Yami opened his mouth, to tell off an empty space. Wait –what? Spinning in a graceful circle that only a century's old pharaoh and master of shadow powers could pull off; Yami spotted the tiny figure of Yugi getting tinier. Blinking in surprise –Yugi could run that fast? – dark chased the ever frantic light down Domino streets. Sadly for light, the sun was setting and dark had dominion.

Yugi grunted when the chest and shoulders of his clothes rebelled against his forward movement, being yanked roughly back by a powerful hand. Before he even had time to begin panicking, his wrist was clamped into his yami's other powerful grip. *Hmm, judging by the force, it seems Yami is left-handed.* Thought Yugi dazedly, slightly drunk from the rising hysteria in his chest as two crimson orbs of pissed-pissed-PISSED- stared down at him. *How nice to have learned something new about him before I die*

Yami frowned when the fear on Yugi's face changed to a strange, dreamy smile. Not completely sure which he found more off-putting, the pharaoh acted with the authority that did his status justice. "Yugi, why were you letting that slut eat your face back there?"

Yes. Every bit the justice.

Snapping out of his daze, it took the light a moment to understand his dark's blunt question. Eating his face…? Oh! The bond! Well he can't tell him that. Putting his hand to his chest, Yugi felt the open link between him and Findel. It was warm and every bit as terrifying as she was. Only now it was in his chest…

Oh Kami-sama, what the hell had he done?

Hiding his eyes from Yami, Yugi shrugged and tugged at the hand still gripping his wrist. It didn't relent. "She was just being nice to me is all. It's nice to have someone pay attention to you once in a while." More tugging, more not letting go.

Yami frowned more, which really at this point just seemed silly. How much could someone frown? But brow puckering more he did, because this was not the expected response. The expected response was for Yugi to say he was accosted and Yami could Mind Crush the bitch to oblivion. Protecting his light as his duty, and clearly not an act performed out of jealousy. Of which, he was not.

Then he remembered what had irked him the most.

"You said that you were giving yourself to her. What the hell does that mean? What is she? Yugi, what is she to you?"

But Yugi surprised them both by not giving into Yami's demands. He continued to stare down. To be honest Yugi was a little shell shocked. For months he had wanted the dark pharaoh to give him attention, just a sign that he knew he even existed. And now that he had it, he didn't know how to handle it. That Yami was angry when someone else was paying attention to him and was now demanding answers from him like he cared…

Yami's hand had released Yugi's collar and moved to his shoulder and squeezed, the action surprising Yugi into looking into Yami's eyes. They stared back with a mixture of emotions that Yugi could not decipher, but they darkened the crimson to an enticing wine.

And for some reason, that made him angry.

Straightening himself to his full height (his lower back complaining as years of insecure slouching had not prepared it for this foreign position) Yugi glowered into the eyes of the man he loved. When his dark flinched in surprise, mouth dropping in an undignified way, Yugi took a step forward invading Yami's personal space. Faces inches apart, Yugi let Yami see the pain and anger that the months of neglect had seeded in him, choking out, "She's someone that actually gives a damn, and doesn't mind touching me."

And with that, Yugi stepped back and ripped his arm away, going on to break Domino's 200 meter dash record.

Which was a good thing, because the air on the streets had thickened and darkened as Yami began to tremble, recovering from his shock and jumping right into anger.

What the HELL was going on here? Yugi was his light, his bonded partner for life and very clearly one of Yami's biggest fans. Why was he acting this way? Why was he defending that psycho?

Sighing in frustration Yami opened the link to once again track down his light and shake some sense into him. When he got Yugi to see that this girl was nothing but bad news and a terrible way to gain his attention, everything would go back to normal.

But all of a sudden the air cleared and the dying light of the day reigned supreme again for just a tad longer. As its rays crawled ever closer to hide behind the buildings it just managed to catch the shocked and bereft look on a beautiful teen's slack face.

Eyes wider than even his little light's, Yami stared at nothing, the crimson trembling in horror as comprehension dawned. He had been too angry to notice it before.

He couldn't feel anything.

He couldn't feel Yugi at all.

For the first time in years, the link that Yugi had always freely kept open to Yami was gone.

His sweet light was no longer bonded to him.