Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ In the Ocean of my Heart ❯ Chapter 2, Bleeding Hearts ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2, Bleeding Hearts

A/N: Jounouchi's first name is Katsuya. His parents address him by that in the anime. This is a heavy angst chapter, dealing with alcoholism and suicide.

* * * Our Universe, Yugi's POV

The angels stood about five feet apart, chanting a spell. A purple flame shot out from Zadkiel's hands. A white flame blazed from Jazar's. The two colored flames leapt from their hands, joining in the space between them. A soft, purple whitish fire burned. It expanded growing larger, without emitting smoke. It was a kind of magical fire. A hole formed in the middle, its size becoming bigger until the magic fire formed a ring of burning flame. Through the ring on the other side, I saw a room exactly like my own. On the bed, sat someone curled up, looking away from me. My counterpart. He sensed my presence. He turned around, gazing back at me from his side. The large, star shaped twinkles in his eyes lit up, showing his excitement.

"I've been waiting for you, Yugi-san," he called out, politely in his high tenor voice.

Now that he faced me on the other, standing in front of the portal, I saw a depth in his pools I couldn't make out before, when he was further away. The outsides were light in color, shallow in depth like the water closest to the shore. Closer in towards the area surrounding his pupils, the color grew darker, and the depth much deeper. The subtle transition of shallow to deep, and light to dark struck me as beautiful and flawless. I'd never seen this lovely gradation of color in anyone else's eyes. The outer clear, light, almost transparent crimson shifted into the deep, solid, blood red crimson, near his pupils.

He was my mirror image in the flesh, except for his eyes. Hiding in the deepest recesses of his pools, underneath the dark areas of the solid, blood red crimson, I saw an inner fire in him. The fire burned deep inside his heart, the flame of love. It swirled in his aura as a beautiful, pink flame. He raised an arm, reaching through the portal to my world.

"Come, Yugi-san," he invited, warmly. I felt the love in his voice.

I took it, crossing over into his world.

"Wait for me, Aibou!" Yami called out, returning to his soul room in my body.

The two angels chuckled, see Yami scramble through the portal. Then, the ring of fire shrunk, until it disappeared completely, closing the portal.

* * * Parallel universe, Yuugi's POV

My heart beat, pounding with excitement, when we met, for I knew he was no ordinary person. Could he really help Jounouchi to overcome his addiction? I prayed from the bottom of my heart. But whenever I thought about Jounouchi, my eyes welled with tears.

"Please, help my koi, my Jou-kun," I implored, blinking to fight my tears.

"It's okay to cry, Yuugi-kun," he reassured, in a gentle tenor voice. He held me closely, wrapping me in his warmth. "You love him so much, that's why you're in pain, isn't it, Yuugi-kun?" he asked, softly.

"Yeah, just this afternoon when he came over, he drank before. I tasted the alcohol on his lips. It was nothing compared to last week though," I said, shedding a few tears. "Last Sunday night someone banged on my door. I opened it to see Jou-kun, so drunk off his ass he could barely walk. Honda supported him. He told me he saw Jou-kun stagger out of a bar, about to pass out when he caught him. He plopped Jou-kun on my living room couch and took off. My koi started to vomit up all the crap he drank on the living room floor. He moaned about feeling sick, passing out finally. I dragged him to the bathroom upstairs to clean him up. His shirt and jeans were covered in vomit. I took those off, throwing them in the laundry. Then I bathed him to clean any crap off his body. I dressed him in a bathrobe and tucked him in my bed. After that, I spent a whole hour cleaning up his vomit on the living room floor and couch. I didn't get to sleep until two in the morning. He woke me up at the crack of dawn, telling me he felt like shit. I called 911. They said it was probably alcohol poisoning from excessive drinking. If he didn't throw up the alcohol in his vomit, he probably would've died, the operator said. He needed a few days to recover.

"I can't tell you how f*****g pissed I was at him for that. He nearly killed himself!!" I wailed, no longer able to fight my tears. I cried into Yugi's shirt, wetting it. "After that, he promised me he wouldn't drink. He lied to me today! It hurts so much, after being lied to, so many damn times, Yugi-san."

"I wish I knew what to say to help poor Yugi. His pain runs so deep, like a wound in his bleeding heart," thought Yugi to himself. He sighed deeply.

* * * Parallel world, Yugi's POV

Ding dong! The doorbell rang loud and clear. I sensed it was Jounouchi! Why'd he pick such a shitty time to stop by? Maybe he wanted to apologize to Yuugi? Even if he did, Yuugi was in no condition to deal with him.

"You stay here, I'll answer it," I murmured, getting up off the bed.

"But," he spoke up, glancing at me.

"Don't worry. I'll handle Jounouchi-kun," I reassured him. "I'll pretend to be you, and ask Jounouchi-kun to apologize. Then things will work out." I forced a smile, to try and reassure him.

"It won't be as easy as you think," he replied, shaking his head doubtfully.

I nodded thoughtfully, and then headed downstairs.

"I feel uneasy about this, Aibou," Yami alerted me mentally, as I was about to answer the door. "If something happens, let me take over, okay?"

"I understand, koi," I acknowledged, nodding. I opened the door to see Jounouchi.

Jounouchi was a mess. His normally, neatly combed sandy hair, went astray in all directions, like he'd just woken up. His deep chocolate pools, usually filled with love, burned with an umber fire. I saw in that blazing fire, years of self-hatred, anger, and emotional abuse inflicted by others. He must lock all that pain deep inside his heart. His pain flared, burning in his chocolate eyes whenever he drank. Poor Jounouchi. He furrowed his brows together, like a wild animal ready to attack.

"How dare you tell me our relationship is over!?" he growled huskily, from the back of his throat. I never heard him growl like this before. He sounded like an enraged beast snarling at its enemy.

He stormed into Yuugi's house, slamming the door violently behind him. He stopped a hair's breath away from me, breathing down my neck. His alcohol filled breath stung my sensitive eyes. I winced in pain.

"Not only is he drunk, I sense great rage in him. He's dangerous. I'm taking over, Aibou," Yami declared, coming into my body. I withdrew to watch from my soul room, trembling with fear.

Yami narrowed his ruby eyes, staring directly into Jounouchi's. "What nerve you have to come by, after you lied to me, again today!" hissed Yami in his deep, base voice.

Jounouchi blinked several times, stunned momentarily. Yuugi never talked back to him like this.

"Whaddya say!?" he snarled suddenly, about to pummel Yami.

"You heard me," Yami answered curtly, taking a few steps back. One of his fits came flying forward. Yami caught it, not even flinching. "When Honda brought you here, last week, you were plastered, real bad, Jounouchi-kun. If you didn't vomit up that alcohol, you could of died! Don't you know that!?!?" Yami cried, speaking on Yuugi's behalf.

The umber fire in Jounouchi's chocolate eyes, burned fiercely in his pools. He pushed his closed fist even harder into Yami's palm.

Yami didn't budge, still cool and collected. "I'm so pissed at you for almost killing yourself. You promised me, you wouldn't drink after that. Yet today, I tasted alcohol on your lips when we kissed. It hurts, after you've lied to me so many times. Wouldn't it hurt you, if I lied over and over?" he questioned, confronting Jounouchi. He wanted Jounouchi to feel some remorse.

"Shut up, Yuug!" he growled back, in his guttural voice. His shoved his fist harder against Yami's hand, pushing him back a few inches on the tiled floor.

"It hurts you to feel your own feelings, so you numb out and get violent. Think that changes things, Jounouchi-kun!?" Yami asked, sharply, determined to hold his ground.

"I didn't come to listen to yer lecture, man!" howled Jounouchi, furiously.

"Then why did you come?" Yami returned, trying to stay calm.

"To kick yer ass, cause ya called off our relationship!" muttered Jounouchi, hitting Yami with his strong breath again.

"You call that a relationship!?" Yami retorted, turning his head to the side to avoid Jounouchi's pungent breath.. "A relationship is a positive connection two people share. We do not have a relationship, because your behavior is dysfunctional and possessive, Jounouchi-kun," he said, firmly.

"SHUT UP, ya f*****g physiatrist!" Jounouchi hissed, cursing explicitly. He charged at Yami to punch him. His aim was totally off, as his mind was impaired.

"You can't even punch right, much less walk less. Now listen to me so I can help you, Jounouchi-kun," suggested Yami, keeping his cool.

The more Yami tried to help him, the more enraged he became. He shot a menacingly glare at Yami. "BASTARDDDD!!!" he shrieked, lunging at Yami like a mad man.

He flew at Yami, about to maul him with his fists. Yami stepped out of the way just in time, to avoid being clobbered by the drunken blond. He hit the wall where Yami stood, head on.

"Jounouchi-kun!" cried Yami, rushing behind him to catching him, before he fell.

Yami caught him. He moaned, passing out in Yami's arms.

"Jounouchi-kun!" wailed Yuugi, racing down the stairs to see Jounouchi. "Crap! I think he knocked himself out. Lay him on that couch over there," he pointed.

Yami laid him down on the suede, leather couch.

"Will he be okay?" asked Yuugi, frantically.

"I think so. It's nothing more than a minor concussion at its worst," Yami reassured him, gently.

Yuugi cried again, seeing his beloved koi like this. "I'm so sorry!" he apologized to Yami, with a heavy sigh. "I know you really tried to help him."

"Don't apologize, Yuugi. He wasn't himself. No one is when their drunk," said Yami, sympathetically. "After he wakes up, he'll probably be himself."

Yuugi said nothing, kneeling on the floor beside koi. He buried his head into the leathery material, sobbing bitterly.