Author's Note: So some people have been wondering why I switch between Japanese and English names. Well, for this particular story… English doesn't have kanji. :D Therefore, I needed to use Japanese names so that when Yu-Baaba takes them, there would still be pieces of their names left behind, just like when she takes some kanji away from Chihiro's name and leaves the simple character of 'Sen' (the kanji for 'sen' and 'chi' are the same, so 'sen' is actually part of her name).

That, and I can now capitalize on the YuuJou friendship! Because Takahashi made their names for that reason; so that their friendship could have a deeper meaning. And you gotta admit, you don't see a lot of friends that close nowadays (especially considering the way they became friends). And yes, I'm aware that 'yuujou' means friendship/fellowship. You don't need to review me telling me so because I'M NOT DUMB. Thanks.

Chapter 2

Jounouchi jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to immediately punch the offender, only to cry out in dismay when he found his arm going through the person. Violence wouldn't work. He pushed Yuugi further behind him and growled. "The hell do you want?"

It was the man that they'd seen at the bathhouse. He sighed, then knelt beside him and held out his hand. "You need to eat some food from this world, or else you'll disappear." When the blond only eyed his hand with obvious distrust, he sighed again. "Don't worry. It won't turn you into a pig."

The blond frowned, but what did he have to lose, really? Taking one of the berries from his hand, he hesitated before pushing it in his mouth. It didn't taste bad, per se, but it had a funny texture. "Bleckh."

"…So it's not delicious," the man stated, rolling his eyes, then reached out to offer the other berry to Yuugi. "But it will keep you from disappearing."

Yuugi looked up at his friend and frowned, then looked back at the strange man and nodded a little. "Okay." This was soon followed by another, more enthusiastic, "Bleckh!"

The man couldn't help a small smile. "Humans are so picky."

"Are they okay now?" another man asked, and Jounouchi let out a squawk and shoved Yuugi back underneath the lean-to.

"…Yami, you're scaring them."

"I don't know why; I'm perfectly normal compared to some of the spirits here."

The brunet snorted. "I believe even you have noticed that you and the human look alike."

Ah, so the crazy bird-guy that looked like Yuugi was actually called Yami. Well, peachy.

"Alright, come on; we have to get you out of here before Yu-Baaba finds you," the brunet stated, reaching out for his hand. "Come with us."

Jounouchi yanked it back swiftly, scowling. "Hell no! I don't even know who you are, what your name is-!"

"Where are my mom and grandpa?" Yuugi asked quickly, ducking around his friend. "They… they didn't really turn into pigs, did they?"

The man that looked like Yuugi—but for being taller and having hair surprisingly more outrageous, and, the blond supposed, his PSYCHO RED EYES—took a step forward, frowning. "You can't see them right now, but we'll take you to them soon. For now, you just have to trust us."

The brunet hissed and lunged forward, hiding them from view as a raven-like bird with the head of an old woman flew by. "Yami, can you take care of that?"

Yami looked up at the bird, then narrowed his eyes; it was as if he had something personal against the crony bird. "I will keep it busy until you've gotten halfway to the bathhouse. I will meet you there."

The two humans flinched back as the man suddenly burst into flame, and they learned that Yami was actually the large crimson bird that had carried them away from the river, where they surely would have been seen by the Yu-bird had he not saved them.

The brunet stood and grabbed Jounouchi's jacket, giving him a hard yank. "Let's go while it's distracted!"

Yuugi and Jounouchi shared one last look before they stood and readied themselves for a good run—like back when Jounouchi had 'panty-tanked' Anzu and she'd chased both he and Yuugi until they finally jumped a fence, which she couldn't do in her skirt. …Yuugi was still a little hurt that she'd blamed him too though.

Jounouchi yelped as the man grabbed his hand and took off, quickly reaching back to grab his friend's sleeve so they wouldn't be separated. "What the fuck, man? A little warning is nice!"

It was hard to keep up with where he was leading them, they were going so fast, and both Yuugi and Jounouchi wondered how this was possible when they were certain that they hadn't been able to before. They were led down a back alley lit by a few lamps, and then the man lifted his free hand as they came upon a door. It slid open just before they got to it, allowing them to run inside. Both humans looked back in surprise to watch it slide back shut, a board locking it in place.

They went down some stairs (well, actually, Jounouchi tripped, but Yuugi had yanked him so he had help to land on his feet) and past barrels of dead fish ready to be butchered. The fish were bigger than they were and all had very sharp teeth; both boys wondered if those fish had been caught in the river, and how lucky they were to have gotten out so quickly. This was followed by a short trip through a freezer, filled with even more fish and some cows. The man lifted his hand again, forcing the door ahead of them open, and it slammed again behind them as they ran through a bunch of pigpens.

Yuugi couldn't help looking around anxiously to see if maybe he could see his mother and grandfather around, and the blond felt a rush of guilt; this was entirely his fault.

Once rushing out of the pigpens, the man led them down a hill toward the bathhouse. It was there that Yami caught up to them, diving toward the ground in a rush of flames and screeches before he was back in his humanoid, Yuugi-like form. Being some sort of bird spirit didn't keep him from running just as fast as they did, and they soon found themselves coming up to a gate that led to the bathhouse.

Jounouchi yelped as the brunet came to an abrupt halt and tried to stop as well, but he skidded on the dirt and ended up slamming into his back. It was like rushing into a brick wall. "Ow-!"

"Meep! Jounouchi-kun, are you okay?"

"…Yeah, I think so." The blond released both boys' hands in favor of rubbing his nose.

The brunet frowned and leaned forward to unlock the gate they'd stopped in front of. "…Yami, do you think you can carry them down to the boiler room?"

"I can only carry one of them that distance, I think," Yami replied, frowning. "They're very heavy together—and they throw me off balance. I'd fly into a wall. …Seth, do you know what you're doing?"

The strange man finally had a name! For some reason, that was immensely pleasing to the two humans, and they felt a little more relaxed. But only a little, because Yami had mentioned separating them from each other!

Seth turned to glare at him. "Of course I know what I'm doing. I always know what I'm doing."

"That remains to be seen. I'll take Yuugi; he's lighter and I can get him down there more safely," Yami stated, placing his hands on his hips.

Yuugi and Jounouchi took a step closer together as the smaller boy anxiously answered, "I don't want to leave Jounouchi-kun! Don't make me-!"

"You'll be together again soon," Seth promised, reaching out to pat him on the head. "I just can't use the spell on both of you at once, Yami can't carry both of you, and we don't have time to waste. I'll take… Jounouchi-kun, and he'll meet you down by the boiler room. Just wait for him there, and I'll make sure he gets back to you."

Jounouchi smiled weakly and ruffled his friend's hair. "Yeah, I'll catch up. 'sides, if it turns out he's just tricking us, I'll punch him in the face."

Both Seth and Yami failed to see how that was really a threat, as he'd probably not even manage to wound the brunet. Yuugi, however, saw this as a great comfort, so he nodded and turned toward his look-alike. "Okay. I'll go with you."

Yami blinked, then nodded slowly, and in another burst of flames he was the large crimson phoenix they had seen before. He dipped his head to allow the boy onto his back, then turned and shot Seth a sharp look before he took to the sky.

"…Hey, he's really warm!" Yuugi exclaimed, just before they were too far in the air for the blond to answer.

Jounouchi frowned and crossed his arms. "…I'm really warm too…"

"Now is not the time to be jealous," Seth stated sharply, grabbing his hand and beginning to lead him through the gate. "Listen carefully to what I say and try not to screw up."

The blond scowled but decided that he couldn't afford being snappy or rude. Instead, he just nodded. "Fine."

Seth grabbed his hand and sighed, then began leading him toward the bridge. "I've already got most of the spell cast. Once we step onto the bridge, you must hold your breath. Even the smallest breath will break the spell, and anyone would be able to see you. We don't want that to happen. Can you hold your breath that long?"

Jounouchi hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly. "I think so. I will."

"Good." The brunet led him onto the road leading to the bridge and tugged on his hand to bring him closer. He spared the frog spirits only a small glance before looking back at where he was going. "I'm back from my mission."

"Ah, welcome back, Master Seth!"

Seth didn't bother to reply; his gaze didn't even flicker as he began to speak softly. "Take a deep breath." The blond did as he was told, taking as deep a breath as he could. "Now hold it."

Jounouchi immediately reached up and grabbed his nose, keeping any of his breath from escaping and keeping anymore from coming in. He didn't want to be seen by all of these spirits, didn't want to get caught and have them do who-knows-what to him. He winced slightly as a black figure that appeared to have a mask on looked at him and eyed the strange spirit warily, taking a short step closer to the brunet.

They were nearing the other side of the bridge. He was grateful for that; his breath was running out. Ahead of them, around all of the spirits walking to and from the bathhouse, a group of women stood greeting everyone like the two frog spirits had. It was sort of creepy how they all said the same thing at the same time, but he supposed it was because they all looked like the same type of spirit. He nearly sighed in relief when he saw they were almost all the way across; the only thing that stopped him from doing so was that he'd been told not to.

His relief was short-lived. A little green creature in a blue kimono rushed toward them, crying, "Master Seeeth!" He leapt up. "Where ya been!"

Jounouchi took a step back and gasped, instinctively feeling as if he were being attacked. He lashed out swiftly, smacking the creature away quickly—only to realize it was another frog, probably younger than the other frog spirits he'd seen. He felt slightly guilty, but it shouldn't have gotten in his face!

Seeing the commotion it might cause, Seth lifted his hand, catching the frog in a dark bubble that kept it from moving and making any noise. "Follow me!"

The blond squeaked and ran after him quickly as he rushed forward, flying past the group of women. They all squealed and laughed as the skirts of their kimonos flew up, causing enough of a distraction for the former street punk to scramble past them to the little wooden door the brunet was waiting at for him. He scrambled through the tiny door and turned to see him follow quickly.

The older man caught his hand and began dragging him through what looked like some sort of garden that led to another door inside the bathhouse. He was led just past the door to hide behind one of the larger plants, where the brunet knelt and listened carefully as the rest of the bathhouse went crazy about a human being there.

Jounouchi winced and bit his bottom lip. "…I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to take a breath. He just startled me and got way too close. I didn't mean to…" He trailed off as the brunet glared at him and looked away quickly.

Seth took a deep breath to keep himself from getting too angry, then sighed. "…It's fine. I shouldn't have expected a human like you to be able to handle something like that. You didn't have to hit him, though."

"I didn't mean to," the blond mumbled, looking down.

"…It's fine." The man sighed again and ran a hand through his hair, then noddeda little and looked back at him. "Listen, you can't stay here, or else they'll find you. I'll tell you where to go, then I'll go and take their attention off of you."

"But-! Yuugi's mom and grandpa! What about them?" Jounouchi asked quickly, grabbing his kimono. "I need to help them—"

"First," Seth stated, grabbing his wrist to pull it away. "You need to help yourself and your friend."

The blond blushed a little when the older man failed to let go of his wrist, but for some reason, it felt comforting. "…So they really did turn into pigs then. We're not in some crazy dream."

"No, you're not." Seth reached up to brush his bangs out of his eyes and pressed his fingers against his forehead. "Now listen to me carefully."

Jounouchi gasped softly as his vision was taken up by a small wooden door like the one they'd come in through. "Ah-!"

"When I go inside and things quiet down, go out the back gate. Go all the way down the stairs until you reach the boiler room. Then—"

"What's the boiler room?" the teen cut in, frowning.

Seth sighed. "It's where they stoke the fires. That's where you'll find Kamajii, the boiler man."

Jounouchi saw the boiler room—the door opening to show orange heat—before the fingers on his forehead were gone and he saw the brunet looking at him again. "K-Kamajii?"

"Yes, Kamajii. Tell him you and your friend want to work. Even if he refuses, you must insist," the brunet stated. "If you don't get a job here, Yu-Baaba will turn you into an animal."

The blond tilted his head, softly repeating, "Yu-Baaba…?"

"She's the witch that rules the bathhouse," Seth explained, eyes taking on a hardened glint. "Kamajii will try to turn you away or trick you into leaving. Don't be swayed, and keep insisting. If your friend tries to give up, don't let him. If you try to give up, make him stop you."

"What, you think I'm some kind of pussy?" Jounouchi exclaimed, glaring at him.

Seth raised an eyebrow, frowning at him. "…I'd say you were more of a puppy than a cat…"

"…That's not what that means," the teen stated, miffed that he hadn't gotten through to him. "You know what? Never mind."

"…Humans really are bizarre," the brunet sighed, then scowled again when he heard the calls for him growing more frantic. "Tch, like chickens with their heads cut off. I'm sure you'll be okay from here; just make sure not to get caught, and keep insisting for work. Okay?"

Jounouchi nodded. "Okay."

"Master Seth!"

Seth cringed, eyes wide; that shriek had nearly killed him! "Oh fuck—I have to go before they make me go deaf," he stated angrily. He paused, then reached up to brush the blond's hair out of his eyes, making him blush a little in embarrassment. "…Don't forget, Jounouchi-kun. I'm your friend."

As the brunet stood to leave, the teen frowned and grabbed his hand. "Wait, how did you know my name!"

The man frowned and tilted his head. "I don't know; I just did." He turned and looked down at the blond for a moment, then smirked. "Then again, your friend was screaming it a lot…"

"Shut up you bastard!" Jounouchi exclaimed angrily, his blush of embarrassment turning to one of anger. "Jerk!"

Seth chuckled and walked to the door leading inside. "Good luck." As he stepped inside, he sighed in annoyance. "Calm down, I'm right here." He took his shoes off before stepping inside. "Stop running around like idiots and screaming. I can hear you."

"Master Seth, Yu-Baaba-sama wants to see you!" one of the frog spirits exclaimed, reaching out to grab his shoes before he closed the door.

"Psh. Of course. It's about my mission, right?"

Jounouchi frowned and listened to the voices fade, then turned and looked at the little wooden door he knew he was supposed to go through. He was tempted to just stay there, thinking maybe if he waited long enough, he'd wake up. Then again, they'd been through some tough times before; he'd just push through this one too.

Crawling toward the door, he slipped outside, then looked around. He squeaked as he saw how high up he was and pressed himself up against the wall. Below, the train sped by, beneath a bridge, and the ground looked even further away than it had before. 'Heights. I hate heights.'

He took a few deep breaths, trying to work himself up for this, then edged over to the steps. …They looked safe enough… Thick, sturdy wood… Should be able to hold his weight… So everything should be… fine…

He gripped the wood slats on the wall tightly and tested the top step with his weight gingerly. When it didn't break, he placed his other foot down on it and timidly released the wall. He took another step down and felt a pang of anxiety—the wall was no longer close enough to grab onto, so it was either a straight plummet down if a step broke or over one of the sides of the stairs.

He was careful to stay in the middle of the stairs.

Jounouchi gulped and began his slow decent, arms moving outward to keep his balance. He just knew he was going to die. He was a klutz and he'd trip over his own feet; then, he would break his neck, fall off the steps, and be crushed on the ground. Yuck.

"Nn… This isn't so bad," he whispered to himself, focusing on his feet. "I just have to watch where I'm going and I'll be fine."

Just as he put his foot down on the next step, however, it snapped beneath his weight, so he pitched forward with a yelp. He stumbled and tried to catch his balance, but then the stairs suddenly turned, so he stepped off the edge. He reached frantically for something to save him and latched onto the first thing his fingers came across.

Hanging from the side of the stairs, Jounouchi breathed quickly, nearly hyperventilating as he looked down at the ground so far below. He had almost died. ALMOST. DIED. As in, never see anyone again. DEATH.

Once he realized he was still hanging and might die anyway if he slipped, he hurriedly moved to pull himself back up onto the stairs. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!" He flailed his legs wildly in an attempt to get back up only to whimper when he realized he was stuck; he'd gotten both his arms up, but getting the rest of his body up would be a problem.

Jounouchi yipped as he felt something beneath his feet pushing him upward and frantically scrambled onto the stairs, then turned in confusion to see what had happened.

Yami landed on the sides, his large, talon-tipped toes curling around it as if it were a branch. As a phoenix, he couldn't say much, but his gaze said enough: "You were so almost a pancake."

The blond hugged his knees to his chest and shivered. He agreed; that had been much too close to death. He hid his face in his knees and shuddered; he so badly wanted to cry, but years of being beaten for shedding a tear had made him too careful to keep from crying, even when Yuugi and his mother had assured him that crying was okay, and the counselor he'd been assigned to had urged him to let it out.

Did those people not understand that being beaten for something was hard to forget? He loved his friend, and he adored Ashita, but sometimes he wished they could see the world through his eyes.

"Jounouchi-kun! Are you okay! I saw that!"

Jounouchi looked up quickly and couldn't help a smile of relief as he found his friend running up the stairs toward him. "Yuugi…"

Yuugi knelt next to him and frowned in concern. "That could have been a nasty fall. You're lucky Yami-san got worried it was taking you too long and came to check! …You're lucky I recognize your screams, too."

"I was not screaming," the blond exclaimed indignantly.

The smaller teen stood up straight and tapped his chin lightly. "Hmm, that was a pretty high-pitched manly shout then."

Ah, normalcy.

Jounouchi growled playfully and pulled his friend into a headlock to give him a noogie. "Brat!"

The phoenix huffed before grabbing the backs of their jackets, one in each taloned grip, and flapped his wings a few times to gain altitude before gliding the rest of the way down to the boiler room door. His wings ached; he couldn't do this very often.

Jounouchi stumbled as his feet hit the ground, then turned to his friend—and, coincidentally, the phoenix. "Seth said that we need to go and ask the boiler man for work, and we can't take no for an answer, otherwise we'll be turned into animals by the bath-crone. So if I start to give up, you'll have to stop me, 'kay? And I'll do the same for you," he explained, and both the boy and the bird nodded. He scowled. "What are you nodding for? You're not going in with us!"

Yami blinked in surprise, then shrugged and turned, spreading his wings as he leapt from the steps again. Both teens watched him go until he flew around the corner of the building and out of sight.

"…Okay," Yuugi agreed finally, turning back to him. "Let's go get jobs so we can save my mom and grandpa!"

"Right," Jounouchi agreed, then turned and opened the door.

They were met with a rush of hot air trying to escape. So that's why it was called the boiler room.