A World Of Hurt

TITLE: A World Of Hurt
AUTHOR: Fyrbyrd
CATEGORIES: Angst, Drama
RATING: NC-17
WARNINGS: Rape, BDSM, ANAL, Oral, Lemon
SPOILERS:
PAIRINGS: OC/Y, S/Y. S+YY/Y
SUMMARY: Yami loves his new life with a body of his own and the fame
that comes from being World Champ. To ensure his freedom, he demands
the puzzle from Yugi and leaves on a world tour, not realizing the
world of hurt he has left behind.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own them, they own me. Kazuki Takahashi owns them. But I do own the necklace!

Author’s Note: This was my first Yu Gi Oh Story thought I'd post it while I'm updating it. I hope you like it.

A World Of Hurt
By Fyrbyrd


The two men walked in to join the one who had called them.

“Is it him, are you sure?” asked one of the two.

“It’s him; he’s fanatical about that small necklace he wears. He’s always clutching it, talking to it, about the only thing keeping him alive, I think.”

“Necklace?”

“Yeah, a small pyramid. His only real possession. You try to get it away from him and he says the King of Games will come for you.”

The pair nodded, the young man was indeed the one they were looking for.

Turning to the caller, they handed him a wad of cash. “You didn’t see us or him, okay?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” said the man grinning over the cash as he turned away.

The pair approached the young man as he lay in bed, his hand clutched to the necklace the man spoke of. He was dirty and his clothes were mere rags, he was nothing more than skin and bone, and the light of madness shone in his eyes. He was not a junkie or a drunk, just out of his mind. When they got close enough, one of them pulled out a rag and poured a small bottle over it, then with his friend’s help, quickly covered the young man’s face with it. He struggled a little, but with the two there was not much he could do. He fell limply into their arms. One of them picked him up easily and carried him away.

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Joey stood waiting at the airport, he knew he had only one chance and he had to take it.

There were crowds of people there for the same reason as he. They all wanted to see the famed King of Games, Yami Atem, but Joey was there for an entirely different reason. If not for that reason he would just as soon never see the guy again. He hated him for what he had done to his best friend.

The young people around him surged forward as the special plane landed on the runway, but Joey’s mind strayed back to that horrible day.

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“Give me the puzzle, Yugi,” demanded Yami. “I have need of it now.”

“But, but…”

Yami held out his hand, his eyes narrowing in displeasure. Yugi knew the power the other could wield, but now that he had a corporeal body, that power could be used against him.

Yugi had watched as Yami’s power had grown and grown. How much his influence was shunned more and more? How the brotherhood they had once shared was pushed aside as Yami revelled in the fame of becoming the King of Games once more.

Sadly he lifted the puzzle from around his neck and gave into the hands of his other self made real. Yami took it and put it around his neck.

“Now I am truly free.” He turned to his new entourage which included Seto Kaiba. “So where is this tournament?” He had completely shut out the young man who had virtually given him life.

Joey, Tristan and Tèa watched as Yami walked away in disbelief, then back at their small friend. It was easy to see that Yugi was crushed.

“Come on Yug, we don’t need him. We can play as good as him and he knows it.”

“I will never play a game again,” said Yugi. He hung his head and walked away in the opposite direction.

“Yug, Yugi,” Joey moved to go after him, both Tea and Tristan stopped him.

“No Joey, not right now, I think he wants to be alone,” said Tèa.

“Yeah, he’ll come to his senses and see that this is all for the best,” added Tristan.

Joey had let them keep him from going after Yugi. A decision he had lived to regret.

Yugi had slipped into a deep depression and while he had never tried to harm himself intentionally, his heart and spirit were gone. He never left his home even when his grandfather tried everything. He gave up school, and true to his word, he gave up playing any type of game. His cards were boxed away and locked in a closet. He cut his hair off and changed all his clothes so that he would not see Yami in himself. And when he wasn’t locked in his room, he was out wandering the streets, alone, cut off, numb. Until one day when he didn’t come home at all.

No one knew what had happened to him. His friends and grandfather had searched and searched. But Yugi Mutou disappeared.

And that was why Joey wanted to see the man who had done this to his friend.

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With the crowds massed around him Joey fought his way to the barrier between them and the famous player. He knew the man would not see him in the crowd, and probably didn’t care about any of it. But he knew one way to get the man’s notice. Two years may have passed since their last meeting but he knew one thing that would get Yami’s notice. With practiced ease he flicked the card into Yami’s face, hitting him. The security around him went crazy, thinking their charge was being attacked. But when one of them produced the card and Yami demanded to see it, he turned to the crowd to find the one it came from.

“Him,” he pointed at Joey, “Bring him to the lounge.”

The security men hustled him away, while others went for Joey. They had thought he would run, and were surprised when he came with them easily, despite their roughness. They arrived at the lounge and Joey was pushed towards a separate door. It seemed that they were reluctant to let him enter, but their employer had insisted.

Joey entered the room; Yami was sitting on a couch with a drink in his hand. Joey’s eyes fell on the Millennium Puzzle, before rising to meet Yami’s crimson eyes. Yami held out the card. It was the Flame Swordsman.

“I gather you wanted to see me,” said Yami.

“No not really. I had hoped I would never see you again, because if I did, I would have killed you for what you did.”

“Because I let go of you all and your childish ways.”

“No, I didn’t care about that part. I hate you for what you did to Yugi.”

“Because I took what was mine and made a life for myself.”

“No you bastard, for destroying him.”

“He was better off without me.”

“Better off,” yelled Joey and he heard security pounding on the door. “He never played again; he left school, locked himself away…. You broke his spirit the moment you took the puzzle from him, Gods didn’t you even know how much he loved you!”

Yami seemed unfazed by anything Joey said. That enraged the young man even more and he launched himself at the cause of his anger. Only to find himself grabbed by the security guards that came pouring through the door before he could lay a finger on Yami.

“I used to think you were the best, but your nothing but slime. Yugi’s been missing for almost two years now; most have given him up for dead. But I know he’s not, he’s lost somewhere, because of you. Because you abandoned him, betrayed him, maybe you don’t care, but I do, you owe him for your life. Find him,” shouted Joey as he was dragged from the room and taken away.

“Leave me,” said Yami to the others, especially those that wanted to faun around him.

They left him alone. He lifted the card and looked at it, closing his eyes as the memories it contained hit him, of the good times back in the beginning, when he was still a part of Yugi and Joey was their best friend. Back when Yugi first saw Yami as a separate entity.

Had he made the wrong decision two years ago when he had demanded his puzzle from Yugi? True he had wanted to be free. To live as he had once lived, enjoy the fame he had gathered to him as the King of Games. It had been his old title and he was the best. He didn’t want to worry about the young one if he were going to travel as he had been invited to do. Yugi deserved to finish his schooling, to be given a chance to grow; he didn’t need to be dragged behind Yami from city to city. That was what Yami had believed at the time. So he had taken the puzzle from Yugi, convinced that he needed it to be truly free. That there would be no way he could be made to return to it. That Yugi would be better off without him; he had already been put in too much danger as it was.

But it was a surprise to know that Yugi had been missing for so long, even given up for dead. Why had he not known about this?

“Akira, get in here,” he ordered and immediately a large man came in. “I want you to do something for me, and I don’t want any of the others to know about it.”

“Yes, sir, you know you can count on me,” Akira answered.

“I had better. I need to know everything about Yugi Mutou, what happened to him after I left him two years ago. He is currently missing and I very much want to know why I was never informed of this. And if it has anything to do with Seto Kaiba, I want to know why.”

“Yes sir, anything else you need?”

“Send in the others, we’ll be staying here for a while. The world is to know that I need a vacation and I will be taking break. As soon as you have what I want you will come to me and we will plan from there. But I’m not leaving here until I find my… friend.” As he had hesitated a voice in Yami’s head had said Aibou.

Akira left to do as his employer had ordered, he had the feeling that things were about to change.

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Akira stood outside the Kame Game Shop, this was where the boy had lived before he had disappeared and while he knew Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor worked there, he had chosen a time when he knew that the old man would be there. He had already learned a great deal about the boy, about leaving school, becoming withdrawn, strange, alone. That he had never duelled again changed his appearance, cut himself off from his friends and chose not to work with his grandfather in the shop. And that the boy’s grandfather was amongst those that believed the boy was dead.

Akira walked into the shop; the old man was listlessly sorting through a stock of cards before lifting his head to see what his customer wanted.

“Can I help you?”

“I’d like to see some of the older version Duel Monsters cards, I hear you have them.”

“Yeah we have some in stock, but you will have to wait until one of the boys comes back. I’m not sure where they are. They don’t like me to handle them; I tend to get a bit emotional over them.”

“Oh why would that be?”

“My grandson, he was a champion you know, a great champion, but he was betrayed… and now he’s… gone.” A tear slipped from his eyes.

Akira watched him slip into whatever memories he held, realising that he had been totally forgotten by the old man. He knew he would get nothing more from there, so he quickly left the shop, just in case the boys did return. In any case he had another stop to make, a more important one.

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Akira arrived at the Kaiba Corp. Building knowing that the person he wanted to see was there, he only hoped that he would be able to get in and see him.

Security sent his name upstairs and he was surprised when he was invited to go up.

He was ushered into the office of Seto Kaiba. The man himself sat behind his desk a malevolent smirk on his face. “So what has Yami got you crawling around after now, Akira?”

“I’m not crawling around, I’ve come to find out why you made sure he didn’t find out that his friend had gone missing, when he left orders to make sure the kid had everything he needed.”

Seto nodded, “At the time Yami had a major battle coming up, I realised something like that would have put him off his game, so I didn’t let him know about it. I figured Yugi would turn up sooner or later and Yami would be better off not knowing.”

“But that was two years ago. The kid never showed up again, don’t you think he had a right to know that.”

“If he had cared enough about Yugi he would have known. But in all the time I was with him, he never asked, even when I came back here, he never asked me to check on him, or send him any kind of news. And when I found out that Yugi had disappeared without a trace it was too late to do anything. I had people check into it, there was only ever one lead and that didn’t lead us to finding Yugi. His grandfather gave up after a while and they put it to rest and I respected that decision.”

“Well now he knows. I’d stay out of his way while he’s here Kaiba. I think he already figured out that you held out on him with this business, and he’s keeping it quiet from the others. All I want from you is that lead you got.”

“You are looking for him?”

“Yes I am and I won’t give up until I find something.”

“I was thinking of Yami’s best interests at the time. I don’t know what happened to Yugi, but you need to speak to Inspector Osaki, he was assigned Yugi’s case. He didn’t tell me the details, but the lead he got did not find Yugi. I think something happened, but I don’t know the rest of it.”

Akira got up from his seat, “Stay away from Yami; he might just kill you over this.”

“I’m not afraid of him, he knows why I left, if he had listened to me, he would have known about Yugi sooner. He let the others manipulate him.”

“And you didn’t?”

“Not the way they did, all I got him to do was endorse my products, good for him and good for me. But I never used him like they have, hanging onto him like the leeches they are. He let it all go to his head, the fame, the fortune. So I gave up and came home, he didn’t want to listen to me. He’s good at pushing away things he doesn’t want to know about. I gave up trying to beat him and joined him, only to be turned on by him. I had Mokuba to ground me, who did he have?”

Akira nodded as he turned to leave.

“If you find out anything about Yugi… will you let me know?”

Akira turned back and looked the CEO in the eye; the young man didn’t look so arrogant now. “Sure, if there is anything to be found that is.”

Akira left with his new lead at the Domino Police Head Quarters.

“I’d like to see Inspector Osaki,” he said at the front desk.

“He is in missing persons, up to the second floor first door on the right. Please take this visitors pass.”

Akira pinned on the pass and followed the directions, he found the Inspector sitting behind his desk going over pictures on his computer screen.

“Inspector Osaki, I am Akira Kumo, I’d like to speak to you about a missing person.”

“Certainly, name?”

“Mutou, Yugi Mutou, disappeared around two years ago.”

The Inspector typed the name into his computer and waited as the file came up. When it did the man’s face seemed to fall. “Why do you want to know about this boy?”

“My employer has asked me to look into it; he knew the boy and didn’t know anything had happened to him until now.”

“The only lead we had on the case was from two years ago, there has been no record of any sightings and rewards for information were offered, quite substantial ones, but nothing came of any of it. He is still listed as missing, but it is considered a cold case.”

“And the one lead you had?”

The Inspectors eyes fell, “It was a confession really.”

Akira cocked his head waiting for the man to continue.

The Inspector sighed. “We picked up this gang member on a drug charge a couple of weeks after the young man went missing. He told us that he and his gang had come across a young man crossing their territory late one night, he was alone and… vulnerable… and they were high on drugs and booze…” he sighed again, more heavily, “The boy stood out to the gang member because of his unusual hair color, blonde, black, red, and huge amethyst eyes… Anyway, they grabbed him took him to their lair and gang raped him. Our informant said he couldn’t remember how long they kept him there, but he called him a broken doll and he also didn’t know what happened to him after they were forced to abandon their lair. We checked the place out, but there was no trace of the missing boy. We checked all medical facilities, but that lead no where. He simply disappeared without a trace.”

Akira shivered at the thought of telling this to Yami.

“This information was not released to the boy’s family or that rich man who looked into it, but I don’t think it makes much difference now it’s a cold case,” continued Osaki.

“Can I have the address for this lair?”

“If you want it, I don’t think it will help you thought.”

“And the name of the gang. My employer will want to know that.”

Inspector Osaki gave Akira what he wanted, then he left to return to Yami’s hotel. He was not looking forward to the meeting.

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Akira would never forget the look on Yami’s face when he gave his initial report. The man was normally stern faced; it was very rare to see him smile even in victory. He knew Yami believed he had left for Yugi’s sake. To allow the young man to grow and find himself, to get his education. But to learn that it had devastated and possibly destroyed Yugi, clearly came as a shock to Yami.

“Why was I never told he had taken it so badly? Why was I never told that he had gone missing?” muttered Yami, he raised his eyes, “This gang what do you know of them, of what they did… to Yugi.”

“I am going to follow this up. It’s the only lead we have. All I know is the location of the gang’s lair, it’s still abandoned. And I will try to learn what I can about the gang members,” he saw Yami had dropped his eyes again and seemed to be sorting something out inside his own minds. “I’ll get back to you when I learn more.”

He left Yami still distracted by the news, and shut any of his unwanted entourage out. “He’d like to be left alone for a while.” They slunk away like the vermin some of them were.

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The old warehouse had been abandoned for a long time. There wasn’t a lot there to help Akira. Other street gangs, junkies and homeless people had come and gone, there was nothing to show after so long. Then he heard a sound behind him.

“Hey mister, you want a good time?”

Akira swung around to find a young man behind him. He wore layers of clothing and his long brown hair was ratty, but he had a face that made you look at him. Not unlike the face he was looking for.

“Sorry kid, I don’t swing that way,” he was about to dismiss him, but thought again. “How long have you been on the streets? I am trying to find someone who’s missing, he was last seen here. I’d pay you for that.”

“I’ve been around. What do you want to know?”

“You want some food, we could talk and eat.”

The kid turned, “Come on there’s a place down the road. Feed me, I’ll try and give you what you want.”

Akira followed the kid to the fast food place indicated.

“You got a name?”

“They call me Gypsy, that’s all you need to know.”

They got food and sat at a quiet booth.

“So what do you want to know?” said Gypsy munching into a large burger.

“That warehouse, close to two years ago a street gang called the Spiders hung out there.”

“Yeah, they did, cruel bastards. Did drugs, dealed drugs, beat up anyone they got their hands on. Wannabe gangsters with knives.”

“They might have… hurt the boy I’m looking for.”

“They hurt a lot of people.”

“You?”

“Nah, couldn’t catch me. I know this place like the back of my hand,” he chomped down some fries.

“This boy I’m looking for would have stood out; he had blonde, red and black hair. I was told he cut most of it off, it used to be spiky.”

The kid stopped munching for a moment. Akira knew the boy knew who he was talking about.

“I was told he was caught by this gang when he was out late one night.”

Gypsy had stopped eating altogether.

“He shouldn’t have been on the streets at all. They saw him on their bikes, chased him, grabbed him and took him back to their lair. He cried a lot at first. They liked that. They liked it so much they kept him for days. But he went quiet on them after the first two days, never made a sound when they… took him, or beat him. They’d have killed him if the cops weren’t closing in when one of them was caught. They just left him to die, they didn’t care. They’d had their fun.”

Gypsy seemed far away for a while, as if reliving it from his point of view.

“You saw it all didn’t you?” said Akira gently.

He nodded, “I was lucky, no one ever did that to me.”

“And the boy?”

“He’d have died there, but I…I got him to my place. I cleaned him up as best I could, got him warm, made him eat. He didn’t really care, he wasn’t all there anymore. I’d seen that before… they hurt him… He was already lost. You know, sad, alone. What they did, just took it all away. I never knew his name, he wouldn’t speak, couldn’t speak for a long time,” he took another slow bite of his burger.

“Did he stay with you?”

“Oh yeah, Zombie joined me on the streets.”

“Zombie?” asked Akira.

“Well, I had to call him something and he didn’t mind what you called him.”

“Didn’t anyone ever look for him?”

“Some strangers prowled the streets for a while. Two guys, kind wannabe tough looking, I didn’t trust them, so we kept out of the way.”

Akira nodded as Gypsy finished his burger and took some gulps of his drink.

“So what happened after that?”

“Look, he ain’t in any trouble is he? I don’t want to make trouble for him. You’re no cop, but-“

“He’s not in any trouble. Some… family, just learned he was missing. Asked me to find him if I could.”

Gypsy seemed to weigh up what to say.

“When you’re on the streets, you do what you have to to get by. What I did, Zombie did. But it was easier with two of us. We stole to eat, okay, and we, well you know… Zombie didn’t want to at first, but he got more offers than me. They called him pretty. I never knew how old he was, he looked real young, and well, there’s those that like that.”

Akira closed his eyes tightly. Yami would not be pleased. The mere thought of those kind of predators made him feel sick.

“Anyways, that’s what we did to survive. How old was he?”

“His name was Yugi, back then he was sixteen years old.”

“Sixteen! Man, who’d have thought. I’m just past that; I never knew he was older than me!”

Now Akira was surprised, Gypsy’s whole attitude and look did not seem that young. He really wondered how much of a childhood this boy had had.

“Do you know where he is now?”

Gypsy shook his head. “I haven’t seen him for about a year. A John took me on a trip, and I don’t mean drugs. Treated me real good, when I got back, Zombie was gone. I didn’t abandon him. He could look after himself, otherwise I‘d not have left him. He’d started talkin’ again by then. But it was crazy talk.”

“What do you mean?”

“He didn’t talk to you, he understood what you told him okay, but he only talked to his necklace, or screamed at you if you tried to get it from him.”

“Necklace?”

“Yeah, we knocked over a jewellery stall, nothing fancy mind you, junk stuff. Got away with quite a bit. But only one necklace took Zombie’s fancy. He put it on and never took it off. That’s when he started talking too, when he got it. Always the same thing, about some Game King would come and get you if you tried to touch it.”

“What was it?”

“A pyramid, you know like on the poster in the travel shops, with camels. It was just a small one, but he wouldn’t let it go. He talked to it, crazy talk. Not long after, I went on my trip. Never saw him again; he’s not been on the streets at all.”

“You have no idea what could have happened?”

“Nah, maybe a John took a fancy to him or worse.”

“Worse?”

“Yeah, remember I said he looked young. Sometimes kids… disappear like that.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, well, it happens. Last place I saw him was on Mission Street. We stayed in those Christian places when it got too cold. They liked to give us stuff, food, clothes, a roof once in a while. That’s where I left him anyways.”

Akira pulled out some money. Gypsy picked it up, “Wow, this’d get you a week with me.”

“I don’t want a week. You gave me some more to go on and I’m grateful.”

“I hope you find Zombie, I mean Yugi. He didn’t belong down here. But he was a lost soul and there’s a lot of them here.”

“Are you a lost soul?”

“Hell no. I know where I belong. See ya.”

With that Gypsy stashed his money and rushed off.

How the hell was he going to tell Yami this? Maybe he he’d try his luck on Mission Street first.

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