Well, we had a snow day today, so I thought I'd just write this chapter ^_^
I've been really excited about it!
Anyways, here's chapter two
Disclaimer: I dun own YGO in any way, shape or form
Note: There's something weird in this chapter, it's not like a flashback, but it's like a flashback/previous scene about a diff person. You'll understand me when you get there. ^_^
Yami: Weren't you going to tell them the story?
Rain: Er . . . you might not want to hear it
Yami: Why?
Rain: It's not very friendly
Yami: o O? what could be so unfriendly
Rain: *ROFL* Yami. my friend called you a painted pineapple!!!
Yami: 0_0 now that's cold
Rain: Sorry Yami *glomps Yami* maybe this chapter will help ^_^
Yami: *mumble* it's not like Yugi and I are gonna meet in it or anything . . .
Rain: AWWW YAMI YOU JUST WANNA BE WITH YUGI ~kawaii~
Yami: *blush*
Breathe: Chapter 2
Warning: This fic contains shonen-ai and this chapter is kind of angsty, but this should be the only chapter w/it.
* * * * * *
The warm, early morning sun peaked slowly over the Domino horizon, reaching every part of the large and diverse city.
In the beginning, it rose upon the wealthy neighborhoods, spreading its rays over rows and rows of clean, white mansions. Rainbows danced in private fountains as sons and daughters of Japanese businessmen picked up their leather schoolbags and waved their parents goodbye while stepping into their chauffeured limos and went to school to mingle with rich classmates.
Then came the common man's district, by far the largest. If the sun had eyes, it would have seen that the children's uniform's had faded a bit. Shifting from the wealthy's ornate pink, green and blue to the everyday white and blue.
Next was the commercial district, which had been busy long before the sun awoke. The streets were lined with every type of shop, from bakeries, restaurants and florists to the biggest names in Japan. Amidst all the buildings, one tower dominated the skyline, which was hard to do in such a large city. The Kaiba Corp building, built there by Gozabaru Kaiba long before most of the citizens could remember, it was a symbol of their economy; it was a symbol of Domino.
Finally, beyond the commercial districts, lay the slums. The dreaded core of evil in all cities, inhabited by the scum of the earth, drug dealers, prostitutes, and of course, thieves. Unfortunately, the city park was also built in the slums; it had long been abandoned and became a shelter for the homeless.
So the sun visited the slums last, and crept into the rotten tenement building timidly, just as any other visitor would.
Jou awoke to the new day first, blinking quickly trying to filter the light out of his unadjusted eyes. He awoke however, not by himself, but by someone screaming his name.
"Jounouchi get your ass down here this minute"
He fell out of his bed and his the floor, hard, in his attempt to get up quickly. //Hikoro// he thought bitterly.
Like a flash of lightning he disappeared down the stairs towards the "kitchen"
* * * * * * * *
Twenty some boys stood surrounding Hikoro, all looking tired and hungry, but who could blame them, they were all either orphans, homeless, or both. If it had been any other way they wouldn't have ended up with Hikoro,
//Just like me and Yugi// Jou thought.
Yugi's mom was dead, she had died mysteriously when he was nine or ten, Jou couldn't quite remember, it had never been determined how she died, the doctors said they didn't know, but Yugi did. However, he swore he wouldn't tell, and his father had beat him every night to make sure he kept it that way.
At that time, Jou still had a good family, his mom, his dad and his sister Shizuak, whom he protected dearly. No one even knew that Yugi was having problems at home, in fact, all they knew was that his mom had died, and he looked like he was handling it well.
Jou wasn't the first to find out, it was their close friend Anzu. She noticed the strange purple bruises that had begun to show on his hands, and when she asked him, he told her it was from moving logs into the house that winter. She believed him, that is until Honda told her that Yugi refused to change in the locker room in front of the boys anymore, he had meant it as a perverted joke, implying that Yugi might be gay, but it worried Anzu, and her concern grew.
It all fell into place one rainy, fall afternoon. Anzu had offered to bring Yugi's homework to him because he had been absent that day. When she got to his house, no one answered the doorbell even though the door was ajar. As they say, curiosity killed the cat, and Anzu certainly was no exception.
When she entered the house, the unmistakable smell of alcohol was everyone. She couldn't help but wonder why. The last time she was there, which was before Yugi's mom died, it had been clean, tidy and extremely cozy, now there were burns in the carpet, dirty floors, and . . . blood on the walls?
She paled as she walked closer to the wall. It couldn't be, but it really was. The dried, chalky substance clung to the wall like a tick clings to skin. As if that wasn't a big enough shock to her, a painful scream came from upstairs.
A wide-eyed and terrified Anzu shook as she gripped the banister, slowly making her way up, feeling her legs wobble and her heart pound.
She only had to go about half way up before she could witness the horrors. Yugi was cowering in the corner of the hallway, crying, his father was hovering over him, hitting him repeatedly.
"Why did Mrs. Tojo call? She said you seemed bothered by something, were you trying to tell her?? Were you trying to tell her you untrustworthy bastard!" he yelled as his fist connected to Yugi's jaw.
Anzu covered her mouth in horror as she saw tears beginning to mix with blood on Yugi's face, but he still looked his father straight in the eyes. "I . . .I didn't mean to tousan! It just slipped! I didn't mean it!" he cried back.
"Shut up, shut up now!" he yelled louder and hit him again, this time in the stomach.
Yugi lurched over and fell into a heap on the floor, sobbing and bleeding.
Anzu didn't see anymore, she turned and ran, ran down the stairs, out of the house and back to her own home, crying the whole way, she didn't stop when she felt her legs go numb, nor did she stop when her lungs threatened to burst. When she got home, she wrapped herself up in her blankets and cried for hours. How could they have been so blind? Yugi needed their help, and he needed their help now.
When she was finally able to regain some sense, she slowly reached for her phone, stopping momentarily to gaze at the small sticky picture that was on the back of it. It was when they were at the carnival, she couldn't help but stare at Yugi, he was smiling, and looked as if he was genuinely enjoying himself, in fact, they all looked so happy, but that seemed so long ago.
The dial tone haunted and intimidated her even more, but she took a breath and dialed.
"Hello?? Jounouchi residence!"
"J . . Jou"
"Anzu? That you? What's wrong?"
"I . . . There . . . what I mean is . . . Jou, something's terribly wrong"
"Anzu, pull your self together, what's going on?"
"Y . . Yugi, he's . . . his dad . . . I saw it Jou!"
"What's wrong with Yugi's dad, what did you see?"
"Yugi's dad, he hit him, he . . . was bleeding, that's what's been wrong with him, his dad beats him"
"Are you saying Yugi's abused by his dad?"
"I saw it Jou! I saw it! I didn't want to believe it! But it's true!" she couldn't take it anymore and her tears claimed her again, the phone dropped out of her shaking hand and onto the floor, leaving Jou worried on the other line.
"Hang on, I'm coming over"
* * * * * * * *
They had gone to the police after that, and Yugi was taken away from his dad, Jou's family invited him to live with them, and all had gone well for about another year, but the peaceful time shattered to pieces when Jou's parents started arguing.
At first it was mild, and didn't happen often, so Jou didn't think anything of it, but it escalated, it got louder, more constant, and pretty soon, it seemed like they were arguing over everything.
It ended in a bitter divorce, Jou's mom had just packed up and taken Shizuka away with her, the last letter they got from her was a paper asking for his dad's signature so their divorce would be legal.
That left Jou and Yugi alone with his father. The three tried to make it work out, but then alcohol got in the way. Yugi knew from the start that when alcohol decided to get involved, things would only go from bad to worse. So it did, Jou's dad would come home drunk almost every night, he hurt them, just as Yugi's dad had, the only difference now was that Jou was suffering too.
The two boys didn't have any other choice; they couldn't trust anybody, so late that summer, they disappeared together. When Anzu and Honda returned for school in the fall, two of their closest friends were gone, and nobody knew where to.
Hikoro had found them wandering in the streets, and offered them shelter, in return for thievery. It was a golden deal for the two boys, a place to stay, and food to eat, out of harm's way. They had signed the contract in blood, not understanding back then that they had sold their souls to Hikoro, they were his to toy with, unless he freed them, which was just what Jounouchi wanted.
* * * * * * *
A frying pan zooming across the room and colliding with the opposite wall brought Jou out of his deep thoughts.
"Jounouchi!! Get over here!! These kids are driving me nuts, get Yugi down here and feed them!" Hikoro yelled over the wailing of the small boys.
"No need, I'm already here." Yugi appeared at the bottom of the stairs, a bright smile on his face, Jou too smiled at the pure innocence and joy on his friend's face.
"Yugi-san!" one of the small boys cried, and bounced across the room to hop into Yugi's arms. All the boys that Hikoro sheltered looked up to Jou and Yugi, it was like a big brother system among thieves.
Yugi smiled and hugged the boy back.
"Yugi-san, I'm hungry!" he cried.
"Really Waseii? You haven't eaten yet?" Yugi asked softly wiping some toothpaste off the boy's face.
"Nope Yugi-san!!" and he blushed when his stomach started growling.
"Hikoro, did you get the groceries we asked for?" Jou looked up at Hikoro
"Yah, they're over in that brown bag, just feed these rats! Jou, come into my room and we'll talk when you're finished"
Jou's eyes iced over and he stared at Hikoro coldly. "We'll see"
Hikoro just shook his head and left the room.
"Come on you guys! Who wants food?" Yugi asked still smiling as he held Waseii's hand
About two-dozen cheers went up in the room, and the older boys smiled while proceeding to feed their small admirers.
* * * * * * * * *
Breakfast ended and Yugi and Jou slipped into Hikoro's room. It still smelled like alcohol, but Hikoro himself had sobered up.
"I may have been drunk last night, but I still know what you want, you two want to leave don't you?"
Yugi looked nervously at Jou, while Jou's cold gaze was still fixed on Hikoro.
"I think it's about time that we do leave, if you ever would actually agree," Jou answered.
Hikoro laughed. "I may be a thief leader, but I still have my honor" he made his way to the old desk and pulled out two pieces of paper.
Yugi's eyes widened at the sight of them, there on the paper, in blood, were their names.
"Bring me one last thing tonight Jou, and I will burn these"
"Why should we trust you?" Jou asked, voice still bitter.
"What have you got to lose?" Hikoro replied, voice tinged with a strange amusement.
Yugi looked pleadingly at Jou "Please, don't! you'll get caught!" but Jou only smiled.
"I guess this will count as this magician's final disappearing act, what do you want from me this time Hikoro? You know I can handle it all"
A malicious smile appeared on Hikoro's lips. "There's a large party in town tonight, among the 'elite' they are showcasing the world's latest sapphire chips, modeled after duel monster cards."
"Duel monster chips?" Jou asked in curiosity at the sound of his favorite game, he and Yugi had played it for years, since before they had run away, and now, they still had their decks, except the cards were starting to get bent and frayed.
"Sapphire cards actually, they're worth a fortune"
"Sounds simple, where are they?" Jou asked smiling, thinking the job would be easy for him.
"Actually, it's not so simple, they aren't your usual security tricks Jou, this is the latest technology, but I've received word that they're holding a party at the place they're showing them, a masquerade party that is! Stupid fools" he began to cackle at the thought.
Jou too couldn't help but let out a small smile. That really wasn't the smartest move on their part. "You just tell me where to go tonight, and I'll be there, as long as you hold up your end of the bargain."
"You and Yugi will find your costume today, I'm going to let you get something so you won't look suspicious, but the place Jou? the place is the Kaiba mansion, the home of the president of Kaiba Corp."
Yugi's mouth dropped, "No! Jou that's too dangerous!" he pleaded "You don't now what they'll do to you if you're caught at a place like that!"
Jou just laughed. "Piece of cake, Kaiba mansion tonight, it's our ticket to freedom Yugi, it's our way out"
* * * * * * * * *
Woo Woo!!!! XD Yah, wow, that was freakishly long. So they ARE going to the Kaiba mansion and no prizes to guess what'll happen there!!!
Oh yah, and I know I sed they'd meet in this chapter, but it's already like 7 pages long ^_^() I dun't want y'all to like go blind or anything.
Yami: *holding up mirror* ~gasp~ I never noticed how my bang looked like a pineapple leaf!!
Rain: -_-() Yami, that's all in your head
Yami: Does my face look pineapple shaped?
Rain: moving on now . . .
Oh by the way, can anyone guess what classic novel I'm sort of basing some of this off of?? I'll give you a prize if you can guess!!
Okay, well I hope you guys enjoyed this!! And as always, REVIEW PEOPLE!! ~.^
Ja Ne!
Anyways, here's chapter two
Disclaimer: I dun own YGO in any way, shape or form
Note: There's something weird in this chapter, it's not like a flashback, but it's like a flashback/previous scene about a diff person. You'll understand me when you get there. ^_^
Yami: Weren't you going to tell them the story?
Rain: Er . . . you might not want to hear it
Yami: Why?
Rain: It's not very friendly
Yami: o O? what could be so unfriendly
Rain: *ROFL* Yami. my friend called you a painted pineapple!!!
Yami: 0_0 now that's cold
Rain: Sorry Yami *glomps Yami* maybe this chapter will help ^_^
Yami: *mumble* it's not like Yugi and I are gonna meet in it or anything . . .
Rain: AWWW YAMI YOU JUST WANNA BE WITH YUGI ~kawaii~
Yami: *blush*
Breathe: Chapter 2
Warning: This fic contains shonen-ai and this chapter is kind of angsty, but this should be the only chapter w/it.
* * * * * *
The warm, early morning sun peaked slowly over the Domino horizon, reaching every part of the large and diverse city.
In the beginning, it rose upon the wealthy neighborhoods, spreading its rays over rows and rows of clean, white mansions. Rainbows danced in private fountains as sons and daughters of Japanese businessmen picked up their leather schoolbags and waved their parents goodbye while stepping into their chauffeured limos and went to school to mingle with rich classmates.
Then came the common man's district, by far the largest. If the sun had eyes, it would have seen that the children's uniform's had faded a bit. Shifting from the wealthy's ornate pink, green and blue to the everyday white and blue.
Next was the commercial district, which had been busy long before the sun awoke. The streets were lined with every type of shop, from bakeries, restaurants and florists to the biggest names in Japan. Amidst all the buildings, one tower dominated the skyline, which was hard to do in such a large city. The Kaiba Corp building, built there by Gozabaru Kaiba long before most of the citizens could remember, it was a symbol of their economy; it was a symbol of Domino.
Finally, beyond the commercial districts, lay the slums. The dreaded core of evil in all cities, inhabited by the scum of the earth, drug dealers, prostitutes, and of course, thieves. Unfortunately, the city park was also built in the slums; it had long been abandoned and became a shelter for the homeless.
So the sun visited the slums last, and crept into the rotten tenement building timidly, just as any other visitor would.
Jou awoke to the new day first, blinking quickly trying to filter the light out of his unadjusted eyes. He awoke however, not by himself, but by someone screaming his name.
"Jounouchi get your ass down here this minute"
He fell out of his bed and his the floor, hard, in his attempt to get up quickly. //Hikoro// he thought bitterly.
Like a flash of lightning he disappeared down the stairs towards the "kitchen"
* * * * * * * *
Twenty some boys stood surrounding Hikoro, all looking tired and hungry, but who could blame them, they were all either orphans, homeless, or both. If it had been any other way they wouldn't have ended up with Hikoro,
//Just like me and Yugi// Jou thought.
Yugi's mom was dead, she had died mysteriously when he was nine or ten, Jou couldn't quite remember, it had never been determined how she died, the doctors said they didn't know, but Yugi did. However, he swore he wouldn't tell, and his father had beat him every night to make sure he kept it that way.
At that time, Jou still had a good family, his mom, his dad and his sister Shizuak, whom he protected dearly. No one even knew that Yugi was having problems at home, in fact, all they knew was that his mom had died, and he looked like he was handling it well.
Jou wasn't the first to find out, it was their close friend Anzu. She noticed the strange purple bruises that had begun to show on his hands, and when she asked him, he told her it was from moving logs into the house that winter. She believed him, that is until Honda told her that Yugi refused to change in the locker room in front of the boys anymore, he had meant it as a perverted joke, implying that Yugi might be gay, but it worried Anzu, and her concern grew.
It all fell into place one rainy, fall afternoon. Anzu had offered to bring Yugi's homework to him because he had been absent that day. When she got to his house, no one answered the doorbell even though the door was ajar. As they say, curiosity killed the cat, and Anzu certainly was no exception.
When she entered the house, the unmistakable smell of alcohol was everyone. She couldn't help but wonder why. The last time she was there, which was before Yugi's mom died, it had been clean, tidy and extremely cozy, now there were burns in the carpet, dirty floors, and . . . blood on the walls?
She paled as she walked closer to the wall. It couldn't be, but it really was. The dried, chalky substance clung to the wall like a tick clings to skin. As if that wasn't a big enough shock to her, a painful scream came from upstairs.
A wide-eyed and terrified Anzu shook as she gripped the banister, slowly making her way up, feeling her legs wobble and her heart pound.
She only had to go about half way up before she could witness the horrors. Yugi was cowering in the corner of the hallway, crying, his father was hovering over him, hitting him repeatedly.
"Why did Mrs. Tojo call? She said you seemed bothered by something, were you trying to tell her?? Were you trying to tell her you untrustworthy bastard!" he yelled as his fist connected to Yugi's jaw.
Anzu covered her mouth in horror as she saw tears beginning to mix with blood on Yugi's face, but he still looked his father straight in the eyes. "I . . .I didn't mean to tousan! It just slipped! I didn't mean it!" he cried back.
"Shut up, shut up now!" he yelled louder and hit him again, this time in the stomach.
Yugi lurched over and fell into a heap on the floor, sobbing and bleeding.
Anzu didn't see anymore, she turned and ran, ran down the stairs, out of the house and back to her own home, crying the whole way, she didn't stop when she felt her legs go numb, nor did she stop when her lungs threatened to burst. When she got home, she wrapped herself up in her blankets and cried for hours. How could they have been so blind? Yugi needed their help, and he needed their help now.
When she was finally able to regain some sense, she slowly reached for her phone, stopping momentarily to gaze at the small sticky picture that was on the back of it. It was when they were at the carnival, she couldn't help but stare at Yugi, he was smiling, and looked as if he was genuinely enjoying himself, in fact, they all looked so happy, but that seemed so long ago.
The dial tone haunted and intimidated her even more, but she took a breath and dialed.
"Hello?? Jounouchi residence!"
"J . . Jou"
"Anzu? That you? What's wrong?"
"I . . . There . . . what I mean is . . . Jou, something's terribly wrong"
"Anzu, pull your self together, what's going on?"
"Y . . Yugi, he's . . . his dad . . . I saw it Jou!"
"What's wrong with Yugi's dad, what did you see?"
"Yugi's dad, he hit him, he . . . was bleeding, that's what's been wrong with him, his dad beats him"
"Are you saying Yugi's abused by his dad?"
"I saw it Jou! I saw it! I didn't want to believe it! But it's true!" she couldn't take it anymore and her tears claimed her again, the phone dropped out of her shaking hand and onto the floor, leaving Jou worried on the other line.
"Hang on, I'm coming over"
* * * * * * * *
They had gone to the police after that, and Yugi was taken away from his dad, Jou's family invited him to live with them, and all had gone well for about another year, but the peaceful time shattered to pieces when Jou's parents started arguing.
At first it was mild, and didn't happen often, so Jou didn't think anything of it, but it escalated, it got louder, more constant, and pretty soon, it seemed like they were arguing over everything.
It ended in a bitter divorce, Jou's mom had just packed up and taken Shizuka away with her, the last letter they got from her was a paper asking for his dad's signature so their divorce would be legal.
That left Jou and Yugi alone with his father. The three tried to make it work out, but then alcohol got in the way. Yugi knew from the start that when alcohol decided to get involved, things would only go from bad to worse. So it did, Jou's dad would come home drunk almost every night, he hurt them, just as Yugi's dad had, the only difference now was that Jou was suffering too.
The two boys didn't have any other choice; they couldn't trust anybody, so late that summer, they disappeared together. When Anzu and Honda returned for school in the fall, two of their closest friends were gone, and nobody knew where to.
Hikoro had found them wandering in the streets, and offered them shelter, in return for thievery. It was a golden deal for the two boys, a place to stay, and food to eat, out of harm's way. They had signed the contract in blood, not understanding back then that they had sold their souls to Hikoro, they were his to toy with, unless he freed them, which was just what Jounouchi wanted.
* * * * * * *
A frying pan zooming across the room and colliding with the opposite wall brought Jou out of his deep thoughts.
"Jounouchi!! Get over here!! These kids are driving me nuts, get Yugi down here and feed them!" Hikoro yelled over the wailing of the small boys.
"No need, I'm already here." Yugi appeared at the bottom of the stairs, a bright smile on his face, Jou too smiled at the pure innocence and joy on his friend's face.
"Yugi-san!" one of the small boys cried, and bounced across the room to hop into Yugi's arms. All the boys that Hikoro sheltered looked up to Jou and Yugi, it was like a big brother system among thieves.
Yugi smiled and hugged the boy back.
"Yugi-san, I'm hungry!" he cried.
"Really Waseii? You haven't eaten yet?" Yugi asked softly wiping some toothpaste off the boy's face.
"Nope Yugi-san!!" and he blushed when his stomach started growling.
"Hikoro, did you get the groceries we asked for?" Jou looked up at Hikoro
"Yah, they're over in that brown bag, just feed these rats! Jou, come into my room and we'll talk when you're finished"
Jou's eyes iced over and he stared at Hikoro coldly. "We'll see"
Hikoro just shook his head and left the room.
"Come on you guys! Who wants food?" Yugi asked still smiling as he held Waseii's hand
About two-dozen cheers went up in the room, and the older boys smiled while proceeding to feed their small admirers.
* * * * * * * * *
Breakfast ended and Yugi and Jou slipped into Hikoro's room. It still smelled like alcohol, but Hikoro himself had sobered up.
"I may have been drunk last night, but I still know what you want, you two want to leave don't you?"
Yugi looked nervously at Jou, while Jou's cold gaze was still fixed on Hikoro.
"I think it's about time that we do leave, if you ever would actually agree," Jou answered.
Hikoro laughed. "I may be a thief leader, but I still have my honor" he made his way to the old desk and pulled out two pieces of paper.
Yugi's eyes widened at the sight of them, there on the paper, in blood, were their names.
"Bring me one last thing tonight Jou, and I will burn these"
"Why should we trust you?" Jou asked, voice still bitter.
"What have you got to lose?" Hikoro replied, voice tinged with a strange amusement.
Yugi looked pleadingly at Jou "Please, don't! you'll get caught!" but Jou only smiled.
"I guess this will count as this magician's final disappearing act, what do you want from me this time Hikoro? You know I can handle it all"
A malicious smile appeared on Hikoro's lips. "There's a large party in town tonight, among the 'elite' they are showcasing the world's latest sapphire chips, modeled after duel monster cards."
"Duel monster chips?" Jou asked in curiosity at the sound of his favorite game, he and Yugi had played it for years, since before they had run away, and now, they still had their decks, except the cards were starting to get bent and frayed.
"Sapphire cards actually, they're worth a fortune"
"Sounds simple, where are they?" Jou asked smiling, thinking the job would be easy for him.
"Actually, it's not so simple, they aren't your usual security tricks Jou, this is the latest technology, but I've received word that they're holding a party at the place they're showing them, a masquerade party that is! Stupid fools" he began to cackle at the thought.
Jou too couldn't help but let out a small smile. That really wasn't the smartest move on their part. "You just tell me where to go tonight, and I'll be there, as long as you hold up your end of the bargain."
"You and Yugi will find your costume today, I'm going to let you get something so you won't look suspicious, but the place Jou? the place is the Kaiba mansion, the home of the president of Kaiba Corp."
Yugi's mouth dropped, "No! Jou that's too dangerous!" he pleaded "You don't now what they'll do to you if you're caught at a place like that!"
Jou just laughed. "Piece of cake, Kaiba mansion tonight, it's our ticket to freedom Yugi, it's our way out"
* * * * * * * * *
Woo Woo!!!! XD Yah, wow, that was freakishly long. So they ARE going to the Kaiba mansion and no prizes to guess what'll happen there!!!
Oh yah, and I know I sed they'd meet in this chapter, but it's already like 7 pages long ^_^() I dun't want y'all to like go blind or anything.
Yami: *holding up mirror* ~gasp~ I never noticed how my bang looked like a pineapple leaf!!
Rain: -_-() Yami, that's all in your head
Yami: Does my face look pineapple shaped?
Rain: moving on now . . .
Oh by the way, can anyone guess what classic novel I'm sort of basing some of this off of?? I'll give you a prize if you can guess!!
Okay, well I hope you guys enjoyed this!! And as always, REVIEW PEOPLE!! ~.^
Ja Ne!