Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Light's Shadow ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

A/N- Hello peoples!!! *waves* this being my first fic and all I hope you'll forgive a few mistakes here and there. Tell me exactly what you think and feel free to flame. They will be used to melt my writers block. Constructive criticism if you will.

Now think of this chapter as a prologue. It will get better if it goes along, if it goes along, if I don't get any reviews or all of them are flames, I'll scrap the story.

WARNING: This story contains yaoi between Yami and Yugi, Bakura and Ryou, Marik and Malik, and (possibly) Seto and Jounouchi. (review if you want that).

Yami Yugi- Yami

Bakura- Ryou

Yami Bakura- Bakura

Marik- Malik

Yami Marik- Marik

/Yugi to Yami/

//Yami to Yugi//

\Ryou to Bakura\

\\Bakura to Ryou\\

{Malik to Marik}

{{Marik to Malik}}

`Thoughts'

"Talking"

. . .and please read and REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!

*l*i*g*h*t

It's not like I forgot what it was like before I met my yami. I remember every event

leading up to his arrival with crystal clarity. It's mostly the reason why I'm so grateful to him; he saved me in more ways than one.

I just never thought it would be worse after he left. I never knew my own light, the light

that comes from my friends and world, could burn me. Me, the hikari. The flip side of the coin. The light. I guess I just got so used to the shade from the world my yami provided that the idea slipped away that the sun could ever burn me, that the world would ever be to overwhelming, that I wouldn't want to be held as I cried.

Well here I am. Out, alone, and crying, at least I think I'm crying, my skin kinda went

numb after the first thirty minutes of his absence. My minds going now too.

*EARLIER THAT DAY*

\Yami? Please, tell me what they told you to do? I don't want you to do anything stupid.

Really, I don't. Nothing good ever happens when you listen to their stupid ideas... Malik is fine, sometimes, but I don't trust that Marik wouldn't hurt us. . .\ Ryou whined silently to Bakura, his very own yami.

Bakura growled equally as silent, through their mind-link as Ryou made his way down

the gray chipped pavement, on his way to school.

This morning Ryou had answered the phone, only to find it was Marik, then he had

promptly squeaked and Bakura had taken over. Ryou had been forced to listen as the two greeted each other in bizarre and scary ways that he did not care to remember. Marik had invited Bakura, two days from now, to join him at the Ishtar residence to discuss something "important," and he had mentioned vaguely something about the Kaiba brothers, then a bottle. A bottle in a package that had been delivered this weekend.

Ryou did not like this situation a bit.

`How do psychos keep worming their way into my life? I've never been *that* desperate

for company. At least I don't think I have. . .'

\\I don't care if you're comfortable or not with what I do. Why have you not learned that

yet?\\ snarled Bakura.

Ryou flinched.

\\Besides you won't be doing anything. I'll be the one to blame, baka.\\ In his own odd

way Ryou knew that his Yami had been offering some comfort. Kind of. . .he didn't dare ask why he had offered any at all. Bakura did not like the fact that he had emotions.

Besides, Ryou didn't want to risk being hit mentally by him for a simple question, which

took longer to heal then physically. Bakura didn't like to acknowledge the fact that Ryou felt anything either. Feelings were weak. Ryou had been taught that message his entire life. Bakura had been delighted to take up the job Ryou's father had left to him when he decided to take his leave from his sons life.

Ryou had secrets that had never left the dark halls of his home. Three of the largest

secrets anyone could ever bear. No one knew Ryou's largest three. No one knew that five years ago his Mr. Bakura abandoned his son.

*s*h*a*d*o*w*

Yugi lay curled in the soft blue sheets of his Soul Room, breathing deeply through his mouth, blissfully unaware of the composed chaos his other self was releasing upon his household.

Random pieces of his uniform were strewn about the kitchen and some sludge that

resembled chunky coffee was boiling over the stove. Cereal oats were tipped on the floor and the cap to each soft drink was remarkably missing. At the center of this mess was Yami, who was currently messing with the settings on the microwave.

The reason for all this was Yugi. It always was. He'd been sick and sneezing all week

long and Yami, being the loving yami that he was (A/N- stupid words I have to say twice in the same sentence. . .), wanted to make Yugi's life a little easier by making breakfast and cleaning the house.

It wasn't working.

`If this abominable attempt of a mechanical advance of man refuses to bend to my will

one final instance, it will be joining its predecessor in the Shadow Realm. . .' Yami muttered mentally as he hit the defrost key. The machines contents, a dripping pair of cotton socks, began to spin.

`HA! And Yugi says I'll never join the modern world' Yami smirked at the box; one

less appliance Yugi's grandfather had to insure for Yami's. . .frustration.

The faint echo from Yami's cerebral outburst quietly filed through Yugi's mind,

reverberating to the little one's place of rest, and into his small ear.

/Please, Yami. Five more minutes. . ./ mumbled Yugi within their mind-link.

Yami stopped gazing into the light of the microwave and panicked slightly. He couldn't

have Yugi see this mess. It would ruin his aibou's surprise, plus he'd be angry with him.

`No, Yugi's never been angry with me, just irritated or disappointed. . .' which was worse

in a way. Yugi made Yami's heart sore with a smile. No one else could make him that happy. It scared him to death that when Yugi simply brushed his hand against his own every one his thousands of nerves was struck with tiny electric volts causing his mind to freeze. No one else had ever held that power, no one else had ever cradled his heart between their palms, and no one had ever made him want to slit his wrists and save the world just to bring back their smile. All he wanted to do was make him feel better. . .

And that was only Yugi's mouth, which in all its majesty in appearance could never hold

a candle to his eyes.

`Yugi, you'll make a poet out of me one day. That all came from something that was so

minor five minutes ago,' thought Yami.

//Alright, hikari, a few more minutes.// Maybe that would buy him enough time to clean

before-

Yugi's eyes snapped open and Yami immediately sensed it.

`Is this because I haven't made a sacrifice to you, Ra, in a measly few thousand years? Is

it?

. . .

IS IT?!?!'

Yami now had to abort to Plan B (which he had just come up with five seconds ago): Get

Yugi Out of the House before he Notices the Mess.

`Yami has never ever let me sleep in but I always beg and then he tries to pry me out with

a never ending supply of ice cubes that for the oddest reasons Yami pull out of the walls of my Soul Room. Sometimes he even jumps on me or shakes me. He would never break our daily ritual. He's up to something…' For some reason unbeknownst to Yugi, he blushed, a light cherry at the thought of Yami and himself in the same bed, no matter how brief the period of time was.

Yami began quietly sealing Yugi within his own mind as he tip-toed around the living

room. He grabbed his aibou's briefcase as he shoved on a pair of shoes. Then he shut/slammed the front door to the Kame Game Shop and dashed away.

/Yami, what do you think you're doing? Why can't I get out of my Soul Room?/ Yugi

sent Yami a mental picture of his own narrowed suspicious eyes.

Yami had been sprinting down the block and upon hearing his aibou's questions he

abruptly stopped just before he slammed into a mail box. Gasping, but mentally keeping his cool, he said, //I'm not doing anything, aibou, just making sure you get to school in time. I don't know why you can't leave your Soul Room. Try jiggling the handle.//

Humoring his out-of-breath counterpart, Yugi did so. /See Yami, not wor-/ but before he

could think of another syllable he was shoved back into reality.

Yugi shook his head; he would never understand his Yami. /Yami. . ./ he thought to him

in exasperation.

//Aibou, I couldn't get you up so left without you in charge. I just couldn't wake you

because you looked so. . .tired, yes, very tired//

/Yami what are you-/

"YUGI!" squealed someone from behind. Yugi's vision was then blocked as a pair of

slender hands covered his eyes.

"Hi, Anzu."

Anzu blinked. Did she hear irritation in Yugi's voice?

"Something wrong, Yugi?" she asked worriedly, taking her hands off his eyes.

"No its okay, Anzu. I was just talking to Yami, that's all." Anzu blushed at Yami's name.

"You're sure? You looked upset when I came over. . .'

Yugi began to reply, "No An-an-an ACHOO!!!" but he sneezed. Rubbing his nose he

said, "It's just this cold, I've had it all month. No big deal."

"Oh, alright then. Walk me to school?" she asked pulling out some tissues from her

breast-pocket and handing them to Yugi.

"Sure, always," answered Yugi, smiling at his friend and thanking her for the tissues. All

thoughts of Yami were driven from his mind.

*l*i*g*h*t*

`I was about to say adorable, wasn't I? Why in the name of Ra can't I act normally

around him?'

Yami fled into the corners of his own Soul Room to avoid further interrogation by Yugi.

He didn't want him listening in accidentally to the conversation he was having with himself.

Yami knew the reason for the way he acted. He was in love. From the moment they were

aware of each other Yami had literally seen the soul of Yugi. Everyday he could casually walk into the mind of his aibou and become wrapped in the purity and kindness of Yugi; he was blanketed in a gentleness he had never known. Since the very moment he stepped inside Yami had been in love. There, however, was one thing that Yami could never be for Yugi that formed the basis for a relationship.

Yami couldn't be real.

He couldn't separate himself from his host. It was why Yami couldn't speak of his love.

He would never be able to take care of Yugi and he would certainly never be able to

embrace his aibou. Not in a physical sense.

It hurt to think about it. It physically hurt, hurt; it felt as through Yugi was tearing out

each of his heart strings each day, and didn't even know he was either.

Every few nights when Yugi fell asleep before Yami had a chance to join with him so

Yami would just sit for hours on end; spirits didn't need rest. During that fraction of time Yami found out the most peculiar things about the boy. Yugi had the ability to wiggle his nose in his sleep, Yami found the expression to be the cutest thing he had ever seen. It wasn't his fault if he just had to brush his lips against the boy's small nose, even if his lips did pass through him. He never dared to go near his aibou's own lips. That was territory so dangerous that even he, the former PHAROH, was too frightened to tread. Yami's spine shivered pleasantly at the thought of what. . .

No, if he thought about things like that the intensity of it might leak through the link and he really, really, really, did not feel like answering whatever questions it might lead to.

Time to think about safer things. Like dirt. . .or calendars. . .

Yami tried to think about said things.

It did not work.

`Not that I thought it would. Calendars. . ..right. . .'

Besides, he couldn't get Yugi off his mind, he'd never been able to ever since that

day. . .his world literally revolved around the boy.

Maybe if he thought safer things about Yugi he'd be alright…

*s*h*a*d*o*w*

*FLASHBACK*

Ryou awoke to an empty house. Every single light was off and the air was frigid and

stale. Ryou barely took notice of this. Often his father went off to Egyptian expeditions and would turn up without warning some month's later. By then Ryou had accepted that this was a natural part of life. Ryou stepped out of bed and showered. He made a simple breakfast of jam on toast and a cup of pulp-free orange juice. Pulp had always made him squeamish. He changed into his uniform and left for school alone. It was nothing different.

A year later Ryou was still alone and now he was worried. Someone would tell him if his

father was dead or injured, right? Ryou tossed those thoughts away. Someone was paying the bills for heat and electricity. Maybe his father was just traveling a little, yes that was it: traveling. Perhaps he had gone back to their old home Britain.

Two years passed and Ryou knew he wasn't coming back. He told no one. Nobody

would notice because they hadn't spotted it before. Ryou just suffered silently, doing as most humans do. Everything locked within his soul while everyday it shredded away a corner of his spirit.

A year from then he received a rumbled package in the mail with no return address stamped to the front. He had brought it inside whilst he thanked the postman kindly. He walked into the parlor and sat calmly down on the sofa, proceeding to rip apart the packaging.

He discovered an odd, large, golden ring with a pyramid bearing an eye in the center. He

fingered one of the five pointy spikes hanging from it hesitantly. Then his eyes were ensnared by a smooth pastel letter that was poking out from the wrappings. On the front of it was the name "Ryou" written in neat cursive ink.

He set the ring down.

It seemed as if an eternity passed as he reached out dreamily for the letter and plucked it

up. His face impassive, he gently tore the envelope open.

`Dad always went to Egypt for expeditions. Maybe he's still there! That- that. . . ring

certainly looked if could have come from there. Maybe he wants to say he's sorry, and that he's coming back. . . Maybe. . . Father. . . Please. . .'

Ryou unfolded the creased note with fumbling hands. It read:

Dear Ryou,

I saw this in the in a stall on the side of a nearby marketplace today. I felt I owed you a parting gift.

Your father

At that moment Ryou was entitled to feel many things. Only his mind kept repeating the

same fraise over and over again.

`He didn't sign it "love". He didn't sign it "love". . . He doesn't love me. . . That's why

he left. . .'

His father didn't love him anymore and maybe he never had. Ryou didn't know what

he'd done to lose his mother as a child and then the love and presence of his remaining parent now.

`Whatever it was I'll take it back, I'll take it back a thousand times over, spend my whole

life repenting if I have too. . . I just want someone to love. I want to be loved by someone. Have that person stay.'

He held back tears, his father said emotions were weak and now more than ever he

needed to be strong. He put the curt letter back its original spot when the ring caught his eye again. `Well. . . if I can't have my father, I can love this. . . Ring. . . As much as I love him. . ..'

He slipped the ring over his head and there was a flash of light and the malicious grin of a

living shadow. He had someone who couldn't leave him now, the ring was alive.

And, no, Ryou did not love Bakura like he did his father.

He loved him more.

Ryou's look-alike looked horribly confused and Ryou was too stunned to say a word.

`Is this the person I get to keep and love? Is this the person who loves me? A better

looking version of myself?'

The being that would soon be known as Bakura gazed at him in some form of amazement

and then his face went cold. He raised a hand and Ryou's scream echoed in the void.

*l*i*g*h*t*

`That's the only time Yami ever beat me, really. I forgive him, he was just scared. Yes,

that's it, scared. Now he only hits me once or twice if I do something stupid. Maybe he kicks me sometimes, but he doesn't pull his knife out. It doesn't count. Not really. . .Besides I remember thinking throughout the whole first encounter that he was the only one in the world who could make my clothes sexy. . .'

Ryou had always felt an. . .attraction to his other self but it hadn't developed into love

until the last year. His yami was being increasingly kinder and all the small things he had done, all the softness inside he rarely showed, added up to make Ryou fall senselessly in love. Anyone with sense would destroy the ring.

\\HELLO!? ANYONE HOME IN HERE!?! ANSWER ME YOU-GOOD-FOR

NOTHING LIGHT!!!!\\ barked Bakura. Ryou got the distinct impression that someone was rapping on his head.

Ryou sighed in defeat and tucked a rouge lock of silvery hair behind an ear. \Yes, Yami.\

The spirit snorted in annoyance.

He turned a corner and dragged his feet through the school gates.

Lost in his thoughts of a peculiar yami, he did not notice what he was walking into. Or,

more precisely, who.

"Oh, I am very sorry, sir. You see I was lost in thought and . . ." Ryou looked upward and

swallowed the remains of his sentence. The cold icy eyes of none other then Seto Kaiba glared back down.

Ryou's lower lip trembled slightly as he struggled not to whimper under Kaiba's

unwavering annoyed stare. He heard his yami sigh in aggravation somewhere in the back of his mind.

`Great….now I'm among two people without any apparent fondness for me. Who doesn't

like me up there? Well best apologize before I meet the pavement again this week and Bakura decides to run with scissors at said targe- I mean person. . .'

"Oh, err, gomen nasai, Kaiba-san, I didn't notice you," Ryou spoke. Kaiba grunted in

answer and shoved past him, muttering something about blackmail and Christmas parties. Ryou wondered to Bakura if people could speak anymore.

*s*h*a*d*o*w*

Katsuya Jounochi had been more than less surprised when Seto Kaiba knocked past little Ryou and strode over to him. His jaw dropped even further as he saw him smile in a friendly manner as he stopped in front of him.

*BACK TO PRESENT*

Jou and the others are watching me. Anzu's sobbing; Honda's doing everything he can to

keep her from collapsing. His face is screwed up in the effort. I'd think it was funny if I could remember how to laugh.

I really wish they wouldn't stare, I'm so ashamed of myself. I screamed at them, yelled

like a banshee. I told them to stay away from me.

Jou never has let me hurt. He tried to comfort me even after I yelled so I gave him my

own version of a sucker punch. However weak it was he backed off.

I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. We were all having such a great time at Kaiba's. I know

it's out of character for him but he hosted a Christmas party. I think Mokuba might have had something to do with it. Or maybe Seto has some secret crush on Jou and invited us all to make it seam less suspicious. He was being civil tonight.

I'd had a cold all week and my yami. . .my yami. . .he was doing his best to make me feel

better.

I don't want to think about him. Not yet. I can't right now.

Ryou's walking over. That's brave. How does he know I won't go at him like Jou?

I want to talk to my yami. Maybe someone who has a yami can help.

Yeah right. I internally smirk. Without my yami I'm bitter too? That's new.

NOT THE END