Queer As Tachi – Chapter 12
Yugi found himself backed against a sheer wall as the spirit of the Millennium Ring, masquerading in a twisted form of his friend Bakura, advanced on him with clenched fists. This shouldn’t have been possible, there were only two spirits with access to the Millennium Puzzle as far as he knew. Being lost inside the Puzzle’s maze was bad enough, but this sudden development made it ten times worse. “How did you get in here?” he squeaked. “This is Yami’s territory! You don’t belong here!”
“And yet, here I am,” the thief taunted. “It’s not for you to figure out how I got here. You should be more concerned about what I’m going to do now that I’m here.”
Yugi splayed his arms out against the wall, bracing himself, lowing his head to glare at the spirit. “I don’t know what you think you can do, here,” he said sharply. “This is Yami’s world, his powers are at their best here. You can’t hurt him, he’ll just swat you like a fly.”
“What makes you think the pharaoh is my target?” Bakura was close enough to touch, now, and with a wicked leer, shot out a hand to grab Yugi’s arm.
Yugi tried to pull away, but the bigger spirit blocked him, pulling him back around. “No, no!” the boy yelped, struggling violently. “Let me go!”
Bakura backhanded him, dazing him. “Stop that!” he snarled. “You’re going to do exactly as I say, or you’ll find yourself worse off than just lost inside the Millennium Puzzle.”
Yugi shook off the dizzy feeling, his anger rising along with his panic. “I’m not going to do anything you want,” he said defiantly. “If I just wake up, I’ll disappear from here and…”
“You’re not going to,” the spirit said with a particularly nasty grin. “I have you trapped, lured deep into the Puzzle where you can’t escape. Now.” He grabbed Yugi’s shirt in both fists and hauled him up close. “Tell me how it is the pharaoh can assume corporeal form. I must know the secret to this transformation.”
The young man glared darkly at Bakura. “I’ll never tell you!” he shouted. “You’d never be able to do it anyway!”
Bakura glared right back as he backhanded Yugi once again. “Tell me, or I’ll force it out of you!”
Yugi shook his head and only growled. “No way! I won’t do anything to betray him. He’s coming to find me, so you better watch out.” He closed his eyes and raised his voice. “Yami! Help me!”
Snarling, Bakura drew back a fist and punched Yugi with all his might, knocking him to the floor. Yugi lay there in a daze, unable to fight back as the wicked spirit landed on top of him and pinned him down, one hand on his throat. “Do that again and you’ll regret it!” he threatened.
Yugi only filled his lungs and yelled at the top of his voice, “YAMI!” Bakura gritted his teeth and smacked Yugi hard once again, cutting him off.
Somewhere within the tangled corridors, Yami felt the voice cut through his very soul. Yugi. He’s in trouble. “Yugi?” he called out. “Where are you?”
There was no answer, but the stirring in his spirit made the pharaoh extremely nervous. He looked around wildly, realizing he had been chasing after a phantom. Yugi was somewhere else within the Puzzle, but they had been led astray, as if by some force that wanted them apart. But how? Yami was the only resident of the Puzzle, he couldn’t imagine his own powers or shadow magic being responsible for separating him from Yugi. But another mental scream turned his soul to ice. “I’m coming!” he yelled into the darkness as he began to run, forgetting about looking or listening in order to simply feel the young man’s presence, hoping it would guide him. It was faint, but he felt fairly confident that he could follow it.
Bakura lifted Yugi up and slammed him back down against the stone floor, rattling him and bruising the back of his head. “Shut your mouth!” he demanded. “The pharaoh is not coming! I made sure of that myself. It’s just you and me, now.” He grinned evilly and grabbed Yugi’s chin, forcing him to look up even though his gaze was unfocused. “It wasn’t hard to lure the pharaoh away, once I realized what you came here for. How sad, that even in his spirit form, his lust overpowers his good sense.”
Yugi gasped for breath, trying to fight the awful pain and dizziness swirling about his head. “Let me go,” he weakly cried. “I won’t tell you anything.”
“Perhaps you simply need further persuading.” The spirit of the Ring grabbed at Yugi’s shirt again and tore it open, letting the Puzzle fall onto his bare skin with a jingle. Yugi only stared confusedly up at him, his head still ringing too much to understand what was going on. Bakura grabbed him roughly, then, pinning his shoulders to the stone as he bowed his head and licked in one long line from Yugi’s chest to his neck. Yugi cried out in panic, straining against the strong hands holding him down and writhing desperately against the body that had him trapped. “Is this what the pharaoh does to you?” Bakura’s evil half purred, his panting breath hot on Yugi’s neck. “Is this what you come here for?”
“No! No, let me go!” Yugi shrieked, struggling without any gain. “Yami! YAMI!” Bakura hit him again, making him bleed, but Yugi refused to be silenced as he fought as hard as he could. “YAMIIIIIII!”
This time, Yami was fairly certain he could actually hear the cry echoing from stone walls and corridors, but he cursed the confounding darkness of the labyrinth that twisted the sound and masked its true origin. He didn’t stop running for a second, darting down path after path in search of his companion, but the echoing cry hurt him more than helped. He had to stop before pitching headlong over a blank cliff into nothingness, and only then tried to regain his senses. He had to focus on Yugi’s spirit, let his inner mind connect to him and draw him to the young one. Closing his eyes, Yami took a deep breath and concentrated. There, that way! Yugi was closer than he expected. “YUGI!” he cried as he barreled off into the labyrinth once again.
Bakura held Yugi down with one arm in order to use the other to fend off his struggling, prying Yugi’s legs apart with his knees. Yugi continued to scream for help, his cries becoming more fearful and primal as the dark spirit’s hand groped down between his legs, grabbing him, molesting him. Having had enough of the noise, Bakura pounded a fist into his jaw, silencing him just long enough. He spread-eagled the boy on the floor and grabbed at his jeans, pulling them open and getting them halfway down his hips. “Why won’t you tell me?” he cajoled his victim. “It can’t be that important of a secret, that you should protect it with your life. I just want to know how the pharaoh can restore his body.” He slid a hand down around Yugi’s hip, caressing his bared skin, though only out of need to impress upon Yugi exactly what he would do if he didn’t get what he wanted. Yugi’s body twitched underneath him as he tried to twist away and couldn’t. “It’s not fair,” Bakura hissed down at him. “Why should I have to stumble blindly with a host who won’t cooperate, when he gets to have a body again and waste it on something so trivial as sex?”
Yugi regained his wits and breath and writhed furiously, trying to wrench himself free, but it was too late. “Stop!” he begged. “I won’t tell you! You can’t do it anyway, this is just something me and Yami can do!”
“How do you know?” the spirit blazed. “Tell me how you do it! How does the pharaoh get his body?”
“Never!”
Growling savagely, Bakura used his whole body to hold Yugi down so he could do his worst, ignoring the resumed cries for Yami. “You won’t tell me what I want to know?” he angrily seethed, his hand diving down again to grope Yugi, more violently this time. “I told you I would force it out of you. One way or another.” He pushed Yugi’s legs wide apart with his knees and reached under him, roughly inserting a finger into him.
Yugi threw back his head and screamed his loudest, actually sobbing now as he shrieked, “Yami! Help me! HELP! YAMI!” over and over again. He refused to believe that Yami was too far away, he knew his soulmate would come for him. He had to. The wicked spirit molested him savagely, taking a sick delight in the hands tearing at his long hair and loose shirt in a desperate attempt to push him away. He only laughed harder as Yugi screamed and wept, knowing as he stared down at the fear in his victim’s face that all he had to do was push him one step further, and all the pharaoh’s secrets would be his. Removing his fingers, he clutched at his own pants, trying to work them open.
The blow came out of nowhere, a body plowing into him at breakneck speed and shoving him completely off of Yugi. The two figures tumbled head over heels across the floor into the wall, locked in struggle. Yugi felt the weight fly off of him and opened his eyes with a start, in time to see Yami tackle Bakura and send them both rolling. They wrestled for a few seconds, until Yami punched the wicked spirit hard enough to actually knock him back out of his grip. The thief scrambled to his feet and backed away, finding himself trapped against an inverted staircase with a murderous pharaoh staring him down. Yami pushed himself up to his full height, his breath coming in short, seething gasps. “You,” he growled gutturally.
“Yami!” Yugi sobbed weakly, feeling on the verge of passing out as relief crowded into his panicked mind.
Yami glanced down, a knife going through his heart as he saw Yugi sprawled there, half undressed, his face red and wet with tears, blood running from his cut lip. He had never felt such deadly rage course through him as he turned his gaze back to the white-haired figure lurking in the shadows, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “What have you done to him?” Yami breathed, his voice shaking with the force of his anger.
“No more than you have, I’m sure,” Bakura retorted, eyeing him tiger-like.
Yami let out an inarticulate yell and surged forward, reaching for the evil spirit. Bakura eluded him for a moment, but was tackled and thrown down again, rolling over to find the pharaoh pouncing on top of him, holding him by the shirt with one hand and punching him repeatedly with the other. “For everything you did to him, you will receive it back tenfold!” he shouted. “You heartless beast! What did you do? Who said you could come into my Puzzle and terrorize Yugi?”
Yugi had regained enough strength to pull his pants back up, and sat up a little, resting on one elbow. He stared in shock at the enraged pharaoh pummeling the thief. “Yami! No!” he whimpered. “Stop it!”
Yami stopped as though frozen, staring wild-eyed back over his shoulder at poor, ravaged Yugi. “What?”
“Don’t stoop to his level!” Yugi pleaded, tears running down his face again. “I’m okay! Please!”
For a moment Yami did not move, one white-knuckled fist poised in the air. The dark spirit chuckled under his breath. “That’s right,” he seethed, “let me go. I knew you didn’t have it in you, pharaoh.”
Snarling, Yami unleashed the waiting punch and began to shake his adversary, letting his head pound against the floor until Bakura let out a pained gasp. Yugi choked back a sob as he watched. “Yami, please!” he cried. “Stop!”
“He hurt you!” Yami blazed, pausing briefly but keeping his hands poised to do more damage. Bakura’s eyes rolled back unsteadily. “He deserves this and more for what he did to you!”
Yugi fairly screamed, “Stop it! You’re scaring me!”
Though he trembled with the effort of resisting, Yami could not ignore his love’s anguished request. His heart went cold within him; was he really that frightening? He gave Bakura one last glare and picked him up off the floor, not letting go of his shirt. “I don’t know how you got in here,” he threatened, “but you do not belong here. You will leave, now!”
Bakura laughed recklessly. “Not if I can escape into the labyrinth! Inside these passages, you will never find me.” He pulled back, but Yami had him securely and flipped him around, throwing him face-first into the opposing wall with his arm twisted behind his back.
The pharaoh leaned over him, his voice dropping to a cold, deadly murmur that could have killed a weaker man. “If any shadow of your spirit lingers in this place, I will not merely banish you to the shadow realm. I will see to it your soul is tortured for eternity, the way you torture my friends and loved ones.” The eye of the Puzzle around his neck began to glow, and the Mystic Eye flickered like fire on his forehead. Before them, the landscape of the labyrinth warped and dematerialized into a vortex, the greedy throat of the shadow realm itself. Yami kept the wicked spirit’s arm behind his back as he forced him toward the vortex, giving him one last push. Bakura stumbled and let out a cry as the shadows swallowed him up and then vanished, having removed his spirit completely from the Puzzle.
Somewhere across Domino City, Ryo Bakura awoke with a start. He had fallen asleep while reading, but somehow the terrible dream he had been having had nothing to do with his book. He sat up and ruffled his hair, confused and a little unsettled. What were those screams he heard in his subconscious, what was that sudden jerk of energy that snapped him awake? He thought nothing of the spirit of the Ring, who lurked at the periphery of his consciousness currently raging with anger that his last, best connection to the pharaoh, by which he could insinuate himself in the Puzzle and manipulate his enemies, had been forcefully broken.
Yami stood there for a moment, the fight drained out of him now that the attacker had been thrown out. He heard Yugi behind him shuffling and gasping, trying to pull himself back together after the vicious attack, and turned to him, his heart breaking. “Yugi…” he whispered, rushing to him and falling to his knees.
Yugi fell into his arms, sobbing once again, only in relief now. “You saved me,” he cried. “Yami!”
“I failed you,” Yami sighed brokenly. “I wasn’t there for you. This shouldn’t have happened!” He pulled Yugi back enough to look closely at him, at his face, his eyes. “What did he do to you? Did he…?”
“No,” Yugi quickly answered. “You stopped him before he could. But he…he…” The tears ran freely. “…touched me, and…Yami, if you hadn’t come for me…”
Yami clutched his love to him, desperate to comfort him. “Did he hurt you?” he managed to choke.
“Not much,” Yugi responded. “He…he wanted me to tell him how you get to have a body. He knew you’re too strong for him so he waited until I came, and attacked me instead.” He hugged Yami fiercely, as if trying to melt into him. “How did he get in here? He’s never been before…”
“I don’t know,” Yami shuddered. “I don’t understand at all. There has never been anyone else here, it is only me, and those I permit inside, like you. There is no way he could have gotten in here.”
Yugi clung to him, burying his face in the pharaoh’s neck. “Is he…gone for good?”
“I banished him.” He sighed. “But I fear it was only a small part of him, some part that was able to sneak inside. The real spirit of the Ring is still very much in existence, as always.” Yami held his young lover for a few moments longer, stroking his hair, and then cradled him in his arms. “Come, now. Let me take you back to a safer place. I want you to lie down so I can make sure you’re all right.”
Yugi lifted his eyes to the solemn face looking over him. He wanted to stay in Yami’s arms, but… “Shouldn’t I just…wake up? He didn’t touch me for real, this will only be a nightmare when I wake up.”
“No,” Yami implored, gathering Yugi in his arms and standing up with him, carrying him. “You need to quiet your mind first, and heal from it. If you leave now, the memory will stay with you and make it worse.”
“Okay,” Yugi murmured, willing to trust his wiser half’s judgment. He laid his head on Yami’s shoulder and held him tightly. “Where are we going?”
“We’ll go to our room,” the pharaoh decided, starting off swiftly.
With such determination of will, it wasn’t hard for Yami to find the special room alive in his realm where he and Yugi had spent so many wonderful nights, the pharaoh’s bedchamber born out of his fleeting memory and their mutual need for a private, personal space. Their own imaginations working together had built this room, with alabaster walls carved with Egyptian friezes and the big, soft canopy bed draped in the finest linens and silk. Yami carried Yugi over to it and laid him gently on top of the white linen covers, sitting down beside him and smoothing a hand through his unruly hair. Yugi had managed to button his pants back up, but his shirt was torn open, and there was no way to fix it. Yami leaned over him and gently wiped away the blood on his cheek and lip with his fingertips, checking him over for damage. Though they were inside the Puzzle and therefore only subconscious representations of their actual beings, they both were able to feel pain, to feel injured, and see their spiritual bodies change depending on what happened to them via their minds. Fortunately, the senses of taste and smell only carried over in dim shadows of reality, so the taste of blood in Yugi’s mouth was faint. He just laid back and let Yami take care of him, wrapping his arms around his bared torso to protect it. The pharaoh examined him with soft, careful caresses, assuring himself that nothing was broken. “He struck you,” he noted worriedly.
“A couple of times,” Yugi affirmed. “It’s okay, though. It’s not my real body. The blood isn’t real.”
“It’s real enough for me,” Yami said brokenly. “But, you’re right. You’ll heal just by forgetting about it. Were it your real body, I could never forgive myself for letting him do this to you.”
“Stop that.” Yugi grabbed for the hand on his cheek and squeezed it. “Yami, neither of us knew he was in here. There was nothing to make us think it was even possible for something evil to be lurking inside the Puzzle, or I would have been a lot more worried about you being in here alone.”
A darkness clouded Yami’s violet eyes. “All the same, I shouldn’t have left you alone. This should not have happened.” He choked on his words, and tears filled his eyes. “When I looked down and saw you there, like that, I…”
Yugi sat up and seized his hands. “It’s okay! Yami, you have to let go of it too. I won’t have you haunted by that memory!”
Yami closed his eyes, which made a tear slide down his cheek and drop onto his hand in Yugi’s. “I have never felt that kind of pain before,” he murmured. “It went straight through my heart like a knife.”
“No wonder you got so mad,” Yugi said softly. “I’ve never seen you like that, not even against your worst enemies in the shadow games.”
The pharaoh wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeve and took a deep breath, wanting to be the strong one for his partner to lean on. “May I never have cause to be that angry again. Had I had hands, and were that creature flesh, I would have torn him apart. But no. You were right, I can’t be like that. I must be stronger.” He clutched at Yugi’s smaller hands again. “For you.”
Yugi chanced a weary smile. “You’re all I need, Yami. I’m safe with you.”
“Yes. You are, now.” Yami sidled closer on the bed and brushed back errant strands of Yugi’s long bangs before reaching for the chain around his neck and gently removing it, setting the Puzzle beside him on the pillow. “You’ll be all right. I just want you to rest, and stay here with me. I’m sure you find that a more comforting idea than escaping to reality just now.”
Yugi laid back down with a soft sigh. “Maybe you’re right,” he relented. “I’d rather stay with you than be alone. If you hadn’t gotten rid of him, I’d be afraid he’d come back to finish the job, but…” He shivered and fell silent, looking away.
Yami caught his breath and the tearful sob that wanted to well up out of him, trying to be solid and strong. “Yugi,” he hesitated. “I know he did some terrible things to you, but…I need to be sure you’re all right. That…he didn’t injure you…”
Yugi understood what he was trying to dance around, and lifted weary eyes to his lover’s face. “Okay,” he consented. “I swear, I’m fine, Yami…but if it’ll ease your mind…”
He started to sit up, but Yami just placed a hand on his shoulder, encouraging him to rest. “I’ll take care of you,” he promised, touching his cheek gingerly in reassurance before reaching for Yugi’s waistband. His gentle demeanor was a far cry from what the Ring spirit had done, unbuttoning his pants and tugging them down just enough, but Yugi trembled slightly at the feeling nonetheless. There were a few bruises on Yugi’s hip, like fingerprints, but that seemed to be all. Yami bit back his anger at the sight as he caressed softly along his lover’s flank. “What did he do?” he demanded in a weak, quavering voice.
Yugi rolled onto his side, blinking away a rush of tears. “He…touched me,” he forced himself to admit, “and…he put his fingers inside me…”
Yami gave a sharp gasp, his fist pounding into the bed behind Yugi. For a moment he trembled, trying desperately to hang onto his composure, and then reached to hurriedly button Yugi back up so he wouldn’t have to lay there recalling it a moment longer. As Yugi rolled back over, Yami suddenly got up and walked away, keeping his back to the bed as he fought within himself, enraged and saddened over what his lover had endured for his sake. Yugi watched him, noticing his shaking shoulders, his clenched fists. He closed his eyes and curled up on his side. “I’m sorry…”
Yami glanced over his shoulder. “For what?” he asked meekly. “It isn’t your fault, Yugi.”
“I wasn’t strong enough,” Yugi whispered. “I couldn’t stand up to him. I knew what he wanted to do to me and I couldn’t stop him. I should have just told him.”
“Enough.” Yami’s voice was nothing more than a ragged sigh. “You aren’t to blame. He is. He is a cruel, heartless beast who will sink to any depth to get what he wants.” His shoulders sagged defeatedly. “If you want someone to blame, choose me. All of your suffering can be traced back to my mere existence in your life.”
“How many times do I have to tell you,” Yugi said tiredly, “I don’t care what happens to me because of you? I love you. I’ll suffer anything just to be with you.” He glanced up as Yami finally turned around, slowly, his head still bowed. “You and I both agreed, the first time we ran into Bakura, that we wouldn’t tell him a thing. We can’t go second-guessing ourselves now. What he did to me was horrible…” Yugi met his lover’s eyes across the room and smiled very faintly. “…but he still didn’t get what he wanted. And now he can’t try that again.”
Yami forced something of a similar smile and returned to the bed, slumping onto the edge of it beside his young love. “Well. That would be the second time in our lives together that I have failed you.”
“Second time?” Yugi frowned thoughtfully, remembered, and then reached out to take his partner’s hand. “You didn’t fail me,” he insisted.
“I should have been there to meet you,” Yami murmured. “I shouldn’t have left you alone.”
“Where were you?” Yugi wondered. “It’s all right, you didn’t fail…I just…”
“I thought I heard you come in,” the pharaoh explained, staring down at their clasped hands. “But when you didn’t hear me calling you…I went after you. But…” His gaze hardened. “That must have been the spirit. He lured me away so he could attack you.”
“See? I knew it wasn’t your fault.” Yugi squeezed his hand. “I thought it was weird that you weren’t there to meet me, but now it all makes sense. And that’s enough of the blame.” He reached over to clasp Yami’s hand between both of his, tugging at him. “When I wake up, all this will be over and I’ll be fine. Right now I just need to be with you, to feel you next to me. Please?”
Yami lifted his head and gave him a contrite look. “Are you sure?”
Yugi nodded mutely, his eyes wide and trusting. With a heavy sigh, Yami leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead, and then got up and went around to the other side of the bed so he could climb up beside his lover without disturbing him. He stretched himself out alongside Yugi and gathered him into his arms, content to find his young love curling up against him without hesitation, sinking into his embrace and laying his head on the pharaoh’s chest. Yami stroked his cheek with soft fingertips and brushed away a stray lock of hair. “Rest, here,” he implored softly. “I will protect you.”
Yugi purred quietly into his chest. “What do you think would happen if I fell asleep here?” he wondered. “I’ve never done that before…you always send me out before I can fall asleep.”
Yami threaded his fingers gracefully through Yugi’s hair. “I can’t say for sure, but if my understanding is correct, it would essentially be the same as falling into a deeper, dreamless sleep below the usual dreaming state. A healing sleep.”
Another purr. “Sounds like just what I need.”
“Perhaps.” Yami lowered his head and cradled Yugi to him, breathing deeply of his closeness and warmth. “If it doesn’t help, we’ll find some other way. But if you can rest…”
“I’ll be fine,” Yugi mumbled, settling down and closing his eyes.
Yami cuddled him securely, still stroking his hair. His own nerves were still rattled from the experience, and a lot was running through his mind, but he tried to quiet it all for Yugi’s sake. The signs of the attack were fading quickly, but the pharaoh could not forget the sight of the bruises on his young love’s hip and the way he shrank away in shame from his gaze. “Yugi,” he murmured into the silence around them. “I know your body will show no damage from this, but…” His hand faltered, but he forced himself to continue combing through Yugi’s hair patiently. “…in a few weeks, when we can perform the ritual again…” Yugi lifted his head, and the look in his eyes caused the rest of Yami’s words to fade away.
“Are you afraid I won’t want you to touch me?” Yugi whispered.
Yami squeezed his eyes shut. “I don’t want you to remember what Bakura did every time you feel my hands on your body.”
“I won’t.” Yugi tilted his head enough to press a tiny kiss to his partner’s cheek. “I refuse to let him steal your love from me. I trust you. It’ll be okay…really.”
Yami held him closer. “I believe you, Yugi…but we won’t know for sure until the next full moon. We won’t know what your mind will cling to, or whether it can let go.”
“There’s always that chance.” Yugi closed his eyes again and melted into the embrace. “But I’m not afraid. I love you, Yami. I know you’re not him, you wouldn’t ever do anything like that to me.”
“I love you so much,” the pharaoh said in return, “it would kill me if you refused to let me touch you again.”
“It’ll never happen.” Yugi kissed him again and laid his head back down. “Looks like I’m not the only one who can benefit from a dreamless sleep tonight.”
Yami realized he was right and faintly smiled, cuddling him again and settling down all wrapped up together with him, closing his eyes. He usually didn’t “sleep” in the true sense, except when he was embodied and his physical form needed the rest, but as he lay beside Yugi, he realized it would be the only way to make his mind stop winding in dizzying circles. His thoughts kept flashing rage, fear, grief, and relief, around and around, but once he lay still with Yugi breathing steadily in his arms as he slumbered, the draft of his breath warm against Yami’s neck, he, too, quieted and drifted away where no dreams or nightmares could follow.
To his surprise and relief, Yugi slept soundly through the night with his mind inside the Puzzle, where his subconscious could not visit him with dreams or memories. It felt as though he had merely closed his eyes and then woke again to find himself in his day-lit room, but in truth, he had been out for more than ten hours. It was because of Yami that he was able to wake into reality, and Yugi smiled gratefully to himself as he got up and stretched. For a moment he sat on the side of his bed, blinking himself awake, clutching the Puzzle to his chest. A vision came to life beside him, sitting next to him, looking just as disheveled in the same clothes he had fallen asleep in the night before. “How do you feel?” Yami asked him through their mental bond.
“Okay, I guess,” Yugi responded, looking down at himself. His shirt was not torn after all. He got up and padded over to the mirror to verify that he bore no visible wounds. The attack of the Puzzle had been just as he expected, a nightmare that vanished in the daylight. Yugi went about getting ready for his day, taking a change of clothes with him to the shower to get dressed. He stood under the water for a while relishing the heat, but after a moment checked himself over. No, no bruises on his hip or abdomen either, his body was completely normal. Yami was watching him the entire time, he knew, for once not out of desire but concern. “I told you,” Yugi mentally said to him. “I’m all right. None the worse for wear.”
“I didn’t expect it would carry over,” Yami murmured gently, “I’m more concerned about your state of mind. I can feel your heavy heart, my love.”
“It’ll pass,” Yugi assured him, though without much conviction. “I just have to give it time. That was an awful thing to happen, even if it was in our minds and spirits. I’m not afraid, but it’ll take time for the weird creepy feeling to go away.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Yami retreated and let him finish showering in peace, considering to himself as he caught Yugi’s reflection in the mirror and was able to observe him through his own eyes, just how small and innocent he was yet. They had been in this relationship for more months than they could count, and done wonderfully naughty things to each other so often, but Yugi still retained his sweetness, his modesty, and the completely pure, innocent look in his wide, violet eyes. It was the pharaoh’s contention that he would never lose that look, not for as long as he was a part of the youth’s life.
Yugi threw on his clothes and took a few extra minutes to style his hair just right, knowing that he and Joey were probably going out this afternoon. He frowned at himself in the mirror, sensing the inner spirit watching him. “I know I usually tell Joey everything that goes on in my life,” he said softly, “but…I think we should keep this between you and me.”
The vision fluttered beside him, gazing concernedly at him. “Are you certain, Yugi? Joey is your best friend. He won’t judge you.”
“I’m not worried about that.” Yugi shifted his attention to the ephemeral vision. “It’s just…it doesn’t concern him, or anyone else really. It’s not like anyone can do anything, either to erase it from my mind or make sure it doesn’t happen again. It would just get him upset, and maybe mad at Bakura, and I don’t want that.” Yugi checked his appearance once more and gathered up his rumpled clothes for the laundry. “I don’t want Joey to worry. You and I can handle it on our own.”
“If you insist.” The vision may have vanished, but the voice purred deep in Yugi’s mind as he walked back up the hallway. “I don’t feel comfortable sharing it either, but I’m not one to discount the value of talking to a friend.”
“Maybe, in time,” Yugi mused. “After I’ve calmed down, and it’s not so significant anymore. Okay?” He tossed his clothes in the pile in the corner of his room and paused to turn and face the vision of the pharaoh standing behind him. “What about you? Are you okay?”
Yami gave a long sigh, his phantom shoulders heaving. “I would be a liar to say I’m fine,” he admitted, “but at least…I’m feeling better. That which scares us most in the darkness always seems to be not so bad when the light returns.” His eyes gentled as he beheld his young love. “I do feel better seeing that you’re okay. Your mind is unsettled, but so is mine. I feel no fear or anger, and I don’t sense shame or resentment. All things considered, that’s incredible.”
Yugi mustered a little smile for him. “As long as it stays that way. Don’t be upset, Yami. I’m going to be all right, and I have you to protect me. I’m ready to put it behind me, and just go have a good day hanging out with Joey.”
“All right then.” The vision nodded firmly and then faded away. The voice in his mind was warm and understanding. “I am with you always. There will be nothing to fear…nothing more serious than Joey defeating you in a video game…”
The rest of the month passed quietly, as the world outside sank deeper into autumn and the shortest, darkest days seemed to creep up far too quickly. Though the bond between minds made it hard for either Yugi or Yami to truly keep secrets from each other, the pharaoh’s spirit did his best to close himself off now and then, when he found himself sinking into dark, pensive thoughts about the Millennium Ring and Yugi’s recovery. He didn’t want Yugi to sense that he was still thinking about it, worrying about it, and refused to let his young partner feel the anxiety and concern that he still felt. Yugi appeared to be getting along well, having put it all past him in order to go about his routine life, but one small nightmare a week after the attack only reinforced Yami’s worst concerns. While Yugi picked himself up and went on with his life, determined not to let one horrible incident change him or ruin his relationship with Yami, the pharaoh brooded inside, unable to keep himself from fearing their next romantic encounter no matter how comfortable Yugi seemed to be. It was a completely irrational fear, he knew, for if Yugi had been hiding his own fears or covering something up, Yami would have known instantly with just a brush of their minds against each other. As it was, Yugi’s spirit felt perfectly calm and collected to him. The fears were Yami’s alone, and no matter how much time he had to himself while inside the Puzzle, to ponder and conclude that he was being overprotective and distrustful and should let it go, he could not.
While December put a sharp chill in the air, Yugi’s life seemed to be heating up. The change to the new month on the calendar put his upcoming semester exams into the spotlight. He could now see how close they were, and it filled him with a different kind of trepidation. He was doing as well as he could, and was glad that these stupid required classes would be soon over, but he was conscious of the need to pass with good marks in order to keep going. That was, if he wanted to. University brought his disinterest in schooling into sharp relief, but he promised himself – and Yami – that he wouldn’t give up after one semester. It was too soon to tell what path he needed to take and how future years in university would treat him. At least the full moon was coming up in a few days, it was something much more interesting to look forward to. If nothing else, he could skip class that day. Of course, that was only the least of the reasons to look forward to it; whatever Yami was clinging to inside his private thoughts, the dark tone hadn’t rubbed off on Yugi at all. The two of them had not been together inside the Puzzle since the attack, mostly because Yugi was unable to make the time, but he had a feeling that Yami was not encouraging him out of some need to protect him, still. In just a few days, they would meet face to face once more and find out which of them was right.
Throughout the evening, as Yugi finished up the necessary portion of his homework and enough of his chores around the house, he had the sense that the pharaoh’s spirit had gone dormant, as he often tended to do when there was no reason for him to be lurking over Yugi’s shoulder. It was strange, so close to the ritual, but Yugi figured it was nothing more significant than Yami being bored watching him fold laundry and do the dishes. Given the choice, he would have been anywhere else himself. He finished up and wished his grandfather a good night, closing himself away in his room to wait for midnight. He had some reading to do for class, but as he kept glancing at the clock, he realized the closer it came to the magic hour, the less he was actually reading. It didn’t keep him distracted enough, so he closed his book and put it away, going to sit cross-legged on the floor instead. Yami’s spirit was still silent and distant, there but not present, but Yugi didn’t know what to say to him, so he remained quiet and simply sat there stroking the Puzzle with his fingers, tracing the raised lines at the edges of the individual pieces making up the forward face of it. After all the abuse he put it through, not to mention whatever Yami had done with it when he wore it five thousand years ago, it showed absolutely no sign of wear. Yugi expected by now it would have a few scratches or dents, but it resisted damage rather well. Apart from a little dirt in the cracks between tight-fitting pieces, which could be brushed away with a fingertip, the artifact gleamed just as brightly as if it had been forged yesterday. Smiling at it, Yugi glanced at the clock once more and prepared himself to begin the ritual.
As the jolt of power that freed his spirit from the Puzzle faded, Yami opened his eyes to behold Yugi’s room, dimly lit only by his desk lamp and the moonlight from above them. Yugi sat at his feet, a gentle smile dawning on his face as he gazed up at Yami’s perfect figure. The pharaoh smiled back, though a shiver immediately shook his body. “It’s cold,” he noticed.
“Yeah, kind of.” Yugi pushed himself to his feet and retrieved the bathrobe laying on his bed, going to his lover and wrapping it around him. Yami gave a soft sigh of gratitude as he slipped his arms into the sleeves. “There you are,” Yugi said kindly. “Is that better?”
“Yes, thank you.” Yami leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. “I don’t remember feeling this cold before.”
“Yeah, sorry – it can be a little drafty in here in the winter,” Yugi said with a sheepish smile, glancing up at the skylight above them. “I just wear longer sleeves.” He had tied the robe closed for Yami, but his hands lingered there on the cloth belt, as if waiting for the signal to undo the knot. He kept his head shyly lowered as he whispered, “But…I can think of another way to keep warm…”
Yami’s hand came up and cupped his cheek. “Are you sure you’re ready?” he asked with obvious concern. “Perhaps we should just lie down…”
“Yami…” Yugi gave him a pouting frown. “You don’t have be so protective. I’m fine. I want you…I need you…” He smoothed his hand along his partner’s chest, feeling the shape of his muscles beneath the fabric of the robe. “What are you afraid of?”
Another shiver twitched Yami’s back, though this one had its roots in emotion, not chill. His hand fell away and hung limp at his side. “I don’t want you to remember him touching you when I try to make love to you,” he murmured brokenly.
“I couldn’t possibly.” Yugi stepped even closer, clutching at the robe as he laid his head on Yami’s chest. “It’s two different things. You love me, you want me to be happy. That evil spirit was only doing it out of power, trying to control me. I could never, ever mistake your touch for his.”
“But Yugi…”
Yugi stepped back again and wrestled himself out of his long-sleeved shirt, casting it aside and then gently picking up the Puzzle and maneuvering the chain so it fell down his back. He was now free to cuddle up to his lover, and so he did, putting his arms around Yami and hugging him comfortingly. “I should be the one who’s afraid and hesitant, not you,” he said worriedly. “I’ve healed, but you haven’t. You have to trust me, Yami. I’ll be fine. All I need is your faith in me, your belief. The more you do this, the more he gets exactly what he wanted – causing us pain and driving us apart.”
The realization made Yami recoil with a gasp and then hug his arms around Yugi, bowing his head until their foreheads pressed together. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I don’t want that. I want to hold you and make love to you as if nothing ever happened…”
“Then do it.” Yugi tilted his head up enough to brush a kiss across the pharaoh’s lips. “Forget about what happened. Treat me no different, I don’t need to be coddled and I don’t want to. I’m so hot for you,” he added in a pleading whimper. “I don’t think I can hold off another minute.”
Yami gazed down at him, his eyes still full of concern, but his expression more calm now. “But what if…?”
“No,” Yugi interrupted him. “It won’t be like that.”
Yami sighed and tried again, more firmly. “If for any reason, no matter how unlikely, I make you uncomfortable,” he managed to say before Yugi could begin to protest, “say so. I will stop.”
“Okay,” Yugi breathed. “But I won’t have to, I swear.”
“I believe you.” A gentle chuckle brought a smile back to Yami’s serious face. “Forgive me for underestimating you. I’ve always known you to have a strong will, a strong heart. But you can’t fault me for being afraid that the attack left scars you can’t see. I love you, Yugi, and that is why I worry.”
“I know…” Yugi nuzzled his way into the opening of the robe and pressed a kiss to Yami’s chest. “And I’m happy that you love me so much. But please…don’t be afraid of me. You won’t hurt me. It hurts more to be apart from you, to see you so scared.”
Yami groaned softly in regret and bowed his head to kiss Yugi, his cheek and temple and then his forehead. “Help me to heal,” he murmured in his lowest, deepest tone. “Together, we will take back what that thief tried to steal from us.”
Yugi stretched to kiss him back, finally able to get a taste of his lover’s warm, pliant lips. He tugged on the robe in his fists to get Yami to follow him over to the bed, where he pulled back the blankets and sat down. Yami sank down beside him, curling one leg underneath him, and reached to enfold him in his arms as Yugi crawled forward and settled himself in his partner’s lap. He took hold of the robe’s tie and slowly pulled it free, letting the robe fall open just enough to work his arms inside and wrap them around Yami’s waist, skin to skin. Yami tilted his head and kissed Yugi’s neck in prelude, working his way slowly up to his chin and then his lips, rewarding him with the most gentle, loving kiss he could devise. He knew it was right when he felt Yugi lean in, and heard the desperate moan in his throat as he refused to break the kiss for even a moment. Yami’s hands laid on his young love’s shoulders, but as the kiss deepened, they moved up to cup his face, fingertips tracing up behind his ears to find sensitive spots to caress. They sat like this for a long time, pausing to explore each other’s faces, necks, and chests with lingering touches before leaning in for more kisses, each one longer and more sensual than the last. Yugi nibbled eagerly at his lover’s lips, sliding his hands downward across Yami’s chest to his waist, stroking his flanks and stomach insistently. When he had a moment to catch his breath, he whispered, “I need you so much. Every bit of you. It’s been so long…”
Yami let his hands slide down Yugi’s back, avoiding the dangling Puzzle, until he could lay them comfortably in the small of his back and pull him in closer. “Anything you want,” he promised. “I am yours to command.”
Yugi leaned in as close as he could, their chests touching, his hands inside the robe clutching firmly to his partner’s hips. He lifted his head so that his nose and lips brushed all the way up Yami’s graceful neck, leaving a trail of warmth from his breath. The little caress made the pharaoh shiver in delight. “Kiss me all over,” Yugi begged in a throaty whisper. “Make it feel like the first time all over again. And then when you’re ready…” He backed off just enough to be able to look up and meet his partner’s eyes. “…I want you to have me. Slow or fast, I don’t care, I just want you inside me where you belong.”
A ragged growl of pleasure sounded deep in Yami’s throat. “Just like the first time,” he agreed.
Yugi raised himself up on his knees, enough to be able to meet his lover eye to eye, though he closed his eyes with a sensual sigh and arched his head back. The move made his stomach – and growing hardness – rub against Yami’s body. “Nothing else matters,” he breathed. “Just you and me and right now. Please…”
Yami enfolded him in his arms and clutched him close, ravenously kissing the neck left exposed to him until Yugi was gasping loudly in delight. The robe cascaded from the pharaoh’s shoulders, but the chill draft of the room no longer bothered him. He deftly hooked the Puzzle chain around his wrist and pushed it aside as he leaned forward and began to lay Yugi down in the bed, settling him perfectly in the blankets with his head on the pillow, his legs already on either side of Yami’s waist. The Puzzle rested beside him now, its Eye facing modestly away. Yugi smiled dreamily up at his lover as he watched him pull his arms out of the bathrobe and lean over him, completely naked again and finally smiling. He prowled closer and bent his head to obey his partner’s wishes and kiss every inch of his body, starting with his neck and moving downward, taking his time and making sure not to move on until he heard the adorable purr of satisfaction that told him he was doing everything right. It was the longest, most wonderful foreplay Yugi could remember ever being treated to, arrested only briefly when Yami had to help him remove his pants and briefs and snuggle back into the warm blankets. Though he was completely caught up in the moment, in the back of Yami’s mind he remembered to watch for any sign of hesitation, but there were none. Yugi’s eyes glowed with trust, his heart was wide open and giving of himself fully. Not even the careful brush of fingertips around his opening, so gently and carefully preparing him to be penetrated by long, nimble fingers seeking only to pleasure him, gave Yugi reason to doubt or flinch. For only the briefest second his mind flashed back to the attack weeks ago, an involuntary response he couldn’t steel himself against, but all the memory did was show him that he was healed, that there was a complete lack of fear even in the deepest recesses of his mind. Realizing it made him smile all the more strongly, and seeing him smile made Yami smile back as he probed one finger slowly inside, relieved to find Yugi’s reaction completely positive, a pleased, “Ah!” escaping him as he pressed his head back into the pillow and twitched his hips to meet the touch. Very soon they would progress to the last stage, to the one place no one else but Yami could ever go. When that moment was reached, all memory of the thief would be permanently banished, and the bond between spirits would be reinforced stronger than ever. No one could come between them, Yugi thought through the haze of pleasure clouding his mind, not when they were bonded down to their very souls.
Author’s note: if half of this chapter sounds familiar, it’s because it’s copied directly from my fic, “Thief in the Temple.” Originally, I had never intended to write Tachi, but there were a few interesting ideas I had thought up for it that I decided to turn into stand-alone fics by changing a few details or altering the setting. But now that I’m writing Tachi, I’m plagiarizing my own fic and putting the plot back in the greater story where it belongs.