Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Behind Blue Eyes: Seto's Story ❯ Day Seven: Caught ( Chapter 23 )

Behind Blue Eyes: Seto’s Story
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Disclaimer: If I owned Yugioh, I wouldn’t really need to go to college. . . and the series itself would still be in duelist kingdom (like episode ten or something). . . the slow-ass that I am.
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Recap:
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” This time the words came out quickly, but my heart fluttered a bit with anxiety, “But please be patient with me.”
“I’ll wait forever if I have to.”
I snuggled closer, “And I know that you mean that.”
- - -
I did my best to get comfortable on Jou’s couch, even though it smelled like a bar, balancing my laptop on my thighs. I had fallen so far behind on work with all of the recent happenings. You would think that I had died, considering the emails I had received in my short absence. There were several repeated messages, the duplicates asking if I was alright since I hadn’t replied within 24 hours. It was fake concern, of course. They were all just impatient bastards.
Jounouchi had busied himself with cleaning up after a certain someone. I felt pretty bad about it, but if it made him feel better to do it for me, then that was fine.
Ah, yet another email down. How many more were there?
Jou finished vacuuming as if on cue.
“Could you get me another cup of coffee while you’re up?” I asked, not even bothering to look up from my screen. I held up my empty glass while the other continued to tirelessly type away. If Jou were a woman, he’d make a great wife. He had brought me the first one earlier when I had asked and dutifully brought it to me without haste. It was nice.
“What do I look like, a housewife?” He snapped, jokingly, as if he could read my mind.
I stopped typing, ready for a little arguing, “A flat-chested housewife, perhaps.” I shot back, looking up at him with no real expression.
His hands quickly flew up to cover his non-existent breasts, “Does that bother you?”
“Not really.” I replied, already bored with how this had turned out. Working took away all amusement. I sat down my still-empty cup and put my hands together, flexing my fingers, “Then again, you’ve seen one set, you’ve seen them all.” I shrugged, not realizing how bad that must have sounded. Jou’s personality was beginning to wear off on me.
He folded his arms, “Oh, so you’ve seen that many?” He narrowed his eyes, but he looked serious.
I couldn’t help but smirk at both the question and his undue seriousness, “Not willingly, of course. You see, there are many women -and men too- that would go to absolutely any length to get their hands on a nice amount of money. Needless to say, I have a fair amount of money and thus women like to throw themselves and their chests at me.”
“You’re handsome, too.” He decided to add, blushing like a damn schoolgirl.
I took the opportunity to launch a couch pillow at his blond head.
“What was that for?” He held a hand to his head as if it had actually hurt.
“For starting weird, perverse conversations.” I wasn’t so bored of the conversation anymore, though . . . what did that say about me?
“Then that would be your fault. You’re the reason that I’m acting like a pervert.”
“Why are you doing this?!”
“I can’t help it, Seto. It’s your fault that I’m acting this way. I can’t help myself.”
“Something like that is not my fault. I can’t control the way that I look; however all of you can control the way that you act!”
The color drained from his face, “Seto, I was just kiddi-”
“It’s your fault that I’m acting this way.”
“You think it’s funny?”
“I can’t help myself.”
A loud crash snapped me back into my senses just in time for me to realize that the cause of said crash was I. Great; I destroyed yet another of my computers. That, of course, was the least of my worries at the moment upon noticing a bewildered Jounouchi staring at me without uttering a word. Guess I slipped up again.
“I’m sorry.” I sat back down on the couch, trying my best not to look him in the eyes. Clasping my hands between my legs, I rested my elbows on my knees. “I’m sorry.” I repeated after hearing nothing in reply.
At the slight sound of movement I glanced up to catch Jou placing his hand over his chest.
“Did I scare you?” The look in his eyes looked rather terrified. Was he trying to make me feel like a total jerk?
He quickly averted his eyes to the floor, “No, I guess you just startled me.”
Startled? With that kind of reaction? Hmm . . . “Does violent behavior bother you?” I got back on my feet, one arm across my stomach and the other hand on my chin as I pondered what this could mean. Violent behavior . . . that type of reaction . . . if he had been startled, wouldn’t there have been some kind of verbal reaction? Yes, there would be, at least from a normal guy his age. Yet Jou had been totally silent, almost as if he was afraid that I would-
“Doesn’t it bother most people?”
“Not so much . . . When I supposedly startled you, did you feel as though your heart would leap out of your chest or perhaps that you wanted to run away from me?” I could feel my eyebrows knit together as I tried to choose the correct words for my question. The emotions of an abused person . . . I was no stranger to them.
Jou began to fidget, “One sign of being startled is that your heart starts beating quickly.”
Clearly he was trying to reason away his feelings, to reason away what he already knew was true.
“This is true, but usually someone that is startled makes some kind of noise; a scream or a yelp. You, however, remained silent and motionless. Most people jump a little when startled.”
“Well excuse me for not playing the part correctly, oh intelligent one.”
There he was with the humor again. I was right all along; Jounouchi Katsuya uses humor to hide the sad truth. Did he even realize he was doing it?
After giving him a long, hard look, I began to do what most predators do before attacking their prey: I began to slowly walk in a circle around him, saying nothing.
After one full revolution I stopped, the unease practically oozing from his every pore. “Are you nervous?” I asked, though the answer was ridiculously obvious.
“What are you doi-”
“Are you nervous?” I brought my face nose-to-nose with his, tired of beating around the bush. “Do you feel as if I might try to hurt you? Do you feel as though you want to run?”
“No.” The answer was practically instant as though it came more from a reaction rather than a thought.
“What are you answering ‘no’ to?” I backed up a bit since being so close was even getting a bit awkward for me, but I remained just close enough to hopefully keep him in the state of mind that I wanted him. I would get my answers. I always got my answers . . . well, almost always.
“I don’t feel like I want to run away from you.”
“And why not?”
“Because I’m strong enough to take you on.”
“Why wouldn’t you flee from your father?”
“Because then he would just-” His mouth snapped shut, but it was already too late; I had what I wanted. He inadvertently admitted that his father attacked him in some manner or another.
I couldn’t help but smirk with satisfaction, “I knew it.”
Jounouchi, on the other hand, was pissed, “You’re a fucking bastard; a snake.”
His words bounced off of me. It wasn’t anything that I hadn’t heard before, “I wouldn’t survive in the business world if I wasn’t. I knew all along that there was something going on that you’ve been hiding from me.”
“Let’s get something straight right now; I’m not abused, if that’s what you’re thinking. Sure he’s hit me a couple of times, but nothing severe. He usually just gets pissed off and breaks a thing or two.”
“Physical abuse isn’t the only kind of abuse, Jounouchi Katsuya.” It definitely wasn’t the only kind. “There’s physical abuse, verbal abuse . . . sexual abuse . . .” I caught myself as my eyes darted to the floor and quickly brought them back to Jou’s face. No way was I going to be pathetic at a time like this.
“Verbal abuse isn’t something to freak out about though.”
Okay, now he was really starting to piss me off. Even so, I tried to keep my cool, “Wrong. Abuse of any kind is a serious matter. He verbally abuses you, or so it sounds, and he obviously acts violently. It’s only a matter of time before he decides that you look good when covered in bruises. You need to go to someone and get some help. Have you ever called the police when he went after you?”
“Seto, I’m not going to call the police like some child simply because my dad yells at me or says things that I don’t like to hear.”
I gritted my teeth, “You know, sometimes you need to put safety before pride.”
“Yeah you’re one to talk.” He closed the gap between us that I had recently created and got into my face this time, “You’ve never once given up your pride for anything!”
In all due honesty, if I had been holding a gun at that moment, I think that I would have shot him and killed him without even giving it a second thought. My entire body was shaking and I felt as though I would burst from all of the anger inside of me that was trying to escape at once.
“I’ve never given up my pride? How much pride could I have had when I allowed grown men on top of me just to keep my brother safe? How much pride could I have had when I was forced to pose for erotic pictures for fear that I would be whipped otherwise? Well, Jounouchi?! How much?! How much pride can a sixteen year-old boy have when he has to explain pictures of himself bound and naked and surrounded by various CEOs to a judge, a jury, and a full courtroom? When he has to tell them that he doesn’t know how many different people raped him because he stopped counting after the number reached twenty and that he wasn’t too sure those were right because he was frequently blindfolded anyway?!”
I dropped to my knees before my mind could grasp what exactly had just come out of my mouth. I felt drained and pathetic . . . and utterly embarrassed. Why had I said so much?
I could see Jounouchi’s knees not far from my own, though I was staring at the floor, and I knew that he had gone down with me. When I felt his hands on my shoulders, I shoved him away.
“Don’t become like me.” I felt like I was talking to Mokuba. Or rather, I felt like I was saying the things that I wanted to say to Mokuba. Luckily he had been kept safe from the horrible side of life. Jounouchi, however, had not.
“Seto,” Jou began, “my situation isn’t nearly as bad as-”
I jerked up head up quickly, our eyes making contact. I should have known that he would say something like that. “It doesn’t matter how bad something is compared to another situation; it’s about you, Katsuya. Doesn’t it hurt you when your father acts that way towards you or around you? His actions have a negative effect on you whether you can see it or not.”
His only response this time was to stare at me, so I made myself a little more comfortable on his floor by sitting in a more natural position. Still, he said nothing. I took that as my cue to continue. “How can you be so kind and protective when you’ve grown up with someone like that?”
“I don’t know. My best guess would be that it’s just the kind of person that I am.” He shrugged, playing with the carpet rather than bothering to look at me.
“If you refuse to look at me, I’ll leave.”
His head jerked up so fast I thought he’d get whiplash. I couldn’t help but smile, even though it was such a sad situation, “You don’t want me to leave, huh? Maybe that’s why you’re so nice to everyone, why you try to take everyone’s feelings into consideration before your own. You don’t want any of them to leave . . . right?”
“Why would anyone want their friends to leave?” Though he tried to sound calm, I could hear the nervous edge in his voice, “You always say things and ask questions as though you’re trying to get to the bottom of something, but I have the same answers as anyone else.”
The same answers as anyone else? Not really. I was the exact opposite. For the past several years I have done nothing but push people away so that they would hate me. I wanted everyone to stay away from me. Friends were simply a burden. You grow attached to them and then they die or move away. What good is it to make relationships when all they do is disappear and crush you?
Maybe my situation was a bit more unique. Perhaps a change in topics?
“Your parents are divorced right? And you went with your father and your mother took your sister, right?” I stared at him from the corner of one eye as I leaned backward, using my arms as braces. I tried to remember his family structure. I remember during Battle City he had a sister with him. What was her name again? Sayaka? Sarah? Serenity?
“Yeah.” He replied, though with a somber tone. “My parents divorced when Shizuka and I were just kids.”
Ah, Shizuka. That’s right.
Katsuya’s eyes kind of glazed over as he disappeared into thought.
“Do you think that had some kind of effect on how you turned out?” My question fell on deaf ears, as he was likely venturing through some old memories. He looked utterly depressed.
“Katsuya?”
He jumped a little, which kind of startled me as well.
“Huh?”
“It must be a very painful memory.” I felt kind of bad for making him remember something that upset him, but hadn’t he done that to me several times already? Either way, I felt like I had upset Mokuba or something. I suppose it’s because Katsuya has such a young personality.
“A painful memory?”
“The face that you made while daydreaming . . . you looked very sad.”
The heavy atmosphere hung in the air while the two of us tried to think of what to say next. Jou opened his mouth to speak, but I kind of beat him to it. . .
Well, my stomach did. There was a long, low growling noise coming from inside of me and I couldn’t help but stare down at myself in shock. Had that really come from me? It hadn’t sounded like that in years! I tried to laugh it off so that I didn’t seem so ridiculous, “Eheh, we never did eat breakfast, pup.”
“Oh yeah . . . I burnt the food that I was cooking earlier.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” This time I said Indian-style. Since when had I become so unable to sit still? “Do you always eat burnt food or something?”
“No. I’m actually a pretty decent cook. When I’m by myself, there’s nothing running around the house to distract me.” He smirked at me, the apparent distraction.
“I would hardly say that I was running around the house. I sit stationary more often than anything.” Kind of contradicting what I had just said, I attempted to get to my feet, quickly falling back to the floor. My ass still hurt like a bitch. Stupid bastard . . .
“Do you need help up?” Jou easily hopped up from the floor, and held his hands out to me.
It was stupid. It was so stupid. I had just gone through my little speech about helping others without worrying about yourself, and here I was . . . I was worried about helping him and protecting my brother when the one currently hurt was me. I tended not to worry about myself. I took chances and dealt with the consequences later. Even now . . . and I looked so pathetic for it. What would Gozaburo think if he saw me now? What would he think?”
He would think, “It’s pitiful isn’t it? Having to help an eighteen-year-old to his feet . . . it’s really pathetic.”
“You’re hurt!” Jounouchi practically yelled. Had I said that out loud?
“You offer me your help now, and I could easily take it. However, if I get used to the help and then suddenly you go away-”
“I’m not going to go away!” How dare he interrupt me. “I’ve told you several times now, Seto; I’m not going to leave you not matter what. Face it; you’re stuck with me.”
“What makes you so positive that you’ll never decide that you just don’t want to be around me anymore?” I folded my arms, but there was nothing intimidating about a man sitting on the floor trying to look like a badass.
“Because I love you.”
Damn. Every time he said that, my heart went crazy and chills ran up and down my spine. “When you said it, it sounds so wonderful. Then again, I had thought the same thing when Saki had said it. I thought that he was absolutely perfect.” The images of my Saki came to mind. “I loved how his hair reminded me of the night sky, and his eyes were the shimmering stars within it.”
Saki was very handsome. His smile was enough to make me smile right back and his gaze was so intense that it practically made me melt. His appearance was so . . . manipulative.
“It’s nice to know that you still think about him so much. If you could have your fantasy Saki back, would you leave me for him?”
“No.” Sure the memories were lovely, but they were only memories. I didn’t want to be fooled again. “ I never had someone like that. He had me. He had me in his little trap. Saki tricked me when I was most vulnerable and used that to his advantage.” I tried to stand up, and Katsuya was quick to come help me, “But you,” I grabbed his shoulders to balance myself, “It feels like . . .” It felt like he would do absolutely anything just to make me happy. I startle to laugh out loud. There’s no way that anyone would actually be that way. Everyone was a little selfish and everyone had their limits.
It wasn’t until Katsuya smiled that I realized I had been doing the same. “Aw, come on! Feels like what?”
How could I say what I really thought without sounding ridiculous? Well, I suppose that I could just do what Katsuya does and just say exactly what I’m thinking. “It almost feels like you don’t want to be without me. Like you would do just about anything to make me happy. I don’t think you’ve ever said that, and I’m probably wrong, but that’s how it feels and. . . well, I don’t want a feeling like that to ever go away. I don’t want you to ever go away.” What was this, a soap opera? “Does that sound too mushy and romantic?”
“It’s extremely mushy and romantic. . . and it’s too cute coming from you.” Grinning, he wrapped his warm arms around me. . .
Aaaaaand the phone rang. I gently pulled away from him and made my way to the phone, pondering what to do with it when I finally go there. Should I sling it against the wall? No, I shouldn’t destroy someone else’s property . . . not that I wasn’t capable of replacing it or anything.
I used my shoulder to hold the phone against my ear as I leaned against the wall. “Hellooo?” I asked, reminding myself of my younger brother. I heard Jou snicker a bit at my childish antics. I liked making him laugh . . .
“This is Ms. Arashi with attendance at-”
I leaned forward from the wall, gripping the phone in my right hand with irritation at the familiar voice, “You again?”
“Is this Mr. Kaiba? I’m calling to ask why you and-”
“I believe that I had told you this once before; I don’t need to attend those ridiculous classes in order to pass the tests.” Damn this woman was annoying.
“Mr. Kaiba, regardless of your intellectual capabilities, you and Jounouchi must attend your classes! Even if you are able to do well on exams, Jounouchi doesn’t do so well and so-”
“Oh? So you don’t think that Jounouchi Katsuya will learn anything when left with me? Are you trying to imply that I am not capable of teaching someone my own age?”
“No Mr. Kaiba! That’s not it at all! I’m only trying to say that-”
“Make all of the excuses you want. I am very offended that you would even imply something like that.” I held the phone away from my ear as her voice was growing higher and higher in pitch every time. I couldn’t hear everything she was saying, but it sounded more like groveling than anything. “Alright, alright. I have a deal to make with you. Let this slide, and I’ll forgive you for irritating me and implying that I am incompetent. Either make this deal with me, or suffer the loss of your job.”
“Y-yes, Mr. Kaiba. I hope that the two of you will be returning to your classes on Monday.”
I hung up, deciding that she didn’t earn the right to a proper goodbye.
Katsuya apparently decided to be the voice of reason, “You know, you shouldn’t be so mean to her. That woman is really nervous all the time.”
I could help but smile a little, running a hand through my hair, “That’s why she’s such a pushover.” In the real world, only the tough guys go anywhere. Pathetic people get walked all over. . . to change the subject I put my hands on my hips, looking down my nose at the golden blond, “Well, Mr. wonderful cook, are you going to make me an unforgettable breakfast?” I smirked so that he knew I wasn’t really looking down on him.
He moved close until we were nose to nose, which I’ll admit still made me a little uncomfortable, “Well,” He began, his eyes almost half-lidded, “I can’t guarantee that the food will be anything spectacular,” Just then a smirk crossed his features that made me even more uncomfortable, “but there are ways of making it spectacular.”
I could feel my face heating up. I opened my mouth to say something snappy, but I completely forgot what I was going to say when another mouth covered my own, a light pressure pushing me back against the wall. As his arms wrapped around my waist I could feel my own muscles begin to relax from the warmth. I closed my eyes to try to keep from feeling so awkward as I draped my arms over his shoulders.
It was weird standing there like that, with someone kissing me. Someone that wasn’t Saki, someone that wasn’t several times my age . . . someone that wasn’t doing so against my will. It was okay this way. Katsuya was very gentle.
Until he decided to lick my bottom lip, that is. Okay, so it’s not like that isn’t gentle, but it’s awkward and strange and reminds me of . . .
I clamped my lips shut, causing the blond to pull away with an almost-sad expression. “What’s wrong?”
The heat in my face was more intense than ever. What could I possibly say to him? That look on his face made it even harder to come up with a lie. “We need to eat first. You can’t have dessert before breakfast.” My whole body was probably bright red by now and I had to look up at the ceiling to keep from feeling like a complete weirdo. Seriously, what kind of thing was that to say? Calling myself dessert? Geez, Kaiba Seto, what has gotten into you?
Jou grinned, “Does that make you the dessert?”
Oh man, was he trying to embarrass me? The two of us moved away from the wall and I clasped my hands together behind me, rubbing my fingers over my knuckles in an attempt to look innocent rather than awkward, “Well, it’s something sweet, isn’t it?”
“It’s something indescribably sweet.”
Yeah. He was trying to embarrass me.
- - -
Katsuya said that I had to stay in his bedroom until he finished cooking. Was I actually the reason that he kept burning the food? What a weird guy.
I lay down on the bed for a short while, just staring at the ceiling. This entire situation was just weird. So much had happened in only a few days. I felt like the two of us had been together for such a long time. Together . . . it sounded strange even though it was only in my own mind. Together; Jounouchi Katsuya and Kaiba Seto are together.
I could smell the food cooking and my stomach just kept growling again and again. I nearly yelled out loud at it before I realized how ridiculous that would be. I had done quite a few ridiculous things lately.
I drummed my fingers lightly against the mattress before leaving Jou’s room. Surely he was finished by now, right?
As I entered the kitchen I stopped and leaned against the wall. Katsuya had a very gentle smile on his lips as he set the table, beaming as he looked over his finished work.
“What’s up with that creepy expression?” I taunted.
He seemed a little bit startled, “What creepy expression?” He scrunched up his nose and folded his arms, completely unintimidating.
“You had the look of a proud mother, staring at the food like that.”
“Oh.” Came his simple reply, followed by a blank look. He almost seemed as if he was about to zone out before he finally thought up an excuse, “I was just thinking about stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” I continued the conversation as I sat in the same spot I had been sitting in for the past few days. The omelet and juice were calling my name; how could I possibly refuse?
“Just stuff.” He sat down in his proper place. Before I could pester him more about his thoughts, he enthusiastically proclaimed, “Look! It’s not burnt.” He grinned his trademark Jou grin.
I shook my head at him, trying not to laugh, “It’s pretty sad when that is something you have to point out.”
It did look really good though, not burnt at all. The aroma was also terrific. I reached for my fork so that I could dig in to my very late breakfast . . . only to touch the surface of the table.
“Um,” I began, taking notice that Jou was still staring at me, “It’s nice that you are so proud of it and all, but I’d like to actually eat the food and I sure as hell don’t intend to eat this with my bare hands.”
The blond gave me a funny look at first before he looked down at his own set-up and realized what was missing, “Oh, my bad!” He slid from his chair and yanked out a drawer, retrieving two forks like a good dog. “Anything else, your highness?”
I glared at him for addressing me like that yet again, but then a thought came to mind. “Actually, if you are feeling so generous, I’ll take a cup of coffee.” I smirked, half-expecting him to actually get one for me.
“Now that you mention it,” Jou returned the same mischievous smirk, “I’m not feeling so generous after all.”
Bad dog.
- - -
We finished our ‘breakfast’ shortly after noon and began working on separate things. I was catching up on some long over-due work on my laptop while Jou was . . . I don’t know. He was doing something with an old-school notebook.
Oh right, so about my laptop. I called one of my staff and had him bring one of my back-up computers. I had plenty of back-up computers. I did my important work off of a server connection, so it wasn’t like I’d have to reinstall anything and I didn’t lose any files. Things worked out perfectly. Well, everything except Jou’s wall, which I promised to have fixed at some point.
Anyways, I was going through my never-ending inbox of emails, deleting bullshit and dragging various memos into folders. At the moment I was working on ordering some new office furniture. The stuff in my building was getting a bit out-dated. Hey, it was either occupy myself with miniscule projects or drive myself over the deep-end by reading page after page of pathetic emails. Honestly, some people wrote novels to me. Who really thought that I had the free time to sit and read emails all day? I had plenty of better things to do . . .
“What are you working on?” Apparently the silence was too much for a certain blond and so he felt the need to play the part of the curious child.
I stopped typing instantly, moving only my eyes to see him, “Things for my company.”
I mean really, what else would I be doing? Instant messaging my non-existent friends? Writing an email to a distant pen pal? Looking at porn?
“What kinds of things?” He asked after seeming to have thought deeply about my first answer.
I started back typing again, “Oh, just the same old shit. People trying to sell me things, of course. Computers, software, furniture, ideas, even things like pens.” That about summed it up. People always wanted to sell me whatever they could possibly sell. I have money and they want it. Some of them would probably offer their first-born child if they thought I would want it.
“Do you ever accept their offers?” Jou came to sit next to me, leaning just a bit so that he could also see the screen so I just pushed the laptop onto one leg so that he could get a better view.
“Sometimes I buy from them, but only if I’m really interested in what they have.” I opened up the email that I had just fished reading, “I accepted this one here and he is going to meet me in my office on Monday so that we can discuss the numbers and whatnot.” The email contained the image of a computer desk, “I’m going to buy one of these for every office in my office building. I’ll look at the budget plans that the international offices have set up and see if they have room for new furniture.” Pfeh, stupid international flunkies. “I doubt it though; they all generally suck at managing money. I’m getting so tired of firing the executives and hiring new ones.”
Jou looked thoughtful, “Why don’t you set up their budgets?”
“Oh, I do, believe me. I practically beat it into their skulls. Yet somehow they always manage to screw something up, causing a domino effect that messes up the whole plan. Some of the offices are really good about keeping with the budget, but there are others that are just plain awful.” I pulled the computer back into my lap and continued my work.
Katsuya, on the other hand, grabbed his little spiral notebook and looked it over. I kind of felt . . . bad. Here I was, discussing purchasing office furniture for an entire corporate office, meanwhile Jou didn’t even have his own computer. I hadn’t been trying to brag or anything, but I bet it probably made him feel a bit inadequate.
“Do you want a laptop, Katsuya?” I glanced from his face down to his little notebook.
“What? Oh, no, it’s fine. This works for me.” He smiled, but I could tell he was lying. He was just being modest. I wonder if he was taught not to want anything. . .
I went back to my typing, “We’ll go and get you one tomorrow. Tomorrow is Saturday, right?”
“We’ll go and get you one tomorrow. Tomorrow is Saturday, right?”
“It’s not necessary, really. Besides, you’re hurt and-”
“Is it really so wrong that I want to get you a gift?”
“You’ve already done plenty for me.”
“Katsuya, I’ve got a shitload of money and I don’t know what to do with it. At least let me do something good for someone else rather than waste it on shitty furniture.” I couldn’t help but smile a bit. It was true; I usually spent money without really paying attention, but now that I think back on things I’ve purchased recently . . . there are so many other things that I could be spending on. I could be spending on Jou and Mokuba.
“If you insist.” That’s what he said, but I caught the slight smile on his lips and the shimmer in his eyes. He had a very young heart.
The truth is, a part of me felt obligated to do something for him, as small as the favor may be. He said that I’ve ‘already done plenty’ for him, but that’s a lie. I’ve only caused him trouble ever since I came to his house. I never dreamed that things would turn out as they have. It was supposed to be him annoying me, not the other way around! Though, his incessant questioning is a tad bit irritating.
The doorbell rang and I could have sworn that it was echoing through every room. It certainly echoed in my ears. Both of us instantly froze up, but why? I mean, it’s not like it could have been Saki again. That thought never even crossed my mind. Really. It didn’t.
Well, maybe only for a second.
Okay, so maybe I stiffened up because it really could have been Saki trying to trick me into coming to the door again.
“I’ll get it.” Jou rose to his feet.
What if it really was Saki on the other side of the door? What if he wanted Jou to answer? What if Saki wanted to kill Jou? I reached into my computer bag and pulled out the handgun that my employee had brought to me when he brought my spare laptop.
“No,” I told him, “I’ll get it.” Like I’ve said many times before . . . I’m a good shot.
“Where the hell did that come from?” He pointed an accusing finger at my weapon, an expression of complete shock and confusion at play on his face. The doorbell rang for a second time.
“Oh, this little thing?” I glanced at my gun, “Remember the guy that brought me my backup laptop? I asked him to bring this as well.”
“That’s a bit shady . . .” He almost looked a bit nervous. Was he really that bothered by weapons? I’d have to dig a bit deeper into this idea sometime in the future. The doorbell rang a third time, yet now it was accompanied by loud pounding. The color drained from Jou’s face, “What if the person at the door is-”
“I’ll shoot him.” My heart began to pound harder at the thought of Saki at the door.
“-a cop? You’d shoot him?”
“Well no,” Oh, that made sense. A cop may not like me coming to the door with a gun in his face. “not if it was a cop, I thought that you were going to say-”
Three consecutive rings and more pounding.
We both looked at each other, eyes lit up from the adrenaline rush.
“Well then, shall we go?” My blond (mine?) asked, pulling the lamp from his nightstand and yanking the plug from the wall.
Seriously? I couldn’t help but laugh, “Is that your weapon?” Did I need to buy him a gun too?
He simply grinned that same, cute, cheesy grin, “Yup! There might be two people, ya know?”
“I do have more than one bullet in here and I’m a pretty good shot. My aim is excellent.”
He fell to the floor within seconds of the firing of the gun. . . the gun in my hands. I pulled that trigger. It was my fault . . .
No. Now is not the time for that. “Let’s go!” I called out to my new friend; Jounouchi Katsuya. I wouldn’t let him become another Satoshi.
The two of us rushed down the hallway and towards the front door. As we arrived we could hear voices coming from the other side, but it wasn’t possible to make out distinct words.
“Are you ready?” I rested my free hand on the knob, my heart pounding to the point that it was making it difficult to hear anything else.
“Yeah.” Katsuya sounded unsure himself, raising the lamp high above his head.
My own hand was shaking as I turned the lock and yanked open the door, quickly using both hands to point my gun at whomever might be on the other side.
“Woah! Hey! It’s just us, you guys!” Katsuya’s more-than-irritating friends were at the door along with their project partners, I assume. The girls were all shivering pathetically behind the not-so-brave males as was the white-haired boy (isn’t his name Ryou or something?), which didn’t really surprise me. I had thought he was a girl in a male uniform at school for the longest time . . .
I lowered my gun to my side and Jou tucked the lamp under his arm . . . and then started making excuses in that nervous voice of his, “Oh, uh, hey everybody. Um . . . we were just, you know, um . . .”
“Fighting.” I finished before he could make an even bigger fool of himself.
“Seto!” The taller Yuugi exclaimed loudly, “Thank the gods you’re alright!” He let out a loud sigh, placing a hand over his chest. Thank the gods I’m alright? What? “After seeing the condition that you were in the other day-“
“Yami, hush!” The shorter Yuugi hissed, looking a little peeved. But I’m willing to bet that he wasn’t nearly as pissed as I was at the moment.
I narrowed my eyes, glancing from tall Yuugi and then to Jou with a look that demanded to know exactly what he had told them.
Jou, on the other hand, looked almost like a deer caught in some headlights. I wouldn’t be surprised if he suddenly began to frantically wave his arms in front of him while babbling explanations.
“Seto-”
“The name’s Kaiba. Don’t act so friendly with me.” I snapped at the taller Yuugi, Yami no Yuugi I believe Jou called him. How dare he use my first name?
“Kaiba,” Yuugi jumped in, “We really were worried and we came by today to check on you and Jou.”
“What were you so worried about? I’m perfectly fine.” We hadn’t gone to school and I hadn’t seen Katsuya make any phone calls. He hadn’t used the computer at all either. How on earth could the two of them possibly know anything that had happened? Did they really know anything about the ‘Saki incident’ at all? Were they actually inquiring about something else and I was simply jumping to conclusions?
“Fine?” Yami no Yuugi growled, “You were unconscious and-”
Yuugi’s tiny hands flew up to cover the other’s mouth, “Yami! We said we wouldn’t tell, remember?” The group behind him looked confused.
‘We said we wouldn’t tell’? So they did know something that they shouldn’t know. Did Jou call them while I was unconscious? Or worse, did they see me while I was in that condition? My heart rate picked up its pace again.
“Well I wasn’t going to say anything,” That friendship nutcase Anzu cut in, “But Kaiba, the bandages on your arms make it pretty obvious that you aren’t fine.” She pointed at them like I was some kind of spectacle.
Oh yeah; I was wearing one of Jou’s short-sleeved shirts. Well, hopefully no one would recognize that the article of clothing belonged to the blond and not to me.
I shot Jou a look, “I should have just worn one of my long-sleeved shirts.” I knew that wearing his clothes was a bad idea. I should have stuck with my gut feelings.
“I think that you two need to explain to us and everyone else just what exactly is going on.” Yami folded his arms across his chest, trying to play the role of ‘responsible adult’ in the matter, but only succeeding in giving me the powerful urge to slap that irritating look off of his face.
“Yeah,” Ryou stepped out from behind his evil twin, “Considering how you all have been acting around each other lately, I highly doubt that you would be fighting, let alone fighting with weapons.” He eyed my gun.
Well, wasn’t he the observant one? I didn’t know Katsuya had friends like him.
“Maybe they were fighting for dominance.” The evil twin flashed a creepy grin, narrowing his eyes with perversion. Yet another person I wanted to hurt right now.
“Speaking of dominance,” Yuugi chimed, “Jou, did you give Seto that thing you got for him yesterday?”
“Speaking of dominance?” I practically choked, “Jounouchi, what the hell did you buy?” I vaguely remember him mentioning that he bought something for me, but I couldn’t recall exactly what he had said.
The blond simply side-stepped as the now-chuckling group slipped inside. He closed the door behind them, locking it.
“I told you earlier, Seto; I bought you a swimsuit. Remember having that short-lived conversation? He sat on the couch, placing the lamp on the table in front of him. His friends gathered around.
“No, I don’t remember that.” Refusing to sit, I simply stood near him, staring down into his big brown eyes. A swimsuit? Maybe I remembered something like that . . .
“Oh come on!” He grinned up at me, “I was picking out an outfit and you asked if I had bought any new clothes when we all went out yesterday and I told you that I had bought you something instead . . . Ring any bells?”
“Something for me? I’m afraid to find out what it is.”
“It’s a swimsuit!”
“Now I really don’t want to see it.”
I sat down next to him, crossing my legs and folding my arms. I laid the gun down beside his ‘weapon’ on the table. “Hm, yeah, I suppose that I faintly remember having a conversation about that.” I dared to admit it, wondering if that was really the best move. Whatever, as long as the topic shifted away from my injuries . . .
His brown-haired friend, Honda I believe, leaned down way too close to my face. “Did Jou happen to tell you that the trunks he got are really short?” He stood straight up and quickly backed off. With good reason too; I’m sure the look on my face was anything but pleasant.
“Jounouchi?” I said his name for the millionth time that day, still staring down this Honda guy, “He’s kidding, right?”
No one said a word.
“Jounouchi?” The annoyance was obvious in my tone as I slowly faced the blond in question. I swear, if he was telling the truth . . .
Jounouchi leapt from the couch, his hands flying up defensively, “Okay, okay! Just let me explain!”
“Explain?” He had to explain? So he wasn’t lying? “You bought me a skimpy swimsuit?!” I got up from the couch, wincing from the pain of moving too fast with my injuries, ready to beat his ass, but his damn funky-haired friends grabbed me by the arms . . . though they couldn’t hold me for long. I shook off little Yuugi instantly and Yami didn’t last much longer.
“It’s just a gag gift!” Jou called out, bracing for impact.
“Gag?”
“Anyone got a gag? I can’t take this brat’s blubbering. Apparently he needs something in his mouth and in his mouth when you fuck him!”
“. . . and show us your lovely legs.”
My legs?
“Damn! Look at those legs! Long legs look good draped over my shoulders.” He let out a heavy laugh, his face long forgotten . . . or had I ever known it in the first place?
“You’d better shut the fuck up.”
Saki always defended me. No, wait. Not Saki. That was Katsuya’s voice. Damn, did I zone out again? They were all rambling about something.
“Threatening me, Jounouchi Katsuya?” The evil albino questioned, his eyes laughing, “really now, even you would be in for a treat. Have you ever seen Seto’s legs?” Back when he was a priest-”
Oh. So it was he who had mentioned my legs . . .
“Yes, I have seen them.” Katsuya admitted, embarrassing me a bit, “Leave. Him. Alone.”
“A priest?” One of the group’s accompanying bimbos asked, “You were a priest, Kaiba?” She batted her eyes as though I gave a shit.
I rolled my own eyes, “No. Never was and never will be.”
“You’ve seen his legs?” It was Honda this time.
I couldn’t bear to look at any of them at the moment. I was currently too busy staring at my own hands. The burning in my cheeks was becoming more and more difficult to ignore.
Katsuya joined me, silent. Would he ever learn to watch what he said?
“So . . . are they nice?” The quiet kid, Yuugi’s project partner I think, asked.
“If his body is anything like the one that he had as a priest . . .” Yami’s voice trailed off.
Talking about my body again. Was it really that much different than anyone else’s? And this whole ‘priest’ thing. Sounds like I was a slut in a past life as well. Not that I believe in past lives or anything. I don’t believe in them, you know.
“You guys,” Jounouchi’s voice almost sounded like he was pleading now, “Please-”
The other’s were either ignoring him or just didn’t hear him.
“Oh yeah.” Ryou’s evil twin (Bakura?) cooed, closing his eyes, “The priest Seto had the most beautiful body in the whole kingdom.”
I pursed my lips to keep from making an outburst. Stop talking about me. Stop talking about me. Stop fucking talking about me!
The two of them bantered back and forth, not that I cared to listen anymore. I was trying my best to mentally block them out. Not only did they feel the need to talk about my body now, but they also felt the need to make up ancestors of me to molest. I clenched my fists so tight that I thought I might pierce my palms with my nails.
The last bit I caught was Bakura bragging. “I enter without permission and take what I want, regardless of the will of the owner.”
Like Saki. Jou has friends that are exactly like Saki. They take what they want . . .
“Saki, I said stop!”
“And I said ‘no’.”
. . . regardless of the will of the owner.
“Seto . . .” Katsuya whispered softly to me, trying to remain undetected by the others. “Het Seto,” He said again when I didn’t respond, gently taking hold of my arms and leading me toward the hall. “Don’t you have some e-mails to answer or some offers to decline?” He said this part in a normal voice so that his friends were sure to hear. Ah, an excuse as to why he was leading me away. Somewhat clever, pup.
I smiled softly, “Thanks.”
As we entered his bedroom he shut the door behind us. “I’m sorry that all of them showed up.” He apologized, leaning against the wall with one hand in his pocket and the other nervously rubbing the back of his head. Sometimes he was just too cute. It was difficult to stay mad at him anymore. How was I able to do it before this project began?
“It’s not your fault.” I sat down carefully on his bed. It really wasn’t his fault. Obviously he hadn’t invited them over or anything. “So Yuugis one and two were here yesterday?” I hadn’t been able to get the full story about that.
“Yeah . . . I had forgotten to tell you about that. I didn’t expect them to come back over today.”
“Why were they here yesterday? According to what they were saying, it was only the two of them and no one else.” I absentmindedly fiddled with the bandages on my arms while maintaining eye contact with Jou. His eyes, however, seemed to be anything but focused. “Katsuya!” I snapped, startling him from his apparent daydream.
“Uh, what?”
“Don’t you ‘uh, what?’ me.” I turned the blinds a bit to brighten the room. “I asked what those two came over for yesterday.”
“Oh . . .” He made a thoughtful face, “To drop off that thing that I got for you yesterday.” He grinned and I wanted to throw a shoe at him or something. I still can’t believe that he bought me a skimpy swimsuit.
“I still haven’t seen it.” I cocked one brow along with the corresponding corner of my mouth.
“Do you want to?” He leaned away from the wall and clasped his hands over his chest, far too excited about the idea of showing it to me.
I shook my head, smiling at his fangirl-ish antics, “Not really.” I truly had no desire to see what he had picked out for me.
“Well you’ll be wearing them tomorrow whether you’ve seen them by then or not.” A mischievous smile crossed his lips. I didn’t really like the look of his smile and I certainly didn’t care for the way he was speaking to me, but I did my best to ignore that for now.
“Speaking of that whole pool thing tomorrow, I thought about my situation and came up with a solution.”
“A solution to what? Oh yeah, your back.” His smile faded quickly.
“Yeah. I’ll just wear swimming trunks and a white t-shirt. I just won’t get in the water.” I folded my arms and leaned back against the window for a moment until I realized just how uncomfortable the blinds were when pressed against my back.
“well that would work, except for the fact that she said everyone must actively participate if they want to receive full credit. And besides, I don’t think she’d let you get away with wearing a t-shirt. You’ve kinda pissed her off the last few days that we actually attended class, so I don’t think that she’s going to go easy on you.” His pitiful smile annoyed me.
“I’ll tell her that I need a shirt because I come from a long line of people with melanoma.”
“English, dude.”
“Skin cancer, dumbass.” Honestly, who didn’t know what melanoma was? Did he ever pay attention in any of his classes?
“Woah, woah! Watch the profanity, moneybags!” He held up his hands in defense, much like he did out in his living area, but this time he was laughing. I liked it when he laughed. The atmosphere felt so much lighter when Jounouchi laughed.
He was right, though. I hadn’t exactly been very kind to our teacher lately. “I could just wear a black shirt . . . or dark blue. Something that won’t become see-through if it gets wet.” Yeah, that’s it! I could still get in the water and still remain covered up. Oh, but my arms. Well, I think that over later.
“You’ll get hot in the sun with something dark on.” Was he playing the devil’s advocate?
“I think it’ll be worth it.”
There was a sudden and loud “Holy shit!” from just outside Katsuya’s door, which was followed by a muffled thud.
Startled, the two of us rushed from our places and pulled open the door, stepping out into the hallway to find his half-wit friend Honda lying on the floor with his back to the wall and his pants down around his ankles. Believe me, I can’t possibly paint the perfect mental image to describe how disturbed I was by this.
“What the fuck, Honda?!” Jou yelled, stealing the words right out of my mouth. He closed his eyes, “Pull your damn pants up.”
He managed to get on his feet and pull his pants back up by the time the rest of the motley crew ran up.
“What happened?” Inquired the one named Anzu.
Honda spoke up before Jou and I had the chance to utter even a sound, “I had just gone to take a piss and I smelled something strange. I started looking around and then I saw the tub!” Fuck. “Jou, what the hell happened in there?!”
Jou hadn’t cleaned the tub. I fucking knew I should have been the one to take care of the cleaning! Of all places, how could he have forgotten the tub! Had the living area and his own bedroom been the only places he managed to clean? Then again, I did kind of distract him with my questioning while he was cleaning . . . perhaps he had simply forgotten to finish.
Everyone moved to peek into the bathroom and I had to act fast. I jumped in front of them, slamming the bathroom door shut and standing in front of it so that they couldn’t enter. “None of you should have ever come over here in the first place. Some things happened, but they are none of your business.” I gave them the most dangerous glare I could muster. “I want all of you to get out of here immediately.” I could feel myself falling into my old habits, beat into me through years of rigorous training, “Should you fail to keep your mouths shut about what you’ve seen today, I’ll see to it that you go nowhere in life. I’ll have your names blacklisted!” Coming from just about anyone else, those kinds of threats would be laughable; but not when they came from Kaiba Seto.
Anzu, however, didn’t seem convinced, “Kaiba, you can’t just expect us to-”
“Anzu,” Yami interrupted, “You and the others go on over to the game shop. Yuugi and I need to have a word with these two.” His eyes were focused intently on me and I never once let my gaze waver. If he thought that he could best me, he was dead wrong.
There was a long, hanging silence until everyone finally left. Yuugi peeked around the corner to make sure that they were really gone. Jou moved to my side during this time, apparently intending to help me fight these two. I certainly wouldn’t be needing any help. In a battle of wits, I could take the two of them alone. Even so, it was nice to have someone support me . . .
“Alright guys, explain.” Yami folded his arms and Yuugi imitated him.
As if I was going to be intimidated by a couple of angry midgets.
“We don’t have to explain anything. The fact of the matter is that something is going on in my life and it doesn’t concern you.”
“Doesn’t concern us?” The shortest of the two acted as though I had offended him or something, “After all of the times that we have helped save either you or Mokuba, you decide that you aren’t going to let us help you this time? This is the worst case so far! I think that you need as much help as you can get!” He came closer, but knew better than to get too close to me.
Sure, they had helped my brother and me many times in the past, but this time things were much different. “Even so, this is a bit different than those times. Mokuba is safe and sound. As long as he remains out of harm’s way, then-”
“You’re important too!” Katsuya blurted out, shocking everyone and apparently even himself, “Even though Mokuba isn’t in immediate danger, you are.” He hung his head. He seemed . . . sad.
I couldn’t help but stare at him. Whose side was he on? I suppose that his intentions were well enough. He said that I am important too . . . if I am important, why won’t he make his annoying friends leave me alone and get them to stay out of my business?
I turned from Jounouchi and back to the tri-colored duo, “Alright. You all want to help so badly?”
“Of course we do!” Yuugi was so eager to help that it made me sick to my stomach. He was ridiculous. Yami also nodded hurriedly. Surely their emotions weren’t entirely genuine. There was definitely an ulterior motive.
Too bad my answer was going to disappoint them. “Then don’t say a word about any of this to anyone. Don’t you understand what it could mean for me if strange things leak out to the media?” I held my hands out without realizing I was doing it at first, “If you or any of those fools that were with you let even one word about this slip out, it could be catastrophic for me.” It could. That was the last thing I needed for myself and Mokuba right now. Mokuba . . . I never wanted him to know what happened . . . never wanted him to know that I stayed in those conditions so that he could live a life of luxury.
“You say it could be catastrophic,” Yami just didn’t know when to give up, “but I really don’t see how. We don’t even know what happened. How do we know that the two of you didn’t just kill someone and are now using this as a cover up?”
I wanted to laugh. I wanted to throw my head back and laugh my fucking ass off. But instead I simply tightened my lips, holding back and outburst or a mental breakdown, whichever happened first. “You know what? I have killed someone! And not just one person either!” What was I telling them? “But I’m telling you, the only blood in that room is my own. You can think whatever the fuck you want about the events here, but if you so much as mention one word about what you’ve seen here today, so help you god I will make you suffer.”
Yuugi looked thoroughly terrified and Yami fell silent, but I still didn’t feel satisfied. It wasn’t enough. It could never be enough. You all know nothing about me. Calling me a liar. Just shut up.
“Seto . . .” Jou’s voice came to me, a hesitant hand on my right shoulder, “You shouldn’t be so harsh . . . maybe if we just told them . . .”
“You’ve killed someone?” Yami looked shock, apparently still stuck on what I had said a moment ago. What an annoying person.
“Yami!” Jou yelled, receiving only a shoulder-shrug from the smug bastard.
This was stupid. It was just so stupid. I’m so sick of dealing with other people. They just didn’t get it and they only gave me headaches. Jounouchi . . . was he different?
“You know what?” I moved away from the bathroom door, heading back towards Katsuya’s bedroom, “You handle this however you want, Katsuya. I can’t take much more of this. If they’re going to tell my secrets to the world, then that’s what they’re going to do. I don’t think my life could get any more fucked up than it already is.”
If Yuugi is really as sensitive as he lets on, perhaps a guilt trip would be enough . . .
“But Seto-”
“Katsuya.” I looked back over my left shoulder, my blue eyes locking with his brown, “I trust you. I trust that however you decide to handle this situation, things will work out okay because . . .I’ve got you and Mokuba, right?” I turned back towards his room, “Whatever happens, happens.” I went inside, closing the door behind me and sitting on the floor so that I could listen.
In all honesty, the ‘whatever happens, happens’ was more of my feelings about the matter. Did I trust Jounouchi Katsuya to make such a huge decision and have things turn out just fine? Not really. It was just getting to the point that I didn’t know who was on my side anymore. If Jounouchi told them everything that had happened over the course of the past few days, I don’t really know what I’d do.
“Well?” I could hear Yami ask.
I held my breath as my pulse picked up speed, and I didn’t know who could have possibly been more nervous: Katsuya, or me?
- - -
Thank you for yet another wonderful year of reviews! I can’t wait to see what you all have to say! Happy Holidays!