Warmth flooded from the golden pyramid pressed flush against the fabric of his shirt, encircling his darkness, shrouding it in light. It seeped into every pore, warming his brittle bones and shedding his cold exoskeleton as the ghost of a smile danced across his lips. His crimson eyes, usually piercing and indifferent, were filled to the brim with affection and endearment as they flitted to the relic puzzle slung snug around his neck. An odd warmth blossomed in his stomach and traveled to his chest as he felt his aibou yank their mind link playfully. It ceased to amaze Yami how utterly innocent his hikari was, despite all the boy had experienced. With all Yugi had been through, you'd have thought the color had long drained from his life. You'd have thought his life would be so bland, you couldn't even spot gray within it. No in between. Just black and white, good and bad, fact and fiction, speech and action, love and hate, filled with paradoxes that forever lacked any in between. But, instead, quite the opposite rang true. The pharaoh thought his little light was far from black, far from white. He believed the little one was a rainbow.

Sometimes, he was red. When his temper flared, when he was being particularly stubborn or feisty, the scarlet edging of his hair.

He could also represent orange. His bubbly enthusiasm, bright encouragement, extroverted friendliness.

Yellow was present as well. The light's giddy felicity, his shining attitude, his lightning bolt shaped bangs.

He resembled green, too. The hikari's definite generosity, his nurturing aura, but never envy or jealousy.

He could be blue. Wise and calm, the boldness of his school uniform, his undeniable tranquility and trust.

He could remind of purple. His amethyst irises, his selflessness, creative ideas.

Even pink was applicable. His cheeks stained in embarrassment, his compassion, sweet understanding.

But his hikari didn't just encompass the basic hues. He was everything. Every variation possible. Crimson, scarlet, maroon, tangerine, peach, amber, goldenrod, dandelion, lemon, forest, emerald, seafoam, indigo, cobalt, cerulean, orchid, plum, lavender, fuchsia, magenta, rose. The palette of colors his little light possessed brought a warm smile upon his lips. It should probably have made him envious since none of those shades were present in his personality. He was only black. White. Maybe gray. The occasional brown.

He was his hikari's yami. He was the yang to the ying. The dark to the light. The strong to the weak. The dull to the vibrant. They balanced each other's extremes, and there was a subtle beauty to it. They just seemed to click. Fit, like the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle itself.

He never felt envious of the lack of vibrance. Honestly, he figured he wouldn't know what to do with such exuberance. He preferred the solidity and safety of black and white. Gray and brown even pushed the envelope sometimes. But, he was grateful for the experience of color. Until Yugi, he'd been color blind, and now, he knew the joy of diversity of color, shown through special acts such as the one the yami and hikari were sharing just now. Yami decided Yugi was currently yellow-orange.

Rotating the pyramid in his graceful fingers, the pharaoh silently grasped the thread sewn between their souls and pulled back, eliciting an, only able to be described as, adorable giggle from the other end. Yami just beamed brighter.

/I'll be home soon, Yami! Chemistry is almost over. I'll be home in around twenty-five minutes!/ Yugi's enthusiasm and giddiness seemed to travel through the link as Yami immediately brightened at the statements. He always looked forward to seeing his little light at the cessation of a school day. It made the couple of colors he had come into play.

/Alright, aibou, but be careful./ Even though Yami did look forward to the arrival of Yugi, his protectiveness usually got the best of him. The pharaoh sometimes even felt inclined enough to want to walk home with his hikari. But, he settled with just airing his concern, for now.

/Hai, promise, Yami! I'll be alright. Be home soon!/ Yugi laughed in a way that Yami wasn't quite sure of as he closed off the link, for a reason unknown to his darkness. As if on cue, Yugi responded to his confusion. Only slightly parting the link, he explained, /I've still got...hmm...15 minutes of chem left and I'll get a zero on this assignment if I don't finish in time. The link'll only distract me./ The pharaoh nodded in understanding. The hikari must've felt the change in his yami's mental state at the close of the link, though, so the light opened it once more. Yami was grateful for that. He thrived on the waves of warmth that the hikari emitted. The warmth was much stronger in person, but he settled for the amount in the link than no link at all.

Nearly twenty minutes later, basking in the sunlight and warmth of his hikari, Yami suddenly felt frozen. Worse than chilled. Worse than cold. Not frigid. Frozen. As the pharaoh bolted upright, a chill raced down his spine and his face became pallid. His balled fists were clenched so tightly, his knuckles had turned white. A prying hand crept and leapt at his gut, churning it so violently that his teeth chattered and tremors wracked his body. Fear laced his insides as the warmth that had previously been tangible in the link disappeared completely. The events unfolding around him suddenly seemed to fade away into the depths of his mind, being replaced with the only plea he could utter, think, feel, say, mutter, spew, murmur, mewl into the unforgiving, cold air constricting his throat. Yugi.

/Aibou! Little one! What's wrong?! Please, tell me what's wrong?!/ the pharaoh cried out desperately as he ran out of the game shop's entrance, door bell chiming cheerily albeit the fear gripping and strangling him. The darkness canted his head frantically, in an attempt to see what, he wasn't sure. Rivulets of pouring rainwater blurred his vision as he tried perpetually to gain sight of his preserving light. /Yugi! What's happening?! Where are you, little one?! PLEASE. ANSWER ME, AIBOU!/ All the while, all Yami heard was his ragged breath heaving, felt his tipsy mind spinning until he heard the fumbling and faltering breaths of his hikari. And then, like a flash of lightning, for a split second, he witnessed the mental image of his beloved aibou. Crippled. Battered. Broken. Heaving. Sobbing. Groping. Gasping. Crying. Calling. Clawing. Hurting. Dying in the down pour. And then, the mantra returned, full-force, reverberating distortedly in his ears, full of the pattering sound of soothing rain touching unfeeling ground. Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi...