Chapter Text
Jounouchi slept quite solidly through most of Saturday morning, exhausted by the excitement of the previous day and the late night; Several times throughout the morning he began to regain some consciousness, and had the thought that he should probably get up (though not always the most sensible thoughts, more like “I have to get up or I’ll miss school,” or “Clearly it must be 3 P.M., I should get up”), but found himself lacking the willpower to drag himself out of bed, and soon fell back asleep each time. Eventually, he managed to slowly come to a more fully aware state, and at first decided that being awake was terrible and he was going to go back to sleep for as long as possible- Until he suddenly remembered he had a friend over, and his eyes instantly snapped open, full of eager excitement to start the day.
He sat up abruptly, and then staggered from the sudden blood rush; Evidently his body was not yet quite as awake as his mind felt.
“Good morning,” Atem said cheerfully, looking far more awake than Jounouchi.
“Ngh… Morning,” Jounouchi replied sleepily. “Uh, wha… What time is it?” He slurred, yawning slightly.
“It’s about…” Atem glanced at the clock, pausing for a second or two to decode it. “It’s a little after eleven.”
Jounouchi nodded, and slowly stood up, rubbing his eyes and stretching out his drowsy limbs. As he stood up, he noticed a large, slightly precarious-looking tower of Uno cards taking up most of the table.
“How long did that take you?” he wondered, nodding towards the tower.
“About four hours or so,” Atem replied casually. “It fell over a few times.”
Jounouchi raised both eyebrows in surprise and awe as he began his morning routine, opening the fridge to make breakfast. “Four hours? Geez…”
There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes as Jounouchi began cooking breakfast, with the sound of sizzling eggs filling in the quiet. Jounouchi yawned once again, as Atem leaned casually against the end of the counter.
“Did you know you talk in your sleep?” Atem began, a gentle amused, teasing hint to his voice and expression.
Jounouchi nodded, with a slight knowing huff. “Yeah, why? Did I say something weird?”
“Well, at one point you sat up and looked at me and said, ‘This is why you don’t have any thumbs,’” Atem recounted, crossing his arms and scowling in an exaggerated impression of Jounouchi’s condescending, sarcastic tone. “So I said, ‘But I do have thumbs.’ To which you replied, ‘That’s what I thought you’d say, you stupid fucking capitalist,’ and then you went back to sleep.” Atem shrugged as he finished his story, clearly having no real explanation for the incident.
Jounouchi burst out laughing. “What?!” he exclaimed, completely baffled by the absurdity of Atem’s story.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Atem laughed, shrugging once again. “Anyway, I’ll go clear the table for you.”
As Jounouchi continued cooking, Atem returned to the main living area of the apartment, where his card tower was taking up most of the table. He crouched down by the table’s surface, held up his hand with fingers poised together at the ready, and-
With a flick of Atem’s fingers, the tower suddenly burst, as the cards he had hit at the base shot towards the center almost too quickly to see. Atem laughed with mischievous glee as cards flew everywhere, covering the surface of the table, floating to the floor like confetti, landing on furniture and sticking behind them and even sliding across the kitchen tiles. He allowed himself a moment to enjoy the chaos before he began tidying up, telekinetically gathering the cards on the table into smaller piles.
“Geez, what a mess,” Jounouchi laughed as he sat down at the table with his breakfast, while Atem began collecting cards off the floor. “I’m disappointed, I was looking the other way and missed the explosion…”
“Well, we can always do it again later,” Atem suggested, grinning. “Speaking of which, what are we doing today?”
Jounouchi paused a moment before answering, chewing his eggs and thinking. “How much of Domino City has Yuugi showed you so far?” he asked, once he’d swallowed.
Atem tilted his head and hummed in thought. “Let’s see… I’ve seen Yuugi’s neighborhood, school, the arcade, the internet cafe, a couple restaurants and stores… That’s about it,” he figured, shrugging.
“Well, the weather’s supposed to be nice and warm today, so how about we do a little exploring?” Jounouchi suggested.
“Ooh, that sounds fun.”
Jounouchi smiled. “Alright! Let me just eat and get dressed and all that, and then we can go.”
Atem nodded, and continued picking up Uno cards as Jounouchi finished his breakfast.
The lock gave a mechanical click as Jounouchi shut the apartment door behind him, slipping one arm into the sleeve of a faded denim jacket as he did so. The Millennium Puzzle hung around his neck, resting against the center of his chest.
“Ever seen a bike?” he asked Atem as he finished pulling on his jacket.
Atem shook his head. “Not up close, no. I’ve only seen them pass by every now and then.”
“Looks like you’re in for a treat, then,” Jounouchi announced as he grabbed the shiny green and silver bicycle that stood by the door, lifting it up from where it leaned against the wall. He kept one hand on the seat, one on the handlebars, and motioned with his chin for Atem to follow him as he began walking the bike towards the end of the corridor-like shared balcony.
“How does the bike stay up when it only has two wheels?” Atem wondered as he followed Jounouchi through the heavy door and down the stairwell, the bike by Jounouchi’s side producing a muffled bump-bump-bump each time it went down a step.
Jounouchi shrugged in response, still keeping his hands on the bike. “I dunno, centrifugal force and stuff, I guess,” he replied vaguely.
Atem nodded. “Cool. I don’t know what that means.”
“It’s, you know… Like when you spin around a lot really fast and you get pushed backwards? It’s like that,” Jounouchi explained.
“How is that supposed to keep you from falling over?” Atem questioned, raising an eyebrow.
“I dunno, maybe it doesn’t? Maybe it’s something else?” Jounouchi admitted confusedly. “All I know is once you get moving, as long as you balance it right you won’t fall over.”
“Huh. Weird.”
Once they’d made it to street level, Jounouchi took his hand off the bicycle seat. He swung one leg over the bike’s frame, straddling the seat with his feet just touching the ground, both hands on the handlebars.
“Ready to go?” He asked Atem, with a small smile of excitement.
Atem paused for a moment, looking at the bike with curiousity, before hesitantly sitting down on the back. He sat sideways, legs hanging over one side of the wheel, his posture straight-backed and poised.
“Ok, I’m ready.”
Jounouchi nodded excitedly, and put one foot on the pedal. In an instant, they were off, speeding down the street.
“Woah!” Atem exclaimed as they got up to speed, a wide, bright-eyed smile on his face as he took in the excitement. He watched the wind blow through Jounouchi’s hair as buildings, cars, and people gradually rolled by; The bike moved fairly smoothly, a gentle vibration to it, accompanied by the soft whirring of the wheels and gears that kept it moving. They sped along at a steady pace, a bit slower than a car, but far faster than foot- and certainly fast enough to be fun.
Jounouchi grinned, glancing over his shoulder back at Atem for a brief second. “You like it?”
“Yeah! This is fun!” Atem replied excitedly, watching the buildings go by.
Jounouchi laughed. “Bet you didn’t have anything like this back in Egypt, huh?” he commented.
“Well we did have chariots, but those were kinda different,” Atem recalled, speaking up a bit so as not to be drowned out by the wind and the bike. “You have to stand up on a chariot, and you needed good horses to pull them. This seems way more convenient.”
“I guess the tradeoff is that you have to pedal it yourself,” Jounouchi mused.
Atem gave a thoughtful hum, realizing he’d forgotten about the limitations of the human body. “Is it tiring?”
“Eh, it depends,” Jounouchi answered honestly, shrugging as much as he was able while still maintaining his grip. “I’m in pretty good shape, and I’ve got a good bike, so I can go pretty far if I keep a reasonable pace. Going uphill or riding at top speed can get pretty tiring, though,” he admitted.
“Oh, I see.”
There was little conversation for a few minutes, both simply enjoying the ride. The weather was perfect: Sunny and beautiful, with a temperature that felt almost like spring had come early (due to a passing warm front, despite being late December). Atem took in their surroundings with interest, curious about the never-before-seen streets Jounouchi led them down.
“So, where exactly are we going, anyway?” Atem asked after a while, as Jounouchi slowed to a stop in front of a vending machine.
“Down by the docks,” Jounouchi replied, hopping off the bike. “There’s some abandoned warehouses around there that are way fun to explore. You could play some totally killer hide-and-seek in ‘em,” he explained excitedly.
“That sounds fun.”
Jounouchi nodded. “Yeah, and then I figure on the way back we could hit the comic shop, see if there’s anything interesting for you to read tonight,” he suggested as he put his change into the machine.
Atem blinked, surprised, and quickly shook his head. “Oh, no, you don’t have to buy me anything! I’m fine, really,” he assured Jounouchi.
“Well I’ve been meaning to pick up some new manga anyway, since I’ve read all the stuff I have at home,” Jounouchi admitted. “So, I thought since it’s on the way we might as well stop there, and you could pick something out.”
“Oh, well, if you’re sure then,” Atem decided, watching Jounouchi open the bottle that dropped out of the vending machine. “Is that… uh…” he trailed off as he nodded towards the drink, having forgotten the word.
“Soda,” Jounouchi filled in, nodding.
“Right, that was it. Soda seems so fake,” Atem commented.
Jounouchi raised an eyebrow in amusement and confusion. “What do you mean, fake?”
“Well, I’ve certainly never seen a liquid that’s perfectly clear and bright green, and if I did I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to drink it,” Atem laughed. “What flavor is that, anyway? Alien guts?”
“No, it’s melon, ya melon head,” Jounouchi teased in response. “I guess I can see what you mean, though. Soda’s just colored that way to look cool.”
“Does it actually taste like melon, though?” Atem wondered.
...Jounouchi paused for a moment before giving a vague handwave.
After a few minutes, he guzzled the last of his soda, tossed the bottle in the recycling bin a few feet away, and climbed back onto the bike. Atem followed suit, sitting sideways just as he had before.
“Alright, ready?”
“Yup.”
Jounouchi began pedaling, continuing in the direction they’d been going before their stop. Atem sat contentedly as they rode through the maze that was Domino City, past apartments, office buildings, and stores.
It was a profoundly beautiful city, Atem thought, even the more run down neighborhoods; The dull concrete and steel that made up its frame was constantly tempered by carefully arranged trees, patches of soft green grass, and overgrown wildflowers (though none were currently in bloom), and all of it was tied together by shimmering glass that reflected the sky and the streets. Brightly lacquered cars passed up and down the streets like the colorful jeweled beads of a necklace, scattering light all throughout the city. Even now, in the middle of winter with most of the plants having lost their greenery, it still felt quite lively. Domino City was much like the technology of the era, Atem thought; Huge, complex, omnipresent, and a little overwhelming, yet vibrant, convenient, awe-inspiring, and great fun to watch.
“Well, here are the docks,” Jounouchi announced as the scenery shifted, no longer any buildings directly in front of them.
He turned to ride parallel to the harbor, where a number of boats both large and small were docked; The bright afternoon sunlight scattered playfully on the surface of the water, which was dotted by piers, buoys, large metal cranes, and the occasional offshore boat or marine birds. At one dock, a bit further down, Atem could see men unloading cargo from off a massive ship.
“It feels kinda familiar,” Atem commented, smiling a little wistfully as Jounouchi slowed down to watch the scenery.
“I thought you might like it,” Jounouchi admitted, looking pleased. “You’ve probably been on a lot of boats, huh?”
Atem nodded. “The Nile was the center of travel in Egypt. Our country was built around it, so any time you had to go anywhere farther north or south, you’d just go by boat,” he explained. “The capital city, Djanet, was right at the tip of the delta, so I’ve seen the ocean plenty of times too,” he recalled with a smile.
Jounouchi let the bike stop for a moment, staring thoughtfully out at the water. “You know… It really is kinda crazy to think about just how long people have been sailing,” he said softly. “I feel like that’s one of few things that hasn’t really changed much.”
“I think you’re right,” Atem agreed. “The aesthetics are a bit different, and our boats were usually small compared to some of these, but other than that… It’s a very familiar scene.”
For a while, Atem and Jounouchi simply waited and watched in contemplative silence, transfixed by the beauty of the ocean and the simplicity of humanity. It wasn’t hard to imagine the docks of millennia gone by. Wooden boats tied up where steel ones currently rested; Men with darker skin and lighter clothes, walking the same way as they loaded and unloaded ships; The same sun shining overhead, the same saltwater smell.
It was comforting to Atem, in a way; No matter how many years went by, some things would never change. People would always be people.
“Come on, wanna check out the warehouses?” Jounouchi prompted after a few minutes, nodding towards the far end of the docks.
“Sure.”
Jounouchi began pedaling again, riding past the boats towards a long row of large, squat buildings with huge doors and few windows. Most seemed to be in use (albeit a bit battered), but the farther they went, the more run down they seemed, until they came to a few that were practically in ruins. A number of signs on the rusted old chain link fence proclaimed, no trespassing.
“Is it really ok for us to be here?” Atem wondered as Jounouchi hopped off the bike, slipping it through a gap in the fence.
“Yeah, it’s no big deal,” Jounouchi assured him. “Nobody really hangs out here during the day, and the cops don’t bother actually going inside, so I doubt anyone will see us.”
With that, Jounouchi continued on with casual confidence, Atem floating along behind him as he walked the bike into the old warehouse.
The room they found themselves in was large and empty, with a few scattered bits of junk here and there- a rusty metal barrel, a few random pieces of lumber, some bits of broken glass. A few weeds poked through the concrete floor, near puddles that had collected where water from the recent rainfall continued to drip from holes in the roof. Light from the dirty old skylights revealed equally grungy walls, streaked with dirt, moss, and scorch marks. There was an odd sort of tranquility to the place; It was equal parts unsettling and calming, with what had once been a human product now clearly abruptly abandoned, and reclaimed by the creeping force of nature.
“Woah… What happened to this place? It looks ancient,” Atem said in awe, taking in the scenery with wandering eyes.
“A bunch of the warehouses caught on fire back in ‘83,” Jounouchi explained. “Dunno if they got caught up in legal stuff or what, but one way or another they never demolished ‘em, but never refurbished them either. So, here they are.”
“Huh… So that was… How long ago, again?” Atem questioned, frowning slightly.
“Well, it’s 1996 now, so that would be…” Jounouchi paused, muttering under his breath as he counted on his fingers. “About thirteen years,” he concluded.
“Wow. Hard to believe the place looks this decrepit after only thirteen years.”
Jounouchi shrugged. “I mean, they did set on fire. Plus they’re right by the water, so without regular maintenance it makes sense that they’d take a lot of weather damage,” he pointed out. “Anyway, come on.”
Atem followed Jounouchi as he hopped up an open metal staircase. It was then that Atem noticed the balcony area, stealthily camouflaged against the background with nothing but a thin strip of metal grates.
“This is the catwalk,” Jounouchi told Atem as he walked across. “Pretty cool, right? This is my favorite part,” he added with a grin.
“Is this safe?” Atem wondered, frowning slightly as he looked over the catwalk, gaze traveling from the rusted metal grate to the thin pipe railing and up to the ceiling; A number of thick cables suspended the catwalk, thankfully attached to the heavy ceiling beams and not the leaky roof itself.
Jounouchi nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty sturdy, don’t worry,” he assured him, jumping up and down a few times for emphasis. The catwalk wobbled just slightly, but otherwise remained in place.
With that, he made his way to the other end of the catwalk, skipping playfully a bit and looking down through the grate. At the far end of the warehouse, now, he paused for a moment to look out a window in the back. (The window was mostly empty, although traces of glass panes remained along the edges, distorted from fire.)
“Check it out. You can see pretty far over the water from here,” he said, and pointed towards the horizon. “See those buildings way off in the distance there? That’s Chiba prefecture,” he explained. “Not sure which town specifically, I think maybe-”
Jounouchi paused abruptly as he glanced to the side and realized that Atem was not, as he had assumed, standing next to him. His brow furrowed as he turned and looked around in increasing confusion, finding his friend nowhere to be seen.
“Where’d you go?” he wondered, baffled, searching his immediate vicinity. “Atem? Hello?”
Jounouchi was met only with silence. Frowning, he lifted up the Millennium Puzzle, looking beneath it as if expecting Atem to be hiding there; He then stared down the wedjat eye on the front, as if it could somehow answer him. “Atem? Bro? Where the hell-”
“Boo!” Atem shouted, popping up out of a rusty old oil barrel.
Jounouchi gave a decidedly un-manly shriek and jumped back in surprise, prompting Atem to laugh, a sincere and mischievous laugh of childish amusement.
“Haa, I got you good! You should have seen the look on your face!” he cackled, pointing at Jounouchi in glee.
Jounouchi blushed bright red, shuddering slightly from the sudden adrenaline spike. “Jesus, don’t scare me like that!” he exclaimed, eyes still wide as saucers.
Atem laughed again. “Sorry, I saw the barrel and I just couldn’t resist,” he explained. “I love doing that.”
“Oh, so I’m not your first victim, huh?” Jounouchi muttered bitterly as he regained his composure.
Atem shook his head. “Not by far. My friend Mana and I used to hide in the big urns around the palace all the time,” he recalled. “One of the few perks of being small, I guess; Everyome thought we’d stop doing it once we got too big to fit, but neither of us ever did, so too bad,” he said with a shrug, feigning innocence.
“You’re terrible,” Jounouchi informed him.
“Nah. If I wanted to be terrible, I’d have messed up my hair and crawled out of your TV in the middle of the night,” Atem retorted teasingly, grinning and sticking his tongue out at Jounouchi. “Anyway, what were you saying before?”
“Oh, right,” Jounouchi gasped, blinking as he tried to recall what he’d been talking about before getting jumpscared half to death. “Uhhhhh… Oh! I remember now. So, you see those buildings over there, across the water?”
Atem walked over to the window, leaning out slightly as he looked around. “Yeah.”
“That’s Chiba, the neighboring prefecture,” Jounouchi told him. “I’m not sure which town, though, there’s a couple across from Domino. But yeah,” he finished awkwardly.
“Huh… Cool,” Atem replied with a thoughtful look, watching the water shimmer and wave between the two shores.
Jounouchi nodded. “Yeah. Anyway, wanna check out the next building?”
Atem nodded in response, and with that, Jounouchi continued on along the catwalk. He followed it out a doorway, stepping over the splintered remains of a door as he entered the neighboring building.
The second warehouse, unlike the first, was not quite so empty. Atem looked down in awe at the piles of massive black rings, thick and hollow with grooved rims, some stacked neatly and others in haphazard piles. A few seemed to have become unexpected flowerpots, with tall weeds sprouting from under them. Many seemed slightly misshapen, evidently melted by the fire.
“What are those?” Atem wondered with a gasp as he followed Jounouchi down the stairs.
“Tires,” Jounouchi answered. “They’re made of rubber. They go on the outside of car wheels to cushion them.”
“Oh, I see now,” Atem said, realizing immediately how obviously identical the piles of “rings” were to the black outer rims he’d seen on cars wheels.
Jounouchi nodded. “They still smell kinda bad, but they’re fun to climb on. Now these would be fun for you to hide in,” he pointed out with a grin.
“They smell bad?” Atem repeated, surprised.
“Yeah, can’t you smell it?” Jounouchi questioned, frowning in confusion.
“Nah, I don’t have a sense of smell. Or touch, for that matter.”
Jounouchi blinked. “Oh… Well… That’s cool,” he replied, awkwardly blurting out the only response he could think to say, not really sure how he was supposed to react. (What do you even say to a statement like that, anyway?)
Shaking his head to clear it, Jounouchi shrugged, and began climbing over one of the piles of tires.
“Man, I should’ve brought something to eat,” he grumbled absent-mindlessly as he hopped down. “Shoulda packed a bento or something.”
“Bit of an edgy spot for a picnic, don’t you think?” Atem commented amusedly, raising an eyebrow at Jounouchi.
Jounouchi snorted. “Aw, come on, like you wouldn’t-”
“Look!” Atem interrupted with a gasp, pointing almost urgently at a back corner.
Jounouchi frowned slightly as he looked where Atem was pointing, trying to figure out what had caught his attention; He caught a brief flash of movement, but couldn’t tell what it was.
“A cat,” Atem declared. He said it with such seriousness and force that Jounouchi might have thought he was angry, were it not for the excited twinkle in his eyes, so wide open that his eyebrows brushed against the circlet around his forehead.
Jounouchi could only watch, slightly dazed, as Atem- paying no mind to Jounouchi, all his attention completely focused on the cat- began to slowly edge closer to it, crouching down slightly.
“Hi, kitty! Hello! I see you back there, kitty! Why don’t you come say hello?” Atem babbled in a sweet, high-pitched babytalk voice, holding out his hand towards the cat.
To Jounouchi’s surprise, the cat looked right at Atem. It mewed curiously, creeping out of its hiding spot ever so slightly, to Atem’s delight.
“Yeah, that’s it! Come on! Are you gonna come let me pet you, kitty?” Atem continued, inching ever closer. (Jounouchi could see the internal struggle between his impatience and his desire to not scare the cat away.) “Oh, you’re so pretty! Look how fluffy you are! What a- Wait, no, don’t go!”
Everything seemed to happen all at once: Atem moved a little too quickly, the cat fled, and the next thing Jounouchi knew, he was practically being beheaded.
“Jesus, Atem, slow down! Y-You’re gonna break my neck here, man! Hey, are you even listening to me?!” Jounouchi shouted as he stumbled after Atem, the Millennium Puzzle around his neck shooting towards him like a magnet. Atem continued to chase after his target, heedless to Jounouchi’s plight.
“Wait, kitty! Come back! I love you!”
“Atem, for fuck’s sake, stop! This hurts!”
“I just wanna be friends! Kitty! Come back!”
Jounouchi pulled at the Puzzle’s cord as he struggled to run fast enough to keep up with it, still being pulled along like a kite on a string- Then, suddenly, it stopped.
Jounouchi skidded to a halt just behind Atem, his blood running cold as they both looked up, suddenly aware of the scene they’d inadvertently stumbled into: A group of rough-looking teenage boys, all gathered in a cluster facing towards the back wall. Several of them turned to look in surprise at the interruption, and sneered when they saw Jounouchi.
“Hey, boss. Looks like we got a rat,” one of the boys called out.
“No, not a rat. The dog who turned tail and ran.”
The gang seemed to instinctively part as one particular boy stepped forward, hands in his pockets.
“Never thought I’d see your face again, Jounouchi. Having fun at Loser High?” he said coldly.
Jounouchi growled, his expression growing serious. “Yeah, if I’m a dog, you’re a pack of monkeys,” he spat. “What are you freaks doing here, anyway?”
“This is our torture chamber,” the gang leader answered with a smug grin.
Jounouchi paused, glancing calmly around the room, rotted and messy with puddles and piles of broken trash everywhere. He looked left. He looked right. He looked up. He looked down.
“Funny, this doesn’t look like Domino Correctional,” he said with a shrug.
“Who are these guys?” Atem whispered, drifting closer to Jounouchi, all trace of his excitement now gone as he took in the scene with confusion and concern. (Jounouchi simply shook his head briefly, keeping his eyes on the gang.)
To Atem’s surprise, the gang leader laughed. “Well, looks like you haven’t gone soft after all! I missed that fighting spirit of yours,” he decided. “How about you join back up with me?”
“Go to hell, Hirutani.”
“Aw, come on, now. It’s not like I’m asking you to be my minion or anything,” Hirutani continued, still feigning friendliness. “You’ll be my second in command, just like old times. What do you say?”
Jounouchi tapped his chin, humming thoughtfully as he pretended to consider it. “Hmm, gosh, what do I say… Let me think… Oh! I’ve got it,” he announced, and then cleared his throat dramatically. “Go stick your dick in a blender, Donkey Kong.”
Hirutani’s expression darkened. “Oh, right, I forgot. You’ll mouth off as much as you want if you think there’s no consequences,” he growled. “Well then, how about this?”
He gestured for the others to move, and the gang obediently parted to reveal what they’d previously been so focused on: Another boy, one small and chillingly familiar-looking, tied up by his wrists to a pulley hook hanging from the ceiling. He hung almost entirely limp; His face and arms were covered in blood and bruises, with a defeated look on his face.
“Hanasaki?!” Atem and Jounouchi both gasped at the same time, instantly recognizing their classmate.
Jounouchi instantly took a step to run towards Hanasaki, but was suddenly stopped by something hard hitting him in the face and shoulders. He looked up, wondering what had hit him, and-
“Are those fucking yo-yos?” he blurted out in surprise, not sure whether he should be amused or scared, eyes wide in bewilderment at the sheer bizarreness of it all.
“They sure are! Cheap, legal, and painful!” one of the delinquents laughed. The group formed a ring around Jounouchi and Atem, swinging their yo-yos towards the middle to create an effective barrier.
“Well, Jounouchi? What’ll it be? You’re trapped, so make a decision,” Hirutani warned. “Swear your loyalty to me and my crew, or watch as your little friend dies.”
For a moment, Jounouchi froze, glancing from Hanasaki to Hirutani- To the yo-yos swinging at him from every angle, blocking his escape-
“Like hell Jounouchi would ever join up with garbage like you,” Atem snarled, and that was all Jounouchi needed to snap back to reality.
“Trapped, huh?!” Jounouchi shouted as he suddenly barreled forward, keeping his head low and his arms close to protect himself. He grunted in pain as yo-yos pelted him relentlessly, feeling like rocks even through his denim jacket, but he gritted his teeth and kept on until he’d pushed his way past the trap.
He gasped, breathing heavily from pain, but shook it off. Without a word, Jounouchi ran towards Hanasaki, grabbing the hook that held him in place.
“J-Jounouchi-kun… you should…” Hanasaki muttered weakly as Jounouchi began untying him. “You should g-get out of here… Forget about me, they’ll kill you…”
“Like hell I’m leaving you here,” Jounouchi insisted.
As Jounouchi finally managed to slip the rope off the hook, Hirutani snarled. “Jounouchi, you bastard… Damn it, you morons went too easy on him! Hit them harder!” he ordered.
“Shut up! Hit me all you want, I’d rather die than betray my friends!” Jounouchi shouted back.
Hirutani raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? Well then, go ahead and choose: Join with us, or we’ll kill you.”
At Hirutani’s signal, about half of the gang circled closer and closer, wild grins on their faces as they swung their yo-yos threateningly, an unmistakable hunger for violence in their eyes. Jounouchi would have laughed at the thought of death by yo-yos if he weren’t so genuinely at the end of his rope; He almost reached for the yo-yo in his own pocket, but he knew he couldn’t take on all of them at once… If only there were something…
He glanced at Atem, standing protectively in front of Hanasaki, and an idea suddenly occurred to him.
Reaching behind his neck, Jounouchi slipped the Millennium Puzzle up over his head, holding both sides of the cord in one hand.
“Alright, come and get me, bozos,” he prompted, a confident look on his face despite his injuries.
Atem raised an eyebrow curiously. “What are you- Woah, hey! Don’t do that!” he shrieked as Jounouchi suddenly began twirling the Millennium Puzzle like a windmill in front of him, centrifugal force driving it in a wide, even circle. As the Puzzle began to spin faster and faster, so did Atem’s vision, and he fell dizzily backwards onto (or perhaps into?) what he could only assume was probably the floor.
“What’s that stupid necklace supposed to do, huh?!”
“Why don’t you come find out?” Jounouchi taunted.
Atem heard several surprised yelps and clattering noises, as he stared blankly upward at the infinitely rippling ceiling (was that even the ceiling? He was too dizzy to tell), and wondered how a ghost could possibly get a headache. After a moment, he felt the spinning stop- though his vision was still reeling- and began awkwardly struggling to right himself.
“And now…”
Atem just barely managed to sit up in time to watch Jounouchi jump up and grab a pulley hook from the ceiling with one hand, while his other hand held a large cluster of yo-yos, still attached to their wielders; He pulled the hook down, wrapped the yo-yos around it several times, and then abruptly let go, sending no less than five boys screaming towards the ceiling.
“Ha! How do you like that?!” Jounouchi laughed as the helpless group struggled to free themselves, screaming about their fingers. The rest of the gang stared, slack-jawed, too shocked to make a move.
“You’re lucky I don’t have a body, or I’d vomit all over you,” Atem muttered, shooting a dark look at Jounouchi.
“Sorry!” Jounouchi whispered back- And then winced as he noticed the rest of the gang finally snap out of their shock. “Aww, crap.”
Acting on instinct, Jounouchi ran towards the stairs, with Atem following closely behind them. And behind Atem, of course, was the rest of the gang.
“Don’t let him get away!” Hirutani shouted.
Jounouchi jumped through a window and onto the roof, and then groaned as he realized his mistake. “Shit… There’s no way out of here,” he observed, glancing nervously at the concrete lot below.
“No, it’s alright. Once they come after you, those guys will be trapped too,” Atem pointed out, and nodded towards the floor. “Stay close to the edge.”
Jounouchi frowned for a minute, wondering what Atem was getting at. “What do you-”
He glanced down at the half-rusted roof, saggy and full of holes, and let out a quiet “Oh” as he suddenly understood. Grinning in anticipation, he reached into his pocket and took out his own yo-yo.
“Looks like I’m the new Saki this time,” he announced.
He kept running, this time swinging his yo-yo towards the floor as he did so. A quick glance behind him revealed the gang in hot pursuit, as expected.
Bang, his yo-yo hit the roof below his feet.
“Run all you want, punk! We’ll yo-yo you into oblivion sooner or later!” one of the gang members taunted.
Bang, another hit. Flakes of rusty metal fell towards the ground.
“Yeah, give it up! You’ve got nowhere to run!”
Bang, bang.
“We’ve got you totally trapped! Game over!”
Jounouchi finally paused as he reached the edge of the roof, and turned around casually, a confident grin on his face. “Oh yeah? I’m the one who’s trapped, am I? Take a look around you, morons.”
The group glanced around, confused, the wheels in their minds very slowly turning as they tried to figure out just what-
“Aaand three… Two…”
Atem smiled and waved cheerfully as the roof collapsed in on itself with a loud creak, followed by a loud crash and a number of screams. Jounouchi cheered, snapping his yo-yo back into his hand.
“Remember this, assholes: You won’t be forgiven!” he called down through the hole, though none of the boys below were conscious enough to respond.
With that, Jounouchi began slowly inching his way back towards the window, being careful not to slip and fall into the hole.
“Guess that leaves one left,” he muttered to himself.
“Hey, speaking of that… While you’re at it, wanna have a little fun with ponytail guy?” Atem suggested, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“What I mean is, you just took out his entire gang single-handedly. He’s gotta be at least a little shaken up by now,” Atem pointed out, as he casually floated across the broken roof. “I wonder how he’d feel about, oh, I don’t know… Levitating bricks, perhaps?”
Jounouchi grinned, realizing what Atem was implying. “Ah, I gotcha. Sure, why not?” he decided as he climbed back into the building.
Just as they’d expected, Hirutani stood at the bottom of the stairs, glaring up at Jounouchi with his hands in his pockets. Jounouchi met his gaze with equal fire as he jumped down.
“Let’s settle things once and for all.”
Hirutani snorted as he took his stance. “I’ve heard you say that before, you know. Neither of us ever could beat the other, could we?” he responded, a confident calmness to his voice, though Jounouchi could sense his slight hesitation.
Atem and Jounouchi exchanged knowing glances.
“Yeah, well… You know what, Hirutani?” Jounouchi began with careful deliberacy as he approached Hitutani, Atem grinning behind him. “The truth is, all these years, I’ve been holding back.”
Hirutani raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Holding back how?”
Jounouchi said nothing, though the corner of his mouth twitched as he fought to maintain his act. Atem, on the other hand, made no effort to hide his mischief, giggling devilishly as he looked around the room for appropriate “props” for his little game.
“Here goes,” he announced cheerfully, and tossed a pile of wooden planks into the air.
Hirutani’s eyes widened in shock as the planks clattered loudly to the ground. “Wh-What the fu-”
Before Hirutani could finish his sentence, Jounouchi punched him square in the jaw, sending him toppling backwards. Hirutani grunted in pain, still looking confused, but nonetheless stood back up.
“Doesn’t feel all that tough,” he insisted with a shrug. “It’ll take more than that to beat me.” With that, he moved in for a punch of his own, and-
“My turn!”
Atem shoved Hirutani backwards before he could get in a hit, knocking him to the floor once again. Just for good measure, he dropped a few of the wooden planks on top of him.
“Like I said, I’ve been holding back. So you’d better watch it,” Jounouchi repeated, pressing a foot against Hirutani’s chest. “If I ever hear about you or any of your little monkey gang coming anywhere near anyone from Domino High ever again, I’ll-”
“Y-You’ll what?” Hirutani interrupted, gritting his teeth in one last effort to look tough.
Hirutani’s eyes widened in what was now undeniably fear as everything around them suddenly went dark, and all he could see was Jounouchi leering down at him from the darkness, his hair floating up in anger.
“You don’t even want to know what I’ll do,” Jounouchi hissed darkly, glaring down at Hirutani threateningly. He trembled in what he hoped Hirutani would simply assume to be anger, as he struggled not to laugh at the way Atem was tickling his hair.
Time itself seemed to resume as light abruptly returned to the warehouse, snapping Hirutani out of his shock. He immediately scrambled backwards away from Jounouchi, whimpering in fear.
“Now get out of my sight, you… you… Worm!” Jounouchi spat, and Hirutani was more than happy to obey.
Jounouchi and Atem watched as Hirutani ran towards the door, keeping their eyes on him until he was long out of sight. And then, they broke down laughing.
“See, I told you it’d work! We really got him good!” Atem cheered, giggling just the way he had when he’d scared Jounouchi earlier.
“Man, did you see the look on his face?! I thought he was gonna piss his pants!” Jounouchi agreed, and then practically fell over as he laughed even harder.
“Aw, man! We should start a theater group, I’ll be in charge of special effects and you can-”
Atem’s sentence was interrupted by a groan from behind them. Atem and Jounouchi both exchanged wide-eyed glances as they suddenly realized what they’d forgotten.
“Aw, shit, Hanasaki,” Jounouchi gasped, and ran to his side.
Hanasaki winced as Jounouchi helped him up off the floor, every inch of his skin tender with bruises. Jounouchi held him steady with a worried expression, trying (and, unfortunately, failing) to be careful of his injuries.
“A-Are they gone..?” Hanasaki gasped.
Jounouchi nodded. “Yeah, they’re taken care of, don’t worry. It’s all clear now,” he assured him. “Looks like your glasses are toast, though,” he observed, biting his lip as he glanced at the crushed metal frames and broken glass on the ground.
Hanasaki sighed. “Yeah, I figured… Thanks for saving me, Jounouchi-kun.”
“No problem. Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
“O-Oh, are you sure?” Hanasaki questioned, blinking in surprise. “I mean, I don’t want to cause you any more trouble…”
Jounouchi shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I don’t want you walking around injured and half-blind by yourself,” he insisted. “We just gotta go get my bike from the other building first, alright?”
Hanasaki nodded, wincing slightly at the pain. “Thank you. I... really appreciate it.”
As Jounouchi carefully led Hanasaki towards the door, Atem glanced around quietly, wondering where the cat had gone.
For all that had happened over such a short span of time, it still somehow felt like Jounouchi and Atem’s sleepover had barely even begun by the time Monday morning rolled around. Atem and Yuugi both seemed to perk up slightly with excitement upon seeing each other, hurrying to meet at the entrance to school.
“Hey, Yuugi!” Jounouchi greeted him cheerfully. “How was your vacation?”
“It was great! I’ll tell you guys all about it later,” Yuugi replied.
“Did you bring me back any presents?” Atem asked, smiling not-so-innocently as he watched Yuugi take off his shoes.
“Yup!”
Atem blinked in surprise. “Wait, really? I was just joking, you didn’t have to get me anything…”
Yuugi laughed. “The museum had a gift shop, and I found a tsumego book I thought you’d like,” he explained. “It’s by Touya Kouyou, so it’s bound to be good.”
“Ooh, fancy. Thank you, Yuugi.”
“You’re welcome! By the way, how was the sleepover?”
“It was lots of fun,” Atem replied with a nod. “Jounouchi-kun’s sister drew a picture of me.”
“Oh, that’s- ...Waaaait, how does she know what you look like?” Yuugi wondered, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
Atem and Jounouchi exchanged nervous glances. “Uh…”
“And come to think of it, how’d your face get all bruised?” Yuugi added, frowning at Jounouchi.
“Oh, I, uh… See, we were playing around, and I… Slipped on an Uno card?” he tried hesitantly.
Yuugi was unconvinced, as evidenced by the way he crossed his arms and sighed. “I told you guys not to get into trouble,” he scolded them. “You said you were going to behave.”
“It’s not our fault! We tried not to get into trouble, honest!” Jounouchi insisted, waving his hands in denial.
“Yeah, it was an accident! I just wanted to pet a cat-”
“I told her not to touch the Puzzle-”
“And I promise I didn’t kill anyone-”
“Besides, they started it, we were just minding our own business!”
“Woah, woah, hang on,” Yuugi interrupted. “Who started what, exactly? What happened?”
The two paused their denials, taking a moment to collect themselves. Jounouchi took a deep breath.
“...Ok, so basically… So like, my sister came over, and I didn’t know she was coming but mom was doing some errands nearby so she decided to come say hi anyway, right?” he began. “And I had left the Millennium Puzzle on the table, so she was like, ‘Hey, what’s with this weird pyramid?’ and I said ‘Don’t touch that!’, but then she touched it anyway. But then her and Atem became friends, so it’s cool,” he assured Yuugi. “And then, the next day, I was showing Atem the old abandoned warehouses and there was this cat and he wanted to pet it, but it ran off, so he chased after it and then it turned out these guys I was in a gang with in middle school had kidnapped Hanasaki, ‘cause he’s got a bunch of rare Zombire merchandise from America and I guess they wanted to sell it? Anyway, so- Oh also for some reason they were all fighting with yo-yos, it was weird, anyway… So Atem and I kicked their asses, but not too hard, and then we scared ‘em off, so uh… Yeah, so basically we didn’t do anything wrong,” he finished with a nod.
Yuugi stared blankly at Jounouchi for a moment.
“I… Really didn’t understand about half of that, but I believe you, I guess,” he decided with a confused shrug. “Anyway, can I have the Millennium Puzzle back now?”
“Oh, right.” Jounouchi pulled the Millennium Puzzle’s cord over his head, and handed it to Yuugi; There was an immediate sense of rightness as Yuugi slipped it back on, as if everything was just the way it was supposed to be.
“Thank you for having me over, Jounouchi-kun,” Atem said sincerely, smiling as he drifted back towards his usual spot at Yuugi’s side. “I had a lot of fun. I hope we can do it again sometime.”
Jounouchi nodded. “Yeah, I had fun too! Maybe next time we can hang out without getting in to trouble for real this time,” he laughed.
Atem laughed as well. “Yeah, probably not.”
“Almost definitely not.”
“You two are going to be the death of me,” Yuugi sighed.