telling him to do. He couldn't understand nor find it in himself to truly make out what it was his instincts shouted. Because, when it came down to it, Yugi was lost and had no idea of what he should have been doing or what they were trying to tell him. It was not to run or fight as it would have been for anyone else. But it was strong, devastatingly, and it raged beneath his skin, something primal and vicious and impossible to ignore. Something that he thought the other boy shared though it was impossible to be sure.

The red eyes widened slightly as if he had just triggered something in the back of his mind and the taller teen jerked away from him. Yugi grasped at his shirt tightly, trying to keep his grip on him, struggling because something in the back of his mind said he was going to escape before he got his answer. Red eyes flashed murderously and his lips curled back to show off his teeth. His incisors looked sharper and almost canine-like for a split second, but it was gone again immediately. His grip tightened further but the teen slipped from his grasp like beads of water and Yugi swore he felt something curling around his finger for a split second. It was cold like ice, causing him to blink and gawk in shock. The red-eyed teen disappeared completely as if he had never existed in the first place. The sounds around him became loud and undiluted, almost pounding into his skull and festering like an open infection before it dulled again to its normal range.

He looked around immediately again, searching blindly without the desire to pull himself to his feet, feeling oddly sick and disoriented. His head swam for a moment and his blood coursed through his veins far too quickly. His heart pounded as his lungs suddenly struggled to supply him with enough oxygen. For a split second he swore that his vision had become inverted again. There was only darkness with white lines that were far too sharp and jagged, mimicking broken glass and knife points. And it all awaited the moment he pricked himself on one and bled.

"Yug, what the hell are you doing on the ground?" Joey asked, half-laughing and more than slightly concerned though he didn't move towards him. He remained in place at Mai's side, staring with the most concerned of brown eyes. The blonde next to him smiled with a teasing expression but her eyes spoke volumes of worry as he looked at them blankly.

"I just fell off my stool," he replied, forcing a laugh and climbing to his feet to dust himself off before glancing at the screen he had formerly been seated in front of. Something in the back of his mind screamed for attention, fear and adrenaline pumping through him for a moment. He realized, belatedly, that the chill of ice that had crossed through him before was completely gone.

Yugi stared at the dead character on the continue screen, the numbers that were rapidly depleting in value, and chewed his cheek before looking at his friend once more. Joey had turned away and was back to talking to Mai but he could feel it when the blond turned his attention to him occasionally with worried glances. He smiled at him weakly in response before turning away again to stare at the screen before him.

Warm and soft…

He stared at the screen, his eyes starting to burn from the bright colors. That had not been him who had thought that, had it?

It had been the boy, the one who looked so much like him and vanished into thin air…

Yugi bit his lip until blood coated his tongue. The coppery liquid flooded his mouth and left him in a momentary daze. He had bled when he was with him. He had been unable to stop himself from fully embracing the pain that came with it. But now he was beginning to feel a small spike of exhaustion creeping through his bones. It was pleasurable and disgusting and now that he had a moment to truly wrap his mind around the idea of what he had just done, he was finding his exhaustion pushed away by fear.

"Hey, Joey?"

"Yeah?"

Yugi looked over after a moment and offered a small grin. He had to make himself seem more relaxed. And he thanked the gods for the lack of tremble in his voice. "I think I'm going to go ahead and go home. I need to make sure I finish my homework. Chono is really riding my ass over the last math test we had."

The blond blinked and frowned. "Oh yeah, sure, just give me a—"

"No, I think I'll go alone. No need to cut a day at the arcade short for me," he stated, smiling again before grabbing his backpack from where it rested beneath the machine. For a moment he felt as if something had slipped from his mind or something was just completely off. But he shook it off immediately, not wanting to dwell. There was only so much he could do to keep sane if he dwelled on something like this. Then again, with the exit the boy had taken, he doubted he had any sanity left.

"You sure, man? I don't mind going with you, you know…"

Yugi nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. I think I can manage walking a couple of blocks alone," he teased, winking at Mai before walking out. The two of them would probably be there for a while as it was. But Yugi swore he could still hear Joey just wondering about what it was between the two of them. He figured he would get a good laugh out of it later when Mai told him—well, if he could get her to go out with him in the first place, anyways. She had always told him she would make him work for it if he was actually worth dating. And he had to admit he really hoped he was, if only because he didn't want to have to hear about how she had not even given him a real chance.

As he had been expecting, the moment he managed to relax even slightly his mind circled immediately right back to the red-eyed boy. He had guessed it would happen. It was one of those things that he didn't want to be fixated with but it refused to be left alone. And, as terrifying as it was, he had to admit somewhere deep inside of him he thought he had never felt something that strongly before in his life. It was impossible for him to actually compare that intensity to something that seemed by far much more lacking.

As it was, growing up he had always been worried that maybe he felt things in a way that could only be counted as halfway. It was his theory for not feeling crushed whenever Tea seemed to like someone else. It was his explanation for drifting in and out of his crush on the brunette. It was his thought on why his self-pleasuring wasn't nearly as addicting as Joey claimed it was for him. It was as if he had never gotten the full experience of adrenaline or fear or excitement. He didn't know the taste of full happiness or sorrow. And it had always troubled him but he had never told anyone about it before.

He had never been able to find it in himself to tell someone about the idea that he had been experiencing things only halfway. He didn't know how to phrase it though that was the least of his worries. In all actuality, he was sometimes afraid that it would slip out suddenly, that someone would think he was mental and he would end up being admitted. He was terrified of the idea, always had been. And now he was more or less sure that if he was not careful he would lose his mind.

How did someone vanish like that?

Had he hallucinated the boy's disappearance?

Had he hallucinated the boy's entire existence?

He shook the idea off, instead kicking a stone ahead of him and trying to focus on anything else he could run across. A car honked as it passed by a kid on a bicycle further up the street and he watched them curiously. When he had been twelve he had nearly gotten himself hit by a car while crossing the street. His parents had freaked out brutally and he had witnessed the sight of his worried grandpa's face. Yugi himself, however, had gotten over it almost immediately. He had never even focused on it even as it had happened. The fear, even then, had not been nearly as strong as it had the moment that the boy had stepped into his personal space. The pain in the back of his head from where he had seemed to brush against his subconscious like that was so much stronger and more brutal than any kind of physical pain he had ever endured. It far overpowered that of Ushio's punches and kicks.

It had felt as if something was festering somewhere deep inside of him, killing him from the back of his mind rather than making him bleed. But all of it had been intensified in ways that he had never experienced before—the fear, the shock. It had amplified the very fact that the boy was enticing to the core. It had drawn him in further than anything he had ever been exposed to before. Aside from the Millennium Puzzle he had been given when he was eight, he doubted that anything had gathered his attention and held it in such a way. Never had a person managed to enrapture him so much that he had drowned in emotion and forgotten how to breathe in the midst of everything.

And he had kissed back. That fact alone meant something as well, possibly more than anything else. He had been raised by a mother who believed that kisses were far more intimate than sex could ever be. He had always been told that regardless of intimacy, both of them had to have meaning or he would regret it later.

Yugi tilted his head and debated the thought of his decision to kiss the other boy back. Did he regret doing so? Technically, no, but now that he was away from him, he did not find anything out of it either. It was just something that hadn't struck him as important in the moment. And trying to wrap his mind around it and analyze it gave him only indifference towards the entire subject. Or maybe…maybe indifference was just how he always felt. Honestly, he felt no different now than he did when he was with his friend or around others.

He stopped short for a second, trying to find something to grasp at and center himself to remind him that he was not completely emotionless all of the time. Hadn't he been embarrassed when his teacher had gone off on him during class for having done poorly on his test? Or perhaps he had simply gone through the notions of it in order to feign the emotion that he knew he should have experienced in that moment.

No, that wasn't possible, was it?

No, that would have made him a sociopath.

Or an emotionless robot.

Yugi furrowed his brows and shook his head slowly, swallowing hard as he turned the corner and his molars dug into his cheek in frustration. No, he had felt emotions but maybe most of the time he just fell back into indifference. Maybe it was just the steady thing for him as a teenager where others got anxious or gloomy or something.

He had experienced emotions. It was just that they had always been so much smaller. They had never left him so completely stunned and unable to react before. Nothing had done that to him before in his life. Yet with this boy they had come out sharp and shocked him like lightning bursting through his system in violent sparks. That was what had been so new and different.

It was not the experience of actually feeling an emotion. It was just that before it had seemed as if he had been encompassed by a bubble that had protected him from the full effects of any emotion he had gone through. It had been something of an experience like crawling into the back of one's mind when reality became stressful. The emotions were there but only halfway, bearable where they could potentially be overwhelming. But whereas crawling back into the mind was temporary, this was constant and never changed.

Now the boy had managed to somehow pop his bubble and he was being left with confusion. He had no real idea of whether having this knowledge was a good thing or a bad one. What was he supposed to do with him? Was there truly anything he could do? If the boy was what had brought it out in him like this, then did that mean he was supposed to be around him more often? Did it mean he was supposed to avoid him? Should he try to find him? Should he try to keep him away from him somehow? And if that was the case, how the hell was he supposed to do any of that?

He didn't know a single thing about him and the way that he had simply vanished into thin air like that…that was not human.

What the hell was he?

If he wasn't human, then what could he be?

Yugi chewed his cheek and shook his head again to try to attempt calming himself some. But he had grown up with a grandpa who had always insisted that magic was real, that some people knew how to use it, that he had once done so himself. He had heard tales of kitsune and demons. He had heard of monsters and legends about a place called the Shadow Realm and punishments dealt through trials called Shadow Games. His grandpa had insisted all his life that the Millennium Puzzle he had sitting on his desk at the house was part of the Shadow Games and possessed terrible magic. He had been told that the inscriptions on the side of the box said that the one who could put it together gained the power and knowledge of the darkness itself.

What that meant, Yugi had no idea and he really did not think he would ever get a chance to figure out. He was not even sure he wanted to attempt it in the first place. There was no actual assurance that he wouldn't hurt himself if he did somehow figure out what that meant. And it was even worse knowing the stories that his grandpa had told him upon watching him struggle with the Puzzle for half of his life. Eight years had been spent attempting to put together a golden artifact that held his attention and refused to release it.

All the archaeologists on the dig to find the artifact had died but his grandpa and a family friend. Mysterious deaths. Some of them had sudden heart attacks, others aneurysms where they had been nothing before. Some of them had developed stage three lung cancer suddenly. Another's organs had all ruptured in the middle of the night all at once, right in front of his eighteen-year-old daughter.

Several of them had carved themselves open to remove their own organs.

Yugi was still amazed that his grandpa and Arthur Hawkins were still alive and well. Half the time Yugi expected to wake up and find the old man carving his face open with a knife or something. Every day he had grown more and more worried that something as morbid as the others' deaths would happen before his eyes. Especially when he had managed to finish the Puzzle three days ago. Right as his grandpa left for Egypt yet again.

He stepped forward and alarms went off in his head immediately, heart rocketing so suddenly that he jumped. Yugi jerked backwards but the arm caught him around the throat with enough force to slam him into the wall harshly. The small teen didn't have time to think of a way to counteract such a lightning fast maneuver. He flinched and tried to prepare himself for the strikes he knew were soon to come. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly as his textbooks collided with the brick and the edges pressed into his back. The thin material of his backpack scraped against the stone loudly enough to make him cringe. The zippers shook and jangled loudly and his head rang as his heart lurched and leaped into his throat.

Fuck, what had he just walked into?

He waited a long minute with his eyes still completely shut, stiff as a board in preparation for the blow that would surely come. Every muscle in his body was prepared for impact. And yet nothing happened. Another minute passed. The arm remained braced against his throat and pressed against his skin but it was completely relaxed in its grip. And Yugi swore he could feel amusement tickling at his insides beautifully now.

"Oh, well, hello," he commented without bothering to open his eyes. His stiffened back relaxed into a soft slouch where it was possible in his position. He reached up to pull his arm away, relief coursing through him. When he finally opened his eyes, the other had his gaze narrowed into slits. His head was tilted slightly to the side, and his expression was slightly disappointed. "What? Were you expecting something else?"

"A little fear would have been appreciated," he snorted dismissively before looking him over slowly and smirking widely as he leaned a little closer to the other boy. His breath fanned out in the air just between their faces, threatening to touch his lips if he only moved closer. "You still seem pretty surprised to see me."

"Well, you did kind of disappear out of nowhere," Yugi murmured. He offered a small friendly smile and blinked at the slightly annoyed look that crossed his face. He had sought him out again and yet he looked so unhappy and frustrated with him. The smaller teen blinked at him, some small part of him hating the other boy's behavior. He had never been used to the idea of others not liking him—at least not so openly anyways. He knew that several kids in his class like Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor and Seto Kaiba and Kokurano disliked him but even Kaiba had not made such a clear show of disgust before. He merely turned his nose up and refused to associate his time with him but past that he was simply ignoring him. The boy in front of him however had the very open expression of wanting to maim him.

His arm moved away, nails sliding against the wall until his hand rested around his throat and forced him back into it. His head collided with the brick in a strangely soft impact, not at all what he had been expecting. The other boy glared at him in annoyance, narrowing his eyes into slits. Yugi blinked against the uncomfortable sensation of his books pushed so violently into his spine and shoulders.

"You are a truly annoying little bastard," the other boy snarled softly. His voice dipped lower and scratched at his insides as his eyes glowed and burned into his skin. Yugi's nerves tingled and begged for something he had no idea how to name. "Stop thinking so goddamned much."

The smaller teen blinked again, then burst out laughing before he reached up to grab his wrist and pull his hand away. The hand around his neck was snatched away suddenly before he could even get within an inch of touching the cooled skin. Yugi almost thought it might have been because the other was afraid of being burned. He felt feverish and it had to show on his face.

"I don't think you get any kind of say in that," he snorted softly, still snickering as he raised a brow. The other boy's jaw clenched as he stared at him. "That seems like a lot to ask, don't you think?"

"I think you could probably do yourself a favor and shut the fuck up already."

"And I think you should do yourself a favor and maybe leave me alone."

The other teen gave him look that said he wanted nothing more in the world. Yugi felt something crumble inside of him for a split second while the other let out a disgusted huff of annoyance. "I can't."

"And here I thought it would be that easy."

"Your voice irks me. Shut up."

"Ooh, irksome," Yugi snorted, laughing at the murderous glare he was given and the way his jaw clenched so violently that he could see the muscles bunching beneath his skin. The movement made his adrenaline spike. His mind raced for a split second and excitement slammed through him. For a moment the world spun in front of him, dizzy with the emotion, and then straightened again. He had no idea where exactly he got this confidence to mess with the other teen, to push him like this, but it was there and he was using it. The other boy could probably squash him like a bug if he wanted, but something made him feel secure enough to attempt it as it was and he wasn't about to question or doubt it. His resolve would crack and break before he could even bring it to its fullest. "Now that's a word I haven't heard in a while."

"Then you have stupid people around you."

"Hmm…that's a matter of opinion more than it is fact."

The other boy scoffed and stepped forward once to press his palms against the brick on either side of the smaller teen's head. He was close enough that his face was only a couple of inches away from his. And Yugi was ashamed to admit the effect that had on him. "You do not exhibit fear of me. I think that makes you a very fucking stupid child."

"The name is Yugi," he quipped, stepping forward slightly, not the least bit surprised when he didn't move and their foreheads touched. The other teen narrowed his eyes into slits of red once more and Yugi fought off a shiver. His skin was nipped with cold air that seemed so much more enhanced by the chilled atmosphere around them, the way that this winter brought with it the promise of snow. He wasn't sure what he had really expected; maybe he thought the frost that came with the mingling of his breath would be black or something. He guessed a part of him had hoped it would be as dark and bottomless as those strange, distorted pupils he was staring into, but it was just as white as his. It was both oddly frustrating and satisfying to see. Maybe it was something small enough that he could make it out of this situation unscathed for he most part. He was pretty sure by the end of it, his psyche was going to suffer. How badly was a question, but he didn't focus on it. The fact remained that he doubted any physical harm would come his way with this interaction.

"I do not recall asking for it. If I were to give a single fuck, I am sure I would have."

"Hmm, someone doesn't really have manners."

His palm pressed more firmly against his throat and his fingers folded, squeezing once. Yugi blinked and burst out laughing at the unique blend of pain and satisfaction that came with the action. It didn't hurt like he had thought it should have, the squeeze of his fingers around his neck almost pleasurable. It was barely even a tightening of his hand thought the sting of his fingernails in his skin was enough to send some kind of pleasurable ache through his system.

The other boy narrowed his eyes further and glared at him for a moment before finally shaking his head and releasing him. Yugi waited for him to step away again, spending a moment trying to figure out what was going on before realizing he had no plans to. The other merely stood before him, staring at him with sharp burning irises. "Nor do I have morals, Yugi," he sneered, tilting his head fractionally. "So perhaps it might be wise of you to think the situation through. And not so fucking loudly."

"Not my fault you've stuck your nose in business that doesn't concern you. Butt out of my head then if it bothers you so much," he snapped. A smirk crossed his lips as the teen pulled his lips back to show off his teeth again. His breath was sharp and rattled in the air between them viciously as he slowly shook his head. "No? Well why not? You have no business being there in the first place so why don't you just take yourself out of—"

The hand squeezed until his windpipe closed enough to make him claw at his hand, surprised by the audacity that the other fucker had when he sneered with a large smirk across his lips. Yugi breathed hard when he was released again immediately after, eyes wide as he stared at him in alarm and curiosity. He wasn't entirely sure but he had a feeling, a thought in the back of his mind, that the other boy was actually trying to hurt him.

Yugi thought maybe he was just trying to assert some kind of dominance and gain some ground in the situation. The soothing flickers of warmth that had passed through the front of his mind when he had begun squeezing his throat reinforced the idea. The thought was just calming enough that Yugi found himself feeling slightly relieved. He doubted that the idea held too much merit, that it would hardly keep him alive if the other boy really wanted him dead, but he knew that he wouldn't hurt him. At least not physically—or maybe just not at that moment—though he certainly could. Something was holding him back and while he didn't have the slightest idea as to what it was, he was curious to seek it out.

He blinked again, breathing in a small soft gasp of an inhale that made the other boy snort and roll his beautiful red eyes of blood and liquid ruby. The irises almost seemed to shift and glow despite the little lighting that they had from the streetlamp several feet off on another corner diagonal of them. "Get over yourself, you little brat. I did not even squeeze that hard."

"You shouldn't have squeezed at all," Yugi pointed out, feeling a small lick of confusion on his insides. It dazed him for a moment before anger began to seep in, the smaller boy blinking before shaking his head. "You are not supposed to go around choking people."

"You were annoying me," the other scoffed nastily, rolling his eyes and glaring at him. "It was either that or break your neck."

Yugi narrowed his eyes, battling away the urge to shiver as he finally came to recognize the eerie calm that had settled in his gaze. Small licks of pure amusement flickered against his subconscious like embers fanning away from blazing flames. And he recognized them as they stared at each other. The taller boy smirked at the way his frustration grew and fell so constantly, but he was perfectly aware that the serenity that had lapped at his skin had not been his.

He was brutally aware that the amusement was not his either, that the frustration he felt was spiking in his body like blood pressure on a monitor, and that the boy was getting a kick out of it. The amusement grew tenfold suddenly, warming his mind and enveloping him for a split second as it swept through him like some kind of strange draft where the air should have been cold. It was like the aura at the arcade and it cloaked the area around them. It lapped at the space between them like open flames and ate away at his body warmth to leave him shivering in confusion and growing alarm.

"So you just go around breaking people's necks when they annoy you?"

"Depends. No one has ever been stupid enough to annoy me before."

"Yeah, okay," Yugi snorted, rolling his eyes and shaking his head with a small smirk. He had to admit he was a little surprised by the way that the other teen narrowed his eyes faintly but failed to pull his forehead away from his. Their skin brushed almost painfully with the friction he created with the simple movement. For a moment he went to argue and then found himself stopping short, staring at him blankly for a long minute.

"What? No more argument?" the red-eyed teen snarled softly, looking affronted by the idea, the sharp exotic-looking orbs growing slightly wide as if confused and alarmed. What had he expected exactly? For him to fall into some kind of full-blown war mode? "I am truthfully a little bit disappointed. I expected more."

"Didn't you say that already about me in general?"

The other boy hesitated for a single moment, as if he had to think it over or find a new path to tread, eager to snap at him but considering the statement that lay on his tongue. "I said I expected more."

"But isn't that the same thing?" Yugi pressed, more than a little bewildered by the conflict that suddenly hit his insides like ice water. His gut churned, his stomach twisting as his heart skipped and stuttered, lungs constricting for a split second. A wave of dizzying anxiety rushed over him for a split second, threatening to knock him to his knees if the other boy hadn't been there. It calmed in an agonizingly slow minute, lingering in the edges of his mind but not coming forth again.

Unconsciously he found his fingers working at some kind of fabric, something scratchy but soft at the same time. His mind took a minute to fully alert him to the fact that he was holding the other boy's shirt. And then he belatedly took in the fact that the other boy was wearing clothes. Yugi really wasn't sure what he had been expecting when he knew for a fact that his clothes had been the only reason he had noticed him. The sound of rustled clothing had been the only thing to alert him to the other boy's presence at the arcade. He had heard his pants or shorts or whatever when he had moved closer to him, when he had played his game.

"Isn't expecting more of something the same as being disappointed in the original thing?"

He stayed quiet again, taking a long moment, judging and weighing, intelligence like the sharpest knife's blade lingering in his keen eyes, sharp chips of blood and cruelty. "I think expecting more of something gives it the potential to become more," he finally murmured, growling the statement out softly as if the other teen might not hear his words and grasp them if his tone wasn't dangerous. "But that doesn't change anything. You are all baby fat and soft curves."

"I'm sixteen. I'm not supposed to be all sharp lines and chiseled features and muscle and sweat," Yugi quipped, though he kind of wondered now as he stared into those deep red eyes. Joey and Kaiba and even Tristan were just as mature-looking as the boy in front of him. A sharp lash of annoyance cut through his insides and he searched the other boy's face when he couldn't find a reason to have felt that way. Those gleaming jewel-like eyes were flashing and darkening. His jaw clenched and his breath came out in a soft, low keen growl that made the smaller boy's spine tense in alarm. "I don't know what exactly you expected. I don't even know how you know me, but—"

"Think about that statement for a moment," he hissed, voice coming out and seeming to warp the air for a moment. It tightened in the space between, around the smaller teen, squeezing like a python getting ready for its next meal. "It is not a difficult question. In fact, it is not even truly a question at all."

He gave him as best a confused look as he could manage around the swirl of frustration that spiked and lingered beneath his skin. It came off the other teen in vibrant bites and flames almost as if his teeth were sinking into his flesh and contaminating his blood.

Yugi shook his head after a moment, completely unable to come up with a statement to argue with what the other teen had just said. He blinked once and watched him close his eyes for a second before a yelp escaped his lips as his skull collided harshly with the brick. Their teeth clicked harshly, sharp noises that echoed in the still air around them.

His mouth felt awkward in the new position, his body uncoordinated with the strange sensation of detachment that came through his mind in splintering waves of lightning and sparks of wildfire. It passed through him in ragged lines of sharp tension and vibrant need for something that he had no understanding of.

Hands struggled with the straps that weighed down his shoulders, forcing them down and away in a movement that caused pain to shoot through his bones. The other teen let out a snarl almost as if he too felt it and was frustrated with the ache lingering beneath his skin. He pulled away just enough so that he could face the strap that was bothering him the most.

Nails scraped through Yugi's jacket and undershirt and clawed his skin in four long lines. He winced, swearing somewhere in the back of his mind that he could feel blood seeping out of his split skin, but the other teen ignored him pointedly. His harsh breath beat against his lips, a snarl tracing the tail end of the exhale and the smaller teen watched him as he fumbled once and then tore the strap away. He listened to the light sound of material ripping where the bag ground against the wall but didn't bother to try telling him to stop. Instead he moved to slip his shoulder out from under the second strap to drop the bag behind him.

A hiss escaped his mouth without his awareness at the sharp sting of pain that came when his shoulder blades collided with the wall. He stumbled when his shoe caught on the smooth material and he nearly slipped. His entire body staggered and nearly fell down the wall, but a hand caught the collar of his shirt, tight and restraining, holding him in place and refusing to let go.

Yugi wasn't sure why he didn't push him away or fight him off. Frustration poured into his system though he could hardly understand whether it was his or the other boy's. He would not have been surprised if it was shared between them at this point. Maybe it was stronger on the boy's behalf but it was there inside of him as well. It burned and festered and left him somewhat dazed but, by the gods, he loved it so much as well…

Open your legs…

Yugi fought off a confused panic creeping up from his belly with claws like vices. The command rattled in the back of his head and his stomach twisted violently until he thought he would vomit. A keen desire raced through his mind and lit his blood on fire at the same time and the small teen finally forced his legs apart. The other teen made no move and Yugi stared at him, confused. He breathed in sharply when the hand that held the material of his shirt released him and moved away to grab his chin and tip his head up somewhat, the other sneaking downwards. What the hell was he doing?

The metal teeth slid beneath the zipper as it glided over, slowly starting to part, and the smaller teen froze for a second. Slowly, unsteadily, he forced a noise that he hoped, heart pounding and shaking in his chest, was something equivalent the growl that the other had shot at him earlier. His answer was the teen pulling away immediately just enough to lock eyes with him. The red eyes burned into his with a challenging authority that made him want to snarl in frustration. He was not the boss of him.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

The word tasted funny in his mouth because Yugi had never truly been one for curse words. Most of the time he abhorred them though he heard them almost every day at school and it felt disgusting to have it come off his own tongue.

"Would you relax some, moron?" he snapped around the chomping of his teeth. The enamel clicked sharply enough that Yugi had to struggle to push away the instinctive flinch that threatened to take over. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so already."

"I'll scream," the smaller spat, bristling as the hand moved to cup him and the other palm opened to lay flat over his neck, to push him back some and pin him more securely. Yugi couldn't figure out why he wasn't using his arms yet to shove him away. He still had no idea how to even attempt pushing him away or trying to kick him…

"You really think you'll get your voice out before I crush your throat in?" he laughed, a purr biting at the edges of his words before a snort escaped him, wholly amused. "I am much stronger than you. I am by far faster than you. You open that pretty little mouth of yours and raise that high-pitched voice of yours, and you are dead. Understand?"

Yugi ground his teeth together. Did he test it or let him do as he wished? Did he fight back and run? Did he wait it out, see what he was going to do? He was far from sure about the idea of trying his hand at fighting this other boy. He was more or less sure that he would lose.

He had height and he thought maybe weight too, but he looked skinnier than he should have. Yugi thought vaguely of malnourishment, and wondered if that could be the single advantage he had. But there was also the fact that he could probably hear him if he really could listen in on his thoughts as he had said. And he knew for a fact, without even having to think about it, that he was far faster, something that Yugi wasn't the least bit afraid to admit.

His jaw was starting to ache, straining with the force of his teeth gnashed together. Risk his life on the idea that he might be able to get away with a scream or just let the boy do as he wanted? He didn't think it was much of a question if he was trying to survive and needed to do that more than anything else. But that wasn't the instinct at the forefront of his fractured mind.

No, his instinct was to lash out and test, to drive at the other boy until he finally snapped. His instinct screamed for some kind of release between them, dangerous and desperate and overwhelmingly powerful. Maybe it was sexual, maybe it was a fight, maybe a spat, but either way, it was demanding and consumed every bit of rational thought he possessed. His instinct said to claw, to draw blood and make the other boy fight with him. It said to make him feel something that was far from normal and wasn't so completely easy to push away without a second thought.

"You really think you're going to kill me?" he asked after a moment, searching his face, his eyes. He shivered uncomfortably when he found only bitter resentment and a hatred that he didn't understand. He didn't know who it was targeted towards, him or himself, but it was there and it made his eyes dark and wild.

It felt like staring into boiling springs of deep red lava, pools of freshly spilled blood. It made him dangerous, like a snake coiled and ready to strike. It made the cold aura that surrounded him that much heavier, thicker. It bore down on him until he felt his lungs were no longer working and he couldn't breathe. The cold mist that lingered in the back of his mind solidified as it had the moment he had begun to approach him at the arcade.

Yugi felt his heart kick into high gear, racing fast enough that he thought it was in his throat, beating hard enough to choke him. Fear crept through him at the thought of his sight becoming inverted again, long lines of white like jagged forks of electricity and distorted shades too dark for his liking. The edges of his vision swirled with tints of black and dark blue, lingering gray and misty white…

For a moment the other teen considered his words, the thoughts seemingly turning behind his gleaming eyes, and then he came at him aggressively. Yugi let out a startled yelp that the other devoured easily. A hand wrapped around him and pumped once in a languid movement that made the smaller boy think that maybe he was measuring him rather than attempting to bring him any form of pleasure.

His head spun with distinct uncertainty when his tongue was thrust forcefully into his mouth, the dangerous lingering taste of moonlight bleeding through dense clouds to touch the ground on a cold night, winter and darkness and stars and sky and an endless abyss of risk and fire and exhilaration. His head swam, his heart lurching and jumping into his throat once more. The taste of blood seeped into his mouth around the flavor of the other boy's tongue. His lungs twisted and burned, and then something inside of him snapped.

Violently.

It felt like a dam had broken to pieces inside of his mind. The barrier that had prevented him from reaching the other boy vanished in a splintering pain with a noise akin to glass breaking and glistening, hitting the ground and cutting his skin. He swore his heart took a shard through it, got clipped. It bled into the space between them as desperation and fear and shattered reality, splinters of horror and pain and darkness swept through him. First his mind and then his being and then it burned. Something sizzled beneath his skin and ate at his conscious, seared through his being and left him wanting to scream.

A strangled noise left one of them, though Yugi was unsure which of them had made it, if it was him or the other boy. But he hardly cared now as his mind started to splinter off into different directions. It hurt but it was so solely satisfying all at once, the way his mind twisted and writhed with the familiarity of something that he had never experienced before. It felt like something was tearing him open and shoving his distorted insides out. It clawed and ripped and shredded and yet it didn't hurt. It was pleasurable to the core where he could feel himself bleeding into the other boy…

Vaguely he recognized the action of his hips moving, thrusting maybe. He knew that the grip around him had tightened, that he was being forced further against the wall, to the point that his spine was arched and curved. His mind scrambled for knowledge of what to do other than breathe roughly, raggedly, moaning and panting into the other boy's greedy mouth. Fucking hell…

The other boy chuckled softly, the noise making his tongue vibrate and sending another wave of euphoria through him before he pulled away suddenly. His face pressed into his shoulder, tantalizingly warm where his cheek softly brushed his neck. Yugi impulsively reached out to grasp at his shoulders with fingers that dug into his flesh, trying desperately to reach the bone. He moaned loudly and swallowed back something akin a strangled scream, a noise he didn't know how to release or make.

Intense, isn't it? the other boy's voice snarled in his mind, burning words with edges like jagged knives and broken glass, reminiscence of the experience that had come over him only moments before. And you thought I would hurt you…

His fingers tightened impossibly, curving and digging harder, sinking into muscle and sinew. His nails dragged at broken flesh and made the other boy growl into his ear, a dull low noise around the pounding of his heart and the seemingly synchronized beat that came with the other's.

The boy pulled away after a long moment and Yugi whined loudly enough that it made them both cringe. His mind scrambled, unsure of what to do, disconnected and trying to find some kind of way to mend the break as the bother boy stared at him with dilated, confused, detached eyes that were too wide and large. His own gaze caught the red, held it in place, took in the way that pupils had contracted to pinpricks. They grew into tiny little black dots among a sea of blood and exotic gems, chips of crimson ice and danger.

Yugi blinked and he mimicked him after a long second before lunging again. For once in his life, the smaller teen couldn't tell where he—his desires, his emotions, his mind, everything that made him himself—ended and the other boy began. It was as if they held a disjointed connection that had formed between them and grown too strong in too short a time. The boy felt like an extension of his own body, joined in different places, awkward places, in clumsy yet powerful ways, hungry and desperate and only partially restrained by something that neither could name.

He moaned loudly, desperation and frustration surging through him as he bucked his hips, seeking any kind of friction he could possibly find. His mind felt strained, dazed. The hand that had been holding him moved to slip his pants and boxers down before shoving him slightly. A vague idea crossed his mind that the other wanted him to become a part of the wall, a permanent attachment of flesh and blood and brick.

He thrust harder and the boy snarled into his mouth, laughter gradually bubbling up beneath it as he pulled away and purred, "Eager much, little game?" before moving his lips to Yugi's face, his cheek, trailing down the side of his jaw. The smaller teen gasped and writhed, whining and trying to find something to work with where the boy seemed ready to stop. He stretched his hands out and wrapped an arm around his neck, clawing at his back as his body went through a tremor and a whimper of desperation escaped him.

His teeth scraped and tore at his jaw and the smaller teen yelped in violent pain. The contact and the force behind it, the way his canines pressed so far into his skin, left his head reeling. He pulled back just enough to smirk as Yugi breathed hard and stared at him with a shocked expression. The look in his eyes, the smug pride and satisfaction, a gleam of cruelty and feral instinct, made him question if maybe the intent behind that bite had been to crush his jawbone.

The thought made his heart pound but he wasn't sure if it was with excitement or terror and his mind supplied him nothing to identify the difference between the two. The adrenaline pumped through him, furthering the disconnection dangerously. His head swam, his stomach twisted, and Yugi struggled to find some kind of ground to stand on.

He breathed hard, realizing belatedly that something was missing. He stared at the other teen and then dragged his eyes away to the ground. He took a moment to realize belatedly why he no longer felt those heated coils in his stomach anymore, the bunched up muscle that had come with his hand.

"Shit."

"Still want to scream? I can make it happen."

Yugi blinked and looked at him for a moment. The remnants of pleasure and adrenaline were fading slowly as he breathed hard and struggled to get a grasp on what was going on. The red-eyed teen had just given him an orgasm…in an alleyway…with his hand…

A small backwards train of thought said that he should be embarrassed but he could only feel a wild amusement overcoming the rest of his emotions. He turned his head and looked at the other boy with a smug expression before moving to pull his pants up again. The other teen's eyes flickered to his clothes and back so quickly that Yugi almost missed it in his peripheral. He watched the red gaze narrow into slits as he took in his current state. The smaller teen didn't know what he had expected, but now that he looked at the other, he recognized in that pissed off expression that he had not gotten it. And some small part of him rejoiced at the thought. He didn't want to give him something that he wanted. At least not before he found some kind of ground between them to work with.

The boy worked with distraction, manipulation. He had pushed at his mind until it bled and left him completely unable to argue. But he had also cut himself in the chaos of it all. His blood had mixed with his and it was clear that the boy had not wanted that. Not completely anyways. He had probably wanted more control over Yugi's thoughts, wanted to be freer to toss through them and abuse and manipulate them, but he'd opened up something he had no idea how to control.

And now, the emotions inside of him lashed out like one massive caged animal because he had no idea what to do. He had tried to weaken him to the point that he could creep into his mind and shuffle through without being caught and he'd managed to trap himself in it. He didn't have a way of escape now.

Yugi smirked at the irritation that crossed through his system with the idea. The other boy was growing angry, bitter, and looked ready to attack him, but he had not moved. It was only his tensed muscles and the way that his breathing had grown ragged and bordered on a snarl that gave him warning and told his curiosity of caution.

"Disappointed again? I mean, it has to be hard running into so much lately," he teased, his mind trying to find something to grasp at to reign in some of his confusion and slow-coming alarm.

He was not sure exactly what he was doing but he would have been lying if he said he didn't like the power that had been placed so precariously in his hands. It was addictive and strange and so beautifully foreign, and it was only made more pronounced with the gleam of hatred in the other boy's eyes. He could have come up with the idea as to why he was so terribly elated. It could have been the many times he had not gotten much of a challenge during games with opponents and smothered the idea of bragging. It could have been just another aspect of his personality he was growing into. But he was almost certain it was the boy's frustration that made him feel such an intense high at the thought of holding power like this.

"You blame everything on me, hmm?" he hissed, narrowing his eyes into slits and tilting his head, gaze flashing dangerously. Yugi blinked and fought off a shudder; he had never seen something so reflective before in his life. The way his eyes suddenly seemed so much like glass made his breath hitch. He swore in the back of his mind that he could see his own emotions reflected towards him. There was confusion and a hint of lust, tiny specks of surprise and guilt but mostly just smug awareness. There was the humor in his gaze that didn't really hold merit in the heat of such a situation. His face stared back at him, in the center of those dark red orbs. Irises burned around contracted pupils and blazed into his. Yugi's spine begged to release some of the stored tension there in the form of a tremor. "You're not nearly as nice a person as you think you are. If you were, how would I be here?"

Yugi stared at him for a moment and then shook his head slowly, furrowing his brows at the comment. "What?" he finally breathed out, confusion and annoyance finding its way into his voice. "I have nothing to do with you being here."

"You brought me here," he spat, curling his lips back and baring his teeth as he moved their faces within inches of each other. "You did this. The blood on my hands is shared equally on yours. You think yourself a good person? No, you are just as disgusting as the rest. Greedy and ambitious and just as jaded as I am."

"What the hell does that mean? I don't even know you." He blinked at the statement. A small flux of confusion and then vibrant pain surged through him. His chest felt suddenly as if it were caving in. He went to snap at him not to influence him, but then he locked eyes with the other boy. The light in those stunning red eyes was of pure laughter and Yugi found himself drowning with the realization that it was all him. These emotions were all his and the other boy had not influenced them in any way. "What are you laughing at?"

"You. How naïve and slow and pathetic you are."

"Cute. So you're lashing out because you didn't get your way. And you think you're above me? Right. Think again."

"Oh no, do not mistake yourself, Yugi. I am well aware that I am not above you. But I am not beneath you either. Hell, I am not even level with you yet." His lips pulled up into a wide smirk, moving to show off his sharp canines and dangerous teeth, the same mouth that had threatened to crush his jawbone only moments before. "Ah, yes, see, now you are beginning to understand it."

"Fine, if you want to do something, then do it. Hurt me. Lash out. Punch and kick and tear into me until I bleed," Yugi stated calmly, stepping forward and finding himself nearly drowning with sudden pleasure as he breathed in the other boy's exhale. "Make me bleed."

The other boy blinked slowly and narrowed his eyes further. His gaze grew to a mere sliver of red among black lashes and dark shadows and pupils that seemed to absorb the vast darkness cast upon them. Yugi watched them grow large and full once more, completely distorted like stars in the sky. The smaller teen stared at him, waiting, but the other failed to move. He still stood close enough that they were sharing mingled breaths. He could feel him studying him, taking notes as if he was attempting to find some kind of answer. It was like maybe he assumed biding his time would give him what he sought from this encounter, this argument.

"Are you scared?" the smaller boy asked quietly, moving to cross his arms. He froze in place when the other teen bared his teeth as if he expected him to lash out. Something kept him from doing so himself but he expected Yugi to. The smaller teen's head spun for a moment, dizzy and tilting on its axis. He struggled to find the answers to so many questions that were suddenly buzzing in his head. The hatred that had settled in his veins, that was tearing at his insides and making him so angry, was not his. It belonged completely to the boy, and yet he did not seem even slightly inclined towards attacking him.

He remained completely frozen before him. Yugi had a small split second of fear that he was not even breathing anymore. The hatred curled and spread and warmed his blood to the point that he thought it was boiling in his veins. It took center in his mind and darkened his thoughts enough to make him want to scream. But he held himself as still as the other boy, studying like the red gaze did with him. He tried to find something that could possibly make the other boy's actions logical to him. The boy searched for something he had no idea the identity of. All he was doing was spreading that emotion through him now, however. He was attempting to manipulate and bite and leave him suddenly furious.

"What the hell is holding you back?" he finally snarled, clenching his jaw. "Go ahead and attack me. I won't fight back. I'm not going to hurt you. Do it. Do something. Carve your way through my skin if you want to. Just do something besides stand there and stare at me."

The hatred sparked and sizzled and then gave way to surprise for a single split second before it settled into the pit of his stomach, the back of his mind, coiling tightly like a snake preparing to strike. He remained still, watching the way that the other boy stared at him in response and refused to speak, and both of them glared at each other.

"What do you want with me? I don't have anything you could possibly need. And it's not like I am inclined to give you anything anyways. You fucking licked my face and pretty much sexually assaulted me."

"Did you argue? Did you breathe a word of argument? No."

Yugi opened his mouth to snap at him that he had but then backpedaled immediately. This fight would get him nowhere, no matter the amount of power he put into it in retaliation. The boy seemed prepared to deal with anything he threw at him. He seemed to enjoy the aspect of argument over conversation. And the smaller teen was starting to recognize something in those cruel bloodied eyes.

He liked the arguments because that was conversation for him. He liked the manipulation because it felt real for him. He had fun digging into his emotions because they became his to play with. He enjoyed his anger because it justified his hatred. And he was not lashing out because to him Yugi was not a threat.

Now that was something that he knew to worry about. It was questionable whether it would be a good thing or not that he failed to see him as a threat. He had no idea if it was a blessing or a curse. If he was to push too far, it would be all too easy for the other boy to tear his throat out. He had the strength. He had the speed. It was no question of if he would do it if he truly wanted. The boy in front of him would not hesitate at all. If he wasn't thought a threat to the other boy, there was hardly anything he could do to keep the boy from doing something to him.

Yet, still here, even in this moment, he was not doing anything.

He had the perfect opportunity. He had already said he wouldn't fight him. And this boy was not stupid. He knew that Yugi meant the statement. He would not touch him if he lashed out physically. He would trade blows with him verbally, mentally, but not physically. He couldn't stand the idea of bruising the other teen's beautiful skin or drawing his blood.

So why did he hesitate?

Yugi ground his teeth together and his frustration spiked and caused him to tremble for a split second. The red eyes took in the motion with pure amusement but the smaller boy couldn't shake the anger that came with that simple idea. And how was he supposed to fight someone who lived for this kind of thing? If he told him off, he would get a laugh. If he threatened him, he was pretty sure he would get something he didn't want in response. He had no way of knowing how to navigate and this entire situation was one massive time bomb waiting for him to make the wrong move.

"Not a threat?" the other boy laughed cynically before baring his teeth. He stepped close enough that they were nearly touching again, only centimeters of open cold air between them now. "You? You are not a threat? Are you serious, you stupid boy? You are the only threat. You have something of mine that I want back. I want it back, Yugi."

"What of yours do I have?" he asked slowly. He fought back some of the anger that clouded his senses, forcing it away in order to be able to stare at him, searching his bleeding eyes. He focused on the task of trying to manipulate himself into confusion, a false sense of calm. "What do I need to give back to make you leave me alone?"

"Leave you alone? Oh no, even if I get it back, there is no 'leaving you alone'. I am stuck with you. You brought me here and now I am stuck with you."

"What the hell do you even mean?" he snapped, shaking his head with a scowl. He furrowed his brows and set his jaw in frustration before blinking hard. He tried to scatter some of the jumbled emotion that was burning in the pit of his stomach. "I didn't bring you here. I don't even know you!"

That twist of confusion and pain spiked through him once more with enough force to shake off any of the other emotions that may have been in the center of his mind. He reached up to feel himself, run his fingers over his clothes. He brushed the digits over his clothing, his skin, staring at the other boy whose face had twisted into a murderous glower. It felt as if someone had just broken and cracked inside of him. It lingered and bled on his damaged insides, and it hurt like an open, festering wound full of infection and leaving him completely lost as to what was going on.

"Of course you do," he sneered, though his voice sounded slightly hollow and lacked some of the menace it should have held. Yugi's eyes flickered towards him, away from his clothes, regarding him in confusion even as he tried to find some kind of wound on his skin. "You know me."

"I don't," he repeated, heart skipping and constricting painfully, nearly breaking like shards of glass. His knees threatened to buckle with the force of the pain that radiated inside of him in that single moment; he didn't know this boy. This creature, whatever he was. He didn't, he didn't, he didn't. He would have recognized him immediately if he had. And yet the more he tried to think this or speak the words, say that he had no idea who this boy was, the more his heart felt as if it were being incinerated from the inside. The more he bled and his insides screamed as if he were being stabbed. "I…Who are you?"

The other teen's face grew to slowly harbor a look of eventual shock. His eyes widened in confusion and chaotic splinters of black bled into red in large sharp rivulets of darkness. He suddenly looked completely unsure of himself, as if he didn't know how to answer the question and didn't have a single thing that he could force out of his throat. He looked as if he were experiencing the same pain as Yugi felt, as if his insides were being slowly dissected and bleeding beneath the surface of his skin. The smaller teen recognized the wild and feral look that crossed his face the next second. He recognized the way that his eyes glowed around those strange bleeding pupils. His disappearance at the arcade flashed through his mind for a moment. The look he wore now was the very one that had come across him right before he had disappeared as if he had not existed in the first place.

Yugi opened his mouth to stop him, heart pounding violently and jumping against his ribcage painfully. His mind raced with the task of saying something—anything—that could make him stay. He was scared, suddenly, that if he ran away again, he would never be able to find him, that this would be the last time he ever saw him. It was a fear that settled so deeply inside of him that he nearly buckled under the weight of it. The intensity fractured his mind and left his insides screaming, everything inside of him drowning beneath it. But the teen was gone before he could even fathom the task of forcing words out of his mouth.

He swore he saw shadows creeping along the ground, the walls, eating what little light the bricks had to give from where they harbored rays from the streetlight. But mostly he thought he saw a single small pinprick of bright gold in the center of the boy's forehead before he vanished.

Goddamn it.

Tell me how I did with characterization and the style?