Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Behind Blue Eyes: Seto's Story ❯ Day One: Lust and Love ( Chapter 3 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: kiokukaiba 
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 08.14.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.2K | Visits: 416 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 08.14.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.2K | Visits: 416 | Status: Work In Progress
Behind Blue Eyes: Seto’s Story
- - -
Note: The phone conversation from the original didn’t appear in this story. . . why? Because there are two different time-frames. This stories first chapter ended earlier than the other story.
Disclaimer: I still don’t own yuugiou, and I never will. I’m not making money off of this.
Remember: This is Seto’s point of view.
- - -
After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the main road, cars zipping by us at speeds above the limit. . . not that anyone followed those damned signs anyways. I could see Jounouchi desperately trying to wave down various taxis that sped past us. . . how pathetic, no class at all. With the grace that came natural to me, I raised my right hand into the air, quickly rewarded with a taxi ride stopping just in front of us.
I missed my limousine immediately. It was a crude, filthy thing. Then again, the outside was brilliant compared to the inside. The moment we both, Jounouchi and I, sat down, the small space was filled with a scent that reminded me of bad body odor. I scrunched up my nose, which really did me no good, but I could see that blond smile at my reaction. He was probably used to trash like this. I would call it sad. . . if I really gave a damn.
If I had to be in this turd-mobile, the least I could do was be safe. I reached back, pulling on the seatbelt. . . which quickly fell apart. I went wide-eyed at first, then rolled them, glancing at the rear-view mirror in an attempt to make eye-contact with the trashy driver.
“That belts broken.” His voice was rough and his statement plain. He never made eye contact with me. I’m sure he knew that my glare would melt his eyes right out of his sockets.
“Obviously.” I blew a couple of stray bangs out of my eyes, already annoyed.
“Where to?”
“Domino Mall.” Okay, so that wasn’t something I was used to saying. . . I really wasn’t interested in going here. I knew what would await me at that dreadful mall; rabid fangirls and horny gay men. . . just lovely. I glanced out the window, sighing a bit.
The car slowly came to move along with the steady flow of traffic. The mutt was unusually quiet, not that I minded. There was never anything wrong with silence, especially where that dingbat blond was concerned. But of course, I spoke too soon, as he was quick to break the peace.
“So. . . how’s the company?” He obviously was just asking stupid shit because he didn’t like dead air.
I looked at him, one eyebrow drastically higher than the other, “You know, sometimes it’s best to just stay quiet. Don’t try to make small-talk with me. You obviously lack the intelligence to do so.” I turned back to the window, smirking a bit in amusement at myself. He was so easy to piss off. . . any moment now, he should come back with some stupid remark.
“Oh, back to that are we? You weren’t so mean this morning. I thought you were starting to open up to me! I thought our relationship was going to the next level!” He bantered on like a bitchy lover, and that look on his face told me that he knew full well what he was doing. That bastard was playing dirty. The driver was even looking back now! I glared at him, my blue eyes seething beneath the bangs that had fallen out of place again.
“Don’t pull that shit, Jounouchi. Shut your damn mouth and keep it that way.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I’ll rip your jaw off.”
Apparently threatening him while looking him dead in the eyes is good enough to keep him quiet. I would have to remember that. Needless to say, the trip was silent from then on. . . except for the occasional outburst of curses from our driver whenever he decided that some other driver sucked and deserved to ‘fuck off’ or ‘park on train tracks’, and a rather cheery “Here we are!” from him as we arrived at our destination. Yeah, he was definitely trash.
Eager to get away from that little hell, I jumped out of the cab, retrieving some sort of bills from my wallet - twenties, hundreds? I don’t know, nor do I care - and chucked them at him. The simpleton was overcome with joy. . . what a pathetic waste of human flesh. Then again, without such lowly creatures, I wouldn’t be reminded how great I was every day. . . but I worked hard for what I fucking had.
“You shouldn’t have paid him so much.” Jounouchi commented as we headed toward the entrance.
“I really don’t care, mutt. Money is of the least of my worries.” I ran a hand through my hair, making sure that each piece fell perfectly into place as I was about to brave the attention that I knew I would receive. The only thing that currently separated me from horny men and women was a set of glass doors.
“Hey, Kaiba.” He grabbed my arm and I turned sharply, my hand grasping the doorhandle to the entrance.
“What?”
“Why are you being so cold towards me now? Is it because we’re in public?”
“Heh, I don’t know what came over me this morning, I must have still been half asleep to talk the way I did. Don’t get used to things as strange that.” I yanked my arm out of his grasp. I honestly had no clue what I was thinking that morning, but there really was no point in dwelling on it. Like they say, ‘shit happens’. He followed silently behind me as I swung open the door and proceeded to enter.
It figures that we would come here on a day when it was packed with people. I could here the pathetic little girls all giggling like a bunch of bitches in heat and daring each other to approach me. I hated going out in public.
A slutty group of three dared to come near us, clad in their stiletto heels, showy mini-skirts, and skimpy tube tops. . . one of them gave a reason to put a weight limit on outfits like that. . . the bimbo leader of the group stepped forward, her make-up-covered face beaming. Her stupidity emanated from her like the heat from an iron, and yet she dared to speak, her skanky friends looking just as stupid behind her.
“Hi!” She squealed, in that insanely-high pitch that only a fangirl could master, “My name is-”
“I don’t care.” I shoved past her as quickly as I could, not in the mood to deal with annoy little girls today. If they thought I was going to be interested in skanky clothing, they thought wrong.
I sat down on a bench across from a few of the many shops. Jounouchi sat down next to me, rather close to me, but I decided to let it go.
“So, what are we here for exactly? I didn’t come here just to get cozy.” I leaned back against the bench, crossing my legs and folding my arms, only to discover that the mutt was staring at my legs. “Would you just answer me?” I stared at him until I caught his attention.
“Um. . . well, we can hang out and talk. . . you know, without the environment being too personal. My friends and I come here all the time. Don’t you and your friends ever come here?”
“I don’t have friends.” I glanced over at some gothic kids that passed us by. Freaks.
“Haven’t you ever had friends?” He sure was persistent about this, wasn’t he?
I sighed, “Still persistent on asking questions?” I smirked with an idea, “If I smile again, will you stop asking questions completely?” He frowned at my question. Guess he didn’t find it as amusing as I did. “What?” I asked, allowing for my smirk to be replaced by mock confusion, “Can’t you take a joke?” I smirked at the fact that I was repeating the same thing he usually said to me. He smiled.
“You remind me of a cat.”
What the hell? “Excuse me?”
“You say that a lot. . . anyways, you’re like a cat. You get pissy when people try to touch you, you always smirk, you act kinda prissy, and you move all. . . well, graceful.” Had he not been looking me dead in the eyes, I would have laughed my ass off.
“Of all of the things I have been compared to, I don’t believe a cat was ever one of them.” I cocked an eyebrow at him, instantly becoming bored again, “Are we just going to sit here the whole damn time?” I glanced around.
“Well, we can hang out, shop, eat, check people out. . . don’t you ever just kind of go somewhere to be out?”
“Very rarely. . .”
“But you still do. Where do you go?” Damn, he was nosey. . .
“Clubs.”
His eyebrows shot up behind his messy blond hair, “Clubs? Okay, first of all, don’t you have to be 21 to get into a club?”
“Not when you’re me.” I stated plainly, my eyes watching him closely for a reaction. It was true though. I got my way wherever I went, no questions asked.
“Yeah, I guess that you can do that sort of thing when you’re sexy and famous.”
Woah, wait a minute, “Sexy?”
“People say that all the time.”
I closed my eyes and sighed, opening them again to glance at those that happened to be passing by. They stared at brief intervals, probably surprised to see me with a commoner like Jounouchi.
“You never answered my question.” Did he ever shut the hell up?
“Which one?”
“Haven’t you ever had friends?”
I sighed, shifting a bit in the seat, “Yes, lots. Then I learned that they only befriended me for my money or the way I looked. . . even for my social status. So I basically told them all to fuck off and burn in an everlasting Hell.” I shrugged. It really wasn’t a big deal. It was typical for higher-ups not to have any friends.
“So you’ve never had a best friend?” His brows knit together and he looked shocked. Then again, someone in the friendship group would react that way to such a thing.
“I did, but that was a very long time ago. We stopped speaking when I had just turned 16.” I didn’t like where this was going. . .
“Uh, two years really isn’t a long time ago. . . and what was his name?”
“His name was Saki.” I allowed for a faint, sad smile to play on my lips before frowning at him for getting into my business, “That’s all you need to know.”
“Why aren’t you friends anymore?”
I glanced at the stores around us, trying to find anything to go to so that I could get away from this subject. . . Saki. . . “Because he couldn’t see the difference between lust and love.” I stood, walking slowly towards one of the men’s stores. The nerve of that damned mutt! Asking me about such personal things in a public place like this! I absentmindedly paced from rack to rack, looking at various dress shirts as though they actually interested me.
Then again. . . Jounouchi had no idea how personal the subject of Saki was. I glanced around the store, already noticing the male employees circling around me, waiting for the right moment to swoop in and try to sell me a fucking tie or something. How annoying.
Just as they came swarming in for the kill, I high-stepped it towards the door. Jounouchi was there, talking to some guy - hey, I don’t make a habit of checking out men - so I grabbed him by the left wrist and dragged him out of the store.
“What a fucking weirdo.” The dumbass muttered randomly.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“I didn’t mean me!” He spun around and I released his arm. He looked like he was ready to knock me flat, when his expression became a bit puzzled, “Seto?”
“It’s Kaiba, and I got bored with that store, so let’s go somewhere else. Let’s go to another building perhaps.” I folded my arms and tapped my right foot, the light sound lost amongst the noisy chatter of the crowd of shoppers.
“Well, what time is it?” Quickly noticing that he didn’t have a watch, I allowed for my sleeve to slide back and reveal my own. Before I had the chance to look at it, however, he grasped my arm, pulling it close to get a better look. My heart practically stopped beating. . . what if he saw my scars? “It’s eleven thirty!” He announced, just as I practically tore my arm away from him. I pulled it close to my chest, nursing it with his other hand because I had accidentally hurt myself in my frantic pulling, “Well if you weren’t so determined to get it away from me, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.” He folded his arms and shook his head, “I just wanted to look at your watch. You act like me holding your arm is going to make you weak or vulnerable or something.”
I rolled my eyes at him and allowed for my arm to fall back to my side, “No, I just don’t want a disgusting kid like you touching me.”
“Kid? We’re the same fucking age! Plus we’re eighteen!” By this time we were getting a lot of stares. Parents were grabbing their childrens’ ears, glaring and shaking their heads at Jounouchi for his foul language. I hadn’t expected him to yell like that.
“You certainly don’t act like an adult.” I walked passed him, looking around and pretending to be interested in shopping so that no more unnecessary attention would be on me.
“Hey, wait up!” Even over the noise, I could hear him clumsily following me, “Want to get some ice cream?”
I glanced down at him, “Ice cream? Now you sound like Mokuba. . . fine, let’s get some.” I stopped abruptly, surprised that Jounouchi didn’t run smack into me, and took an abrupt right to look at a mall directory.
“You know, I know this place inside and out, we really don’t need a map.” He acted like that was something to be proud of.
“Well if you’re so damn smart, why don’t you lead the way?” I stared him in the eyes. Today was really sucking.
“Fine, I will.” He marched off in, what I could only assume to be, the direction of the nearest ice cream shop in the building. “It’s right here.” He announced, as though I couldn’t see the damn thing for myself. The shop was bright and colorful with displays of numerous varieties of cones, the multiple flavors of ice cream hiding just behind the icy glass, their names etched into little tags in front of each tub.
We were the only one’s in line, and so the teenage girl working just behind the counter was quick to approach us, “What can I get for you today?”
“Well, I’ll have a mint chocolate chip.” He turned to me, which I was still trying to decide, “What do you want, Kaiba?” I could tell that he put the emphasis on his surname, just to show me that he wasn’t using my first name as he had been earlier.
“Chocolate.”
“Alright, how many scoops?”
“One for both of us.” He glanced at me as though looking for my reaction.
“And the type of cone?”
“Cake cones.” He smiled at me, “They’re the best kind.”
I grunted a bit and looked away, really not giving a damn.
“Alright, that’ll be 7.50.” (AN: I know, I’m not using yen. . . because I’m still too lazy to get on the internet and find a conversion chart.) I forked over a ten, knowing full-well that the dumb blond didn’t have any money, and told her to keep the change, and she proceed to happily create two ice creams for us.
“Thanks for paying.” He smiled sheepishly at me, clutching the cone and handing me my chocolate. “I’m sorry that I don’t have any money with me.” He kicked unconsciously at the cheap-tiled flooring. When was he going to learn that money wasn’t an issue for me?
“Don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault that your father is a grade A asshole.” I licked at my ice cream, wondering how he would react to my comment.
“It is, really. . . I mean, I’m not the brightest kid, nor am I a very good son.” He may have not been the brightest crayon in the box, but no one should call themselves a bad child just because their parents suck at life.
“Shut up.” I got dangerously close to him, “It isn’t your fault, no matter what people may tell you, no matter what you may think. . . it is not your fault.” I shuddered slightly with anger and backed off a bit, claiming the nearest bench. He followed me as soon as our eyes met.
“Was your father mean to you?” His sudden question stunned me a bit, but I thought of a quick way out of it.
“You promised no more questions about my family today.”
“Yeah, I did.” Was his defeated reply.
Don’t you hate when they pile the ice cream high on the cone, so what when you start licking it, the shit runs down the side? I do. It’s annoying, and you have to keep your eyes on it otherwise you’ll get sticky mess all over your hand. Noticing some chocolate creeping down my cone, I put it to my face, lapping it up quickly. Jounouchi, the dolt that he was, was just staring at me. What would I say this time? It was really getting old, “Mutt, you’re letting your ice cream run down the side.”
“Want to lick it off for me?”
Did he just say what I think he said? I blinked my eyes rapidly, “Excuse me?”
“Nothing.” He stated plainly, and then proceeded to make a scene of slurping the green, mint liquid from the side of his cone. I watched him, in disgust of course, and he noticed my attention, “What are you looking at?”
“I’m just observing your strange, disgusting eating habits.”
His brows knit together for a moment and then parted again, “Speaking of eating, I’m ready for lunch! It’s about noon, right?” It was always about food with him.
“Well yeah, but we ate only about three hours ago.”
“Hm, yeah, I guess you’re right. . . well, we could always walk around until we find something interesting.” He shrugged his shoulders. Isn’t that what we were doing since the moment we there?
“Wow, how fun.” My sarcasm was thick as I stretched my arms high above my head, yawning. I was so glad that I didn’t have what Jounouchi called a ‘normal teenage life’. It would suck to have to do shit like this every day.
“You ever been in a relationship?”
“Uh. . . no. . . yes. . . sort of. . . not really.” I clasped my hands together in my lap, twiddling my thumbs a bit and locking my eyes onto the fountain on the floor below us. He had asked it so randomly, I had kind of answered without thinking about it. It wasn’t any of his business. . . and again, I didn’t want to discuss Saki. I threw the cone paper in the trash can nearest to us.
Jounouchi slurped up the last bit of his loudly, tossing the paper to join mine.
“I have a great idea!” He leapt from the bench, startling me a bit in the process, “Let’s go to the arcade that they have here!” He grinned childishly at me, and I sighed in response.
“Fine.” I stood, waiting for him to take off. But instead, he just stood there, “Well? Lead the way.”
Without much in the way of a warning, he grabbed my hand, pulling me quickly along behind him. His hand was rough, slightly scratching at the soft skin of my own hand. I was dragged through various groups of people, allowing some sounds of protest to escape my mouth as I was lead through the heavily populated shopping center. It was so embarrassing! I clutched tighter onto his hand so that he wouldn’t let me go and allow for me to stumble and fall over.
As we neared the arcade, he stopped short, causing me to run into him with no bit of grace at all; that bastard. I quickly moved to stand next to him, one hand on my hip, shaking out the hand that he had had ahold of, “Well, let’s go in then.”
I lead the way inside, but he soon jumped in front of me, apparently spotting a game that he liked. He pointed to it frantically, “Hey, let’s play that!”
I grunted in response, pulling out a five and sending it into the depths of the change machine. Instantly, a whole pool of quarters were released, and I pulled a cup from the top of the machine to catch them in.
Again, he grabbed my hand, pulling me over to the stools, “Come on!”
Now, I was the best at most games in Domino. . . however, I had never seen this one before, and the controls didn’t look like anything I had used before. It must have been a new one. I hadn’t really been playing games lately. I gave up when Yuugi. . . no, when Yami no Yuugi beat me at Duel Monsters. I had been too preoccupied with beating him to care about much else.
“I don’t know how to play this one.” I admitted, pursing my lips slightly. He smiled at me.
“I can teach you. Sit down and I’ll show you.” I sat down, though I hated following orders, and awaited further instruction. “Now, put your right hand on that joystick and then keep your left hand near those two buttons there.” As I did so, he clasped his hands over mine, his chin resting gently on my right shoulder. I froze on the seat.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I questioned, trying to sound as cool and collected as possible.
“Showing you how to play.” I shivered a bit as his breath blew past my ear. He didn’t sound like he had some sort of ulterior motive though, so perhaps this was the normal teenage way of teaching how to play games. I had taught Mokuba how to play some games in a similar manner to this.
“Whatever.” I muttered.
This went on for about ten minutes. He helped me the entire time, but I soon found myself lost in the game. We won round after round of the fighting game. It wasn’t long before I joined him in taunting our computer opponents and bragging about the awesome fighting skills of our character. I felt very. . . strange. . . it was like I wasn’t me anymore. . . and yet, this feeling was so familiar. I think that I was happy. . .
We moved from game to game. Strangely enough, he chose all the games that I didn’t know how to play. Was that a coincidence? He couldn’t have known which games I hadn’t played before. Each time, the same thing occurred, and each time, I grew more and more relaxed and carefree.
I felt alive.
During one game, my stomach rumbled. Had it not been for the noise of the arcade, I would have likely attracted a lot of unwanted attention. Judging by Jounouchi’s sudden jerk, he probably felt it through my back. . . not that he should have been so close to me to begin with.
“Hm, I guess I’m a bit hungry.” I stated, glancing down at my stomach.
He grabbed my wrist, like earlier -and I struggled to pull it away, like earlier- and looked at my watch, “Geez, it’s already one o’clock!” He stood up straight, allowing me to remove myself from the cushioned stool upon which I sat, “Want to head on down to the food court for some lunch?” He tilted his head after his suggestion.
“Sure. . . I guess I’m paying?” I arched an eyebrow, though I already knew what the answer would be.
He tried to look as cute as possible, though I can’t say that it did anything for me, “Would you?”
“Pfeh, sure, it can go down on my short list of charities.”
- - -
The food court was even more crowded than the rest of the mall, being that it was around lunch hour for everyone. Restaurants dotted the walls, neon signs illuminated, attempting to catch the hungry eyes of those that passed with lit-up menus adorned with photos of perfect dishes. . . it’s funny how the food never looks so magnificent in real life. . . couldn’t that be considered false advertising?
Jounouchi and I had hopped into the line for McDonald’s, after a long and grueling argument about the type of food each restaurant served and why each place sucked. McDonald’s was the only place that we could say had a decent selection of food. I bought the dumb blond a big mac and myself a salad. Didn’t want to get fat or anything with all that grease.
“Have you ever had a cheeseburger?” He asked as we sat down at our table.
“Yes, but I don’t prefer them. They’re fattening and unhealthy anyways.”
“Well, during these next two weeks, you’re going to eat at least one. I told you, I’m going to get you to put on some weight. . . I mean, I don’t want you to get fat or anything, but looking like an anorexia patient isn’t so great.”
I threw a glare his way, popping more of my salad into my mouth. He, on the other hand, bit sloppily into that burger, the ‘secret sauce’, AKA thousand island dressing, dripping from the opposite end. I can only imagine what my expression must have been.
“What? Never seen a normal teenage boy eat before?”
“I’m sorry, Jounouchi, but that manner of eating certainly isn’t normal, and if it is, then I hope to god that someone kills me if I ever become that way.”
“You really need to loosen up.”
“You really need to fuck off and mind your own god-damned business.”
This sort of thing went on throughout the meal, one comment after another, insults flying across the two-person table at lightening speed, the hands on my watch seeming to fly around and around it’s face. . . even after we had long since downed our lunch, we were still going at it like a cat and dog. We were going on about such minuscule matters, like grades in school and friendship (I thought for a moment that the annoying Anzu girl had taken his place.) and even things like what was a good career choice; for him, of course, since my career had been decided ever since I was twelve.
Without thinking, we had gotten up from the table, wandering about the mall, bickering about many things and agreeing about a slim few. . . like how annoying Anzu was, and how some of the kids in our school truly sucked ass. I trashed Yuugi and Honda a few times, but he tried to bitch me out for it. And there I was thinking that perhaps I could get along with him and change his ways. Apparently it reminded him of something, because his eyes lip up shortly thereafter.
“Kaiba? About your friend. . . what did you mean when you said he didn’t know the difference between lust and love?”
I lowered my eyes. The question was innocent enough, but I didn’t think that he would bring it up after I mentioned it. I didn’t want to answer it, but if I didn’t, he would start to assume things. I had to say things to get him off my back about it. “Saki was. . . Saki would listen to me. He made me happy a lot of the time when things weren’t going quite right. . . but his other emotions got in the way of his better judgment and ruined everything.” That was discreet enough, right?
Apparently not, seeing as how his eyes grew to cover nearly half his face, “Do you mean to say that he-”
“Don’t say it. . . please, don’t say it.” Whether he knew, or whether he didn’t, I couldn’t bare to hear the word. That word was my poison.
I had a strong feeling that I would eventually have to spill the truth about Saki. . .
- - -
- - -
Note: The phone conversation from the original didn’t appear in this story. . . why? Because there are two different time-frames. This stories first chapter ended earlier than the other story.
Disclaimer: I still don’t own yuugiou, and I never will. I’m not making money off of this.
Remember: This is Seto’s point of view.
- - -
After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the main road, cars zipping by us at speeds above the limit. . . not that anyone followed those damned signs anyways. I could see Jounouchi desperately trying to wave down various taxis that sped past us. . . how pathetic, no class at all. With the grace that came natural to me, I raised my right hand into the air, quickly rewarded with a taxi ride stopping just in front of us.
I missed my limousine immediately. It was a crude, filthy thing. Then again, the outside was brilliant compared to the inside. The moment we both, Jounouchi and I, sat down, the small space was filled with a scent that reminded me of bad body odor. I scrunched up my nose, which really did me no good, but I could see that blond smile at my reaction. He was probably used to trash like this. I would call it sad. . . if I really gave a damn.
If I had to be in this turd-mobile, the least I could do was be safe. I reached back, pulling on the seatbelt. . . which quickly fell apart. I went wide-eyed at first, then rolled them, glancing at the rear-view mirror in an attempt to make eye-contact with the trashy driver.
“That belts broken.” His voice was rough and his statement plain. He never made eye contact with me. I’m sure he knew that my glare would melt his eyes right out of his sockets.
“Obviously.” I blew a couple of stray bangs out of my eyes, already annoyed.
“Where to?”
“Domino Mall.” Okay, so that wasn’t something I was used to saying. . . I really wasn’t interested in going here. I knew what would await me at that dreadful mall; rabid fangirls and horny gay men. . . just lovely. I glanced out the window, sighing a bit.
The car slowly came to move along with the steady flow of traffic. The mutt was unusually quiet, not that I minded. There was never anything wrong with silence, especially where that dingbat blond was concerned. But of course, I spoke too soon, as he was quick to break the peace.
“So. . . how’s the company?” He obviously was just asking stupid shit because he didn’t like dead air.
I looked at him, one eyebrow drastically higher than the other, “You know, sometimes it’s best to just stay quiet. Don’t try to make small-talk with me. You obviously lack the intelligence to do so.” I turned back to the window, smirking a bit in amusement at myself. He was so easy to piss off. . . any moment now, he should come back with some stupid remark.
“Oh, back to that are we? You weren’t so mean this morning. I thought you were starting to open up to me! I thought our relationship was going to the next level!” He bantered on like a bitchy lover, and that look on his face told me that he knew full well what he was doing. That bastard was playing dirty. The driver was even looking back now! I glared at him, my blue eyes seething beneath the bangs that had fallen out of place again.
“Don’t pull that shit, Jounouchi. Shut your damn mouth and keep it that way.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I’ll rip your jaw off.”
Apparently threatening him while looking him dead in the eyes is good enough to keep him quiet. I would have to remember that. Needless to say, the trip was silent from then on. . . except for the occasional outburst of curses from our driver whenever he decided that some other driver sucked and deserved to ‘fuck off’ or ‘park on train tracks’, and a rather cheery “Here we are!” from him as we arrived at our destination. Yeah, he was definitely trash.
Eager to get away from that little hell, I jumped out of the cab, retrieving some sort of bills from my wallet - twenties, hundreds? I don’t know, nor do I care - and chucked them at him. The simpleton was overcome with joy. . . what a pathetic waste of human flesh. Then again, without such lowly creatures, I wouldn’t be reminded how great I was every day. . . but I worked hard for what I fucking had.
“You shouldn’t have paid him so much.” Jounouchi commented as we headed toward the entrance.
“I really don’t care, mutt. Money is of the least of my worries.” I ran a hand through my hair, making sure that each piece fell perfectly into place as I was about to brave the attention that I knew I would receive. The only thing that currently separated me from horny men and women was a set of glass doors.
“Hey, Kaiba.” He grabbed my arm and I turned sharply, my hand grasping the doorhandle to the entrance.
“What?”
“Why are you being so cold towards me now? Is it because we’re in public?”
“Heh, I don’t know what came over me this morning, I must have still been half asleep to talk the way I did. Don’t get used to things as strange that.” I yanked my arm out of his grasp. I honestly had no clue what I was thinking that morning, but there really was no point in dwelling on it. Like they say, ‘shit happens’. He followed silently behind me as I swung open the door and proceeded to enter.
It figures that we would come here on a day when it was packed with people. I could here the pathetic little girls all giggling like a bunch of bitches in heat and daring each other to approach me. I hated going out in public.
A slutty group of three dared to come near us, clad in their stiletto heels, showy mini-skirts, and skimpy tube tops. . . one of them gave a reason to put a weight limit on outfits like that. . . the bimbo leader of the group stepped forward, her make-up-covered face beaming. Her stupidity emanated from her like the heat from an iron, and yet she dared to speak, her skanky friends looking just as stupid behind her.
“Hi!” She squealed, in that insanely-high pitch that only a fangirl could master, “My name is-”
“I don’t care.” I shoved past her as quickly as I could, not in the mood to deal with annoy little girls today. If they thought I was going to be interested in skanky clothing, they thought wrong.
I sat down on a bench across from a few of the many shops. Jounouchi sat down next to me, rather close to me, but I decided to let it go.
“So, what are we here for exactly? I didn’t come here just to get cozy.” I leaned back against the bench, crossing my legs and folding my arms, only to discover that the mutt was staring at my legs. “Would you just answer me?” I stared at him until I caught his attention.
“Um. . . well, we can hang out and talk. . . you know, without the environment being too personal. My friends and I come here all the time. Don’t you and your friends ever come here?”
“I don’t have friends.” I glanced over at some gothic kids that passed us by. Freaks.
“Haven’t you ever had friends?” He sure was persistent about this, wasn’t he?
I sighed, “Still persistent on asking questions?” I smirked with an idea, “If I smile again, will you stop asking questions completely?” He frowned at my question. Guess he didn’t find it as amusing as I did. “What?” I asked, allowing for my smirk to be replaced by mock confusion, “Can’t you take a joke?” I smirked at the fact that I was repeating the same thing he usually said to me. He smiled.
“You remind me of a cat.”
What the hell? “Excuse me?”
“You say that a lot. . . anyways, you’re like a cat. You get pissy when people try to touch you, you always smirk, you act kinda prissy, and you move all. . . well, graceful.” Had he not been looking me dead in the eyes, I would have laughed my ass off.
“Of all of the things I have been compared to, I don’t believe a cat was ever one of them.” I cocked an eyebrow at him, instantly becoming bored again, “Are we just going to sit here the whole damn time?” I glanced around.
“Well, we can hang out, shop, eat, check people out. . . don’t you ever just kind of go somewhere to be out?”
“Very rarely. . .”
“But you still do. Where do you go?” Damn, he was nosey. . .
“Clubs.”
His eyebrows shot up behind his messy blond hair, “Clubs? Okay, first of all, don’t you have to be 21 to get into a club?”
“Not when you’re me.” I stated plainly, my eyes watching him closely for a reaction. It was true though. I got my way wherever I went, no questions asked.
“Yeah, I guess that you can do that sort of thing when you’re sexy and famous.”
Woah, wait a minute, “Sexy?”
“People say that all the time.”
I closed my eyes and sighed, opening them again to glance at those that happened to be passing by. They stared at brief intervals, probably surprised to see me with a commoner like Jounouchi.
“You never answered my question.” Did he ever shut the hell up?
“Which one?”
“Haven’t you ever had friends?”
I sighed, shifting a bit in the seat, “Yes, lots. Then I learned that they only befriended me for my money or the way I looked. . . even for my social status. So I basically told them all to fuck off and burn in an everlasting Hell.” I shrugged. It really wasn’t a big deal. It was typical for higher-ups not to have any friends.
“So you’ve never had a best friend?” His brows knit together and he looked shocked. Then again, someone in the friendship group would react that way to such a thing.
“I did, but that was a very long time ago. We stopped speaking when I had just turned 16.” I didn’t like where this was going. . .
“Uh, two years really isn’t a long time ago. . . and what was his name?”
“His name was Saki.” I allowed for a faint, sad smile to play on my lips before frowning at him for getting into my business, “That’s all you need to know.”
“Why aren’t you friends anymore?”
I glanced at the stores around us, trying to find anything to go to so that I could get away from this subject. . . Saki. . . “Because he couldn’t see the difference between lust and love.” I stood, walking slowly towards one of the men’s stores. The nerve of that damned mutt! Asking me about such personal things in a public place like this! I absentmindedly paced from rack to rack, looking at various dress shirts as though they actually interested me.
Then again. . . Jounouchi had no idea how personal the subject of Saki was. I glanced around the store, already noticing the male employees circling around me, waiting for the right moment to swoop in and try to sell me a fucking tie or something. How annoying.
Just as they came swarming in for the kill, I high-stepped it towards the door. Jounouchi was there, talking to some guy - hey, I don’t make a habit of checking out men - so I grabbed him by the left wrist and dragged him out of the store.
“What a fucking weirdo.” The dumbass muttered randomly.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“I didn’t mean me!” He spun around and I released his arm. He looked like he was ready to knock me flat, when his expression became a bit puzzled, “Seto?”
“It’s Kaiba, and I got bored with that store, so let’s go somewhere else. Let’s go to another building perhaps.” I folded my arms and tapped my right foot, the light sound lost amongst the noisy chatter of the crowd of shoppers.
“Well, what time is it?” Quickly noticing that he didn’t have a watch, I allowed for my sleeve to slide back and reveal my own. Before I had the chance to look at it, however, he grasped my arm, pulling it close to get a better look. My heart practically stopped beating. . . what if he saw my scars? “It’s eleven thirty!” He announced, just as I practically tore my arm away from him. I pulled it close to my chest, nursing it with his other hand because I had accidentally hurt myself in my frantic pulling, “Well if you weren’t so determined to get it away from me, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.” He folded his arms and shook his head, “I just wanted to look at your watch. You act like me holding your arm is going to make you weak or vulnerable or something.”
I rolled my eyes at him and allowed for my arm to fall back to my side, “No, I just don’t want a disgusting kid like you touching me.”
“Kid? We’re the same fucking age! Plus we’re eighteen!” By this time we were getting a lot of stares. Parents were grabbing their childrens’ ears, glaring and shaking their heads at Jounouchi for his foul language. I hadn’t expected him to yell like that.
“You certainly don’t act like an adult.” I walked passed him, looking around and pretending to be interested in shopping so that no more unnecessary attention would be on me.
“Hey, wait up!” Even over the noise, I could hear him clumsily following me, “Want to get some ice cream?”
I glanced down at him, “Ice cream? Now you sound like Mokuba. . . fine, let’s get some.” I stopped abruptly, surprised that Jounouchi didn’t run smack into me, and took an abrupt right to look at a mall directory.
“You know, I know this place inside and out, we really don’t need a map.” He acted like that was something to be proud of.
“Well if you’re so damn smart, why don’t you lead the way?” I stared him in the eyes. Today was really sucking.
“Fine, I will.” He marched off in, what I could only assume to be, the direction of the nearest ice cream shop in the building. “It’s right here.” He announced, as though I couldn’t see the damn thing for myself. The shop was bright and colorful with displays of numerous varieties of cones, the multiple flavors of ice cream hiding just behind the icy glass, their names etched into little tags in front of each tub.
We were the only one’s in line, and so the teenage girl working just behind the counter was quick to approach us, “What can I get for you today?”
“Well, I’ll have a mint chocolate chip.” He turned to me, which I was still trying to decide, “What do you want, Kaiba?” I could tell that he put the emphasis on his surname, just to show me that he wasn’t using my first name as he had been earlier.
“Chocolate.”
“Alright, how many scoops?”
“One for both of us.” He glanced at me as though looking for my reaction.
“And the type of cone?”
“Cake cones.” He smiled at me, “They’re the best kind.”
I grunted a bit and looked away, really not giving a damn.
“Alright, that’ll be 7.50.” (AN: I know, I’m not using yen. . . because I’m still too lazy to get on the internet and find a conversion chart.) I forked over a ten, knowing full-well that the dumb blond didn’t have any money, and told her to keep the change, and she proceed to happily create two ice creams for us.
“Thanks for paying.” He smiled sheepishly at me, clutching the cone and handing me my chocolate. “I’m sorry that I don’t have any money with me.” He kicked unconsciously at the cheap-tiled flooring. When was he going to learn that money wasn’t an issue for me?
“Don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault that your father is a grade A asshole.” I licked at my ice cream, wondering how he would react to my comment.
“It is, really. . . I mean, I’m not the brightest kid, nor am I a very good son.” He may have not been the brightest crayon in the box, but no one should call themselves a bad child just because their parents suck at life.
“Shut up.” I got dangerously close to him, “It isn’t your fault, no matter what people may tell you, no matter what you may think. . . it is not your fault.” I shuddered slightly with anger and backed off a bit, claiming the nearest bench. He followed me as soon as our eyes met.
“Was your father mean to you?” His sudden question stunned me a bit, but I thought of a quick way out of it.
“You promised no more questions about my family today.”
“Yeah, I did.” Was his defeated reply.
Don’t you hate when they pile the ice cream high on the cone, so what when you start licking it, the shit runs down the side? I do. It’s annoying, and you have to keep your eyes on it otherwise you’ll get sticky mess all over your hand. Noticing some chocolate creeping down my cone, I put it to my face, lapping it up quickly. Jounouchi, the dolt that he was, was just staring at me. What would I say this time? It was really getting old, “Mutt, you’re letting your ice cream run down the side.”
“Want to lick it off for me?”
Did he just say what I think he said? I blinked my eyes rapidly, “Excuse me?”
“Nothing.” He stated plainly, and then proceeded to make a scene of slurping the green, mint liquid from the side of his cone. I watched him, in disgust of course, and he noticed my attention, “What are you looking at?”
“I’m just observing your strange, disgusting eating habits.”
His brows knit together for a moment and then parted again, “Speaking of eating, I’m ready for lunch! It’s about noon, right?” It was always about food with him.
“Well yeah, but we ate only about three hours ago.”
“Hm, yeah, I guess you’re right. . . well, we could always walk around until we find something interesting.” He shrugged his shoulders. Isn’t that what we were doing since the moment we there?
“Wow, how fun.” My sarcasm was thick as I stretched my arms high above my head, yawning. I was so glad that I didn’t have what Jounouchi called a ‘normal teenage life’. It would suck to have to do shit like this every day.
“You ever been in a relationship?”
“Uh. . . no. . . yes. . . sort of. . . not really.” I clasped my hands together in my lap, twiddling my thumbs a bit and locking my eyes onto the fountain on the floor below us. He had asked it so randomly, I had kind of answered without thinking about it. It wasn’t any of his business. . . and again, I didn’t want to discuss Saki. I threw the cone paper in the trash can nearest to us.
Jounouchi slurped up the last bit of his loudly, tossing the paper to join mine.
“I have a great idea!” He leapt from the bench, startling me a bit in the process, “Let’s go to the arcade that they have here!” He grinned childishly at me, and I sighed in response.
“Fine.” I stood, waiting for him to take off. But instead, he just stood there, “Well? Lead the way.”
Without much in the way of a warning, he grabbed my hand, pulling me quickly along behind him. His hand was rough, slightly scratching at the soft skin of my own hand. I was dragged through various groups of people, allowing some sounds of protest to escape my mouth as I was lead through the heavily populated shopping center. It was so embarrassing! I clutched tighter onto his hand so that he wouldn’t let me go and allow for me to stumble and fall over.
As we neared the arcade, he stopped short, causing me to run into him with no bit of grace at all; that bastard. I quickly moved to stand next to him, one hand on my hip, shaking out the hand that he had had ahold of, “Well, let’s go in then.”
I lead the way inside, but he soon jumped in front of me, apparently spotting a game that he liked. He pointed to it frantically, “Hey, let’s play that!”
I grunted in response, pulling out a five and sending it into the depths of the change machine. Instantly, a whole pool of quarters were released, and I pulled a cup from the top of the machine to catch them in.
Again, he grabbed my hand, pulling me over to the stools, “Come on!”
Now, I was the best at most games in Domino. . . however, I had never seen this one before, and the controls didn’t look like anything I had used before. It must have been a new one. I hadn’t really been playing games lately. I gave up when Yuugi. . . no, when Yami no Yuugi beat me at Duel Monsters. I had been too preoccupied with beating him to care about much else.
“I don’t know how to play this one.” I admitted, pursing my lips slightly. He smiled at me.
“I can teach you. Sit down and I’ll show you.” I sat down, though I hated following orders, and awaited further instruction. “Now, put your right hand on that joystick and then keep your left hand near those two buttons there.” As I did so, he clasped his hands over mine, his chin resting gently on my right shoulder. I froze on the seat.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I questioned, trying to sound as cool and collected as possible.
“Showing you how to play.” I shivered a bit as his breath blew past my ear. He didn’t sound like he had some sort of ulterior motive though, so perhaps this was the normal teenage way of teaching how to play games. I had taught Mokuba how to play some games in a similar manner to this.
“Whatever.” I muttered.
This went on for about ten minutes. He helped me the entire time, but I soon found myself lost in the game. We won round after round of the fighting game. It wasn’t long before I joined him in taunting our computer opponents and bragging about the awesome fighting skills of our character. I felt very. . . strange. . . it was like I wasn’t me anymore. . . and yet, this feeling was so familiar. I think that I was happy. . .
We moved from game to game. Strangely enough, he chose all the games that I didn’t know how to play. Was that a coincidence? He couldn’t have known which games I hadn’t played before. Each time, the same thing occurred, and each time, I grew more and more relaxed and carefree.
I felt alive.
During one game, my stomach rumbled. Had it not been for the noise of the arcade, I would have likely attracted a lot of unwanted attention. Judging by Jounouchi’s sudden jerk, he probably felt it through my back. . . not that he should have been so close to me to begin with.
“Hm, I guess I’m a bit hungry.” I stated, glancing down at my stomach.
He grabbed my wrist, like earlier -and I struggled to pull it away, like earlier- and looked at my watch, “Geez, it’s already one o’clock!” He stood up straight, allowing me to remove myself from the cushioned stool upon which I sat, “Want to head on down to the food court for some lunch?” He tilted his head after his suggestion.
“Sure. . . I guess I’m paying?” I arched an eyebrow, though I already knew what the answer would be.
He tried to look as cute as possible, though I can’t say that it did anything for me, “Would you?”
“Pfeh, sure, it can go down on my short list of charities.”
- - -
The food court was even more crowded than the rest of the mall, being that it was around lunch hour for everyone. Restaurants dotted the walls, neon signs illuminated, attempting to catch the hungry eyes of those that passed with lit-up menus adorned with photos of perfect dishes. . . it’s funny how the food never looks so magnificent in real life. . . couldn’t that be considered false advertising?
Jounouchi and I had hopped into the line for McDonald’s, after a long and grueling argument about the type of food each restaurant served and why each place sucked. McDonald’s was the only place that we could say had a decent selection of food. I bought the dumb blond a big mac and myself a salad. Didn’t want to get fat or anything with all that grease.
“Have you ever had a cheeseburger?” He asked as we sat down at our table.
“Yes, but I don’t prefer them. They’re fattening and unhealthy anyways.”
“Well, during these next two weeks, you’re going to eat at least one. I told you, I’m going to get you to put on some weight. . . I mean, I don’t want you to get fat or anything, but looking like an anorexia patient isn’t so great.”
I threw a glare his way, popping more of my salad into my mouth. He, on the other hand, bit sloppily into that burger, the ‘secret sauce’, AKA thousand island dressing, dripping from the opposite end. I can only imagine what my expression must have been.
“What? Never seen a normal teenage boy eat before?”
“I’m sorry, Jounouchi, but that manner of eating certainly isn’t normal, and if it is, then I hope to god that someone kills me if I ever become that way.”
“You really need to loosen up.”
“You really need to fuck off and mind your own god-damned business.”
This sort of thing went on throughout the meal, one comment after another, insults flying across the two-person table at lightening speed, the hands on my watch seeming to fly around and around it’s face. . . even after we had long since downed our lunch, we were still going at it like a cat and dog. We were going on about such minuscule matters, like grades in school and friendship (I thought for a moment that the annoying Anzu girl had taken his place.) and even things like what was a good career choice; for him, of course, since my career had been decided ever since I was twelve.
Without thinking, we had gotten up from the table, wandering about the mall, bickering about many things and agreeing about a slim few. . . like how annoying Anzu was, and how some of the kids in our school truly sucked ass. I trashed Yuugi and Honda a few times, but he tried to bitch me out for it. And there I was thinking that perhaps I could get along with him and change his ways. Apparently it reminded him of something, because his eyes lip up shortly thereafter.
“Kaiba? About your friend. . . what did you mean when you said he didn’t know the difference between lust and love?”
I lowered my eyes. The question was innocent enough, but I didn’t think that he would bring it up after I mentioned it. I didn’t want to answer it, but if I didn’t, he would start to assume things. I had to say things to get him off my back about it. “Saki was. . . Saki would listen to me. He made me happy a lot of the time when things weren’t going quite right. . . but his other emotions got in the way of his better judgment and ruined everything.” That was discreet enough, right?
Apparently not, seeing as how his eyes grew to cover nearly half his face, “Do you mean to say that he-”
“Don’t say it. . . please, don’t say it.” Whether he knew, or whether he didn’t, I couldn’t bare to hear the word. That word was my poison.
I had a strong feeling that I would eventually have to spill the truth about Saki. . .
- - -