Listening to:
Chains, by Radical Face
Wait, by Broken Fences
Braces, by Emma Louise
No One's Gonna Love You, by Band of Horses
The Mute, by Radical Face
*10* It Was Bad Enough That My Best Friend was a Werewolf. Did He Have to be a Monster Too? *10*
Jounouchi sat on his bed next to his newly packed bags and watched as Yugi entered the room. It wouldn't be easy to tell him that he had to move out or even why. How could he explain what he was? Yugi's eyes widened when he saw him. "Hey, Yugi."
"What's going on?" he asked, "Did Kaiba get you expelled?" Yugi's wide eyes narrowed, "if he did it because he doesn't like you, that's not right. I'll go talk to the headmaster."
"Whoa, calm down." Jou said. "It's not that… I just got a new room assignment."
"Why?" Yugi asked. "Oh, I get it Kaiba did this because he knows we are friends." Yugi said, "This is too much!"
"Calm down, I asked for this."
"What?" Yugi paused. "Why would you do that?" he paused, was it because of all the time he was spending with the others? "I know we haven't really had time to be us while we were here but we are still friends and we've made new friends, nothing has changed."
"More has changed than you know." he said more to himself than Yugi.
Jou sighed and opened his mouth to speak; the look on Yugi's face was already breaking his heart. He couldn't do this. "The truth is…" Jou paused again when memories flooded his mind.
He could see Yugi's wide eyes, his face ashen with fear. Then he remembered the scream Yugi let out as he sank his teeth into Yugi's skin. Jou took a step back; if Seto hadn't have been there to pull him off then Yugi would have ended up like Jou's father: Nothing but a tattered bloody mess on the forest floor.
No. He wouldn't risk killing the one person he ever cared about. It had to be done. Seto was right. Jou couldn't be friends with Yugi any longer. Not in the state he was in now.
"Truth is I don't want to live with you anymore. I won't get anywhere with you hovering above me all the time. I am always in your shadow. I came here to support you at first but now I need to live my own life, and I can't do that if I keep holding onto my past." Jounouchi said
"Jounouch-kun, what are you saying?" Yugi asked
"I don't want to be friends with you anymore." There, the words were out and as Jou said them a wave a pain washed over him. Then there was the shattered look on Yugi's face, which only deepened the pain. It felt as if his heart would stop and break into a thousand pieces.
Jou waited for a time but Yugi said nothing. Jou stood up tall; he had to remember why he was doing this. Yugi's heart might be broken but at least it was still beating. "I have something to take care of; I will have my things out by the end of the day." Jou said before leaving.
Jounouchi staggered out into the hallway and held his hand over his heart, it felt like gravity was crushing him and he let out a sharp breath.
"Jounouchi, are you okay?" Ryou asked as he stepped out from behind the corner, Jounouchi looked up at him with blank eyes and suddenly took off down the hall where he disappeared.
Jounouchi continued to run until he ran into something hard and warm, when he looked up, he noticed that he had run into Seto. "S-Sorry…"
"I would insult you but you seem to be in pain, did something happen? Was there an attack?" Seto used his hands to look Jounouchi over. "I don't see any injuries, where are these feelings coming from then?"
"Feelings? You can feel them too?"
"Yes, we are linked now. It's a pack thing." Seto paused as he heard students approaching, "Let's go to my office." Jounouchi pulled himself away from Seto's arms and followed him silently to his office.
Once inside, Jounouchi sank into a leather chair and sighed. "Tell me what happened." Seto said.
"I had a talk with Yugi…"
"Ah," Seto nodded, "It had to be done."
"Why? I don't understand any of this. Why am I a werewolf? Why are you? What is going on!?"
"Relax." Seto said. "If it will put your mind at ease I will tell you." Seto sat down at his desk and leaned forward, resting his chin on his laced hands. "Long ago there was a war between angels and vampires, many humans died and were pushed to the brink of extinction." Seto sighed, telling the story was harder than hearing it. "A tribe of humans from North America preformed a ritual and created werewolves. The werewolves were created to protect the humans and it worked out well.
The war between vampires and angels raged on for quite some time and the humans managed to survive. After the wars the angels and vampires had almost wiped each other out. They left the humans alone for a while and the blood of the werewolves was dormant, passed on for generations. You see the angels and demons would be back one day to continue their never ending battle."
"So we have that blood in us and if we are turning then…"
"Yes, that war will be starting again, and soon." Seto leaned back in his chair, "We have to get stronger and be prepared to help the humans."
"But that's not why you are doing this."
"No, it's not; I am doing this for Mokuba." Seto said, "Just like you will do this for Yugi." Seto got up and stood behind Jou, petting his hair. "You understand, right?"
"Yes…" Jou said and leaned his head ever so slightly into Seto's comforting hand.
The next day, the sun was brightly shining which pissed Yugi off because it didn't match his mood at all. Jounouchi had moved out as promised and it left a gaping hole in Yugi's chest. Yugi glanced out the window at the students enjoying the sunshine and sighed. Back in Japan, on days like this, the four of them would have so much fun. Yes, this weather wasn't helping at all.
From a distance he could see Yami's school. It looked awfully quiet. Judging from Yami's attitude he guessed that the students were all too busy studying to make a big deal out of a sunny day. Yugi sighed.
"That's quite a sigh." Yugi turned for find Marik standing in his doorway, with Ryou cowering behind him.
"Sorry, Yugi, I told him to knock first." Ryou said
"It's okay." Yugi said flatly.
"So, I heard that you and Jounouchi had a fight." Marik said as he sat on Jou's vacant bed.
"You don't need to be so blunt about it." Ryou said "It's okay, friends fight, I'm sure you'll make up, maybe he's just really stressed." Ryou said. "I wouldn't worry too much."
"Or maybe he's trying to protect you from something, like something really bad is going to happen." Marik's face dropped as he said this then picked up again as he laughed. "You should see your faces."
"Idiot." Yugi said, holding back his laugh.
"Ha, I knew I could cheer you up. Now come on, we are not wasting a day like this in school." Marik said. "Let's go somewhere."
"Where?" Yugi asked but he was way too depressed to do anything really. He looked back out the window and noticed Jou walking with Kaiba. Where were they going? Kaiba must have said something to Jou. This was all Kaiba's fault. "Fine, let's go."
"Alright," Marik said. "Let's go to the city."
"I'm driving this time." Ryou said as he swiped the keys from Marik and headed out the door. Yugi followed silently.
When they arrived in the city there was a festival going on, venders lined the streets and music played in the distance. "Alright." Marik said, "This is going to be epic."
"I don't know about epic but I am sure we'll have fun." Ryou said and tugged Yugi along. Yugi drifted through the day only partially aware of where he was. Jou's words would come up every time he saw two people interact in a friendly manner. Yugi let out a sigh and glanced up at an old book store.
"Huh? Ryou? Marik" Yugi glanced around but he seemed to have lost them. He was being a bad friend. Yugi decided to head back to find them when a voice stopped him.
"You seem lost." Yugi glanced to his left and smiled at the bookstore owner addressing him. "You should come inside. I am sure there is something in here you might find helpful." Yugi doubted it but he was too polite to turn down the offer so he went inside.
Yugi glanced around and the smell of old books filled his senses and he took a deep breath. The shop owner headed back to his place behind the counter. "You just let me know if you need any help." Yugi nodded and headed further into the book store. He stopped at the ancient Egypt section and a strange book caught his eye, the spine had the same eye on it as the puzzle in Yami's room.
Yugi took the book off of the shelf and suddenly felt dizzy. Yugi held his head and made his way back to the front.
"Hey, wait." suddenly someone grabbed Yugi's wrist and slid his sleeve up his arm. "It's you."
Yugi looked at the man holding his wrist, dizziness temporarily forgotten. "Me? I'm sorry, do I know you?" Yugi pulled his arm away a little more forcefully than he wanted to.
"I know it's you. You have the mark." said the man.
"What? Who are you and what are you talking about?"
"Oh, I am sorry, forgive my rudeness," he smiled and bowed, "It is just an honor to meet you. We have been waiting for your return. The power you possess could help us win this time."
"I'm sorry…" Yugi backed, "I should go. I have friends waiting for me."
"Of course. I will see you soon, Savior." the man said smiling brightly and Yugi continued his journey to the front counter to purchase the book.
"This is an interesting choice," said the store owner, "That book has been here for a long time." he smiled.
"Thanks, hey that guy back there, is he okay? I mean does he come here often? Is there something wrong with him… you know, mentally?" Yugi leaned in close to the storeowner, not wanting to offend anyone.
"Huh? You are the only one in the store." Said the man.
"What? He's right there…" Yugi pointed but when he turned to find the strange man all he saw was a single white feather floating to the ground.
