Ack, I'm sorry about both the lateness and the crappy formatting of chapter two. LJ completely messed up the slashes I was using to indicate Yami to Hikari talk, and I've just switched computers and sadly the disk I had this fanfic on was corrupted
--;. Still, at least I had it up here, ne?
"Hey Ryou! Wait up!"
Ryou glanced back to see Joey run up to him, grinning and out of breath. He also noticed, with some concern, the bruise on his face. Joey noticed him staring and dismissed it with a wave of his hand.
"Ahh the usual punks" he replied, smirking, "Lets jus' say that they had more bruises than me"
Ryou remained quiet as they walked along the pavement, his hand brushing his bruised arm subconsciously under his school jacket. After a while, Joey noticed the albino's strange behaviour, and stopped mid rant about the fight that he'd got into the night before.
"What's wrong with your arm?"
Ryou froze, looking up at Joey wide eyed.
"N-nothing"
"Is that bruise still botherin' ya?" Joey added "Want me ta take a look at it?"
Ryou shook his head, a flush creeping across his face. He clutched at his arm tighter, almost protectively. The blonde noticed, and his expression softened slightly.
"Someone been layin' in you, Ryou?" he asked lowly, "Look, you can trust me. I'll go an' sort them out, don't ya worry"
Ryou shook his head again, feeling his stomach churn with nerves. He managed a faint smile, and dropped both arms back down to his sides.
"It's okay Joey" he replied quietly, "Forget about it. I don't want anyone to get hurt"
Joey snorted, stopping and grabbing Ryou by the shoulders. They were just a block away from the school now, and up ahead Ryou could just make out Yugi waving to them.
"There's no need ta worry 'bout me getting' hurt" Joey replied, "Look, if some jerk's givin' my friends a hard time, then it's up ta me to sort them out"
Ryou remained silent, dropping his gaze from Joey's. Frustrated, the taller boy grasped Ryou by the chin, forcing him to look back up at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yugi begin to make his way down towards them.
"Jus' tell me! I promise, I won't let them hurt ya again" Joey began quickly, before realisation dawned on him, "Wait it's not-"
"Hey guys!" Yugi chirped, walking up to them. They both turned to face him, Ryou blushing furiously and Joey looking slightly shocked. He grinned suddenly, reaching out and ruffling Yugi's hair.
"Heya Yug'!" he exclaimed brightly, "Ryou was jus' askin' bout the bruise on my face here. I was jus' impressin' him with the fight I got into last night"
Yugi's eyes widened as he shook his head, but he still had a small smile playing about his lips.
"Another fight? Joe, I'm starting to think you go out looking for them"
Joey smirked as they began walking towards the school, spotting Tristan waiting for them over by the entrance.
"What give ya that idea?" he replied, "Tris' chickened out again" he added, extra loudly so that the sound would carry over to the other boy. Tristan smirked, and walked up to meet them, grabbing Joey into a headlock.
"I was doing the homework that you should've been doing too" he replied, his smirk growing wider when he noticed the look of complete horror on Joey's face, "And you forgot again, didn't you?"
"Damnit!" Joey exclaimed, struggling to get out of Tristan's grip, "Lemme go I need ta go copy off someone!"
Smiling, Yugi slid a piece of paper out of his rucksack, and waited for Joey to untangle himself from Tristan before giving it to him. Joey's eyes widened, and he broke into a huge smile.
"Thanks Yug!" he exclaimed, before embracing the smaller boy, "I love ya man!"
Ready to run to the school library, he glanced back at Ryou, who was watching the scene with a small smile on his face. Joey met his gaze quickly, before turning and running into the school.
Shaking his head, Tristan went in after him, leaving Yugi and Ryou alone on the steps. Yugi turned to face his friend, concern in his eyes.
"Ryou? Can I talk to you about something?"
Ryou nodded slowly, not sure he was going to like what Yugi had to say. Yugi smiled at him kindly, at the same time wondering how to phrase his next question.
Just ask him aibouYami suddenly interrupted, The sooner we get it out of him, the better
"Ryou, does Bakura hit you?"
Ryou's eyes widened suddenly, and his jaw dropped slightly. He shook his head feverishly, at the same time a relieved smile crossing his face. At the same time, he was glad that Bakura was currently sleeping and unable to hear this.
"No!" he replied quickly, "He'd never do anything like that to me. He shouts at me a lot…." he trailed off slightly, before leaping to his yami's defence again, "But that's all he does"
Yugi mirrored his smile, just as the bell went. As the rest of the students starting walking into school, Ryou and Yugi followed. Yugi glanced sideways at Ryou as they made their way to their classroom.
"Sorry… but me and Yami were just concerned…." Yugi began, "That bruise on your arm… Yami's convinced someone gave it to you. Did they?" he added, concerned. Ryou sighed softly, shaking his head.
"Don't worry about it Yugi" he said as they walked into the classroom, "I don't know why everyone is so worked up about it. It's nothing to worry about"
As Yugi took his seat, he glanced over at Joey's empty desk. He wasn't worried about the return of his own homework, but he was concerned that his friend would get yet another detention for being late.
So it's not Bakura then…Yami began, sounding surprised, Unless he's lying… but I don't think he is
/Me either/Yugi replied, glancing over at his albino friend, /I wonder if that's what Joey was talking to him about?/
MaybeYami replied, and Yugi could almost feel him smirking I think he's got other worries on his mind at the moment
The teacher walked in a few minutes later, placing her lap top on the desk and silencing the class. Yugi groaned to himself, and glanced back at Tristan, who just shrugged, looking as confused as he was. They didn't notice, that someone else was also missing from class.
Coughing, Joey pulled himself up off the floor, wincing from the pain. He wiped a hand across his mouth, wiping the blood away from his split lip. Glancing up, he caught sight of himself in the bathroom mirror and flinched. Already there were red marks on his face that promised to turn into yet more bruises. He swore angrily, and limped over to the sink, to get a better look at his injuries.
"S-So that must be the bastard that's….that's hurtin' Ryou" he whispered to himself, wincing as he touched his bleeding nose experimentally, "Damnit…."
"Been fighting again, mutt?" a cold voice interrupted his thoughts. Joey groaned to himself as he glanced back to see Kaiba stood there, and wondered if this situation could possibly get any worse.
"What does it look like?!" he replied angrily, turning to face him fully, "An' I thought you were supposed ta be smart"
To his surprise, the CEO actually frowned at his appearance and took a step closer, examining the blonde's injuries with wide eyes.
"What the hell did you do to piss someone off this much?" he added. Joey shrugged, grimacing at the pain that shot through his shoulders.
"I think it's cos I tried ta help Ryou out" Joey replied thoughtfully, "Someone's been layin' into him recently, an' so I told him that I'd sort 'em out for him"
He laughed bitterly, readjusting his weight to he didn't put so much pressure on his bruised ankle.
"He musta overheard me…so got me before I could get him" he added, "Got me from behind… the bastard"
"Who did?" Kaiba replied, a bit more angrily than he intended. Joey groaned, before sinking to his knees, his face paling underneath his bruises. Kaiba dropped into a crouch automatically, watching the blonde's face intensely.
"Who the hell was it, mutt?" he tried again. Joey opened his mouth to speak, before sighing and passing out on the floor. Kaiba watched him for a few seconds before swearing under his breath, and standing back up. He grabbed the smaller boy a little more roughly than intended, and slung him over one shoulder. He could feel the heat from his beaten skin through his clothes, and growled slightly.
"Stupid mutt" he muttered to no-one in particular, stalking out of the bathroom with Joey over his shoulder, scaring a younger boy in the process. He walked past the classroom he and Joey were supposed to be in, catching Ryou's eye by coincidence as he passed by the window.
Seeing Joey unconscious, he felt a stab of guilt, and rested his head in his arms, sighing.
I knew he was going to get hurt…. It's all my fault….
He didn't look up until the door opened again, and Kaiba strode in, interrupting the teacher mid rant. She glared at him, folding her arms across her chest.
"I suppose you have a good reason for being over 10 minutes later for school, Kaiba?"
He scowled at her.
"I found Wheeler beaten and unconscious in the toilets" he replied, drawing shocked gasps and whispers from the rest of the class. He then handed her a pile of papers, before going to take his seat at the back of the class. As he passed by Yugi, the smaller boy couldn't help but wonder why Kaiba had gone to the trouble of seeing to Joey instead of just leaving him there.
And he gave in his homework as well he suddenly realised. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Kaiba staring at him. He gave him the briefest of nods, to which Yugi responded with a warm smile. Kaiba gave a small smirk, before looking away.
Yugi turned his attention to Ryou, was looked like he was on the verge of tears. Yugi felt a tug of sympathy, and sighed softly.
So whoever's hurting RyouYami began softly, They overheard Joey talking about it to him. And so decided to get him out of the way. We'll have to talk to him about this
/Or Bakura/
Bakura?! Why?!
/I'm sure he'd want to give whoever's hurting Ryou a piece of his mind/ Yugi replied simply, /I just hope that Joe's okay…/
I'm sure he will be aibou. He's strong, remember thatYami replied kindly. Yugi sighed softly, and he could almost feel his yami frown.
Don't worry yourself over this, aibou. He'll be okay
/I hope so/
As soon as the bell had rung for lunch, Yugi, Tristan, Ryou and to their surprise, Kaiba, went to the school office to see how Joey was doing. After much persuasion, the nurse allowed them in to see him mutter something about sending him to the hospital just in case.
He was barely awake, looking over at the gang with narrowed eyes. He forced a smile, which made Yugi and Ryou relax slightly. Tristan however, shook his head, and knelt at his friend's side, the anger evident in his expression.
"Joe, who the hell did this to you?" he growled, "Tell me!"
"Tris…." he replied hoarsely, "Keep…. Ryou away from him…."
"From who?!" Tristan repeated angrily, "Who?"
But Joey was out of it again. Tristan sighed, getting back up to his feet. The nurse came back in, and sighed at the sight of Joey unconscious yet again.
"I'll have to call his parents" she said, turning to her lap top and searching for Joey's file. Tristan stiffened slightly.
"His dads outta town at the moment" he began, "He's staying with me at the moment"
Yugi looked over at Tristan at the obvious lie, but the brunette just nodded to him.
"Could you call your parents then?" the nurse replied after a while, handing the phone over to him, "The rest of you get out of here"
As they walked back outside, the receptionist approached Yugi, panting slightly.
"Yugi Motoh? Your grandfather just called… he said that there's someone at home who wants to see you urgently"
Yugi looked at her, confused. Who would be so important for Yugi to miss school?
"Did he say who?" he asked, his voice sounding distant and far away to him. She nodded, looking down at the notice.
"Your father"
TBC… Hopefully sooner than last time XD Thanks for all the lovely and amazing reviews people! All of them much appreciated
Rikainiel
Thanks Heheh official puzzleshipper
Ciu Sune
Thankies Originally I wasn't going to have Ryou being such a big part of the story, but thanks to your review I decided to give him a bigger part Might write that side fic someday… see how I go with this one first XD
Strega
LMAO, thanks!XD Will continue on from now on… just a little slow on the updates. The others should be quicker
Haku Ishatar
Thanks! takes cookies I'm not sure where the Y/YY relationship is going… whether to make it shounen ai or not . If it does become that, it'll be the light, fluffy stuff
Chibi G.
Thanks!
Rekkaboziegirl
Thanks! XD We all love our Yugi angst
Star Girl11
Thankies! gasps THANKIES! glomps
Sir Mocha
Thanks! Yeah I was thinking about mebbe boosting the rating up I've also decided to continue it now, seeing I've got all these lovely reviews
Lily Maxwell The Dark Angel
Thanks! We love our cutey angst!
Naeko Kono
Thanks! Hopefully I'll be able to update more often with the new computer nods
fairycake513
LOL, thanks! Yes, I do Especially now!
YugiMutou
Short, simple and to the point. Thanks
kely
Thanks! Well, Ryou has got his angst buuut it's not Bakura doing it! nods
Tikaru
Thanks! I was thinking about that… or him being reminded by someone.. Or something…
Red Roses2-chan
Thanks! I suck at the spelling I do XD
MotherChowGoddess
Thanks! cackles Who knows? And we'll have to wait another chapter to find out
Darkest Aphelion
Thanks! Will do!
MysticBeauty
Thanks!! is doing so
manganut
Heh, thanks XD
Yugi Mutou
Thanks! The next one will be points to cliffhanger
Ari
Thanks! Yeah… poor tortured bishes XD
hyperunenthusiastic12yearoldonasugarhigh
Thankies! I think it's just general angst fandom… although I admit, Yugi is kinda unlikely to have come from an abusive background. But poor Jou… nods
