Diclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.
After being asked to leave the game shop before he broke anything, Jou decided to take a nice walk to cool himself off. He was slowly convincing himself that his little predicament was not the end of the world. After all, the contest was not mandatory, there was nothing stopping him from refusing to take place in it. The tv station would just have to pick another name out of the proverbial hat, and then this would all be over.
Straitening his disheveled clothing, disheveled from his earlier scrap with the feisty spirit, Jou smiled and decided to block this whole day out of his memory. Just like he did last Christmas when he was forced to take a part-time job as one of Santa's elves. It sounded like a good enough plan, until the front of his apartment building came into view.
"What the?!" Jou gracefully dashed behind a garbage can as he saw the mass of reporters and journalists outside of his wayward home. They all seemed to be waiting for someone, and something told the boy that that someone was him.
Jou poked his head over the heap of garbage to sneak another look at the vultures, his hair gleaming in the afternoon sun. That one flash of blond was enough to set it all off.
"That's him! In the alleyway!" One woman screeched and pointed towards Jou's vicinity. There was a general uproar before the mob rushed towards the location, pointing microphones and cameras blindly.
"Eeek!" Was the blond's dignified response, before he scrambled to his feet, and began to make like a tree and got the hell out of there.
"Wait Jounouchi! We only have a couple questions for you!" Cried one man that was running after the boy.
"Yeah?" Jou turned around for a minute, panting slightly and brushed unruly bangs out of his face , "Well I've got an answer for ya!" Jou gave them his favorite finger before turning to escape once more.
One woman gasped and turned to her camera man. "Oh my...are we still live?"
"It's fine, we've got a thirty second delay on this thing." Replied the man.
And so the chase began.
* * *
It was nearing nightfall once Jou had finally lost the determined reporters. He collapsed in the same alleyway he stared out in, and took a moment to vent out his frustrations. Slamming his fist in the brick wall, Jou winced and brought the same fist to his mouth, sucking at the blood that appeared. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. But then again, Jou wasn't really one to be associated with rational thinking.
Sighing and gathering himself up from the exhausted heap on the ground he now was, Jou headed towards his home, noticing their we're still a few people waiting outside for him.
Jou sighed, "Don't these people ever give up?" and headed towards the side of the building. There was a fire escape, a set of metal stairs that happened to be conveniently placed next to his bedroom window. Jou had used it numerous to sneak out of the house at night, and found it strangely ironic he was now using it to sneak into the house this time.
After maneuvering his lithe form through the window and tripping on a few of the many objects littering the hardwood floor, Jou collapsed onto the squeaky mattress and kicked off his shoes, looking forward to sleep.
"Katsuya! Get yer lazy ass out here!" Jou groaned and rolled off the bed, hitting the ground with an 'umph' and stepped outside his bedroom door.
"Should you really be talking to your son that way?" Asked a woman who Jou did not recognize.
"It's the only way to talk to teenagers these days...damn snot nosed, good for nothing, ungrateful little..." The elderly Jounouchi froze as he saw his son and then gave him a toothy grin. "Heeeey! There's my little man!" He latched and arm around the young man's neck and gave him a rough pat on the head.
"Do NOT call me that!" Jou shrugged off his father and scrunched up his nose in disgust. "You small like Jack Daniels."
The older man shrugged. "They guys at the bar offered to buy me as much drinks as I could handle and whatnot, for a congratulations." He paused to grin, "They left the bar broke."
Jou narrowed his eyes and looked over at the woman who was standing in their kitchen, dressed in a business suit and wearing a superior look on her face that almost reminded him of Kaiba. "Who's she?"
"This is Akira, the producer for that little contest thing you won."
"What?!" Jou's eyes went wide and he pulled his father aside, "I just spent all day running from these people and YOU let one of them into our house?!"
"She offered a hundred bucks just to come inside!" His dad flashed him the wad of cash and stuffed it back into the worn-out jeans.
"Sell out..." Jou muttered, "Anyway, you better tell her to leave, because I am not participating in this!"
Jou's dad growled and smacked his son over the head with a rolled up newspaper before he spoke. "Dammit boy, you're even dumber that you look! You have to do this!"
"Oh yeah? Give me one good reason!"
"Money." Jou blinked up at his father who had a serious look on his face. "We need the money Jou, you know that. If you were to get closer to his millionaire guy..."
"You want me to use him for the money?" Jou gave his father and angered look, "If you would just stop your shitty ways, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Don't you talk back to me boy!" The man yelled back, careful not to let his anger rouse too much with the stranger present.
"Excuse me sirs, but have we come to a decision or not?" The stern woman spoke up.
Jou's father looked at him expectantly, the blond had a lost look on his face. "I'll...have to think about it."
The woman, to Jou's surprise, smiled and shook her head. "I understand. Take my card." Jou glanced down at the lamented piece of paper. "Call me when you've reached a decision, my name's Akira." With that, the woman politely made her exit.
"Leave me alone." Jou stated as his father gave him a disapproving look, he then turned and retreated back into his room. There he picked up his playstation controller, ready to start blasting some zombies to take his mind off things when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other line was smooth and confident, it sent slight shivers down the blond boy's spine as he spoke.
"Mutt, we need to talk."
Satanic Mechanic: Okay, I'm kinda at a loss for the next chapter. It's going to be the date, but I'm not sure what the context of the date should be. Any ideas? Please? I could use the help! I already have a slight idea where I want this to go, I just need help getting there.
After being asked to leave the game shop before he broke anything, Jou decided to take a nice walk to cool himself off. He was slowly convincing himself that his little predicament was not the end of the world. After all, the contest was not mandatory, there was nothing stopping him from refusing to take place in it. The tv station would just have to pick another name out of the proverbial hat, and then this would all be over.
Straitening his disheveled clothing, disheveled from his earlier scrap with the feisty spirit, Jou smiled and decided to block this whole day out of his memory. Just like he did last Christmas when he was forced to take a part-time job as one of Santa's elves. It sounded like a good enough plan, until the front of his apartment building came into view.
"What the?!" Jou gracefully dashed behind a garbage can as he saw the mass of reporters and journalists outside of his wayward home. They all seemed to be waiting for someone, and something told the boy that that someone was him.
Jou poked his head over the heap of garbage to sneak another look at the vultures, his hair gleaming in the afternoon sun. That one flash of blond was enough to set it all off.
"That's him! In the alleyway!" One woman screeched and pointed towards Jou's vicinity. There was a general uproar before the mob rushed towards the location, pointing microphones and cameras blindly.
"Eeek!" Was the blond's dignified response, before he scrambled to his feet, and began to make like a tree and got the hell out of there.
"Wait Jounouchi! We only have a couple questions for you!" Cried one man that was running after the boy.
"Yeah?" Jou turned around for a minute, panting slightly and brushed unruly bangs out of his face , "Well I've got an answer for ya!" Jou gave them his favorite finger before turning to escape once more.
One woman gasped and turned to her camera man. "Oh my...are we still live?"
"It's fine, we've got a thirty second delay on this thing." Replied the man.
And so the chase began.
* * *
It was nearing nightfall once Jou had finally lost the determined reporters. He collapsed in the same alleyway he stared out in, and took a moment to vent out his frustrations. Slamming his fist in the brick wall, Jou winced and brought the same fist to his mouth, sucking at the blood that appeared. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. But then again, Jou wasn't really one to be associated with rational thinking.
Sighing and gathering himself up from the exhausted heap on the ground he now was, Jou headed towards his home, noticing their we're still a few people waiting outside for him.
Jou sighed, "Don't these people ever give up?" and headed towards the side of the building. There was a fire escape, a set of metal stairs that happened to be conveniently placed next to his bedroom window. Jou had used it numerous to sneak out of the house at night, and found it strangely ironic he was now using it to sneak into the house this time.
After maneuvering his lithe form through the window and tripping on a few of the many objects littering the hardwood floor, Jou collapsed onto the squeaky mattress and kicked off his shoes, looking forward to sleep.
"Katsuya! Get yer lazy ass out here!" Jou groaned and rolled off the bed, hitting the ground with an 'umph' and stepped outside his bedroom door.
"Should you really be talking to your son that way?" Asked a woman who Jou did not recognize.
"It's the only way to talk to teenagers these days...damn snot nosed, good for nothing, ungrateful little..." The elderly Jounouchi froze as he saw his son and then gave him a toothy grin. "Heeeey! There's my little man!" He latched and arm around the young man's neck and gave him a rough pat on the head.
"Do NOT call me that!" Jou shrugged off his father and scrunched up his nose in disgust. "You small like Jack Daniels."
The older man shrugged. "They guys at the bar offered to buy me as much drinks as I could handle and whatnot, for a congratulations." He paused to grin, "They left the bar broke."
Jou narrowed his eyes and looked over at the woman who was standing in their kitchen, dressed in a business suit and wearing a superior look on her face that almost reminded him of Kaiba. "Who's she?"
"This is Akira, the producer for that little contest thing you won."
"What?!" Jou's eyes went wide and he pulled his father aside, "I just spent all day running from these people and YOU let one of them into our house?!"
"She offered a hundred bucks just to come inside!" His dad flashed him the wad of cash and stuffed it back into the worn-out jeans.
"Sell out..." Jou muttered, "Anyway, you better tell her to leave, because I am not participating in this!"
Jou's dad growled and smacked his son over the head with a rolled up newspaper before he spoke. "Dammit boy, you're even dumber that you look! You have to do this!"
"Oh yeah? Give me one good reason!"
"Money." Jou blinked up at his father who had a serious look on his face. "We need the money Jou, you know that. If you were to get closer to his millionaire guy..."
"You want me to use him for the money?" Jou gave his father and angered look, "If you would just stop your shitty ways, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Don't you talk back to me boy!" The man yelled back, careful not to let his anger rouse too much with the stranger present.
"Excuse me sirs, but have we come to a decision or not?" The stern woman spoke up.
Jou's father looked at him expectantly, the blond had a lost look on his face. "I'll...have to think about it."
The woman, to Jou's surprise, smiled and shook her head. "I understand. Take my card." Jou glanced down at the lamented piece of paper. "Call me when you've reached a decision, my name's Akira." With that, the woman politely made her exit.
"Leave me alone." Jou stated as his father gave him a disapproving look, he then turned and retreated back into his room. There he picked up his playstation controller, ready to start blasting some zombies to take his mind off things when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other line was smooth and confident, it sent slight shivers down the blond boy's spine as he spoke.
"Mutt, we need to talk."
Satanic Mechanic: Okay, I'm kinda at a loss for the next chapter. It's going to be the date, but I'm not sure what the context of the date should be. Any ideas? Please? I could use the help! I already have a slight idea where I want this to go, I just need help getting there.