Disclaimer: No I don't own Yuugiou or Yuugiou: Duel Monsters or Yuugiou: Duel Monsters GX or anything related except for a few stories I wrote and so cards I made up. Glad we're clear on that.
Chapter 9: And That's All She Wrote.
Dr. Heisi was dumbfounded at Jou's sudden show of emotion. She reached forward to try and comfort him only to have the boy withdraw gruffly. She pulled her hand back and waited until, finally, Jou began to regain himself. He looked up at her with eyes red from sobbing, tears still forming.
"Jounouchi-san?" she questioned nervously.
"Gomen nasai, Heisi-sensei," Jou said, wiping his eyes.
"You shouldn't have to apologize Jounouchi-san," Heisi informed him. "It's a very delicate subject, I understand, and it's hard to talk about. But sooner or later, when you're ready, I think it would be in you best interest to talk this out."
Jou could only nod, wiping his eyes again.
Dr. Heisi got up, crossed to the water cooler, and filled a styrophoam cup with hot water. She then took a teabag out of the box above the cooler and placed it in the hot water. After a few minutes, when the water had taken on a greenish color, she removed the bag, depositing it in trash, and crossed back to the shivering Jounouchi.
"Here, drink this," she offered, holding the cup to him.
"Arigatou," Jou said, taking the cup gratefully. He downed half the cup in one gulp while Dr. Heisi took up her position in her chair again, pen and paper at the ready incase Jou decided to speak.
Jou drank the rest of his tea in smaller sips, pausing every now and then to blow on the liquid he had slowly realized was very hot. "She called me about ten that night," he finally said.
"Two hours before you were supposed to go pick her up?" Dr. Heisi questioned.
"Hai," Jou responded, "And I guess this takes us back to where the story started back when I walked in."
(FLASHBACK TO THAT NIGHT)
The phone at the Jounouchi residence rang once. Shizuka Jounouchi, who was in the kitchen at the time, her long t-shirt hanging down her front, picked it up. She looked at the number on caller ID, not recognizing it, and clicked the TALK button.
"Moshi moshi, Jounouchi residents," Shizuka said cheerfully.
"Hello, Shizuka-chan," came the tear-stricken voice of Julie Knollmen. "Can I talk with Joey please?"
Shizuka was going to question Julie's miserable sounding state when Jou walked by. "Onii-chan, it's Julie-san for you," Shizuka said, holding the phone out to her brother, a look of worry on her face. "She sounds kind of upset."
Jou took the phone quickly, "Moshi moshi, Julie-chan? What's wrong? Are you all right? Julie-chan?"
Julie laughed mentally at Jou's worry, a small shining of happiness in the misery that had engulfed her. "Listen Joey," she said, ignoring Jou's questions. "Please, don't come over Joey."
"What's wrong, Julie-chan?"
"Just please don't come over. My dad and I just had a fight. He was drunk and stormed out the door. I've never seen him act this way, my god he's going crazy. He knows what we did and said he was going to make you pay for what we've done. He's got a gun Joey. So just run Joey!"
"But Julie-chan-"
"Just run, Joey, run!" The line went dead.
"Julie-san? Julie-san!"
Katsuya Jounouchi stood holding the phone. Time seemed to have frozen around him. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. He looked over to his younger sister, who was still standing in the hall. She'd only heard his side of the conversation, but she still could feel the intensity and urgency of what had transpired in the discussion.
"Onii-chan," she started.
"Shizuka-chan," Jou interrupted, "I have to go to her. I can't leave her alone." He turned and started down the hall.
"Onii-chan," Shizuka called after him.
Jou froze and looked back at her, panic stricken and upset at being halted, cheeks already being stained with tears.
"Be careful, onii-chan. Aishiteru."
"Hai, Shizuka-chan," Jou said, giving her a reassuring nod before turning the corner.
He grabbed his keys off their hook as he rushed down the stairs, barely able to get his shoes on fully as he ran out the door and jumped into his car. He fumbled with the keys, dropping them once and cursing at himself before finally getting them into the ignition. Starting the car, Jou backed out of the driveway with full force, not bothering with his seatbelt, almost running over the mailbox across the street in the process. He threw the car into drive and was off. He paid no attention to stop sign, or traffic light, as he sped over the speed limit towards Julie's house, thanking the gods above that there were few people on the road and no police at all.
The usual ten-minute drive across town took a mere three as he pulled into the parking lot of his former apartment building. He looked up at the room he and his father had shared, cursing it and blaming this mess on it, although he wasn't entirely sure why. Drawing himself out of the past and back to the present, Jounouchi ran across the street, not stopping until he reached Julie's dying lawn. There, he could see her running towards him from within the darkness of her house, her face bruised all over, making it the same color as her hair, tears streaming down her cheeks from her red eyes. She ran right into Jou's opened arms and sobbed relentlessly into his shirt.
"Joey…what are you doing here…I'm so glad to see you…it's not safe…thank God you're here…" Julie was in complete hysterics. She kept confusing her joy of seeing Jou with her anger at his stupidity for showing up. "Baka…koi…"
"It's okay Julie-san, it's okay," he assured her, stroking her hair and kissing her head. "What happened, Julie-san? How did he find out?"
"I wrote it down. I wrote in my diary that it was the greatest night of my life," Julie explained, not calming in the least. "He read it! He read my diary! My own father violated my privacy again! While I was in the shower he read my diary! He attacked me when I got out, not giving me the chance to even dress or hardly dry! He hit me relentlessly, calling me a 'whore' and 'useless' and 'stupid' before taking his gun and storming out the door. I dressed and called you. I told you not to come! And you came! You came! Why did you come? Thank God you came! But why?" Her voice was so hoarse from crying and screaming that it hurt to just inhale. She fell silent, shuddering in Jou's arms.
"Why did I come?" he asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Aishiteru. I came because I love you. Don't worry Julie-chan. Everything will be all right."
Jou held her to his chest as tightly as he could without hurting her. In the back of his mind, he kept telling himself that he was responsible for it. 'I shouldn't have let her go home. I should have told her to come with me. Why did I have to screw THIS up?'
His muscles tensed as his thoughts drifted behind him. He turned his head to see a dark figure staggering toward him through the darkness, something metallic glinting in his hand, reflecting the light of the street lamp above.
Julie, curious as to what had caught Jou's attention, looked up in time to see her father raising his gun to the back of Jou's head, ready to take the life of her beloved.
"Watch out Joey! He's got a gun!" Without thinking, she put all her strength into forcing Jou out of the way just as a shot echoed through the air.
Jou turned back just in time to see Julie's limp body fall helplessly to the ground.
"Look what you did you damned little pup!" Mr. Knollmen roared, turning his gun on Jounouchi.
Jou looked at him. Everything in his life came flooding into his mind. His parents divorce, the physical abuse of his father, fighting along side Hirutani, stealing the final piece of the Sennen Puzzle, the verbal abuse of Seto Kaiba, Mai being sent to the Shadow Realm, loosing to Mariku in the semi-finals, everything came flooding forth in one instant as Jou leapt toward him.
"You fucking bastard!" Jou roared out.
Julie's father pulled the trigger again, this time only to be responded to with a light clicking noise. No more bullets. He looked up as Jou's fist came into contact with his face, sending the older man a good few feet through the air before he hit the ground. Satisfied that the older was knocked out, Jou ran to Julie's side and collapsed next to her. He drew up her bloodied form to his chest, holding her close as he could.
"Julie-san, please wake up. Julie-san! Julie-san!"
Slowly, she opened her clouded eyes and smiled at him. She opened her mouth to speak, her voice heavy. "Daddy please don't…it wasn't his fault." She gave a small cough, blood coming to her lips. "He means so much to me. Daddy please don't…we're gonna…get…mar-ried…" Her eyes fell shut. Her body went completely limp and began to loose heat. And there she was left, lifeless in the arms of her lover.
"Julie-san," Jou sobbed out, "Julie-san, Julie-san!"
(PRESENT)
"Julie-san!" Jou screamed, causing Dr. Heisi to jump. He continued to scream, he screamed like it was his last task in this cruel world. Then he suddenly stopped. He fell silent. His eyes blanked and a small smile crossed his face.
"Jounouchi-san?" Dr. Heisi had left her chair and was approaching him cautiously.
"Julie-san…" All emotion left Jounouchi's face as his eyes slipped closed and he fell to the floor, completely unconscious.
"Jounouchi-san! Jounouchi-san!" Dr. Heisi shook him viciously, but got no response. She checked his pulse to discover it was very high. She quickly jumped from the floor and ran out of the office, screaming, "Some call an ambulance, I need help."
Katsuya Jounouchi lay motionless on the office floor. He'd given up. He didn't want to live anymore. So he willed himself to die. And his wish was granted as he descended into eternal darkness. He was going to join Julie in the afterlife. And so he let the gods take him. And that's all she wrote.