By the time Monday rolled around, Yugi still couldn't let go of what he saw in that alley that previous Friday, couldn't let go of Atem. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about that mysterious man. Call it his love for puzzles, the thrill of a mystery, but he knew this desire to figure out what exactly happened that night wasn't going to let up. He had questions. Questions that he refused to let remain unanswered.
Like why exactly his rescuer saved him in the first place? The gangs that walked the Downtown District were not necessarily known for sparing people. Greasy had even said that this Atem didn't even belong in that territory. So why exactly was he there? It wasn't as if Yugi was a teenage girl, a hot piece of ass of some kind that any man would go out of his way to make sure didn't see harm. He was just..himself. A ridiculously short-for-his age boy with exotic tri-colored black, blond, and red hair, with a rounded, somewhat of a baby face and huge purple eyes. There wasn't anything attractive or appealing enough that would make someone like a gang member from the Downtown District area bat an eyelash at what was going to be done to him.
"Yug'?" A questioning Brooklyn accent brought him out of his internal pondering.
"Hmm?" Yugi looked up to meet the gaze of his best friend Jounouchi, Jou, who apparently had been trying to get his attention for the last few minutes. It was lunch period for himself and the rest of his friends, and while he was in his own world, the people around him were carrying on a different conversation. He guessed they finally tried to include him when they figured out he wasn't even listening.
"I asked, 'How was your weekend?'" He eyed him curiously. "Where's your head today, dude?"
"Yeah, you've been looking pretty distant this whole lunch period, Yugi. You alright?" Ryou, a pale boy with moon-colored hair and warm brown eyes asked.
"Guys, I'm fine. Promise. Just have some things on my mind, is all." He picked up his neglected fork, spinning a bite size gathering of noodles onto it. "And to answer your question, my weekend was pretty uneventful. How about all of you?" He raised the fork to his lips and took a bite.
The rest of the group sitting at their lunch table – Anzu, Honda, and Otogi hummed their "Yeah"s and "Same"s in agreement. Jou visibly frowned and said, "Mine was quite the opposite, actually. 'Da old man stopped by Mai's house on Saturday night. Drunk as per usual."
Yugi, along with the rest of their table, gave him a look of sympathy. "The old man" Jou was referring to was his dad. Two years ago, his mom had died after a long term battle of breast cancer. After that, Jou's dad, Attacan, took a turn for the worst and began drinking to take the edge off the pain from his late wife's death and later the resentment of his two children, the other being Jou's younger sister Shizuka.
One a night turned into two which soon turned in to three until finally his father was out at the bar almost every night of the week. He was barely around, and when he was he beat and verbally abused his children constantly.
With all the money Jou's father was wasting away at the bar and the remaining bills that had yet to be payed from his mother's time in the hospital, Jou needed a way to support he and his sister. They couldn't stop their father from blowing his salary on booze, but Jou could make his own money.
That's when he began selling drugs. Along with busing tables, he made enough just to get he and his sister by. The only problem was in doing what he did, he caught himself in the middle of a gang. A dangerous gang.
His grades began slipping and he quit going to school. It got so bad his own sister barely ever saw him, not that she recognized the person he had become when she did anyway. The pay was good, but not worth what her brother had turned into. Shizuka took the liberty of pulling the siblings out of the huge hole they had dug themselves into.
Mai Kujaku, an beautiful blonde actress who at the time only lived a few cities over, was their father's sister, whom they had never met at the time and still to this day don't know why. It took some digging, but Shizuka found her and inevitably reached out to her for help.
Mai couldn't have been more willing to take in the two of them. It would be months later before their Aunt would gain custody of both children, but they were out of their father's house and that was a humongous start. Soon, although not easily, Jou would clean up his act and switch schools where he was pushed back into his Junior year for lack of credits and would meet Yugi and the rest of his friends. He'd come a long way and they all couldn't have been any prouder of him.
"He didn't try to hurt you and Shizuka, did he?!" Anzu's blue eyes grew huge, the mother hen of the group, and she reached across the table to grab tightly onto Jou's hand.
"Nah, Mai was home. She called da' police. Guess he jus' wanted ta' remind us how much he hates us, like always. Hopefully 'dis is enough for an actual restraining order 'dis time." He looked completely wounded, looking down at the table in sadness. Yugi's heart strings twisted. He really hated when Attacan decided to make an appearance. It did nothing but cause Jou and his sister unwanted pain over a nut job that didn't deserve an ounce of it. He reached over to rest his hand on his best friend's shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Jou."
Honda and Otogi reached over from the other side of the table to rest a hand on Anzu's, who still held on tightly to Jou's. "You're in a better place now, dude. Don't let him get to you." "You did what was best for you and Shizuka. He was the one who made the decision to stop being a father." Both boys sought to reassure the deflated boy. Yugi smiled at the sight. He truly had an amazing group of friends.
In that moment, something sparked inside the young boy. Wait a second. Gang. Jou's old gang. "...and the rest of Millennium will have to teach you what happens when you cross us." The Millennium. He was sure that was what his rescuer had said. Somewhere deep in his memory he had heard that name before. Could that have been the gang Jou used to be in?
If that was the case, then Jou could tell him where he could find Atem. He desperately wanted to seek out this red-eyed mystery man and he didn't even know why. He had saved his life,that much was true, but that wasn't completely it. Something about him captivated Yugi. And he had only said about 20 words to him, words that one wouldn't necessarily classify as friendly either. So, why? Yugi didn't know. But he was going to say thank you. He promised himself that much. The question was, how was he going to get the information out of Jou?
The bell signaling for the end of lunch and the start of fourth hour rang. However he going to get the information out of him, he'd have to wait until History, the last period he had Jou in.
"Alright, class. As I've just shown you, almost every single one of failed this test. This is pathetic. Seriously, what is this? 'A German fascist dictator who massacred thousands during WWII'. The fact that is was a multiple choice test and I had at least five of you circle 'Theodore Roosevelt' makes me seriously question my hope for society." Mrs. Suzuki, a tall young woman with long brown hair that reached her butt and glasses that were way too big for her face, sighed and rubbed her no doubt aching temples. Yugi couldn't blame her. Even he had to admit half the kids in his History class were dumber than a pile of dirt.
"That being said, I've decided, against my better judgment, to let you work with partners. Talk with each other, figure out why you missed what you did, turn it back in before Friday, and hopefully I can make it through your tests without wanting to hang myself off my up stair's balcony. Cross your fingers. We'll come back after you've turned in your retests on Friday and review the correct answers. Just go." She released them, rolling her eyes and pushing herself off the front of her desk to return to her place behind it.
Yugi felt like cheering. This was perfect. "Jou!" Jou turned to make eye contact with him, Yugi giving the universal 'Partners?' face. He nodded in agreement. Now Yugi just needed a way to get his questions answered.
At about fifteen minutes into working on their re-test, he believed it was safe to drift into the conversations. Nice and easy, Yugi, nice and -
"So...that gang you used to be in. It didn't happen to be The Millennium, did it?" Shit. Yugi felt like slapping himself in the face. Smooth. He felt his face heat up. So much for that.
After about thirty seconds or so of silence, Yugi chanced a glance up at his best friend. The look Jou gave him was one of utmost confusion and curosity.
"Uh, yeah? I'm pretty sure I've told ya about dis before, Yug'. Can I ask why ya are bringin' it up now?
Oh, screw nice and easy. "Curiosity. Can you tell me about them?" Yugi tried to feign innocence.
Jou eyes searched his best friend's face, looking for some type of answer to explain why he was asking so randomly about Jou's past. When he couldn't find one, he spoke up, hesitantly.
"Uh...yeah. I guess. The Millennium. They're one of 'da most powerful gangs in Domino, most likely cause a decent amount of 'em are big name drug dealers. Some scary ass dudes ya definitely don't wanna mess wit'. There's only a handful of gangs in Domino, could probably name them on my hand if I wanted ta, but 'da Millennium is definitely 'da most powerful, and the others fear 'em. They've got guns and aren't afraid ta use them, ya know? Comes wit being part of what one would call Domino's "underworld", I guess. They spread out all over the city, not jus' concentrating in one area, for fear a getting' caught. They rob and they murder. Just fa' the fun of it, too. Pretty sadistic, actually."
Yugi nodded in understanding, not letting anything Jou said break his determination. Why was he doing this again? Oh, right. The puzzle. The questions. The mystery of Atem appealed to him greatly, but mystery of what exactly? Once again, he had only spoken less then twenty words to this guy. What was up with this urge that plagued Yugi to see him again? Maybe that near-death experience did more to his brain than he realized. What was that disorder called again? Post traumatic stress?
No, he was being ridiculous. He replied, praying that Jou was to caught up in what he was talking about to process Yugi's question. "You said members live all over the city. There's gotta' some place they all go to hang out. They are a gang, after all."
Jou nodded his head in agreement. "Well, ya. The Downtown District, of course. They use to take me over to a bar off of Broadway and Simmons. No one of middle class society or higher really goes ova there anymore, it's jus' a various amount of run down shopping malls and a few open shops here and there. City hasn't bothered to do anything wit' it because they got the actual Downtown area. But hey, what -?" He finally seemed to catch on.
Yugi immediately turned his gaze back to their tests. "So on number 43. William McKinley. Killed in 1901, 1904, 1875, or 1715? Uh. Wait, who's William McKinley again?" Bingo. Broadway and Simmons. He now knew where he was going after school.
Jou looked as if he was going to question why his friend had brought up their previous subject and Yugi knew he wanted to, but instead he looked up at Mrs. Suzuki, who was steadily progressing down their row making sure everyone was on task, and closed his mouth. Instead he replied, "Hell if I know, man." and joined in with Yugi in a fit of laughter when the two realized they were truly idiots when it came to this stuff.
So I've decided my update days, for now, our Tuesdays and Fridays. I think this chapter lacks excitement, and that kind of sucks, but it's needed so forgive me.
Thank you to my reviewers, even if there was only less than a handful of you. Not going to lie, I squealed after reading each one of your sweet comments. So, mwah! Thank you.
Follow, review, favorite? I'd always down for that :)
XO. See you Friday.