I decided to move along and go with the gang chapters. I feel like writing another Jou chapter, because I love that blond! *hugs Jou and nuzzles him* Umm… anyway! Thank you all for the reviews! We got past fifty reviews and you know what that means! We get a fluff chapter! But not right now, because I need to continue to establish the relation that our main heroes have.
I read back through my story and noticed that Yami's got a sense of humor that's both light and also pretty dark, violence makes him
Warning: this chapter is violent and contains some pretty cruel forms of violence. That means that Jou gets the crap beat out of him and gets electrocuted, oh, and Yami gets punched as well, same with Yugi.
NOTE! This chapter is a dedication of a dear friend of mine who passed away months ago, and I didn't find out about this until just recently, so the ending of this story is for my dear friend who loved Puzzleshipping, and though it doesn't have much to do with the pairing at hand, it's a sweet moment where Yugi sees Yami as he best friend, though Yami wishes for more…
NOTE II! I actually got bored of looking at the manga online, so a part of this story has a slight variation of the lines that Shonen Jump had, the rest is from Shonen Jump.
On with the fic!
Imagination's Reality
Chapter Eleven: The Cruel Gang
That day, I got on the bus at the usual time, I got to school at 8:20 as usual, I greeted everyone just like always… but one thing was different. Jou wasn't as school!
"This is bad! Why is Jou absent!?" Honda freaked. "That's guy's got super human health! But not so good with tests…"
Yugi frowned and felt a small, worried brush at the back of his head. -/What's going on Aibou? /- Yami asked, sounding a little sleepy.
"This is the first time Jou has been absent…" Yugi spoke out loud showing his worry and explaining to the other. He then turned to Honda. "Do you have any idea where he is, Honda?"
"Well… I dunno how to contact him." Honda frowned.
"He keeps to himself too much." Anzu sighed and Miho nodded, saying 'yes' a few times.
Then Honda turned to them all, a serious expression on his face. "After school, I'll go to his house! I know where he lives." The others agreed and stated that they were coming to. Yami watched from within Yugi, feeling a bad set of energy from this whole thing with the blond.
After school, the four walked down a few streets, everyone being quiet until Yugi spoke up. "Honda, you've known Jou since elementary school..." He mumbled softly.
"Yeah," Honda began, "but he almost never invited me to his place…" They came to a stop and looked up at an apartment building.
"Here we are!" Honda announced. "I was here once, a long time ago. First door on the third floor…" He spoke to the others as they followed him inside. They soon came to the door, a nervous feeling surrounding them all.
But Miho smiled and walked over to the door. "Look! It's open!" She turned the knob, and they all took a peek through the crack in the door. But a beer bottle came flying at the door and smashed into it, scaring everyone and alerting Yami.
A loud and gruff voice was heard from the other side. "Y-you! This d-damn brat! Hasn't been h… home in two days…!"
The others just ran for their lives, but once outside, Anzu asked who that man was. Honda's face showed a solemn expression. "That's his old man… he's been like that for a long time… I guess that's why Jou never invites anyone over…"
Honda spoke again, saying that they needed to keep looking since Jou hadn't been home for two days. The level of worry had gone up now, making everyone upset.
-Mou Hitori no Boku… I'm getting a bad feeling that something horrible has happened to Jou…-
-/Don't think like that Aibou, just keep looking, I'll try my best to find him as well./- Yugi smiled a little at how Yami was gonna help, but he didn't really know how his other half was actually going to do that.
Everyone looked in all the places that Jou was normally hanging out in, but they still didn't find him and no one there had seen him for a while. It seemed like this search was a dead end now. "No good… he's nowhere." Honda sighed.
"We've trued all his usual hangouts." Anzu spoke, looking around. It was not just the three of them since Miho had to return home at a specific time.
Yugi looked away; mumbling the name of his other best friend, and Honda noticed this, trying to put on a smile. "I'll keep looking. You guys get home before it gets dark… don't worry about him. He'll show up tomorrow!"
Yugi nodded and Anzu smiled at him, trying to reassure the small boy. "Honda's right Yugi. You see? It's gonna be okay." She spoke as they started to walk away but a loud voice stopped them.
"HEY MAN!"
They turned to see a gang of teenage boys in school uniforms beating up on another boy from another school. "Fuckin' stepped on my foot? Why don't you look where you walk?!" A member of the group, who wore glasses and a hat, smoking a cigarette, spoke up as he held the poor boy to his face.
"I… I'm sorry…"
"What you gonna give me to forget about it?" Yami watched, feeling very angry at how these people were treating another for a simple mistake.
Honda sighed and glared at them. "That's Rintama's school uniform. That place is really bad… better leave 'em alone…" Suddenly Yugi gasped, catching everyone's attention.
"Honda! It's him! It's Jou!" There he was, the blond was actually in the ground of Rintama students what were now kicking the poor boy into the street, though Jou wasn't doing anything.
"W… why…?! Why is he with those punks from Rintama?!!" Honda exclaimed.
A man with blue-hair, probably dyed, placed a hand on Jou's shoulder and smirked at him. "Come on Jounouchi! Let's go to our place. It's called 'J'z'. You'll like it." Something clicked in Yugi's head and he started running towards his friend, much to Yami's protest for him to stop.
"Jounouchi! Jounouchi!" Yugi called, catching the blonde's attention. "Why'd you skip school, Jou?! Why are you with people like them?!" Yugi's voice almost sounded overlapped as his eyes flashed very quickly from purple to red then back again, though it seemed to have gone unnoticed. Yami was just as worried at his Aibou was, he needed to know as well.
The punk in the glasses turned to look at Yugi while Jou turned away. "… People like them? Does he mean us? You know that kid, Jounouchi?"
"Nah. Never seen him…" Jou responded with a bit of a smirk on his lips. "Come on, let's go."
"Jounouchi!" Yugi yelled, only his voice sounded different and his eyes were crimson, Jou actually saw the red but when he blinked Yugi's eyes were violet once more. The man standing next to Jou turned with a smirk on his face and Honda blinked.
"Heh… Jounouchi, you're too nice… don't tell me at Domino High you let kids like that follow you around. You should've come to Rintama with us from the start."
Honda stared in shock at the blue-haired man, he knew him! 'That's him! I've seen him with Jou before! That's Hirutani! But why's he back with him now?!'
"Come back with us, Jounouchi!" Again, Yugi seemed different and the guy in glasses raised and eyebrow.
"Hirutani! That kid's getting on my nerves… Jounouchi said he didn't know him!"
"Heh…" Hirutani smirked as Jou kept his head turned away. The guy in glasses walked up to Yugi and in one quick movement, he punched the boy square in the jaw. "Shut the hell up whiny!" Honda and Anzu gasped at the sight and Jou jolted, but didn't turn.
"Huh-huh…" The guy laughed, "Who said you could talk to Jounouchi? Next time I see your face I'll cut off your hair and feed it to ya!"
Honda and Anzu ran up to Yugi, looking him over just as Yami tried to secretly ease the pain from the inside of Yugi's body. "Yugi! Are you alright?!" Honda asked and noticed that Yugi tried to reach out to Jou.
"J-Jounouchi…"
Anzu turned to the blond and glared at him. "Jounouchi! You're the worst! I can't believe you!"
"What's with you, Jou!?" Honda yelled, glaring as well as Jou turned and walked away with the laughing group of thugs.
Anzu placed a wet cloth to Yugi's stinging cheek and he tried to tell her that he was fine, which was kinda true because the pain was going away quicker then it should have been. They had walked to a playground to try and sort things out with what had happened only moments ago.
Honda stayed quiet until he looked at Yugi and spoke softly. "You see, Jou… was in a gang in middle school. There was a time when lived to fight with gangs from other schools… some times even high school gangs. He had a long record… they almost sent him to jail… that's when he was with Hirutani."
Yugi looked at the brunet, a bit shocked that Jou had almost been sent to jail. Well, he had heard rumors that Jou got into a lot of fights in middle school, but this was when they didn't attend the same school after elementary and they met up again in high school.
Yami listened in, frowned and looking a bit upset, he knew Jou had some problems that would affect his life, such as his father, but he never thought that he would be part of a gang.
"I mean, no we hang out all the time, but…" Honda continued, "I really used to look up to him. But I never had the guts… he used to look out for the younger guys… and he never beat up on weaker dudes… but… I can't understand it… what's his deal…? Maybe he's not coming back… damnit!" Honda growled.
Yugi looked at Honda before turning away slightly. 'Jou… that's right, it was because of this puzzle that I made friends with Jou…' The smaller boy sighed and held the puzzle close as he took everything in, rubbing it slightly and getting a bit of a response from Yami who sent him a positive feeling.
-/ Don't give up on him Aibou, Jou knows that you are his best friend and nothing will change that, something is up and I think I have a strong feeling as to what it is./- Yugi nodded before turning to his friends with a smile.
"I believe in him… Jou hasn't changed! He couldn't have!"
"Yugi…" Honda then smiled and stood up. "That's right! He may not be a genius, but he wouldn't treat his old friends that way!"
"Yup!" Yugi nodded.
"Let's go get him back!" Anzu cheered. "I'll come too!" She stated and Yugi said he would as well.
"I'm sure there's a reason for this… they said they were going to a place called 'J'z', right?" Honda replied and the others nodded, making their way to said locations.
J'z was an underground bar hidden in a dirty, gang oriented, location of Domino where the scum of society hung out. A man in the Rintama school uniform was leaving as Honda, Yugi, and Anzu walked. "Okay… one of them is out! Heh, one's no problem… I could take three of these punks. " Honda spoke as he then started to trail the man with Yugi and Anzu following behind.
"Damn…" The guy said to himself. "Where am I gonna find those weird foreign cigarettes? Wish Hirutani would smoke a regular brand…" Suddenly he turned and came face to face with a smirking Honda. And a fight broke out, a one sided fight in Honda's favor and Yugi and Anzu watched, a bit shocked, and Yami was trying not to laugh.
"Alright! Why's Jou hanging you guys from Rintama? Spill it!" Honda demanded, holding the guy up but he wasn't giving him answers. "Speak up or you're dead!"
"I get it… I'll talk…" The man sighed in defeat.
In the bar, the Rintama students were hanging out and talking, Hirutani turned to look at Jou who sat by himself, feet up on the table and a distant look on his face. "Glad you joined us, Jounouchi!" The man smirked. "Let's have fun, just like old times." He chuckled.
"We'll make them recognize us all over Tokyo!" The guy in the glasses smirked and then turned to Hirutani. "Excuse me, Hirutani… you're out of cigarettes, aren't you? Please. Have one of mine." He handed a smoke to the other and Jou finally moved a bit, glaring at the man in glasses who noticed the look.
"What is it? Huh-huh? There's something stuck on my face, Jounouchi?" Jou just turned away and the glasses' guy glared. 'Hirutani's been bringing in his old friends to expand the gang's turf… even that jerk Jounouchi… but he refused at first…'
Jou then turned again to glare pure hatred at the other. "Whatcha thinkin' about, Jounouchi? You rather be playing house with star-head?" 'But Hirutani's too smart to stand for that… so he gave Jounouchi a warning. Huh-huh… that punk went white as a sheet!'
'Hirutani said if Jounouchi didn't join our gang he'd beat up all the kids in his Domino High class one by one. When he heard that…'
BANG!
"Uh… what?"
Jou shot right up from his seat and his face was expressionless, except his amber-eyes filled with a swirl of anger, remorse, guilt, and fury. "No way. Now way I'm letting that pass…" He glared at the guy in glasses who was soon punched square in the jaw with a really powerful upper cut and sent flying into the nearest wall, all the while Hirutani smirked.
"No way I'm letting you get away with hitting my friend!" Jou hollered, if there was one thing he hated, it had to be anyone hurting his best friends in anyway and him not being able to stop it from happening, he felt like a fool for turning his back on Yugi getting hit only an hour or so ago.
Hirutani smirked and chuckled at Jou's sudden actions. "Jounouchi, I'm glad you're finally getting the old look back in your eyes… too bad for you that it's aimed at us. Hold him down! Jounouchi needs an attitude lesson!" In the blink of an eye, Jou was surrounded and completely out numbered, just as his friends got the information they needed to get Jou.
'I knew you hadn't changed! Jounouchi!' Jou blinked, he could almost hear Yugi's voice… though it sounded like the voice he heard earlier, when Yugi was yelling at him. He snapped back into attention when he looked at the guys surrounding him and about to beat him up.
Jou was lucky enough to dodge a few hits and threw in a few of his own, but he never noticed the guy behind him what slammed his fist into the back on Jou's head, making him stagger and go dizzy, and the gang took this to their advantage and wailed on the poor guy.
When they had Jou incapacitated, Hirutani laughed. "Time for a change of scene! To the torture chamber!"
The rain was starting to fall as a storm started just when Yugi and his friends reached J'z. Honda turned to the other two. "Yugi, Anzu… you guys stay back! I'll go in alone!"
"B-but Honda!" Yugi argued.
"Those guys are from Rintama! You can't take them on!!" Honda fought back. "Yugi! Even though you're my friend, I don't want you falling to my level!" He turned and went down the stairs and into the bar, only to find it empty except for the unconscious body of the man that Jou punched.
Honda returned upstairs and told the others what he found. "Huh?! Then where's Jou now…?!" Yugi freaked, more worried then he was before.
"I don't know, but looking at how messed up the place was, Jou's gotta be in trouble." Honda sighed.
"We have to find him quick! Let's split up and look for him!" Anzu spoke up and everyone agreed and ran their separate ways, looking for the blond who could be in serious danger.
And he was.
Hanging from a rope on the rafters in a very old and worn out storage area in the abandoned factory yard of Domino, Jou glared at the gang before him, spiting out some of the blood in his mouth from being punched.
"Heh-heh… I like this view, Jounouchi." Hirutani smirked, though Jou thought what he said sounded more like a come-on then a threat but he would keep that little comment to himself.
"Hmph! The view from here isn't so bad either!" Jou laughed slightly. "Look! It's a red-assed boss monkey and his pack!" He joked, only to get punched a few times.
"Jounouchi… you've been like this since middle school! Always acting like were equal. Still, nothing could stop us when we were together… even some high school gangs were afraid of us. We had plenty of people working for us… but the one thing I never managed to do…" He glared deeply at Jou, "… was teach you this… I am the boss. You'll always be the second in command."
Jou only laughed loudly. "Of course… that's just what a boss monkey would think! You done? Well lemme tell you I've got a good memory. I know you jerks' faces… I remember how many times each of you hit me. You know I hold a grudge. I'm going to pay you back double!"
Hirutani only smirked. "Don't worry… this isn't even the main course. The next item on the menu will blow your mind!"
Jou blinked and noticed that in everyone's hands was a stun gun, an active stun gun. One of the punks started to move close to Jou. "There are 200,000 volt stun guns. When I flip the switch, the electricity comes on. And when that happens, it's gonna blow your memories right out of your head…" He then held it to the blonde's face. "And maybe your life too… so let's go…"
"YOU GODDAMN JERK!" Jou hollered and swung, kicking the guy in the head and sending him flying. But he didn't notice the another guy come up until he placed his activated stun gun to Jou's wet face from the rain and that's when all hell broke loose.
"AAAAARRRGHH!!!"
Yugi stopped running when he heard the faint echoing scream, like it was in his head and he knew that voice anywhere. "Jou!" He placed his hands on the puzzle and closed his eyes. "Please… Mou Hitori no Boku… tell me where Jou is!!"
Unknown to Yugi, or anyone else, Yami had actually placed a very minor amount his power inside of his Aibou's friends so that he would know where they were and whatnot. He sent out a small amount of his power, seeking for Jou. He blinked when he located the blond, sending an image of what Jou was actually seeing, an abandoned warehouse.
Yugi opened his eyes, revealing crimson.
The rain pored down even harder since the storm increased, Jou's body twitched violently, he had been shocked one to many times then necessary, and once was not needed.
"Hey Hirutani," one guy spoke up, "he can't even talk anymore! He's just twitching now!"
"Should we stop now…?" Another asked.
"Do it!" Hirutani grinned darkly.
"Uh… but if we keep going he'll die…"
"DO IT!"
"STOP!" Suddenly the air turned heavy and dark, almost suffocating at the sound of the sudden voice.
Everyone turned to see the boy from earlier that day, the one that was friends with Jou, only he didn't look small and weak like he did before, no, this time he was different and he was beyond pissed. "How dare you hurt Jounouchi! I won't let you get away with this… any of you!" He growled, never noticing that through his daze, Jou was looking right at him, extremely confused and in very much pain.
Yami walked over to them, standing by the man that Jou had kicked and by some tires just as the gang started to swarm around him. "Oh. Heh-heh, I've seen this kid before. This little brat hangs around Jounouchi…" Hirutani spoke, making Yami glare even deeper but still kept a straight face. "If that's all the help he has, then he's done for…" He then laughed, along with his group.
"Hey kid! This is our hangout…" The man who hit Jou in the bar said before hitting Yami right in the face, "Not your playground!"
A small amount of blood came from Yami's mouth after he recovered from being sent flying into a few of the tires and into a metal containment can. As the others laughed at him, Yami took in his surroundings and smirked to himself. He picked up a piece of a metal bar and took of the puzzle, setting something up before he stood with his back turned to the others.
"Well… now it's my turn to start something!" He turned and smirked. "A game! I challenge you for to a game!" The other blinked, confused by this.
Yami chuckled. "Haven't you figured it out? There's a time bomb hidden at your feet… and the switch attached to that bomb. It's already ticking off the seconds." Yami smirked, getting on a tire.
"A bomb?!"
"What are you talking about, wimp?!"
The spirit watched in amusement at their confusion. "Now the question is: can you find the switch? If you do, you win! My life is yours to take! But if you can't find it, there's a penalty game… the bomb will explode, taking you with it! Now wring your brains for the answer!"
One of the members smirked. "Hirutani… the kid's bluffing! Mouth's writing checks his body can't cash… let's stun him and watch him jerk around."
That when Hirutani noticed something. "W-Wait…! Don't use the stun guns!" Yami raised an eyebrow when he turned to look at him. "Heh-heh… I get what he was saying… he's not bluffing. Look!" He pointed to the ground; a large puddle was beneath their feet and then to the hole in the ceiling above them where rain was pouring down. "We're all soaked with rain… that brat stood there just to lure us into the puddle, so we'd get we water on us/ He let us hit him with that in mind…"
One of the guys gasped. "Ah! That's right! We're all wet! That means-!"
"You've got it… if even one of us turns on a stun gun right now, 200,000 volts will go from his hands to the puddle… and the four of us will be blown away by that kid's 'bomb.'" Hirutani finished and Yami's eyes widened slightly, only slightly.
The blue-haired man laughed. "We've found the switch, kid! We're safe is we don't use the stun guns… so we'll use our fists instead!" The gang started to advance on Yami.
"Ha-ha-ha! We win this game!"
"And now for your 'penalty game,' like you promised, you die!"
Just as one of the guys was about to hit Yami, the red-eyed boy smirked. "Heh… but you didn't find the switch. I'm the winner." The smirk became a bit darker, more evil. "And that switch is about to activate… right… now."
The sound of someone moaning softly caught their attention and everyone turned to the man that Jou had kicked in the face. His hand was being held above the puddle by a metal stick, the stun gun was activated in his hand and the puzzle that Yami had been wearing was hanging above his head, dripping water onto his face to wake him up.
'He set this up when he got hit?!' Hirutani gasped and when the guy woke up, moving his arm, it started to fall. "D-DON'T WAKE UP!"
"Switch on." Yami spoke.
Before any of the gang members could react, the stun gun touched the water and 200,000 volts of electricity ran through everyone's bodies, excluding Yami who was safe on top of a tire.
Yami sighed and shook his head at the site before him. He reached up and touched his face, taking the pain form the wounds as best he could on Yugi's face before walking over to Jou who was looking right at him with a dazed look. "Yugi…" He mumbled, his voice hoarse from screaming in pain.
"Don't talk Jounouchi, save your strength…" Yami bit his lip as he tried to get the blond down without hurting him, once Jou was freed from the restraints, Yami carefully placed him on a dry patch of floor and looked him over, trying to heal some of the pain when Jou close his eyes.
Yami stopped his actions when he heard voices and with the blink of an eye, Yugi took over, wondering what just happened. But he looked down at Jou and held him close, worrying about his friend.
"Yugi!"
"Jou!"
The boy turned to see Honda and Anzu running over to him and the blond, asking if Jou was alright and noticing that Yugi had gotten punched again. A soft sound came from Yugi's side and he turned to see amber-eyes opening up. They turned to look at Yugi, seeing the boy he knew and not the one he saw when he was dazed and confused.
"Jou!" Yugi smiled brightly. "It's me! Let's go back!"
Jou looked at him before smiling, shouting Yugi's name.
Yugi sat in his room that night, hugging himself as he thought over what had happened earlier. Poor Jou was now in a hospital for treatments on his wounds from the fight and from being electrocuted. He was surprised to find that Jou survived and that he was still awake when he left the hospital an hour ago after he was told his friend would be okay.
All the while Yami was very quiet and so Yugi entered his soul room to talk to the other. He walked down the hall very quickly, hoping not to be attacked by the scary shadows coming from the door across the hall and opening his door to find Yami sitting on the floor, playing with a small red car, pushing it around and having a distant face.
-Mou Hitori?-
Yami twitched and looked over at Yugi before smiling softly. Aibou.
Yugi smiled at him as well and sat down. –How are you doing? Are you worried about Jou as well? - Yami only nodded, playing with the car again and Yugi frowned.
-I wish you could talk in sentences rather then broken words…-
Yami looked at him for a second before standing and walking into the hallway, just standing there facing Yugi's room. -/Does this work for Aibou? /-
A delight smile came to Yugi's face as he nodded. –Yes it does! But… aren't you afraid of the creepy shadow things out in the hall?-
The other only shook his head and pointed to his feet, showing that the shadows were leaving him alone and staying a distance away. -/They will not attack me because they fear me, I am a threat. You, however, are one. You are light, a pure substance, something the darkness doesn't want and they will attack you if you stay in their realm for too long./-
Yugi looked at the shadows before looking at Yami. –Where did they come from?-
Red-eyes glanced at the door behind Yami. -/There, from my room and the puzzle. The puzzle can be trusted, but sometimes it has a mind of it's own it seems… I don't mean to bring the shadows out to attack you; they do this all on their own… I'm sorry Aibou…/- Yami frowned but blinked when he felt a pair of arms around his stomach, bringing him into his room.
-There is no need to apologize Mou Hitori; this is just something you can't control, yet. And as long as I have you, I'm safe. - Yugi smiled. Yami looked at him before smiling; all the while his mind was lost in thought.
'I hope so my beautiful Aibou, I really do hope I can protect you…'
TBC
If you notice, Yami's getting stronger. Jou is now onto Yami, he won't forget those red-eyes he saw and he will find out about Yami, very soon in fact. If you've all read the manga, Jou turned out to be just fine after the attack on him; Jou is too awesome to die!
Next chapter: A mysterious figure comes to Domino, and he knows of Yami and what is hidden behind the boy's door. Two golden items are revealed, having a connection to Yami's puzzle.
Please review.