Ehck, the ending is kind of rushed, sorry for that, also sorry for the long no update period :p Hope you enjoy anyway.

Warnings: Yaoi, err, I'm not sure what else? Violence, I guess.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have ever owned Yu-Gi-Oh even though that would be totally awesome.

-Start Chapter 2-

The three boys found themselves at a small cafe near the Kame Game Shop. It had a light atmosphere about it that comforted the three boys. A small statue of an angel sat in the center of the table, the words Hikari Wish Cafe below it. A silence flitted over them as once again another waitress was sent away from their table.

"So," Yuugi shifted in his seat awkwardly, looking across the table at the two boys. "You said you may know something?" he asked, directing the question at the blonde haired boy.

Malik nodded in answer, gesturing with his head at the puzzle, "You both have Millennium Items, as do I," he held up the rod slightly. "I don't know too much about it, my sister tried her best to keep me from learning about them. It didn't stop me from getting my hands on one though," he sighed. "Though what she was doing was for my sake."

"What do you mean?"

A frown tugged at the corners of his lips, "Have either of you had any recent blackouts?" he fiddled with the golden rod.

Yuugi watched as green eyes widened in shock. He, himself, frowned. "I don't know if counts," he started. "But I had a blackout after, ah... getting taught a lesson, but I'm sure it was just because I passed out," he said sheepishly, scratching at the bandage on his cheek. Before they could question about the lesson, he faced Ryou, "What about you?"

Ryou visibly flinched and nodded his head, looking out the window of the cafe. Pale hands twisted together nervously and he sighed. "I... yeah, I have."

Malik frowned, "Something bad happened, huh?" He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You're not alone," he assured and turned his attention back to Yuugi. "Are you sure you just passed out?"

Yuugi frowned. No, he wasn't sure he had just passed out, but he hadn't really thought about it. "It's only happened once," he murmured, "So..."

Malik leaned his elbow on the table and his cheek in the palm of his hand. "The blackouts should have started sometime after you gained, or completed, the Millennium Puzzle," he explained.

That made Yuugi freeze. There was a beat and he unconsciously gripped the puzzle. When he had his blackout... he had just finished the puzzle. He placed the piece in it's slot, and then nothing.

"By the look on your face, something happened," Ryou's soft spoken voice drifted over to him.

A nod.

Malik frowned. "I wish I knew more, but all I know is that the Millennial Items form some kind of bond with a darkness. I only know about the blackouts being a part of it because," a careless smirk made it's way to his face, "they happen to me too."

Bond with a darkness.

The words kept drifting back into Yuugi's head. It was intriguing. He knew the puzzle contained a power, that's how he got his wish. He had friends.

He, Malik, and Ryou had all decided they would meet back at Hikari Wish Cafe after his school day way over. He found out that Malik was home schooled by his sister and Ryou, who had just moved into town, was still getting settled and would be a while before he entered the school.

Though, as of that moment, he was at the breakfast table with his grandpa and the puzzle placed in front of him.

"What? You've really completed the Millennium Puzzle?" Shock was evident in the man's voice. Yuugi simply took another bite of his food while his grandpa picked the puzzle up, examining it closely. "Unbelievable! Since it was discovered this century, not one person has been able to solve it!" he exclaimed in amazement.

He then reached over and placed a hand on Yuugi's forehead, causing the boy to look up in surprise. "Grandpa?"

"Have you changed at all? Like you're suddenly stronger or smarter?" he inquired.

Besides the possible blackout that had occurred, he didn't really feel all that different.

Okay, that wasn't completely true. Sometimes he felt emotions that weren't his. Malik said that it might have to do with the bond, but he didn't want to worry his grandpa with that.

"Nope," he answered. "Why?"

"Look," he showed him the puzzle. "The glyphs carved in the case. Thou who completes me will receive my dark knowledge and power."

"Oh yea!" Yuugi said happily. "My wish came true! I made some friends!" Even if the puzzle did have some dark power to go along with it, it helped him make friends. Something that did that couldn't be all that bad, could it?

He couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

"Friends?" his grandpa mumbled in curiosity, but Yuugi was still too giddy to even comprehend that his grandpa was muttering to himself.

The bell rang and Yuugi walked past Jounouchi's desk as he yawned and stretched.

"Hey, Yuugi," Jounouchi greeted the small boy. "Are you headed anywhere after school?" Before Yuugi could answer him to tell him that he did in fact have plans, he continued to speak. "We should go to that Burger World, I heard they have great ham burgers."

That actually sounded really tempting, Yuugi loved burgers. And he had heard the same thing. He wanted to try them, but he was to meet Malik and Ryou at Hikari Wish Cafe.

Maybe he could introduce them to Jounouchi and convince them to go to Burger World too!

With that plan in mind, he went to reply, but was cut off by Honda.

"Wait a minute, you guys," they both turned to the stiff standing boy.

"Oh," Jounouchi's voice already sounded taunting. "The one who failed to become a first year president, and instead becoming a janitor, Honda-kun," he smirked.

Honda wasn't fazed until the janitor comment was made. "Not janitor! Beautification Club!" he protested, irked that the blonde kept purposely mixing the two up. "Hey!" he added. "You two know stopping on the way home is against school rules!"

Yuugi blushed lightly at that, he was planning on stopping somewhere either way.

Almost instantly, Miho joined in on the conversation. "I want to check out Burger World!" she said excitedly.

"Let's go!" Honda's mind was instantly changed.

"Hey you.." Jounouchi grumbled.

"Hold on, everyone..." Attention was turned to Anzu, who had a worried expression on her face. "Did you just say Burger Word?"

"Anzu, want to go too?" Yuugi offered, getting excited at the thought of having all of his new friends together at once.

"Don't joke!" Anzu suddenly shouted. "I heard that restaurant's food was terrible!" She flailed her arms, emphasizing the point. "It's true! I heard people became sick on the grand opening day!" The group could only stare with shocked expressions. "You definitely should not go!" she tried to pseud them. She faltered for a moment and regained her stance, holding a finger up. "Anyway, didn't sensei say that a villain broke out of prison?"

"Ah! That's right! A big villain! The whole town is in panic!"

And now he was too. Fear crept through him, he had been out lately, what if he was tonight and got caught in the pathway?

But then, as soon as the fear came, came a comforting feeling. He felt safe all of a sudden, like there was someone there, no matter where they were, they would protect him.

Could it be the darkness?

"What the heck?" Jounouchi looked up at him through narrowed eyes. "You scared? You got no guts!"

Yuugi gave him a small smile. "No," he answered truthfully, not anymore.

He felt protected.

"But you know, Yuugi," Jounouchi pulled the boy down a bit. "hasn't Anzu been acting weird lately?" he asked.

Yuugi became thoughtful. "Yea, it's been a while since we've walked home together," he mumbled more to himself then Jounouchi.

"Could it be..." Jounouchi leaned forward. "That girl, Anzu, is doing... dating for pay?" he asked.

Yuugi instantly flushed red and went to deny any such notion that his friend could be doing such a thing, but Honda beat him to it. "What are you saying?! Our school doesn't have people like that!"

"Yea! Anzu would never do something like that!" he chipped in.

Jounouchi smirked at Yuugi, "Why so upset? Your face is all red, Yuugi. Could it be that you..." he trailed off, leaving Yuugi to finish in the rest of the sentence silently.

"N-No that's not it!" He felt angry at such a insinuation, but once again it wasn't his own. Well, he still felt embarrassed about it, but not angry. He felt as though he should be freaking out more about the sudden emotions that weren't even his, but...

He just felt calm about them.

"Ah, Yuugi-kun, you're here," Yuugi walked to the table where Malik and Ryou were at.

He had tried to convince Jounouchi and Honda to come along with him, but since Miho was gone, Honda stuck to the rules and Jounouchi said he heard the cafe was super girly and didn't want to go.

"Hello," he greeted the two boys, sliding into a chair.

"How was your day?" Ryou asked politely, sipping something through a straw.

Yuugi nodded. "It was good," he answered with a shrug, and then shifted in his seat. "Did you two hear about the criminal that escaped?" he questioned, leaning forward slightly. "It scared me at first, but then..." he trailed off.

Malik nodded and Ryou let out a laugh, his shoulders shaking and a bright smile on his face. "I heard, alright," he answered cheerfully, causing the other two boys to frown. Seeing this, he blushed lightly. "Maybe I should explain myself," he coughed into his fist. "The blackouts that I have? They... when I wake up, I usually find something in a room that wasn't there before. Sometimes it looks expensive, and then I found it was something that had been recently stolen," he explained.

His gaze found the table. "When I heard about the criminal escaping and already breaking into a safe, I was just relieved that it wasn't me."

"Either way, it wasn't you," Malik assured."It may have been your body, but it wasn't you."

Ryou wrapped his thin arms around himself. "I just... I don't get why whoever this darkness is has to take over my body to be able to steal and hurt people," his lips quivered and his bangs covered his eyes, but didn't block the steady stream of tears rolling down his cheeks.

Before either Malik or Yuugi knew what they were doing, they had both gotten up, pulled Ryou up and wrapped the boy in a hug, causing many people in the cafe to look over, gain odd looks and a few even aww'd at them.

Ryou was the first to pull away, rubbing at this tear stained cheeks, "I- I'm just glad I don't have to go through it by myself anymore," he let out a little hiccup.

Malik wrapped an arm around the boy, "Nope, now you got two people who know who you're going through!"

Yuugi may have had only one blackout but he wanted to be there for the white haired boy. It seemed like they both went through some bad things because of the darkness of their Millennium Items, and he would do whatever he could to be there for them!

"Also, it's so hard I can't even clear the first level!" Jounouchi was complaining about a new video game he had played. "You guys should try it too.

Yuugi didn't have the heart to tell him that he had already played and beaten the game, so he just lightly chirped, "Okay!"

"Sounds fun!" Miho added in cheerfully. "Miho wants to go too!"

Anzu shot the girl a sharp look, "Miho."

A pause.

Then Miho let out a sheepish sigh. "Ah... that's right. Sorry, I can't today," she apologized as Anzu started walking out the door.

"We're going to pretty busy for a while, so don't tempt us," she said, eyes narrowed. "So, let's go Miho," she demanded.

Miho nodded and went after her, her hair flying behind her. "See you!" she shouted and left the room with the taller girl.

"H-huh? Miho-chan!" Honda gazed after her, confused.

"So Miho became her fellow date for hire?" Jounouchi rested his cheek on his palm, a smirk played at his lips. "What a horrible world it is becoming."

Honda was instantly on him about it, "J-Jounouchi!" his fists clenched together. "You bastard! Miho-chan wouldn't do that! Take it back!" he demanded angrily. "Or else I will cut your guts out here!"

"Yeah, Jounouchi, that's pretty rude!" Yuugi chipped in, much more calm about it than yesterday, as if just a calming presence was all wrapped around him.

Jounouchi tched and turned to him. "You guys are naïve, didn't you know? Which lunch bentou did you think Anzu brought today? It's the top level stamina bentou!" he said passionately. "Can you believe it?" His face faltered. "The Stami-Ben that we've never eaten before! In other words, she must have money!"

Yuugi hummed in reply, he couldn't help but notice the array of emotions that scattered across Honda's face before seemingly making his mind up about something.

"Grandpa?" Yuugi rubbed his eye sleepily as he made his way downstairs. A loud thump had startled him awake and he was worried that his grandpa had slept walk into the stop or had some dream that made him want to go looking for a game and gotten hurt.

He walked into the shop and flicked the flashlight on, his hands instantly dropped to his sides as a figure was bent over one of the Egyptian games they had. He could see long white hair and mumbled out, "Ryou?"

The figure stopped shifting through the games and spun around, an innocent smile on is face that Yuugi saw right though. "Yuugi..."

That wasn't Ryou.

Yuugi stiffened and nearly fell to the ground. "Y-you, who are you?" he demanded, backing away slightly.

A sadistic smile found it's way the boy's face. "So you saw through me, huh. Figures, you're another Hikari, too bad you couldn't simply stay naïve," he glided toward Yuugi, getting dangerously close. "Mine as well get my business over with. Stay away from my Hikari, do you understand me, midget? He doesn't need friends."

At that, an anger bubbled inside of Yuugi.

"Obviously he does!" he snapped, a scowl across his face. "Having to deal with someone like you taking over his body! You can't keep us away! He does need us! He needs someone to be able to understand!"

A look of pure fury enveloped the pale face in front of him and a snarl escaped his lips as he reached forward, hands pursed but before he could even attempt to wrap his hands around Yuugi's neck, he pulled back, seemingly burned.

Another growl surfaced and the boy turned and raced out of the shop.

Yuugi just watched him go, his hands finding their way to his neck, he had almost been choked, it felt unreal.

"Yamino Amun!" a high pitched scream ran through out the house.

Yamino, Yami, let out a groan and fell back on his bed, maybe if he just ignored her she would go away.

It was his aunt Chika, she was extremely annoying and dead set on him finally finishing he the puzzle, his so called destiny and setting down with a nice girl of her choosing.

Of course, he didn't have to tell her that he had already finished the puzzle, he hadn't told anyone. He didn't want to be bugged about it anymore than he already was.

Yami fell back onto the bed, staring up against the ceiling and his arms sprawled out on either side of him. His thoughts drifted to the little light he had protected. He, of course, had no training like Yami to put up barriers so his emotions wouldn't leak through the bond.

Yami had found that Yuugi was an extremely emotional person, not in the sense of crying over the littlest things, but that he wasn't afraid to show his emotions, to feel them.

That led to Yami feeling frightened or embarrassed at random times of the day. Though, there were times that he would accidentally let a few emotions slip. Like when his blonde friend insinuated that Yuugi was a prostitute's client. That had made him pretty mad.

Yami sighed and sat up, cross legged on the bed. He wondered what the boy was doing. Upon looking at the clock on the bedside table, he realized he should still be in school, about to get out.

Yami leaned against the headboard and let his eyes go hazy and vision blurred. He disliked the way he got to the small boy, but it was better than having to be in a certain proximity, if that were it he would never be able to check on him or protect him when needed.

When his vision cleared again he was in a classroom, standing next to Yuugi. A frown made it's way to his face and he concentrated, making himself invisible to even Yuugi. He wasn't sure whether to reveal he was there to the small boy yet or not.

"Sorry, I'm busy today, let's go Miho!" the brown haired boy, Honda if he remembered correctly, said to the blonde and then turned to a girl to finish his statement.

A girl with bluish colored hair nodded in agreement. "Yea!" she chirped and her, Honda, and another girl with short brown hair left the room.

"Hey..." Yami's focus immediately turned to Yuugi as be began to speak softly. "You're not going to also say that Honda is dating for money too, are you?" he asked tentatively.

Dating for money?

"No, that's still possible. He might be seeing a rich old lady. Obviously," Yami nearly fell over at the blonde's answer.

Yuugi's small hands clenched into fists as he leaned forward his friend, flabbergasted, "Man! Can't you think more seriously! Those three are acting strangely!"

"Speaking of acting strangely, I don't think I should tell Ryou what happened at the game shop last night..." Yami felt dread wash over him as Yuugi's hand unwittingly made it's way toward his neck.

What had happened last night and why wasn't he aware of it?

"Still... that was strange, he could have hurt me, but then backed away as if he had been burned."

That sent panic surging through his body and he flinched when he saw Yuugi stiffen up and look around anxiously.

He had to keep a better check on his emotions.

Still...

Could Yuugi have encountered another Yami? He had learned that other Yami's can't touch another's Hikari if they mean harm by it.

So he had meant harm, which didn't calm the tri-haired teen down any.

At least Yuugi was safe.

The panic Yami felt dissipated when he found himself watching the two friends trail the three that had left the classroom first. That panic was replaced by amusement as he followed them to a corner and they peered around.

"So, Operation Trailing, commence!" Jounouchi said determinedly.

The two boys ran after them and quickly hid behind a giant stuffed bear when the girl with short brown hair shot a sharp look in their direction.

"That was close!" Yuugi squeaked out.

"She can be pretty smart!" Jounouchi muttered. "Okay, let's go!"

The two ran and turned corners before halting to a sudden stop as the three walked inside that new fast food place, Burger World. They slowly made their way to the automatic door and it opened, revealing the three suspicious friends.

"Welcome!" they shouted enthusiastically. "Welcome to Burger World..." they trailed off, faltering when they saw exactly who was at the door.

"Ah... Anzu..."

So that's what the girl's name was!

"Y-You guys! What are you doing here?"

"W-what are you saying!" Honda spun around, sweat tricked down his temple, "Can't you tell? It's a part time job! Look as we sweat beautifully at work!"

Yami couldn't help but sigh at that, what kind of people did his Aibou associate himself with? Though, he couldn't get too mad, after all, Honda had helped his Aibou with the bully.

He then felt a sudden tug and fell forward before catching himself and hurrying after Yuugi, who had been seated at one of the booths near a window.

"Hey... Jounouchi-kun, I think we embarrassed them by coming here. Anzu seems mad," Yuugi looked around nervously and Yami leaned against the booth, crossing his arms.

"Heh. Serves her right," Jounouchi said, bored. "Their fault for keep this secret."

"But, she's so cute... Anzu in her costume..."

Yami whirled around in surprise and watched Yuugi's face bloom red. Annoyance crept through him and he watched the blush fade away, replaced by a more confused look.

"Ah... I feel annoyed. It's not me... The darkness Malik talked about... I wonder why he's annoyed... I wish there was someway to talk to him... so I could help maybe."

Yami felt his own face heat up at that and he quickly replaced the barrier around his mind, he had to be careful about the emotions he let slip through.

Though, he couldn't help but feel happy that even though Yuugi didn't know him, he still thought of him.

Which led him to another question, how did Yuugi know about their being a darkness and who was this Malik person. How did this Malik person know?

His thoughts were once again interrupted by Anzu, whom he now felt a slight annoyance toward, walked up to their table and all but slammed the burgers down. "Thanks for waiting."

"Anzu."

Anzu twirled the ketchup bottle in her hand, a dark look passed across her face, "At this restaurant, let me put plenty of ketchup on your burger for you," she began writing a message on the burgers. "I'll never forgive if you blab."

He had to admit, the girl was kind of scary.

"Anzu..." Yuugi repeated in a more frightened tone.

"Anzu, wait a minute!" Jounouchi stopped her.

Anzu placed a hand on her hip and paused. "Well, now that you know about my job, I won't keep this hidden any longer, I'm saving money. When I graduate I'm going to America," she looked back at the two boys,a dreamy smile dancing on her lips.

"America?"

"I'm going to study dance in New York," she explained. "It's my dream," she winked at them. "You better not laugh."

It was a big dream, but from the little he'd seen of her and through how Yuugi felt about this, he had a feeling that she could do it. That she would do it.

"I won't laugh!" Yuugi looked back at his blonde friend. "Right, Jounouchi-kun?"

"Yeah!" Jounouchi agreed, smirking. "Don't worry Anzu, we're not going to blab," he assured. "If I do blab, I'll buy you ten thousand of these burgers," he pointed to them and frowned. "But you know, how can this shop sell hamburgers with nothing but ketchup?" he complained. "What a cruel shop!"

"Relax!" Anzu walked away, waving, "It's on me!"

As soon as she was gone, Yuugi turned back to the burgers, eyes shining and immediately grabbed onto one, biting into it. He let out a hum and Yami made a mental note that if he ever needed to bribe Yuugi, it could just possibly be with hamburgers,

Jounouchi took a few bites of his before looking up as someone walked through the door. "Hey! Look Yuugi! Something appears to be happening."

Without warning Jounouchi got up, grabbed onto Yuugi and began leading the other boy to where the three workers turned the corner.

"Spying again, Aibou?" Yami muttered to himself, chuckling and shaking his head.

"This seems to be the focal point of the break ins," the man in the suit was explaining to the manager of the restaurant. "So I'm searching the area."

"U-Um, what does the criminal look like?"

The man held up a picture and Yami walked around to get a better look of it. It showed a man with purple and green spiked hair impassively looking at the camera.

The group of friends all found themselves peering around the corner, looking at the customers and once again, Yami found himself amused.

He felt like it must have been some kind of record for him, to be so amused all in one day. Most of the time he just felt annoyed or angry. With all of his lessons at home and all the stress put on his because of the private school he was forced to attend.

Yami watched as Anzu picked up a basket full of toy cars and let them loose on the floor, causing customers to stop what they were doing and look down, it also gave them a reason to go looking under tables.

He had to admit, it was clever.

"Wow..." Yuugi muttered, watching his friends go look at people's legs, "Everyone's so brave..."

"I wish I could be like that."

Yami frowned at that, his Aibou deserved more credit than that. If anyone else were in the position he was in regarding the puzzles and dark power would have been freaking out, but there he was. Calm and collected and even embracing it!

"What are you doing, you bitch?" A man shouted and Yami looked over to the scene. Anzu stood at the table and the manager walked over to the two.

"S-Sorry Mr. Customer, but we have a situation," he said loudly.

"Don't give me that! Messing with a man's resting time, what are you thinking?" he demanded angrily. The detective had found his way over to the small group that had gathered, "D-Detective?"

Shocked whispers sprung around the fast food place a the announcement of there being a detective. The detective looked around, a tight frown on his face. "Excuse me, everyone, it's probable that an escaped convict is in this shop, we have to check you legs," he explained. "The culprit should have a bruise on his calf where a guard hit him."

People began speaking all at once, shouting from all different directions and asking questions all directed at the detective.

"Mr. Cop, is there no other clue about the criminal?"

"Yea," the detective sighed and opened his police notebook, "in prison he was once admitted to the hospital. He had an allergic reaction to eggs," he answered.

"Allergy to eggs?" Anzu murmured and Yami could practically see the wheels turning in her head as she straightened up. "Oh, if that's true, then," she smirked. "if the culprit is here we'll know right away!" she smiled cheerfully as everyone turned to look at her. "Because our hamburger buns have plenty of egg in them!"

Yami gazed around the building, his eyes landing on a man who looked pale and began sweating. The detective, who had obviously noticed too, walked over to him. When questioned, the man stood up with a should of, "Shut up! Move!" as he tried to run away.

The detective caught him easily and the man's sunglasses and hat fell off, revealing the criminal from the picture. "Tasaki Tetsu, you're under arrest!"

"First call an ambulance!" Tetsu struggled against the grip he was in. "Please! Hurry and call an ambulance! I'm extremely weak against eggs!"

Anzu's smirk returned to her face. "Fool, it was a lie."

"What?" Tetsu exclaimed, turning to her.

Anzu nonchalantly shrugged, "Our buns are one hundred percent wheat flour," Yami silently applauded her, she had came up with that at such quick notice.

Tetsu once again tried to get away, but only proceeded in knocking the Burger World manager to the ground along with himself and the detective. Yami's eyes widened when the store's manager's calf was revealed. A large, purple colored bruise adorned his leg.

The detective grabbed onto Tetsu and attempted to pull him backward, but Tetsu grabbed onto the green shit and it tore. Yami stiffened at the large spider tattoo on his back.

"T-This tattoo!"

No.

Yami could only stare, shocked, at spider. His stomach churned painfully and a frightened gasp came from beside him, but he couldn't bring himself to replace his mind barriers. He could only stare at the spider.

If it was what he thought it was...

Yuugi had to get out of there.

"The yellow spider Jirou!"

Jirou moved quickly and then he had the gun that Tetsu had apparently brought with him and he took Anzu, gun pointed at her temple and hand over her mouth. "If you move, she's dead!"

Jirou's eyes wandered to Yuugi, it was only for a moment, but Yami had caught it. His fears were becoming realized. It could have been just a coincidence though, he prayed it was just coincidence. He didn't want Yuugi to be caught up in what Jirou was a part of.

"Yeah, I changed my face with surgery and blended in with the crowd." Jirou spoke again. "Tetsu the Hedgehog, I never thought you would come to this restaurant. Even in disguise I could recognize you with a glance! I was able to tell the places you were going to rob..."

Yami jumped at the sound of the man's voice and he looked down at Yuugi, who was shaking in fear, eyes wide. His heart clenched painfully, he was letting too many emotions slip. Considering there was a gunman, he had to be already frightened, but accompanied with Yami knew...

Yuugi relax just slightly as he calmed his emotions. The boy's eyes softened slightly, what's going on? Why was the darkness so scared? I want to help... But I'm scared too. I'm scared for Anzu...

"Everyone get down!"

Slowly, everyone got to the floor, but Yami stared at Jirou, jaw clenched painfully tight. He had to figure out some way to get Yuugi out of the situation. He could reveal himself to Yuugi, though it might frighten the boy, and persuade him to let him take over. He could then get them out without the risk of Yuugi getting hurt.

In his musings of what do to, he hadn't realized that Jirou had blind folded Anzu and led her to table. He barely noticed that he was being tugged in different directions as Yuugi had been called on to grab him things. He was more worried of getting out of the dangerous situation.

He finally broke out of his thoughts when Anzu stood up suddenly. "Yuugi? Yuugi, right? Stay away!" Anzu stood up and she was instantly slapped.

"Anzu!" Yuugi shouted, overwhelming concern for the girl clenching at him.

Yami let out a low growl, even if Jirou was who he thought he was, he wouldn't let people push around his Aibou's friends like that and the situation was getting more risky by the minute.

So, making a split decision, he stood in front of Yuugi, making him self known and making the boy nearly fall backward.

"Yuugi," Yami spoke to him, wishing he had the chance to do this under better circumstances. "I know you don't know me, you have no reason to trust me, but I beg that you do, just for now," he reached his hand out toward Yuugi.

Yuugi stared, open mouth at Yami, could this be... could he be... the darkness that Malik was talking about? ...He, he looks like me! He's asking me to trust him... I do...

Yami quirked a smile at the thoughts racing through the boy's mind, took a hold of Yuugi's hand, and took his place as the Millennium Puzzle began to glow.

Yami walked up to Jirou, bottle of alcohol in hand, the feeling of darkness coursing through his veins once again and overwhelming his senses. "I brought it, just as you wished," he didn't even know where that had come from, but he didn't dwell on it, instead, he took a seat with a cocky smirk playing on his lips.

"What? I just thought you would want a game partner. It's game time!"

"Oh? A game? I guess I could be interested in a bit," Jirou smirked, then frowned, lowering his voice. "So you're the kid I'm supposed to exterminate?" He rolled his eyes. "This will be over quickly." he took a cigarette into his mouth. "In the past I used to gamble non-stop."

So it is as I thought...

"However, this will be ordinary game. It's a Yami no Game, a game where you life is at stake," he rested his arm casually against the seat.

Jirou scoffed. "Figures, that guy was always rambling on about the Yami no Games. They sound as frightening as Tetsu on the floor over there. So what are the rules?"

"Rule..." Yami's mind formulated a game. "Just one. And that is, of these ten fingers," he held both hands out. "are all not to move except the one that you pick. We both choose our own and then only that finger can be moved. So, which finger do you choose?"

"If that's the case, then of course my index finger," he waved the gun. "The finger used to pull the gun's trigger."

"Okay," Yami held up his thumb. "Then I choose this finger."

"After the game start, you can do as you like, even pull the trigger. So... let's go! Game start!"

Jirou held the gun up, a smirk playing on his face. "Game just started and you're already dead!" he laughed manically. Before he could shoot Yami held up the lighter, flicking the lid open. "Oh, that's right, it hasn't been lit yet."

Yami reached his arm out and lit the cigarette, letting it drop onto his hand and he didn't even end up having to explain what could happen if he moved, then he placed the gun down and snatched the light from his hand.

A smirk lit his face as he took Anzu's wrist and dragged her up and out of the table. He looked over at Jirou. "Do not attempt anything to my Aibou or his friends again or you will get much worse than what will happen to you. Since you've broken the rules, the door of darkness has been revealed, you will receive punishment."

Yuugi buried his head in his arms as he stared at the millennium puzzle in front of him. He had another black out and when he came to the man that had Anzu at gun point was acting like he was on fire or something.

And that guy... The one that looked like him, had he just imagined that? He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He wanted to know so badly! He wanted to the person that Anzu had been gushing about earlier, the one that sounded like him, but was brimming with confidence.

...Though, that was a bit of a shot to his ego, but he found himself not caring, but more intrigued.

He sighed and his eyelids slowly drooped. He didn't even notice the way that the puzzle suddenly started glowing.