Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ A Different Kind of You ❯ Fateful Encounter ( Chapter 1 )

Yugi awoke with a groan and immediately reached underneath his creaky, worn out mattress for the bottle of Tylenol there. He pulled it out, careful not to shift too much onto his hips or back. The springs squeaked underneath him as his arm shifted around. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the plastic under his touch and he pulled it out.

He'd had a new customer come last night who'd been particularly rough. He was grateful for the apology he was given after the man had paid him though. It wasn't required to after you finished your business since it was their job to endure that sort of thing, but the few who did were greatly appreciated.

Violet eyes cracked open to look at the bottle so he could line up the stupid arrows and open it. After tossing the lid somewhere on the floor, Yugi tipped the bottle to retrieve the last two pills.

Sighing he thought Guess I'll be going out to the drug store later for more. There's no way I could survive much without these. With another sigh he downed them both, not bothering to get anything to drink.

Yugi might've been in the prostitute `profession' for years now, since he was fifteen and his grandpa died, but he still wasn't used to some of the stuff thrown at him. Being a prostitute, of course, hadn't been his first choice. First, he tried living with some of his friends but after their parents found out he was living there with no intention of leaving, they threatened to phone the `proper authorities' to retrieve him and find him a home. He had even tried pretend leaving and sneaking back in through a window, but even that didn't help when he was found out one morning.

Life really sucks Yugi thought to himself as he rolled slowly and carefully off his bed. He whimpered slightly as he settled on his sore bottom and looked around for his clothes that had been scattered the night before. He let out a soft whine when he saw them on the other side of the room. Ever so slowly, he dropped softly to his knees and crawled over to them.

It didn't take much to put them on. He used the wall to pull himself up and he looked into his beat up and slightly cracked mirror to adjust his clothes. He smoothed out the small wrinkles in the hip riding leather pants, adjusted his tight black shirt that stopped just a few inches before his navel, and then straightened out his sleeveless fishnet before deciding it was good enough. He dragged over his black boots and snapped them on before rummaging around for his makeup bag. He knew he probably shouldn't work tonight after what had happened with the last customer, him being so sore on all, but he would have to ask his boss. He was the one, after all, that had taken him in a given him a home and a job. Since he was so used to the makeup being on now, he decided to at least have it light. After putting on black eyeliner and taking the shine from his face he decided it would have to be good enough. Not wanting to take any customers, if his boss would let him, before he got his painkillers, he pulled out a black trench coat and pulled it on.

After deciding he was ready, he picked up his wallet, stuffing it in his pocket, he opened his door and headed down the hall to his boss' office.

"Yugi," somebody shouted to him from down the hall. The nineteen year old didn't have time to turn around before the sound of someone running down the old hall was heard and said person jumped on his back excitedly.

The violet-eyed teen cried out lightly and dropped to his knees, biting the inside of his cheek until the throbbing in his lower back had stopped.

"Gosh, I'm sorry, Yugi," the person said. Yugi looked up into similar lavender eyes and the comforting looking face that belonged to his best friend. "Did you have a rough round last night with that new guy," Malik asked.

Yugi swallowed down the rest of the pain, glad to realize his pills were starting to work, and nodded.

"I should've realized that. I'm sorry," he held out his hand, which was gladly taken. "You should talk to Marik about not working tonight, maybe tomorrow night too. You've been at it like rabbits in heat lately and I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, I know," Yugi agreed, "I was on my way right now."

"I'll go with you. I wanna say good morning to him," he smiled excitedly.

Yugi smiled and nodded, allowing Malik to take his hand and lead him the rest of the way down the hall. It was common knowledge that Malik and the boss were in a serious relationship, though why Marik continued having Malik work as a prostitute always threw him off. It was probably because Malik had been here so long (since he was very young) and wouldn't know what to do if Marik took him off the roll? Or maybe it was just because it was so hard to get out of this business once you've been in it and Malik didn't want everyone to think he was just having sex with the boss to get his way through? Either way, Yugi thought that was good of him not to flaunt his relationship about.

The two were just passing by his other best friend Joey's room when the door opened and a familiar looking CEO walked out, fixing the buttons and collar of his shirt as he walked.

"Good morning, Mr. Kaiba," Yugi smiled at him.

"Yugi," he nodded back, "How many times must as I remind you to call me Seto?"

"Sorry, Mr….er….Seto, it's mostly just out of habit with the other customers. So did you have a good night?"

"Of course; any night with Joey is the best night. He's so good at what he does." With that, Seto walked off with a somewhat goofy smile one, one he probably didn't know he had on.

Yugi shook his head as he watched him go before looking up at Malik, "When do you think he's going to figure it out?"

"What," Malik asked, "that he likes Joey more than a good lay?" Yugi nodded. "I'll be damned if they didn't know it already, but then again, both are pretty stubborn people. Did you hear about the argument a couple weeks ago?"

Yugi shook his head as they started to walk again, "What argument?"

"Joey's schedule was packed tight, but Seto refused to have anyone take his place. It caused such a major uproar when he stormed in here to personally sort it all out. In the end he only got his way by slipping a few of the customers a couple hundred dollars so he could have that time to himself."

"Geez, I didn't think he'd go that far. It just goes to show that people are full of surprises."

"Look, there it is!" Malik ran the rest of the way and stuck his ear up against the door. He must've been upset to hear that somebody was in there talking to Marik since he didn't go storming in like usual. Instead, he waited for Yugi to catch up before he knocked politely on the door.

The door opened and Marik looked curiously at the two before smiling. "Ah, Yugi, Malik," he said, "Just the perfect timing as usual, Yugi, we were just talking about you."

Yugi was surprised, but stepped forward politely. If there was one thing that Marik had pried in it was that he made sure all of his workers had good manners towards customers.

"Yugi," Marik gestured to the bulky man smirking lustily from his chair, "this is a new customer coming to see how our business goes. He described his type and thought you'd be perfect for him." The spiky haired man leant down and whispered in his ear, "I need to have a little chat with you as soon as we're alone."

Yugi gulped, scared that he'd done something wrong, but nothing was coming to mind. He nodded just slightly to show he understood. When he looked up at Marik however, the violet eyes weren't full of anger like he'd seen aimed at a few people before, but rather concern. His fears quelled only slightly before more thoughts of what could cause that concern to burn in those depths.

The man stood and held out a calloused hand to Yugi. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yugi," he said, "I've heard many wonderful qualities and I look forward to working with you. I'm Mr. Taylor, but you can call me James."

Yugi didn't want to, but took the man's much larger hand in his and shook it until the man let go. He was a bit disgusted though when the man put his arm around his shoulders. He looked up at Marik desperately. Everyone knew only Yugi's regulars could do that. Yugi was by no means enjoying his work and that meant he was uncomfortable around people he didn't get to know. At least his regulars talked to him and got to know him more than some people who come in for a quick ride in bliss before dropping their money at his feet and leaving.

"But, Yugi, you said you were hear for hmph…" Yugi's hand quickly slapped across Malik's as he laughed nervously.

"Well," Marik thought quickly, "You did say you were quite busy, Mr. Brown."

The arm was removed and Yugi held in a sigh of relief.

"Yes, yes, of course. How could I have forgotten such important business? I'll be back later tonight than. A pleasure to meet you, Yugi," he stated the last part at the teen.

Yugi nodded back politely and watched him go gratefully, not looking forward to tonight.

Once he was gone, Marik turned eyes on the two of them. "What was that about?"

"Well, Marik, you see, there's a reason we came," Malik started.

"It was to wish you a good morning," Yugi finished.

"But, Yugi…"

"Malik, shut it!"

"Yugi," Marik said in his voice that meant business.

The amethyst-eyed teen looked down at the floor and admitted the real reason he'd come.

"Why didn't you say something before? I'm sure he would've understood."

"It's no big deal, Marik. I'll just wait it out. Now then," he started quickly to change the subject, "I'll be gone for the morning for more pain killers and maybe just walk around for a bit. I'll be back before Mr. Brown arrives back for our appointment." With that, Yugi turned on his heel and walked away quickly before either of them could say a word.

When he was gone, Malik turned to Marik with narrow eyes. "He was limping."

"Yes," Marik sighed. "Mr. Brown did leave his cell phone number in case I thought of something else," he started to rummage around in one of his pants' pockets before soft hands stopped him.

"Marik, you know how Yugi'll act if he finds out you did that."

He sighed again, "Yes, you're right. He's been working so hard though. I wish I had remembered that when I mentioned him or I would've made his appointment on a different day."

"Just make sure you give him the day off tomorrow."

"Yes, of course I will. I can't believe I forgot about his schedule," Marik smacked his forehead with his hand, "I feel so inconsiderate."

"He knows you've been stacked up with work lately. He understands, Marik, so don't worry."

Marik nodded and wrapped his arms around Malik's waist, resting his head on his shoulder. "You've got appointments with some of your more rowdy customers tonight."

"Yes."

"Do you think you could handle an unscheduled one," Marik hinted hopefully.

"I really should deny you for what you did to my best friend, but I'll let it slide this time since I was hoping you'd ask," Malik smirked before covering his lips over the other's.

~~

Yugi shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he strolled along the sidewalk, watching all the people go on with their lives. He hated the winter sometimes. It always got so cold and he barely wore anything underneath.

`I really need to go clothes shopping one of these days just for purposes like these' He thought as he huddled further into the jacket.

Gratefully he saw the drug store only a block away further and sped up.

`I wonder what Marik wanted to talk to me about along' Yugi thought absently as he opened the door and warmth spread over his face from the heater.

The teen sighed gratefully and headed for the familiar isle with the painkillers. He looked through a few before picking up a bottle of regular Tylenol and then Tylenol PM to help him sleep before heading for the register.

After paying for the two bottles he shoved them in his pocket along with his hands before stepping outside again, the sting of icy wind biting his cheek when he did.

He decided he wasn't just ready to go back to the prostitute building and, instead, headed for the park nearby. He sat down on one of the benches and watched the children playing in the little snow that had fallen the night before. Looking up to the sky, Yugi thought, `There's going to be more snow tonight too. I'll have to tell Marik that so he'll turn the generator on again.'

Across the park Yugi saw an interesting sight. Two people were making out against a tree, apparently not caring about complete strangers watching them go at it. But then, the guy pulled away and smirked. He said something to the girl and she ran off crying after yelling at him for what he said. The guy just shook his head and headed off.

When he was close enough, Yugi spoke, "What did you say to her?" For some reason the person intrigued him. If only his life was as simple as a few cruel words to get people away from you.

The words caught the other person's attention and he waited a little while before he moved forward and sat down. "I just told her that she kisses like a fat cow and that I wasn't going to go out with her. I can't stand people who are lousy in bed," he said casually, as if his words weren't a big deal.

"If only life were that simple for people like me," Yugi sighed.

That statement caught the teen's attention and he stared at Yugi. Yugi looked back at him and was surprised at the resemblance between them, but since the other didn't say anything about it, he decided not to either.

"What do you mean," He finally asked.

Yugi wasn't sure if he should tell the guy or not, but then he just shrugged it off. Who cared if the guy liked it or not? It's not like he was ever going to see him or anything? "Prostitutes I mean. If only it were as simple as a few words to get people to leave you alone. But we need those customers just as they need us to get off."

"A prostitute, huh? Damn, talk about a great life," Yugi's eyes widened as he stared at the guy.

`What is the guy talking about? Prostitutes having great lives! No way,' he thought.

Seeing Yugi's look, the guy laughed. "Well, think about," he started, "people come to them for sex and they get paid big for the services whether you suck it at not."

Yugi looked down at his lap. `That's not how it is at all,' Yugi thought, `You've got to be really good for those cruel ones or they won't pay a cent.' "You're wrong," he found himself saying before he even realized it.

"What," the guy asked, shocked at the unexpected he reply. He was expecting more on the line of an agreement or something.

"It isn't as great as you claim it is. It's a hard life and if you don't do it well you won't make it. Most of us don't even want to make it because it gives us chances to get our lives back together after we thought we didn't have any choice left. All of us want to leave, but we can't because we don't know any other way to live. It's painful sometimes and you can't do anything to stop that person from hurting you or else you won't get paid. You can get shoved out on the streets if you're not careful and if you don't that you won't have any place to turn if you were told you were going to make it in that business."

The guy was silent for a while before he nodded, "Yeah, maybe. I guess everyone has different views. But then again, yours might be the better one because you actually are a prostitute and I'm just an onlooker, right?" He held out his hand to Yugi, "I'm Yami."

"Yugi," he smiled.

"I might have to look you up if I ever go to your end of the neighborhood," Yami told him.

The two talked for a few hours about anything at all. Yugi explained what some people could be like and Yami just talked about anything he liked. He sort of gave off the impression that he doesn't care what people do to him and all he cared about was getting a rush, no matter what gave it to him.

Yugi looked towards the clock tower before standing up. "Well, I should be going. I have an appointment today with a new customer."

"Good luck, Yugi. Maybe we'll see each other again someday," he said before leaving in the opposite direction, waving just before he turned the corner.

Yugi watched him go before turning and also walking out of the park.

~~

"Yugi," Marik shouted when he saw him enter the building, "I was afraid you wouldn't be here in time."

"I'm fifteen minutes early, Marik," Yugi told him.

"I know, but I still need to talk to you about some important. Come on, hurry," he said as he pulled Yugi along by his hand. "I would've liked to tell you this a lot sooner so you would have time to adjust to it, but you left in such a hurry and you never came back until now. I've been waiting all day," he explained.

He closed the office door behind him and pulled Yugi away from it so there wasn't a chance of somebody overhearing.

"Yugi," Marik started.

"Listen, Marik," he interrupted, "I'm sure Malik told you about me coming this morning for the day off, but I really don't mind. I'll just take a different day off, that's all."

"It's not that, Yugi. I mean…well, yes, I wanted to apologize for that because he did tell me that, but there's something I need to tell you about Mr. Brown. You see, he's not one of your regulars."

"I know that, Marik. You told me yourself that he's new."

"Not that way, Yugi. He's one of those kinds of people," Marik paused before looking away. "I reluctant at first to give him to you after he told me what he liked, but he already was so interested in you. I was going to persuade him out of it and I'd pick someone else, but then you and Malik came by and I didn't get the chance."

"I-I don't understand, Marik," Yugi stuttered, extremely worried, "What are you trying to tell me?"

"Yugi, Mr. Brown wants to take you in the back room," he sighed miserable, giving Yugi the most sympathetic looks he's ever given before.

Yugi's eyes widened and he would've fallen over if it hadn't been for Marik holding him up. The older man led him to sit in his chair and rubbed his shoulders soothingly, anything that would help him.

"I'm so sorry, Yugi. I tried, I really did try, but his mind was stuck on you. Please, please don't hate me," Marik begged. "I know how you feel about that sort of thing, but nothing would change his mind."

Yugi shook his head and plastered a smile on his face, "No, no it's alright, I'll be fine." Yugi knew that was a lie and he knew even better than that that Marik wouldn't ever buy something like that. Everyone in the prostitute house knew Yugi's story and why he didn't like the back room, as everyone called it.

A knock rapped on the door and Marik's eyes swiveled to the clock on the wall, his eyes widening at the time. A click made him rivet his head around and Yugi was forcing a smile on his face as he greeted Mr. Brown. Marik was about to stop him from going, but Yugi just waved and stepped out the door, closing it behind him after wishing him a good night.

~~

Well, there's the first chapter. So what's the `back room'? hehe, you'll just have to stick around to find out. And what's with Yami? Why does Yugi hate the `back room' so much? All to come up.