Don't Fear the Reaper-Chapter 6
Title:: Don’t Fear the Reaper
Author: eachainn or Spirithorse on FF.net
Rating: T
Pairings: YamixYugi, with hints of SetoxKisara, BakuraxRyou, YugixMana and YamixTea
Warnings: Character death, blood, violence, swearing
Spoilers: Ending for the movie, The Frighteners
Summary: Yugi is a reaper, one who separates the souls from the body at the moment of death. Yami is a man who can see and talk to ghosts. Yugi is sent to the town of Fairwater to investigate a recent increase in deaths and find out more than he ever wanted to. Based on the movie the Frighteners.
Disclaimer:I don’t own Yu-Gi-Oh, The Frighteners, Dead Like Me or the song Don’t Fear the Reaper, they are all owned by their respective owners. Original plot bunny was offered up by shamise
Prologue- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5-6
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Chapter Six: Dealing With Ghosts
Yami didn't know how long he clung to Yugi, pressing close to the reaper in the hopes that he would be calmed by the feeling of the other man close. But he wasn't that lucky. He was still shaking badly even when the funeral had passed them by, feeling Yugi rubbing his back and trying to comfort him. It was only then that he realized that he was speaking. "It's all my fault."
"No, it's not."
"It is. They said I could stop it."
Yami's eyes went wide as Yugi pulled him away for a moment before shaking his head, cupping Yami's cheek. "And who says that? The ghosts? They'll say anything to keep the blame off them. They said it because they want you to stop it, not because you can. Not all ghosts are manipulative but some are, and it's hard to tell which are which. But it's not your fault."
He shook his head, feeling Yugi reach up to touch the back of his neck, stopping the motion. He pulled back, Yugi smiling at him before leaning forward to rest his forehead against Yami's. "Trust me on this."
"I do." Yami sighed, feeling himself calm down as Yugi stroked the back of his neck. "I do trust you."
"Oh God." They both tensed at the voice, Yugi not letting him go even as they turned to look at who had spoken.
Yami's mouth dropped open as he found himself staring at the ghostly figure of Tristan, the man looking nervously between them and the line of slow moving cars. He was tempted to pull away from Yugi completely and speak to Tristan, but a short tug on his waist had him following Yugi towards the alley, Yami twisting back around to look at Tristan and motioning for him to follow, the ghost hesitating before obeying the command.
As soon as they were in the alley, Yami found himself pulled away by Tristan, the ghost grasping at him in his panic. "You've got to help me, Yami. They're going to burry me."
"But you're dead." Yami cursed as soon as those words left his mouth, watching as Tristan shrunk back. "Sorry, it's been a rough morning."
"Tell me about it." Tristan seemed to gain some levity for a moment before he latched back onto the situation at hand. "But they're still going to burry me. I need to be there, to make sure Serenity is alright. And I need you there! You can see me, you can talk to me! You can tell her things!"
Yami bit his lip, remembering the article from his morning, staring at the ground to one side in the dim hope that it would produce an answer only to come up short. He was about to shake his head when he felt Yugi rest a hand on his shoulder, the reaper moving forward. "I know it's a bad time, but what happened to you?"
Tristan stared at Yugi like he didn't understand the question before shrugging. "I don't know. I was getting ready to leave this morning…and Serenity had left before me because of some emergency at the hospital, but I was alone. I got out the door, saw our neighbor and then…" He looked up at the two of them, shaking in fear. "It felt like something was squeezing my heart and I couldn't breathe."
Yami turned back to look at Yugi, watching the reaper pace as he thought over the information. He paused before looking back over at Yami. "I'll stay behind and watch over the library for you. I would be persona non grata up there at the cemetery."
"I want you to come." The words tumbled out before Yami had a chance to stop them. He didn't want to leave the calm that came over him when he was around Yugi; it would just be too much for him, especially after this morning. And then he would have to face Serenity alone, something that he was not looking forward to. "They like me up there. I'll get you in."
Yugi still hesitated, swaying on the spot. Yami understood his reluctance to go up to the cemetery, especially after the way Duke had treated him this morning, but he wanted Yugi to come. The cemetery was where he lost all of his composure; he couldn't be there without ghosts entreating him to do something for them. He wanted that feeling of security that he had around Yugi, because Yugi actually understood that he wasn't crazy, that he actually saw the ghosts instead of making them up.
"Alright." Yugi reached for his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before pulling away, already heading for the car. Yami rushed after him with Tristan trailing along.
The car ride up to the cemetery was quiet; Tristan slumped morosely in the back seat, probably trying to come to terms with the fact that he was dead. Yugi seemed to be getting more nervous the closer that they got to the cemetery, sometimes jumping at the ghosts that had come to stand at the side of the road, those ghosts probably not wanting to be bothered by the funeral. Yami took a deep steadying breath before pulling into a free parking space. He glanced back at the others before nodding, slipping from the car.
Yami paused under the sign that announced the cemetery, watching as Yugi shuffled up to him while Tristan tried to walk out of the car, failing a couple of times before he finally managed the trick, a sad smile crossing his face. "Tada!"
"Go on through, the ghosts won't bother you. I'll be right behind." Tristan nodded at the command before quickly walking past them, jumping as the ghosts poked their heads up to look at the new arrival. Yami looked over at Yugi, giving him a smile. "Ready?"
"Once more into the breech." Yugi sighed and started walking, Yami rushing to keep up with him, suddenly aware of the whispers that were following them. He glanced around, noticing that the ghosts were whispering to themselves, skirting away from where Yugi was with looks of fear on their faces. Yami scooted closer to the reaper, hovering nearby in case any of the ghosts decided to try and eliminate the threat.
His gaze jumped to where one ghost was pushing himself out of the ground, taking a quick glance at all the other ghosts before focusing his gaze on Yami, his mouth dropping open. "Well, damn. That's a sight I thought I would never see." The ghost finished pulling himself from the ground, brushing his clothes off despite the fact that there was no dirt on them before strolling over. "Excuse me, sir, but I don't like reapers on our land."
Yugi froze at that, turning to face the ghost with a smile on his face. "I'm aware of that."
"Then why did you come here?"
"I was asked. And for my own personal investigations."
Yami scooted between Yugi and the ghost, watching as the ghost's eyes narrowed. "So you're here to find new ways to send us packing into the afterlife? Well, I'll only tell you once, pal, we're not going. We happen to like it here and we'll stay that way. And, Yami, as the protector of this cemetery-"
"I'm not the protector, Valon." Yami nearly growled out the words, narrowing his eyes. "I just see ghosts, alright? That doesn't make me the protector or anything else you guys want. I draw the line at giving messages to family members."
"But you should at least know not to bring creatures like him in."
Yami tensed at that, feeling Yugi reach out for him and try to tug him along, but he brushed the reaper off, glaring at Valon. "Listen, I can't do anything but see ghosts. I don't know what you guys think I can do, but that's it. I'm just a human, Valon, not some supernatural detector."
The ghost looked away, glaring at the ground for a moment before finally giving a nod. "But the reaper still isn't welcome."
"I'm watching him and I want him here. He's trying to help." Yami grabbed Yugi's arm and towed him away, ignoring the grumbles from Valon as they left the ghost behind. He kept his tight grip on Yugi for a while, not even noticing how tightly he was holding the other until Yugi was pulling Yami's fingers from his arm.
"Easy now."
"Sorry."
Yugi waved his hand to dismiss the comment, the two of them heading over to the crowd that had gathered. "Don't worry about it. I told you that there would be trouble and there was. Can't do anything from here, but I'm here." At the confused tilt of Yami's head, Yugi just smiled. "The ghosts won't talk to me. Besides, it doesn't matter what they see, I'm just here to figure out what's causing this."
"Then what?"
"Then I'm heading back. Other reapers will take care of this, it's their jurisdiction."
"They haven't before."
Yugi nodded slowly at that, the smile on his face disappearing. "I know, but that's because…well, you're getting the young reapers here, they're all sort of scared of what they are doing. But they've got good intentions; it just might take them a while to react."
"And then how many more will die?"
"Yami, listen, I can't stay here. You can't stay here." Yami started at that, staring at Yugi as the reaper played with the hem of his shirt. "There's something wrong going on here and no one can predict it. We're all in danger, human and ghost alike. And I don't want you here for that."
"You're asking me to run away with you?"
"Until this is settled, yes." Yugi looked away from him abruptly, coming to a stop a good distance away from the funeral. Yami stopped as well, glancing over at the group of people, spotting Tristan standing beside Serenity, looking torn. He sighed and ducked his head, glancing up as Yugi rested his hand on Yami's arm. "You should go."
"No. Let them have their funeral without me ruining it." When Yugi gave him a confused look, Yami shook his head. "Apparently the people here think I'm nothing more than a con-man and a murder. It explains a lot about them, but I'd still rather avoid them."
He gave a nervous laugh before falling silent, noticing that Yugi was looking at him with worry. Yami sighed and stuck his hands into his pockets. "Just don't worry about me, I've been fine for five years and I'll be fine afterward."
"You haven't been." Yugi cleared his throat, crossing his arms across his chest as he watched the proceedings. "I haven't been fine in two hundred forty-seven thousand years. It's the doubt that gets to you and then you just stop caring. You may feel fine, but you're not. And it drives me crazy at times because everyone else can see it, but I can't, not unless they tell me. You know what I mean?"
Yami nodded slowly, shifting slightly so he could lean against Yugi. It amazed him that they could work so well together after just meeting. He supposed that it had something to do with the balance thing that Yugi had explained to him earlier, but he wanted to believe that the two of them would have been best friends if they had met under different circumstances. He wanted to believe that they felt comfortable around each other because they were such a good team, not just this balance thing. "Yeah. It feels good to have someone to talk to."
Yugi nodded, sighing and shifting so his head was resting on Yami's shoulder. "Did you have others?"
He shook his head, sticking his hands into his pocket and watching the funeral proceedings. "Joey is busy and Tèa was my only other friend. In fact, I wouldn't know Joey if I hadn't met Tèa. No one else was around after…"
Yugi gave his back a rub, the motion more for comfort than anything else. Yami ducked his head at that, staring at the ground. He didn't usually talk about Tèa with others, let alone allowed himself to think about her. He might protest the fact that they all thought that he had murdered her, but there was still some part of him that believed it. He sighed, rolling his shoulders before starting as Yugi moved away from him, the reaper looking over his shoulder.
Yami turned around, his eyes widening for a moment before he calmed himself down, raising a hand to wave at Mai as the police officer walked his way. She hesitated a moment before returning the wave, coming to a stop beside him. She gave Yugi a glance before raising an eyebrow at Yami. "He's cute."
"Wha-" Yami blinked before blushing. "Oh no, we're not like that. We're just friends."
"You never say that. It's like saying 'He's up for grabs'." Mai shook her head. "What am I going to do with you, Yami? How am I supposed to focus my attention on Joey when his best friend his nearly hopeless?"
She laughed, Yami shooting a glare at Yugi as he chuckled as well. "You're all against me."
"No. We're just here to help you." Mai patted his shoulder before drawing herself back, Yami recognizing the shift from her usual attitude to the one that she kept in place as a cop. He took a deep breath to steady himself for any news that she could give him. "But that's beside the point. I think you know that the government is suddenly interested in these deaths."
Yami tensed at that, Mai reaching out to hold onto his shoulder. "You know that we're not going to let them bring you in unless they have something substantial. There's nothing on you in connection to Tèa's death or any of the other cases."
"Then why was I brought in nearly every time?" He felt her hand slip from his shoulder, replaced by Yugi's hand slipping into his own, holding it.
Mai cleared her throat, glancing down at the funeral before reaching back to secure her ponytail. "We didn't know. I didn't like it and neither did Joey, but the others were more than happy to see you go in, because it was at least someone, but they all knew that it couldn't have been you, because all the victims suffered from heart attacks."
"Heart attacks?"
She nodded, reaching into her pocket for a little notepad before pulling it out. "I've been looking over all the reports and they all mention that they look like heart attacks, but they're not."
Yami stared at her with his mouth hanging open. "But you said…"
"They're calling them heart attacks because there's nothing else to call them. And those reports go into detail about what they find, and it's nothing like a heart attack. They have clear arteries and nothing else in their history seems to point towards a heart attack." Mai frowned glancing over her notes before pocketing them again. "What they can figure out is that the heart his under enormous pressure before these people die, like it's being squeezed by something."
Yami's eyes went wide, the words escaping his mouth before he could stop them. "Like what Tristan said…"
Mai tipped her head to the side, the only sign that she had heard him speak before continuing. "Apparently this has gone on for too long and the government wants to see if it can be stopped. They're sending someone over today."
"And you came to tell me this because?"
"Yami, you know what's going to happen." Mai gave him a long look. "Between the paper and your record before, they're going to bring you in and talk to you. But you have the right to know that there is no case connecting you to any of their deaths, even Tèa's."
Yami swallowed nervously before nodding. "Thanks, Mai."
The police woman gave him a smile, turning to walk back to her car only to pause, looking over her shoulder at him. "Hey, if any of those ghosts can tell you anything, just come to us and we'll figure out how to get it into this case."
Yami gave Mai a wave, tensing when she threw a wink back at Yugi before walking away. He turned to look at Yugi, noticing that the reaper was blushing. Yugi glanced over at him before ducking his head again. "Uh…"
"You get used to Mai. She's like that with everyone."
"Oh." Yugi shuffled a bit in place before looking back up at the funeral, Yami following his gaze and tensing when he realized that everyone was leaving. He had hoped to be hidden or waiting back at the car before it let out so he could avoid all of the people, all of the people that he was sure had at least seen the paper this morning before they had come here.
And, sure enough, there were plenty of glares in his direction, Yami backing up to stand on the edge of the path as the people filed past. He felt Yugi keep a tight hold on his hand; that little bit of reassurance just enough to keep him from breaking and seeking out a place to hide. But that still didn't stop him from flinching away every time someone shot a glare at him, finally shrinking back against Yugi in an attempt to escape from the crowd of people.
"Yami!" He jumped at the sound of his name, turning to see Serenity hurrying over to him. The red head gave him a smile before looking at the rest of the mourners. "Can you meet me later?"
"Meet you?"
"I read the paper this morning; I know what these people think of you but…" She sniffed and wiped the tears from her face, trying to smile. "I know it's not true. And I just…I just want to talk to Tristan one last time." Serenity glanced over at Yugi and then down at their joined hands. "You can bring your boyfriend too but, please, just come."
Yami nodded, Serenity rushing off after the rest of the mourners. He jerked slightly as he realized what she had said, looking over at Yugi. "You're not my boyfriend."
Yugi stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter, Yami watching in shock as Yugi leaned on him, the reaper wrapping his arms around Yami's waist and hugging him close as he laughed. Yami blinked before wrapping his arms around Yugi, smiling himself as Yugi managed to get his laughter back under control and snuggled close to him with a happy hum. The thought that this was not appropriate behavior for a graveyard passed through his mind for a moment, but it was quickly pushed away as he cuddled Yugi close.
The sound of someone clearing their throat made Yami look up, finding himself staring up at Tristan. To his surprise, his initial reaction was to pull Yugi closer instead of pushing him away. He did straighten up, meeting Tristan's embarrassed gaze. The ghost cleared his throat again before looking over to where Serenity was walking away. "So, what did she want?"
"She wants to talk to you. We're meeting up later." Tristan smiled at that, walking quickly after the rest of the mourners, probably to wait for the two of them at the car. Yami sighed and shook his head, Yugi reaching up to rest a hand on his cheek. Yami leaned into the touch, allowing them to stay like that a moment more before he reached down for Yugi's hand, the two of them walking out of the cemetery.
---
Serenity fiddled with her bracelet as she sat at the table, tempted to reach for her cell phone out and check for messages, but it would just be the same as before. She had called Yami a few hours before to tell him where they were meeting. She glanced over at the clock, biting her lip. He still had to close up the library and get here; it was nothing to worry about. She clutched the edge of the table, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down. If anything had happened to Yami or the others she would have heard about it before now.
She glanced up again, breathing out a relieved sigh when Yami walked in, the man from the cemetery following right behind him. Serenity straightened up with a smile, watching as Yami and Yugi sat down behind the table, Serenity noticing that they left one space open. She stared at the space, hoping that she would be able to see something, or someone, but there was just nothing. Serenity slumped back with a disappointed sigh, releasing her hold on the table.
"Serenity?"
"Thanks for coming." She gave Yami a smile, noticing how close he and the other man were sitting. "I know that with what the paper said about you this morning and everything else, this is probably the last thing that you want to do."
"It's fine." Yami waved her comment aside, glancing around the small coffee shop that they had met it before returning his attention to her.
She glanced over at the other man, surprised at the bright smile that he gave her. "I don't think we've met. I'm Yugi Mutou."
"Hey Yugi." She shook his hand before leaning forward again, looking over at the empty seat beside her, tipping her head in its direction. "Is Tristan here?" Yami nodded, Serenity shifting so that she was facing Tristan a bit more than the others. "Can he hear me?"
"He can hear everything you say." Yami smiled. "I'm just here for the responses."
Serenity gave an uneasy laugh, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Now that I'm here, I don't know what to say. This morning, I just wanted anything to be with him again and to talk to him." She bit her lip to keep from crying, she had done enough of that at the funeral and afterwards when she had gotten home. She just wanted this one hour where she wouldn't break down into tears. Serenity reached up to wipe the few drops that escaped from her eyes. "I just…it was too soon."
"Hey," she jumped when Yami leaned forward to rest one of his hands over hers, giving her a smile, "it's alright. It's going to be alright. Maybe not now or tomorrow, or even the next day. But it's going to be alright."
She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head, moving her hand out from under Yami's and returning to her staring at the table, fighting back the tears. She didn't look up as Yami sighed, tensing as he spoke. "Tristan says that he loves you. And that he's sorry."
"Sorry? What does he have to be sorry for?"
"For leaving you." Serenity looked up abruptly at that, staring at Yami. Some rebellious part of herself almost believed what the newspaper had said about him, that he was only doing this because he could get something from her. But there was sincerity in his voice and real pity in his eyes. She watched him shift nervously in his seat, looking away from her.
"H-he said that?"
"Yes." Yami nodded.
"But it's not his fault." Serenity almost laughed at that, it was just like Tristan for him to place the blame on himself for this. "It's the fault of this…thing that's killing off people. But, that's so Tristan."
She couldn't believe she was smiling at this point, glancing down at her ring finger and playing with the ring on it. "He was always apologizing for things that weren't his fault. Even though I told him to stop, he never would; he kept treating me like I could do no wrong."
Serenity thought she felt something cold brush across her hand, glancing up at Yami with wide eyes before reaching out to rest her other hand over the cold sensation, trying to ignore the fact that her body was telling her that something was wrong. It couldn't be wrong because it was Tristan and, out of all the choices that she had made in her life, Tristan was one of the better ones. She smiled, tilting her head to the side before looking over at Yami, the happy feeling that had almost returned disappearing as quickly as it had come. "Why did he stay?"
"Tristan says that he didn't move on because he had to know that you were alright."
"Will he leave now?"
"No." There was no hesitation in the reply. "Not for a year, and maybe not then. He wants to be sure you'll be alright."
"He doesn't have to stay for me."
"He wants to, Serenity. It means a lot to him that he stays to watch over you."
Serenity bit her lip before turning to look at Yami. "How long did Tèa stay behind?"
Yami tensed at that before looking away, Serenity quickly covering her mouth as she realized what she had said. She glanced over at Yami's friend, watching him reach up to place a hand on Yami's shoulder. He was the one to answer instead of Yami. "Not everyone becomes a ghost. It depends on the emotions at the time, and sometimes just luck. They may chose not to move on, but there might not be enough emotional input in the area that they are in to support them, so the end up going to the afterlife anyway."
"Yami, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Serenity watched as he turned back around, seeing his usual mask slip back into place. "Anything else you want to ask him?"
She stared at him for a long while, aware that she was probably making him uncomfortable, but unable to look away. How could they all have missed it for so long? Serenity blinked and looked away, blushing at her own mistake. "H-how long have you been able to see ghosts?"
"Me?"
"The both of you."
Yugi gave her a smile before sitting back, settling mostly against Yami. "I've been able to see ghosts all my life."
He glanced up at Yami, Serenity frowning as Yami refrained from speaking for a long while. She was beginning to think that she had misjudged her question when he finally did speak up. "Just for a few years. Some people say that having a traumatic experience changes your prospective on things."
"So, after the accident?" Yami just nodded, slumping further into his seat. Serenity bit her lip, glancing over at Yugi to see what his reaction was; Yugi seemed a lot better about judging Yami than she was. But even he was watching Yami worriedly. Serenity looked back over to where Tristan was; hoping that she might get a clue from him, but the empty space was as silent as ever. She sighed and slumped back into her seat. "Well, I'm sure you two have other things to do, I won't keep you here."
Yami nodded slowly, standing up. Serenity was surprised when he motioned for Yugi to sit back down. "I'll be back in a moment."
He turned and walked away quickly, heading for the bathrooms. Serenity stared after him before dropped her head into her hands with a groan. "I messed that up completely."
"No you didn't." Yugi was leaning on one hand, an elbow propped on the surface of the table. "There's no way you could make that less awkward."
"I wish I could. I invited him here after all. And he's been through a lot. Half of the calls that Joey used to make to me when I didn't live around here were him worrying about Yami."
"Yami is stronger than you think, probably than he thinks." Yugi hummed to himself, closing his eyes for a moment. "But you're pretty strong too, you're handling this well."
"Yeah, that's because I heard the story of what Yami went through." Serenity shook her head and leaned forward. "Because of the way they found them, they had to question Yami. So he literally woke up, got told that his wife was dead and then got asked if he had murdered her."
Yugi frowned at that. "Why would he murder her?"
Serenity blushed, realizing that she had gone too far. But Yugi's confused gaze encouraged her to go on. If this man was Yami's boyfriend, he should know the answer already. "Because…I shouldn't really tell you. It's his story to tell."
"Then how do you-"
"Joey. There was a time that he was really worried that Yami might try suicide, but he got over his depression." Serenity gave a shrug before sitting back. "And, seeing him now, I'm still scared for him. He's jumpy and shy around other people. Until now, he almost never came out of his house when he didn't have to. And it wasn't healthy."
Yugi gave a strained laugh. "Are you his doctor?"
"No. But it's the doctor side of me that's worried." Serenity sighed, shaking her head and focusing on Yugi with a smile. "But don't let that stop you. If you like him, grab him before some other guy does."
"Oh." Yugi ducked his head. "We're not dating."
"You're not." Serenity leaned forward, relieved that she had something else to focus on now. "But you two act like it."
"Yeah. The attraction might be there, we're just taking it slow."
"Might be." Serenity rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything else, dropping her gaze to stare at the table and clearing her throat. "But thanks for coming, Yugi. You have no idea how much better this made me feel."
He gave her a nod before getting up and walking away, Serenity starting at the cold touch to her hand before relaxing. She was always going to jump at that, just because it was so unexpected. She sighed and leaned her head to the side, surprised when she felt another cold spot against her cheek, and then it was gone, Serenity sitting up and raising her hand to rest on her cheek. Tristan had kissed her good-bye, like he always had and, somehow, that just made her hurt more; because there would be a time when the kisses didn't come anymore. And she would never know until that moment that Tristan was really gone.
---
Yami took a deep breath, clutching at the sink for a moment before looking up at his reflection. He looked as shaken as he felt. He ran a hand over his face before letting go of the sink, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He had never expected this meeting to turn to Tèa; he had thought that Serenity would be so focused on her own loss that she would ignore his. But, then again, Serenity was used to it on some level, she was a doctor. He closed his eyes with a sigh, leaning on the sink again.
It hurt to realize that Tèa hadn't stayed behind for him. He knew that Holloway Road had plenty of ghosts, so it could have supported her ghost as well. But she hadn't stayed behind, she had left him. He shivered, slumping forward as he tried to get control of himself again. He wasn't going to walk back out there like this.
To think that a marriage in name only could have affected him so much.
Yami gave a harsh laugh, raising his gaze so he was staring at his reflection again, finding himself wondering what Tèa had seen in him. He had been the quiet, nerdy kid his entire life, preferring to be on his own because finding people who understood him was just too much of an effort. Tèa had been the girl on the fringe of the popular crowd, but she had worked hard. He had tutored her in history once in fifth grade and they had been friends ever since; most people found that fact alone hard to believe. It shouldn't have worked, but it did.
It even worked when Yami had reluctantly admitted that he was gay and Joey had been added to their small group. And they had stayed that way until college. Tèa had gone off to live her dream in New York, Joey had gone a few towns over to go to college and prove that he wasn't a loser and Yami had gone to the nearest community college to gain his degree in history, only to be employed at the local library, not that he minded much.
Then the call had come, just a few months after he had graduated, the call from a tearful Tèa saying that she had just been diagnosed with cancer, and she was coming home. Yami had been the one to meet her at the airport, the one to take her to all of her appointments and the one that she had shared all her fears with. As a joke, he had asked her what she wanted to do with the time she had left and she had only one thing on her list; getting married. So he had asked her.
For his best friend, he could do that.
A smile crossed his face at the memory of the wedding, more than half of Fairwater confused as to what was going on, but Yami didn't tell them anything, it was Tèa's moment to shine, and she looked gorgeous. Of course, just a week later she had lost all of her hair because of the chemotherapy treatment; but she had joked that Yami had enough for the both of them.
And they had been happy, blissfully happy. It was almost like college again, in a way, his best friend living in his house, the two of them sometimes staying up a bit too late watching horrible movies or crazy internet videos. It had probably been the happiest time in his life.
Until Tèa had gotten sick, and she had never gotten better. She put off going to the hospital for weeks until Yami convinced her. And, because he was scared for his best friend he had taken the fasted route to the main road, which was Holloway. And of course he would be going to fast, because Tèa was in trouble and he was the one that was going to help her.
But he had killed her.
Yami let his head drop again, shuddering as he tried to keep from crying. It wouldn't help now and it was for a selfish reasons. He just wanted her back to apologize and in the hope that his life would suddenly go back to normal. And that was the first thing he thought of every time. He never thought that she wouldn't have wanted to stay, constantly being sick or almost too sore to move only to have to die a year down the road. If he had that chance, he would have chosen to die in a car crash rather than to just waste away in pain.
He jumped as another man entered the bathroom, shying to one side as he walked over to the urinals. The man gave him a glare, probably recognizing him from the paper that morning before going about his business. Yami sighed and shook his head, glancing back to the door before checking his reflection in the mirror. He looked calm enough now that he could face Serenity and Yugi; especially Yugi. They had only met a day ago and he was already depending on that safe feeling he got around the reaper to stay sane.
Yami went to leave the bathroom, freezing suddenly as he saw something moving in the mirror, his mouth dropping open as the thing moved through the wall, disappearing behind the partition of the bathroom stalls. Yami backed away from the mirror, giving the bathroom door one last glance before standing up and looking at the stalls. He crept over to the first one, easing it open a bit before charging in, glancing around for any disturbance. He backed out when there was nothing there, watching the other man out of the corner of his eye. He froze as he caught something on the man's forehead, his eyes widening at the number thirty-eight that was written there, in the same manner that the number had been on Tristan's forehead.
The man stared at him for a moment before retreating for the sinks, Yami shaking his head and lunging into the next stall, frowning when there was nothing there. He glanced over his shoulder at the mirror again before staring at the stall. He was sure that the thing had come to this side of the room, he had already compensated for the reflection. It had to be somewhere, unless his crazy searching had just scared it away. Yami sighed, leaning heavily on the door as he stared into the bathroom, feeling himself begin to shake. What if he was just imagining things?
He jumped at the sound of a screech, spinning around, his mouth dropping open. Pulling itself from the mirror was a creature clothed entirely in black, a cowl over its head. Yami stared at it as it continued to move from the mirror into the room, one of its hands buried in the man's chest. His gaze darted to the man, watching as he collapsed backward, the man's eyes falling shut. Yami shivered and took a step forward, jumping back as the creature turned to look at him with a hiss, yanking its hand from the man's chest before turning and leaping back into the mirror.
Yami scrambled forward, reaching out to touch the man, searching for his pulse only to find none. He stared at him for a moment, jumping out of the way as a bright light surrounded the man, pressing himself against the wall as he watched the man's soul sit up, staring at his translucent body before glancing up at the light. A smile crossed his face before he stood up, lifting up slightly. "Mom!"
The light disappeared as suddenly as it had come, Yami staring at the body before clambering to his feet. He only then realized how heavily he was breathing, backing away from the body. He had to get out of here before it struck again. He was the only one that could see it, and it was the one that was killing people. Yami pushed through the door, rushing for the front doors, barely hearing Yugi call out to him. "Yami!"
He rushed over to his car, standing beside it and looking up at the roof of the building. With the sun setting, it was hard to see what was really a shadow and what wasn't. He sighed, and looked back towards the café, smiling as he saw that Yugi was walking towards him. He tensed as he saw something move out of the corner of his eye, watching as Yugi turned to look too. They watched as the creature screeched, jumping from the top of one building to the next, disappearing from sigh. Yami cursed, turning around to fumble for his keys before sliding into the car.
Yugi stepped forward, both of them freezing as screams came from the restaurant. Yami swallowed before jerking his head towards the car, Yugi sprinting for it before sliding it. Yami turned his gaze back to front, watching as the reaper continued jumping over the buildings, heading further away from them. "Hang on Yugi."
He pulled the car out, his eyes focused on the creature that was bobbing just ahead of them. Besides him, he could see Yugi clinging to the handle above the door, looking just as focused as he was.
"Hey, what's that?" Yami glanced up in his rearview mirror, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the three ghosts hunched in the back seat before returning his gaze to the front, watching the creature. It seemed to be moving slowly, Yami easily keeping up as it hopped from house to house, the distances greater now that it had cleared the center of town.
He heard Yugi turn around, the reaper making an annoyed sound. "What are you three doing here?"
Tomoya was the one who spoke up. "Duke said that we had to make sure that Yami would be alright. He said something about not trusting that reaper." The high schooler yelped as Duke whacked his shoulder, Yami glancing up at the rearview mirror to see Tomoya flinching away. He glanced back at the road, quickly searching out the creature. "Well, you did Duke!"
"We have other things to worry about!" Yami snapped back at them, leaning forward to try and catch what the creature was doing, his eyes widening as it leapt from a rooftop, the distance to the next roof forcing the creature to land on the road. Yami immediately backed off the gas, staring at it as it turned its head to look at them. Yami heard Yugi gasp, a shiver running up his own spine as he heard the creature give a hiss before it lunged for them. He yelped and braked hard, flinching as his seat belt cut into him, frantically trying to keep the car from swerving out of his control as the creature landed on the hood, Yami getting a glimpse of oddly colored eyes before the creature leapt over them, disappearing into the night.
He brought the car to a complete stop, staring at the empty road ahead of them. Yami swallowed harshly before looking over at Yugi, smiling at the reaper before turning around. "Everyone alright?"
Duke and Tomoya nodded, the two of them settling more comfortably in their seats, but Solomon took a while to respond, the old miner staring back at where the creature had disappeared. Yami swallowed nervously before turning back to face forward, heading for the shoulder of the road before pulling over and putting the car in park. He took a deep breath and slumped into his seat, rubbing his forehead and looking over at Yugi, smiling when the reaper reaching over to rest his hand over Yami's.
"They didn't tell you anything about a rogue reaper, did they?" Yami jumped as Solomon spoke up, staring back at the old ghost before looking at Yugi, watching as the reaper frowned.
Yugi finally shook his head. "No, but they just told me that something strange was going on and people were dying. That was even less than what they told my boss."
Solomon snorted, shaking his head. "Sounds like they're hiding something."
"I wouldn't put it past them." Yugi gave a nervous laugh. "We tend to stick to our own territory and we hate bringing others in. It would be normal if they didn't tell me everything they knew. Then again, they could be telling the truth and all of their information was less than accurate. They did have their own reaper here." He frowned, tapping his fingers on the dashboard. "But there should have been a report or a warning if a reaper went rogue. They would tell everyone as soon as they knew and if this one has been doing this for five years…we should have known by now."
"Really?" Solomon stared at Yugi for a moment before laughing. "You surprise me; I keep thinking you're young."
"I spent a good couple of decades hunting rogue reapers. I think I would know my job." Yugi gave Solomon a smile before staring ahead. "But this one…it isn't a reaper, it doesn't feel like a reaper, but it doesn't feel like a ghost. I don't know what it is."
Yami glanced quickly between the two of them before looking at Yugi, catching the reaper's gaze. "Rogue?"
Yugi hesitated for a moment before unbuckling his seatbelt and crawling into Yami's lap, Yami hearing Duke suck in a quick breath at the move. He was about to turn and glare at the ghost when Yugi forced him to look forward again. "A rogue reaper is one who has gone against the rules; either they decided to or…they lost their balance." Yugi looked away. "It's why I want you to leave here. I don't want you caught up in all of this."
"Yugi…" He sighed and tipped his head forward, resting it against Yugi's forehead. "It's a bit too late for that, don't you think?"
Yugi opened his mouth to say something, shutting it quickly as Solomon spoke up, Yami sighing and letting Yugi slide away from him so he could turn around and look at the old miner. "Well, whatever it is, rogue or not, it's a problem. It's been hunting us here for a while, and no one is safe."
Yami jumped as he saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye, turning around to look back towards town, staring at the tunnel of light that lowered from the clouds, tracing it back to the small local museum that they had. He shook his head, mouth open in shock. He had seen that creature kill once already, not ten minutes before, and now it had already struck again. Yami growled before reaching forward to put the car into drive, making a quick u-turn to head back into town.
Author: eachainn or Spirithorse on FF.net
Rating: T
Pairings: YamixYugi, with hints of SetoxKisara, BakuraxRyou, YugixMana and YamixTea
Warnings: Character death, blood, violence, swearing
Spoilers: Ending for the movie, The Frighteners
Summary: Yugi is a reaper, one who separates the souls from the body at the moment of death. Yami is a man who can see and talk to ghosts. Yugi is sent to the town of Fairwater to investigate a recent increase in deaths and find out more than he ever wanted to. Based on the movie the Frighteners.
Disclaimer:I don’t own Yu-Gi-Oh, The Frighteners, Dead Like Me or the song Don’t Fear the Reaper, they are all owned by their respective owners. Original plot bunny was offered up by shamise
Prologue- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5-6
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Chapter Six: Dealing With Ghosts
Yami didn't know how long he clung to Yugi, pressing close to the reaper in the hopes that he would be calmed by the feeling of the other man close. But he wasn't that lucky. He was still shaking badly even when the funeral had passed them by, feeling Yugi rubbing his back and trying to comfort him. It was only then that he realized that he was speaking. "It's all my fault."
"No, it's not."
"It is. They said I could stop it."
Yami's eyes went wide as Yugi pulled him away for a moment before shaking his head, cupping Yami's cheek. "And who says that? The ghosts? They'll say anything to keep the blame off them. They said it because they want you to stop it, not because you can. Not all ghosts are manipulative but some are, and it's hard to tell which are which. But it's not your fault."
He shook his head, feeling Yugi reach up to touch the back of his neck, stopping the motion. He pulled back, Yugi smiling at him before leaning forward to rest his forehead against Yami's. "Trust me on this."
"I do." Yami sighed, feeling himself calm down as Yugi stroked the back of his neck. "I do trust you."
"Oh God." They both tensed at the voice, Yugi not letting him go even as they turned to look at who had spoken.
Yami's mouth dropped open as he found himself staring at the ghostly figure of Tristan, the man looking nervously between them and the line of slow moving cars. He was tempted to pull away from Yugi completely and speak to Tristan, but a short tug on his waist had him following Yugi towards the alley, Yami twisting back around to look at Tristan and motioning for him to follow, the ghost hesitating before obeying the command.
As soon as they were in the alley, Yami found himself pulled away by Tristan, the ghost grasping at him in his panic. "You've got to help me, Yami. They're going to burry me."
"But you're dead." Yami cursed as soon as those words left his mouth, watching as Tristan shrunk back. "Sorry, it's been a rough morning."
"Tell me about it." Tristan seemed to gain some levity for a moment before he latched back onto the situation at hand. "But they're still going to burry me. I need to be there, to make sure Serenity is alright. And I need you there! You can see me, you can talk to me! You can tell her things!"
Yami bit his lip, remembering the article from his morning, staring at the ground to one side in the dim hope that it would produce an answer only to come up short. He was about to shake his head when he felt Yugi rest a hand on his shoulder, the reaper moving forward. "I know it's a bad time, but what happened to you?"
Tristan stared at Yugi like he didn't understand the question before shrugging. "I don't know. I was getting ready to leave this morning…and Serenity had left before me because of some emergency at the hospital, but I was alone. I got out the door, saw our neighbor and then…" He looked up at the two of them, shaking in fear. "It felt like something was squeezing my heart and I couldn't breathe."
Yami turned back to look at Yugi, watching the reaper pace as he thought over the information. He paused before looking back over at Yami. "I'll stay behind and watch over the library for you. I would be persona non grata up there at the cemetery."
"I want you to come." The words tumbled out before Yami had a chance to stop them. He didn't want to leave the calm that came over him when he was around Yugi; it would just be too much for him, especially after this morning. And then he would have to face Serenity alone, something that he was not looking forward to. "They like me up there. I'll get you in."
Yugi still hesitated, swaying on the spot. Yami understood his reluctance to go up to the cemetery, especially after the way Duke had treated him this morning, but he wanted Yugi to come. The cemetery was where he lost all of his composure; he couldn't be there without ghosts entreating him to do something for them. He wanted that feeling of security that he had around Yugi, because Yugi actually understood that he wasn't crazy, that he actually saw the ghosts instead of making them up.
"Alright." Yugi reached for his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before pulling away, already heading for the car. Yami rushed after him with Tristan trailing along.
The car ride up to the cemetery was quiet; Tristan slumped morosely in the back seat, probably trying to come to terms with the fact that he was dead. Yugi seemed to be getting more nervous the closer that they got to the cemetery, sometimes jumping at the ghosts that had come to stand at the side of the road, those ghosts probably not wanting to be bothered by the funeral. Yami took a deep steadying breath before pulling into a free parking space. He glanced back at the others before nodding, slipping from the car.
Yami paused under the sign that announced the cemetery, watching as Yugi shuffled up to him while Tristan tried to walk out of the car, failing a couple of times before he finally managed the trick, a sad smile crossing his face. "Tada!"
"Go on through, the ghosts won't bother you. I'll be right behind." Tristan nodded at the command before quickly walking past them, jumping as the ghosts poked their heads up to look at the new arrival. Yami looked over at Yugi, giving him a smile. "Ready?"
"Once more into the breech." Yugi sighed and started walking, Yami rushing to keep up with him, suddenly aware of the whispers that were following them. He glanced around, noticing that the ghosts were whispering to themselves, skirting away from where Yugi was with looks of fear on their faces. Yami scooted closer to the reaper, hovering nearby in case any of the ghosts decided to try and eliminate the threat.
His gaze jumped to where one ghost was pushing himself out of the ground, taking a quick glance at all the other ghosts before focusing his gaze on Yami, his mouth dropping open. "Well, damn. That's a sight I thought I would never see." The ghost finished pulling himself from the ground, brushing his clothes off despite the fact that there was no dirt on them before strolling over. "Excuse me, sir, but I don't like reapers on our land."
Yugi froze at that, turning to face the ghost with a smile on his face. "I'm aware of that."
"Then why did you come here?"
"I was asked. And for my own personal investigations."
Yami scooted between Yugi and the ghost, watching as the ghost's eyes narrowed. "So you're here to find new ways to send us packing into the afterlife? Well, I'll only tell you once, pal, we're not going. We happen to like it here and we'll stay that way. And, Yami, as the protector of this cemetery-"
"I'm not the protector, Valon." Yami nearly growled out the words, narrowing his eyes. "I just see ghosts, alright? That doesn't make me the protector or anything else you guys want. I draw the line at giving messages to family members."
"But you should at least know not to bring creatures like him in."
Yami tensed at that, feeling Yugi reach out for him and try to tug him along, but he brushed the reaper off, glaring at Valon. "Listen, I can't do anything but see ghosts. I don't know what you guys think I can do, but that's it. I'm just a human, Valon, not some supernatural detector."
The ghost looked away, glaring at the ground for a moment before finally giving a nod. "But the reaper still isn't welcome."
"I'm watching him and I want him here. He's trying to help." Yami grabbed Yugi's arm and towed him away, ignoring the grumbles from Valon as they left the ghost behind. He kept his tight grip on Yugi for a while, not even noticing how tightly he was holding the other until Yugi was pulling Yami's fingers from his arm.
"Easy now."
"Sorry."
Yugi waved his hand to dismiss the comment, the two of them heading over to the crowd that had gathered. "Don't worry about it. I told you that there would be trouble and there was. Can't do anything from here, but I'm here." At the confused tilt of Yami's head, Yugi just smiled. "The ghosts won't talk to me. Besides, it doesn't matter what they see, I'm just here to figure out what's causing this."
"Then what?"
"Then I'm heading back. Other reapers will take care of this, it's their jurisdiction."
"They haven't before."
Yugi nodded slowly at that, the smile on his face disappearing. "I know, but that's because…well, you're getting the young reapers here, they're all sort of scared of what they are doing. But they've got good intentions; it just might take them a while to react."
"And then how many more will die?"
"Yami, listen, I can't stay here. You can't stay here." Yami started at that, staring at Yugi as the reaper played with the hem of his shirt. "There's something wrong going on here and no one can predict it. We're all in danger, human and ghost alike. And I don't want you here for that."
"You're asking me to run away with you?"
"Until this is settled, yes." Yugi looked away from him abruptly, coming to a stop a good distance away from the funeral. Yami stopped as well, glancing over at the group of people, spotting Tristan standing beside Serenity, looking torn. He sighed and ducked his head, glancing up as Yugi rested his hand on Yami's arm. "You should go."
"No. Let them have their funeral without me ruining it." When Yugi gave him a confused look, Yami shook his head. "Apparently the people here think I'm nothing more than a con-man and a murder. It explains a lot about them, but I'd still rather avoid them."
He gave a nervous laugh before falling silent, noticing that Yugi was looking at him with worry. Yami sighed and stuck his hands into his pockets. "Just don't worry about me, I've been fine for five years and I'll be fine afterward."
"You haven't been." Yugi cleared his throat, crossing his arms across his chest as he watched the proceedings. "I haven't been fine in two hundred forty-seven thousand years. It's the doubt that gets to you and then you just stop caring. You may feel fine, but you're not. And it drives me crazy at times because everyone else can see it, but I can't, not unless they tell me. You know what I mean?"
Yami nodded slowly, shifting slightly so he could lean against Yugi. It amazed him that they could work so well together after just meeting. He supposed that it had something to do with the balance thing that Yugi had explained to him earlier, but he wanted to believe that the two of them would have been best friends if they had met under different circumstances. He wanted to believe that they felt comfortable around each other because they were such a good team, not just this balance thing. "Yeah. It feels good to have someone to talk to."
Yugi nodded, sighing and shifting so his head was resting on Yami's shoulder. "Did you have others?"
He shook his head, sticking his hands into his pocket and watching the funeral proceedings. "Joey is busy and Tèa was my only other friend. In fact, I wouldn't know Joey if I hadn't met Tèa. No one else was around after…"
Yugi gave his back a rub, the motion more for comfort than anything else. Yami ducked his head at that, staring at the ground. He didn't usually talk about Tèa with others, let alone allowed himself to think about her. He might protest the fact that they all thought that he had murdered her, but there was still some part of him that believed it. He sighed, rolling his shoulders before starting as Yugi moved away from him, the reaper looking over his shoulder.
Yami turned around, his eyes widening for a moment before he calmed himself down, raising a hand to wave at Mai as the police officer walked his way. She hesitated a moment before returning the wave, coming to a stop beside him. She gave Yugi a glance before raising an eyebrow at Yami. "He's cute."
"Wha-" Yami blinked before blushing. "Oh no, we're not like that. We're just friends."
"You never say that. It's like saying 'He's up for grabs'." Mai shook her head. "What am I going to do with you, Yami? How am I supposed to focus my attention on Joey when his best friend his nearly hopeless?"
She laughed, Yami shooting a glare at Yugi as he chuckled as well. "You're all against me."
"No. We're just here to help you." Mai patted his shoulder before drawing herself back, Yami recognizing the shift from her usual attitude to the one that she kept in place as a cop. He took a deep breath to steady himself for any news that she could give him. "But that's beside the point. I think you know that the government is suddenly interested in these deaths."
Yami tensed at that, Mai reaching out to hold onto his shoulder. "You know that we're not going to let them bring you in unless they have something substantial. There's nothing on you in connection to Tèa's death or any of the other cases."
"Then why was I brought in nearly every time?" He felt her hand slip from his shoulder, replaced by Yugi's hand slipping into his own, holding it.
Mai cleared her throat, glancing down at the funeral before reaching back to secure her ponytail. "We didn't know. I didn't like it and neither did Joey, but the others were more than happy to see you go in, because it was at least someone, but they all knew that it couldn't have been you, because all the victims suffered from heart attacks."
"Heart attacks?"
She nodded, reaching into her pocket for a little notepad before pulling it out. "I've been looking over all the reports and they all mention that they look like heart attacks, but they're not."
Yami stared at her with his mouth hanging open. "But you said…"
"They're calling them heart attacks because there's nothing else to call them. And those reports go into detail about what they find, and it's nothing like a heart attack. They have clear arteries and nothing else in their history seems to point towards a heart attack." Mai frowned glancing over her notes before pocketing them again. "What they can figure out is that the heart his under enormous pressure before these people die, like it's being squeezed by something."
Yami's eyes went wide, the words escaping his mouth before he could stop them. "Like what Tristan said…"
Mai tipped her head to the side, the only sign that she had heard him speak before continuing. "Apparently this has gone on for too long and the government wants to see if it can be stopped. They're sending someone over today."
"And you came to tell me this because?"
"Yami, you know what's going to happen." Mai gave him a long look. "Between the paper and your record before, they're going to bring you in and talk to you. But you have the right to know that there is no case connecting you to any of their deaths, even Tèa's."
Yami swallowed nervously before nodding. "Thanks, Mai."
The police woman gave him a smile, turning to walk back to her car only to pause, looking over her shoulder at him. "Hey, if any of those ghosts can tell you anything, just come to us and we'll figure out how to get it into this case."
Yami gave Mai a wave, tensing when she threw a wink back at Yugi before walking away. He turned to look at Yugi, noticing that the reaper was blushing. Yugi glanced over at him before ducking his head again. "Uh…"
"You get used to Mai. She's like that with everyone."
"Oh." Yugi shuffled a bit in place before looking back up at the funeral, Yami following his gaze and tensing when he realized that everyone was leaving. He had hoped to be hidden or waiting back at the car before it let out so he could avoid all of the people, all of the people that he was sure had at least seen the paper this morning before they had come here.
And, sure enough, there were plenty of glares in his direction, Yami backing up to stand on the edge of the path as the people filed past. He felt Yugi keep a tight hold on his hand; that little bit of reassurance just enough to keep him from breaking and seeking out a place to hide. But that still didn't stop him from flinching away every time someone shot a glare at him, finally shrinking back against Yugi in an attempt to escape from the crowd of people.
"Yami!" He jumped at the sound of his name, turning to see Serenity hurrying over to him. The red head gave him a smile before looking at the rest of the mourners. "Can you meet me later?"
"Meet you?"
"I read the paper this morning; I know what these people think of you but…" She sniffed and wiped the tears from her face, trying to smile. "I know it's not true. And I just…I just want to talk to Tristan one last time." Serenity glanced over at Yugi and then down at their joined hands. "You can bring your boyfriend too but, please, just come."
Yami nodded, Serenity rushing off after the rest of the mourners. He jerked slightly as he realized what she had said, looking over at Yugi. "You're not my boyfriend."
Yugi stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter, Yami watching in shock as Yugi leaned on him, the reaper wrapping his arms around Yami's waist and hugging him close as he laughed. Yami blinked before wrapping his arms around Yugi, smiling himself as Yugi managed to get his laughter back under control and snuggled close to him with a happy hum. The thought that this was not appropriate behavior for a graveyard passed through his mind for a moment, but it was quickly pushed away as he cuddled Yugi close.
The sound of someone clearing their throat made Yami look up, finding himself staring up at Tristan. To his surprise, his initial reaction was to pull Yugi closer instead of pushing him away. He did straighten up, meeting Tristan's embarrassed gaze. The ghost cleared his throat again before looking over to where Serenity was walking away. "So, what did she want?"
"She wants to talk to you. We're meeting up later." Tristan smiled at that, walking quickly after the rest of the mourners, probably to wait for the two of them at the car. Yami sighed and shook his head, Yugi reaching up to rest a hand on his cheek. Yami leaned into the touch, allowing them to stay like that a moment more before he reached down for Yugi's hand, the two of them walking out of the cemetery.
---
Serenity fiddled with her bracelet as she sat at the table, tempted to reach for her cell phone out and check for messages, but it would just be the same as before. She had called Yami a few hours before to tell him where they were meeting. She glanced over at the clock, biting her lip. He still had to close up the library and get here; it was nothing to worry about. She clutched the edge of the table, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down. If anything had happened to Yami or the others she would have heard about it before now.
She glanced up again, breathing out a relieved sigh when Yami walked in, the man from the cemetery following right behind him. Serenity straightened up with a smile, watching as Yami and Yugi sat down behind the table, Serenity noticing that they left one space open. She stared at the space, hoping that she would be able to see something, or someone, but there was just nothing. Serenity slumped back with a disappointed sigh, releasing her hold on the table.
"Serenity?"
"Thanks for coming." She gave Yami a smile, noticing how close he and the other man were sitting. "I know that with what the paper said about you this morning and everything else, this is probably the last thing that you want to do."
"It's fine." Yami waved her comment aside, glancing around the small coffee shop that they had met it before returning his attention to her.
She glanced over at the other man, surprised at the bright smile that he gave her. "I don't think we've met. I'm Yugi Mutou."
"Hey Yugi." She shook his hand before leaning forward again, looking over at the empty seat beside her, tipping her head in its direction. "Is Tristan here?" Yami nodded, Serenity shifting so that she was facing Tristan a bit more than the others. "Can he hear me?"
"He can hear everything you say." Yami smiled. "I'm just here for the responses."
Serenity gave an uneasy laugh, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Now that I'm here, I don't know what to say. This morning, I just wanted anything to be with him again and to talk to him." She bit her lip to keep from crying, she had done enough of that at the funeral and afterwards when she had gotten home. She just wanted this one hour where she wouldn't break down into tears. Serenity reached up to wipe the few drops that escaped from her eyes. "I just…it was too soon."
"Hey," she jumped when Yami leaned forward to rest one of his hands over hers, giving her a smile, "it's alright. It's going to be alright. Maybe not now or tomorrow, or even the next day. But it's going to be alright."
She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head, moving her hand out from under Yami's and returning to her staring at the table, fighting back the tears. She didn't look up as Yami sighed, tensing as he spoke. "Tristan says that he loves you. And that he's sorry."
"Sorry? What does he have to be sorry for?"
"For leaving you." Serenity looked up abruptly at that, staring at Yami. Some rebellious part of herself almost believed what the newspaper had said about him, that he was only doing this because he could get something from her. But there was sincerity in his voice and real pity in his eyes. She watched him shift nervously in his seat, looking away from her.
"H-he said that?"
"Yes." Yami nodded.
"But it's not his fault." Serenity almost laughed at that, it was just like Tristan for him to place the blame on himself for this. "It's the fault of this…thing that's killing off people. But, that's so Tristan."
She couldn't believe she was smiling at this point, glancing down at her ring finger and playing with the ring on it. "He was always apologizing for things that weren't his fault. Even though I told him to stop, he never would; he kept treating me like I could do no wrong."
Serenity thought she felt something cold brush across her hand, glancing up at Yami with wide eyes before reaching out to rest her other hand over the cold sensation, trying to ignore the fact that her body was telling her that something was wrong. It couldn't be wrong because it was Tristan and, out of all the choices that she had made in her life, Tristan was one of the better ones. She smiled, tilting her head to the side before looking over at Yami, the happy feeling that had almost returned disappearing as quickly as it had come. "Why did he stay?"
"Tristan says that he didn't move on because he had to know that you were alright."
"Will he leave now?"
"No." There was no hesitation in the reply. "Not for a year, and maybe not then. He wants to be sure you'll be alright."
"He doesn't have to stay for me."
"He wants to, Serenity. It means a lot to him that he stays to watch over you."
Serenity bit her lip before turning to look at Yami. "How long did Tèa stay behind?"
Yami tensed at that before looking away, Serenity quickly covering her mouth as she realized what she had said. She glanced over at Yami's friend, watching him reach up to place a hand on Yami's shoulder. He was the one to answer instead of Yami. "Not everyone becomes a ghost. It depends on the emotions at the time, and sometimes just luck. They may chose not to move on, but there might not be enough emotional input in the area that they are in to support them, so the end up going to the afterlife anyway."
"Yami, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Serenity watched as he turned back around, seeing his usual mask slip back into place. "Anything else you want to ask him?"
She stared at him for a long while, aware that she was probably making him uncomfortable, but unable to look away. How could they all have missed it for so long? Serenity blinked and looked away, blushing at her own mistake. "H-how long have you been able to see ghosts?"
"Me?"
"The both of you."
Yugi gave her a smile before sitting back, settling mostly against Yami. "I've been able to see ghosts all my life."
He glanced up at Yami, Serenity frowning as Yami refrained from speaking for a long while. She was beginning to think that she had misjudged her question when he finally did speak up. "Just for a few years. Some people say that having a traumatic experience changes your prospective on things."
"So, after the accident?" Yami just nodded, slumping further into his seat. Serenity bit her lip, glancing over at Yugi to see what his reaction was; Yugi seemed a lot better about judging Yami than she was. But even he was watching Yami worriedly. Serenity looked back over to where Tristan was; hoping that she might get a clue from him, but the empty space was as silent as ever. She sighed and slumped back into her seat. "Well, I'm sure you two have other things to do, I won't keep you here."
Yami nodded slowly, standing up. Serenity was surprised when he motioned for Yugi to sit back down. "I'll be back in a moment."
He turned and walked away quickly, heading for the bathrooms. Serenity stared after him before dropped her head into her hands with a groan. "I messed that up completely."
"No you didn't." Yugi was leaning on one hand, an elbow propped on the surface of the table. "There's no way you could make that less awkward."
"I wish I could. I invited him here after all. And he's been through a lot. Half of the calls that Joey used to make to me when I didn't live around here were him worrying about Yami."
"Yami is stronger than you think, probably than he thinks." Yugi hummed to himself, closing his eyes for a moment. "But you're pretty strong too, you're handling this well."
"Yeah, that's because I heard the story of what Yami went through." Serenity shook her head and leaned forward. "Because of the way they found them, they had to question Yami. So he literally woke up, got told that his wife was dead and then got asked if he had murdered her."
Yugi frowned at that. "Why would he murder her?"
Serenity blushed, realizing that she had gone too far. But Yugi's confused gaze encouraged her to go on. If this man was Yami's boyfriend, he should know the answer already. "Because…I shouldn't really tell you. It's his story to tell."
"Then how do you-"
"Joey. There was a time that he was really worried that Yami might try suicide, but he got over his depression." Serenity gave a shrug before sitting back. "And, seeing him now, I'm still scared for him. He's jumpy and shy around other people. Until now, he almost never came out of his house when he didn't have to. And it wasn't healthy."
Yugi gave a strained laugh. "Are you his doctor?"
"No. But it's the doctor side of me that's worried." Serenity sighed, shaking her head and focusing on Yugi with a smile. "But don't let that stop you. If you like him, grab him before some other guy does."
"Oh." Yugi ducked his head. "We're not dating."
"You're not." Serenity leaned forward, relieved that she had something else to focus on now. "But you two act like it."
"Yeah. The attraction might be there, we're just taking it slow."
"Might be." Serenity rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything else, dropping her gaze to stare at the table and clearing her throat. "But thanks for coming, Yugi. You have no idea how much better this made me feel."
He gave her a nod before getting up and walking away, Serenity starting at the cold touch to her hand before relaxing. She was always going to jump at that, just because it was so unexpected. She sighed and leaned her head to the side, surprised when she felt another cold spot against her cheek, and then it was gone, Serenity sitting up and raising her hand to rest on her cheek. Tristan had kissed her good-bye, like he always had and, somehow, that just made her hurt more; because there would be a time when the kisses didn't come anymore. And she would never know until that moment that Tristan was really gone.
---
Yami took a deep breath, clutching at the sink for a moment before looking up at his reflection. He looked as shaken as he felt. He ran a hand over his face before letting go of the sink, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He had never expected this meeting to turn to Tèa; he had thought that Serenity would be so focused on her own loss that she would ignore his. But, then again, Serenity was used to it on some level, she was a doctor. He closed his eyes with a sigh, leaning on the sink again.
It hurt to realize that Tèa hadn't stayed behind for him. He knew that Holloway Road had plenty of ghosts, so it could have supported her ghost as well. But she hadn't stayed behind, she had left him. He shivered, slumping forward as he tried to get control of himself again. He wasn't going to walk back out there like this.
To think that a marriage in name only could have affected him so much.
Yami gave a harsh laugh, raising his gaze so he was staring at his reflection again, finding himself wondering what Tèa had seen in him. He had been the quiet, nerdy kid his entire life, preferring to be on his own because finding people who understood him was just too much of an effort. Tèa had been the girl on the fringe of the popular crowd, but she had worked hard. He had tutored her in history once in fifth grade and they had been friends ever since; most people found that fact alone hard to believe. It shouldn't have worked, but it did.
It even worked when Yami had reluctantly admitted that he was gay and Joey had been added to their small group. And they had stayed that way until college. Tèa had gone off to live her dream in New York, Joey had gone a few towns over to go to college and prove that he wasn't a loser and Yami had gone to the nearest community college to gain his degree in history, only to be employed at the local library, not that he minded much.
Then the call had come, just a few months after he had graduated, the call from a tearful Tèa saying that she had just been diagnosed with cancer, and she was coming home. Yami had been the one to meet her at the airport, the one to take her to all of her appointments and the one that she had shared all her fears with. As a joke, he had asked her what she wanted to do with the time she had left and she had only one thing on her list; getting married. So he had asked her.
For his best friend, he could do that.
A smile crossed his face at the memory of the wedding, more than half of Fairwater confused as to what was going on, but Yami didn't tell them anything, it was Tèa's moment to shine, and she looked gorgeous. Of course, just a week later she had lost all of her hair because of the chemotherapy treatment; but she had joked that Yami had enough for the both of them.
And they had been happy, blissfully happy. It was almost like college again, in a way, his best friend living in his house, the two of them sometimes staying up a bit too late watching horrible movies or crazy internet videos. It had probably been the happiest time in his life.
Until Tèa had gotten sick, and she had never gotten better. She put off going to the hospital for weeks until Yami convinced her. And, because he was scared for his best friend he had taken the fasted route to the main road, which was Holloway. And of course he would be going to fast, because Tèa was in trouble and he was the one that was going to help her.
But he had killed her.
Yami let his head drop again, shuddering as he tried to keep from crying. It wouldn't help now and it was for a selfish reasons. He just wanted her back to apologize and in the hope that his life would suddenly go back to normal. And that was the first thing he thought of every time. He never thought that she wouldn't have wanted to stay, constantly being sick or almost too sore to move only to have to die a year down the road. If he had that chance, he would have chosen to die in a car crash rather than to just waste away in pain.
He jumped as another man entered the bathroom, shying to one side as he walked over to the urinals. The man gave him a glare, probably recognizing him from the paper that morning before going about his business. Yami sighed and shook his head, glancing back to the door before checking his reflection in the mirror. He looked calm enough now that he could face Serenity and Yugi; especially Yugi. They had only met a day ago and he was already depending on that safe feeling he got around the reaper to stay sane.
Yami went to leave the bathroom, freezing suddenly as he saw something moving in the mirror, his mouth dropping open as the thing moved through the wall, disappearing behind the partition of the bathroom stalls. Yami backed away from the mirror, giving the bathroom door one last glance before standing up and looking at the stalls. He crept over to the first one, easing it open a bit before charging in, glancing around for any disturbance. He backed out when there was nothing there, watching the other man out of the corner of his eye. He froze as he caught something on the man's forehead, his eyes widening at the number thirty-eight that was written there, in the same manner that the number had been on Tristan's forehead.
The man stared at him for a moment before retreating for the sinks, Yami shaking his head and lunging into the next stall, frowning when there was nothing there. He glanced over his shoulder at the mirror again before staring at the stall. He was sure that the thing had come to this side of the room, he had already compensated for the reflection. It had to be somewhere, unless his crazy searching had just scared it away. Yami sighed, leaning heavily on the door as he stared into the bathroom, feeling himself begin to shake. What if he was just imagining things?
He jumped at the sound of a screech, spinning around, his mouth dropping open. Pulling itself from the mirror was a creature clothed entirely in black, a cowl over its head. Yami stared at it as it continued to move from the mirror into the room, one of its hands buried in the man's chest. His gaze darted to the man, watching as he collapsed backward, the man's eyes falling shut. Yami shivered and took a step forward, jumping back as the creature turned to look at him with a hiss, yanking its hand from the man's chest before turning and leaping back into the mirror.
Yami scrambled forward, reaching out to touch the man, searching for his pulse only to find none. He stared at him for a moment, jumping out of the way as a bright light surrounded the man, pressing himself against the wall as he watched the man's soul sit up, staring at his translucent body before glancing up at the light. A smile crossed his face before he stood up, lifting up slightly. "Mom!"
The light disappeared as suddenly as it had come, Yami staring at the body before clambering to his feet. He only then realized how heavily he was breathing, backing away from the body. He had to get out of here before it struck again. He was the only one that could see it, and it was the one that was killing people. Yami pushed through the door, rushing for the front doors, barely hearing Yugi call out to him. "Yami!"
He rushed over to his car, standing beside it and looking up at the roof of the building. With the sun setting, it was hard to see what was really a shadow and what wasn't. He sighed, and looked back towards the café, smiling as he saw that Yugi was walking towards him. He tensed as he saw something move out of the corner of his eye, watching as Yugi turned to look too. They watched as the creature screeched, jumping from the top of one building to the next, disappearing from sigh. Yami cursed, turning around to fumble for his keys before sliding into the car.
Yugi stepped forward, both of them freezing as screams came from the restaurant. Yami swallowed before jerking his head towards the car, Yugi sprinting for it before sliding it. Yami turned his gaze back to front, watching as the reaper continued jumping over the buildings, heading further away from them. "Hang on Yugi."
He pulled the car out, his eyes focused on the creature that was bobbing just ahead of them. Besides him, he could see Yugi clinging to the handle above the door, looking just as focused as he was.
"Hey, what's that?" Yami glanced up in his rearview mirror, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the three ghosts hunched in the back seat before returning his gaze to the front, watching the creature. It seemed to be moving slowly, Yami easily keeping up as it hopped from house to house, the distances greater now that it had cleared the center of town.
He heard Yugi turn around, the reaper making an annoyed sound. "What are you three doing here?"
Tomoya was the one who spoke up. "Duke said that we had to make sure that Yami would be alright. He said something about not trusting that reaper." The high schooler yelped as Duke whacked his shoulder, Yami glancing up at the rearview mirror to see Tomoya flinching away. He glanced back at the road, quickly searching out the creature. "Well, you did Duke!"
"We have other things to worry about!" Yami snapped back at them, leaning forward to try and catch what the creature was doing, his eyes widening as it leapt from a rooftop, the distance to the next roof forcing the creature to land on the road. Yami immediately backed off the gas, staring at it as it turned its head to look at them. Yami heard Yugi gasp, a shiver running up his own spine as he heard the creature give a hiss before it lunged for them. He yelped and braked hard, flinching as his seat belt cut into him, frantically trying to keep the car from swerving out of his control as the creature landed on the hood, Yami getting a glimpse of oddly colored eyes before the creature leapt over them, disappearing into the night.
He brought the car to a complete stop, staring at the empty road ahead of them. Yami swallowed harshly before looking over at Yugi, smiling at the reaper before turning around. "Everyone alright?"
Duke and Tomoya nodded, the two of them settling more comfortably in their seats, but Solomon took a while to respond, the old miner staring back at where the creature had disappeared. Yami swallowed nervously before turning back to face forward, heading for the shoulder of the road before pulling over and putting the car in park. He took a deep breath and slumped into his seat, rubbing his forehead and looking over at Yugi, smiling when the reaper reaching over to rest his hand over Yami's.
"They didn't tell you anything about a rogue reaper, did they?" Yami jumped as Solomon spoke up, staring back at the old ghost before looking at Yugi, watching as the reaper frowned.
Yugi finally shook his head. "No, but they just told me that something strange was going on and people were dying. That was even less than what they told my boss."
Solomon snorted, shaking his head. "Sounds like they're hiding something."
"I wouldn't put it past them." Yugi gave a nervous laugh. "We tend to stick to our own territory and we hate bringing others in. It would be normal if they didn't tell me everything they knew. Then again, they could be telling the truth and all of their information was less than accurate. They did have their own reaper here." He frowned, tapping his fingers on the dashboard. "But there should have been a report or a warning if a reaper went rogue. They would tell everyone as soon as they knew and if this one has been doing this for five years…we should have known by now."
"Really?" Solomon stared at Yugi for a moment before laughing. "You surprise me; I keep thinking you're young."
"I spent a good couple of decades hunting rogue reapers. I think I would know my job." Yugi gave Solomon a smile before staring ahead. "But this one…it isn't a reaper, it doesn't feel like a reaper, but it doesn't feel like a ghost. I don't know what it is."
Yami glanced quickly between the two of them before looking at Yugi, catching the reaper's gaze. "Rogue?"
Yugi hesitated for a moment before unbuckling his seatbelt and crawling into Yami's lap, Yami hearing Duke suck in a quick breath at the move. He was about to turn and glare at the ghost when Yugi forced him to look forward again. "A rogue reaper is one who has gone against the rules; either they decided to or…they lost their balance." Yugi looked away. "It's why I want you to leave here. I don't want you caught up in all of this."
"Yugi…" He sighed and tipped his head forward, resting it against Yugi's forehead. "It's a bit too late for that, don't you think?"
Yugi opened his mouth to say something, shutting it quickly as Solomon spoke up, Yami sighing and letting Yugi slide away from him so he could turn around and look at the old miner. "Well, whatever it is, rogue or not, it's a problem. It's been hunting us here for a while, and no one is safe."
Yami jumped as he saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye, turning around to look back towards town, staring at the tunnel of light that lowered from the clouds, tracing it back to the small local museum that they had. He shook his head, mouth open in shock. He had seen that creature kill once already, not ten minutes before, and now it had already struck again. Yami growled before reaching forward to put the car into drive, making a quick u-turn to head back into town.