Depression sucks.

Yugi didn't go back to his room, but instead made his way for the exit of the museum. While the source of his pain was no longer within sight, he knew all would do once he reached his room was cry and sleep. He may as well do something a little more productive with his time, right? He remembered one of the shop stalls down the market had alcohol. He wasn't fussy on what kind of alcohol, as long as its content was high. He could already hear Jounouchi chewing him out for swapping bad habits, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He wasn't looking to end his life or anything—he just desperately wanted to get himself fucked up to the point of no longer caring.

It felt like an eternity before he reached the stall he wanted, there were so many of them, and he wasn't even sure what the best one was. He was positive there was no good way to ask, "Which has the highest alcohol content for fucking ones' self up quickest", without looking like he needed AA; but who were they to judge when they were the ones selling alcohol?

They're the ones selling it, he reasoned. They've gotta know there's money in selling to alcoholics.

"Hello, sir," a small voice greeted. It was a mostly covered woman whose bright blue eyes were visible beneath her outfit. It was hard to tell how old she was, but then, that was the least of Yugi's concerns. "Are you looking for something particular?"

Yugi shook his head. "Not really. I just want something with a high alcohol level."

There was a deep concern that flashed across her eyes, but that's all it was before she started looking over her selection. Her selection was small, but surprisingly, many of the spirits were relatively high in content. She pulled out a few different kinds and placed them in front of Yugi. "These are all I have, sir."

Yugi really wasn't sure which to choose from, mostly due to the fact that he couldn't really understand the titles and didn't know what flavor was what. All he could really focus on was the content each bottle contained. At least the important part is the one I can understand… He pointed to a short, fat brown bottle with the image of a magician on it, not really observing the image itself, but its proof.

She hesitated briefly, but then quickly wrapped it in a paper bag and told him his total. "Do you know what flavor this is? Or what the name means?"

Candidly, Yugi shook his head. "Honestly, the only thing I really care about right now is how fast I can get drunk."

The clerk was thoughtfully silent as she took the money Yugi handed her. She gracefully bid him a good day and Yugi proceeded to walk away, back to his hotel room.

Arriving back at the museum was a bittersweet moment. Yugi knew what he was about to do was rather foolish, but after everything he'd been through, he felt like this was a rather disappointing ending to his—up until now—pretty pathetic life. He'd confess to anyone who asked that, after really thinking about it, he definitely loved Atem. He was also aware of the strict policy Egypt had on alcohol—which made it incredibly surprising for Yugi that there was a booth that actually carried it. Not that he was complaining; he was certainly glad to have found the bottle that he had.

Even with the stars out in the clear, black sky, it brought little reprieve to Yugi's disposition. He was still very much focused on his main task at hand. Idly, he wondered if Nile was gone and if Drew was busy tinkering with the Millennium Puzzle, trying to figure out its mechanics.

At the thought of the Millennium Puzzle, Yugi's heart tightened, a painful constricting feeling that made him outwardly flinch. He needed to get back to this room before he broke down in front of a closed building and someone saw him making a fool of himself. He walked as fast as he good without actually breaking into a sprint—heaven forbid if he broke that bottle of holy liquid. He slammed the door shut to his apartment none-too-gently, though in his current state of mind he couldn't bring himself to feel remorse; and sighed. It wasn't from relief—far from it, truthfully, but it was a sigh of escape. The puzzle was no longer in his room and he was just hours away from forever leaving Egypt. He had no reason to come back after this. He could just live his life, mediocre as it was, and die.

Yugi kicked off his shoes gracelessly and made his way to the desk in the corner of his room. He felt it would be in his best interest to put the liquor in the fridge, but he felt like he was ready to consume what it had to offer now. He wondered if there was any way to get a cup, but then realized that he had a couple cups. They were actually coffee mugs, but Yugi wasn't looking for anything fancy to drink the alcohol in. As long as it accomplished what he set out to do, he was perfectly content to drink out of whatever. Without much thought, he grabbed a mug, opened the bottle, and poured. It wasn't graceful and it wasn't without making a splash, but it wasn't going any further than into Yugi's mouth.

Hastily, Yugi downed as much of the mug's contents as possible, swallowing before instantly shuddering at the strong taste of honey, cinnamon, and fermented grain. Still, strong as it was, Yugi didn't hesitant to finish what was in the mug before pouring another cup full.

It wasn't long before he was officially drunk. Typically, when Yugi would drink, there would be someone else involved and they would play a drunken round of Duel Monsters or something else. This time, with nobody around him to occupy his attention, he drifted inwards, consumed by his own drunken mind. Emotions shifted consistently, fluidly, but too fast for him to really focus on a single one and make sense of it. He was literally drowning in alcohol, emotions, and a fleeting desire to live. The bottle was empty, but Yugi was pitifully trying to refill his coffee mug with more, growing more frustrated with nothing coming out.

No; not with the bottle, he thought. With this fucking life. With this fucking trip and this fucking nonsense.

Without a single thought, Yugi couldn't find the willpower to stop himself from throwing the bottle at the wall. It was like watching from another screen and seeing his body act so aggressively at something that wasn't hurting him. He wished it were Atem. He wished it were the puzzle. He wished it were his heart. He wanted so badly to take the thing that was hurting him so much, throw it at the wall, and watch it shatter into a million tiny pieces. Too small to put back together. Too small to matter.

He couldn't stop it. The tears rushed so fast down his face. He felt like everything that could feel had been carelessly plopped into a blender and then pureed until it didn't matter. What had been given back to him was just a nameless pile of unmixable colors and feelings. At this point, he didn't know what he wanted—to wake up in his bed at home awakening from a vivid and horrible nightmare? To wake up on a hospital bed with only a few moments to live? To drink himself into a stupor?

He chuckled dryly. Too late. I'm already trashed.

Yugi closed his eyes, choosing to let an outside source choose his upcoming destination. The most honest person you'll ever know is one who's drunk, so… Let's see what drunk me wants…

He saw himself in bed, in his room, but not alone. He could feel warmth and cloth and skin. His head and body were resting against a body—whose? There was a continuous soft rise and fall of a chest, a slow heartbeat that lulled and contented him. He moved his eyes around and saw golden skin, smooth and flawless. It was so breathtaking to look at, that he couldn't bring himself to look away. He sucked in a breath through his teeth when he felt fingertips pushing into his upper arm ever so slightly; something he recognized as more of a loving gesture. Whoever this person was, they clearly loved him and had no intentions of letting him go. It felt wonderful to Yugi and made his heart gush with all sorts of feelings he hadn't felt in such a long time. It also made him feel incredibly scared for his own mental health.

The hand that been clutching his arm began to move, slow and soothing in a small up and down motion that involved its entire being. Everything about the motion was so loving. Yugi felt like his heart was going to burst from the onslaught of emotions he was feeling so intensely. When he felt he was ready to pull himself away from everything, the other arm that had been so lifeless before, began to move. At this point, Yugi was sure this person knew he was awake, because he couldn't stop the flinch from happening when that arm encompassed itself around his neck and buried the hand in his hair. The clutch was firm, but still gentle.

Yugi wanted so badly to speak, but his mouth was not working properly. His lips would not open no matter how hard he tried. All he could he do was breathe through his nose and wait for this person beneath him to say or do something. Eventually, there was a deep inhale from the other person, a soft moan, before finally, "Good morning, Partner."

Even without looking at the face that voice belonged to, Yugi could tell he was smiling as he spoke. Yugi couldn't keep a grip on his emotions anymore—he broke down and started to cry. Unlike before, though, they were uncontrollable tears of happiness. One of the most important people in his life had come back and was holding him so lovingly. He felt the arms around him tense up in panic, and with a swift motion, Yugi was being pulled upright from the torso up, a hand carefully placed around his chin and being forced to look into beautiful purple eyes that shown so candidly with concern. Even with the tears, Yugi was smiling. It shook and was difficult to maintain in his current condition, but he wanted to make sure Atem knew that Yugi was happy to see him. The concern in Atem's eyes shifted into something much different—a relieved look of love at the sight before him. Yugi couldn't imagine the way his face looked right now looked like something anyone would want to stare at; what with his red, puffy eyes that he could barely hold open, his cheeks that were wet from an uncontrollable stream of tears, and his twitching mouth that he couldn't control.

But Atem couldn't stop looking at him with an ever-widening smile. The hand he used to hold Yugi's chin moved up to cup his cheek, while the other hand stayed in its current position, holding lovingly onto Yugi's shoulder. He didn't speak as he moved his face closer to Yugi's and pressed their lips together. It was everything Yugi could have asked for and more. The close contact he could never have when he shared his body was a distant memory as all new ones pushed them aside. No longer would he have to cuddle with his thoughts, desperately wishing for them to physically exist in order to soothe his tattered mind and heart. Everything felt so wonderful. His hands moved on their own accord as he sought purchase from anything that belonged to the man who was kissing him so passionately. He gripped hard, scared that if he let go, it would all become violently ripped from him.

Still, in the throes of passion, a massive shutter occurred that caused them to split from each other in a hurry of confusion and despair. Yugi felt Atem's body being ripped away from him so violently, but his own body was frozen in its current position. All he could do was watch the former Pharaoh's body disintegrate into nothing before his eyes. He didn't understand what was happening or why. He finally had what he had wanted for so long, and now it was being taken from him.

In a matter of minutes, Atem was gone. Even though Yugi still couldn't move, tears managed to fall from his eyes. They didn't stop as the body of Seto appeared in front of him, all malicious and smiling and full of non-remorse for everything he ever did in his life. His ultimate goal of breaking Yugi was complete and he was fully aware of that. There was confirmation in the way Seto laughed at Yugi's pain, completely satisfied that his plan had worked. The former duelist was officially an empty shell of himself, hollowed out. No will to fight. No desire to live. Rock Bottom was a hard and unforgiving place to land on and Yugi felt like all his bones were broken. He was so ready to die, but Seto wasn't going to let him go that easily. No; Seto wanted to make Yugi suffer and stew in his pain. He wanted to relish in the anguish to uplift himself. The crass bastard was so pleased with the cunning of his plan. It was genius.

Unsure of what was going on, Yugi's body began to move. He himself still felt paralyzed but it didn't stop his body from moving. It wasn't graceful and it wasn't without concern, but Yugi knew something was horribly wrong when his feet slipped out from beneath him and his head was quickly falling downwards and colliding with the edge of the desk in the corner of his hotel room. Unable to react or do anything to stop the fall, his head hit squarely and everything went black.