A/N: oh my! We're nearing the end! Sorry this one took so long to post, it was my reading week, so I was away from my computer. Good thing you're all so patient or something.

Disc: I don't own Yu-gi-oh! Or anything related.

Chapter 9

"Has anyone seen Jounouchi in a while?" Anzu asked.

"Nope," Honda frowned. "Not at all."

"I sure hope he's ok…" Yugi looked down at his puzzle, and the other two knew he was now seeking comfort from his stronger half, so they just talked amongst themselves.

"Has anyone seen Jounouchi in the last couple of days?" The purple haired member asked the gang, while shooting some heroin.

"Nope, not at all." Hirutani shrugged. "He'll be back. He'll be desperate for his next hit." He was certain he would be. He shook his head, and rubbed his temples. He hadn't had a good sleep in a while. "Guys, I'm going to go lie down, and get some rest." He left the group and went into his room, shutting the door.

"He's stressed." One of the older members stated. "I've been here for a while, and I know when he's stressed. He doesn't think Jounouchi's coming back."

"So?"

"Well, we're still a target. If Jounouchi's not here we're going to get pulverized. Especially since Jounouchi killed that gang leader. That gang is not going to let it go, and other gangs will think we're dangerous too. They'll probably go to great lengths to destroy us."

"Shitty." The purple haired one shook his head.

Hirutani sighed, when he shut his door. He hoped that Jounouchi would be back soon. He had this horrible feeling that Jounouchi died of an O.D or something… he resolved to go look for him if he didn't show up soon. They really needed the kid. Jounouchi seemed to be either a source of good luck or a really strong and smart fighter. Probably both. Jounouchi should have died too many times, but just kept coming.

"Miss me?" Jounouchi was leaning against the back wall, arms crossed.

"Where have you been?" Hirutani demanded.

"At home. I felt like sleeping." Jounouchi decided it best to leave out how he was locked in his room going insane for the last few days. He pushed himself away from the wall, and walked into the light. His skin was still pale, and he still had the dark rings under his eyes, but he was now at least clean and seemed dangerously sober. "What, did I need your permission to do that?"

"You could have let us know. We're wanted dead by every gang in this f'kin city and you take off! I thought they got to you!"

"Heh, sure. It was a good plan, Hirutani, to keep me so f'kin drunk and high 24/7, and getting me addicted to your drugs to keep me here, under your control. Really good. Too bad you let me escape your grasp for one day, because now I'm fully myself, and I'm not happy." Jounouchi sounded dangerous. "Let me make one thing clear to you: I QUIT. You know why I quit? Because you are a mother fucker that took over my life. I will not be like some stupid attack dog for you, like your dumb pet."

"You can't quit. You came back to us. You little bitch!" Hirutani lunged at Jounouchi and pinned him to the floor. The blond didn't even blink. "I gave you everything you wanted! You wanted to join, I let you! You wanted to keep your friends from school, I agreed. You wanted respect, I gave it to you. You wanted a name for yourself, and its there! You were lonely, I kept you company. Now you want to leave? FORGET IT. It's a two way street, I did my part, you do yours. You belong to me and you belong to this gang!" Jounouchi just glared in response. "I won't let you leave, never again. If it takes having you drugged up to stay here, then fine." Hirutani grabbed a needle off his table. It was full of a clear fluid, probably a sedative of some sort. He didn't get the chance to use it, because Jounouchi kicked him off.

"No, see, I was going to let you live, but now, I'm going to have to kill you, because you're just too fucked in the head to be allowed to live. Like I said, I want out, and I'll do anything to get away from you permanently." Jounouchi pulled his switchblade out, and swung at his former leader. Hirutani dodged it and kneed Jounouchi in the gut, then punched him in the face. The knife fell onto the floor. Jounouchi punched Hirutani in the face, and then elbowed him on the other side of the face, followed by another punch with his other hand, knocking Hirutani over.

"Oh you bitch!" Hirutani kicked Jounouchi's legs out from under him, and he fell onto the floor. Hirutani sat on Jounouchi, straddling his stomach, and punched him over and over again. Jounouchi kicked his legs upwards and managed to throw the larger boy off of him. He scrambled to his feet, ignoring his dizziness from the repeated punches. Hirutani stood, and caught Jounouchi's foot as the younger boy tried to round house him. He flung Jounouchi into the back wall. The blond was too dazed to notice that Hirutani had picked him up and set him on a chair and tied him to it. After a moment Jounouchi came to his senses, and tried to stand up.

"You fucker! This is cheating! You fight dirty."

"I'm not going to kill you Jounouchi-chan."

"Oh you did not call me that. I'm going to rip your tongue out of your head!" Jounouchi seethed, But Hirutani just chuckled and continued.

"Do you remember this little toy?" he held up a stun gun and smirked. "One hit with this thing, and you won't be in any position to rip anyone's tongue out." Jounouchi recognized the weapon from before. He couldn't let Hirutani use it on him, or he'd be done. He'd become completely vulnerable, and he didn't want to think of what they might do to him. He kicked Hirutani in the groin, causing the other to fall to his knees and drop the stun gun. "You bitch, I'll get you." Hirutani looked up, just in time to see Jounouchi standing, and swinging the chair at him. Jounouchi broke the chair over Hirutani's head, and smirked.

"You should have made sure I didn't pick up my knife when you had me on the floor." He waved his knife in triumph. Hirutani shook his head, and lunged at the shorter boy. He gasped when he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He looked down and saw Jounouchi's knife up to the hilt in his stomach.

"Oh…god…" Hirutani choked out. Blood began to drench his shirt, and Jounouchi removed his knife, and pushed Hirutani off of him. Jounouchi stood and stared down at his former leader, unsure of what to really do. "Jou…Jounouchi…are you really…really gonna leave me like this?..." Jounouchi looked away. "I really did…consider you a true friend…"

"I know…I'm sorry." He was about to leave when he saw Hirutani's briefcase… He grabbed it and then left through the window. He got to the closest pay phone and sent an ambulance to the warehouse for Hirutani. He couldn't let him die…plus the police would come there with the ambulance and toss all those guys in jail, solving one of Jounouchi's problems.

Unfortunately Hirutani lost consciousness before the ambulance showed up, and didn't make it through the night because he had lost too much blood. When the gang was interrogated about the death of their leader, they assumed that a rival gang had murdered him. Jounouchi never knew Hirutani died, and no one knew that Jounouchi had killed him.

Honda yawned, and got up from the couch. It was only 11 pm, but he was pretty tired. He turned off the TV and headed off to his room. Like every night, just before bed, he looked at his phone, and wondered if he should call Jounouchi. Like always, he decided against it, and continued to his room. He opened his door, and blinked. Something was in his bed. He turned on a light, and gasped.

"Jounouchi? Speak of the devil." He almost smiled at his friend, sleeping on his bed. He poked Jounouchi in the cheek until the blond woke up- sort of.

"Huh? Wha? Oh s'ry, Honna I'll move…" Jounouchi rolled out of the bed, and stumbled over to the couch in Honda's room. It was the old one from the living room, but his parents got a new one yesterday, so they put the old one in his room. Right now it was just sitting out in the open. Jounouchi bumped into it, and laid on the head resting part, instead of the actual couch part. He used one arm as a pillow and let his legs and other arm dangle on either side, and just slept. Honda shrugged. Whatever worked for Jounouchi was fine by him.

Jounouchi woke up the next morning, to Honda cursing.

"Damn fucking couch! It's getting in the way of EVERYTHING!" Jounouchi sat up and rubbed his eyes, falling in the process. He was lucky and fell on the couch part. "Oh sorry, dude. I didn't mean to wake you."

"No! It's ok! It is OK cuz I never asked to…sleep…on your….When did you get this couch, dude?"

"Yesterday."

"This was in the TV room before wasn't it?"

"Indeed." Honda sat beside him on the couch. "I need a better spot for it." He studied Jounouchi for a moment. He seemed a bit beat up and sickly pale but otherwise like normal everyday Jounouchi. "What's up man, I haven't seen you in a while?"

"I was really sleepy, and I didn't feel like going all the way to my house. Yours came up first. Plus I needed to talk to someone."

"Well…what's up?"

"I quit." Jounouchi laid back on the couch.

"For real?"

"Forever." Jounouchi nodded. "I'm so sorry I was such an ass to you and the others. I didn't know what to do, and it seemed like the only thing to do. I just remembered how pissed Hirutani was when I first quit- he said he needed me because I was one of the best. Then I remembered those couple of times Hirutani went to great lengths to make me come back… I just felt like that must be where I belong, because it's the only thing that gets me any respect. I know other wise now. It lost me more respect and dignity then it gained me." Jounouchi sighed and leaned forward on his knees, his blond hair falling into his eyes. "I can't seem to hold onto dignity for more then five minutes anyway…so I guess it don't matter."

"Man, you know we don't care about that crap. We like you for who you are. Always have, always will. I mean, think about it. What's the meaning of life?" Honda turned and looked at him seriously. Jounouchi stared at him.

"That's way too philosophical for me, man. I don't even understand the relevance"

"Relationships. Respect, dignity or becoming a somebody are not the meaning of life, but relationships are. Therefore having your friends should mean more to you then gaining respect." Honda explained.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, or why we got onto this tangent, so let's just go to Yugi's so I can apologize to him and Anzu." Jounouchi stood up, and stretched. "I mean, lets be honest, I've been a bit of an ass to you guys." He picked up the briefcase and waited for Honda to stand.

"Well, we really missed ya, dude." Honda smiled, patting his best friend on the back. "It just wasn't the same without you…there was no one to make fun of, and no one to entertain us with their stupidity!" Honda laughed and ducked when Jounouchi went to smack him.

"See! SEE! This is why I joined my old gang!" Jounouchi tried not to laugh as he chased Honda into the hall, threatening him with the briefcase. Things seemed to be back to normal once more, and all seemed to be forgiven and forgotten.

as done as it sounds there's still a wee bit more, eh, so just stay tuned- or don't...but you prolly will just for kicks.