In Between

---Chapter ---

"This is the last time he does this to you." Yami shot up from his seat at the sight of his Aibou. Bruises wrapped around his arm where he was continuously grabbed, his back was filled with huge dark bruises where he had been kicked repeatedly and his left eye was beginning to glow a dark purple color. His wrists were dark red and swollen from being tied up. "When I see him again he's dead!"

"No, Yami, he doesn't know what he's doing. I love him." Yugi pleaded his eyes growing wet as tears swelled up in them.

"Yugi, No, please don't ask me to do this. He's hurting you. No one should ever, EVER, hurt you. Don't ask me to back off."

"Please, Yami. Please. He said he's going to get better, he's going to get help, you'll see he loves me. He'll do it for me. I promise. He won't hurt me anymore. Please don't hurt him." Yugi's eyes nearly grew twice their normal size. Yami let out a long sigh. "So you'll wait?"

"Yes, but if he lays one more hand out you he's mine and nothing you say will stop me from killing that son of a B—"

"Yami, please."

"Yes, fine. But let's get you cleaned up." Yami drew Yugi carefully into his arms and walked him up the stairs and to the bathroom and sat him on the edge of the tub and turned to pull the first aid kit from the cabinet under the sink, "How did it happen this time?"

"I told him I wanted to go out with Joey and Tristan; they were going to some sort of rock concert." Yugi hissed as Yami dabbed the disinfectant at his small cuts. "He said that if he had time for them then I had time for him and he got a little rough. He tied me to the bed and just… had his way." Yugi yelped when Yami gave his arm a slight tug. "Ouch."

"Sorry. I just, why Yugi? The first time he did this it should have been the last time. Why are you doing this?" Yami closed the disinfectant and moved on to the ointment for the bruises.

"I should get back before he starts to worry. Yami, he's not bad, he's just been having a hard time at work it doesn't help that our company has been taking off while his is slowly dying. He just gets a little too mad and he can't think straight. Duke is our friend and I love him, I'll always love him, No matter what."

"And if he kills you? Then what? Huh?! Are you going to let him take you away from your real friends? Ra, Yugi How can you be so stupid?" Yami abruptly pulled Yugi up to the long mirror on the bathroom door, "Look at yourself, look at what he does to you."

"Stop it." Yugi whispered under his breath.

"Look at yourself!"

"STOP IT!" Yugi cried out. "I don't need this from you. I don't."

"ME?" Yami let him go. "You don't need this from him. You don't." Yami's features softened when he noticed Yugi studying his bruised and battered body, he slowly brought his fingers up to caress the spots almost as if seeing it they were real. Yugi sputtered as the urge to cry burst through him. "Oh Yugi." Yami gently wrapped his arms around him. "Do you want this to be over?"

"Yes. Make him stop hurting me. Without hurting him…" he added in a whisper.

"Alright." Yami smiled softly and pulled Yugi to his room and sat him down on the bed. You wait here and I'll take care of this right now. Anzu will be over, tell her that I am going to be back soon. Don't let her see you like that. There are extra clothes in the closet." Yami scrabbled around as he spoke, "It's going to be okay, and He's never going to hurt you again." Yami grabbed his car keys. "Please stay here." Yami added as he walked out the door.

Yami got into his black Lamborghini Murcielago and drove off to Duke's apartment complex, his eyes glaring at the rode as he thought of Duke hurting Yugi behind those closed doors. No one there to help him, Yugi screaming and preying for someone to help him and no one came to his rescue. The night Yami suspected something was the night he should have stopped this whole thing.

Yugi's eighteenth birthday should not have been like that. Duke had surprised him with the key to his apartment and an invitation to move in. Yugi gladly took the invite. At the party in the bar where the guys had taken him for his first Lap dance, Duke got very jealous and Yami could see it in his eyes. Yami had volunteered to take Yugi to duke's that night. He knew he shouldn't have let him out. He shouldn't have taken him to that death trap apartment. The next day Yugi had shown up to school with a huge bruise on the side of his face. When confronted about it Yugi said he had fallen. The usual excuse.

Yami came to a stop parking in the lot away from the dingy cars and climbed out of his car and looked up at the building in warning. He cleared his throat and walked into the apartment complex and got into the elevator and rode it up for flights before stepping off. With each inch Yami drew nearer he could feel his heart beat faster. He promised he wouldn't hurt Duke and that promise was going to be hard to keep. He knew the moment he saw Duke he was going to want to punch his face in. He finally reached the door and took a deep steadying breath before knocking on the door softly.

"Yeah yeah, hold your horses." Duke scrambled to the door and pulled it open, "Oh shit!" He shut the door quickly. "Go away."

"I don't think so, Why don't you want to face me?"

"I didn't do anything wrong."

"Then open the door and let me in. I want to talk to you." Yami's lips curled into a smirk. "We need to have a little talk."

"I don't want to talk to you. Leave."

"Don't make me knock the door down." Yami reared up to burst the door in and smiled when he heard the bolt on the door unclick and the door opened slowly. "There's a good boy." Yami pushed his way in to make sure the door wouldn't be slammed shut on him again. "You and Yugi are over."

"Over? I think that's his decision." Duke smiled as he made his way to his lazy chair and crossed his legs. "He loves me, he won't leave. And he has no reason to."

"Like Hell. I think you beating the shit out of him is a good reason. And it is Reason enough because this is his decision. I don't want you coming near him after this. Think of me as a restraining order. You come within eyesight of him and I personally see to it that you don't ever see anything ever again. I'm sure I have made myself very clear."

"I see. Well I think I want to hear from Yugi first. I want him to tell me in person that we are over or I might just think that you don't want me around when he does."

"There we have a problem you see you aren't aloud near him. I thought I was clear on that. It's over. Pack Yugi's stuff Joey and I will be by to pick it up tomorrow." Yami made his way to the door and paused, his back to Duke. "I'd put that knife away before you do something stupid." sure enough Duke held a throwing knife in his hand ready to throw but put it back. "Good. We'll be here around six tomorrow night. Be ready." With that Yami walked back out the door.