So, Joey's still a boy here. After this he will be a girl though. Once again, Joey will be a girl in this fic. If you don't like it turn back now.
Oh, Idk how Japanese school works, then again I pretty much treat any fandom with a made up city (Domino, Dimsdale, Amity Park, your mom) as my very own Play-Dough to do with what I wish.
Oh, the time line for this is after the Doma arch, before Dawn of the Duel, which we can throw out the window since Yami's gonna have his own body. And just ignore the KC Grand Prix happened. Its filler anyway. LOL! See its funny because the Doma arch kinda filler-ish too! Aha aha ha ah - never mind I won't quit my day job.
Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh. I'm not making any money. Nuff said.
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HIKARI STRONG
Chapter One
"And that's how dey became da Dark Magician and da Dark Magician Girl," Joey finished as they made their way up to the school. The weekend had been fairly uneventful, in fact nothing much had happened since the battle with Dartz, except for the beginning of the group's senior year.
Yugi smiled up at his friend, "You sure do know a lot about the back stories of the cards, Joey," he said cheerfully. It really did impress him how much the blond knew about Duel Monsters.
"What can I say," Joey said with a shrug, "I gotta know somethin' about somethin'."
"There you guys are!" called Tea from the front of the building. She was followed closely by Tristan and Ryou. Her happy face quickly turned into a frown. "Joey, what happened to your face?!"
Joey sighed. He had wanted to avoid this. The only person who knew the truth was Tristan. He was sure Yugi suspected, but was thankful his best friend never said anything.
"Just got inta a fight wit' some creep tryin' ta steal my wallet," Joey replied, burying his hand in his pockets. He exchanged glances with Tristan, who seemed to also exchange glances with Yugi. The even odder reaction was Ryou, who looked deep in thought.
"Hope the other guy looks worse," said the voice of their other friend, Duke Devlin as he approached the group.
Joey shrugged. "Eh, ya know me. No one messes wit' Joey Wheela'," he said confidently. Tea stared for a minute, as if contemplating something. It had Joey worried until she rolled her eyes.
"You should at least go to the nurse and have her look at it," she said as the group began walking into the building. "Really, Joey, I wish you wouldn't fight so much."
"Look, Tea, it's fine," he told her flatly. "It'll go away in a few days and dat's dat. And like I said, da otha' guy looks way worse."
It wasn't entirely untrue. The other guy was probably passed out drunk at the moment back home.
"Get into a fight with another stray, Mutt?" asked the cold voice of an all too familiar stoic teen sitting in the corner of the classroom. Joey growled.
"I'm gonna 'stray' you in a minute, Moneybags!" Joey threatened. Tea sighed in frustration. Tristan was glaring at Kaiba along with Joey. Duke rolled his eyes.
Yugi was the one who spoke next, stopping the fight before it could begin. "You're coming tomorrow, right, Kaiba?" he asked.
Kaiba made a "hn" noise, not looking up from his laptop. "As much as I feel my time can be better spent elsewhere, Mokuba appears to have found a way to drag me along."
Yugi gave a small smile. "Good."
Classes went by as usual, with Joey kind of dazing out of them here and there. There were some subjects Joey did understand (contrary to popular belief), but others his brain just couldn't process. He made it this far on C's, so he figured it would be fine the rest of the way through.
"So, Yugi, what do you think Ishizu wants to talk about?" Tristan asked at lunch. It was safe to say everyone was curious about this.
Yugi shook his head. "I don't know. She said she saw something recently when looking into the past. And Marik could just...sense something. Something dark."
"It's not his 'otha' half' again is it?" Joey asked between bites.
Yugi shook his head again. "I asked that too. It's something else. Something...worse." He didn't look at his friends for a moment. "I guess it's a good thing the Pharaoh wanted them to keep their Millenium Items. Apparently they needed them."
Ryou seemed to shift uncomfortably. "Speaking of which," he said, "has Yami been acting, I don't know, strange?"
Yugi seemed to pale for a moment. "What do you mean?"
"It's just ...well," Ryou shifted again, "Bakura's been in a foul mood recently. Well, more so than usual. He seems...restless. I suppose that's the right word for it."
Yugi seemed to find his plate rather interesting. "Yami has been acting a little strange. He keeps saying he feels like something's going to happen. And he also told me he feels trapped all the time. More trapped than ever." Then Yugi shrugged, giving Ryou a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Ryou. We'll just ask Ishizu about it tomorrow."
Ryou nodded but still looked worried. Joey often wondered how Bakura treated Ryou; if there was some possibility he wasn't too cruel to his host. Joey silently thanked God that he didn't have Ryou and Yugi's problems.
When school ended for the day, Joey walked with Yugi to the Game Shop. He had worked there for a while now. Yugi being the King of Games brought in tons of customers now, so the extra help was needed and Grandpa Muto could afford it. Joey loved it. It was easy work, mostly cleaning, organizing and stocking, but he loved helping people find the perfect item as well. It also helped that a few of the kids that came in knew who he was as well, and felt particularly happy when he got asked for dueling tips and autographs.
"Joey," Yugi asked as the closed up the shop. Joey froze at the softness of his friend's voice.
"Yeah, Yug'," he asked uncertainly.
"If you want you can stay the night," Yugi said, trying to keep his voice light. "I mean, you'll be coming here tomorrow for the meeting anyway and...well..." he cut himself off. Joey looked at the tri-color haired boy for a moment, supposing that answered some of the questions about how much Yugi knew about his home life.
"Thanks, Yug'," Joey said with a smile. "But I gotta get home. If not the ol' man'll kill me." The wince on Yugi's face had not been his intention. "I'll be okay, pal."
Yugi still looked uncertain, but he got that look on his face he usually got when he was listening to Yami. Then he sighed. "Okay, Joey. Just...just know you're always welcomed here."
Joey turned back to the door. "Thanks, Yugi."
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"Where 'ave ya been, boy," slurred Joey's father as the blond entered their small apartment.
Joey sighed. "I went ta work, Dad," Joey told him. "Like I do everyday after school."
The strike that followed told Joey he had said the wrong thing.
"Don'cha talk back ta me, boy," his father said, kicking Joey in the ribs while he was down. Joey grunted. Tonight apparently had been a bad night to come home. Most nights Joey's father would simply be too dazed and drunk to interact at all, with maybe the occasional punch or slap. Then there were nights like this, where his father was particularly pissed off. Joey knew this was bad. The last time it was like this Joey barely made it out.
"I was just...tellin' ye where I was, Dad," Joey explained, getting up from the floor and quickly as possible. His ribs were in pain, but he believed them to merely be bruised. That relieved Joey. The hospital was never an option.
"Oh no ya don'," his father yelled, grabbing Joey by the hair and throwing him across the room. Joey could easily fight back. He had been in a gang after all. He never did though. He could never bring himself to do it. Luckily, he was close to his bedroom door. He launched himself inside, slamming and locking the door.
"Boy!" his father hollered, pounding on the door. Joey sighed, as he felt a trickle of something down his face. He swore when he realized he was bleeding. "Ya betta' open dis door!"
Joey knew the door wasn't going to hold with he way his father was banging on it. The frame was beginning to splinter. Thinking on his feet, he gathered some spare clothes and shoved them into his backpack. He'd just stay the night in the park tonight and show up early to Yugi's to use the shower. He'd done similar things before, claiming the water being turned off and such. Maybe tomorrow his dad would be in a better mood. Or at least a little more lucid from being a lot more drunk.
Slinging the backpack over his shoulder, Joey snuck down the fire escape, trying to go slow at to not hurt himself further. His ribs hurt the worst, but he had definitely had had worse. Knife wounds, gun shots, things the gang had paid for. That was one thing he could say for them. They were a group of horrible, blood-thirsty punks, but they took care of each other. But Joey fought his way out when he found something better. That day Yugi stood up for him and Tristan did a lot for Joey. It was kind of the beginning of something new. If only other things in his life could change.
"Ya betta' not come back this time, boy!" Joey heard his father shout. "If ya come back I swear I'll beat the ever lovin' shit outta ya!" Joey frowned at that. His dad had threatened a lot of things, but never for Joey to not come back. Joey sighed, hoping the man would probably forget it tomorrow. He could nowhere near afford to live on his own, not on the Game Shop wages alone. He had allocated some money from dueling, but it wouldn't last long and though Joey was good - third best had to count for something - he could never make a career out of it.
Joey was halfway to the park when a car pulled up. Joey's initial reaction was to pick up the pace and run, but when the back window rolled down, pure curiosity stopped him from doing so.
"Bit late for you to be out on your own, Mutt, don't you think?" Seto Kaiba asked, his voice expressionless. "There's a leash law, after all."
"Oh, piss off, Kaiba," Joey told him. Yelling hurt, so he wasn't in th mood for arguing. "I could ask ya da same question."
Kaiba rose a brow. "I just got off work," he replied stiffly. "As for you, I know Yugi doesn't make you work this late, and your residence is in the other direction."
Joey didn't ask how Kaiba knew these things. He was Seto Kaiba after all. He probably knew everything about all of them.
Well, almost everything...
"It's none o' yer business, Moneybags," Joey assured him. "Just leave me alone."
Just as Joey was about to start walking again, the back door of the car popped open.
"Get in, Wheeler," Kaiba ordered. Joey froze and turned around.
"Why?" Joey asked, getting annoyed. "I told ya, leave me alone."
"You're bleeding all the way down the side of your face," Kaibe told him, sounding frustrated, "and clearly by the way you're holding your side you're more injured than that. Normally, I wouldn't give a damn but if Mokuba or you're little geek squad finds out tomorrow that I left you like this I will never hear the end of it." He glared at the blond, blue eyes flaring. "Now get in the damn car before I change my mind."
Joey took a step foreward then stopped. "I can't. I can't go to da hospital, Kaiba."
"I didn't say I would take you there," said the brunet. "I just said get in the car. Now."
Joey sighed before finally complying. He knew that if his friends found out Kaiba had offered to be nice - to him of all people - and he had shoved it in the billionaire's face, he'd never hear the end of it either.
Once in the car, Kaiba gave the driver the order to go. He also pulled out a first aid kit from under the seat and without another word he pulled out what appeared to be a wet wipe and began cleaning Joey up.
"Uh, Kaiba?" Joey said uncertainly, pulling away.
Kaiba frowned. "I won't have you bleeding all over the place, Wheeler," he told the other boy. "These seats are Italian leather."
Joey glared but allowed Kaiba to clean him up. He was fine until the brunet put something on his cut that stung horribly. "Ouch! Dat hurts, ya bastard!"
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a baby. Besides, I know you've suffered far worse."
Joey stared at him, amber eyes wide. "Uh, how much do ya know 'bout me?"
Kaiba was quiet for a moment as he tended the wound on Joey's forehead, the blond noticing how uncomfortably close they were. Joey swallowed, noticing things he normally didn't notice. Like how soft Kaiba's hair looked. How gentle his hands were. The look in blue eyes as he tended to Joey's cut. They were angry, but at someone other than Joey.
They were things Joey never wanted to notice. He didn't like noticing them. Because then he temporarily forgot how much of an asshole Seto Kaiba was.
"I know you were in a gang," Kaiba answered, finally finishing his work on the wound, "and I know who you really get in fights with."
Joey glared at this. "Excuse me?!" Great. That's just what he needed. "Are ya gonna blackmail me 'r somethin'?!"
Kaiba's face remained stoic as he replaced the first aid kit under the seat. "Please, Wheeler, you're hardly worth blackmailing. I would gain nothing from it."
Joey had the urge to punch the CEO , but decided he probably shouldn't in a moving car. He didn't put it past Kaiba to throw him out.
"Lift up your shirt."
Joey jumped at that, his breathing hitching. "Wha...what?"
Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose. "Obviously your chest is injured. I need to take a look at it. If you don't want me to take you to the hospital I'd rather make sure I don't actually have to." Joey hesitated, swallowing hard. He really, really didn't want to do this. If money weren't an issue, he would have changed his tune about the hospital. "Now, Wheeler!"
"Okay, okay, sheesh, pipe the fuck down." Joey took a breath before lifting his shirt, showing where his father had kicked him. It was turning a dark purple now, but didn't look nearly as bad as it felt. Joey held back a squeak as Kaiba reached over and touched the spot without any warning. "Gah! Geez, Rich-Boy yer hands 'r freezin'!"
Kaiba ignored him, not even sparing him a glance. "It appears you just have some bruising," he said matter-of-factly, pulling his hand away. "Which means I don't have to force you to go to the hospital."
Joey rolled his eyes and pulled his shirt back down. "Yeah, yeah, whateva'."
Kaiba sighed, sounded exhausted. Joey spared him a glance out of the corner of his eye. It was weird to see the usually confident, powerful teen looking so tired. "Where am I taking you?" the brunet asked.
"Huh?"
Kaibe face-palmed. "Since I see you well enough to not be forced to go to the hospital, where you explicitly said to not take you, I would like to get you out of my car as soon as possible. I believe my allergies are acting up."
"Ha, ha, very funny, Kaiba," Joey said sarcastically.
"I thought so," Kaiba replied with a smirk.
Joey growled. "Whateva', Rich-Boy just take me ta Yugi's."
Kaiba eyed the blond. "Are you sure? I figured you wouldn't want to explain your condition."
"He knows," Joey told Kaiba, not looking at him. "Or at least suspects. He offered ta let me stay da night."
Kaiba nodded. "Why did you refuse?"
"Why do ya care?" Joey snapped. Why of all the people in universe did Kaiba have the one to find him?
"I'm simply curious," said Kaiba, eyes narrowed. "And what have I told you about barking at your master?"
"Yah right. In yer dreams, Kaiba," Joey said with an eye roll.
Kabe leaned back in his seat and folded his arms. "So are you going to tell me why you turned Yugi down, knowing what you would be going home to?"
Joey hated that Kaiba knew about this. He hated it moe that Kaiba was borderline interrogating him about it. "My ol' man ain't always this bad. I figured he'd be passed out drunk of at least more...lethargic."
"Ooh, a vocabulary word. I didn't know you could do tricks, Mutt."
"Yer a real asshole, ya know that?" Joey told him with a snarl. "Anyway, there's that and plus...Yugi and Gramps have done a lot fer me over da years. It don't feel right imposin' on them." Joey looked at Kaiba, wondering if his story touched a nerve at all. Kaiba's face was blank like always and Joey mentally smacked himself. What had he been expecting exactly.
They reached the Game Shop a while after that, neither boy saying anything more. Joey sighed as he began to exit the care. "Kaiba," he said, tring to find the right words. When nothing came he simply said, "Thanks, Kaiba."
Kaiba snorted. "Don't mention it, Wheeler." He told the blond. "Seriously, I mean it. I'll ruin you if you do."
"Yeah, yeah," Joey rolled his eyes and grinned. "See ya tomorrow, Moneybags."
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"Why didn't you just tell me?" Yugi asked as they were settled in his bedroom. "Joey, you can't stay there. Jest let me talk to Grandpa. He'll let you stay here-,"
"No, Yugi," Joey said firmly. "I can't do dat to you guys. Ya've done enough fer me as it is."
"But you can't drop out of school!" Yugi insisted. "Joey, you're family. You're...you're the brother I never had. Just let me help you, please?"
Joey sighed. Tristan had made similar offers before, but Joey knew his oldest friend could never follow through. Tristan's family didn't really like Joey, and kind of blamed him for Tristan getting into the gang in the first place. Joey knew Yugi would want him to tell Tea, and if she didn't suspect already like Yugi had, it wouldn't turn out well. The girl meant well, but she couldn't help Joey either, and the lecture/friendship speech that would come from it would only annoy him.
Yugi, however, could help him. The Game Shop apartment wasn't big, but Joey had never needed a lot of space. He and Yugi would have to share a room, which he knew the smaller boy wouldn't mind. He shared his mind and body with a five-thousand year old Pharaoh, after all. The problem was that Joey pretty much knew he would be a burden: living there, eating there and getting paid wages for the Game Shop work on top of it. He couldn't do that to the Mutos.
But the alternative was probably being homeless. After his father's outburst, Joey knew he was in deep shit if the man did end up remembering the threat the following night. If he went back...he might not come out alive. Where else could he go?
"I'll ...think about it, Yug'," he said. "Just...let's get some sleep. We gotta get the Game Shop in tip-top shape."
Yugi looked a little hopeful, nodding. "You're right." He reached over and shut off the light, burying himself in a the covers of his bed. Joey rolled over on the floor, Yugi's bed not being big enough for the two of them to sleep comfortably. "Good night, Joey."
"Night, Yug'."
Joey stayed awake for a moment, wrestling with the decision he would have to make. He didn't want to drop out of school, but being a burden sounded just as bad.
I almost wish I had a Millenium Item ta make a wish on, Joey thought. I'd wish fer my life ta change. I dunno how. But any change at dis point would be nice.
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That night, the moon was an eerie red color, like a ball of flame on the dark blue sky. Hidden beyond the woods in the rural area outside Domino, a man with blue hair and almost black eyes smirked.
"It appears the Dark Magician's little trick is about to begin," he said to himself, taking a sip of his wine. "No matter, I almost have the sacrifices I need. The device will be ready soon, and this will only give me access to the very power I need to fully control it." He gave a dark chuckle, turning to the three woman standing behind him. "You know what to do."
The woman bowed. "Yes, Mr. Valdis."
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OMG...yeah not much happened here except my hints at Puppyshipping.
While writing the part about Yugi sharing his body with the Pharaoh, the pervert in me went "Yeah he does!" I'm horrible.
Please review!