Title: Survive

Pairing: Dragonshipping/JounouchixYami

Season Seven. Round One.

Don't own anything!

The night air was cool, crisp, and silent. The stars were shining above, the full moon glowing brilliantly.

The perfect night for jumping.

It was rare during this season to have a near perfect night; every other night it seemed to be raining, making it impossible to go out and enjoy the silence.

Grabbing his coat, Jounouchi pocketed his apartment keys and closed the door behind him. Looking both ways to make sure nobody-not a soul-was near to witness his unusual ability.

Relaxing when he saw no other being down the street, the blonde cautiously went to the ground level before he broke out into a hard sprint down the quiet street.

His breaths came out in short, but heavy pants as he accelerated, and before he could even realize it, the soles of his sneakers had left the ground, and he was up in the air.

The chilling air swept against his face in a large and endless gush, and Jounouchi inhaled slowly, savoring the feeling of the cool air filling his lungs completely. His blonde hair whipped around his face, his honey eyes blazing in the moonlight that filled them.

Within seconds, his feet hit the pavement again, and the sensations filled him once again as he was effortlessly lifted off the ground and into the air. Soon enough, he was jumping at distances farther and farther apart, giving him airtime that lasted about two minutes apart at most.

Pushing his feet off an anonymous roof, Jounouchi contentedly sighed as he thought about his destination. He would no doubt see him again...the other jumper that had residence in the city. It was finally nice out, after all.

At first, Jounouchi had come to the conclusion that he was the only person of his kind. It had been a lonely world when it came to being the only supposed jumper up until he met Yami on a particular night he had spent out.

Only his younger sister had known about his jumping ability, and from there, he had kept it secret from his friends...from his parents. He only dared to go out whenever his father was too drunk to notice, and since his mother was never around, it was easy to keep it from her.

But either way, it was an ability that over time, Jounouchi wanted to show others; that would be too risky. The more he thought about telling at least two of his friends, the more he contemplated on the fact that someone important would hear, and he didn't even want to start thinking about how much of an uproar that would cause...locally and globally.

So Jounouchi kept his secret to himself, going out whenever he could at night, using the shadows as cover.

But when he had met Yami two years ago while he was jumping near one of the city's numerous docks...his world had been flipped upside down. The other teenager was able to call his jumping ability out immediately, and things rocketed off from there.

Tonight he was heading towards the city's largest park...there would be more coverage for them if anyone happened to pass by.

Dodging a couple of active looking business buildings, Jounouchi skillfully maneuvered his jumps in a way that the dozens of people below would be oblivious to him as he flew through the air. With a sigh of relief, the park finally came into view, and he made his way to the center of the reservation.

Upon seeing his destination, the blonde suddenly thought of stopping, and with that one thought in mind, sneakers skidded against the dark green grass, and he knew that for the next one hundred yards, he would have looked like a rock skipping water.

When he finally came to a complete stop, Jounouchi straightened his clothes and caught his breath for a moment before crisply walking to where he was supposed to be. He quit his fast walk short when he spotted the familiar silhouette leaning on one of the numerous trees around, and he instantly relaxed at the sight.

Yami was an unusual being. Just from the spiky, gravity-defying tri-colored hair, leather and countless belts, you'd come to believe that he wasn't the nicest guy on the block. But from first experience, as you saw those crimson eyes, you knew that he was a good person.

Another skill to the jumping that he possessed was the ability to walk without creating a sound; even on dried leaves that would usually create crunching sounds. Using it, Jounouchi crept up behind the other silently, a small smile playing on his lips, his honey colored eyes dancing with some amusement.

"You're late," Yami said quietly the second Jounouchi laid a hand on his shoulder. He didn't turn around even as the blonde pulled him into an embrace from behind, he merely continued to stare out at the seemingly endless moonlit painted forestry.

Nuzzling the smaller's shoulder, Jounouchi muttered equally quiet, "I came as soon as you called out. What's wrong?" The last of the abilities they held was an almost telepathic talent. It wasn't quite like they could read minds, but they were able to sense each other to some extent, enabling them to call each other such as now.

Yami turned around in his boyfriend's arms, those crimson eyes looking up at him carefully. Jounouchi searched them briefly, surprised to see a bit of worry in them. The other sighed into his chest as he looked away, and the blonde embraced him tighter.

"Someone found out...someone saw me..." Yami explained softly, keeping his tone even and strong, but after a year and a half of being with the smaller jumper, Jounouchi knew that Yami was worried not just for himself, but him, too. "A lot of someones saw me."

"When was this? Who saw you?" Jounouchi questioned lightly, pulling them apart so that he could see Yami fully.

Yami took his hand, and looked around his shoulder, obviously sensing someone nearby. With a curt nod, the smaller grasped his hand harder and pulled him along until they were up in the air again, relocating to another part of the large park, using the trees and the night's darkness as cover.

When they were secluded yet again, Yami answered, "After you left school."

"You stayed late."

"I was going to leave, but-"

"They stopped you again?"

"Yes, and they...I couldn't...I had to jump."

Silence consumed them save the gentle breeze that wafted through them. Jounouchi stared at Yami evenly, the smaller staring right back. Because of Yami's appearance and his open orientation, he was constantly picked on. Jounouchi was only grateful that nothing had ever caused Yami injury physically or mentally.

"It was outside the front entrance, so there were many-" Yami started to explain again, but was interrupted.

"Witnesses," Jounouchi finished for his boyfriend, unconsciously swallowing as he tried to imagine the countless reactions. He bit the inside of his lower lip, wondering what type of pandemonium this would cause by tomorrow.

Arms wrapped around the taller jumper in an appreciative hug, and the two bodies were brought closer in the simple action. "At least you haven't gotten any pressure on your shoulders," Yami offered with the most minuscule of smiles, frowning when Jounouchi sighed audibly and rested their foreheads together.

"Maybe I should reveal my talent to the world too," Jounouchi said after a while of silence, backing up with a smile of his own, creating a sudden mask of confusion to go up on Yami's face.

"No, Jou," Yami protested. "It was my mistake; I should be the one to ha-"

Jounouchi had taken Yami's hands within his own, and interrupted the other with a sudden kiss on the mouth. Pulling back with his smile still in tact, Jounouchi started, "Do you remember the night we met?"

"Of course I do," Yami said, sounding slightly offended that Jounouchi had to ask at all. They had barely known each other, but out of want of not being the only one of their kind, they had both pledged to protect the other. Yami suddenly understood.

The recognition showed in those crimson eyes, and Jounouchi continued, "You won't be the only one that has to go through anything that may come up. You'll deny it at first, and if that doesn't work, I'll demonstrate for them, and we'll stick together like we promised, eh?"

From time, Jounouchi knew that Yami would most likely protest his suggestion. Yami was the type of person who wanted to suffer everything alone, but Jounouchi would have none of it. When the shorter jumper opened his mouth, the blonde silenced him again with another kiss.

"Please, Yami? It'll be too much; especially if it gets around the media or some secret service stuff. Think about what your brother would do if he saw you try to handle it all yourself," Jounouchi argued lightly even though Yami had said nothing.

Yami's brother, Yugi was two years younger than they were, and even though he was blood related, Yugi didn't get the genes that enabled him to be a jumper. Jounouchi scratched his last thought of only his sister knowing that he was a jumper; Yugi knew too.

At the mention of his brother, Jounouchi could immediately tell that Yami was thinking it over. Yami cared about his younger brother just as much as Yugi cared for him, and Jounouchi's words struck him. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Yami looked back up at him.

Yami was twisting their already entwined fingers together out of habit when he was anxious, and he asked, "Are you sure?"

Smiling lovingly, Jounouchi couldn't help but admire the way Yami glowed under the moonlight that crept through the trees concealing them. Nodding, he answered, "I'll be with you every step of the way."

The smaller jumper sighed through his nose, smiling as he stood on his tiptoes to give his boyfriend a chaste kiss in thanks before leaning his head into Jounouchi's jacket, taking in the familiar and safe scent he provided. A hand caressed the small of his back, and Yami relaxed to the touch.

"Wanna go somewhere?" the taller jumper asked after a while, backing up so that he leaned against a tree, pulling Yami with him.

Yami nodded in approval, backing up after a moment and allowing only one of their hands to stay connected. "Sure. You lead."

Smiling with care, Jounouchi picked a direction that looked most clear to run through and pulled Yami along with him like the other did a while a go. When the two were up to the appropriate speed, their feet left the leafy ground and they soared just above the tree tops, coming down every thirty seconds until they were able to glide through the air for a couple minutes at a time.

After a while Jounouchi felt a body nuzzle up against his side and he contentedly accepted the warmth Yami offered him by wrapping his arm around the other's waist.

Glancing down, Jounouchi thought briefly of what would happen to Yami...possibly both of them if people really did believe in what they saw Yami do. Jounouchi honestly hoped that those witnesses came to the conclusion that they were all dreaming about seeing one of two jumpers.

But either way, if worse came to worse, Jounouchi would not allow Yami to take it all alone; after all, they had to survive somehow, right?