Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Guardians of the Watchtowers ❯ Unlikely Rescuers ( Chapter 2 )

Whew! I made my deadline of one month. Yay me! :D

Thank you to Solo_girl, Calupe, Mononoke, Jadesaber, and Karenu-Anime for your reviews! They are much appreciated!

Oh, and please visit that Yugioh message board forum thing I mentioned in the last chapter. Here's the link to YRealm:

http://invisionfree.com/forums/YRealm/index.php

Disclaimer: No. I don't own Yugioh.

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Chapter 2: Unlikely Rescuers

Yugi walked out of the crowded hallway and into the bright rays of the sun. He breathed a sigh of relief. First day of classes were always dull, and he was glad it was finally over. He wandered over to the swimming pool area, wondering what to do. Usually, he'd hang out with his friends, but since they were gone…

Yugi set his backpack on the ground next to him, and knelt down. He lightly swirled his hand in the pool's cool water, making gentle ripples in the water as he did. Smiling wistfully at his reflection in the water, Yugi thought of the new exchange students, particularly the one who so closely resembled himself. He still couldn't place his need to get to know him. Perhaps his close likeness to him intrigued him so. Yes, that must be it. He must be intrigued. Yugi thought for a moment on this, then shook his head in dismay. No, there was something more than just satisfying his curiosity. The air of mystery around Yami…excited him like nothing else could. Even now, just thinking of him, Yugi could feel the excitement, the anxiety, and the anticipation of solving that mystery bubbling up inside of him. Yugi smiled at his reflection in the water.

Yugi's eyes widened in surprise when he saw that his reflection was joined by three others. Gulping, he slowly turned around and stared up into the three faces of the school's meanest bullies. One had a wicked scar across his face; another was missing a few teeth in the front. Their leader wore a dark bandana tight around his head, and was grinning widely. "So little Yugi, looks like you don't have you buddies to protect you any more…" He cracked his knuckles together. "Pity…"

"Nice bag ya got there…" Scar Boy said. He laughed as he snatched it from the ground, then ran off a little ways. His two buddies followed.

"Hey!" Yugi yelled. He jumped up, then ran after the three boys. "Give that back!" He tried reaching for it, but Scar Boy tossed it over to Toothless, who was standing behind Yugi. He caught it easily with a grin. When Yugi tried to get it from him, he lobbed it over to Bandana Head. The boys had formed a wide triangle around Yugi. This game of keep away continued for awhile, until Yugi exhausted himself. Panting out of both exhaustion and anger, Yugi glared at Toothless, who was the current holder of his bag. He grinned, showing his missing teeth. "Aww, what's the matter? Is the baby gonna cry? Boo hoo!" He flung the bag back over to Bandana Head. But before he could catch it, an arm shot out in front of him and caught it instead. Bandana Head's mouth dropped open in surprise as he stared into angry crimson eyes.

"Don't you know it's not nice to pick on those smaller than you? Isn't that right, Raven?" He tossed the bag over to her, who was now standing in between Toothless and Scar Boy.

She caught it easily. "Yes. Because sooner or later, someone's going to come and pick on YOU." She smiled wickedly. "And I can guarantee you, it will be MUCH worse for you." She flung the bag back to Yami.

He caught it, then walked towards the center of the bullies' triangle, where Yugi was staring, eyes wide, mouth open, at his unlikely rescuers. Smiling gently, Yami handed Yugi his bag, which he took gratefully. Yami turned back towards Bandana Head. "Leave. Now." He put emphasis on the second word.

Raven raised an eyebrow at this. Normally, Yami was more than eager to fight. Usually too eager. What had caused this sudden change? Her golden eyes flicked to the small boy next to him. Hmm…could this boy have some how curved Yami's violent nature? She'd have to talk to Yami about this later.

Bandana Head's mind was still reeling at the unthinkable interference of these new students. Didn't they realize who he was? He was the most feared bully at school! A low growl escaped his throat. He'd show them that nobody bossed him around. "Or what?" he growled out. He gave the pointy haired boy his best death glare.

Yami rolled his eyes, obviously unimpressed. On the other hand, Yugi widened his eyes in fear. When Bandana Head got that look, it usually meant a serious beating was about to take place. Yugi glanced worriedly at Yami, then touched him lightly on his arm. Yami looked down at Yugi in response. "Maybe we should go…before things get out of hand." He said this almost pleadingly. He didn't like seeing people getting hurt.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere little Yugi!" Scar Boy said menacingly. "We're not done with you yet!" He charged at Yugi, fist raised. But he never even got close to Yugi, for Raven had stepped in between them. She grabbed his wrist and neatly flipped him onto his back. Scar Boy grunted as he slammed into the ground. He looked dazedly at the dark haired girl hovering over him. "Stay down and live," she muttered quietly to him before turning away. Scar Boy's eyes rolled back as he fainted.

Toothless looked at the girl in shock. She was strong! And she looked like she wasn't done either. A small gasp escaped him as she turned her gaze towards him. Her eyes were glittering dangerously, and that was more than enough to send him bolting the other way, especially after what she had just done to his bud.

Yami smiled as he looked at Bandana Head. "Looks like it's two against one now. Still feeling like being a tough guy?" He narrowed his eyes at the bully.

Bandana Head was getting nervous. He didn't like his odds.

Yami was tired of waiting. "I'm going to give you till three until I make my move. One…"

As soon as the word was out of his mouth, Bandana Head turned and bolted. He didn't like his dangerous tone.

Yami and Raven shared a smirk at his cowardice. So much for being Mr. Tough Guy. Yami looked at Yugi. "Are you okay?"

Yugi nodded, still a bit stunned at how seemingly easy the bullies had been taken care of. "Th-Thank you," he said shakily.

"Not a problem…Yugi." Yami thought that was what Scar Boy had called him.

Yugi nodded at the correct name.

"I'm Yami and this is Raven."

"We should get out of here." Raven glanced down at the unconscious Scar Boy. "Before Bandana Head returns with some friends of his." /Not that we couldn't take care of them/ she added silently to herself. But she again sensed that Yami preferred not to show his violent side to the boy. Intriguing.

"Raven's right. Yugi, would you like to hang out at our place? We could get to know each other."

"Really? That'd be great!" Yugi said a little too excitedly. He hadn't expected that he'd be able to talk with Yami so soon. But he really had to calm down a bit.

Yami laughed at the boy's excitement. Though he wasn't too sure why he was so excited.

"Let's go then." Raven led the way to her car, stopping only to pick up her and Yami's bags, which they had dropped when they had heard the bullies' taunts. She threw the bags into the backseat of a sleek wicked looking black car, then hopped into the driver's seat. Yugi climbed into the backseat, and Yami sat in the passenger seat up front. Raven started up the engine and quickly drove out of the parking lot.

The care ride was silent, no one really knowing what to say. At last, Raven pulled into the parking lot of a ritzy-looking apartment complex, where she easily parked in front of the largest building, next to a shiny red motorcycle. She got out of the car, got the bags, then slammed the door shut. Yami and Yugi were also out. Raven hit a button on the little device on her keychain. The doors locked with a loud click, and a distinctive beep-beep was heard. Raven turned and followed Yami and Yugi, who were already heading towards the building. They walked inside, waved hello to the security guard, boarded the elevator, and took another silent ride.

Yugi gazed around the luxurious building through the clear walls of the elevator. /They live *here*?/ he thought in amazement. /Not bad for exchange students. I wonder who their host families are…/

A loud ding! told them that they were at the floor. Yugi was surprised that they were at the very top floor of the apartment. Pent houses. Where the really wealthy lived. It was kinda like having your own private mini-house. As Yugi silently followed them down the hall, he glanced back behind him, noticing only one door. A glance ahead of him also only revealed one door. Whoa. One floor with only two doors, the elevator in between.

When they reached the end of the hallway, Yami took out a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. Yugi expected to find more richy-type stuff inside, and was totally surprised to find himself in dark surroundings. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness. "Uhh…where are the lights?"

Yami smiled slightly as he moved past Yugi to a small table near the door. Striking a match, he lit a dark candle on it. As soon as he did, hundreds of other candles lit up around the entire place, casting an eerie illumination on everything. Yugi's eyes widened in surprise. "H-How did you do that?" he asked, completely amazed.

"Magick," Yami said with a shrug. "We prefer using candles. Conventional lighting is so…dreary."

Now that the room was lit, Yugi could see that everything was dark here: the furniture, the walls, the heavy curtains that blocked out the sun's rays. "Your host family makes you live like this?"

"Actually, we live alone." Raven gently shut the door. "The school of course thinks we live with a host family, but what they don't know can't hurt them." She paused. "You will keep our little secret, right?"

Yugi hesitated, then nodded. It seemed scary to be all by yourselves, but he guessed they could take care of themselves. They certainly took care of those bullies.

The three settled themselves comfortably on the soft couches, after grabbing some drinks from the refrigerator.

"Ohh…*now* I get it!" Yugi said suddenly, his face lighting up.

"Get what?" Yami asked, a bit confused.

"Both your names mean dark. You dress in dark clothes. Your place is decorated with a dark theme." He paused. "And you act dark and mysterious too." He finished quietly, looking at Yami shyly.

"So you noticed we like the dark." Raven noticed how Yugi was looking at Yami, and vice versa. Uh oh, this could be bad.

"I've never met anyone like you two before." Yugi laughed a little uneasily. "I have to admit, I've never really liked the dark before. But you two…I like. Weird huh?" He smiled.

"The dark can be a great ally, Yugi," Yami said. "You shouldn't need to fear it."

"Well, it certainly helped me today." He again smiled shyly at Yami, who returned the smile.

Raven raised an eyebrow at this. She couldn't tell whether Yami was pretending to like Yugi, or if he really was interested. Either way, it had to stop. Clearing her throat abruptly, Raven glanced at the old clock. "Yugi, your parents are probably getting worried. You should probably get back home."

"I live with my Grandpa actually. But you're right, he probably is getting worried." Yugi stood up. "Thank you both for everything."

"Any time," Raven replied, standing as well. "You're always welcome here."

Yugi smiled.

"Come on," Yami said, grabbing his coat. "I'll give you a lift home."

"Ok, thanks." Yugi turned towards Raven. "'Night."

"'Night."

Raven watched both boys exit the room. Hmm…Yugi definitely could be an Illuminite. He seemed to be "of the light" as they say. Good. Fairly innocent. And blah blah blah. But if he was the Light, then why did she get the feeling that he liked Yami, who was the Dark? Could the Light actually love the Dark?

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