Teratos High: Demon Hunters

A/N: It’s here at last! My sincerest apologies on the long delay, but sometimes you just can’t argue with difficult chapters, moving issues, and your co-author’s final exams. :P Rest assured however, that things are coming along nicely and ZB and I should be able to give you weekly updates for the foreseeable future. Also, you’ll note a name change in the story's title. That’s something ZB decided to put in place when she reposted Teratos on FFnet, so I changed to match.

As always, my sincerest and heartfelt thanks to those who were kind enough to review. You don’t know how much we appreciate each and every one.

And now… on with the story!

~~~~

Yami absolutely hated being lost.

And that, unfortunately, was precisely what he had been for the past ten minutes. He'd had the sense to ask his third period teacher for directions of course, but he hadn't counted on the narrow hallways being more packed than a can of sardines, and had somehow missed his turn as a result. And, naturally, when he'd tried to backtrack he'd been somehow shoved down yet another corridor, and then another, until the poor human wouldn't have been able to tell where his starting point had been if he'd tried.

He suppressed, yet another, growl as he shoved his way along praying he would either come across a landmark he recognized or even Bakura, Mariku, or a teacher he could ask directions from. Sadly, this particular stretch of hallway seemed to be devoid of classrooms, and there was no sign of either the vampire or chimera. Hell, at this point he would've asked directions from that snotty little incubus, Yugi, if it would mean finding his next class.

At least he wasn't being molested by demons looking to “have a little fun with the human” anymore. He wasn't sure why that was; the first, and so far only guy to bother the human had gone pale under his green skin as soon as he'd stepped into Yami's personal space. He shouted something at his buddies about “That” clan, and run off. Really it made no sense to the human, but whatever that had been about apparently spread because no one else had bothered him; and the various demons currently around him were taking care to stay as much out of his personal space as they could given the packed conditions; for which he was most grateful.

Lost in his thoughts as he rounded yet another unidentifiable corner, Yami failed to notice the sudden fear radiating from the students around him. Point in fact, he really wasn't paying much attention to anything at the moment. He was too busy trying to mentally trace his path to see if he was anywhere near his next class. As such, when he caught sight of a nice gap in the hallway, coupled with the realization that it was in front of the exact turn he needed to get to class, he paid no attention to the changed atmosphere and darted through the gap with a grin; even going so far as to toss an apology over his shoulder when he lightly bumped into a large beefy man as he passed.

That lack of attention proved to be a huge mistake.

Before he knew what was going on, the giant student had grabbed Yami by the scruff of his collar and pushed Yami against the wall with enough force to shatter bone.

A gush of air escaped Yami’s pained lungs and bright lights exploded in his vision. The orphan felt his spine creak in protest against such treatment, and the stone wall scratched his back through his shirt. He groaned in surprise. His spine had been kicked, punched, grabbed, and bruised before, but it had never come close to breaking until now. What the hell?

Yami swallowed the bile of pain lodged in his throat and asked quite politely, for his standards at least, "What the fuck crawled up your ass and died?"

The whole student body fell into a dead silence. Yami's outburst was obviously more surprising than the teenager pushing Yami against the wall with enough force to break his neck.

'Lovely, I'm being stared at like I'm a freak, even though I'm the one being assaulted.'

Somehow it figured.

Stupid demons...

The hefty teenager looked at Yami in raw shock, obviously surprised at being openly challenged. Yami had the feeling that this teenager shoved students against the wall regularly just for the hell of it.

Which would explain a few things...

He continued to stare at the orphan until Yami began to develop some of the symptoms Leo displayed when showing off his disease DotM, or more commonly known as 'Diarrhea of the Mouth'.

"What the hell are you staring at you stupid meat head?" Yami snapped.

Sadly, unlike Leo, Yami's DotM was a potentially terminal condition.

The fist came at Yami with impressive speed, and the orphan had to twist his head to avoid getting his teeth knocked in. Which, unfortunately, didn't really mean much in the grand scheme of things. The wall crumbled like dried bread under the teenager's might, and the impact jarred violently against Yami's chin. Fabulous. That was guaranteed to leave a colorful bruise. Fortunately, the teenager dropped Yami to the floor and, out of long habit and practice, the orphan swiftly rolled and stood up. His body was tensed having recognized the signs of a fight.

"What's your name?" The demon teenager suddenly asked. Yami was surprised at the suave tone of his voice. He was truthfully expecting his voice to sound similar to scratching talons across a chalkboard.

Just goes to show...

"...Atemu." He replied unsure of where the name had come from, but not really caring. Both his gut and common sense were screaming at him not to give the demon his real name, and Yami hadn't lived this long ignoring his instincts.

The teenager's black eyes followed Yami's movements carefully, a triumphant smirk on his twisted face, "Well Atemu, my name is Ushio, not that you'll remember it..." He closed one eye, keeping the other focused on Yami.

"Now Atemu... you will bow before me and beg forgiveness for the wrong acts you have done against your master." Ushio said in a persuasive tone. His voice was laced with honey, sugar and oil. Smooth and calming. Yami didn't listen to that though; he was focusing on the words ordering him, "You will lick my shoes, and after I am done with you... in front of everyone here, you will impale yourself with my dagger." For emphasis, Ushio pulled the blade from his boot and licked the fine edge.

Yami stared at him in disgust, "Are you crazy?" He spat, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" He scowled, "You know what you can do with that dagger," His voice rose with each word, "You can go ahead and SHOVE IT UP YOUR-"

Wherever Yami was planning on telling Ushio to stick that knife was going to have to wait, because a blur of tan and white ran between himself and Ushio.

Bakura straightened up from the crouch he had landed in, "You don't want to tell him to do that Yami. He might actually take your advice and the hall monitors will get pissed off because the blood will stain the carpets."

Yami snickered. Knifes didn't usually belong in the place he was going to tell Ushio to stick it anyway, "You're probably right." Yami had no idea where Bakura had jumped in, but he was grateful for the support needless to say. It was a nice reminder that, for whatever reason, he wasn't alone in this school; Yami didn't usually have friends.

Ushio glared at Yami, "You liar...!" He snarled, "He just said your name was Yami, not Atemu!"

"What a pity, I suppose it makes all the difference in the world..." Yami drawled.

Bakura nodded, "It actually does." He said flatly. Yami glanced at the Chimera questioningly.

"Ushio can control a person if he knows their name, but luckily he has to hear it from the person themselves." He glanced at Ushio, "Once he learns their name from another person, he loses the ability to control them."

Yami's blood ran cold in his veins when he understood just what had almost happened to him. If he hadn't paid attention to his instincts he would've stabbed himself!

What the hell was with these fucking demons!

"I hate liars." Ushio roared, flexing his muscular fists, "You lied to me!"

"He obviously doesn't realize that he tried to kill me." Yami commented to the albino conversationally, "Not the brightest crayon in the box, is he?"

"Not. At. All." Bakura agreed laughingly. The albino's experienced cinnamon eyes watched Ushio's movements carefully, "He's brainless, but he's also pure brawn. He's a fully fledged Demon like me, but he has no subcategories. He's one hundred percent demon."

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

Bakura rolled his eyes, "To put it simply... he can smear your ass and my ass. At the same time."

Ushio kissed a bicep for show, and Yami's face curled in disgust, "You've got to be shitting me..."

"Sadly I shit you not..."

Ushio looked at the two teenagers with narrowed black eyes. He pointed a stubby finger at Yami and snapped, "Your ass is grass," He pulled his hand up to his throat and mimicked the sign for death, "And I'm your lawnmower."

Yami quirked an eyebrow in disbelief, of all the evil, maniacal threats he could have made... Ushio just had to use a clichéd line from a children’s play. The mortal shrugged, figuring it could be worse. Ushio could have said ‘Any last prayers?’ the over-used Hollywood line from every movie known to man-kind. Yami hadn’t even seen a movie in the last three years, but he knew that if he went into the closest theatre he’d see that line in at least five of the recent movies.

Bakura raised his hand, “Question.”

Stupidly, Ushio pointed at him, “Yes?”

“Can we have any last prayers?”

If the moment wasn’t so serious Yami would have smacked Bakura in the face.

“Sure.” Ushio scratched his forehead, “But I’m not killing you Bakura, even if you’re a prick. Coach would kill me for killing our starting receiver.”

Bakura ignored him and solemnly bent down to his knees and put his hands together. Yami thought it was odd that a demon would want to pray, but Ushio obviously didn’t think it was too strange. He just looked at his wrist watch, wanting to kill Yami before he was late to his next class, “First, I would like to apologize for all the people I have smoked, slain, and burned... all except,” Bakura whipped his head towards the large demon and opened his mouth, “Ushio, because he is the biggest tool I have ever met.” He then took a lungful of air, and before the giant could stop him, the Chimera exhaled a long stream of fire.

~~~~

Yugi grinned as he watched Bakura jog off determined to find the latest possible initiate to their clan. He still didn't really get what had so thoroughly impressed the chimera, besides the human's smart mouth, but if it had been anything half as impressive as the way Yami had taken on those mud trolls yesterday (which Yugi had to reluctantly admit had been damned impressive) then he wasn't surprised his clansmen had decided to give the human a chance.

Of course, that meant he would have to apologize to the human at some point...

He sighed. Oh well...

He stretched his wings, enjoying the delightful crack between his shoulder blades, sprang forward, allowing his wings to expand to a size large enough to support his weight, and flew down the halls grateful the school was large enough to permit indoor flying. His wings caught a warm puff of air which carried him high into the rafters where a variety of other students capable of flight were perched or gliding along. Grinning brightly, Yugi caught sight of a tall figure sitting with his legs crossed on one of the wooden support beams.

"Seto!" He sang, gliding to a halt and hanging inches above the rafter with his toes pointed downward. The student in question frowned, snapping his laptop shut with an audible click.

"Yes Yugi?" he asked curtly, "Is there something you need?"

The incubus grinned, "What? Can't a guy come visit his cousin?" He cocked his head to one side, "What are you doing up here anyway? Isn't your free period with Joey about to start?"

Seto grumbled something under his breath and pointedly reopened his laptop. Yugi snickered softly. Obviously they'd gotten into a fight, and from the sour look on his cousin's face he'd guess that Joey had been the one to get the upper hand this time. He shook his head fondly. Those two had to be the most unstable mating he'd ever seen. They were always fighting about something. It didn't really matter what either. It drove Bakura up the wall, to the point he'd even threatened to roast them if they continued their arguments around him, but Yugi was privately convinced it was their form of foreplay. Certainly the energy he sensed from their room was more than enough to convince him that their makeup sex was hot enough.

"Should I even ask what it was over this time?"

Seto glared at him coldly, "That's none of your business." He began to gather his things, "If you have nothing productive to say I'm leaving."

Yugi rolled his eyes, "Bakura and Mariku have scent marked a new recruit." He stated effectively stopping his cousin cold.

Seto turned wide, incredulous eyes on him, "Say what?"

"Bakura and Mariku have scent marked a new recruit." Yugi repeated calmly. Now that he'd fed his previous irritation had mostly drained away leaving him feeling relaxed and not at all inclined to be up in arms about much of anything. Not even an unannounced new recruit. He smiled to himself closing his eyes contentedly. He rather liked this state of being.

"They did what!"

"Seto, I know you can be hard of hearing at times, but do I really need to say it a third time?" The incubus quipped opening one eye in amusement.

"Explain. Now."

Yugi gave his cousin an amused look and calmly recounted everything he'd discussed with Bakura about Yami and why Bakura had chosen to mark him without discussing it with the clan first. He glossed over the details of why he'd been in trouble with the mud trolls in the first place, just as he had with Bakura, but from the dangerous narrowing of his cousin's eyes he guessed the other had put it together anyway. He allowed himself a moment of hot satisfaction. While Ushio might be the strongest demon around; his clan, as a whole, was the strongest Teratos had seen in nearly five hundred years, and it would only grow stronger as its members aged and grew more into their powers. Few people didn't know who they were, and even fewer dared to mess with them. To do so would virtually guarantee the wrath of the rest of the clan, and for most that was a lethal proposition. Those mud trolls were done for. He only hoped his clansmen would give him the satisfaction of at least delivering the killing blows.

"There's no way a mere human could do what you claimed with those trolls."

Yugi shrugged, "Maybe not. But it's possible Yami is a Sleeper. Bakura did say that had become a more common practice in recent years. Especially amongst the rarer races. And if something happened to the rest of his family..."

"Then he wouldn't necessarily know he was any different from a normal human until his final transformation." Seto finished, "A reasonable notion cousin, but that doesn't explain why he was sent to Teratos now, and why, if he is a Sleeper, he shows no traces of demonic energy."

Yugi shrugged again, "Who knows? It's entirely possible he's only just begun his change, and if that's the case no one would necessarily sense anything yet." He eyed his cousin somberly, "Either way, the result is that the entire school knows we're interested in him now."

"That white haired idiot's intent no doubt." Seto sighed, "I suppose there's not much we can do now. And loathe as I am to admit it, that chimera has sharp instincts. I'm willing to give the mortal the benefit of the doubt if you and Joey are."

Yugi grinned, "I am. And I doubt Joey will mind much either." He smirked, "He's always respected guys who can stand up to him."

Seto rolled his eyes and favored Yugi with a half hearted glare, "I hate you sometimes."

"Love you too coz." The other chirped.

Seto intensified his glare, but his oblivious cousin had closed his eyes again looking far more contented and relaxed than he had in weeks. For his part, said cousin was glad Seto hadn't asked him why exactly he would've been at the mercy of mud trolls in the first place. But then, Seto had always possessed a reasonable amount of tact where family was concerned, and Yugi knew perfectly well that Seto's frightening intellect had already deduced the general story if not the particulars anyway.

Not that there was really much to tell...

It had been a matter of timing and circumstance more than anything else really. An emergency had come up with Bakura’s blood clan regarding his sister; and her decision to follow in her elder brother’s footsteps and run outside the blood packs most chimera favored. Unfortunately, it was a decision her parents, and the rest of the chimera clans, did not favor. Yugi sighed. It was common knowledge that most chimera were openly disdainful of most demons, and were generally convinced of their own superiority. Nor were they particularly shy about enforcing their elitism on their children through brainwashing, and when that failed, threats and manipulations.

How Bakura’s parents had managed to whelp him and his sister was beyond Yugi. He had no idea what all his clansmen had gone through to live his life on his terms, but from the way the chimera’s expression darkened every time his people were brought up Yugi had no problems believing it hadn’t been pleasant or easy. Even now they sometimes tried to cause him problems in one way or another…

Fortunately, Bakura was the most powerful of his kind alive, and was part of an equally powerful clan. They couldn't touch him. Aname wasn't so lucky. She was younger, less powerful, and ran with a lower classed clan. And, as Bakura had found out from his sister's frantic letter, their parents were exerting all kinds of pressure on her to force her to leave her chosen clan. It was news that had infuriated their clansmen, and he'd wasted no time packing his things and running off to rescue her.

It was a rescue that had been intended to last two weeks, but had wound up lasting all summer. Unfortunately, no one else had realized that at the time. So Mariku had gone cheerfully to New York to see his sister and brother-in-law while they got ready to move down to Georgia to join the rest of the clan; thinking Bakura would be back soon for Yugi. And not long after that Seto had gotten called out to help with a devastating earthquake leaving an irritable and mopey Joey behind. Which inadvertently left Yugi without either of his usual sources of sexual energy, and no one to notice and do something about it. Joey might’ve if he’d known, but Yugi had taken care to keep out of the werewolf’s sight after the first week or so Seto was gone. He’d gotten tired of getting his head bitten off. And he himself had been reluctant to tell anyone for entirely different reasons…

He grimaced as the unwanted memories surfaced.

Unlike most incubi, Yugi was created - not born. He could still remember vestiges of his old human life, and for someone who had been taught sex was only meant for two people who loved each other deeply… Yugi’s new lifestyle had always been difficult for him to adjust to.

Not that his human life had been all that great in the end either…

Seto’s parents had dropped him and his little brother off at Yugi’s house one day, but never came back for the two boys. Yugi’s father, disgusted by his brother’s antics, had immediately adopted the two boys as his own sons. Yugi’s father was a kind and powerful man, much like the Sobeks, and he owned his own company. Somehow, he and his wife managed to shuffle their schedules around enough to raise the three boys in a happy and friendly environment.

But their happiness was not destined to last. Sadly, when Seto was seventeen, and Yugi fifteen, Yugi’s parents along with Seto’s brother fell terminally ill with tuberculosis. They struggled to hold onto life for a long year, Yugi and Seto watched tearfully from a safe distance, they were not allowed to venture too close in fear they might catch the deadly disease as well. Eventually, the three members lost their battle for life.

Dutifully, Seto had not wasted time crying. He immediately filed for custody over Yugi and implemented plans to take control of their deceased father’s company until Yugi came of age to run it himself. A fearsome prospect for an adult. A nearly impossible one for an adolescent just out of school; no matter how intelligent. But he’d done it. Somehow he’d saved their father’s company from the old vultures who’d wanted to snatch it up.

It was a situation they’d managed to keep running smoothly for about a year. In that time Seto was able to provide for both Yugi and himself; all the while living comfortably in their house. In the mornings, Seto would wake up early enough to see Yugi off to school, then he would go to work, do his job, piss people off (something he was very good at), and eventually walk back home to eat dinner with Yugi.

But exactly one year from the day their parents died, Seto never came back home. Yugi had his plate ready for his cousin’s return. When Seto hadn’t come back immediately, Yugi had gone ahead and eaten his supper. This behavior was normal for his cousin, although Yugi would often remember how angry he got at Seto for not calling him first before making him cook dinner. Yugi just covered Seto’s food like normal and set the plate on the oven for Seto to eat later.

But seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours and Seto still hadn’t come home. This was strange, because Seto was usually very punctual when telling Yugi he was going to be late. Worried about his cousin’s presence, Yugi had called Seto’s cell phone. It had gone to Seto’s voicemail.

Yugi’s senses had gone into overdrive, and suddenly the teenager had felt fear unlike any other he had ever experienced set in like a lead weight. Seto always picked up his phone. Always.

Nothing stopped his cousin from answering the phone when someone called. Seto could be in the middle of a meeting with the President and he would make the ruler of the free world sit on his folded ass while he dealt with his phone call. Of course, if it had been over a stupid reason, Seto would usually hang up on the person, Yugi included, but he still always answered the phone under every circumstance. It could be an important call, someone could be hurt, or there could have been an emergency. Yugi shivered a little as he recalled the cold fist of fear that had settled into his stomach that night.

As quickly as he could, Yugi had tugged on a worn jacket, and run frantically out the door desperate to find his only remaining family.

It was a search that had proved to be completely futile.

Hysterical with worry by this time he called everyone he even barely knew, and even some people he didn’t know, to join the search for Seto. They mostly scoffed and ignored Yugi. Over the course of the past year, his ruthless cousin had tallied up a hefty number of enemies and there were few people on the face of the planet that didn’t want Seto buried under several feet of dirt. Angrily, they told Yugi to give up and leave him. That the world was better off without his cold-hearted cousin.

Fearing the worst, Yugi made the call to police as soon as the required time had passed.

A huge search was made; looking for the CEO of a well-known business. The people, who had brushed Yugi off before, now stepped forward into the limelight and cameras. Each tearfully told the reporters how worried they were for Seto, and if he could hear them, please come back to them. Every person was a ‘close friend’ to Seto, and Yugi was surprised when they advanced into the media’s attention, soaking up the awareness. Several started canned food drives, donated to charity, and urged citizens to look out for a ‘proud young member of society’. Yugi was sickened by their fake smiles, but he didn’t care so long as Seto was found and brought safely back.

Unfortunately, as a week had passed with agonizing slowness, there was still no sign of Seto. Eventually the news reporters and papers stopped calling Yugi. All of his ‘helpers’ disappeared and moved on with their lives. Each signed Seto off as dead. Only Yugi had continued working tirelessly. Searching desperately for the person he knew deep in his heart was already dead.

They body was found two weeks later in the lake.

Misshapen and abused, the autopsy declared Seto a murdered man. He had been mugged, while he was alive, his skull was beaten in with a lead pole and he was left to drown in the lake. Yugi was tormented, knowing that Seto had been alive through all this. The news affected him deeply, and disturbed his mind greatly.

The teenager only lasted one year past Seto’s death.

Hysterical and underage Yugi’s trust funds had been seized by power hungry officials ‘looking out for the poor boy’s welfare’. He’d then been kicked out of his house by his cousin’s successor, and sent to a ‘special’ orphanage to ‘recover’ from the shock.

It turned out Gouzaboro had some… interesting… business investments.

His so called orphanage had turned out to be a brothel for underage prostitution. And Yugi’s exotic looks had garnered quite a bit of attention. He swiftly shied away from the still raw memories of what had happened the night he’d discovered what the orphanage really was. The terror, humiliation, shame, agony, and blood still haunted his nightmares. And likely always would. Suffice to say it had not taken long for Yugi’s previous hysteria to morph into a wild, but steely, determination. A determination that he would not allow himself to succumb to the monsters that preyed on him. They would not break his spirit. Aware that they would never willingly let him go Yugi had repeatedly tried to run away, but when that had proved futile he’d begun searching for a more permanent way out.

After all, death could not be any worse than his life was.

At least, that was his logic. However, in a great display of irony, he never had the chance to find a way to kill himself. It had been done for him. And all it had taken was losing his temper with one of the ‘customers’ and refusing to obey the sick son of a bitch. Enraged, the man had begun waving a gun around trying to scare Yugi into submission, as he no doubt had every other child in the place, and it had accidentally gone off shooting a defiant Yugi right in the heart.

When the seventeen year old boy woke up next it had been to the most wonderful sight he’d ever seen in his life. With a soft, sad, smile the being before him had reached out a hand and helped him to his feet.

“Hey Yugi.” Seto had said calmly, “I hope you didn’t miss me too much.”

That voice, so gentle and full of suppressed anger and grief, had been Yugi’s undoing. He’d flung himself at his cousin sobbing out all his pain, fear, and grief. It had only been later, after Seto had gotten him away from the hell hole he’d been trapped in, that he’d learned what had happened. How after Seto had died he’d been recruited as a Shinigami on the promise he would be able to see Yugi again, and after finding out Yugi’s likely fate after his own death had taken matters into his own hands.

Yugi’s lips twisted a little. Much as he hated the necessity of living off sex now; he would be eternally grateful to his cousin for defying the rules, once again, to not only resurrect him as a demon, but to resurrect him with the most powerful blood he could thus ensuring that Yugi would never again be at anyone’s mercy.

Yugi’s wings gave a guilty twitch; providing, of course, that he kept himself fed.


“Yugi?”

Yugi was pulled out of his thoughts by the gentle query and opened his eyes to meet the worried blue of his cousin.

“Are you alright?” Seto asked, “You’ve been brooding for the past ten minutes.”

Yugi just smiled serenely, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“I could tell.” The shinigami replied evenly gesturing to where Yugi’s hands were clenched tightly enough to draw blood. Yugi blushed and unclenched his fists. Seto merely sighed.

“You fed recently didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question and Yugi looked away in a mixture of embarrassment and resentment, “Why do you always do this when you feed Yugi?” His cousin asked quietly, “When will you let the past die?”

“Die?” Yugi hissed derisively, “What die? It will never die! Not as long as I have to live off others like some kind of parasite!” He shivered unconsciously, “Just like the parasites who fed on me…”

Seto lunged forward and grabbed his cousin’s shoulders roughly, “You are not a parasite!” He growled, “Never compare yourself to those monsters! You are nothing like them! Never think you are! Not for a moment! You do not hurt. You do not force! Those who give you their energy do so willingly! You are our clan for crying out loud!”

Yugi stared at Seto disbelief warring with surprise in a mix that many would have called slightly insane. And guilty. He flushed brightly, ashamed that Seto had needed to remind him, again, of what it meant to be part of a clan.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered contritely. Seto just shook his head and re-opened his laptop.

“Whatever.” Blue eyes darted down towards the ground, “But look there...” Seto murmured, “It looks like your human friend is getting into a bit of trouble with the local bullies...”

Interested, Yugi darted his violet eyes towards the ground. Sure enough there was a familiar mop of unruly red, black, and blond hair shouting at a large, hulking demon. Ushio to be exact. He snickered to himself. He’d give Yami credit for having balls if nothing else.

“Ah, it looks like you’re right...” He sighed; a desire to wreak havoc on the clan’s main rival already rearing it’s ugly head, “He’s going to get his butt kicked.”

“Then we should logically go down and help him,” Seto snorted, “Blood takes forever to get out of those thick carpets.” He added glumly.

“Oh, like you do the cleaning...” Yugi rolled his eyes.

A loud, distinctly human, screech that could be heard from down below knocked a few harpies off their perches, shrieking indignantly at the noise. The fight had started and a few demons had begun scrambling to get out of the way.

Yugi and Seto glanced down, surprised to see a white blur join on Yami’s side.

“Is that the idiot Bakura?” Seto asked.

“Probably.”

A wall of fire erupted seconds later. Yep. Definitely Bakura. Yugi and Seto looked at each other for a second before grinning, and jumped down to join the brawl.

~~~~

Screams echoed around the room and harpies took off from the rafters, screeching in annoyance. Feathers dropped into the rope of fire and incinerated upon contact. Yami, trapped between the heat and swarming bodies of his classmates, began to feel dizzy. The heat was hurting his eyes and head, engulfing him in a miniature cocoon from hell.

Then it stopped. Almost as soon as it had started.

Small, strong hands pulled him up by his arms, taking him safely into the air. As soon as Yami was lifted from the ground, Bakura ceased his fire breath and shifted form. In seconds, he too was in the air. The form of a white maned Chimera flying close behind a weightless Yami.

It was alarming to see so great a beast flying through the air. Bakura’s new body and head were those of a lion, with wings of an eagle, a spitting tale of a cobra, and wicked horns that curled backwards like a rams. His body was a glimmering shade of pure white. Certainly an awe inspiring sight, and more than worthy of its legend.

At least, Yami thought so.

Wondering who had dragged him aloft Yami twisted his head to see his savor. It seemed like a safe idea, but almost immediately, he felt his heart stop.

Grinning widely, Yugi kept his hands wrapped securely around Yami’s arms, “Yugi!?” Yami asked incredulously, “What are you doing here?”

“Saving your butt, what does it look like?” Yugi replied. He frowned, “Hold still, I don’t want to drop you.”

Glancing down, Yami saw a significant drop to the floor. He immediately complied with Yugi’s requests; holding as still as possible until he was able to set the human carefully on one of the beams above the school.

“Ushio won’t come after you up here” Yugi explained, “He can’t fly, and he’s afraid of heights.”

‘Well, doesn’t that sound familiar?’ Yami thought weakly before closing his eyes. He tried not to look down. It’s not like he was afraid of heights, but man there was quite a drop... He gripped Yugi’s forearm tightly when he stumbled on the narrow beam, sharp blue eyes caught the motion.

As did smirking cinnamon ones.

Yami was too focused on not losing his remaining breakfast to notice or care.

Yugi, who’d seen both expressions, just blushed and helped Yami regain his balance.

“Thanks.” Yami croaked, his face turning a light shade of green, and flashed a quick smile at Yugi. It was a lopsided smirk, not much to Yami... but enough for Yugi’s heart to jump to his throat.

Yugi only nodded, unable to understand what had just taken place, “What were you doing antagonizing Ushio anyway?” he demanded, attempting to catch his train of thought, “That guy likes to kill, torture, maim, and kill just for the heck of it.”

“And that’s on a good day!” Bakura growled from where he’d shifted back from his chimera form, and stood up, “Are you stupid?” He demanded slapping Yami upside the head, “Or do you just not have any survival instincts?”

“I would say the new kid on campus is trying to make a name for himself.” An amused voice from behind quipped. Yami turned, carefully, and found himself face to face with a tall teenager. He had brown hair and dark blue eyes. Yami’s gut twisted in a clear warning for caution. Yami wasn’t sure why that was, but the boy before him appeared unapproachable in a distinct ‘Don’t touch me’ kind of way. Yet a faint hint of interest glowed behind the icy demeanor.

“Not really.” Yami shot back, his efforts at not looking down having finally resulted in him regaining a scrap of equilibrium, “I’ve just been having really crappy luck! ...And my name’s Yami.”

Smirking, the teenager held his hand out to the orphan, “I’m Seto.” Yami reached out to shake Seto’s hand, but it was slapped away by Yugi. Alarmed, Yami gave the incubus a questioning glare, but the demon didn’t look at him.

“That’s a mean trick Seto!” Yugi complained, “You know you can’t touch humans!”

Yami looked at Seto and Yugi in confusion.

“Seto’s a Shinigami. A messenger of death. If he touches a mortal they’ll die.” Bakura said bluntly. Seto shrugged in agreement and Yami paled. Again.

This was becoming a habit…

Damnit.

“I suppose you want to be welcomed to Teratos High?” Seto asked politely, a grin hiding behind his calm mask. Yami shook his head. Already he had come close to death on multiple occasions. At this rate he wasn’t entirely sure he’d survive to see lunch. The thought of a ‘welcome’ made him sick.

Of course, that could’ve been his current location talking…

“Don’t worry!” Bakura proclaimed, slinging his arm around Yami’s neck once again, “That’s just how Seto greets everyone!”

Yami rolled his eyes, “I’m so reassured.”

Yugi glared at Seto, “Put your gloves back on.” He hissed in aggravation.

Seto slowly complied; his eyes seeking out Bakura’s curiously when he realized Yami had yet to release Yugi’s arm from when the incubus had helped steady the human, and neither of them had seemed to notice this fact. For his part, Bakura eyed the pair the look in his eyes morphing from one of smug triumph to pleased surprise. When he glanced up at Seto he just grinned broadly while Yugi’s head was turned and winked. Seto blinked slightly before a slow grin began to creep across his own features. Bakura might irritate the hell out of him and was quite adept at driving him up the wall, but no one in the clan had sharper instincts, and Seto trusted them with his life.

At least when Bakura wasn’t acting stupid in the process…

Yugi glanced up in time to see Seto’s faint smile, “What are you smiling about?” He demanded; the faint flush on his cheeks evidence that, however oblivious their human was, Yugi had noticed the prolonged contact.

Yami looked up at the question, a look of slightly confused horror crossing his face, “That’s a smile?”

Seto just smiled more.

Yami wasn’t sure whether he should be worried or not…

~~~~

A/N: And I wasn't aware that using the word modicum was -that- terrifying ZB! Love you! *grin*

In addition, I'd like to invite everyone to check out my oneshot Bittersweet Love if you haven't already. ^_^ *snickers* How's that for shameless plug?