Title: Redemption

Genre: romance, hurt/comfort, fantasy

Rating: T for language and violence (might go up)

Pairings: YamiXYugi; BakuraXRyou; MarikXMalik; KaibaXJonouchi; hinted others

Summary: Yugi is an angel and the demon king, Yami, is his mate. But their relationship is tried when Yugi is reincarnated and turned into human with no memory of his angel life or his past life as a human. Yami comes to claim what is his, but Yugi's angelic friends; Jonouchi, Ryou, and Malik; go to great lengths to stop Yami and protect Yugi from discovering the truth. But then they find out that the highest ranking demons and best friends/warriors of Yami are their mates! Find out what will happen as Yami, Bakura, Marik, and Kaiba try to get their mates. The angels have to dodge crazy lovesick demons, protect Yugi and keep him in the dark while trying to pass through high school.

Me: This is a story that was requested of us by ncalkins!

Lucy: We are not sure if this is what they were thinking, but we hope that ncalkins enjoys the story and we hope that this is along the lines of what they were thinking about.

Me: This portion of the story takes place much further into the story, but we wanted to use it as the prologue to make people curious about it, so the next chapter might be a bit confusing.

Lucy: Please enjoy!

Prologue

Thick gray fog rolled through the abandoned parking garage in the middle of the city of Domino. The small, round orange lights that lit the parking garage flickered every several seconds.

The garage was abandoned on every single level. The building that possessed the parking garage had been long since closed, as the time was 12 o'clock midnight. The fog dimmed the flickering lights, which shone through the fog like piercing demonic eyes. The scent of rust and soggy bricks and rain lingered on the seven level parking area, two levels of which were underground.

As one of the dim lights flickered, a soft moan echoed through the otherwise silent, dark, horror-movie like environment.

On the lowest underground level of the parking garage, under one of the round flickering orange lights, the body of a young man of about sixteen years old rested in the direct center of the gap between two parking spaces; one of the left and one on the right.

The young man's outfit consisted of the standard male Domino High School uniform, although he wore a closed buckled leather collar. The jacket was thrown open, revealing the white shirt that he wore underneath. His shirt was coated with crimson blood, and there was so much that it was as if he had a fresh hole punched right through his solar plexus.

His extremely extravagant hair consisted of multiple layers; while his fringe is made up of long, crooked blond locks, the main body features seven large, black spikes with magenta-rimmed edges.

His eyes; usually amethyst, wide, and childish; were closed, and he looked as if was dead. His flesh was pale; as if he were layered in a fine coat of dust. The flickering orange light illuminated his skin and made the bright crimson blood on his torso glisten. His breaths came in weak shudders, as if it hurt him just to breathe.

The young man, however, couldn't feel any pain anymore. All the pain- the agony that he thought was never going to end- had finally ended after such a long and horrible time.

He was upset, however, that he was dying alone.

His memory went to the young man who he had fallen madly in love with. The image of the man's crimson eyes, his sharp, mature features, and the sound of his deep baritone voice resonated through the young man's final memories.

From the mouth of the parking garage; from the path that led to the upper levels and out; another young man slowly entered, his bright crimson eyes flickering for any signs of danger.

This young man's appearance was largely the same as the first young man's, the one laying far within the parking garage, although there are many alternations between the two. The main difference was that this young man was taller and thus looks more like a teenager than the first young man did and he had a deeper voice.

This young man's hair featured multiple layers including long blond crocked, pointy locks for his fringe. Unlike the first young man, some of the blond locks jut upwards. The rest of his hair featured six large spikes colored black with magenta rims all along the edges. He wore a dark-gray long-sleeved shirt, a sleeve-less vest, dark blue pants, and black shoes.

This young man, Yami the King of Demons, more formally known as the King of the Red Rose, slithered through the lower regions of the parking garage. He sniffed around for any other demons, for the members of the White Rose, his mortal enemies. The rebels. Even in his human form; which Yami was currently in; his sense of smell was much more advanced than an average human's.

Yami drew in a deep breath through his nose and gagged. "Ugh," he groaned. "It reeks down here. Those fucking members from the White Rose have been here, all right."

The King of Demons covered his nose with his hand, but another smell leaked in.

It was metallic, thick, and there was a lot of it. Yami knew right off that it was blood. But it wasn't demon blood. Demon blood had a distinct smell, and this was not demon blood. It was too... sweet.

Yami took his hand away and drew in another breath through his nose.

Going beyond the smell of the White Rose demons, which made him nearly gag once again, Yami found another smell.

It was a scent that he had come to love. It was a mixture between vanilla and rose, a distinct smell that lingered with the smell of a human. Every human had their own distinct smell, along with the scent that went with all humans. Demons and angels were the same way. They all had a smell that each of their own kind had, and then a scent that made them distinct.

Yami's crimson eyes widened as the familiar scent filled his nose.

No-!

Yami felt something tugging violently at his back as his rage and fear spiked. The smell was the blood of his beloved, his dear sweet Yugi. And the amount of blood Yami was smelling was a horrible amount.

The skin on his back broke, and two huge, crimson and black bat wings broke free. They beat once and a harsh wind blew through the fog and the lingering smell of rebel demons.

Using his wings to glide around the poles that held up the underground parking garage levels, Yami tore through, his eyes scanning effortlessly to find his beloved somewhere in the parking garage. He followed his immense sense of smell to try and find where his lover was. It was easy, since there was so much blood. But that just made Yami's fears increase. His heart thudded painfully against his rib-cage. This was one reason that he hated becoming human. His heart would beat like this when he was afraid.

Once he was deep in the parking garage- and when the smell of his lover's blood became overwhelming- Yami dropped to the ground. His landing was graceful, despite the fear raging in his mind.

The bat wings folded up and vanishing back in his body. A bit of pain followed as the skin grew back over where the wings had torn through. Yet another reason that Yami hated being human. In his demon form, his wings were almost always out, so no skin was torn. Plus, demons were able to take their wings out and in at will without breaking through skin. But Yami had to stay in his human form to be with his lover, since his lover was also human, and if Yami were a demon around him, he might lose control and hurt his beloved.

Yami sniffed the air again, his senses overwhelmed by the smell of his love's blood.

Please God. Don't let me be too late.

He knew that praying was probably useless. He was a demon; a supposed enemy of Heaven. Would God listen to his prayer? Would it be all right if Yami prayed or would it be an even worse sin for a demon to pray to God? Yami didn't care. He felt like praying would be the best way to insure that his beloved would be alive when he found him.

Yami sniffed again and took a step forward. A weak moan resonated, and his super-powered hearing picked it up, whereas a normal human would have never heard it.

His crimson eyes darted to the source.

He spotted his beloved laying on the ground, several hundred meters away from him. The smell of blood was strong, and even from so far away, Yami could see the crimson splattered all over his lover's body.

Yami's eyes widened. "Yugi-!" he shouted. His voice echoed off the cement walls.

The spell of frozen terror lasted for point 0.3 seconds. But to Yami, staring at his beloved, they were the longest few seconds of his life. His legs wouldn't move, no matter how much he commanded them to. Move! Move, dammit!He could feel the shock on his face. His heart was thudding to the point where Yami thought it was going to pop through his sternum and fall to the floor. He wouldn't have even noticed if it had. He only had eyes for his beloved boyfriend, his lover, his Yugi.

As soon as the spell of terror broke, Yami ran to Yugi as quickly as he could.

It seemed as if Yugi wasn't getting closer- it seemed as if he were getting farther and farther away with every step Yami took.

Yami feared that he was too late. He could barely see Yugi breathing with his super-heightened vision. The only sound was Yami's shocked gasps and his thudding heart. It took all his will power not to transform into his demonic form. He had to focus very hard to keep from transforming, and when he was so focused on Yugi, it was nearly impossible. Finally, Yami managed to reach his boyfriend after what felt like countless hours, the gasps coming from his chest intensifying to the point where he was practically hyperventilating.

"Aibou, what happened?" Yami's voice was barely a whisper, barely even a breath.

Yami called Yugi his "aibou". It was the Japanese word for "partner". Though Yami and Yugi were lovers, they had nicknames for each other. Yami had called Yugi "aibou" a long time ago, and so, the nickname just stuck.

Yugi, Yami's lover, flinched slightly and shifted from his unconscious state at the sound of Yami's voice.

Yami knelt beside him. His fingers ghosted gently over Yugi's cheek and over his lips. It was at this time that Yami realized just how badly he was shaking.

A faded moan tore through Yugi's throat, and he opened his eyes. His vision blurred, and Yami was nothing but a violent blur of yellow, red, black, and peach. Yugi closed his eyes and let his vision focus for a moment. It wasn't much better, due to the massive blood loss he had suffered, but Yugi was able to see Yami a bit clearer. He could see the tears building behind Yami's crimson eyes and he could see that Yami was shaking. A weak smiled crossed Yugi's paling lips.

"Y-Yami." Yugi's voice was exhausted and barely audible. "I..." He was too weak to continue.

Yami saw this, and another wave of panic surged through him.

"What happened?" he whispered.

"I-" Yugi paused to cough painfully. Yami felt yet another wave of absolute terror pulsate through him at the pained sound of his dear sweet aibou in such pain.

Once Yugi finished coughing, he looked back at Yami.

"I-I knew that they were going to hurt you, Yami," Yugi murmured, his tone soft and loving. "I knew that... if I let them pass, they would hurt you, and so I tried to stop them, but I..."

Yami noticed that Yugi's voice was getting softer and softer with each moment, and this worried him. He tried not to panic though, or rather, he tried not to show his growing fear to Yugi, as he knows it would cause Yugi to be upset if he saw that Yami had started to panic, and that was the last thing that Yami wanted.

"Yugi-" Yami swallowed the lump in his throat. "Who did this to you?"

Yugi, if he heard Yami's question, ignored it. "I-I wanted to... protect you, Yami," he whispered. His eyes blurred again, and he gave them a little while so that Yami was back in his line of vision. "B-but it seems that theygot away." His eyelids fluttered shut, and Yami gasped. He felt for a pulse, and then Yugi looked up into Yami's eyes again, and Yami noticed the faded tears Yugi was holding back. "I-I'm sorry."

Yami's heart skipped.

No!Yami thought and he shook his head quickly. Yugi, you have no reason to apologize for anything!Yami wanted so bad to say this aloud, but not a single sound would come from his mouth.

Yugi smiled at Yami and his eyelids fluttered closed.

He started to fall unconscious, but Yami caught his shoulders and gave him the gentlest shake that he could.

Yami's voice was desperate and worried. "Yugi! Yugi, stay awake! Who did this to you? Who's they?" he asked, though he had a pretty good idea as to who "they" were. He imagined that they were the White Rose demons. "What did they do to you?"

Yugi smiled, but said nothing for a while. Yami started to get up. He had to go find Ryou. Ryou was the only one Yami knew; out of demons and angels; who could heal others. As he started to get up, Yugi took a hold of his sleeve and kept him from going anywhere. Yami was just about to protest, but after seeing how exhausted and weak Yugi looked, Yami was unable to abandon him. He turned and found that he was still shaking violently, and no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't stop.

He didn't know what to do. Yugi was dying before him and there was nothing he could do.

Yugi coughed painfully, spitting up a bit of blood. Yami gasped and reached for him, brushing his fingers gently against Yugi's cheek. It took all of his willpower not to transform into his demon form and fly Yugi to Ryou.

Though this was probably the only way to save Yugi, Yami knew that if he changed into his demon form while Yugi was human, if he touched Yugi in his demon form, then Yugi would get burned. Demons burned humans when they touched each other's flesh. And at this point, moving Yugi was out of the question. He would be in even more pain if he was jostled, and it would probably cause more damage to him.

Yami's thoughts were interrupted when Yugi gave another pained, bloody cough.

"Yugi," Yami whispered. His voice was almost silent.

Though he was in the worst pain he had probably ever felt in his three lifetimes, Yugi smiled weakly. "I-it's all right," he reassured Yami. "Even if I die, I'll, ugh, find you again. Even if I am reborn, I know that, unn, I'll fall in love with you all over again. I mean... we were even in love a... long... time ago and when I died then, I was reborn into this form. I was born again under the name "Yugi" and... met you again. So, that's why... dying's not such... a big deal to me."

Yami stared down at his lover, his mouth slightly ajar in shock, his crimson eyes holding back tears.

"Y-Yugi, I-"

Yugi reached up and brushed his hand against Yami's cheek. Yami flinched at how cold Yugi's body was. It felt as if Yugi had stuck his hand in a big snowbank just before all of this had happened. The only thing that was warm about Yugi was his pulsing blood- which didn't give Yami any comfort anyway- and his weak smile.

"So," Yugi's voice was the softest it had been during their whole talk. "No matter what happens, I... I want you to know that I..."

Yugi looked as if he were trying to move, to lift himself up, but he couldn't manage it. His body was too broken, and he was in too much pain to try to lift himself up like that.

Seeing that he couldn't move well- and considering that lifting his hand to touch Yami's cheek had used all of his physical strength- Yugi just stared into Yami's crimson eyes and gave him one last reassuring smile.

"I love you, Yami..."

With those final, heartbreaking words, Yugi closed his amethyst eyes and fell still, the faintest trace of a smile on his lips.

Yami's eyes widened, and his breath hitched. He forced himself not to believe that Yugi was actually dead. Even when the cold body of his beloved was right before him, Yami would defy Fate and refuse to believe that Yugi was dead.

Because if he did believe it, then there would be no way to save Yugi.

If Yami just accepted the fact that Yugi was dead, then Fate would come at him like a slap in the face, and he would be forced to face the reality that there was no way to save his beloved. He would be forced to realize that he had failed as a lover and that he had let this happen. Yami could not let that happened.

"Yugi..." he whispered.

Even though he was trying not to panic before, when Yugi didn't respond, Yami forced himself into panic-mode. He weakly grabbed Yugi by the shoulders and gave him a slight shake.

His voice was desperate and weak. "Yugi!"

Yami sat trembling for a moment and forced himself to stare down at the boy that he loved, not only in this life time, but in a previous life time. He forced himself not to start crying just yet, as Yugi might still be able to be saved.

"Yugi-!" Yami shouted.

Instead of becoming a blubbering mess, like he had countless years ago, in his and Yugi's first lifetime together, Yami became angry.

He was not angry at Yugi, oh no. He was angry with Fate. He was angry with those who had harmed his Yugi. He was angry with himself for not coming and rescuing Yugi before all of this had happened. He was angry with himself for not seeing that something like this would happened. He was angry with himself for leaving Yugi alone when he knew that the White Rose demons were prowling around Domino, looking for ways to hurt the King of the Demons, both mentally and physically.

"Yugi, you will not die!" Yami commanded through his unshed tears, his voice cracking. "Do you hear me? You will not die!"

As the King of Demons, whenever Yami made a command and used his powers to his highest authority, any demon had to listen. Though this did not work as well on the White Rose demons, it still worked.

But Yugi was not a demon.

Yugi was an angel trapped in a human body who couldn't use his powers unless he was unsealed.

Therefore, Yami's commanding powers as the King of Demons would not have any effect on Yugi. Even knowing this, Yami continued to shout and command that Yugi wasn't going to die. His crimson eyes flashed gold as he used his powers to shout commands to his beloved, but even this could do nothing to make Yugi come back.

Yami had never heard his voice so broken before. It resonated off the walls and rebounded in his ears, and it almost made him sick to his stomach to hear how lonely and desperate he sounded.

It only proved his fears that Yugi was truly dead. Even his voice didn't believe that Yugi was alive.

"Yugi," Yami whispered, his shoulders quaking. He grit his teeth to keep the sobs from coming up. "I command you not to die. Do you hear me?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Yami knew that his command was useless. Yugi couldn't come back. Yugi couldn't hear his commands, and if he could, they would have no power over him.

Yami knew this, and he started trembling.

Tears dripped down his cheeks, and he choked painfully.

After so many years, the King of Demons was finally allowing himself to cry, and it hurt.

It had been years- centuries, actually- since Yami had shed a tear. As a demon, Yami was not able to cry. Demons could not cry at all. Tears would not form in their eyes, as they had no tear ducts. Angels couldn't cry either. It was a human thing, and it made them unique. Demons and angels could do something similar to crying, but no tears would come from it.

But since Yami was currently in a human form, he was able to cry.

It was a disgusting and a painful feeling. Yami could understand why demons didn't miss crying. It made his throat tighten and it made his eyes burn, and at the same time, it was all that he could do.

The Demon King did all that he was able to.

He released a loud yell; one of nothing but pain and agony from the loss he had suffered.

His yell echoed through the entire underground parking garage and rattled until it hit the levels above. Anyone within at least half a mile radius of the parking garage could have heard his yell.

And if they heard it, any human would have heard the most depressing sound in the world. The sound of a demon mourning.

At the top of the parking garage, at the seventh level, which appeared to be the fifth, since the other two were underground, several tall, statue-like figures stood on the roof, looking out over the city of Domino.

They were a gang of five. Tall- about seven feet tall- and thin, they were all dressed in white robes. The white robes billowed out behind them in an unseen wind. Their milky-white eyes peeked from the darkness of the hoods. Their eyes were the palest color pink that there could have ever been, having once been a bright crimson.

The yell from the Demon King reached their ears, and all of them smirked at the same time.

The leader lifted his hand from under his cloak and flexed his fingers. His eyes flashed as he scanned over his hand. Long, pale, and coated with a human's sweet-scented blood.

Me: Noooo! Poor Yami!

Lucy: As we can imagine, those people on the roof must be the members of the White Rose, Yami's enemies. And we know that the one who killed Yugi was the leader, because Yugi's blood is all over his hand, and Yugi's wound looked like someone stabbed through him with his hand.

Me: Anyway, the next chapter and the majority of the story will take before all of this happens, so we hope that everyone will not get confused and that this will be a good story!

Lucy: Please review and we shall update as soon as we can and we hope that this is a good story!