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Hunting Passion	By : atemuxyuugi Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 4892 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
And finally after years of waiting, my dear readers, I proudly present you the next chapter of Hunting Passion. And I can already promise you, more chapters are to come, that's for sure. Please enjoy the current chapter. ^^

Title: Hunting Passion

Part: 5/?

Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom [miakalikestamahome at hotmail dot com]

Warnings: slight lime

Genre: Romance, Angst, Supernatural, AU

Pairings: Yami no Yuugi x Yuugi

Criticism: Constructive criticism welcomed

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, I don't make money from fanfiction.

Description: They came at midnight. He didn't know how they were able to intrude into his house, but somehow they succeeded. They were a male and a female. HE, was the leader, obviously. She seemed to be some kind of apprentice to him. Not that it really mattered. For they were both strong and deadly.

But when a young teen is able to run from the grasp of his captors, it is the start of a long game of hide and seek. He finds a new side to himself he would have never dreamed he had. And it helps him to keep the game to his advantage. But he knows the game will never end, at least not before his death. Because his hunter is a vampire.

Thanks to my betareader Lee-Ann for the usual quick work. ^^

Balei ofu kingu, unmei no balei – Valley of kings, valley of fate

Balei ofu kingu, unmei no balei

He was dreaming again. He knew it because he recognized his surroundings. White, black, red, swirling, mixing together and dividing again. And just like the last times he had been dreaming, he was sitting on the ground in his human form, naked.

The vampire stood in front of him, a wide, hungry smile on his face. Yuugi was entranced by the view. He wasn't able to move, even if he wanted to, which he did not. The gaze of the other held him in place, entirely.

"Yuugi..." the vampire whispered, lowering down. This time the shifter was not surprised when hungry lips closed over his own. He didn't fight, accepting the kiss, even returning it. Their lips moved against each other, touching, feeling, caressing. It was just like another game.

The teen felt the other's body pressing against his own, causing pleasant tingles to run through his insides. He shuddered from the feeling of rough fabric touching his sensitive skin and he couldn't help the small moan escaping his lips.

The answer was a satisfied grunt, before the vampire released his lips. The creature of the night gazed at him, eyes burning, hungry, heavy with evident passion. Yuugi couldn't help but shudder under the soul searing look.

His insides seemed to squirm in wonderful anticipation as he allowed the other to push his upper body gently to the ground. With the vampire sitting right on his hips, Yuugi watched with bated breath as the other man slowly started to get rid of his clothing.

The long black coat vanished into the darkness of their surroundings first, followed by the deep red top the vampire wore. Now his whole upper body was naked, showing to Yuugi the well build chest. His skin looked deadly white in the surreal light of this place. It was more obvious than ever what the man was.

But to his inner shock and surprise Yuugi didn't give a damn about that fact right at the moment. He was too busy lifting his hands and starting to explore the offered chest in front of him.

Curious hands touched white skin, feeling the strong muscles moving under each finger. The teen heard the other take a shuddering breath when his hesitant touches became bolder, now searching specifically for erogenous areas to tease.

"Yes, Yuugi", he heard the vampire whisper right into his ear, after pressing his body against the exploring fingers, "that's it, let yourself fall. I want you to yearn for me."

His voice was so deep, so husky, so full of want and seduction. Yuugi couldn't help but close his eyes and let out a small moan. He was fully aware that he was playing right into the vampire's hands. The small sound he made spoke of nothing but want for the other.

And the vampire seemed to be more than happy to give. The moan barely left Yuugi's throat as his lips were claimed again in a rough, demanding kiss. A tongue rubbed against his lips, telling him in its unmistakable way that it wanted to enter his mouth.

And Yuugi opened his lips, allowed the tongue to enter. He met it with his own, and soon both men were engaged in a heated battle for dominance which the vampire easily won in the end. Defeated, the teen allowed the man to explore his inside, feeling the tongue stroking lovingly over gums, the roof of his mouth before returning back to the other tongue, stroking and teasing it tenderly.

A groan was swallowed by the vampire when he started to explore the shifter's body with his hands during their kiss. He stroked up and down the sides, before suddenly wandering forward to Yuugi's belly. They touched and rubbed the soft skin gently, before travelling up nearing already half erected nipples.

Yuugi let out another sound when the first finger touched his right nipple, quickly followed by another finger teasingly stroking over his left one. His lips were released from the kiss as the vampire bent his head to slowly lick his way down from underside of the chin over throat till he ended on the left side, right where shoulder and neck met.

Realizing too late how sensitive his skin would be, a loud moan escaped the shifter's throat when strong lips closed over that area and began to suck and caress.

His body felt on fire, insides burning with wonderful heat. Yuugi started to sigh and even whimper, not really realizing what he was doing. With his mind already half gone he barely noted the low chuckled against his skin.

The vampire was more than satisfied with his victim's current condition, and one gaze in those burning, heated red eyes promised nothing but a continuation of that sweet torture.

The shifter groaned in slight frustration when hands and lips suddenly left his body and he looked at the vampire, who was now shifting on his current seat on his hips.

The creature of the night noticed Yuugi's look and he smirked at the other teen alluringly. His hands wandered down to the trousers he still wore. His body slightly left the hips he was currently sitting on and the shifter watched with held breath as the fabric of clothing was slowly pulled down.

More and more skin was revealed. Yuugi's heart sped up as he waited for the most intimate body part of the other man to show. Wonderful warmth and a strange hunger in his mind released itself and just when he was about to get his first look at the other's erection - Yuugi woke up with a gasp.

Breathing heavily the shifter checked his surroundings. He was currently in the middle of South America's biggest rain forest in form of a black panther. He was all alone, no vampire nearby.

Yuugi gave a small sigh of relief before he groaned in sudden realization. Even now in his current form he could feel that the dream turned him on - again.

The teen didn't know how many days passed since this dream started haunting him. But he was aware that he was dreaming this every time he slept since he was bitten.

'Why this dream?' the teen thought confused. 'I don't understand why I dream about something like this after being bitten. For all I know I am supposed to have nightmares of being bitten again and even killed. The dreams should not be about kissing him and just about to make love.'

The black panther let out a loud roar when he suddenly jumped up from his sleeping place, shocked about the sudden realization he had.

'Oh god, I nearly had sex with a vampire in my dreams!' he cried out in his mind and a heartbreaking whine escaped the animal's mouth. 'What the hell is wrong with me?'

Since Yuugi could instinctively feel that sundown was already near enough, he decided to continue his journey through the jungle. He hoped that being in motion would distract him from remembering the dreams.

After his call to his jii-chan and Jounouchi over two weeks ago, he followed the advice of the older Mutou and travelled through the sea over to South America. Thanks to the water he was able to put some space between him and his follower again.

In South America he found his way through some various far smaller towns into the rain forest. For three days he travelled through the undergrowth and right now he was already near the end. His plan was to wander up to the east part of South America. From there one he wanted to get to the African continent. His next goal was Egypt.

The reasons for his decision had been his current dreams. They added new questions to come up and this reminded him of all the other, still unanswered questions. Questions about his heritage, about the power he possessed and the name he now carried: Shifter.

The teen knew that his family's origin lay in Egypt. The last person who used the power of a shifter before him was a pharaoh of Egypt. Thus Yuugi's conclusion was that the only way to find out more about himself was to return to the place of his family's roots, the country of the ancient pharaohs.

Finally reaching the east side of South America took Yuugi no longer than half a night. From the sea on he took form of a dolphin and later changed into a shark or a whale. The period of time he needed to reach Africa was as long as his previous trip from Britain to North America.

The shifter arrived at the south side of the continent. From there he continued to travel straight through the continent. He passed deserts as a camel, savanna as a lion and wide countrysides as a giraffe.

From all forms Yuugi had taken so far, he decided that his experience of being a giraffe was the strangest. The long neck and the way he was supposed to kneel down for drinking. Even though the shifter possessed every natural instinct of the animal he became, being a giraffe still felt quite strange.

The journey through Africa took Yuugi weeks even in his fast animal forms. But when he finally reached the frontier to Egypt the teen decided to enter the country as human. While he was already here, he planned on finding out a little more about his ancestors' country. And it would be a little difficult to talk to people if he was an animal.

Since Yuugi had no idea around which dynasty his ancestors lived in he decided that his best chance for answers could be found in the valley of kings. The shifter didn't know the name of the pharaoh he was looking for but he hoped that maybe there would be some writings about shifters.

Right now the teen was very thankful that he had been interested enough in ancient Egypt to learn the language and writings with some help of his jii-chan. Yuugi was sure that he would have been facing a lot more problems on his search if he was not able to decipher the old writings. Still, he was aware that his search would take some time. He just hoped that the vampire would not catch up with him before he got some answer to his questions.

When Yuugi arrived at the valley of kings he realised that he totally forgot that the place was THE tourist attraction in Egypt. After all those months alone out in deserts, the sea or the wild forests he was not longer used to be with so many humans. Already after minutes he felt the start of a panic attack. It did not help that even for Japanese standards he was rather small built, not to mention a growing teen. And all those men and women around him were tall and intimidating.

In a last resort to get away from the mass, Yuugi dived into a small alley of some large stone formations, near the some entrances to the graves. When he was sure no more noisy tourist followed him for a tour of discovery, he gave a big sigh of relief.

"This mass of people can be quite suffocating, can't it?" the voice sounded up behind Yuugi so suddenly, that the unsuspecting teen gave a small shriek of surprise and stumbled over his own two feet, nearly landing on the dusty ground. Whirling around he found a figure slightly taller than him dressed in a tunic with a hood over the head looking calmly at him.

The shifter immediately knew that it was not the vampire, because even though the figure had deeply surprised him, he recognised the voice to be female. What astonished and put him on alert more was the fact that this woman spoke to him in perfect Japanese, even though she did not exactly look Japanese and the dark skin and the deep, intelligent eyes suggested her to be a native of this country rather than from his own home.

"Who are you?" he addressed her in a slightly shaky but fluent sounding Arabic. Just in case, because if this woman turned out to be bad news and after him specifically, maybe she would be confused if he did not speak Japanese.

The woman however smiled at his words, looking delighted.

"Oh, you speak my language, what a pleasant surprise", she told him with a serene smile. "I have to admit I had not foreseen this. Though, it would not matter a lot, since I speak your language rather well, as you might have noticed, Mutou Yuugi."

Now he was certainly VERY alert. Because he could not remember ever meeting this woman, yet she just addressed him by his name. Tensing but showing bravery and determination, Yuugi faced the stranger with a challenging look.

"Again, who are you, and why do you think I am this Yuugi?"

She seemed amused now, before slowly lifting an arm and pointing at his chest where the Sennen Puzzle he once solved, hung around his neck. Then she pointed at her neck. Yuugi's eyes widened the moment he sat his gaze on the necklace she wore. It was a heavy looking big necklace of gold and it bore something rather familiar, something he knew from his own treasure - the Eye of Horus.

"Mutou Yuugi, even if my Sennen Necklace had not foretold me you wearing the long lost Sennen Puzzle, I would have recognised you immediately. You are well known among the crowd of gamblers for your unique gaming skills, especially in Duel Monsters. In fact, a lot had been looking forward to see you play in the great world tournament in the USA."

"You play Duel Monsters?" Yuugi could not help but burst out surprised. In fact he was so thrown off guard with that comment that he all but forgot about hiding his identity, speaking to her in perfect Japanese. The woman smiled friendly and laughed silently.

"Oh no, I do not play, because it would be too much like cheating since I have this rather unique gift to foretell every move the opponent makes. My younger brother Malik however plays and he will be looking forward to a game against you."

"He will?" the teenager wondered, confused until suddenly he realised that he was totally off topic and his eyes narrowed again in suspicion. "How does he know I am around? And you still did not tell me your name? Who exactly are you?"

"Forgive my bad manners", she replied, bowing rather formal but still with a friendly smile. "My name is Ishtar Isis and I am part of the family of gravekeepers that protect the secret of the pharaoh who sealed the Sennen Items, the very same set which you are wearing the most important Item of. I myself am the owner of the Sennen Tauk and it has the power to foretell the future. Which is why I have known of your arrival for some time now. The necklace showed me your escape into this alley, which is why I decided to await you here."

"Sennen Tauk?" Yuugi murmured, astonished.

"Yes, all in all there are seven Sennen Items scattered all over the world. Nevertheless until recently they were nothing but old if expensive artefacts. Only your solving of the Sennen Puzzle awoke the magic bound into them anew, allowing the owner to use their power, if they are found worthy by the items."

And before Yuugi's shocked eyes, the woman began to change, body morphing until in front of him no longer stood a human but a leopard that looked strong and deadly, yet calm and majestic at the same time. As quickly as the animal had come it was gone and instead stood the woman once more, looking serene.

"As you just witnessed, my ability is to change into a leopard", she told the shocked boy. "However to be able to shift became possible only after you solved the Sennen Puzzle and a lot of my vision were vague at best. Even my ability to foresee the future has evolved barely just before you completed your treasure. It seemed like the Sennen Tauk wanted to hint to me the changes that were about to happen with your solving of the Sennen Puzzle and that the power which had been sealed for nearly 3000 years was about to be released once more."

"My puzzle is supposed to have awoken that power?" the teenager asked surprised. He had learned a bit of his treasure's history through his jii-chan and the vampire, but he never expected there to be more items and not that he was the one releasing their original power once more.

"Why me?" he wanted to know, his distrust already waning in face of the fact that this woman was just like himself and additionally seemed to have something he deeply craved - answers.

"I can give you a full out explanation, Mr. Mutou", she told him, smiling warmly. "But I would rather prefer not to talk about this in the open street surrounded by tourists and who knows what else. So why don't you come with me? I would be honoured if you'd be our guest during the remaining time of your stay in Egypt."

Her vague reference of 'what else' reminded Yuugi of a very important fact why he was usually against the idea of visiting someone's home nowadays.

"Uhm, while I am sure you'll think of me as crazy", the teen stumbled rather embarrassedly, "I'd rather not go to your home. You see, there is a vampire after me, who I am sure will find out if I stayed with you and I really don't want to risk your life for a bit of comfort and answers."

"Oh I am aware of the vampire, Mr. Mutou", Isis assured him with a grin, "but as kind as your worry for me is, there is no need. He won't hurt us, I assure you. Besides, even if he tried to, we have our ways of protection against a vampire, maybe we can show you some tricks besides your shifting abilities as well to get rid of him?"

While by now not really surprised that she seemed to know about his shifting abilities as well, Yuugi found himself surprisingly unwilling of the idea to kill the vampire. Logically this should have been his simplest choice, being that as long as the vampire lived, he would never be able to return to a normal life. Not that with his shifting abilities he expected to ever do so again in the future, vampire or not.

Still, her words and her stance of confidence and calmness assured him of the truth. By now, with all he had seen and done, he had become rather good at reading people. Therefore, even though Isis seemed to be the mysterious kind, she was sincere enough and that made his decision. Besides she offered answers to a lot of questions he had. And if his judgement of her character turned out to be wrong, he could still shift and attack her, if needed.

"All right, I'll go with you", the young Japanese teen agreed.

"Wonderful", the female shifter smiled kindly before gesturing out of the alley. "If you would follow me, I parked the car that will take us to our home nearby."

Yuugi nodded and allowed the woman to lead him out of the alley, through the mass of tourists which they then left behind within the Valley of Kings altogether. The Japanese shifter looked around curiously until he spotted a rather small jeep parked under the shadow of a big rock. At the sight of the car Yuugi could not help himself and started to laugh.

Isis, who was now walking right besides the teen, gazed at him with a curious look in his eyes.

"What is so funny, Mr. Mutou?"

"Oh, it's just that, seeing the car makes me realise that we are about to travel in a rather normal way", the shifter explained to her with a wry smile. "By now I am so used to travel in all those different forms of animals, that I forgot the last time I even sat in a car. Sad, isn't it?"

"Ah, I understand your thoughts", Isis replied with a small, amused smile of her own. "And I have to admit moving with an animal's body has such a magic, that one really wants to never do different ever again. Yet, I thought for this one occasion it's a bit safer to travel by car instead of scaring all the poor people, since my ability limits me to change into a leopard only."

"I guess I see your point", Yuugi acknowledged wryly and stepped up to the front seat passenger's side where he got into the car. "Besides, personally I think it'll be nice to leave the movement to others just once and being able to simply relax and enjoy the ride."

Leaning against the side of the car, the shifter watched through half lidded eyes as the car started to move and take a turn deep into the desert. A yawn escaped his lips while the sun beat down on his head, the air conditioner keeping the heat just barely at bay. The teen had not realised his eyes dropped close until he heard the softly spoken murmur from his driver.

"Sleep, Mr. Mutou, I'll wake you just before we arrive, promise."

Seconds later, he knew no more.

Yuugi came to, when he felt a hand of his shoulder gently shaking him. Yawing and still feeling slightly drowsy and exhausted the shifter opened his eyes. For a moment he lay there, disorientated and not knowing where he was. Before panic could settle in though his memories of meeting Ishtar Isis returned and he moved his head to take a look at the driver's side. Isis gaze never left the street, or what could be called a street, because all Yuugi ever saw was sand. None the less, the female shifter seemed to know where she was driving and even though her eyes were concentrated on the road she seemed to know he was watching her because a small smile grazed her lips.

"We're nearly there, Mr. Mutou", she told him. "As promised I thought I better wake you up before we arrive. Especially", and suddenly her voice sounded rather dry, eyes narrowing, "since I am sure you would not have appreciated that the first thing you see when waking up is an Asian tiger in the middle of an Egyptian desert."

"Huh?" was the only sound Yuugi came up with before his eyes spotted what the woman meant outside of their care. There, a short distance away under the shadow of a rather tall rock formation stood some small, simple houses, indicating life in the middle of nowhere. And from those houses he could clearly see a big, tiger with yellow fur and black stripes running directly into their direction.

The Japanese teen was caught so much by surprise, the only thing he could do was gape, not even feeling any fear. Isis herself never slowed the jeep and gave a simple sigh that sounded torn between exasperation and amusement.

And if that was not already strange enough, Yuugi next spotted a young man coming out of one of the houses. The male was tall and had dark, bronzed skin. Half of his face was covered in tattoos of the Ancient Egypt hieroglyphs and his head was bald except a long strand of black hair on his back that he bound into a ponytail. The young man was very obviously chasing after the tiger, one hand waving and shouting something the Japanese was unable to understand over the noise of the car.

Yuugi watched with wide eyes as the tiger drew nearer only to suddenly make a powerful jump that ended with the animal on the roof of their car. It seemed to make itself home while looking over into their front window and purred at Isis specifically.

Mouth still wide open the Japanese teen barely registered Isis speaking to him.

"Please forgive my little brother", she apologised with a chuckle, "but ever since he realised his new shifting abilities that boy has nothing better to do but run around in the sands and try to scare us gravekeepers or our unsuspecting visitors. He is about your age therefore I hope you can understand his drive for action and mischief."

It took a few seconds before Yuugi registered what he had been told. But when he realised her words, he gazed at the tiger even more astonished before looking back at Isis.

"That is your brother?" he wanted to know and the female shifter nodded with a smile. "And he is a shifter just like you?"

"Of course", she confirmed before a look of deep mischief crossed her features. "And I am going to halt this car in a few seconds, so yes, as Malik certainly does not know you are a fellow shifter you may realised that idea of yours to pay him back for his try to scare you."

Raising an eyebrow Yuugi shook his head, gaze never leaving the brightly grinning and rumbling tiger, that was still looking through their front window.

"Must be really nice to be able to foresee everything", the Japanese teen noted dryly. "After all, I am sure your brother must have been unable to surprise you ever since you gained your foretelling abilities."

To his pleasant surprise Isis burst out laughing.

"Oh it's not as if he did not try", she told him with a small smirk. "And I have to admit I have been lucky so far. This ability of foretelling the future is something I can barely control. More often than not, the Tauk acts on its own, therefore Malik still might have a chance to catch me off guard now and then. So far he has not succeeded, though."

Chuckling Yuugi nodded his head in respect before she came to a sudden halt. The Japanese teen acted immediately. Jumping out of the car, while the tiger remained on the roof, he changed before his feet even reached the ground. When Yuugi touched the sand, he was no longer human but a big, African bush elephant, standing right aside the car. The tiger had barely time to process what happened when the Japanese lifted his grey trunk and let out a loud hoot, which echoed right and clear into the desert for quite a way.

Shocked from the noise and the wind Yuugi's huge form created the tiger let out a loud yowl before half falling, half jumping off the roof. The shocked prey animal landed right besides the laughing Isis who had left her car by now showing no mercy for the tiger's current predicament.

"Well, Malik I think this is something your brought on yourself, don't you think?" she teased and second later instead of an animal, there stood a dark skinned blonde youth who looked certainly to be the same age as Yuugi's best friend Jounouchi. Wide, blue eyes with a shade of violet stared over at the elephant that looked rather amused. Malik then moved his gaze over to his sister in disbelief before looking back at the elephant once more.

"You found a shifter?" the teen demanded to know from his sister before all of the sudden his eyes crinkled and he started to laugh. "And one who appreciates a good joke as well. That's great, Isis. I don't know who he is, but I like him!"

"Ah, I think you didn't look close enough if you tell me that you don't recognise him", Isis grinned and ruffled through her younger brother's hair, which he acknowledged by making a face of discontent. "If you take another look, you might be in for a surprise, little brother."

And with those words she turned around and greeted the other male, Yuugi had see running after the tiger before that one jumped onto their roof.

"Rishido, I am glad to see you in one piece still with all the havoc I am sure my brother must have caused."

The man looked around the same age as Isis and was dressed in a plain, dark grey tunic. He had a kind, friendly face which currently offered a small, warm smile to the older of the Ishtar siblings.

"Welcome home, Isis", he greeted her simply, saying no more. In the meantime Malik had carefully stepped near the elephant, who watched him curiously until the youth stood right in front of the animal. While his older sister seemed to prefer the typical Egyptian style of a simple dress with a gold belt, the younger Ishtar wore a teal coloured shirt with a black vest over it, both without sleeves. His legs were clad in beige jeans. Only with his jewellery he proved to have the same taste as his sister because the earrings and wristband he wore all were made of gold, just like her headdress. The teen slowly reached out his hand, to show the other that he meant no harm and touched the trunk that was now hanging down in a relaxed position.

"Hey I am Malik Ishtar", the teen introduced himself. "Are you willing to change back and introduce yourself as well, fellow shifter?"

No sooner had the Egyptian made the request, had Yuugi already invoked the magic within and returned to the way he usually looked like, clad in a typical, white Arabic tunic he bought when he reached Africa, the Sennen Puzzle above the fabric for everyone to see.

Malik took a look at the Item, which did not seem to surprise him a lot. However, what made his eyes widen was when he looked at Yuugi's face. Recognition showed in those lavender coloured eyes as the Egyptian teen pointed at Yuugi, his mouth opening and closing without a sound, before he turned his head over to where his sister stood.

"Isis, that is Yuugi Mutou!" he suddenly shouted, excitement showing all over his face. "You bought THE Yuugi Mutou and you did not tell me a word?"

Isis' answer was a bright laugh.

"See, I told you that you might be in for a surprise about our guest, did I not?" she teased her younger brother who was close to pouting. Yuugi on the other hand was caught off guard once more. So yes, the Egyptian, female shifter hinted something about Yuugi being known but to be honest it was hard for him to believe or accept, that especially people outside of Japan should be able to recognise him.

"You really know me?" the young Japanese shifter addressed the happy looking Egyptian teen, looking timid. Malik simply beamed and nodded his head.

"Hell of course I know you. Even though with our family's profession we are forced to live apart from people, we are still connected to the world through internet and I am an active professional at Duel Monsters."

"That is great", Yuugi could not help but beam back, excited at the thought of a fellow Duel Monsters player. Then however he faltered. "I still don't understand how you know me? I LOVE games, yes and Duel Monsters is one of my favourite card games. However since my mother has always been unhappy with my love for games and my neglect of school, she always forbade me to join the really important tournaments. Duellist Island, Battle City - hell the Grand Tournament in the USA - every time I asked, she said no. Even my jii-chan, who had been willing to provide me with the equipment or the flight to USA, was unable to persuade her to reconsider. In all honesty, those were the most horrible weeks of my life", Yuugi ended his tale, head hung low in dejection and to hide his rather wet looking eyes.

Oh yes, he had always loved to play games and to be forced to pass the greatest chance ever to play against the most challenging people had really broken his heart. Sadly his mother had always been so very strict, caring about nothing but his success in school. And his father was no help at all. Too busy with work and the success of the little company he worked for, the man rarely saw his family. And just like his wife, he cared more about Yuugi's marks at school, wanting the boy to succeed well enough to become a business man just like himself.

Yuugi however had never been interested into politics and business. All he was ever interested in was history and games, just like his jii-chan, who had been an archaeologist in his youth.

Breaking out of his thoughts Yuugi looked carefully at Malik who by now was frowning a bit after hearing the Japanese's words and watching him crumble.

"That certainly must have sucked", the Egyptian shifter exclaimed rather understandingly. "Though even if you were not allowed to join the big tournaments, you came to the small tournaments that were hold in your town, did you not?"

Yuugi nodded, a small smile returning to his face. Even though those small competitions were not like the big events, they had still been fun and he found the one or other tough opponent there as well. For example, Otogi Ryuuji who later turned out to be the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters as well as a nice boy named Bakura Ryou had been rather challenging opponents. Even his best friend Jounouchi, who he taught how to play, often joined those small competitions with him and they ended up opponents once or twice, which the blonde had never made an easy game for him.

Seeing Yuugi's return to cheerfulness, Malik could not help but grin when he added his next question.

"So tell me then, Yuugi, did you not also duel in an unofficial game with Seto Kaiba of all people and won?"

"Kaiba-kun?" the Japanese shifter exclaimed rather surprised before he nodded. "Ah yes, Kaiba-kun has been one of my classmates, though he often misses classes because he already owns a big company he is CEO of and needs to handle more often than not. But you are right, I DID fight him in a duel. I had to after he had a rather big fight with my best friend at school, offending his pride as a player, just because Jounouchi-kun could not afford to join the big tournaments. But that was a simple game at school, only our classmates watched."

The young teen stopped his talking for a moment to remember that day at school thoughtfully before he added.

"Well, some of our classmates where there of course, and I think the one or other had been in those small tournaments as well but other than that", he trailed of and shrugged his shoulders.

"Mutou Yuugi, that's how you Japanese address each other, right?" Malik began before he grinned mischievously at the smaller built teen. "Let me point out again, you played and won against THE Kaiba Seto, the till that day unbeaten champion and king of Duel Monsters, the creator of the Duel Discs and the organiser of the great Battle City tournament in Japan. And if even one a bit more serious player watched that game between Kaiba and you, of course the stunning result will spread through the community of Duel Monsters player. In fact there were articles about that game and even some photos all over the Internet, at the big websites. Besides, did you not know that Kaiba himself announced in his last interview with 'Game Over' that he was planning to personally invite you for a rematch at the next 'Nakama-Tournament'?"

"Really?" the Japanese shifter stuttered, eyes wide with shock and surprise. "I remember he hinted something about a tournament he was planning and that I would hear from him then, but I never knew that is what he meant. Neither did I read the article in 'Game Over'. My mother has banned all magazines that have nothing to do with school", the teen sighed now a bit dejected again. "Though, my last talk with Kaiba-kun is nearly one and a half years ago. Ever since, I've been on the run, so I guess the tournament already happened?"

"Oh, I can assure you it's not", the blonde Egyptian replied with a wide smirk. "I've kept an eye on that tournament ever since I've read the interview with Kaiba, because I was planning to join as well, even if that means getting out of Egypt and over to Japan. Playing online all the time is boring and in Egypt itself there are not such great tournaments as in Japan. Might be because we have no Kaiba Seto who invents such great toys to play with. Anyway, the date for the tournament has been postponed ever since you vanished more or less from Earth. I suspect that Kaiba is waiting for your return before he even considers holding it, because he wants you to join.

"Even my sister has taken a look into his case for whatever personal reasons she has. And she hinted to me that he is very proud and wishes to redeem his reputation by introducing you to the official games, where you can either claim the title as king of games or, what he hopes for I am certain, to reclaim the title for himself fair and square. I admit I can imagine it must suck to be called 'king of Duel Monsters' yet you know there is one boy out there who has bettered you in an unofficial game."

Listening to Malik's reasoning with still wide eyes Yuugi could not deny the logic of the other shifter's assumption. From what he knew of Kaiba he could tell that the Egyptian hit the nail straight on the head.

"You are right, but that's a horrible conclusion none the less", the Japanese teen exclaimed with sympathising eyes. "I mean, I really have no idea if I'll ever be in Japan again nor for how long I can stay because I am still on the run. And I am sure there have been a lot of people like you looking forward to that tournament of his. So what if I never return, does that mean Kaiba-kun will never again hold a tournament?"

"You are on the run?" Malik asked, surprised before scratching his head. He threw another look at the shaken and worried looking Yuugi before he shrugged his shoulders, coming to a decision.

"You know what, Yuugi?" he announced, grinning brightly. "You can tell me all about you later. But for now I noted the fact that you are a lover of games, you play Duel Monsters and for a fact I've ALWAYS wanted to play against theperson who defeated of Seto Kaiba. Do you have your cards? Otherwise I can lend you some, I have a rather big collection. And I also bought myself two Duel Disks. I sometimes play with Rishido for fun, you know. Have you ever played with those disks?"

Yuugi shook his head eyes already shining with excitement at the idea to try those disks out.

"Oh then you'll enjoy this!" Malik declared excitedly and grabbed the smaller built teen's hand. "Come on, Yuugi!"

And with just a small sound of protest Yuugi was dragged to the plain looking houses, that when they came near revealed to simply hide the entrance to underground construction, which Malik explained was the real home of the ancient gravekeepers. As much as Yuugi had been exhausted from the last journey, as much as the vampire was still in the back of his mind and he could not help but wonder when the creature of the night would find him again, his love for games was big and he could not help but grin more and more with each step he took, following Malik into his home. A chance to play, even if he did not have his original deck at hand. He was going to enjoy this.

And under the kind eyes of Ishtar Isis and that man Rishido, Yuugi vanished inside the holy sanctuary of the gravekeepers, ready to meet his next challenge in the middle of the desert sands of Egypt.

tbc...
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Hunting Passion