Mile in My Paws

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Author's Note: Thank you to my reviewers, I appreciate you taking the time to review. Here's the next chapter!

Summary: Jounouchi makes a wish that transforms Kaiba into a dog, but something goes wrong and Atemu is also changed into a dog. When Anzu finds them on the streets, will she ever figure out one of these canines is her crush? And what happens when Jounouchi adopts Kaiba? AnzuxAtemu and other pairings if ya squint.

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Warning: This chapter will be somewhat angsty and have violence and blood in it. Not for the faint of heart. Lets just say this story will have a mix of angst and cutsy fluffy stuff.

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Survival of the Fittest

Chapter 4

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Domino City

Friday, 3:48 PM

"Well if it isn't Jounouchi."

Jounouchi froze, he knew that voice; he'd heard it before.

-Flashback-

Domino City

3 Weeks Ago, Monday, 4:55 PM

They stood in the ally ten feet apart from each other, Katsuya Jounouchi from Domino High school and Hige Sumono from Aintama High school. Sumono was the boy that always got into all the fights at his school, he would run around with his gang and beat up and mug kids from other High schools as well. He was well built, tall and bulky with short black hair that was slightly spiked up with gel.

"So you decided to show up Jounouchi." Hige said in a mock tone, a smirk washing over his features.

"Cut the crap. You know the deal; if I win you agree not to harm any of my friends." Jounouchi said, a ferocious look burning in his eyes.

Of course Jounouchi had stopped getting into fights as often when he got into High school, but when they were necessary he would still do it to defend himself and his friends. He had never lost a fist fight before, in Jr. High he was feared by many because of that and he didn't intend to lose now.

"Of course, of course." Hige said in the same mock tone. "But don't think I'll go easy on you."

"Don't blame me if you end up running to crying to your mommy afterwards." Jounouchi said. "I know how you are losing members of your little gang now and have to bribe them to stay, must be losing your touch."

"Why you bastard! I'll kill you!" Hige shouted and charged towards the blonde.

He threw a punch at Jounouchi, however it was carelessly aimed. Jounouchi quickly ducked and delivered a blow to the larger teen's stomach which caused him to gasp and stumble backwards. The blonde took advantage of that and aimed a blow towards the boy's jaw bone; he could hear the cracking noise as it hit the bone while crimson blood splattered everywhere. It was a good shot.

Hige was infuriated now; he regained his balance and charged at the blonde again. Jounouchi ducked, but instead of punching, Hige kicked the other boy square in the chest and knocked him over. While Jounouchi lay on the ground coughing and gasping for air due to being hit near the lungs Hige raised his foot to stomp on the blonde who rolled out of the way just in time.

Jounouchi got back up and dodged another punch from Hige, who stumbled after he missed. The blonde took advantage of that and threw a punch at his head, it was a hard hit too; he could hear the sound of it echo throughout the ally. Hige tried to keep his balance for a couple seconds but failed and fell to the ground unconscious.

Jounouchi looked down at the body for a moment to be sure that he was really knocked out and then casually walked off without looking back. Hige lost, so now his friends would be safe from them, he'd make sure of that.

-End Flashback-

"Sumono." Jounouchi growled, almost doglike.

"Good, I'm glad you remember me Jounouchi that will make things easier." Hige said in his usual mocking tone which he seemed to enjoy using so much.

Hige Sumono hadn't changed much from when he last saw him, still big and bulky with short black spiky hair. Though this time he had two others with him who were members of his gang, one was tall and lean with long messy brown hair, the other was shorter with short curly raven hair though he had more muscle than the other one. The tall one also was holding a chain leash with a German Shepard like dog connected to it, which was barking ravenously, pulling on the leash and baring his teeth fully at the Doberman.

Does he want a rematch or something? "I already fought you and won Sumono, you agreed not to harm my friends." Jounouchi said angrily.

"Yes we agreed not to harm your friends, but the same doesn't go for you." Hige said, pushing up the sleeves of his jacket.

Jounouchi glared at the three, the same fire returning to his eyes. He was ready for whatever they had to throw at him.

Seto stared at the scene ahead of him through his azure eyes. The mutt a fighter? He looked up at the blonde who had such ferocious look in his eyes, a look he'd never seen before from him. The Doberman then focused on the other dog who was yelling incoherent things and lunging at him as the owner tried to restrain it.

"Unleash me and I'll tear him to pieces!" The German Shepard shouted, lips curled back to show his sharp yellow stained teeth. "He'll be no trouble at all for me to kill!"

Kill? Seto looked the other dog in the eyes, his hackles raised and the hair on his back standing up. "Shut up!" He snarled at the other dog. "I'm not fighting you."

"Ha! You wimp! It doesn't matter if you fight back or not, I'll still kill you!" The German Shepard shouted back. "Once they release me, you're dead!"

"Oh I see you got a dog now Jounouchi." Hige said now staring at the Doberman. "Eh, well maybe having our fighter dog here kill him will be more effective than just beating you up." He finished with a smirk.

"You wouldn't..." Jounouchi growled.

"Oh but we would." The boy holding the dog said. "We've been betting on our dog in fights, so that's what Ravage here is trained to do." Indicating the German Shepard.

"Your business is with me! Harming another living being isn't fair!" Jounouchi yelled moving to stand in front of the Doberman.

What's the mutt doing? Defending me? Seto thought to himself, he walked out from behind the blonde and stood beside him. He was not one to hide behind other people while there is danger.

"Oh, but this way seems to be much more effective." Hige said.

Hige and the shorter boy walked towards Jounouchi and Seto, smirks painted on both of their faces. Jounouchi ran forward and aimed a punch at the leader's face, he hit and the boy stumbled backwards for a moment. The blonde was about ready to strike again until he felt a harsh kick to his back as a searing pain washed over him. Before he was able to do anything else the two teens grabbed him by the arms and held him back.

"Now... you can watch." The Hige said.

Seto stared at Jounouchi for a moment his eyes azure eyes wide, these guys were serious, he was going to have to fight. The blondes brown eyes showed defeat and anger, but most of all concern, the CEO never thought he'd see the day that Jounouchi was concerned for him. He heard a harsh growl directed towards him, he looked back at the other dog only to see his owner finally unleash him and the German Shepard come charging towards him.

Seto jumped out of the way just in time so the dog went barreling past him, but he turned around quickly and tried again. This time Seto was ready, when the German Shepard reached him, he jumped up and collided with the dog. Snapping, biting, and tearing at each other, pain shot through his body each time he was struck though he paid no heed to it. Seto finally found the strength to push the dog to the ground who got up quicker than he expected and lunged at him again.

This time Seto moved too slow, the dog caught him on the crest of his neck, biting down hard on the flesh. It took all of his strength not to cry out in pain, he could feel the blood dripping down the sides of his neck as the German Shepard's teeth sunk deeper into his skin. The dog finally let go and attempted to bite him again, but this time Seto was ready, he quickly moved out of the way and lunged forward to attack any part he could reach of the German Shepard's body.

Seto caught the dog on one of his front legs, biting down hard on the slender limb. He could hear the bones crushing underneath his jaws and the German Shepard cry out in pain, though he did not stop. Seto could taste coppery red fluid in his mouth as he shook the limb causing his leg bone to break completely. He finally let go of the leg leaving the dog crying on the ground in pain, unable to get up. Though he wasn't done, the instinct of the canine willed him to go on and finish it, so he lunged forward and clamped his jaws down on the dogs soft neck and started to tear until the German Shepard breathed his last breath.

"Hige! He's killing Ravage!" The taller male shouted.

The other two members of the gang looked towards him in suprise and then back at the dog fight. Blood pooled around the dogs and the members of the gang were too caught up in their own sadism to notice it was their dog that was shedding the most blood.

However Jounouchi knew what was going on the whole time, horrified as he was, he took advantage of their sudden shock and broke free of their hold. He aimed for the shorter boy's stomach with a kick but missed and instead kicked him in the crotch. The teen fell to the floor clutching himself. Hige aimed a punch towards him; Jounouchi ducked to dodge it and gave him a swift, but hard blow to the stomach which caused him to fall back against the wall.

Seto gave one last tear to the dog's throat and was now sure the dog was dead; satisfied he lifted his head back up. Moments later he felt a harsh blow to his side, dagger like pain shot through his body as he was thrown off to the side. He looked up to see the tall boy who was holding the German Shepard earlier looking down at him with a look of pure anger, the front of his shoe coated in his blood.

The male was about ready to strike him again but was stopped when Jounouchi punched him in the face, knocking him off balance. The blonde proceeded to punch him several more times until he was knocked unconscious. The boy's body slumped to the ground; a thing line of blood dripping down his forehead, Seto looked up towards where the other two males were previously standing. He saw one of them laying on the floor and the other who he recognized as Hige was standing.

Seto saw a flash of silver and looked more closely to see a switchblade in the man's hand, he was smirking as he walked towards Jounouchi and was about ready to strike him with the knife. Seto quickly forced himself to get up despite the pain and lunged towards the man, he caught him on the ankles and attempted to tear through his pants and get at the flesh. Hige cried out in pain which attracted Jounouchi's attention.

Before Hige could stab the Doberman, Jounouchi attacked him with a punch and pushed him up against the wall causing him to drop the switchblade. Jounouchi stared into his eyes with his own brown ones that burned with that ferocious fire and then delivered the final blow to his head, knocking him out cold.

Jounouchi took a step back and looked around the area; it was an awfully horrific sight. The bodies of the three male teens weren't what bothered him; they were merely knocked out with minor damage. He then saw the mangled body of the gang's German Shepard, it what hard to tell what it really was anymore though. The dog's neck was torn completely open, a fresh pool of blood oozing out, coating the arteries and other body parts that spilled onto the ground as well. One of his front legs was bent to the side, a broken white and bloodied bone poking out of the flesh. The German Shepard was covered in several other minor wounds, but it was obvious that the neck wound caused the dog to meet its end. The poor thing, all it was trained to do was fight and kill other dogs for money, but now he lost and those days were over. Jounouchi turned around and spotted his dog, he was alive, his azure eyes half open in a struggled attempt to stay conscious.

Jounouchi looked down at the Doberman who was now attempting to stand; he was coated in blood with numerous open wounds. He had a horrendous bite mark on the crest of his neck which was opened up deep enough to show the tips of his withers. He had no other major wounds, but his minor injuries were a lot worse than the other dog. He had too many to count, several of them were deep, causing fresh crimson blood to pool around him. He needs help now; someone's house must be nearby here! Yuugi's... Honda's... Wait! Otogi's Dungeon Dice Monsters shop is close to here, I'll have to take him there or he might bleed to death!

Seto finally seemed to come to his senses, during the fight he felt as though he was in some sort of frenzy and could barely feel the pain the other dog was causing, but now he hurt all over. Just my luck, the mutt adopts me and I get caught up in trouble before I even get back to his house... I need to stand.. up. He attempted to push up off the ground, trying to ignore the searing pain, ignore the dripping sounds as the blood oozed out of his open wounds and onto the ground. I can't die here... I have to get back to Mokuba... He managed to get himself up halfway, his legs shaking violently from the pain. Stand up...

Seto attempted to a step towards Jounouchi, the only person who could help him survive now. His legs shaking as he lifted up one brown and tan paw, but he failed to keep his balance. Before he knew it he stumbled forward, tripping on and crushing his own paw in the process. No! The last thing he saw were a pair of dark brown eyes; worry, fear, and shock passing through them and then everything went black...

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Author's Note: Okay I know this chapter wasn't really as cute as expected in this type of story, but I'm trying to develop a sort of angst friendship relationship with Jounouchi and Kaiba. So Kaiba gets to see what Jounouchi's life is really like and possibly understand him better is what I'm aiming for. Don't worry! You'll get to see some cute Atemu/Anzu relations next chapter, you just have to review!