Joey didn't, couldn't, hear or see anything after letting himself go. It was so hard; the pain became much more than he could bear, and it was so easy to let it take him. He felt better after letting the darkness in...numb, but better. His mind was no longer in contact with his body. It was like he was floating in pleasure.

It was pain that had brought him back. Something hit him hard. It was like someone turned on the on/off switch for his senses. He was suddenly alive and alert, staring up at Kaiba and his gun with fear gripping him. His stomach turned.

"K-kaiba!" He stuttered, completely taken aback. He moved to sit up.

"Shut it mutt," The brunette replied, "And don't move unless you plan on having a bullet to the brain."

Joey froze. He knew Kaiba was serious about shooting him. His mind swirled, trying to remember what happened. The last thing he really remembered was getting a call from Yugi and agreeing to meet him at the arcade. What happened after that?

Somewhere behind him, Tristan moaned. Joey tuned to look at him. Tristan was slouched against the wall, looking dazed and in pain. He reached to touch the back of his head. When he pulled his hand back, he saw that his fingers were wet with blood. He cursed.

"What happened to you man?" Joey asked stupidly. He'd already forgotten about Kaiba and moved to his knees to stand. From the corner of his eye, he could see Tea leaning against the sinks, and little Yugi struggling to stand. All of his friends were hurt, and he wasn't sure why. What happened? Where was he when it all happened?

A bullet hit the ground near Joey's foot. It ricoshed and hit a stall door. Tea and a couple other voices from the doorway screamed. The tile that was hit shattered, scattering about. Joey spun around to glare at Kaiba.

"What the hell?" He shouted, feeling his temper and hate for the man raising. He shoved himself off the ground and got right into Kaiba's face, not caring about the gun anymore, "What is your problem? Huh!? Can't you see that he's hurt?"

Kaiba backhanded him with the hand holding the gun. Joey stummbled away a bit. He felt his lip split and lightly bleed. The CEO had the revolver against his head in less then a second, the cold metal pressing against his temple. Kaiba's eyes seemed to say, 'Careful mutt, my finger might slip.'

"Stop it," Yugi said, sounding like he had just run a mile. He wedged himself between the two, pushing them apart. "This is all a...mistake. So stop..."

"The police are here!" Someone said from outside the bathroom.

"Keep your dog on a shorter leash," Kaiba muttered, lowering the gun and stashing it away somewhere in his trench coat. He turned abruptly and left.

Joey growled at the comment, ready to go after the man and beat the living hell out of him...or something like that. Little Yugi pushed against him, telling him to let it go. The blond agreed, looking to his injured friends. A couple officers pushed through the crowd, taking in the scene. One of them, an overly puggy man named officer Waddle, odered an ambulance for Tristan through his radio.

"What happened?" The second officer, a much skinnier, pimple faced man named officer Zitts, asked. Joey felt he would have laughed at the two cops had the situation been different. He didn't know what happened, so offered nothing.

"We got into a fight," Yugi supplied instead, almost straining to keep his voice level, "Well, Joey and Tristan got into a fight."

"Over?"

"You know..." The boy laughed nervously. He brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head. That was the number one sign, Joey knew, that Yugi was lying, "Guy stuff."

Officer Zitts seemed to buy it, scribiling down something in a small notebook. He glanced at Tea, "And what about her?"

"I came in to stop the fight," Tea lied for herself. She stood up, bracing herself with the sink, "But I slipped and hit the sinks."

The officer bought it again. The two hilariously named cops decided that the teenage nuisance was not worth the time and effort to report. They let Joey go with a stern warning and assisted the paramedics to get Tristan into the ambulance. Tea went with them to the hospital, leaving Joey and Yugi at the arcade.

"Did we really…you know," Joey began to ask as they walked out of the building and into the natural light of day. The question seemed really farfetched in his mind, but he had to ask it; he had to know what happened, "Did we really get into a fight?"

Yugi stared at the ground, kicking his feet a little. He licked his lips as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to answer. Finally he just shook his head 'no'.

Somehow, Joey felt relieved to know that their friendship was still safe, but he still needed to know what happened. They began walking down the street, side by side, Yugi looking down and Joey looking up, searching for a way to ask. The sky was a brilliant blue, fluffed up by shiny white clouds. The sun was directly up above, making his eyes water a bit.

"You don't remember anything?" Yugi finally asked. He looked up at the taller boy with curious eyes, underlined with worry and a tinge of suspicion.

"No. Nothing."

"Hmm…" The boy looked down again. He was deep in thought.

"What happened?" The blonde prodded. Yugi found interest in some lint on his shirt and he started to pick at it. Joey stopped, taking a guess, "I did all that, didn't I? It's my fault you all are hurt, right?"

"You did but…" The boy stopped as well, turning to face him. He bit his lower lip in thought, "Well…I don't think that was really you. You were so different…it was you, but not you." He took a step towards Joey and looked him straight in the eye, "You haven't been you for days. Is something wrong?"

Joey was a little taken aback. "Not really," He lied, offering a small laugh to make his lie seem less of a lie, "I've been really busy lately. Maybe I just lost my mind back there with all the pressure."

He didn't want to lie to his best friend, but he couldn't stand to make him worry either. All the time he spent with in a street gang made him a good liar, better than his friends, but he wasn't sure that this lie would stand. Yugi looked a little suspicious, but didn't press.

They walked for a couple of blocks in silence. It was an unusual, eerie kind of feeling. Joey glanced sideways to try and read his friend's expression. Yugi's lips were pursed shut, but his face was otherwise expressionless. Joey almost let out a sigh of relief when it was time for them to part ways. He almost didn't bother to say goodbye. Yugi grabbed his sleeve before he could get too far.

"Hey, If something is up, just know we are all here for you," He said, looking the blonde straight in the eye again. A gentle, friendly smile suddenly spread across his face, "We are friends after all."

The smile was infectious. Joey found himself smiling in response as he nodded, waving goodbye as the boy took off down the street in the direction of the game shop.

When Yugi was out of sight, Joey could feel the presence of his smile fade away. His hand slowly dropped to his side. The day's events slowly replayed in his mind like a movie reel with scenes missing. His body ached, but not as badly as his heart did when he remembered what his friends looked like. The things before that were a blank, but he had no doubt it was he who injured the three, just like in his dreams. What would have happened if Kaiba hadn't been there to stop him?

Kaiba…

'Kaiba isn't stronger then me,' Joey thought randomly, wondering how he let the brunette take him on. Aware or not, he would have never let Money Bags beat him down, and yet he had. He touched his cheek where Kaiba had struck him and flinched. It was swollen and probably bruised. He hissed at the sting, asking aloud, "What the hell is wrong with me?"

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"What the hell is wrong with me?" Came the blonde's voice over the receiver. Kaiba watched the blonde from the tinted windows of his black Jetta. The driver was a little more then suspicious of the brunette's actions, but he was fond of his job and didn't want to chance asking.

The CEO had no problem planting the bug on Joey. While he was despicably out of his mind, Kaiba stuck the small microphone in the mutt's jacket pocket. It was simple and easy, and he could hear the blonde's voice, as well as Yugi's voice, clearly through the receiver in his own ear.

The mutt stood where he was for a while, looking uncharacteristically lost in his own mind. Kaiba sighed and pulled the bud out of his ear. There was nothing else to listen for. He ordered, "Drive."

"Yes sir," The driver responded, starting the car and pulling it out of the ally space were they were watching Joey and Yugi. He glanced over at his boss sitting in the passenger seat.

"What?" Kaiba snapped, watching Joey out the window till he was out of direct sight.

"U-um…well…" The driver stuttered, gaining all of his confidence. The CEO's piercing cold eyes made his next sentence rushed, "Isn't it illegal to bug someone without their permission?"

"I'm not concerned with the laws."

"B-but why do it then? Why this boy?" He asked without thinking. He grimaced, knowing right after he asked that his job was dangerously at stake.

Kaiba didn't answer. He concentrated out of the windshield with his typical glacial expression. He couldn't stop his mind from answering the question, though he did not say it out loud to the driver.

'I saw him on the other side of the mirror.'

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Hey!!! Comment PLEASE!!! Seriously...there are like, 4 comments to this story. That makes me sad. So can we try for 10 comments before the next update? Or I may not update at all. So please R&R!!!!!!!
Many thanks to the four that did comment and thank you to the people who added this to your favs and alerts~~ 3

-BV