Too Close

Gum and Beat skated quickly to the familiar street of his apartment. He reached in his pocket for his key and held it in his hand as he thought about the short past. "Why did I help her out? She hasn't done squat for me. I do a good thing and look what it's got me. A pain in my chest and a record with the cops. Besides the fact that that idiot's gonna be looking for me because I stood up to him. Why don't I stay to myself like I normally do? What's gettin' into me?"

Opening the door, he skated to his couch and started unstrapping his skates, kicking them off and resting on the couch. He was beginning to get a headache. Gum closed the door, but peeked out the window. "You think they got out okay?" she mumbled, keeping her eyes focused outside. Beat blinked, moving his goggles to his forehead and removing his headphones, "Probably. There's a chance they got caught, but Rhyth ran off at the speed of light with Yoyo so, that chance is very unlikely."

Gum glanced at him and his eyes traveled from her mid section, eventually meeting with hers. "You never give an answer to please, do you?" she said grimly. He ran his fingers through his hair and stared at his ceiling, "I'm not much for false hope." Gum shook her head and crossed her arms, "Boy, you've got some serious issues, and, just between you and me, I'd rather you keep your eyes focused anywhere besides my ass."

Beat arched an eyebrow as she turned around and smirked. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, Gum was an interesting girl. He had never been hit with his own medicine before, and it was a strange feeling. Almost…a nice feeling. Beat closed his eyes tightly and sighed. He wouldn't let himself be victim to a girl's lure. "Where the hell are those two?" he wondered. At least with them around, he wouldn't have to think about Gum. But a simple thought entered his mind, and he had to agree. Life had definitely become more interesting.

&&&

Yoyo led Rhyth down the street he had run through so many times before to get away from police. He realized he was still holding her hand and he blushed, feeling uncomfortable. He let her hand go, but she didn't let his go and he smiled lightly. Neither of them talked the entire time, and Rhyth didn't like this.

She sighed and glanced at the care-free boy who was currently grinning while he looked at everything. Rhyth stopped skating, causing Yoyo to be pulled backwards as she still held onto his hand and his grin disappeared. Instead it was replaced with a worried expression, knowing she wanted to talk. She let his hand go and hugged herself, looking to the ground sadly. "You probably think I'm a walking breakdown, huh?"

Yoyo shook his head, "No! Why would you think that?" Both knew the answer to that one. Yoyo rubbed his neck, "Hey, I'm not gonna make fun of ya cause you cried, Rhyth." She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with embarrassment, "When I'm really nervous or excited, I cry…" Yoyo nodded understandingly. From what he read from her eyes, she was feeling self-conscious. He slid his hands into his pockets and glanced to the side, "When…I think about…my parents…"

She nodded quietly, because she knew this was true. She had seen it two nights before. Heading slightly off topic, she asked him a question she always wondered, "Yoyo? How come boys don't like to cry?" He blinked blankly. It was such a general question. "Well…it's not all guys…and for those who you're talkin' about…I guess its cause not all dudes are good with their feelings and uhm…expressing them?" he tried, struggling with the answer himself. She bobbed her head as they began moving slowly.

"No joke, but I think you're kinda lucky." he said quietly. She tilted her head, "Why do you think that?"

"One thing is girls are excused for crying. It makes you feel a hell of a lot better and you don't get teased for it as much as a guy would." he said with a shrug, "Us guys are expected to suck it up." Rhyth kept quiet and smiled a little. He rubbed his arm, "And if yeh wouldn't mind not telling about this little chat? You know, emotional tugs of war in my life is not what I need right now." She nodded and glanced to the side. Talking with Yoyo was easier than…breathing. Well, almost.

There would always be something she couldn't talk to him about because it was a girl thing or something along those lines, but Rhyth realized she could have a nice conversation with him without feeling stupid or embarrassed as she felt with the people she used to hang out with. When she was allowed to, that is. Peeking at him quickly, her smile grew and her heart pounded lightly. The girl crossed her arms over her stomach and thought for a while.

Yoyo, taking this the wrong way, tilted his head, "You can't be hungry?" She giggled, feeling much better. "No, just thinking." she answered and he nodded with a grin. They turned and entered into the alleyway that led to Beat's door. Rhyth halted for a moment, "You won't…tell?" Yoyo glanced over his shoulder, seeing that she was being completely serious with a tinge of anxiety. "Promise." he smiled, raising his right hand. A light of happiness filled her eyes and she skated by him, first giving him a sudden hug.

This caught Yoyo off his guard as he tensed up and blushed with his mouth agape, but he quickly shut it as soon as she let him go. "Thanks." she said gratefully, yet softly, knocking on the door. "Y-you're welcome…yo…" he muttered, feeling redder by the minute. The door opened, revealing Beat without his headphones or goggles, grumbling about something under his breath. "Hey, Beat! What's wrong, yo?" asked Yoyo, closing the door as soon as Rhyth entered.

"That asshole knocked the wind outta me, that's what's wrong. Cracked me in the chest." Beat growled, throwing himself on the couch, a mistake that cost him some breath taking pain. "Oh…well…uhh, you did the right thing, I guess." Yoyo shrugged, trying to make the situation better. Beat shoved his face into his pillow and sighed, "I have no clue why I butted in."

Rhyth smiled as if she knew the entire reason, "You were protecting Gum, silly!" Knowing this was the wrong answer when Beat glared at her darkly, Rhyth stood behind Yoyo with a timid expression, "It's not a bad thing…" Yoyo looked around, noticing the bathroom door was open. "Hey, where is Gum?" he asked, hoping to get the conversation off of Beat. "I dunno…something about needing supplies or some crap like that." Beat answered, resting his head delicately on the pillow.

"Hmm…oh well. So what's for today's agenda?" asked Yoyo, tossing himself on the smaller couch, leaning his cheek into the palm of his hand. Beat growled and turned over to face the backrest of his couch, "I don't know! I don't make schedules for you to live your life by!" Rhyth glanced at Yoyo with a worried look, but he shrugged and sighed, "Just askin…" Beat grunted, "Well don't!"

Rhyth and Yoyo glanced at each other with a 'he's mad, leave him alone' look. But they honestly didn't know what they could do since the place was so small. As if to answer their thoughts, a bang on the door made them all look towards it. Rhyth glanced between the shades and smiled, "Its Gum." Beat turned over again and Yoyo sat up. She opened the door and Gum came in, holding a small bag of ice, a bottle of pain killers, and a bag of mixed candy.

She dumped the ice and pain killers on Beat's shoulder, banging it against his chest and he moaned. "Oops…" she shrugged, "Those are for you, anyway." She opened the back of candy and took a few for herself and tossed the rest at Yoyo. He dug through the bag and gave it to Rhyth and she did the same. "I don't need no medicine." grumbled Beat, tossing the box to the floor. Gum glanced at him as she sat on the armrest that his head was resting on.

"Take the damn medicine, Beat."

"No! I haven't taken medicine since I was seven years old. Medicine's for short, whiny, weaklings." he said, glancing at Yoyo. Yoyo didn't even look up as he threw a large jawbreaker quickly at him, hitting his head. "Dammit!" growled Beat, "I have a headache!" Yoyo grinned as he looked up, "Then I suggest you take some medicine or it'll only get worse." Beat sat up and grabbed the small bottle, growling, about to throw it at Yoyo, but Gum grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.

He clenched his teeth as Gum tisked, "If you won't take it voluntarily, I'll victimize you into it." Beat grunted angrily. "Are you gonna take it?" she asked in a sweet voice. He glared back at her, "Screw you." Gum shook her head disappointingly, "Hey, I gave you a chance. Yoyo! Rhyth! Come here." The two stood up and followed orders. Beat glared at Yoyo, "I swear I'll kill you!"

"For what? I didn't do anything!" he whined, glancing at Gum. He took her place, holding Beat's arm behind him and Gum took the medicine from Beat's lap, opening the bottle. "I am not letting my thieving go to waste. You're taking this whether you want to or not." Beat snarled at her while trying to pull away from Yoyo, "I hate you." Gum threw out her arm dramatically, "Oh, you've broken my heart! Now I must avenge it!" she grinned, kneeing him in the stomach. He winced and she spilled some medicine in his mouth, having Rhyth hold his head back.

"You bitch!" he fumed, knocking her back, spitting at the same time, but he had already swallowed enough. Gum closed up at the bottle and tossed it to Rhyth, "Bathroom cabinet, Rhyth!" As Rhyth went to place it there, Beat sat up and wiped his face, infuriated. "I tell you people I don't want the freakin' medicine and you shove it down anyway. What the hell is wrong with you idiots!" he yelled, glaring. Yoyo crossed his arms with a careless attitude, "That's kinda harsh, yo, considering we're tryin' to help you out and all."

"I don't want your freakin' help! I want you to leave my home! Get out of my life! Die on the streets for all I care! Just GO!" he screamed, becoming silent after Gum smashed her skate with the back of his head. Rhyth stared at her as she came back, catching the little scene. "It's about time he shut up." Gum sighed, strapping her skate back on. Rhyth glanced over the back of the couch, looking down at the unconscious Beat, "He'll be okay…right?"

Gum nodded, "Yeah, just knocked him cold. And with that medicine, he'll be awake by tomorrow." Yoyo tilted his head and pouted in thought, "So…now what?" Gum smiled mischievously, "Now it's our time to have a little fun. Hero boy here needs a little down time." The three left the apartment, keeping guard for cops and Hayashi, but they saw neither as they skated down the streets.

Gum fetched them some spray cans after Yoyo stopped by each large tag they saw and admired the work. "Please don't fall for those tags." she drawled, scrunching her nose at a Love Shocker original. "Half the point of living on the streets is to express your inner soul. You have to put your whole heart into your work. These tags," she said, pointing at a Poison Jam one, "these aren't filled with soul. They're just blobs on a wall, meaningless, and foul."

Yoyo stared at the art, realizing there was no special feeling about the tag, just colors and staying in the lines. "You need to figure out which tags have soul, and which ones don't. When you do, you'll be ready." smiled Gum and Rhyth tilted her head, "Ready for what?"

"Ready to do your own. Soul starts with inspiration. You can't just start off the brick wall without an idea. You want every piece of your art to be something worth looking at. You want every tag you've ever made to be worthy of your name. You want…to…help me look for Yoyo, cause he's gone." she said, off track. Rhyth blinked, "Huh?" She looked left and right. He was gone. "Yoyo?" she called out, wondering where he went.

Gum skated around, calling him like a lost dog. "Over here, yo!" he called from an alleyway. The girls skated to where he was, and realized he had been staring at some piece of work. It was definitely something worth pausing at. It took up the entire alleyway wall and the colors were blended in so perfectly, it had to be an inspiration of soul blown full blast. Yoyo stood with his mouth open, admiring the artwork. The background was a royal blue, there had to be some mixing in spray colors there, with a silky blood red banner on the outsides.

In the center of the wall were humongous letter Gs, shining a radiant gold coming out in dimensions on their left sides, a crusty version of yellow with white lines outlining them. On the sides of these Gs were cans and flags of all different colors with a banner on the bottom that preached, "We will be heard." in a baby blue over white. "Wow…" Yoyo sighed, his eyes huge, "This…is amazing…"

Gum looked up and smiled happily, "Congradulations, Yoyo! You've found soul." He skated back and forth, "This had to take days to accomplish!" Rhyth tilted her head slightly as she bent over, "…I only see one signature here." Yoyo raced to her side and looked at the name in awe. "You've gotta be shittin' me…"

Gum made her way to them, "What?" Yoyo pointed, "It was one guy. One guy did this whole thing. That's crazy…this is freakin' crazy! He's a genius!" Gum looked at the name and immediately her face lit up. "Oh my God…" she whispered, looking up at the art. "He's here!" A worried expression overcame Rhyth's face, "Who's here?"

"My friend…the one I was telling you about before! The one who's starting his own gang! He's here!"

Rhyth and Yoyo followed Gum as she led them out happily. Maybe there was hope for her plans. Maybe they really could take out this Rokakku guy? Who knows? But the only thing that ran through Yoyo's mind was, "Who names himself after a vegetable?"

000

Author's Note: For all of you who don't know, corn (the food) isn't a vegetable. You learn that in biology class which is what Yoyo would probably be learning if he wasn't on the streets. Not that it's a fact that'll help you out in life or anything. Okay, so, read, review, and let me know how you like. Thanks. (And sorry for late update, studying for midterms.)