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Run This Town

-Chapter 4-

Yuugi tapped his fingers against the bar counter, his eyes at a downcast. He watched his dancing digits with unfocused pupils as he continued to drum against the wood to the dull beat of music. What could they possibly be doing? What could be taking them so long?

He pursed his lips. Maybe he was thinking about it too much. Besides, they said they'd be back soon. They were probably just getting something to eat…or taking the scenic route through the park.

Now if only he could convince himself of that utter disgrace of an excuse, then maybe he would have relaxed a bit. But he didn't. And it was only when he nearly jumped out of his skin the second someone's hand touched his shoulder that he realized exactly how tense he was.

"Yuug', you alright?"

Purple-shaded eyes turned up to look at Jou. "Yeah," Yuugi sighed. He turned in his seat to get a better look at the blond. "It's getting late though…"

"I know, bud." Jou craned his neck to the left and rolled it back and around to the right side. He exhaled a relieved sigh at the 'crack' his actions rewarded him. "Temy and Kura should be back any second now."

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. "Do they usually leave you and Malik behind?" He did think it was rather odd, after all, when Atem had led them to a night bar -- one that Yuugi was obviously not old enough for but had been allowed access to anyways -- and then instructed the two to stay here with him. Did Atem not think he was capable of tagging along with them for the night? Was what they did really that bad?

"Not really," Jou said, answering his question. He lifted a shoulder. "I think 'Temy thought it was better to leave you here with us though since this is your first time goin' out with us." As though remembering something, Jou patted his back pocket, before slipping his fingers inside and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "Don't worry 'bout them though. They go on runs together all the time. They can take care of themselves."

Yuugi narrowed his eyes. "Trust me, I wasn't worried."

Jou snorted, an amused grin spreading across his face. "You don't like them very much, huh?"

Before Yuugi could open his mouth to respond, Malik called out to them from his spot against the pool table, gaining both men's undivided attention. "Any day now, Katsuya," the lavender-eyed man said, his eyes rolling up towards the ceiling.

A muscle in Jou's face tightened. "Don't call me that," he hissed lowly, lighting up one of his cigarettes.

Malik waved him off and went back to picking out his pool stick. After another moment, Yuugi looked back at Jou and focused on the blond's face. "Hey, Jou?"

"Yeah?" he asked, bringing his attention back to his shorter companion.

Yuugi bit his bottom lip. He wasn't exactly sure of how thin the ice he was stepping on was but, as of yet, Jou had not refused him an answer to one of his questions. Maybe he could press his luck just a little bit more. "I was just wondering," he began softly, "what exactly do you guys do on these 'runs'?"

Something in Jou's eyes flickered, but it happened so fast that Yuugi didn't even have the time to figure out what it was. "It depends," Jou answered carefully. He lifted his hand to rake it through his hair, ruffling his blond mane in the process. "Usually we just take what we need."

Yuugi furrowed his eyebrows, confusion filling the lines that made up his face. "From where?"

Jou shrugged. "Stores. Houses. Doesn't really matter."

It took a moment, but Yuugi could feel his breath hitch in the back of his throat. "You mean you steal things from people?"

There must have been something on his face or maybe it was something he had said, because Jou's face instantly lit up with amusement. "You sound shocked, Yuug'? You act as if I didn't rob you the moment I met you."

Yuugi thought about the other's words for a second. That was true. He did know they were delinquents. And he supposed he'd rather his new friends -- if you could call them that -- be theives, then...well, anything else reallly. "I guess so," Yuugi eventually said, uncertainty lacing his voice.

"Yuug', regardless of what you think, we're not bad people," Jou said. He placed the butt of his cigarette in between his lips and inhaled deeply, before breathing out a puff of smoke. "We don't rape little girls, or go into houses and murder families, y'know."

As soon as the words left the other's mouth, Yuugi felt a wave of guilt pass over his conscience. He didn't mean to make it seem that he thought that lowly of Jou. He was just curious. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to insinuate anything. I—"

"Don't worry 'bout it," Jou said, grinning widely. "You got the right to know who you hang out with. No harm, no foul."

Yuugi smiled. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Jou! I'm about to take this pool stick and shove it where the sun don't shine, if you don't get over here!"

Jou swiveled around and glared at Malik. "Come say that to my face!"

"Maybe I would if you got your ass over here!"

Yuugi laughed lightly at the way Jou bristled at the remark and shook his head when the blond approached the other, both of them yelling something insulting about the other. He had already learned by now not to take their fights seriously.

Turning back in his seat, Yuugi twisted his wrist to look at his watch. 2:30 A.M. An exasperated sigh flew from his lips. He needed to get home. He couldn't wait around any longer.

He looked over to where Jou and Malik were still arguing. He had to go, but he knew the two had no intention of leaving any time soon. And if he told Jou he was leaving, the blond might try to convince him to stay until Atem and Bakura got back.

Yuugi brought both hands to his face, sliding them up into his hair as he let loose another sigh. What would happen if his mother had for some reason woken up and realized he wasn't there. She would be worried sick, and he would never forgive himself if his little night trip had put her through more unnecessary stress.

He flashed the pair one last look, before slipping off his chair. He carefully weaved himself through the crowd of young, most likely intoxicated men and women around him, stopping only when he got to one of the side doors with a large red 'EXIT' sign above it. He reached forward and curled his hand around the handle, pulled it downwards, and then pushed forward. The next thing he felt was the crisp, chilling night surround him with a cold welcome. He faintly registered the sound of the door closing behind him, instead focusing his attention on the shivers that shook his entire body. At a gust of wind, he pulled his jacket closer to his body, noticing the fog of breath that seeped from in between his lips and floated up into the night sky before disappearing in a blink of an eye. It was a very cold night.

He shifted his attention from to near-freezing temperature to his surroundings. He quickly looked around him, scanning the dark alleyway he had stumbled into. To his right, there was a brick wall, and, to his left, an opening at the very end. He momentarily wished he didn't leave the bar. At least, he had Jou and Malik as a security blanket. Out here, he had no one but himself.

Yuugi inhaled deeply, mustering every ounce of courage he could. Slowly, he began walking towards the opening, his steps sounding louder than usual against the silence around him. He struggled to keep his heart rate in check, but with each sound he made, he became all the more paranoid. He pulled his jacket even closer to him and quickened his pace. At this point, he was at the very end of the alley, close enough to see that there was a streetlight at the corner. But it also gave him a straight line of view to two tall, partly shadowed men underneath it.

Yuugi immediately stopped dead in his tracks, his hand coming up to smack over his mouth. He inhaled a trembling breath and closed his eyes, praying to God that the men hadn't heard his footfalls or his labored breathing.

He took a step back into the shadows and opened his eyes, his heart beating hard against his chest. He kept his hand over his mouth to prevent from making any noise. He couldn't risk it.

"Where'd you put her?" He heard one of them ask.

"Don't worry 'bout it," was the response, this one taking a drag from his cigarette, before flicking the ash off the end.

"Don't worry? The police are everywhere lookin' for her, and you tell me not to worry. You got some nerves, man."

Yuugi sunk deeper into the shadows, his eyes growing wide with fear. Are they talking about….? No, no, they couldn't be… "Paulie," the man with the cigarette said. "I took care of it."

Yuugi covered a gasp, hearing the meaning behind the man's words. He took another step back and nearly wanted to scream when his heel hit a garbage lid, the metal vibrating lightly against his foot.

"Hey, did you hear that?"

It might as well have been the loudest noise in the world.

Yuugi took in a sharp, shuddering breath, turned around on his heel, and ran for it. He could hear the footsteps stomping against the pavement behind him, and it only made his adrenaline pump harder. He ran until he was back at the sidedoor leading into the bar, only to realize that there was no handle to open the door from the outside.

The sense of dread that overcame was overwhelming, and it filled him from head to toe, until he felt numb. He wanted to scream, to cry out for help, but knew it would fall deaf on the alleyway's ears.

He turned to the two men, who had both slowed in their tracks, only after realizing that the boy they were chasing was trapped with no way out. Yuugi backed away from the door and began to walk backwards deeper into the alley, his eyes never leaving the two closing in on him at an equal pace. If they were going to do him harm, then he damn-well wasn't going to make it easy for them.

"Well, would ya look at what we have here." One of the men whistled appreciatively. "Aren't you a pretty little thing," he said. "Don't you agree, Paulie?"

"I do, indeed," the other said. His eyes lit up, as if he had just found a new plaything. He looked at his companion. "What do you say we do to him?"

"Well, there's no doubt that we gotta kill him afta' what he heard," the taller said, making Yuugi's heart stop dead. He scanned Yuugi up and down, a twisted smirk etching across his face. "But let's not let him go to waste."

Yuugi breathed in sharply when he felt his back hit the brick wall, signaling the end of the alleyway. He brushed the wall with his palms. No place else to run.

He let it sink in, then turned his head to the side and closed his eyes, bracing for the pain…

But it never came.

Hesitantly, Yuugi opened his eyes and lifted his face back up to see both of the men looking behind their shoulders. Yuugi got on his toes to look past them, relief rushing through his body at the sight of his companions. He noticed that Atem stood in front of the rest as they all made their way through the alleyway, each and every one of them slipping past the two men to stand in front of him. Yuugi took in another deep breath when he heard Atem speak. He was going to be okay.

"The boy is with us," Atem began slowly. "If you were smart, you'd walk away while I'm still giving you the option to."

One of the men, the taller one, snickered. "Oh, what, Atem? Is that your new play toy? Fuck him yet?"

Atem chuckled, turning his neck to glance over his shoulder at Yuugi. "No, I haven't had the pleasure yet."

At first, it was a sharp intake of breath, an indignant gasp. But almost immediately after, Yuugi felt his face ignite into a burst of heat at the callous remark, and he could feel his body propel forward, his fists clenched tightly by his sides. He would have told Atem a thing or two about himself too if Jou hadn't pulled him back and hushed him.

"Regardless though," Atem said, turning his attention back to the two men, "you need to leave." He narrowed his eyes. "Now."

"Do you hear him, Keith?" Paulie looked like he almost couldn't contain his laughter.

"Yeah, I hear him," he said, cracking his knuckles. He tossed Atem a nasty glare. "I don't know who the fuck you think you are, Atem, but get this through your fucking skull. We don't take orders from you."

It was quiet for a moment. A few seconds only. But it was enough to make Yuugi hold onto his breath, not wanting to be the one to break the silence. The sudden laugh that erupted from Atem's throat sent violent shivers down Yuugi's spine. He instinctively took a step back, and then looked up when he heard someone say his name.

"Jou," Atem said, giving the blond a sideways glance. "Take Yuugi home."

Yuugi immediately shook his head, catching Atem's eye. "No, I'm not a—"

"Yuug'."

Yuugi stopped at the tightness in Jou's voice. He took his eyes off Atem's to look up at Jou. "We're leaving," he said.

Yuugi was about to fight back, but one look at Jou told him it was futile. He glanced back at Atem, the man's eyes glowing a red he had never seen before. Atem kept his gaze, and Yuugi felt another chill travel through his body, bringing him back into the present. He glanced around, his mind sensing the weight of everyone's stare. Then he looked back at Atem and sighed. He knew that this was not the place or the time to argue with the man.

He gave a small nod and allowed Jou to lead him around the group, his eyes watching the two men who had chased him down the alley the entire time. He felt Jou push against his back urgently with his hands, so he picked up his pace and didn't breathe until he was completely out of the alleyway.

"Let's go," Jou said, his voice still hard like stone. Yuugi nodded, giving the people deep down in the bowels of the alleyway one last glance before taking off after Jou.

Atem's eyes stayed trained on Yuugi's form until he was out of sight. Then they snapped back to the two men before him, just as he reached into his back pocket. A smirk danced across his lips. "As you were saying?"

----

Yuugi opened the door to his house as quietly as he could, but he couldn't but wince with every creak and every moan it made. For some reason, it sounded a lot louder than usual. It kinda mimicked the pounding of his heart.

He couldn't have been more relieved when he closed and locked the door behind him. The weight on his shoulders lifted as he slipped his jacket and shoes off. It felt amazing walking into his living room. The suspense of being caught now gone, he suddenly realized how exhilarating, how dangerous, the entire night had been. He actually felt….alive. Probably for the first time since his grandfather's passing.

But he did embrace the warmth around him, the peace and quiet and security his apartment provided him; exactly opposite of the excitement and danger and thrill that stood waiting for him outside his door.

Walking over to the window, he silently lifted it open and stuck his head outside. He looked down at Jou. "Thanks for bringing me home."

"Don't mention it," the blond said. "See ya later."

Yuugi nodded. He eyed Jou as he began to walk away. He couldn't help but speak up again. "Uh, Jou?" he called out after him.

Jou turned his neck and looked back up at him over his shoulder. "What's up?"

Yuugi felt his eyes fall down to the ground, no longer able to look at Jou in the eye. "What's going to happen to those men?" he asked quietly.

Jou opened his mouth. He hesitated for a moment, before blowing out a loud breath. "Look at it this way, Yuug'," Jou said. "There's just some things that people like you shouldn't be exposed to. 'Temy did you a favor back there."

Yuugi didn't answer. And even if he did know what to say, he doubt he would have.

Jou knew this, too. "See ya tomorrow, kid," he said after another minute. He stuck his hands in his pocket and turned, walking away to a nearby street corner with a low whistle.

Yuugi watched him go and listened to the catchy tune. He couldn't explain it, but there was something about Jou that made him different from the rest of the group; something that made Yuugi wonder if maybe there was something he was missing.

But he wouldn't think about it anymore tonight, for his body was exhausted and so was his mental state. He let out a loud yawn and stretched his muscles. Then he picked up the blanket hanging over the back of the couch and settled down right in the middle of it.

Spreading the blanket over his body, he lifted his legs onto the couch and rested his head against the armrest. He fell asleep to his mind replaying someone whistling a very lovely song.

To Be Continued...

Reviews are loved. I promise a lot more Atem and Yuugi interaction in the next chapter!