A/N: Yay, Joey! I still think I got Bakura a bit OOC still, so sorry if you're bothered by it.

Disclaimer: Don't own YGO.

Chapter 2: Different

He had been running for Ra-knows-how-long, and he had no intention of stopping. His breath was in huffs, and the people around him gave him odd looks. Every so often he'd shove them out of his way, as if he were in a hurry. He had no idea where he was going, only that he didn't want to return home as long as he was there. Suddenly, he lost his footing, and fell straight down to the cold pavement below. He extended his arms, yet kept them bent, catching his fall. He only took a second to recover before he jumped back to his feet and took off running yet again.

Joey only stopped when he had realized he had turned into a dead-end alley. The darkness shrouding it confused him, him not being used to such a bleak area. He took deep breaths, and thumped his back against the wall, sliding down until he sat. His diaphragm area heaved up and down in unison with his deep breaths, his head tilted back and mouth wide open. His eyes were closed, his eyebrows furrowed. Blond hair wavered in his sweating face, some strands sticking to his forehead.

"Damn…it…" he huffed. He and his father had started up another war, and Joey had no idea that he would pull out that. And on his own son! He shook his head and relaxed even though he was still taking in air as if he had been nearly drowned. Joey's shoulders slumped, and his legs sprawled out on the ground. Damn, he was tired…

Then he heard footsteps skidding. His head spun to the direction in which he had entered the alley, his chocolate eyes widening. The figure was also breathing heavily, and seemed to pay no heed to Joey. He kept running towards him, but was looking straight ahead. Joey watched, not believing that someone would be stupid enough to run as fast as he could down a dead-end alleyway. He had forgotten about his extended legs, and regretted so when the figure tripped ungracefully over them, causing pain for the both of them. Joey flinched, and gathered his legs to his chest.

The figure, now on his stomach, groaned. Joey blinked, and leant a little closer, recognizing the wild white hair instantly.

"Ryou?" he asked, a bit hesitantly. 'Ryou' panted, and shoved himself up, whirling around in a sitting position facing Joey. At the sight of the gleaming red eyes, Joey knew his mistake immediately. But the yami didn't say anything, only shook his head and scooted back to the wall, panting as he used the concrete as support much like Joey had. His eyes shut, taking in needed breath.

Joey let his legs slide down to Earth, but kept them bent a bit as not to bother the man he had mistaken as his kind British friend. Hey, he didn't want to get murdered today. He already had a near experience with that today. The memory hurt him, and he looked down at his knees sulking. He didn't notice the yami catch his breath quickly and stare at him.

"Forgot your name." he said simply. Joey looked up, and was surprised to find the crimson eyes clear of any hostility. He gave a half-assed smile.

"Name's Joey, man."

"Oi. Yami no Bakura. Just shorten it to Bakura."

Joey chuckled a bit, and Bakura cocked an eyebrow.

"Nice to meet ya, Bakura." he said, holding his hand out. Bakura stared at it, and then looked back up at Joey.

"What?" he asked, flicking his eyes down to Joey's outstretched hand. Joey blinked, and smiled again.

"That's what ya do when ya meet new people. You shake their hands." he explained. Bakura switched his attention back to Joey's hand. He slowly brought his hand up, and stiffly grasped Joey's. Joey grinned, and moved his arm up and down. Bakura's followed, coming out of the state of rigid-ness. They let go, Bakura more quickly.

"So, what brings you here?" the yami asked. Joey gave a rueful smile.

"Dad and I started fighting again. He pulled a gun on me." he told him. For some reason, he just felt he could be more open with Bakura. Bakura just shrugged a bit.

"I'd take that instead of what just happened to me." he admitted, leaning his head lazily to the side. Joey looked at him, shocked.

"Why? You'd rather have your own father threaten to shoot you?" he asked, annoyance in his tone. Bakura shrugged again.

"We're different. I can tell."

"Well…yeah. You're psycho and I'm sane."

Bakura narrowed his eyes, but not in the glaring way. Joey just grinned goofily.

"Mention 'psycho' one more time and I'll…" Bakura trailed off, his eyes now glaring. Joey shrugged, still grinning.

"Why?"

Bakura stiffened noticeably.

"…I'd rather not talk about it."

Joey cocked his head to the side, looking much like a confused puppy. He could only guess, but he thought it had something to do with one of the maniacal Ishtars…

"Alright. How's Ryou?"

Bakura shrugged again. "Fine. He's been disappearing a lot lately during the day, though." At this Bakura grew a knowing grin, as if he had known something was up. Joey didn't really expect the albino's thoughts to be 100 percent correct, but he had his suspicions as well, too.

"That's good. Malik?"

"Egypt with Isis and Rishid."

"I see. Marik?"

Bakura went silent and still. He didn't even blink, only stared with clouded eyes to the side. His breathing even seemed to stop. Joey's lips parted slightly in minor surprise, and he looked concerned. He reached over, poking Bakura's foot. Bakura didn't move. Joey pouted a bit.

"Bakura?" he asked quietly. Bakura shut his eyes, and turned his head to face Joey fully, the sun casting a light on the lower part of his face. Joey didn't understand at first, but when he found himself staring at Bakura's features, he noticed little splotches around his mouth. A sudden intake of breath was a sign of his realization. Bakura opened his eyes, and stared at Joey.

Joey stared back, seeing a certain pleading in the red pools. He reached over again, and put his hand on Bakura's ankle. Bakura didn't even look at the hand, only focusing on the blond.

"Life sucks." he muttered, a small forced grin on his face. Joey grinned back, chuckling.

"Life sucks balls."

Then they both started laughing, neither sure of what came over them.

"Nice talkin' to ya, Bakura." Joey said, smiling a real smile for the first time in a few days. Bakura grinned back, hitting Joey's back playfully.

"Same here, Joe." he said, and stopped to watch Joey go to the apartment stairs. Bakura kept grinning, not sure why. It was when Joey stopped and looked over the balcony waving that Bakura remembered why he had been running blindly down that alley. A small wave of sadness hit him, but was obliterated by Joey's voice.

"Meet me at the park tomorrow! At noon!"

Bakura stared up at him, disbelief in his eyes. He grinned, however, and gave a small wave of his hand, stalking back down the sidewalk towards home. He pretended not to hear the loud crashing of a beer bottle behind him as he walked on alone. In truth, he didn't want to return home in fear that Marik would still be there, wanting an explanation. He really wanted to run back to Joey and protect him from his abusive and drunken father. But he knew he would only cause more trouble than there was to begin with. He remembered something Joey said, and now he felt the need to carry it out.

"Sometimes I wish he would just die."

Bakura had not objected. Joey had taken it back almost instantly.

Huh, they really were different.