Howdy Folks. I know. Its been a long..LONG time since I updated. Loads of stuff happened and I got sidetracked. No worries. I'm committed to finishing this story.

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh..Someone else does.

On with the story!

Jou stood on the roof of his apartment building, a sliver case in front of him. His thoughts were chaotic, but focused on one certain thing.

He had someone he wanted to protect, someone he was willing to give his life for.

That day was the happiest he experienced for a very long time. Being held and told he was loved by the one person he never expected.

After leaving that little bathroom, Jou and Seto decided that staying in school was not what neither of them wanted and played hooky. The two wondered around the city of Domino, talking about things, learning about each other, sharing touches and kisses that any regular couple would.

They ended up in the park. The two made a cute little sight. Sitting by a tree, the two could be seen, Seto reading a book while his free hand played in Jou's hair. Jou lay sleeping in Seto's lap.

Finally both had to return home, although the process of leaving each other was hard on both. Jou kept trying to come up with reasons to stay with Seto, while Seto himself was contemplating kidnapping his puppy and carting him off his home.

Eventually the two separated. Before making it home, and spending hours on the phone talking and saying sweet nothings.

It was like a dream. And if it was, Jou hoped he would never wake up.

However, Jou knew that if he wanted to keep Seto safe, he would have to open this case.

This case had stayed in Jou's closet for the last few years. Jou could count the many times he attempted to trash or throw it way, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Something inside him just wouldn't let him.

'I don't see where I have a choice.. Seto will be safe. I'll make sure of it' Jou thought before stepping forward and unlocking the seemingly harmless café. A clicking sound could be heard before it opened and Jou reached down to retrieve its contents.

Two guns. Perfectly matched lay within. One, black with red trimming. One, Red with black trimming. Jou closed his eyes, seeing all the jobs he had accomplished with these two objects of destruction. As much as he did not want to go back to that, he knew that Azi would not stop. Azi would murder everyone Jou held dear, before Jou himself.

Either Azi would die, or Jou would. And after today, Jou found he had much to live for.

Sitting in the case as well was a pair of glasses, black with square frames.

Graceful hands picked up the frames, smoothing over them, before placing them on the bridge of his nose.

The same hands reached and picked up both weapons, and the feeling of completeness washed over Jou's entire body. Eyes closed, and Jou savored the feeling of strength and courage that washed over him. Like it or not, this was what Jou was.

With his eyes still closed, Jou walked to the middle of the roof, letting the wind wash over him.

Eyes popped open, no longer honey colored, but red, blazing with confidence and deadly resolve. Eyes surveyed his surroundings. His superior hearing picked up footsteps, a cough, the brush of metal against clothing. He could smell sweat, fear, and gunpowder.

And Jou knew, he was not alone.

So he waited. In some other time, Jou would have been terrified of walking into something quite like this. This Jou, however, welcomed the challenge, and demanded a heavy price for those who were foolish enough to threaten his.

A foot fall.

Spinning around, his arms automatically brought up both weapons, and he fired.

Jou always demanded debts are paid… In full.

Those who heard the shots, the carnage that was happening so close to home, huddled together.

They all knew Jou's story. They knew what he was.

Each had witnessed a fun loving teenage boy, become a deadly man who would protect everyone he loved from harm.

He would protect them.

He promised he would.

So they waited, each resident in each apartment, for Jou to stop the intruders .

In another world, Yugi sat contemplating his friend. Jou had become a mystery. The two of them shared everything, their likes, dislikes, choice of clothing, everything.

Well, almost everything. Yugi could tell Jou was hiding something, and when he asked and pressed for answers, Jou's response would be the same.

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to"

Today's events told him that something was definitely different about his best buddy. In a situation that most humans would never walk away from, Jou not only waltzed away, but brought Yugi along. The strangest thing, in Yugi's eyes, was when he questioned Yami about his assumptions.

"Aibou, Ask no questions about his, for you may not like the answers." Yami's response was identical to Jou's. It drove Yugi to distraction. It ment that Yami knew the answers he wanted.

"It is not my secret to tell. I will not betray Jou's confidence in me. He will tell you when he thinks you are ready to hear." Yami was firm and would not be dissuaded otherwise.

So Yugi waited.

TBC