Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Absolutely Awful ❯ First Mistake ( Chapter 1 )

Absolutely Awful

By Katsuya Kaiba (fuumaxkamui4ever)

Valentine's Day Fic Challenge one-shot

Rated PG-13

First person, Joey's perspective

Pairing: Seto and Joey, of course!

Summary: Joey has decided that this is the opportunity he's been waiting for. This Valentine's Day, come Hell or high water, Seto would know, once and for, how Joey truly felt. The only problem? Making Seto listen to a word Joey says…

This is my last chance, of that I am positive. This is the last year of high school, and already it is drawing to a close, leaving me with no other choice. I have to tell Seto how I feel. Valentine's Day is a single week away, and that leaves me with precious little time to prepare a confession of such dramatic proportions….I wonder if I'll even pull it off. And even if I do, I wonder what he will say. Well…it's best not to think of such things, I've decided. Whatever happens, happens, and if he kills me where I stand, so be it. Oh god, what am I thinking? I'm already dead, as soon as I made the decision to tell Seto Kaiba I loved him, I signed my very own death warrant. A fate far worse than the depths of Hell awaits me, and my execution is set for this Valentine's Day. Cringing at the thought, I glance upwards to his desk, and came face to face with my hangman himself. Seto Kaiba, who strangely met my gaze in advance, smirked at me before turning his eyes back to the front of the classroom, once again paying full attention to the lesson that never quite seems to sink in for me. Who cares, I'll be destroyed beyond this plane of existence in a weeks time. All of the mathematical equations in the world can't save me from myself, from my own horrific fate. Or from the wrath of Seto Kaiba.

I follow his gaze, to the teacher before me, and I wonder if even she will survive the oppressing fate of the upcoming holiday. Seto Kaiba takes no prisoners. Maybe I should wait and tell him after school, for the sake of every student involved in activities within a mile of my confession. I'm sure no one who overhears will live to see the light of another day. With that thought, I sigh aloud. This is absolutely awful.

Completely ignoring the teaching that continues on without me, I uncomfortably consider my remaining options. I hold the fate of my classmates within my grasp. Not to mention my own life, or the impending finish of it, rather. But if I do this slowly, maybe plant the seed of suspicion in his mind, then he might not erupt so quickly when he finds out my feelings for him. Maybe if I leave him something before Valentine's Day, or drop a hint, somehow, then he'll be expecting something to happen, and maybe, just maybe, I might not die. It is my only other option. I have to tell him, I won't be able to live with myself if I don't. He will no doubt make himself very inaccessible once his forced entry into public education draws to a close, and I honestly have no idea where I might end up in the coming years. High school is the only connection that he and I share, and once that common trait comes to a permanent finish, so will any contact between he and I. My mind is made up, and there won't be any turning back. And I plan to move in tomorrow.

And so it begins, with this early morning, a full half an hour before school begins. The stage is set. All we need is our performer, and he should be arriving any moment, now. He's always so punctual and just as I recall that thought, I see him turn into the hallway just as expected. Drawing my head back behind the corner quickly, I leave just enough of my head in the line of fire so I can see his reaction, it's no more than one eyes width, but I'm sure that he can't see my hiding place. I can see just what I need and no more, and I place my hands on the wall to balance, I really can't afford to fall right in front him as he finds a hidden love note stuck inside his locker. Wouldn't that just be obvious as hell? Steadying myself carefully and placing my feet just so, I lean my body into the wall and strain to listen, as well as see whatever I can. At least a hint of his initial reaction of my letter of intent will help me in some way. Like, if he proceeds to immediately tear it up into tiny bits and pieces and scatters them to the breeze with a grin, just as he did he did so many times in my thoughts and dreams the previous night. I couldn't help it, I have my entire life riding on this moment, and the ones to come, all leading up to that fateful and ever impending second on Valentine's Day, when my love hangs in the silence between the two of us. I shut my eyes for a second as I watch him approach his locker and what lies within. I almost can't watch. He opens the door absent-mindedly, as if his were any other bothersome morning in his endlessly irritating schedule of daily events. Little does he know…

Shaking the misplaced flakes of snow from his hair with his hand, he reaches into his locker with the other hand and happens upon said confession, and pauses, for just a slight and nearly non-existent second in time. Only because I am watching him intently do I see the momentary hesitation in his stance. Then, the mishap is forgotten, the letter is moved to his coat pocket, and he continues his day as thought nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened to him, ever. Taking the necessary books and folders and slamming the door shut distantly, he carries himself as he always does, away from the locker and to our shared classroom, and suddenly I realize two things, all at the same time. The first thing that comes to my attention is that he is not going to read the note here, but he has instead taken it with him, probably meaning to read it in more private surroundings. The second realization, and the far more pressing of the two, was that Seto Kaiba was headed directly for me. Coming to my place in hiding not a moment too soon, I dash away at an almost maniacal pace, nearly taking out numerous students in my haste to arrive before I came into his line of sight. Glancing behind me momentarily, I scan the hallway behind me for a tall and strikingly beautiful boy and seeing no one, and for the first time in my life finding myself grateful for that fact. He was only seconds away, I knew, and without a moment's hesitation I slipped into our classroom, at least twenty minutes too early, and all alone. Seeing the near future all too clearly, I knew in a moment that I had just walked into the only place where Seto Kaiba and I would be alone. Letting out a low groan of defeat, I drop my bag on my desk and await the inevitable. God, this is just absolutely awful.