Author's Notes: Well, this came out of nowhere. This isn't really along the lines of anything I usually write, but I found it sitting half-finished on my hard drive last night and was finally struck with the inspiration to finish it.
There's kind of a long story about how this came about, but the quick version is that I found a prompt on some long-dead challenge community that had something to do with explaining the beginnings of a friendship, and this is what my brain came up with.
Warnings: Swearing, blood, after-effects of violence. Not meant to be a pairing fic, but read into it what you will.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything associated with it. I just love it long time.
Enjoy!
Trash to Treasure
Blood.
He tasted blood.
Jounouchi Katsuya let out a pained groan and managed to roll himself onto his side before he vomited on the concrete. That done, he scooted as far from the mess as he could without hurting himself further, which was no easy task considering how many times he'd been punched in the gut tonight.
In hindsight, he figured breaking off with Hirutani's gang all by himself, alone, hadn't been the brightest idea he'd ever had. But how else was he supposed to do it? It wasn't as if any of those jerks were his friends; they'd all helped beat him up…
Jounouchi raised an arm to brush at his mouth, although it didn't make him feel any cleaner. The alley's smell was making him feel queasy all over again, and he knew he needed to leave. It'd be just his luck if a cop found him here. He'd be beyond screwed if he got caught again; they'd already threatened him with Juvie.
'Time to get out of here.'
Jounouchi struggled into a sitting position and took several deep breaths to combat his nausea. The stench of garbage was overpowering, and as he placed a hand against the grimy brick wall and hoisted himself to his feet, he suddenly realized why.
"Those bastards…"
They'd gone and trapped him in the alleyway, courtesy of a pair of dumpsters that they'd somehow managed to turn over. There was now a mound of trash between him and his only way out.
Another groan passed his lips, and he slumped heavily against the wall. There was no way he'd be able to climb that mountain in this condition…
"Somebody in there?"
Jounouchi's breath hitched at the voice coming from the other side of the trash-wall. He remained silent.
"No? I guess I'll just leave, then…"
There was a long pause. Jounouchi resisted the urge to answer.
He heard the voice curse quietly, and the garbage began to shift. Jounouchi watched anxiously, readying himself in case he needed to bolt despite knowing he wasn't going to get far.
But when the pile came spilling down, it was just some kid standing on the other side. Relieved, Jounouchi opened his mouth to thank the guy…
…and heaved some more of his guts onto the ground.
The stranger grimaced, but instead of leaving Jounouchi alone, he came closer.
"Looks like you've had a rough night, huh?" he said.
Jounouchi didn't have it in him to respond to something so obvious. Without invitation, the brunette slung one of Jounouchi's arms over his shoulders.
"Where to?" he asked, and finally, Jounouchi forced out a reply.
"Apartment complex at the end of the street." He winced. "Room 301."
And off they went. The going was slow, but manageable, until they reached the building itself.
"Stairs," the brunette said apologetically, before helping Jounouchi climb them. At each of the three landings, they had to pause while Jounouchi regained his balance.
"I'm not drunk," Jounouchi said suddenly, not sure why he cared what this stranger thought of him.
"Yeah, I kind of figured," was the reply. "Drunk people don't usually trap themselves in dead-end alleyways. At least, not in my experience."
They made it to the door to Jounouchi's apartment, and Jounouchi hesitated.
"You got a key?"
"Hidden…"
"I won't look, then."
The brunette detached Jounouchi's arm from his shoulders and turned to look out over the railing. Jounouchi slowly crouched down to retrieve the spare key from its hiding place in the ridge between the doorframe and the wall. Carefully getting back to his feet, he put the key in the lock and turned; it clicked open.
"Well, thanks for the help," he said, cuing the other to turn around to face him again.
"You gonna make it inside?"
"Yeah…"
The two stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, and it dawned on Jounouchi suddenly that the other was wearing the same school uniform as he was.
"You go to Domino High, too?" he asked. "Don't think I've ever seen ya…"
"Yeah. Name's Honda Hiroto. I'm in your math class, but your head's usually buried in the desk."
"Oh. Er… yeah." He paused, then added quickly, "I'm Jounouchi. Katsuya. By the way."
Honda nodded.
"If you need to skip tomorrow, I'll tell the front office you've got some kind of stomach virus."
Jounouchi looked at him blankly.
"Why would you do that?"
"So you don't get hit with an unexcused absence…?"
"No, I mean… well, yeah. But no – why are you helping me out?" Jounouchi asked.
Honda shrugged.
"Why not?"
There were about a hundred reasons Jounouchi could think of off the top of his head, but before he could say any of them, Honda turned, raising a hand.
"I'll see you when you're feeling better," he said, before descending the stairs and disappearing from sight.
Baffled, but feeling like crap and needing to sleep, Jounouchi quietly entered his apartment, re-locked the door, and made his way to his room, where he collapsed into bed.
True to his word, Honda had gotten him excused from school somehow. When he got back after spending a day in recovery, Jounouchi only had to suffer a few scoldings from his teachers before they handed over the assignments he'd missed, and the receptionist in the front office assured him that there wouldn't be a mark against his attendance record.
At lunch that day, Jounouchi sought out the brunette – which was surprisingly easy considering he'd never noticed the guy before now – and he plunked his tray down on the table across from him, sitting down to eat.
There was another odd silence between them as they both went at their food. Finally, after draining the last of his drink, Jounouchi put down his glass and looked at Honda with the most serious expression he could muster.
"Thanks," he said, "for the other night, and for getting me out of trouble here."
"You're welcome," Honda said. Then he added, "You've got food on your face."
"…Huh?"
It was the start of a beautiful friendship.