fishtailing (a prologue)

A/N: Hi, I'm Amelia, and welcome to the first part of this piece of shit story! Scribbled down one sentence on my notes in Chemistry class and when I got home, started typing. Concept grew out of control, what else is new. And we have the prologue to what will hopefully become a long story. Reviews and critique are mucho appreciated, friend-os.

warnings: none yet, unless you count a brief drug reference & a butt-ton of swearing
rating: (so far) T
pairings: puzzleshipping all the way motherfuckers


One night, a night after a full day of rain, Atem Dogkeep beats up Yuugi Mutou. Atem's always thought that "Yuugi" was a weird name for a kid in Texas to have in the first place (never mind that Atem's name is Atem), (it's probably Spanish or something), and also he has money for the bus so Atem could get back home, considering it's half past one in the morning and Atem's getting a little tired, so roughing him up like sandpaper and taking the cash just seems like the natural order of things. The big fish eating the little fish. You know?

Ah, yes. The reason Atem, 15-year-old ripped-muscle-shirt-wearing bad influence extraordinaire, is out in a slightly rough part of the city at 1:30 AM in the first place is this: he was shooting pool with some friends. Honest to God. On a beat-up pool table they dragged into a warehouse that no one ever really locks or checks. To be truthful as a dying hound, Atem hates his friends, like really hates them (one insists on being called 'Bakura' and Atem still doesn't know his real name, and then there's Malik), but they play games and no one else does. Except for Yuugi Mutou. But he's a pussy, or so it seems to Atem, so you cut your losses. The pool session lasted long into the night, then Bakura split, and Atem has left Malik alone in the warehouse to do heroin or murder people or whatever the fuck kind of psycho shit he does when Bakura and Atem aren't around, so here Atem is. And it's been raining the whole day and all night, so he keeps wetting his expensive shoes in puddles.

He's walking at a brisk clip towards the bus stop with his knife visible and don't-fuck-with-me when he realizes, not after long, that he didn't bring any cash with him aside from the bus fare it took to get here. This realization causes him to swear loudly and kick the side of a building, because he's never been good with anger. Someone inside the building (it might be an apartment?) yells at him, and he almost yells "SORRY" back before remembering that bad boys don't say sorry. So he storms around a little bit, unsure of what to do. The later he gets back, the angrier his mother is going to get. Not that he cares, of course, I mean, rebellious boys, their hair in the wind, they don't care what their mothers think. Do they? Of course not. So he's not upset. It's just, he might get grounded or some dumb shit, and that's always such a hassle.

So he wanders, and he wanders, and then Yuugi Mutou shows up, out of the blue, a goddamn boy marvel. He looks sad, is what occurs to Atem most, and harried, and like he's looking for someone. Atem sees him when he's passing through the streetlight. The stark yellow light makes his skin look porcelain-translucent. As is usual for back-of-the-class gaming-otaku nerd-scum, his clothes are baggy and his hair is messy, and he's tossing dice by himself or something as he walks. Atem can't see. But he can see some bills haphazardly thrust into Yuugi's pocket, so Atem pockets his knife and drags Yuugi by his gimp collar into the nearest alley (amid protests of hey, hey, what're you doing, leggo!) and sinks his knuckles into his classmate's jaw, watches the blood spray out like confetti. After a slow-motion tango tasting the air Yuugi crumples like an empty pinata, and Atem snags some money for the bus, then a little bit more.

Atem is halfway back to the bus stop, whistling cheerfully, when he realizes that Yuugi Mutou was wandering around a slightly rough part of the city at 1:30 AM. Yuugi Mutou. We are talking about the kid who plays fucking Duel Monsters. AKA the nerdiest of all trading card games, you idiot, reserved for the dweebiest of the dweebs. And his parents are probably loaded, given all the rare cards Yuugi has (not that Atem would know anything about that—he just overhears!). Yuugi Mutou was here.

Atem backtracks through alleys and garbage cans full of water, fishtailing around pipes that look like broken bones. His strong point is his agility, and when he moves quick, he feels one with the city. It's impossible to see the stars in here, especially with this kind of cloud cover, but the air feels cool and damp, and Atem feels alive. Like, really alive.

When he's back where Yuugi was, Yuugi is gone. This makes him angry again, for reasons he can't explain, and he kicks the alley wall once more. This time he expects someone to yell at him, but no one does. So he sits on the damp pavement, because he's bored and a little tired, and then he hears Yuugi's voice.

"Are you okay?"

It takes a little while for the voice to register: breathy, high pitched, and kind of like a little boy's, but cracking, sending splinters through a man's. It irritates Atem. Why is Yuugi's voice so irritating? In the whole time they've shared the same homeroom, Atem has only heard it maybe twice. But it bothers him. Atem looks around and sees Yuugi's silhouette in the mouth of the alley, like a tongue. He rolls his shoulders.

"You asking me if I'm okay? I just beat the shit out of you, man."

Yuugi shifts on his feet. "Didn't really beat the shit out of me. Just made me bleed a little."

Atem rises quickly. "You want me to actually beat the shit out of you, then?"

"No, I'm fine! I'm fine, actually!"

Atem sits back down. He breathes heavy. Yuugi isn't really moving, aside from an occasional little shift. They sit in silence for a while.

"You gonna ask for your money back?" Asks Atem.

"No. You probably needed it to get home. You didn't take all of it, anyway."

Atem considers that. Then he remembers the reason he came back in the first place.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing out here in like the middle of the night? Do you even know what part of town this is?"

"Yeah, I know what part of town this is."

"What you doing anywhere this late at night! You're Yuugi Mutou! You don't have a life."

"I was looking for Jounouchi."

Atem rolls the weird name around in his mouth. "Who the fuck is," he tests it out by saying it, "Jounouchi."

"My friend." There's a pause, so Atem expects him to elaborate, so Yuugi does. "He's in Chemistry with me. We hang out sometimes."

"You have people you hang out with?"

"Yeah, I do." The ending of the sentence is enunciated and deliberate. Yuugi waits. "Do you?"

"Are you trying to make fun of me?"

"I'm not, I-"

"Of course I have people I hang out with."

"Yeah, but do you like them?"

"Of course I like them, man, what the fuck you going on about."

But neither Yuugi nor Atem say anything after that.

After a little while, Atem gets up. The rain is starting again, each drop like a tiny pill. Atem names them in his mind. Walking back through the alley, he slips half of the money he took from Yuugi back into Yuugi's pocket. Before Yuugi realizes, Atem is long, long gone.