Just Tonight

Reader Warnings: Drug abuse, dark fic.

AN: I recently bought "Light Me Up", the first album by The Pretty Reckless, and after a few listens, "Just Tonight just wouldn't get out of my head. Say what you will about Taylor Momsen, but her singing and lyrics are pretty darn good. I also started watching YGO in Japanese, which then spawned this little plot bunny. I hesitated to write it down, mostly because I have a hard time seeing Yuugi in this light, but the more times I listened to the song, the more the story just seemed to write itself in my head, and it always seemed to work best with Yuugi. Whether Yuugi's out of character or not, I leave that up to you to decide. As for Yami, I'm having Yuugi use Atem and "mou hitori no boku" alternately, as Yami isn't used as his name outside of episode titles. Song lyrics are in italics and parenthesis.

Just Tonight

(Here we are

And I can't think from all the pills

Hey

Start the car and take me home)

Yuugi lolled his head to one side, vaguely aware that he was no longer in the club, amidst the pounding music, the flashing lights, the swinging glow sticks. He was no longer surrounded by dancers, bumping and grinding against each other simply just to feel another person in the darkness temporarily brightened by strobe lights. Someone said something, and he thought he felt a lurch as the seat he had been laid down on. His muddled mind tried to grasp where he might be, but he gave up. The comforting lull of all the drugs he had taken while he was there kept him safely cushioned from reality for a little longer yet.

Reality was cruel. Reality was not where the comforting darkness was. Reality was not where he could pretend that the Ceremonial Duel never happened.

(Here we are

And you're too drunk to hear a word I say

Start the car and take me home)

Kaiba glared disapprovingly at the person sitting across from him in the limo; he had received a call from the bonkotsu(1) saying no one had heard from Yuugi in at least a week, and they were all worried. It was not the first time this had happened in the years following that trip to Egypt, and Kaiba sincerely doubted it would be the last. Still, despite all the partying and hard drugs, Yuugi could still enter into a major dueling competition, and win. How he did it was beyond Kaiba's comprehension, and even though he was loathe to admit it, he was worried. Just six months ago, Kaiba had received a call from Mokuba, who told him to turn on the television – Yuugi had been taken to a hospital after collapsing at a nightclub, suspected of taken adulterated drugs. They had him transferred to a top of the line Kaiba Corp-run hospital, and even then, just barely managed to reverse the effects in time. Luckily for everyone involved, no permanent damage had been done.

"Oi, Yuugi, we're here." Yuugi slowly turned his head in recognition of a voice, and spoke nothing, but to Kaiba, the wide-eyed glassy stare said more than any words ever could have. Mutou Yuugi, King of Duelists, was so lost in his own drug-induced world, that not even the voice of his longest rival could not reach him. Sighing, Kaiba pressed a button on a side panel. It would be dangerous to let him sleep at home – or was the game shop even his home anymore? - tonight.

"Take us to the detox center."

(Just tonight I will stay and we'll throw it all away

When the light hits your eyes

It's telling me I'm right

And if I

I am through

Then it's all because of you

Just tonight)

"I-I'm sorry, Kaiba-kun," Yuugi said, eyes downcast as he sat on his bed in a private room at the center. It was a special room on the top floor, away from prying eyes with its own separate entrance. That was how they had managed to keep the full extent of Yuugi's partying and drug habits under wraps from the press, for the most part.

Kaiba gave him an irritated glare. How many more times will they have to do this? How many more times would he have to bail out his much shorter rival? It was clear that Yuugi regretted it later, so why do it at all? Yuugi looked up at him, shocked. Kaiba mentally grimaced – he had not meant to say the last part out loud.

"Why . . . ?" Yuugi replied as he looked up, his eyes baggy and bloodshot, his overall frame even skinnier than it had ever been. From Kaiba's location by the door, it almost looked like the twenty year old champion was nearing death's door.

"Yes, why? Why, when you regret it so much afterward?" Yuugi simply looked back down at the white blanket, Kaiba's question hanging heavily in the air between them. After fifteen minutes of just staring at the forlorn duelist, Kaiba turned on his heels, and wordlessly walked away.

Tears welled up then, as Yuugi curled up on the bed. "You wouldn't understand, Kaiba-kun," he sobbed. "No one would."

For, in saving the world from the darkness, Mutou Yuugi had to personally send away the one he loved most. Atem . . . mou hitori no boku . . . I miss you . . .

(Here I am

And I can't seem to see straight

But I'm too numb to feel right now)

Yuugi fumbled onto the bed in his apartment and sighed, waiting for the drugs to take effect. As before, he had left the detox center with a prescription for anti-depressants and a "new direction in life". The psychologist doubted him, told him a look that said as much, but Yuugi did not trust the man – he seemed far too firmly rooted in science and logical explanations to believe the truth. No, Yuugi would treat his own pain his way. He could feel the numbing effects kicking in, and as he closed his eyes, he could just barely make out the faint outline of someone approaching who looked so much like him, but was yet, his complete opposite.

(Here I am

Watching the clock that's ticking away my time

I'm too numb to feel right now)

Somewhere in his room, his alarm clock ticked, and as Yuugi counted off the seconds, they started to sound more and more like foot steps. Louder and louder they grew, and slowly, Yuugi could start seeing more of the figure now: the eternally regal posture, the tri-colored hair, the school uniform jacket worn like a cape, the faint glints of light reflecting off of the metal studded wrist bands.

(Just tonight I will stay and we'll throw it all away

When the light hits your eyes

It's telling me I'm right

And if I

I am through

Then it's all because of you

Just tonight)

"Aibou . . ."

Yuugi smiled, he could hear the voice now as he began to float, just like it used to when he wanted to appear while Atem was in charge. The voice became clearer now, as did that confident smile, that piercing gaze. Atem, looking so very much like his physical twin, came closer, and drew him into a warm, full-bodied hug that Yuugi simply melted and relaxed straight into.

"Mou hitori no boku, I missed you. I miss you so much."

"I know, Aibou, I know."

"I know I'm supposed to move on, but I can't. You gave me what I needed then, when I was an awkward teenager who didn't fit in. I need you now, as the one who completes me."

Just tonight

And when Atem drew back only to lean forward for a kiss, Yuugi simply lost track of everything around him.

Do you understand who I am do you wanna know

Can you really see through me now

Now I have got to go

Kaiba angrily stormed out of the room and went down to the reception desk for the floor. "Just where is the patient in this room?"

"Seto-sama, sir, the patient said you had approved him for release this morning, so the attending physician signed off on it, along with a follow-up visit with the psychologist for later this week."

"I did no such thing!" The nurse visibly paled as Kaiba turned to take the elevator down, calling up his personal limo in the process. Despite all of Yuugi's insistence that no one understood what he was feeling, Kaiba knew for a fact that each and everyone one of Yuugi's little group had tried to reach out to him.

But they all failed. Yuugi fooled and turned them all away with fake smiles and lies. When Yuugi turned to the drugs, they all sought him out, because he alone had the resources to help him. At the very least, they thought, maybe their rivalry would be the thing that would bring their friend back. Or so they thought.

(Just tonight

I won't leave

And I'll lie and you'll believe

Just tonight

I will see that it's all because of me)

"Mou hitori no boku, don't ever leave me again," Yuugi sighed between kisses.

"Never, Aibou, never."

Somewhere along the way, Yuugi was vaguely aware that he had lost his shirt, and he moaned as he felt Atem's hot breath at his lips, "Don't stop . . . I want more. I want everything." His half-lidded eyes saw his other half, face flushed and panting, gaze laced with hesitation. He writhed, rubbing their bodies together, desperate for more pleasure. He wanted – no, needed – everything, just to know, that Atem had not been some dream, that Atem was not some figment of his lonely imagination.

Atem laughed, warm and full of love. "So eager, Aibou. Don't worry, we'll have all the time in the world now."

(Just tonight I will stay and we'll throw it all away

When the light hits your eyes

It's telling me I'm right

And if I

I am through

Then it's all because of you

Just tonight)

"Kaiba, it's Jounouchi. I'm at Yuugi's apartment right now." Kaiba froze. Yuugi had his own apartment? Since when?

"Where is it, bonkotsu?" A few moments of silence, and then Kaiba's phone beeped to show it received a text message.

"It's there in that text. Hurry, Kaiba. I think Yuugi purposefully gave himself too much this time. He's breathing, but just barely."

In the background, he could hear two other voices - Honda and Anzu, he presumed – shouting at Yuugi, telling him to hang on. He heard some groaning and mumbling between the shouts, and then a horrified, "Oh my . . . he thinks he's . . . he's doing it with Atem!" from Anzu.

And then it all clicked. Why Yuugi had gone from being an innocent bright-eyed teenager to the hard partying, drug addicted young man he was today. Why he had insisted that no one else would understand. Why he had turned to stimulants and hallucinogens. He had found himself in love with the very spirit he had to personally send away.

A spirit that was now forever out of reach, and left him with nothing save memories and duel recordings. Yuugi had not even been allowed to keep the golden artifact that housed him.

A spirit that no one really knew existed, save a certain few.

But never a picture of them together.

((Do you understand who I am?)

It's all because of you

Just tonight

(Do you understand who I am?)

It's all because of you

Just tonight

(Do you understand who I am?)

It's all because of you

Just tonight)

Yuugi sighed in bliss as he cuddled up to Atem's arms. A blanket covered them now, keeping them both warm in their nakedness; where it came from, Yuugi did not know, nor did he care. Smiling, Yuugi leaned up and started to kiss his way down along Atem's neck, his tongue relishing the warm skin.

"Mmmm, Aibou . . ." Atem's eyes rolled back as he began to moan the same word over and over. And Yuugi relished in it, for that was what he was. Atem's partner. The light to Atem's darkness.

And, as Yuugi had decided, this was the way it should be. Except . . . there was a noise now, muffled. Something – no, someone – was calling his name.

"Something wrong, Aibou?"

"Nothing, nothing at all, mou hitori no boku." He must have been hearing things. He was here now, with his other self, his other half. And that was all that mattered.

Except the voices, there was more than one now, would not stop.

"Yuugi!"

"Oi, Yuugi!"

No, no, just ignore them, Yuugi told himself. Here, in the darkness, with Atem was where he belonged. He wrapped his arms tighter, nuzzling ever closer to that delicious warmth, as he felt something stiffen near his thighs. And he grinned, ready for round two.

"Insatiable, aren't we, Aibou?" Yuugi blissfully sighed as he found himself being flipped onto his back once more. A pair of near-identical hands pulled his arms up above his head, his waist straddled by near-identical legs. Kisses were spread all over his face and neck as pleasure radiated from the teasing grinding below. Yuugi wanted to moan, to give some sort of voice to the immense pleasure he was feeling, but there it was again, those voices that called his name – why did they have to distract him from this?

"Ready for more, Aibou?"

And before he could answer, Yuugi suddenly found himself standing, fully clothed, in a bright white room, with two glass doors in front of him. One led to his friends: Jounouchi, Anzu, Honda, Bakura, and even Kaiba was standing there, smiling – smirking, in Kaiba's case – and waiting for him. The other led into darkness, where his other half stood, waiting. He took two steps toward one door, then hesitated as he looked toward the other. Standing back, he closed his eyes and contemplated, and upon realizing what it was he truly wanted, made his decision.

And this time, when he walked up to the door, it was without hesitation, and was warmly welcomed on the other side.

~End~

End notes:

1) Bonkotsu: This is what Kaiba calls Jounouchi in the Japanese version, in after calling him make-inu (literally, loser-dog). According to my handy-dandy translator, it means junk, as in a piece of trash (get your minds out of the gutter, ladies). Kaiba's a real nice guy, eh? ^^;;

I'm aware I didn't give a specific ending here. I leave that to you, the reader to choose. Realize that when I said "the other side" at the end, I mean specifically, the other side of the door he chose. And in case it wasn't really clear, all the parts where Yuugi is talking to Yami are hallucinations. Yes, including the citrusy bits. Leave me a review!