Another night of hardly visible moon. Shadow took a moment to look at it before getting a window open. He wished it was a big, bright moon, for he had no need for it to be nearly invisible now. He climbed inside, cursing under his breath when he hit his left thigh. Quietly, he lowered himself down and looked around. No one was there. He grabbed his bag and started going to work, grabbing anything that looked important or that would catch a good price out on the market.

Jounouchi was fast asleep, lost in a romantic reverie and completely unaware of the invader in his home. "Honda-kun..." He mumbled under his breath. The previous night, Jounouchi had spent some time with Honda at the mall. He hadn't told his friend his true feelings yet, but he still believed he was one step closer towards his goal.

Shadow walked freely in the home. He doubted he would be meeting anything that could constitute as a threat. Once he had filled his bag of goodies, he made his way to a room he had not been in yet. When he peeked his head in he heard Jounouchi mumble Honda's name. Oh, how curious! Shadow decided then and there that he would play the game of pretend tonight. He set the bag down gently outside the door and tip-toed over to the bed, kneeling down once he got there. "Jounouchi," he whispered, "it's your Honda here." It was so hard to bite back the laughter that threatened to come up, but he shoved it down. For the game. "Just don't open your eyes, okay? I can't tell you...things...if you're looking at me."

Jounouchi blinked, then shut his eyes quickly. He was only half-awake, so it was hard to tell that the voice he was hearing wasn't really Honda's. "W-why not...?" He asked softly. "It's... okay. There's... something... I wanna tell you, too..."

"Something you want to tell me? Please tell me...please say what you want to say." Shadow cupped his hand around Jounouchi's cheek.

The sudden touch made Jounouchi's heart race, but he still kept his eyes tightly shut. He only wished he could reach for his glasses so that he could finally see this moment for himself... "H-Honda... um..." This was a dream, wasn't it? Honda couldn't be here with Jounouchi by his bedside caressing him, could he? Even if this wasn't real, Jounouchi just had to let his heart speak for itself. "I... I really, really... like you, Honda-kun. And... I know you won't feel the same way, but... I do..."

"You like me?" He made his voice come out surprised. "Jounouchi, I didn't know. I wanted to tell you something similiar. I don't just see you as a friend..."

This had to be a dream. A definite dream. But, Jounouchi felt his face warm up. And the soft hand... it felt so real. "Y-you like me the same way...?" Although he was sleepy, there was a tone of excitement in his voice.

Shadow couldn't hold back a small laugh. This game was going so well. He really needed to play pretend more often. "That's not what I meant. I don't just see you as a friend, but a bother. Always wanting to hang around me. I'm just too polite to say 'fuck off'." He punctuated the last two words by slapping Jounouchi's cheek twice.

The impact of the blows were strong enough to wake Jounouchi up, and the words were harsh enough to bring him to tears. He rose, finally opening his eyes. ...This figure in black... it couldn't be the real Honda, could it...? As Jounouchi reached for the pair of glasses on his dresser, he strongly hoped the looming person wasn't who he thought it was.

It seemed as if the game was over. Shadow thought about stopping Jounouchi from getting his glasses, but that wouldn't be fun. He wanted to see the look on his face. Instead, Shadow stood up and sat down on the bed. He reached behind him and pulled out three long needles, placing them in between his fingers on his left hand. It was unfortunate that he couldn't use his right, but he would manage. "Oh, look. It seems I've woken up my little Scarecrow. Shame on me."

Jounouchi shut his eyes once more. It couldn't be him. No... Please, not him... He grabbed his glasses and put him on his face. He didn't want to open his eyes now. He was too afraid. Too afraid to even cry...

"Look at me!" Shadow pushed the bottom of Jounouchi's chin back with the palm of his hand, the flat ends of the needles pushing up into the skin. He leaned forward until there noses were touching. "Because if you don't, I'll pin you back up to your Scarecrow post."

Jounouchi opened his eyes quickly, and gasped at the sight of Shadow's... mask... Now he wished that this was a dream. If only someone... anyone else was there to protect him. The cold, prickly feeling on Jounouchi's neck rendered him speechless, although he wanted to scream.

Shadow had planned on using the needles now, but now that he had another idea for their use, he set them down and began slapping Jounouchi's face and then moved to punching him a few times in the chest. "If you only had a brain," he kept repeating. Without realizing it...he tended to forget about things when he was having fun...Shadow backhanded Jounouchi with his hurt hand. Even with the splint on the wrist it hurt like hell, and he gave a short, high-pitched scream as he grabbed his wrist.

Why...? Why would anyone in the world do something like this to another person...? Jounouchi cowered to the floor. "Please... t-take anything y-you w-want..." he pleaded between blows. "I... d-don't want... a-any... t-trouble." This could be it. Jounouchi might die today. He hadn't told Honda his true feelings, nor has he said goodbye to his other friends. He resisted the urge to help Shadow with his hand, for although Jounouchi was a pure soul, he still hoped for a small chance of survival.

Shadow reached out and grabbed Jounouchi with his good hand. "Where are you going?" He slammed him against the wall. "You don't want to play? Well, I want to." He reached out and grabbed one of the needles, though it took him a minute to finally get one between his fingers because his wrist was restrained from bending. My Little Pony sure wasn't nice, but at least he fought. "So you're just like Little Red Riding Hood and Piggy Bank, sniveling and pleading. It's pathetic!"

"W-why...?" Jounouchi sobbed. "W-why do you want to be so mean to everyone...?!" If he was going to die, he must at least know this. "E-everyone... has... a r-right to live... even y-you..."

"I never said I shouldn't live," he said, poking Jounouchi's stomach with the tip of the needle. "I wake up and want to play, so I go in search of a suitable person to have fun with for the night. You're such a lucky boy."

"B-but..." Jounouchi sucked in his stomach as much as he could, even if the effort was hopless, as Shadow's needle approached closer to his skin. "Th-this is a bad game! P-people get hurt...! Y-you don't have feelings...? Y-you d-don't know... w-what you're doing to... to other people...?" He sniffed. "S-something's wrong with you... and... there are people... who can... help... you..."

Shadow's anger flared and he lifted up Jounouchi's shirt and brought the needle to his left side. Smiling, he pushed the needle in and ran it slowly along, back to front. "I really don't think you are in a position to insult me. Besides, this," he indicated to Jounouchi's bleeding side, "is part of the fun."

Tears flowed out of Jounouchi's eyes more profusely, and the young blonde let out a painful scream. "I'm so sorry!!" He then cried. "I... I don't want to die!" Jounouchi looked at his side, and saw red fluid dripping. It was so disgusting. So frightening. Jounouchi became paralyzed.

He frowned. Everyone thought that he was going to kill them. If that had been his goal, he would have killed his first victim, and everyone after that. People really were becoming more unintelligent. Shadow let Jounouchi slide down the wall just enough to let his toes touch the ground. He then began slamming the needles through Jounouchi's clothing, staying next to the body, and into the wall. He pulled out more out of the case behind him, using all to get Scarecrow pinned up back to his post, his arms curving to look like S.

Jounouchi was most certainly going to die now. He didn't want to die, though. He didn't want to die... He didn't want to die! He balled his hands into fists and struggled to get out of his trap. "In all the time you took to be so mean," he began, before taking a deep breath to yell, "you could have been nice!" He now remembered what his friends told him: to be more confident; to speak his mind, no matter what the risk. This could have been an excellent excercise for him. With tears still in his eyes, he shouted, "Stop it now, and think about how much fun people are not having!"

"But I don't care about you," he said, punching Jounouchi in the face. "And don't try and use your psychobabble on me. It isn't like you are anything much. If you were to die, it would be no great loss to the world." Shadow backed up to admire his work. "Don't worry, I don't care enough to take your life." He took a few more backward steps towards the bedroom door.

Jounouchi turned his face to speak to Shadow, even though his mouth hurt terribly. "B-but... I have friends... and they love me...!" Jounouchi struggled harder, with no concern to his nice pajamas. He was so weak now... but he kept trying to escape. "Y-you're... making me... angry... I... don't like... mean people... like you...!" The blonde boy succeded in ripping a few holes in his sleeve, but he grew tired.

"And I like it when you're angry. Scarecrow should be mad more often." He blew a kiss towards Jounouchi and grabbed his bag that sat outside the door. "It's unfortunate that I can't play more pretend with you, but I must be off. Prior engagements, you know how it goes." With a wave he disappeared down the hallway. Today would be the day he would stroll out the front door.

"I... know you could be... a good person..." Jounouchi mumbled as he slumped his head down and closed his eyes, letting tears fall from his face. "I'm sorry... for yelling... at you..."