Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Inconsolable ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 4 )

-Chapter Three-

"Hey loner-boy. I think you owe me some money, remember?"

Crimson eyes widened. Their owner gulped. Oh no. Not him. Not Ushio...

"P-please, Ushio...I c-couldn't get the money yet."

Piercing green eyes glared down at the shorter teenager. "I gave you a whole week, Mutou!" He growled. "You owe me that money! I don't do bodyguard service for free!" He shoved Yami into the school fence.

Yami bit his lip. "I-I don't have it. I'm-I'm sorry."

Ushio grabbed the other and threw him on the ground kicking him harshly in the stomach. Yami wheezed, the breath being knocked right out of him. "Can't you doing anything right?! You're worthless, Mutou!" he yelled, kicking him again.

Yami knew that. He didn't need to be told by anyone else. He was a useless nobody. Good for nothing except being a punching bag for others.

Footsteps came closer. Feet pounding on the sidewalk pavement. There was a loud thump as a textbook hit the floor, its pages rustling in the light breeze. "Hey, leave him alone, you jerk!"

The green eyed teen whirled around. "What the hell?!" He laughed loudly. "Mutou, I never knew you had a girlfriend! She must be really desperate to be dating a stupid fuck like you! Oh well, even if she is a girl, I'll still beat her for being disrespectful." He cracked his knuckles and smirked.

Scarlet eyes showed confusion. Girlfriend? He didn't socialize with any girls at school. So...who was it? Yami suddenly gasped. Could it be...? No...Not Anzu? Had she come back? Had she seen him in trouble? Did she want to help him? Why?!

"I'm not his girlfriend," Anzu said angrily, "We're just friends and even so, I won't let you hurt him! Now stop picking on him!" She rushed over to Yami's side.

Ushio's mouth hung open. This girl actually dared to talk like that?! To him?! Obviously, she didn't know who he was. He was the toughest, most feared bully in Jikiro High School. Nobody talked back to him. No one told him what to do. Not ever. The girl needed to be taught this lesson.

Yami turned his eyes on Anzu, seeing her looking down on him worriedly. "W- why'd you co-come ba-ack?" he asked.

Anzu smiled and noticed that Yami's lip was bleeding; probably from biting it. She wiped the trail of blood away with her thumb. "Even if you were acting like a creep before, I couldn't let him hurt you like that," she answered honestly. She stood and offered him her hand. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

The bully grabbed Anzu by the arm and held her up. A soft whimper of pain reached his ears, which made him smile sadistically. He growled at the girl. "Listen, missy... You need to be taught not to meddle in affairs that don't concern you!" He tossed Anzu on the floor and stepped on her back.

The azure eyed girl cried out in anguish, feeling the heel of the teen's shoe grind down into her back. The flesh easily bruised. "I-It does co- concern m-me!" she managed to reply, glaring up at the teen through her pain.

Ushio kicked the brunette onto her back before picking her up. "Oh yeah? Well maybe I should just use you as a punching bag instead!" He laughed and slapped her across the face

Yami watched, eyes wide. He didn't understand. Why was Anzu doing this for him? Not even fifteen minutes ago she was saying that he needed an attitude adjustment and had walked out on him. And now....and now she was proclaiming to be his friend. She was protecting him. Nobody would ever do that. Especially not for him. Not for Yami Mutou.

He stood up slowly and caught Ushio's arm before he could hit Anzu again. He snarled at the tall bully. "Sh-she's not a p-part of this," he began. "You're a- angry a-at me-e."

Ushio raised an eyebrow and dropped Anzu carelessly. He turned to Yami and picked him up by the front of his shirt. "I guess you're right, Mutou. How about this...I'll give you three more days to get me my money. If I don't have it by then, I'll beat you worse than I ever have before." He chuckled, emerald eyes glistening dangerously.

Yami struggled to get free, grunting when he could not loosen the taller's grip on him. He nodded and the bully tossed him at the fence. He slid down the fence and landed on the sidewalk.

He glared at the shorter boy. "You better get me my money, Mutou. And next time, make sure your little bitch doesn't act up anymore. You wouldn't want to see me kill her if she interferes again, would you?" He asked, flicking a knife out of his pocket and licking it. With a final laugh, he strutted out of sight.

Yami look down at Anzu who was shaking violently, holding her cheek. He crawled over to her and put his hand over the delicate girl. "Y-you ok-kay?" he questioned, eyes full of concern. He was worried the other might be hurt. Hurt because of him.

The brunette smiled and looked up. "Yeah, I'll be fine." She coughed a little bit then forced a smile. "What about you?"

"I'm...I'm used to it," was the casual reply.

Anzu looked down. "You let him do this to you? Force you to give him money? Beat you if you don't have it?"

Yami shook his head. "N-no I...Ushio... he w-was protecting me this week. I-I didn't want h-him to, but he s-said he would anyw-ways. N-now he wants th-this money that I-I don't h-h-have..." his voice trailed off and he looked to the sky. "I deserve e-every punch I g-get."

"Don't say that!"

Anzu was angry. How could Yami think so low of himself?! How could anyone say that they deserved to be beaten? She looked up at the other and scowled. "How can you think that about yourself? How can you say you deserve every punch? You're a human being. You are worth something, even if you don't think so right now. You are on this world for a reason, or else you wouldn't be here at all!" She stopped and stood up, still holding his injured cheek. "You know, Yami, for someone who doesn't want pity, you sure do pity yourself a lot."

Yami's scarlet eyes widened at the words. He pitied himself? He most certainly did not!

Anzu, with difficulty, limped a little bit away from the tri haired teen. He obviously didn't care about what she had to say or what she had done for him. Tears sprung to her eyes. Her back hurt badly. Why did she do this? Why did she do this for Yami...?

Yami noticed Anzu struggle to walk. So, he did the first thing that came to his mind. He picked the girl up. Indigo orbs snapped open in surprise. Yami's eyes softened slightly. He cleared his throat and slowly began carrying her down the street. "So...W-where do you l-l-live?" he asked after a few silent minutes.

Anzu spoke quietly as she gave him the directions. She was still mildly surprised that the other was carrying her home. Didn't he hate her?

The walk to the Mazaki home was quiet; Yami content with neither of them speaking, and Anzu unable to come up with something to say even if she wanted to. And she did want to. She was just feeling rather tongue-tied at the moment.

When they finally arrived, Yami rang the doorbell. A pretty middle-aged woman, presumably Mrs. Mazaki, answered the door and almost fell backwards at the site of her weakened, beaten looking daughter in the arms of an equally disheveled appearing teenage boy. She stepped aside and allowed the crimson eyed teen to carry her daughter inside.

Once Yami had placed Anzu down on the couch in the sitting room, the woman rounded on him. "W-what did you do to her?!" she sputtered.

Scarlet orbs widened and he took a step back from the infuriated mother. "I-I...I-I..." He gulped, unable to find words as he looked from the grandmother to Fleur and to the door. "I..."

"Spit it out already, boy!"

"Mother!" Anzu yelled. Her eyes were half lidded, giving her a tired appearance. "He didn't do a-anything wrong. He..." a smile tugged at the girl's lips. "He saved me."

Mrs. Mazaki's scowl turned into a bright and sunny smile. "Oh he did, did he?" she turned her emerald eyes back on Yami, who retreated another step. The old woman smiled kindly and brought her glasses farther up her nose. "Well, I do apologize. Thank you very much, young man." She winked at Anzu who rolled her eyes.

Yami looked away and turned his back on the woman. "Yami Mutou," he corrected haughtily.

"Well thank you, Mr. Yami Mutou," Mrs. Mazaki said jokingly. "Thank you for helping my daughter."

Yami didn't reply. He shot one last glance at Anzu who was smiling affectionately at him, snorted lightly to himself, and left the room. He didn't look back. He didn't want to look at Anzu again. He didn't want to because he felt something stir inside of him when he did just a second ago. It was an unfamiliar feeling. He didn't want to feel it again.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Where have you been?!"

Yami rolled his eyes as his mother started yelling at him about being home so late. It wasn't that she was protective of him. She couldn't care less what happened to the teenager. That was why she didn't notice the bruises on his arms, or the slight limp in his walk, or his bleeding lip. It was just that every night, an officer named Krew would come and check to see if he was home.

Krew was the same officer that arrested Yami two years ago. Back then, things had been even worse, in a sense, than they were now for Yami.

Two years ago, when Yami had been fifteen, he had joined a gang called the Scorpions. He hadn't joined because he really wanted to. He only figured it'd be a good source of protection. And it had been. Who would try and beat him up if he had a gang of tough looking guys to support him? But one night, the gang leader asked Yami for a favor in return for protection. An unforgivable, atrocious favor....

"Yami...how long have you been a member of this gang?"

The fifteen-year-old thought a moment. "A-almost a year, Matsu," he replied to the leader.

Matsu smirked at him and clasped the smaller's bony shoulder tightly. "That's a pretty long time. We've always protected you too, right?"

"Yes."

The blonde haired boy chuckled. "Well, the other guys and I have been thinking, it's about time you did something in return for us."

Yami gulped, "S-something in r-return?" The tri haired teen repeated unsurely. He looked up at Hirutani who smirked and held out something shiny. A gun. Crimson eyes widened. "W-what do you want m-me to do with th-that?"

"Simple, little Yami. You see, there is this guy who has owed me money for over two years. I lent it to him for his sister's eye operation since he used to be a member of another gang that I respect. Well, this guy still hasn't paid me back, which makes me mad because he's had a very long time to get it. Now, normally, I would just kill the guy myself. But I got this better idea. I thought, since I know he picked on you in grade school; why not let you do the job? It'll be revenge for you, and a warning from me." He held up a photograph of an auburn haired girl. "This is Shizuka Jounouchi, their little sister who got the surgery. Think you can get rid of her?"

Yami took the picture as it was tossed to him. "You-you want me to...k- kill her?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Hey do you want to stay a member of this gang or not?!" the older snapped. "Just find the girl and kill her. Then, Katsuya Jounouchi will know we're serious and that we want our money back. And you'll finally have your sweet revenge."

Scarlet eyes scanned the photograph. She was a cute girl who looked not much older than eleven. Her reddish-brown hair was done in pigtails and she posed, giving a V-for-victory sign with her fingers. Cheerful hazel eyes stared up at him from the snapshot. She looked so happy. Why didn't Matsu just confront Katsuya himself? Why was he making him kill such an innocent young girl? Revenge was certainly not enough of an excuse to kill an innocent little girl.

The gun gleamed in the moonlight. "I-I can't do th-this, Matsu," Yami stuttered.

A girl with long black hair and dangerous ark blue eyes came over and wrapped her arms around Yami's waist. "Oh, come on," she whispered, nuzzling her face into his neck. "It's just some worthless poor girl. No one will miss her." She turned the teen's face towards hers and kissed his neck. "Do it, Yami. For me...?"

Yami turned his head aside, feeling a hot blush spread up to his cheeks. "I-I can't," he replied.

The guys in the gang chuckled and hooted.

"I bet if you let him do you, he'll agree!" one with spiky orange hair howled and laughter filled the air.

The crimson eyed boy shook his head, his cheeks as red as his eyes and hair highlights. "N-no. I-I really can't do this."

Matsu growled. "You will do it, Yami, or I will make sure that every day for the rest of your life is a living hell!"

Yami shuddered at the memory. He hadn't done it. He couldn't bring himself to kill the innocent girl. But that hadn't stopped Matsu. He shot young Shizuka right in front of her mother. And then he killed Mrs. Jounouchi, too.

They had both been sent to prison. Yami's father, who had been alive at the time, actually bailed him out. He said he couldn't live with the shame of seeing his only son there, even if he didn't like Yami that much. Matsu, however, remained in jail. He was probably still there. Or dead.

"Yami, I'm speaking to you! You're lucky I just don't send you off with that cop when he gets here tonight! Now get up to your room. I don't want to see you the rest of the night."

Yami rolled his eyes. What did it matter? He never came out of his room except to go to school and to prepare meals anyways. He never even tried to be friendly towards his mother. Without another word, he walked over to his room and slammed the door. Forgetting of his homework, he collapsed on the bed.

With the memory of the killing and the day's events fresh in his mind, he dreamed of innocent Shizuka Jounouchi and her mother's screams....And of Anzu's warm blue eyes.