Shattered

Shattered.
By Lady Jade

Disclaimers:
Warnings: I don’t own Yugioh. Damn. Anyways, I’m not making any profit off this, and my hat is off to all the talented ppl who worked so hard to make Yugioh successful. If you sue me, all you’ll get are my student loans. Have fun.This is Yaoi boys and Girls. Boy boy interaction. (TxJ) Explicit stuff. NO kiddies or ppl with heart conditions. Swim at your own risk!
Please review.
All flames will be used to line the cat box. Don’t waste your breath J Please review. It works good for me, helps me get some feedback as a writer. Thanks everyone, hope you enjoy.

A/N: This is a continuation, more really of an Add on, to Bittersweet Goodbyes. Set before the death of Yugi’s grandfather. Its really a “part two” of seriseries. Anyways, there is a lot of violence in this. Joey’s father beats him. If that upsets you, Please don’t read. In a way, this fic is my tribute to teens and kids everywhere who have ever been abused by their parents. Its not just a Yaoi fic, this is also a way to make know to everyone that family violence exists. Consider it my small soapbox. But don’t worry, its going to be a good Yaoi too. I promise.
- Wataris_Girl

~*~

Joey ambled beside a disgruntled looking Tristan, trailing just a step behind in the moody silence. It was coming. He could feel the tirade boiling just under Tristan’s knitted brow. He looked down at his dirty clothes and unkempt uniform, watching it gap across his chest where it had not before. He knew he was loosing weight. And if walking up the school’s stairs was any indication, condition too. He was heaving for air, tired and cold. He wanted to hide and cry. And instead he was at school trying to pretend that life wasn’t blowing the proverbial camel. But what was a street mutt to do. Joey thought angrily about Seto for a moment, then caught himself, and let it go before Tristan caught him scowling out of the corner of his eye. That would have been bad.
He was so lost in his own thoughts that never saw it coming, despite his well-honed reflexes. Tristan spun on him and pinned him to the wall with all of his strength, using one arm to pin his chest, the other to feel his ribs.
“Joey, you are too damn thin. You are not eating. You have dark circles under your eyes to make Yami Malik proud; I know your not sleeping. Dammit Joey, I’m your friend, can’t you just tell me what’s up?”
“Tristan, please.” Joey growled. “Just put me down.”
Tristan wouldn’t have except for the fact that a pack of the discipline squad drifted by and looked prepared to read him the riot act. He set Joey down, but bent to whisper into the seashell of the blonde’s ear.
“Please Joey, wor worried about you.”
“Don’t be. I can take care of myself.” Joey snapped quietly, his voice a low whisper of fury and his expression was one of pained self-righteousness.
“Not like that…Joey, please!” Tristan growled, trying to express himself, again, and failing miserably. Tristan was ready to either throttle Joey, or throw himself out the window. He had almost reached the ‘whichever happens first’ point when Joey pulled away from him, shaking his hand off his shoulder.
“Look, Tristan, work yourself out, I have to go to class. I don’t need to be late.” He grinched as he strutted off towards the science lab, hoping to get there before the bell rang. It was Tristan that noticed the Joey’s normal swagger had a slight limp to it. He was getting really worried.
“Joey!” Tristan yelled to the retreating figure.
“Piss off.” Joey grumped as he swung the door open and stalked into the classroom.

~*~
Tristan slumped into a seat next to Yugi. Luckily it was free period, and the teacher was late to class. She would never know he was late. But Yugi did.
“Hey Tristan, what’s going on?” Yugi clued in right away that something was wrong with his friend, even before two words had been spoken.
“I’m worried about Joey.” Tristan confessed as he dropped his head into his hands, his eyes squeezed shut at against the pain Joeys harsh words had inflicted and the tears of frustration that were vying with his eyelids for escape.
“Trn?” n?” Yugi queried, resting a hand on his taller friends shoulder.
“Have you seen him lately Yugi? He’s dirty and tired, and I think he’s hurt. He won’t talk to me at all.”
“I just thought it was because of Kaiba.” Yugi ceded quietly.
“I thought so too until this morning. It’s more than just a broken heart Yugi, and he won’t even talk to me.”
“Guys.” Bakura hissed from his corner of the classroom.
The two students clued in to their warning and quickly looked up to the front of the classroom to see a very disgruntled sensei.
“Well, since you two cannot be bothered to pay attention in my class, and feel a need to ‘chit chat’” She marked the word in the air with invisible quotation marks. “ I think you can continue your discussion after school in detention.”
Yugi just stared open mouthed, but Tristan’s lip was starting to quiver. There was a collective gasp from the students at the harshness of the teacher’s actions.
“Oh that is SUCH crap.” Bakura barked, standing and slamming his palms on the desk for emphasis, real anger blazing in his mahogany eyes. “This is free period sensei, if they want to talk, I don’t see why they shouldn’t be able to!” Everyone turned from staring at Yugi and Tristan to staring at Bakura’s outburst. The normally rule abiding soft-spoken blonde had clearly lost his mind.
“Well if you feel so strongly for them, then you can join them in detention as well, Bakura.” Bakura never made a sound, just folded in on himself, elegantly crossing his legs and sat down with an indignant ‘hmph.’
The class fell perfectly silent as students, including Yugi and Tristan tried to overcome the shock and scandal and fall to work. For the longest time, there was nothing but the ticking of the clock and the sound of scratching pens and turning pages.
Yugi was working on a math problem while Yami scolded him lovingly about how much trouble he got himself into; when suddenly a folded piece of paper fell into his lap, seemingly from the gods above. He read the title on the origami folded edge.
“Airmail! :)” In Bakura’s sloppy English scrawl. Yugi blinked, he ho tho think more carefully since it was written in English, but he was getting better thanks to all the practice Bakura gave him.
Opening it, mindful that the note did not crinkle, Yugi sifted through the text.
“Had to…Tristan was starting to cry. I didn’t want anyone to keep staring and notice. Besides, I need to talk to you guys, and since dad always insists I go straight home, why not cheat a little.”
Yugi let a little smile curl the corner of his mouth. Bakura was SO much braver than anyone ever gave him credit for. He hastily scribbled back.
“Your Yami is starting to rub off on you...but we welcome your company!”
Yugi waited until the teachers back was turned, then lobbed the note back at Bakura, who caught it without so much as a sidelong glance.
Yami made a mental appraisal to Yugi of the catch, noticing that Bakura seemed to be getting faster in the reflex department. Yugi shrugged.

~*~
Tristan was mopping the floor vigorously. To anyone else but Yugi and Bakura, it would have looked astute. It was really aggravation. When Bakura’s gentle hand on his arm stopped his assault on the hapless checkered floor tiles, a quick observation told the true tale. Tristan’s eyes had gone from hazel to a pained liquid gold of worry. The grief would have been obvious to anyone then, and Yugi and Bakura were not just ‘anyone.’ Yugi stopped scrubbing one of the tables, setting the bottle and rag down, and was instinctively at Tristan’s side. The smaller duelist pulled him into a fierce hug that was barely abohe the taller boy’s belt buckle, while Bakura squeezed his arm sympathetically.
“You really love him don’t you?” Bakura asked, his voice quiet, so quiet Yugi couldn’t hear him.
Tristan bowed his head, burying his face in Yugi’s soft hair.
“Yeah.” It was muffled as his shoulders shook with silent sobs. “Yeah I do.”
Bakura nodded. He understood better than anyone what Tristan was going through. Besides, Yugi didn’t know Tristan was gay, and he did not need to add to the taller boys distress by telling the spunky duelist. But he did have to tell him what he knew. Someone had to know.
“This isn’t the time to tell you this Tristan, but you know that Joey doesn’t live that far from me? Well, I’ve caught him sleeping in the park three times in the last four days. I think something bad is going on. I know he has been rough with you in the last few days, you know its not like him at all.”
Tristan emerged from Yugi’s hair, and dried his eyes on his sleeve; trying to patch his emotions back together and comprehend what Bakura was saying. Yugi pushed him back until he was sitting on the window ledge before he let him out of his arms.
“Tristan.” Yugi asked quietly.
“What do you think is really going on?”
Both Bakura and Yugi were relatively certain of the what and who, but both instinctively wanted to be sure before they made any accusations.
“Its not Seto, if that’s what your thinking.” Tristan whispered.
“Its his father, isn’t it?” Bakura asked.
Tristan nodded.
The sound of footsteps coming down the hall broke up their impromptu meeting. Tristan dove for the mop, Yugi picked up table polishing again, and Bakura pretended to be erasing the blackboard when the principal stepped into the room.
“That’s good enough boys, you can go home now, it’s getting dark.”
All three pretended to be exhaustedly glad to go home as the principal turned to leave.
“Oh, and boys?” He eyed his three normally well-behaved students skeptically.
“This detention won’t go on your records. I don’t agree with your free studies teacher’s judgment. Just don’t tell her I’m not recording this, got it?” He got three truly relieved salutes and a chorus of ‘yes sir thank you sir’s’.
“Get out of here! Leave the cleaning supplies, I’ll get it.” Three pairs of eyes regarded him as if he were insane.
“Go shoo!” He repeated as he took a mock swat at Yugi and Tristan. All three boys took off at a run, and could be heard laughing all the way down the empty corridor.
“Kids these days.” The principal muttered laughingly as he bent to pick up the bucket of dirty water.

~*~

A/N: Please review; note; next chapter there is violence.