DB: I'm back! First, I want to thank puppet-with-a-gunXD, Silver880, and subaru1999 for your wonderful reviews. Thanks for the support guys! *hands out cookies to reviewers*

I personally think this chapter is better than the last in terms of my writing skill, but I admit, it is a little boring. I think the end is alright though.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters. If I did children everywhere would be deeply disturbed….

"Speech"

Thoughts

Summary: After years of living with an abusive father who blames Ryou for the death of his mother and sister, Ryou finally decides to run away. However, life is hard on the streets. He is soon taken in by a small group of young thieves who decide to teach him how to survive. It would also seem that the so called King of Thieves appears to be interested in him…

Sorry, I suck at summaries…

Warning: mild to moderate yaoi/shonen ai. Nothing too bad though! ^_^ Also some rough language and violence. Also attempted rape in this chapter. You have been warned….

Chapter 2: Found

Ryou sat on the park bench, shivering against the wind that beat against his slim frame. It had been three days since he ran from his 'home'. Three days of heaven and hell mixed together in a convoluted mess. Heaven because he was free and on his own at last; Hell because he was hardly better off than before. He hated to admit it himself but he really had no idea what he was getting into when he left. Yet he could not find it within himself to truly regret his decision.

Ryou had run away on the same night as he made decision. He had gathered a few changes of clothes, his diary, a stash of money he had been keeping under his bed, and the picture his father had taken from him. Ryou had pulled it from his father's slacked grip after the man had fallen into a drunken stupor on the living room couch. He put his belongings in a large backpack and left his home forever, not even once looking back at the man who was his own flesh and blood.

Ryou shifted on the bench, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms tightly around them. His backpack sat next to him and he leaned against it sighing. True he did not regret his decision but there was no denying himself that he was in trouble. With his meager supply of money, he was unable to afford any shelter. He was scared to spend it all on food. He felt safer with a small amount of money on his person than none at all so he found himself going hunger during mealtimes. However after the second day he had relented and bought himself a small supply of food which he ate sparingly. Luckily, the park where he was now had water fountains so he did not have to spend his precious money on drinks. This park was where Ryou had been sleeping. The children's play ground had a long play tunnel which he curled up in every night. It was actually not a bad place to sleep. Despite being uncomfortable, it did a good job keeping the cold and rain out.

Ryou got up from his bench and grabbed his backpack, heading over to the swings. Putting the bag beside him, he sat on the middle swing and pushed off the ground. The simple motion of swaying his body weight to keep the swing going left his mind to think. Sure he was alright now but what about when the money ran out? He would get a job if he could but what sort of place would hire a twelve year old? What if the police found him sleeping in the park? Ryou had seen that there was a missing person article about him in the newspaper. They would bring him back to his father! His father would probably beat him within an inch of his life for running away. And even if the police took him away from his father, Ryou would probably be put into foster care or an orphanage or something! There was no way he wanted that! He didn't want some strangers pretending to be his parents. Even if they were good and kind to him, he knew he would never deserve them. He had already ruined his first family; he didn't want to destroy anyone else's lives.

Ryou shivered at his memories then sighed once again. He couldn't worry about the future right now. He still had money left and the police had not found him yet. He would play it by ear and worry when the time came.

Ryou was brought out of his thoughts by a sharp pain in his stomach. He hadn't eaten yet today and he was starving. Ryou jumped off the swing and dug around in his backpack. He was worried to see that his food supply was even lower than he had thought. He stood and shouldered his pack. He really didn't want to use any more money. In that case he would have to go scavenging. After a day without food when he first ran away, Ryou had quickly learned to get over his disgust at looking through the trash for food. You did what you had to do to survive. He still had bought some fresh food however, in case he got sick or couldn't find anything edible.

Ryou left the park and started to walk down the narrow streets of Domino. He wanted to get this done before it got too dark. The streets were dangerous at night. The street he chose was filled with restaurants and other such stores. He had already had luck finding something worth eating here. Ryou ducked into a small alley near a popular café. He went deeper into the alley to where the café's dumpster was located and lifted the lid. He dug into one of the black trash bags and started sorting through it to find something edible. Ryou let out a soft, happy shout when he found a large roll of bread that was hardly even touched. Sure it was burnt a little but it was perfectly fine to him. Putting the bread in his pack, he shifted around the trash putting several more things in his pack. Finally finished, he picked up and put on the backpack ready to head back to the park and fill his stomach.

"Where do you think you're going, kid?"

Ryou spun on the spot. Behind him further down the alley was a large, brutish man. His hair was short, black, and looked like it was oily enough to grease the gears of a bike. His eyes were narrowed brown slits and the expression on his face was one of cruel delight. Ryou shivered. This guy reminded him of his father…

The man crossed the space between them and stood in front of Ryou. Ryou backed up till his back hit the wall of the alleyway and looked up at the face a good foot higher than his own.

"I said, where do you think you're going you little shit?"

"I…U-um…" Ryou stammered. "I – I'm going home…."

The man laughed. "Yeah right kid. If you had a home to go to, then why the hell would you be digging through the trash?"

Ryou couldn't find an answer to this. The man laughed again and moved closer to Ryou putting his hand on the wall and blocking Ryou's escape with his arm.

"So, if you don't have a home, then I guess no one would miss you, hmm?" The man spoke slyly.

Oh shit….Ryou thought as he dropped his pack and hurriedly ducked under the man's outstretched arm, running for all he was worth to the alley entrance. The man grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled Ryou close to his chest before wrapping one of his arms tightly around the boy's waist effectively pinning Ryou's arms. The man's other arm went around Ryou's throat; his hand covered the boy's mouth to muffle his cry for help. The man then proceeded to drag Ryou, kicking and thrashing, further back into the alley.

Shit, shit, shit, SHIT! Ryou kept screaming in his head. What the hell was this sick bastard going to do?! Ryou's thoughts were quickly answered as the man's hand that was wrapped around his waist started fumbling for Ryou's belt buckle.

"Oh, HELL NO!" Ryou's cry was muffled by his attacker's hand but apparently the man got the gist of what the boy was saying. The man's eyes narrowed. He drove Ryou down to the floor of the alley and straddled the boy's hips, pinning Ryou's arms now with his knees. Keeping one hand covering the boy's mouth, he now reached with his other newly freed hand to his pocket. The man pulled out a small knife and waved it in Ryou's face threateningly.

"You see what will happen if you don't lie there and take it" The man threatened. "I'll fucking kill you, you stupid bitch!"

Ryou had started to cry, tears tracking down his face. The man, satisfied his victim would now cooperate, turned his attention back to Ryou's belt. Ryou waited for a second as the man, swearing, tried to manage holding a knife and unbuttoning Ryou's pants at the same time. Then Ryou, seeing the man distracted, bit down quickly and hard on the hand that covered his mouth. The man yelled and jerked his hand away as Ryou struggled beneath him, screaming as loud as he could.

"HELP, HELP ME, HEL –!" Ryou was suddenly cut off by a searing pain in his side. He looked down to see the man's knife buried in his flesh and blood pooling around him from the wound.

"I warned you – shit! Look what you did to my hand, you stupid fuck!" The man was swearing at Ryou and holding his bleeding hand to his chest. Ryou felt darkness creeping around the edge of his vision and he struggled to stay conscious. But he was losing blood to fast. Before Ryou feel unconscious, he thought he heard an answering shout to his own desperate plea coming from the alley entrance. But it was probably his imagination….

The man on top of Ryou swore. The kid had gone under but apparently his little shout had managed to attract someone's attention. Make that two someones. He could hear their footsteps coming closer to him and the boy. He jumped up, retrieving his knife from the boy's side, and hurriedly ran in the opposite direction. The kid got lucky…he thought savagely as he disappeared into the dark.

The pairs of footsteps in the alley turned out to be two young Egyptian boys. They were similar in appearance; both had beautifully tanned skin, longish blond hair, and large lavender eyes. However, the taller of the two boys was wilder looking and had a more muscular body, sharper features, and spikier hair. The smaller of the boys looked softer, kinder, and younger. The wild looking one was in front looking around for the source of the shot they had heard.

"Hey, Malik, you sure it was – " The taller boy suddenly spotted Ryou on the ground and the considerably noticeable growing pool of blood.

"What is it?" The smaller boy, Malik, came up next to the other boy and saw what had interrupted him. "OH SHIT!"

"Got that right." The other boy bent down beside Ryou and examined the wound in his side.

"Marik, what should we do?" Malik asked staring at the poor broken white haired angel sprawled in the taint of the alley.

Marik rose to his feet and shrugged. "We could just leave him here. He's not our problem."

"Of course, we're not leaving him, you bastard!" Malik hissed. "We're taking him back with us!"

Marik raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that? Bakura's gonna be pissed."

Malik narrowed his eyes. "Bakura can fuck off. We're going to help him and that's that."

Marik rolled his eyes but agreed. Together they bandaged up his wound as best they could using Ryou's shirt. Marik lifted the small boy up in his arms while Malik shouldered the backpack they had found and assumed to be the boy's. Then together, the three disappeared into the night.

DB: So how was it?! Be sure to keep those reviews coming!

Again, sorry if this chappie was a bit boring….I'll do better I swear! I don't have a beta, so sorry for any mistakes in the writing.

I've already started chapter three. Bakura enters! YAY! ^_^

R&R – Suggestions, comments, and criticisms are welcome, but please no flames!

`~DistanceBetween