Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Behind Blue Eyes ❯ Day Seven: Caught ( Chapter 23 )
[ 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: 12.23.2008 | Pages: 8 | Words: 10.1K | Visits: 417 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 12.23.2008 | Pages: 8 | Words: 10.1K | Visits: 417 | Status: Work In Progress
Blue Eyes
- - -
About that New Year’s Resolution. . . well, at least I didn’t make any promises (I can see why Seto hates promises so much)! Enjoy the extremely late chapter! Sorry!
You may want to read the previous chapter to remember what happened. . . I know that I had to.
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.
- - -
Recap:
“I love you.” I told him, expecting nothing in return.
“I love you too.” He replied, “But please be patient with me.”
“I’ll wait forever if I have to.”
He snuggled closer to me, “And I know that you mean that.”
- - -
Seto made himself comfortable on the couch, trying his best to ignore the odor, while I worked to clean up that bastard’s mess. There was a steady clicking as Seto’s fingers danced across the keyboard of his laptop, apparently finishing what he had begun on the previous day. I had just finished vacuuming the living room, since Seto insisted that it needed to be done, and was now winding up the cord to put the machine away.
“Could you get me another cup of coffee while you’re up?” He asked me without even looking up from his screen, one hand holding up his empty glass while the other hand continued to masterly do work for both.
“What do I look like, a housewife?” I shot a fake glare at him, shoving the vacuum into the small coat closet nearby.
His typing ceased as his blue eyes peered from beneath thin brown brows, “a flat-chested housewife, perhaps.”
“Does that bother you?” I asked, trying not to laugh as I held my hands over my non-existent breasts.
“Not really.” He sat the glass down, put his hands together, and flexed his fingers. “Then again, if you’ve seen one set, you’ve seen them all.” He shrugged his shoulders.
I folded my arms, slightly annoyed at his statement, “Oh, so you’ve seen that many?” I narrowed my eyes.
Seto just smirked, that usual fiery glint in his eyes, “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.” I added with a blush, earning me a couch pillow to the head. “What was that for?” I held a hand to my head even though it hadn’t actually hurt.
“For starting weird, perverse conversations.” He answered simply, a playful look in his eyes.
“Then that would be your fault. You’re the reason that I’m acting like a pervert.” I gave him a wink, but he suddenly didn’t seem so pleased.
“Something like that is not my fault.” His hands visibly shook; was he angry at me for saying that? “I can’t control the way that I look; however all of you can control the way that you act!” His whole body was shaking now, his face red and his eyes narrowed dangerously.
‘All of you’? Oh shit. . . “Seto, I was just kiddi-”
“You think it’s funny?”
I opened and closed my mouth several times, my mind at a loss for words. How could I explain myself without him misunderstanding me?
There was a loud crash as Seto growled loudly and then slung his laptop against the wall just a few feet away.
I remained where I was for fear that his next target would be me rather than the wall. The loud noise rang in my ears, even though the actual sound of it hadn’t even lasted a second, and sent a shiver running down my back. Why did it bother me so much?
“I’m sorry.” He muttered, refusing to make eye contact. “I keep doing that to you, don’t I?” He sat with his legs spread now, his hands clasped between them with his elbows resting on his knees. “I’m sorry.”
I said nothing, but instead just placed a hand over my chest. Why was my heart pounding?
“Did I scare you?” His expression was apologetic as we finally made eye contact. I found myself quickly staring down at the floor as though I needed to escape his gaze.
“No, I guess you just startled me.” That must have been it. I know for a fact that it wasn’t fear; I can overtake Seto if I have to.
“Does violent behavior bother you?” He stood with one arm folded across his stomach and his other hand resting on his chin as if he were trying to speculate something.
“Doesn’t it bother most people?”
“Not so much. . .” He pursed his lips, but only for a moment. “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?” His brows furrowed with thought.
Where exactly was he going with this? “One sign of being startled is that your heart starts beating quickly.” It almost felt like I was trying to make excuses for myself, but there wasn’t anything that I needed to be excused for.
“This is true,” He admitted easily, “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.”
My heart beat was beginning to speed up again. I felt nervous under Seto’s sudden scrutiny, but why? “Well excuse me for not playing the part correctly, oh intelligent one.”
Seto stared at me for a moment, blue eyes looking right through me. He began to walk at a very slow pace, locking his hands together behind his back. With myself at the center, Seto began his orbit, making one full revolution before even daring to say a word. What the hell was he doing?
“Are you nervous?” He asked, stopping in front of me finally.
“What are you doi-”
“Are you nervous?” His face came dangerously close to my own, but for once I didn’t enjoy it one bit. “Do you feel as if I might try to hurt you? Do you feel as though you want to run?”
“No.” The word came out all on its own and I became like a spectator as my body and will did the work for me.
“What are you answering ‘no’ to?” He backed up just enough that I’d have breathing room and yet remain uncomfortable at the same time.
“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-” My mouth snapped shut upon my sudden realization. Seto held out the bait and led me along until I found myself caught in his trap. What a clever son of a bitch.
A satisfied smirk crossed his lips and a part of me wanted to backhand that pretty face. “I knew it.”
“You’re a fucking bastard; a snake.” I growled at him through clenched teeth.
“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.” Okay, okay, so there were a couple of occasions when my father had purposefully hit me; I fail to see why he’s making such a big deal out of it. People everywhere get hit by a parent for doing stupid things. . . and I seem to be the master of doing stupid things.
“Physical abuse isn’t the only kind of abuse, Jounouchi Katsuya.” His expression turned grim. “There’s physical abuse, verbal abuse. . . sexual abuse. . .” His eyes darted to the floor, albeit briefly, when he mentioned the latter.
“Verbal abuse isn’t something to freak out about though.” I was verbally abused? I don’t know. . . it sounded so ridiculous to me, the idea of it.
“Wrong. Abuse of an 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 even 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.”
“You know, sometimes you need to put safety before pride.”
“Yeah, you’re one to talk.” Now it was my turn to get in his face. “You’ve never once given up your pride for anything!”
Seto began shaking and at first I thought that he had begun to cry, but his face showed me otherwise. His face was completely red, his brows deeply furrowed, creating more wrinkles than I have ever seen between his eyes. His eyes appeared more blue than ever, as if there were some sort of light source within.
“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?!”
He fell to his knees on the floor and I followed suit, grabbing his shoulders in an attempt to pull him close to me. He refused my kind gesture, frantically shoving my hands away, “Don’t become like me.”
Become like him? What he has been through and what I have been going through are very different; How could he possibly compare the two situations? “Seto, my situation isn’t nearly as bad as-”
His head, which had been lowered, turned upward to look at me with those intense blue eyes of his. “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.”
Again I found myself unable to reply. Seto had a way with words that I simply could not match, and I knew it. I suppose that he was right, just as he frequently seemed to be. My father’s actions have a negative effect on me? I’m not so sure about that. I mean, sure he does things that I don’t like, but I can’t say that I suffer because of those actions or because of those words. If I do something stupid, it’s only right that I’m punished for it, be it physically or verbally, so that hopefully I won’t do the same stupid thing again.
“How can you be so kind and protective when you’ve grown up with someone like that?” He was sitting on his behind now, obviously not minding the fact that he was on my filthy living room floor. I joined him.
“I don’t know.” And I really didn’t, “My best guess would be that it’s just the kind of person that I am.” I shrugged, trying repeatedly to make eye contact with him, but giving up after a short while. The carpet that I was rubbing between my fingers just looked so much more interesting.
“If you refuse to look at me, I’ll leave.”
My head shot up instantly. Leave? Where would he leave to?
Seto smiled. His face looked so much younger when he smiled, so much more gentle and welcoming. “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?” My heart was racing, but had he really said anything out of the ordinary? “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.”
He just stared at me, our eyes nearly level, and he appeared to ponder my accusation for a moment. The expression ended with no conclusion, however, and he simply leaned his head back to look at the ceiling, using his arms for support. “Your parents are divorced right? And you went with your father and your mother took your sister, right?” He was staring at me now from the corner of the one eye that I could see.
“Yeah.” I didn’t really like the current topic, but I suppose that I couldn’t complain when I took into consideration all of the things that I had discussed with him about his own life. “My parents divorced when Shizuka and I were just kids.”
“Mom! Shizuka!” I could see Shizuka’s face pressed against the car window, her small fist pounding helplessly against the glass as the engine roared to a start. Her lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear the words. She was crying, just like me. Both of our voices fell upon deaf ears, but I knew we were calling for each other.
“Shizuka!” The wheels began to turn, the screeching of rubber against asphalt ringing in my ears and the distasteful smell lingering in my nostrils. “Wait! Don’t leave me!”
Running, running, running. I wasn’t fast enough to keep up, but still I continued to run, even when the vehicle had long disappeared from my view, taking Shizuka and my mother with it. I ran until my legs gave way and I thought that my heart would burst.
“Katsuya?”
I jumped a little from my place on the floor, having not realized that I had slipped into my own little world at some point. “Huh?”
“It must be a very painful memory.” His face started to look pitiful and then twisted into something akin to sorrow.
“A painful memory?” What was he, a mind reader now? How could he have possibly known that the memory was a bad one?
“The face that you made while daydreaming. . . you looked very sad.”
An awkward silence drifted for a while, and I tried to think of something to say that would break it, but by the time I opened my mouth I was interrupted by a long, low growling noise.
Wide-eyed, Seto shot a surprised look down at his stomach. “Eheh, we never did eat breakfast, pup.”
“Oh yeah. . .” I remembered the food on the stove that I had, once again, burned. “I burnt the food that I was cooking earlier.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” He smirked just like he always did, moving to sit indian-style. “Do you always eat burnt food or something?” A look of mock disgust crossed his features. He really was too cute for words.
“No. I’m actually a pretty decent cook. When I’m by myself, there’s nothing running around the house to distract me.” I shot an equal smirk right back at him.
“I would hardly say that I was running around the house. I sit stationary more often than anything.” Using his arms for leverage, he attempted to stand, but winced and fell back to the floor.
So he was still in pain from the ‘incident’ that had occurred. “Do you need help up?” I easily got to my feet and stood in front of him, holding out my hands so that he could reach.
Seto didn’t move to accept my offer. His head was turned to the side so as not to face me, his bangs hiding his eyes. “It’s pitiful isn’t it? Having to help an eighteen-year-old to his feet. . . it’s really pathetic.”
“You’re hurt!” I reminded him as if he didn’t already know that. He was always so hard on himself. It wasn’t his fault that he got hurt. I suppose that maybe that is the reason he hated it so much. Perhaps he wanted to be the one at fault so that he didn’t feel so helpless. I had heard before that sometimes when people injure themselves on purpose, they do it because they know they are in control of it. Considering Seto’s personality and constant emphasis on power, he had also likely hurt himself for that reason.
“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!” I immediately felt bad for raising my voice at him. I sighed, frustrated, “I’ve told you several times now, Seto; I’m not going to leave you no 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?” He folded his arms, his rear still planted firmly on my floor.
“Because I love you.”
His eyes fell half-lidded, “When you say 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. I loved how his hair reminded me of the night sky, and his eyes were like the shimmering stars within it.” Seto’s blue eyes seemed to cloud over as he drifted off into his memories.
I could feel my chest tighten and the air suddenly felt thicker than usual. “It’s nice to know that you still think about him so much.” I licked my lips, having realized that they had gone dry, “If you could have your fantasy Saki back, would you leave me for him?”
“No.”
I was taken aback by his quick answer.
“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.” Again he strained to stand up and I quickly ran to help. “But you,” He gripped my shoulders with his hands to balance himself, “It feels like. . .” He let out a small chuckle and shook his head, blushing adorably.
“Aw come on! Feels like what?” I couldn’t help but smile at how sweet he looked.
“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. Does that sound too mushy and romantic?”
“It’s extremely mushy and romantic. . . and it’s too cute coming from you.” I grinned and wrapped my arms around his thin body, squeezing just enough so that he could still breathe.
But of course the phone had to ring and break up such a beautiful moment. I, personally, would have been perfectly content just letting it ring until the end of time, but Seto gently pulled away, walking strangely towards the phone.
He pulled it from its cradle and used his shoulder to hold it against his ear as he leaned on the wall. “Hellooo?” He asked, holding out the ‘o’ like a child. I laughed a little, but not loud enough that the person on the other end could hear.
He started from the wall, the phone gripped tightly in his right hand now, “You again?”
I could feel my heart pounding. Who was it? Was it Saki? How did he get my number? What else did he know? Was he planning something else? I rushed to his side, reaching out to snatch the phone away, but Seto held up an arm as if to tell me ‘let me handle this’. He didn’t have the same look on his face that he always had. . . so was it really Saki, or someone else?
“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.” There was a frantic noise from the receiver of the phone.
So it was someone from school again? This was the second time that we had skipped out. I would have to remember to call Yuugi or Honda later to see if I had missed any important information.
“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?” The woman’s voice from the other side grew louder and more quick-paced now. “Make all of the excuses you want. I am very offended that you would even imply something like that.” Seto held the phone away so that he didn’t have to hear her. I could hear her better for a moment and it almost sounded like she was either in tears or on the verge of them. After a moment of this he put the phone back up to his ear, “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.” The voice on the other end seemed a little more calm and then Seto hung up.
“You know,” I began, “You shouldn’t be so mean to her. That woman is really nervous all the time.”
Seto smiled a little, raking a hand through his brown hair, “That’s why she’s such a pushover.” With his hands on his hips, he looked down his nose at me, “Well, Mr. wonderful cook, are you going to make me an unforgettable breakfast?” He smirked.
I moved closer until we were nose to nose, “Well I can’t guarantee that the food will be anything spectacular,” I think that my smirk right about then was enough to rival Seto’s trademark Kaiba smirk, “But there are ways of making it spectacular.”
Seto blushed and opened his mouth to speak. That’s when I made my move and closed the small gap between us. Using a very light pressure I pushed him back against the wall, wrapping my arms around his waist. He seemed really tense at first, but he slowly relaxed and closed his eyes, following my suit. It wasn’t long before I felt his arms hesitantly draping over my shoulders.
I nervously licked his bottom lip, asking for permission to explore. . . but Seto refused, his lips clamping tightly shut. I pulled away. “What’s wrong?”
A blush crossed the entire width of his face, gracing the tops of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. Every time I kissed him he seemed to blush. He was so easily embarrassed that I found it kind of funny. The great, powerful, and ruthless Kaiba Seto was blushing like a little virgin. A bad feeling ran through my stomach. It had probably been a long time since Seto was really a virgin, right? Of course, had he ever actually had someone make love to him rather than just have sex with him? Had it ever not been against his will?
“We need to eat first.” Seto finally muttered. “You can’t have dessert before breakfast.” His blush deepened and his eyes turned up to the ceiling.
I couldn’t help but flash a stupid grin, “Does that make you the dessert?”
Seto clasped his hands together behind him as we both moved slightly away from the wall. He rubbed his fingers over his knuckles, “Well, it’s something sweet, isn’t it?”
“It’s something indescribably sweet.”
- - -
I managed to make each of us our very own omelet without burning them. The secret? I told Seto that he had to stay in my room until I finished cooking. Even with him out of sight, he certainly wasn’t out of mind. In fact, I think that I thought about him even more when he wasn’t around than I did when he was in the room with me, which makes it a miracle that I could still manage to cook at all. The kitchen felt so lonely without him sitting at the table. I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder to see if maybe he had snuck in at some point and would surprise me by sitting smugly in a chair, one leg crossed over the other. . . but he never appeared and I felt absolutely alone.
That feeling, however, began to dissipate as I put each omelet on a plate and set the table for two people; two plates, two omelets, two glasses of orange juice. I couldn’t help but smile at my work. Before Seto had come to stay with me, how long had it been since I was able to sit down to a nice meal with someone? Sure, my friends and I hung out at fast food places and even Yuugi’s house more often than not, but it just wasn’t the same as this.
“What’s up with that creepy expression?”
I was brought from my daydream by Seto, who had managed to sneak in and lean against the kitchen wall without me noticing. How long had he been standing there?
“What creepy expression?” I scrunched up my nose at him, folding my arms across my chest as I stood beside the table.
“You had the look of a proud mother, staring at the food like that.”
“Oh.” I gave him a blank stare for a second, “I was just thinking about stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” He stepped over to the table and took his usual seat. Heh, Kaiba Seto had a usual seat at my kitchen table.
“Just stuff.” I sat across from him. “Look! It’s not burnt.” I flashed him a grin and he shook his head.
“It’s pretty sad when that is something you have to point out.” He stared down at his plate for a moment before raising his eyes up to me. “Um, 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.”
Eat with his. . . oops! Silverware! “Oh, my bad!” I scooted from my chair and side-stepped to the silverware drawer, retrieving two forks. “Anything else, your highness?”
His eyes drew down into a glare before the corners of his mouth came up to form a smirk, “Actually, if you are feeling so generous, I’ll take a cup of coffee.”
“Now that you mention it, I’m not feeling so generous after all.” I smirked right back as he pursed his lips.
- - -
We finished our ‘breakfast’ shortly after noon and began working on separate things. I was jotting down notes for the project and Seto was still tapping away at the keys on his laptop.
You heard me right. Seto had another laptop. With just one short phone call, a man came to the door dressed in a suit and sunglasses and delivered a computer identical to the one that Seto had demolished against my living room wall. By the way, that left a relatively nasty mark, but Seto said he’d pay someone to fix it.
We had been going at it like this for some time before either one of us spoke a word. Of course, I was the one to break the ice.
“What are you working on?”
His reaction was just too cute. He instantly stopped (mid-word, mid-sentence?) and moved his eyes to look at me, his head still tilted down to face the screen. “Things for my company.”
Oh yeah, he was the CEO of a multi-billion dollar gaming company. I forgot about that sometimes, especially in the past few days. He was a guy the same age as my friends and I, and yet he always seemed so much older. I guess that maturity comes with the territory. He had to act and look older if he wanted to be successful. Stress can also cause the appearance of aging, and I’m sure it was stressful having so much responsibility. Even so, Seto always looked extremely calm and collected unless you pissed him off.
“What kinds of things?” I was truly curious.
This time he didn’t stop what he was doing and he didn’t turn his eyes to me, “Oh, just the same old shit. People trying to sell me things, of course. Computers, software, furniture, ideas, even things like pens.”
I guess things like that would be necessary to run an office. “Do you ever accept their offers?” I got up from my place on the floor and sat next to him instead, leaning to peer at the screen. I was surprised when he didn’t try to hide it from me, but instead sat the laptop on one of his legs and one of mine so that I could see what he was talking about.
“Sometimes I buy from them, but only if I’m really interested in what they have.” On the screen was what looked like a high-tech email inbox stuffed full of new mail. He clicked on one that had already been read, “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.” An image came up of a modern-styled 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. I doubt it though, they all generally suck at managing money. I’m getting so tired of firing the executives and hiring new ones.”
“Why don’t you set up their budgets?” I felt smart discussing budgets and stuff.
“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.” He pulled the computer back into his own lap and moved on to another offer.
I pulled my little spiral notebook back into my lap and glanced over my chicken-scratch handwriting.
“Do you want a laptop, Katsuya?”
“What?” As I looked over at him, he was looking at my pathetic little notebook. “Oh, no, it’s fine. This works for me.” I smiled at him, but he just turned back to his work.
“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.” He smiled a little and I could tell that he had just made himself laugh.
“If you insist.” A laptop for me? Woohoo! I felt kind of bad though, accepting something like that. Those things are so expensive! Oh, but I bet it’s pocket change for someone like him.
The doorbell rang and echoed through every room. Both of us froze up and I could feel the tension emanating from us both. Who would have thought that I would ever freak out about someone coming to the door.
“I’ll get it.” I informed him, rising to my feet. Seto grabbed my arm, having stood up as well.
“No, I’ll get it.” He held a rather large handgun in his other hand. . . wait a minute. What the hell?
“Where the hell did that come from?” I pointed accusingly at the weapon. The doorbell rang a second time.
“Oh, this little thing?” Pfeh, yeah Seto, little. “Remember the guy that brought me my backup laptop? I asked him to bring this as well.”
“That’s a bit shady. . .” A third ring accompanied by loud pounding this time. “What if the person at the door is-”
“I’ll shoot him.”
“-a cop? You’d shoot him?”
“Well no, 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 and the fire in his eyes made me look at him the same way. “Well then, shall we go?” I asked, pulling the lamp off of my nightstand and unplugging it from the wall.
He choked out a laugh, “Is that your weapon?”
I grinned, “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.” His brows furrowed for a second, but then his face quickly straightened out. “Let’s go!”
We rushed down the hallway and towards the front door. Seto looked like someone straight from an action movie, and I. . . well, I just looked fucking retarded running down the hallway with a lamp in my hands.
As we arrived at the door we could hear voices coming from the other side, but I couldn’t make out any distinct words. The voices sounded strangely familiar, but it was really hard to say for sure, since they were muffled by the wood.
“Are you ready?” Seto’s free hand rested on the knob.
“Yeah.” I held the lamp high above my head, my heart racing. Seto’s hand was shaking as he turned the lock and yanked open the door.
“Woah! Hey! It’s just us, you guys!” My friends and their respective partners were standing in a clump just outside the door. The girls and Ryou had all hidden behind the males while the males all stood there, wide-eyed and helpless. Even Bakura looked shocked.
I lowered the lamp and tucked it under one arm, “Oh, uh, hey everybody. Um. . . we were just, you know, um. . .”
“Fighting.” Seto stated in a dull tone.
“Seto! Thank the gods you’re alright!” Yami no Yuugi let out and annoyingly loud sigh as he placed a hand over his chest. “After seeing the condition that you were in the other day-”
“Yami, hush!” Yuugi looked a little pissed. Rightfully so, seeing as how they promised not to talk about what had happened to anyone, not even the rest of the group.
Seto’s eyes narrowed as he looked from the former Pharaoh and then to me as if to ask ‘What the hell did you tell them?’ I just stared back at him with a look that said ‘it’s not my fault, really!’
Yami didn’t seem to pay Yuugi any mind, “Seto-”
“The name’s Kaiba. Don’t act so friendly with me.”
“Kaiba,” Yuugi was jumping in now, “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.”
Oh shit. The two of them had come by the other day when Seto was unconscious. I had forgotten to give him that little piece of information.
“Fine?” Yami looked furious, “You were unconscious and-”
Yuugi covered his counterpart’s mouth with his hands. “Yami! We said we wouldn’t tell, remember?” The group behind him looked confused.
“Well I wasn’t going to say anything,” Anzu cut in, “But Kaiba, the bandages on your arms make it pretty obvious that you aren’t fine.” She pointed at them as if no one would have known where to look otherwise.
Seto shot me a look. “I should have just worn one of my long-sleeved shirts.”
“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.
“Yeah,” Ryou stepped out from behind Bakura, “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 Seto’s gun, which was now lowered by the brunet’s side.
“Maybe they were fighting for dominance.” Bakura flashed a creepy grin, his eyes narrowing with perversion.
“Speaking of dominance,” Yuugi chimed, making the situation infinitely more awkward, “Jou, did you give Seto that thing you got for him yesterday?”
Wow Yuugi, what a great way to bring up the topic. I swear I will never understand how his mind functions. I glanced over at Seto, who looked a little less than comfortable with a mixed expression glazing his features.
“Speaking of dominance?” He all but yelled, repeating Yuugi’s words as if he wasn’t sure he had heard them correctly. “Jounouchi,” Oh boy, last name again, “What the hell did you buy?”
I moved aside as the group, which was now chuckling by the way, slipped inside my apartment. I closed and locked the door behind them.
“I told you earlier, Seto; I bought you a swimsuit. Remember having that short-lived conversation?” I went and plopped down on my couch, placing the lamp on the table, while my friends stood around in that general location.
“No, I don’t remember that.” He stood beside the couch and stared down at me like I was crazy.
“Oh come on!” I grinned up at him, knowing full-well that he wasn’t going to like where this conversation ended up. “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?”
He sat down beside me, crossing his legs and folding his arms. He lay his gun down beside my lamp. “Hm, yeah, I suppose that I faintly remember having a conversation about that.”
Honda grinned, leaning down and getting annoyingly close to Seto’s face. “Did Jou happen to tell you that the trunks he got are really short?” He stood straight up and quickly backed off when Seto’s eyes instantly narrowed.
“Jounouchi?” He questioned, his eyes still staring down Honda, “He’s kidding, right?”
I sat in my place on the couch, trying my best to sink down into the cushions while looking to Yami and Yuugi for advice, which they failed to give. Silence fell over us all.
Seto slowly turned his head toward me, “Jounouchi?” His tone was rather unpleasant with each syllable of my name screaming out ‘I’m going to kill you’.
I jumped up from the couch and held up my hands defensively, “Okay, okay! Just let me explain!”
“Explain?” He was progressively sounding more and more pissed off, “You bought me a skimpy swimsuit?!” He moved to get up, wincing slightly as he did so, but Yami and Yuugi rushed to either side of him and grabbed his arms. . . Of course, he easily shook off Yuugi and Yami wasn’t so difficult either. He was strong, but somewhere along the way I was able to surpass him. . . Or maybe he was just letting me think that so that he could surprise me later if he had to.
“It’s just a gag gift!” I braced myself for a slap that I was sure to receive when he was able to break away from Yami and Yuugi. . . But nothing ever came.
“Gag?” Seto suddenly found the floor very interesting.
Ohhhhhhhhhhh shit. Gag. . . “Um, a joke gift! Yeah, a joke gift!”
“Gag gift and joke gift are the same thing.” Anzu decided to point out, obviously out of the loop.
“You should try them on.” Bakura chimed, breaking the sudden tension.
Bakura’s grin was creepy enough to bring about a new kind of awkward feeling. “Try them on and show us your lovely legs.” He let out a perverse chuckle.
“You’d better shut the fuck up.” I threatened without thinking first. What exactly could I possibly do to him? You can’t kill what’s already dead. . . Unfortunately. My heart was pounding furiously. How dare he say things like that to Seto? I guess this was the ‘defensive boyfriend’ feeling that I had often heard about.
“Threatening me, Jounouchi Katsuya?” Even his eyes were laughing. “Really now, even you would be in for a treat. Have you ever seen Seto’s legs? Back when he was a priest-”
“Yes, I have seen them. Leave. Him. Alone.” I bit off each word, trying my best to keep from going over and wrapping my hands around that pasty neck of his. . . Was it possible to strangle an ancient spirit?
“A priest?” Kioko tilted her head, “You were a priest, Kaiba?” She batted her eyes like the bimbo that she is.
Seto rolled his eyes, “No. Never was and never will be.”
“You’ve seen his legs?” It was Honda this time, his eyes as wide as I had ever seen. That’s when I realized that everyone was staring at me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have blurted out the truth so easily.
Seto, on the other hand, had sat back down on the couch. He was staring down at his hands in his lap while a bright pink blush faintly stained his cheeks.
I sat down beside him, beginning to change colors myself. Well, what can I say? We all know that I’m not very good at thinking things over. I say whatever is on my mind, regardless of the reaction I’ll get for it.
“So. . . Are they nice?” Keita, Yuugi’s usually-quiet partner, looked hopeful.
“If his body is anything like the one that he had as a priest. . .” Yami’s voice trailed off.
“You guys,” I tried to interrupt, fearing for Seto’s mental well-being. He had gone through a really rough week, “Please-”
“Oh yeah.” Bakura continued, ignoring me and closing his eyes as though to reminisce. “The priest Seto had the most beautiful body in the whole kingdom.”
Seto pursed his lips, but surprisingly said nothing. Was he about to lose it?
“How would you know, thief?” The pharaoh spat, looking particularly peeved.
“You just answered your own question; because I’m a thief. I enter without permission and take what I want, regardless of the will of the owner.” He licked his lips. “But I bet that our dear Seto of today has no recollection of such an event. What a shame.”
Yami began yelling something back at him, but I had stopped paying attention to them and instead focused on Seto. His head was bowed just enough that his bangs fell forward and covered his eyes.
“Seto. . .” I tried to speak quietly so that everyone else would keep watching the two ghosts fight rather than eavesdrop on our conversation. I couldn’t let him lose himself in front of everyone. He would be devastated if that happened. I had to think of something fast. “Hey Seto,” I gently took hold of his arms and led him away from the couch and toward the hall, “Don’t you have some e-mails to answer or some offers to decline?”
He looked confused for a moment, but then smiled softly as we went to my room together. “Thanks.” He muttered quietly.
I shut the door behind me, making a mental note to get the lock fixed. . . Or to get a whole new lock altogether. “I’m sorry that all of them showed up.” I leaned against the wall, one hand in my pocket and the other nervously rubbing the back of my head.
“It’s not your fault.” He sat on my bed, using the utmost care. “So Yuugis one and two were here yesterday?”
“Yeah. . .” I felt like a child whose secret had been discovered. “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.” He fiddled with the bandaging on his arms, but his eyes were focused on me.
I never really thought much about it, but Seto’s eyes could be pretty creepy-looking sometimes. Like right now, for example. The room was relatively dark with just faint sunlight filtering in through the closed blinds. In the dim light, Seto’s blue eyes looked ethereal. . . Actually, even his skin looked like it was glowing. Smooth white skin, bold Sapphire eyes, elegant brown hair, a perfectly-shaped body, a really nice ass that could make any guy-
“Katsuya!”
Oops, he looked pissed off now, “Uh, what?”
He rolled his eyes, “Don’t you ‘uh, what?’ me.” He turned slightly, reaching back to open the blinds and brighten the room. He still looked beautiful, even when bathed in rays of light. Again he faced me. “I asked what those two came over for yesterday.”
“Oh. . .” Why had they come over yesterday? . . . Oh yeah. “To drop off that thing that I got for you yesterday.” I grinned sheepishly.
“I still haven’t seen it.” He cocked one brow, the corresponding corner of his mouth following suit.
“Do you want to?” I leaned away from the wall, my grin widening as I clasped my hands together over my chest like a hopeful fan girl.
He shook his head and smiled in amusement, “Not really.”
“Well you’ll be wearing them tomorrow whether you’ve seen them by then or not.” A mischievous smile crossed my lips.
“Speaking of that whole pool thing tomorrow, I thought about my situation and came up with a solution.” He seemed not to notice my subtle threat.
“A solution to what? Oh yeah, your back.” My smile faded. I had forgotten about that and felt kind of bad for it.
“Yeah. I’ll just wear swimming trunks and a white t-shirt. I just won’t get in the water.” He folded his arms and leaned back against the window, leaning up when apparently the open blinds didn’t feel so comfortable.
“Well that would work,” I started, “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.” I smiled pitifully at him.
“I’ll tell her that I need a shirt because I come from a long line of people with melanoma.”
“English, dude.”
“Skin caner, dumbass.”
“Woah, woah! Watch the profanity, moneybags!” I held up my hands in my defense, laughing as I pretended to be offended.
There was silence for a moment and Seto looked as if he was contemplating something. “I could just wear a black shirt. . . Or dark blue. Something that won’t become see-through if it gets wet.” He looked triumphant.
“You’ll get hot in the sun with something dark on.”
“I think it’ll be worth it.”
Someone outside of my door yelled “Holy shit!” Which was promptly followed by a loud thud.
Startled, Seto and I both jumped a little and I yanked open the door behind me. We both stepped out into the hallway to find Honda laying on the floor with his back to the wall and his pants down around his ankles.
“What the fuck, Honda?!” I yelled, closing my eyes so I didn’t have to see his package. “Pull your damn pants up.”
“What happened?” Anzu asked as she and everyone else ran up to the little scene. Luckily for them, Honda had managed to get on his feet and yank his pants back into their proper place.
“I had just gone to take a piss,” Honda recounted, “and I smelled something strange. I started looking around and then I saw the tub! Jou, what the hell happened in there?!”
I think mine and Seto’s eyes were about the size of softballs by then. I hadn’t cleaned the tub.
Just about the moment when everyone began to peer into the bathroom, Seto ran in front of them, slamming the door with a loud bang. “None of you should have ever come over here in the first place. Some things happened, but they are none of your business.” His eyes were narrowed dangerously, his irises dark with silent threats. “I want all of you to get out of here immediately. 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!” His voice rang through the hall and in my own ears. I felt as though he was yelling at me, even though I knew he wasn’t. Seto could be really scary. . . But then again, that’s what Gozaburo had wanted him to be, right?
Anzu looked determined, “Kaiba, you can’t just expect us to-”
“Anzu,” Yami no Yuugi’s voice was very stern, “You and the others go on over to the game shop. Yuugi and I need to have a word with these two.” His eyes never left Seto, whose gaze was as unwavering as ever.
There was a long, hanging silence until everyone finally left. Yuugi peeked around the corner to make sure that they were really gone. I moved to Seto’s side, ready to help defend our secret. They couldn’t find out what had happened, regardless of what they had already seen. Yes, they were my best friends, but. . . I couldn’t let something like this leak out. If everyone knew what happened, Seto would be swarmed with all kinds of unwanted attention, and something like that could lead to. . .
I shook my head as thoughts of the gun in his nightstand flooded from my memories.
“Alright guys, explain.” Yami folded his arms and Yuugi imitated him.
“We don’t have to explain anything.” Seto was clearly on edge. I hadn’t seen that look in his eyes in a long time. “The fact of the matter is that something is going on in my life and it doesn’t concern you.”
“Doesn’t concern us?” Yuugi looked a little hurt. “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 stepped closer to Seto, but knew better than to even lay a finger on him.
“Even so,” Seto countered, “This is a bit different than those times. Mokuba is safe and sound. As long as he remains out of harms way, then-”
“You’re important too!” I shocked myself when I blurted out so suddenly, but I just couldn’t help it. “Even though Mokuba isn’t in immediate danger, you are.” I hung my head, feeling as if I had said something I should have. . . And maybe I had.
Seto gave me a long stare before he finally managed to blink, returning his gaze to my friends. “Alright.” Everyone looked a little surprised as though that one word had never left his lips. “You all want to help so badly?”
“Of course we do!” Yuugi yelped with genuine concern. Yami just nodded eagerly in absolute agreement.
“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?” He held his hands out, looking truly worried about the possible outcomes. “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.” His eyes were still narrowed, his stern brows not even so much as quivering with emotion.
“You say it could be catastrophic,” Yami looked skeptical, “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?” He rubbed at his chin.
Seto’s eyes widened, his lips tightening until they were nothing but a thin line. “You know what?” There was a tiny shake to his voice, but it was very clearly from the anger he was trying to suppress, “I have killed someone! And not just one person either! 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’s eyes were now covering about three-quarters of his face and he was shaking like a frightened animal.
“Seto. . .” I slipped over to him and laid a hand on his right shoulder, “You shouldn’t be so harsh. . . Maybe if we just told them. . .”
“You’ve killed someone?” Yami looked shocked, the hand that had been at his chin was now halfway covering his gaping mouth.
“Yami!” I snapped, glaring. He just shrugged his shoulders at me as if to ask ‘well how did you expect me to react to that?’.
“You know what?” Seto stepped away from the bathroom door and started walking towards my 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.”
“But Seto-”
“Katsuya.” He looked back over his left shoulder and our eyes locked for a moment, “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?” He turned away again, “Whatever happens, happens.” He disappeared into my room, closing the door softly behind him.
He trusted me to make a decision like this?
“Well?” Yami asked, his arms now crossed over his chest.
Where could I even begin?
- - -
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! (Happy Halloween, Happy Easter, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, Happy Thanksgiving. . . And all of those other holiday’s that I’ve missed since last Christmas, haha. . .) Happy New Year!
No, I’m not dead, just busy and uninspired. I hope that these 28 typed pages of text have made your holidays at least a little better. . . Then again, this wasn’t a very uplifting chapter. I hope things have progressed in this chapter and that is it maybe a little better than the others. After all, I have been working on it all year. . .
I hope to see you all on my forum now! I check it every day. Also talk to me on AIM! I get so lonely. Feel free to bother me for updates! Maybe it will inspire me to write them for the sake of shutting you up, lol!
I love you all, and thank you to those of you that have stuck with me, even when I’m so awful at updating!
- - -
About that New Year’s Resolution. . . well, at least I didn’t make any promises (I can see why Seto hates promises so much)! Enjoy the extremely late chapter! Sorry!
You may want to read the previous chapter to remember what happened. . . I know that I had to.
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.
- - -
Recap:
“I love you.” I told him, expecting nothing in return.
“I love you too.” He replied, “But please be patient with me.”
“I’ll wait forever if I have to.”
He snuggled closer to me, “And I know that you mean that.”
- - -
Seto made himself comfortable on the couch, trying his best to ignore the odor, while I worked to clean up that bastard’s mess. There was a steady clicking as Seto’s fingers danced across the keyboard of his laptop, apparently finishing what he had begun on the previous day. I had just finished vacuuming the living room, since Seto insisted that it needed to be done, and was now winding up the cord to put the machine away.
“Could you get me another cup of coffee while you’re up?” He asked me without even looking up from his screen, one hand holding up his empty glass while the other hand continued to masterly do work for both.
“What do I look like, a housewife?” I shot a fake glare at him, shoving the vacuum into the small coat closet nearby.
His typing ceased as his blue eyes peered from beneath thin brown brows, “a flat-chested housewife, perhaps.”
“Does that bother you?” I asked, trying not to laugh as I held my hands over my non-existent breasts.
“Not really.” He sat the glass down, put his hands together, and flexed his fingers. “Then again, if you’ve seen one set, you’ve seen them all.” He shrugged his shoulders.
I folded my arms, slightly annoyed at his statement, “Oh, so you’ve seen that many?” I narrowed my eyes.
Seto just smirked, that usual fiery glint in his eyes, “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.” I added with a blush, earning me a couch pillow to the head. “What was that for?” I held a hand to my head even though it hadn’t actually hurt.
“For starting weird, perverse conversations.” He answered simply, a playful look in his eyes.
“Then that would be your fault. You’re the reason that I’m acting like a pervert.” I gave him a wink, but he suddenly didn’t seem so pleased.
“Something like that is not my fault.” His hands visibly shook; was he angry at me for saying that? “I can’t control the way that I look; however all of you can control the way that you act!” His whole body was shaking now, his face red and his eyes narrowed dangerously.
‘All of you’? Oh shit. . . “Seto, I was just kiddi-”
“You think it’s funny?”
I opened and closed my mouth several times, my mind at a loss for words. How could I explain myself without him misunderstanding me?
There was a loud crash as Seto growled loudly and then slung his laptop against the wall just a few feet away.
I remained where I was for fear that his next target would be me rather than the wall. The loud noise rang in my ears, even though the actual sound of it hadn’t even lasted a second, and sent a shiver running down my back. Why did it bother me so much?
“I’m sorry.” He muttered, refusing to make eye contact. “I keep doing that to you, don’t I?” He sat with his legs spread now, his hands clasped between them with his elbows resting on his knees. “I’m sorry.”
I said nothing, but instead just placed a hand over my chest. Why was my heart pounding?
“Did I scare you?” His expression was apologetic as we finally made eye contact. I found myself quickly staring down at the floor as though I needed to escape his gaze.
“No, I guess you just startled me.” That must have been it. I know for a fact that it wasn’t fear; I can overtake Seto if I have to.
“Does violent behavior bother you?” He stood with one arm folded across his stomach and his other hand resting on his chin as if he were trying to speculate something.
“Doesn’t it bother most people?”
“Not so much. . .” He pursed his lips, but only for a moment. “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?” His brows furrowed with thought.
Where exactly was he going with this? “One sign of being startled is that your heart starts beating quickly.” It almost felt like I was trying to make excuses for myself, but there wasn’t anything that I needed to be excused for.
“This is true,” He admitted easily, “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.”
My heart beat was beginning to speed up again. I felt nervous under Seto’s sudden scrutiny, but why? “Well excuse me for not playing the part correctly, oh intelligent one.”
Seto stared at me for a moment, blue eyes looking right through me. He began to walk at a very slow pace, locking his hands together behind his back. With myself at the center, Seto began his orbit, making one full revolution before even daring to say a word. What the hell was he doing?
“Are you nervous?” He asked, stopping in front of me finally.
“What are you doi-”
“Are you nervous?” His face came dangerously close to my own, but for once I didn’t enjoy it one bit. “Do you feel as if I might try to hurt you? Do you feel as though you want to run?”
“No.” The word came out all on its own and I became like a spectator as my body and will did the work for me.
“What are you answering ‘no’ to?” He backed up just enough that I’d have breathing room and yet remain uncomfortable at the same time.
“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-” My mouth snapped shut upon my sudden realization. Seto held out the bait and led me along until I found myself caught in his trap. What a clever son of a bitch.
A satisfied smirk crossed his lips and a part of me wanted to backhand that pretty face. “I knew it.”
“You’re a fucking bastard; a snake.” I growled at him through clenched teeth.
“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.” Okay, okay, so there were a couple of occasions when my father had purposefully hit me; I fail to see why he’s making such a big deal out of it. People everywhere get hit by a parent for doing stupid things. . . and I seem to be the master of doing stupid things.
“Physical abuse isn’t the only kind of abuse, Jounouchi Katsuya.” His expression turned grim. “There’s physical abuse, verbal abuse. . . sexual abuse. . .” His eyes darted to the floor, albeit briefly, when he mentioned the latter.
“Verbal abuse isn’t something to freak out about though.” I was verbally abused? I don’t know. . . it sounded so ridiculous to me, the idea of it.
“Wrong. Abuse of an 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 even 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.”
“You know, sometimes you need to put safety before pride.”
“Yeah, you’re one to talk.” Now it was my turn to get in his face. “You’ve never once given up your pride for anything!”
Seto began shaking and at first I thought that he had begun to cry, but his face showed me otherwise. His face was completely red, his brows deeply furrowed, creating more wrinkles than I have ever seen between his eyes. His eyes appeared more blue than ever, as if there were some sort of light source within.
“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?!”
He fell to his knees on the floor and I followed suit, grabbing his shoulders in an attempt to pull him close to me. He refused my kind gesture, frantically shoving my hands away, “Don’t become like me.”
Become like him? What he has been through and what I have been going through are very different; How could he possibly compare the two situations? “Seto, my situation isn’t nearly as bad as-”
His head, which had been lowered, turned upward to look at me with those intense blue eyes of his. “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.”
Again I found myself unable to reply. Seto had a way with words that I simply could not match, and I knew it. I suppose that he was right, just as he frequently seemed to be. My father’s actions have a negative effect on me? I’m not so sure about that. I mean, sure he does things that I don’t like, but I can’t say that I suffer because of those actions or because of those words. If I do something stupid, it’s only right that I’m punished for it, be it physically or verbally, so that hopefully I won’t do the same stupid thing again.
“How can you be so kind and protective when you’ve grown up with someone like that?” He was sitting on his behind now, obviously not minding the fact that he was on my filthy living room floor. I joined him.
“I don’t know.” And I really didn’t, “My best guess would be that it’s just the kind of person that I am.” I shrugged, trying repeatedly to make eye contact with him, but giving up after a short while. The carpet that I was rubbing between my fingers just looked so much more interesting.
“If you refuse to look at me, I’ll leave.”
My head shot up instantly. Leave? Where would he leave to?
Seto smiled. His face looked so much younger when he smiled, so much more gentle and welcoming. “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?” My heart was racing, but had he really said anything out of the ordinary? “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.”
He just stared at me, our eyes nearly level, and he appeared to ponder my accusation for a moment. The expression ended with no conclusion, however, and he simply leaned his head back to look at the ceiling, using his arms for support. “Your parents are divorced right? And you went with your father and your mother took your sister, right?” He was staring at me now from the corner of the one eye that I could see.
“Yeah.” I didn’t really like the current topic, but I suppose that I couldn’t complain when I took into consideration all of the things that I had discussed with him about his own life. “My parents divorced when Shizuka and I were just kids.”
“Mom! Shizuka!” I could see Shizuka’s face pressed against the car window, her small fist pounding helplessly against the glass as the engine roared to a start. Her lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear the words. She was crying, just like me. Both of our voices fell upon deaf ears, but I knew we were calling for each other.
“Shizuka!” The wheels began to turn, the screeching of rubber against asphalt ringing in my ears and the distasteful smell lingering in my nostrils. “Wait! Don’t leave me!”
Running, running, running. I wasn’t fast enough to keep up, but still I continued to run, even when the vehicle had long disappeared from my view, taking Shizuka and my mother with it. I ran until my legs gave way and I thought that my heart would burst.
“Katsuya?”
I jumped a little from my place on the floor, having not realized that I had slipped into my own little world at some point. “Huh?”
“It must be a very painful memory.” His face started to look pitiful and then twisted into something akin to sorrow.
“A painful memory?” What was he, a mind reader now? How could he have possibly known that the memory was a bad one?
“The face that you made while daydreaming. . . you looked very sad.”
An awkward silence drifted for a while, and I tried to think of something to say that would break it, but by the time I opened my mouth I was interrupted by a long, low growling noise.
Wide-eyed, Seto shot a surprised look down at his stomach. “Eheh, we never did eat breakfast, pup.”
“Oh yeah. . .” I remembered the food on the stove that I had, once again, burned. “I burnt the food that I was cooking earlier.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” He smirked just like he always did, moving to sit indian-style. “Do you always eat burnt food or something?” A look of mock disgust crossed his features. He really was too cute for words.
“No. I’m actually a pretty decent cook. When I’m by myself, there’s nothing running around the house to distract me.” I shot an equal smirk right back at him.
“I would hardly say that I was running around the house. I sit stationary more often than anything.” Using his arms for leverage, he attempted to stand, but winced and fell back to the floor.
So he was still in pain from the ‘incident’ that had occurred. “Do you need help up?” I easily got to my feet and stood in front of him, holding out my hands so that he could reach.
Seto didn’t move to accept my offer. His head was turned to the side so as not to face me, his bangs hiding his eyes. “It’s pitiful isn’t it? Having to help an eighteen-year-old to his feet. . . it’s really pathetic.”
“You’re hurt!” I reminded him as if he didn’t already know that. He was always so hard on himself. It wasn’t his fault that he got hurt. I suppose that maybe that is the reason he hated it so much. Perhaps he wanted to be the one at fault so that he didn’t feel so helpless. I had heard before that sometimes when people injure themselves on purpose, they do it because they know they are in control of it. Considering Seto’s personality and constant emphasis on power, he had also likely hurt himself for that reason.
“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!” I immediately felt bad for raising my voice at him. I sighed, frustrated, “I’ve told you several times now, Seto; I’m not going to leave you no 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?” He folded his arms, his rear still planted firmly on my floor.
“Because I love you.”
His eyes fell half-lidded, “When you say 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. I loved how his hair reminded me of the night sky, and his eyes were like the shimmering stars within it.” Seto’s blue eyes seemed to cloud over as he drifted off into his memories.
I could feel my chest tighten and the air suddenly felt thicker than usual. “It’s nice to know that you still think about him so much.” I licked my lips, having realized that they had gone dry, “If you could have your fantasy Saki back, would you leave me for him?”
“No.”
I was taken aback by his quick answer.
“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.” Again he strained to stand up and I quickly ran to help. “But you,” He gripped my shoulders with his hands to balance himself, “It feels like. . .” He let out a small chuckle and shook his head, blushing adorably.
“Aw come on! Feels like what?” I couldn’t help but smile at how sweet he looked.
“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. Does that sound too mushy and romantic?”
“It’s extremely mushy and romantic. . . and it’s too cute coming from you.” I grinned and wrapped my arms around his thin body, squeezing just enough so that he could still breathe.
But of course the phone had to ring and break up such a beautiful moment. I, personally, would have been perfectly content just letting it ring until the end of time, but Seto gently pulled away, walking strangely towards the phone.
He pulled it from its cradle and used his shoulder to hold it against his ear as he leaned on the wall. “Hellooo?” He asked, holding out the ‘o’ like a child. I laughed a little, but not loud enough that the person on the other end could hear.
He started from the wall, the phone gripped tightly in his right hand now, “You again?”
I could feel my heart pounding. Who was it? Was it Saki? How did he get my number? What else did he know? Was he planning something else? I rushed to his side, reaching out to snatch the phone away, but Seto held up an arm as if to tell me ‘let me handle this’. He didn’t have the same look on his face that he always had. . . so was it really Saki, or someone else?
“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.” There was a frantic noise from the receiver of the phone.
So it was someone from school again? This was the second time that we had skipped out. I would have to remember to call Yuugi or Honda later to see if I had missed any important information.
“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?” The woman’s voice from the other side grew louder and more quick-paced now. “Make all of the excuses you want. I am very offended that you would even imply something like that.” Seto held the phone away so that he didn’t have to hear her. I could hear her better for a moment and it almost sounded like she was either in tears or on the verge of them. After a moment of this he put the phone back up to his ear, “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.” The voice on the other end seemed a little more calm and then Seto hung up.
“You know,” I began, “You shouldn’t be so mean to her. That woman is really nervous all the time.”
Seto smiled a little, raking a hand through his brown hair, “That’s why she’s such a pushover.” With his hands on his hips, he looked down his nose at me, “Well, Mr. wonderful cook, are you going to make me an unforgettable breakfast?” He smirked.
I moved closer until we were nose to nose, “Well I can’t guarantee that the food will be anything spectacular,” I think that my smirk right about then was enough to rival Seto’s trademark Kaiba smirk, “But there are ways of making it spectacular.”
Seto blushed and opened his mouth to speak. That’s when I made my move and closed the small gap between us. Using a very light pressure I pushed him back against the wall, wrapping my arms around his waist. He seemed really tense at first, but he slowly relaxed and closed his eyes, following my suit. It wasn’t long before I felt his arms hesitantly draping over my shoulders.
I nervously licked his bottom lip, asking for permission to explore. . . but Seto refused, his lips clamping tightly shut. I pulled away. “What’s wrong?”
A blush crossed the entire width of his face, gracing the tops of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. Every time I kissed him he seemed to blush. He was so easily embarrassed that I found it kind of funny. The great, powerful, and ruthless Kaiba Seto was blushing like a little virgin. A bad feeling ran through my stomach. It had probably been a long time since Seto was really a virgin, right? Of course, had he ever actually had someone make love to him rather than just have sex with him? Had it ever not been against his will?
“We need to eat first.” Seto finally muttered. “You can’t have dessert before breakfast.” His blush deepened and his eyes turned up to the ceiling.
I couldn’t help but flash a stupid grin, “Does that make you the dessert?”
Seto clasped his hands together behind him as we both moved slightly away from the wall. He rubbed his fingers over his knuckles, “Well, it’s something sweet, isn’t it?”
“It’s something indescribably sweet.”
- - -
I managed to make each of us our very own omelet without burning them. The secret? I told Seto that he had to stay in my room until I finished cooking. Even with him out of sight, he certainly wasn’t out of mind. In fact, I think that I thought about him even more when he wasn’t around than I did when he was in the room with me, which makes it a miracle that I could still manage to cook at all. The kitchen felt so lonely without him sitting at the table. I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder to see if maybe he had snuck in at some point and would surprise me by sitting smugly in a chair, one leg crossed over the other. . . but he never appeared and I felt absolutely alone.
That feeling, however, began to dissipate as I put each omelet on a plate and set the table for two people; two plates, two omelets, two glasses of orange juice. I couldn’t help but smile at my work. Before Seto had come to stay with me, how long had it been since I was able to sit down to a nice meal with someone? Sure, my friends and I hung out at fast food places and even Yuugi’s house more often than not, but it just wasn’t the same as this.
“What’s up with that creepy expression?”
I was brought from my daydream by Seto, who had managed to sneak in and lean against the kitchen wall without me noticing. How long had he been standing there?
“What creepy expression?” I scrunched up my nose at him, folding my arms across my chest as I stood beside the table.
“You had the look of a proud mother, staring at the food like that.”
“Oh.” I gave him a blank stare for a second, “I was just thinking about stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” He stepped over to the table and took his usual seat. Heh, Kaiba Seto had a usual seat at my kitchen table.
“Just stuff.” I sat across from him. “Look! It’s not burnt.” I flashed him a grin and he shook his head.
“It’s pretty sad when that is something you have to point out.” He stared down at his plate for a moment before raising his eyes up to me. “Um, 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.”
Eat with his. . . oops! Silverware! “Oh, my bad!” I scooted from my chair and side-stepped to the silverware drawer, retrieving two forks. “Anything else, your highness?”
His eyes drew down into a glare before the corners of his mouth came up to form a smirk, “Actually, if you are feeling so generous, I’ll take a cup of coffee.”
“Now that you mention it, I’m not feeling so generous after all.” I smirked right back as he pursed his lips.
- - -
We finished our ‘breakfast’ shortly after noon and began working on separate things. I was jotting down notes for the project and Seto was still tapping away at the keys on his laptop.
You heard me right. Seto had another laptop. With just one short phone call, a man came to the door dressed in a suit and sunglasses and delivered a computer identical to the one that Seto had demolished against my living room wall. By the way, that left a relatively nasty mark, but Seto said he’d pay someone to fix it.
We had been going at it like this for some time before either one of us spoke a word. Of course, I was the one to break the ice.
“What are you working on?”
His reaction was just too cute. He instantly stopped (mid-word, mid-sentence?) and moved his eyes to look at me, his head still tilted down to face the screen. “Things for my company.”
Oh yeah, he was the CEO of a multi-billion dollar gaming company. I forgot about that sometimes, especially in the past few days. He was a guy the same age as my friends and I, and yet he always seemed so much older. I guess that maturity comes with the territory. He had to act and look older if he wanted to be successful. Stress can also cause the appearance of aging, and I’m sure it was stressful having so much responsibility. Even so, Seto always looked extremely calm and collected unless you pissed him off.
“What kinds of things?” I was truly curious.
This time he didn’t stop what he was doing and he didn’t turn his eyes to me, “Oh, just the same old shit. People trying to sell me things, of course. Computers, software, furniture, ideas, even things like pens.”
I guess things like that would be necessary to run an office. “Do you ever accept their offers?” I got up from my place on the floor and sat next to him instead, leaning to peer at the screen. I was surprised when he didn’t try to hide it from me, but instead sat the laptop on one of his legs and one of mine so that I could see what he was talking about.
“Sometimes I buy from them, but only if I’m really interested in what they have.” On the screen was what looked like a high-tech email inbox stuffed full of new mail. He clicked on one that had already been read, “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.” An image came up of a modern-styled 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. I doubt it though, they all generally suck at managing money. I’m getting so tired of firing the executives and hiring new ones.”
“Why don’t you set up their budgets?” I felt smart discussing budgets and stuff.
“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.” He pulled the computer back into his own lap and moved on to another offer.
I pulled my little spiral notebook back into my lap and glanced over my chicken-scratch handwriting.
“Do you want a laptop, Katsuya?”
“What?” As I looked over at him, he was looking at my pathetic little notebook. “Oh, no, it’s fine. This works for me.” I smiled at him, but he just turned back to his work.
“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.” He smiled a little and I could tell that he had just made himself laugh.
“If you insist.” A laptop for me? Woohoo! I felt kind of bad though, accepting something like that. Those things are so expensive! Oh, but I bet it’s pocket change for someone like him.
The doorbell rang and echoed through every room. Both of us froze up and I could feel the tension emanating from us both. Who would have thought that I would ever freak out about someone coming to the door.
“I’ll get it.” I informed him, rising to my feet. Seto grabbed my arm, having stood up as well.
“No, I’ll get it.” He held a rather large handgun in his other hand. . . wait a minute. What the hell?
“Where the hell did that come from?” I pointed accusingly at the weapon. The doorbell rang a second time.
“Oh, this little thing?” Pfeh, yeah Seto, little. “Remember the guy that brought me my backup laptop? I asked him to bring this as well.”
“That’s a bit shady. . .” A third ring accompanied by loud pounding this time. “What if the person at the door is-”
“I’ll shoot him.”
“-a cop? You’d shoot him?”
“Well no, 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 and the fire in his eyes made me look at him the same way. “Well then, shall we go?” I asked, pulling the lamp off of my nightstand and unplugging it from the wall.
He choked out a laugh, “Is that your weapon?”
I grinned, “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.” His brows furrowed for a second, but then his face quickly straightened out. “Let’s go!”
We rushed down the hallway and towards the front door. Seto looked like someone straight from an action movie, and I. . . well, I just looked fucking retarded running down the hallway with a lamp in my hands.
As we arrived at the door we could hear voices coming from the other side, but I couldn’t make out any distinct words. The voices sounded strangely familiar, but it was really hard to say for sure, since they were muffled by the wood.
“Are you ready?” Seto’s free hand rested on the knob.
“Yeah.” I held the lamp high above my head, my heart racing. Seto’s hand was shaking as he turned the lock and yanked open the door.
“Woah! Hey! It’s just us, you guys!” My friends and their respective partners were standing in a clump just outside the door. The girls and Ryou had all hidden behind the males while the males all stood there, wide-eyed and helpless. Even Bakura looked shocked.
I lowered the lamp and tucked it under one arm, “Oh, uh, hey everybody. Um. . . we were just, you know, um. . .”
“Fighting.” Seto stated in a dull tone.
“Seto! Thank the gods you’re alright!” Yami no Yuugi let out and annoyingly loud sigh as he placed a hand over his chest. “After seeing the condition that you were in the other day-”
“Yami, hush!” Yuugi looked a little pissed. Rightfully so, seeing as how they promised not to talk about what had happened to anyone, not even the rest of the group.
Seto’s eyes narrowed as he looked from the former Pharaoh and then to me as if to ask ‘What the hell did you tell them?’ I just stared back at him with a look that said ‘it’s not my fault, really!’
Yami didn’t seem to pay Yuugi any mind, “Seto-”
“The name’s Kaiba. Don’t act so friendly with me.”
“Kaiba,” Yuugi was jumping in now, “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.”
Oh shit. The two of them had come by the other day when Seto was unconscious. I had forgotten to give him that little piece of information.
“Fine?” Yami looked furious, “You were unconscious and-”
Yuugi covered his counterpart’s mouth with his hands. “Yami! We said we wouldn’t tell, remember?” The group behind him looked confused.
“Well I wasn’t going to say anything,” Anzu cut in, “But Kaiba, the bandages on your arms make it pretty obvious that you aren’t fine.” She pointed at them as if no one would have known where to look otherwise.
Seto shot me a look. “I should have just worn one of my long-sleeved shirts.”
“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.
“Yeah,” Ryou stepped out from behind Bakura, “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 Seto’s gun, which was now lowered by the brunet’s side.
“Maybe they were fighting for dominance.” Bakura flashed a creepy grin, his eyes narrowing with perversion.
“Speaking of dominance,” Yuugi chimed, making the situation infinitely more awkward, “Jou, did you give Seto that thing you got for him yesterday?”
Wow Yuugi, what a great way to bring up the topic. I swear I will never understand how his mind functions. I glanced over at Seto, who looked a little less than comfortable with a mixed expression glazing his features.
“Speaking of dominance?” He all but yelled, repeating Yuugi’s words as if he wasn’t sure he had heard them correctly. “Jounouchi,” Oh boy, last name again, “What the hell did you buy?”
I moved aside as the group, which was now chuckling by the way, slipped inside my apartment. I closed and locked the door behind them.
“I told you earlier, Seto; I bought you a swimsuit. Remember having that short-lived conversation?” I went and plopped down on my couch, placing the lamp on the table, while my friends stood around in that general location.
“No, I don’t remember that.” He stood beside the couch and stared down at me like I was crazy.
“Oh come on!” I grinned up at him, knowing full-well that he wasn’t going to like where this conversation ended up. “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?”
He sat down beside me, crossing his legs and folding his arms. He lay his gun down beside my lamp. “Hm, yeah, I suppose that I faintly remember having a conversation about that.”
Honda grinned, leaning down and getting annoyingly close to Seto’s face. “Did Jou happen to tell you that the trunks he got are really short?” He stood straight up and quickly backed off when Seto’s eyes instantly narrowed.
“Jounouchi?” He questioned, his eyes still staring down Honda, “He’s kidding, right?”
I sat in my place on the couch, trying my best to sink down into the cushions while looking to Yami and Yuugi for advice, which they failed to give. Silence fell over us all.
Seto slowly turned his head toward me, “Jounouchi?” His tone was rather unpleasant with each syllable of my name screaming out ‘I’m going to kill you’.
I jumped up from the couch and held up my hands defensively, “Okay, okay! Just let me explain!”
“Explain?” He was progressively sounding more and more pissed off, “You bought me a skimpy swimsuit?!” He moved to get up, wincing slightly as he did so, but Yami and Yuugi rushed to either side of him and grabbed his arms. . . Of course, he easily shook off Yuugi and Yami wasn’t so difficult either. He was strong, but somewhere along the way I was able to surpass him. . . Or maybe he was just letting me think that so that he could surprise me later if he had to.
“It’s just a gag gift!” I braced myself for a slap that I was sure to receive when he was able to break away from Yami and Yuugi. . . But nothing ever came.
“Gag?” Seto suddenly found the floor very interesting.
Ohhhhhhhhhhh shit. Gag. . . “Um, a joke gift! Yeah, a joke gift!”
“Gag gift and joke gift are the same thing.” Anzu decided to point out, obviously out of the loop.
“You should try them on.” Bakura chimed, breaking the sudden tension.
Bakura’s grin was creepy enough to bring about a new kind of awkward feeling. “Try them on and show us your lovely legs.” He let out a perverse chuckle.
“You’d better shut the fuck up.” I threatened without thinking first. What exactly could I possibly do to him? You can’t kill what’s already dead. . . Unfortunately. My heart was pounding furiously. How dare he say things like that to Seto? I guess this was the ‘defensive boyfriend’ feeling that I had often heard about.
“Threatening me, Jounouchi Katsuya?” Even his eyes were laughing. “Really now, even you would be in for a treat. Have you ever seen Seto’s legs? Back when he was a priest-”
“Yes, I have seen them. Leave. Him. Alone.” I bit off each word, trying my best to keep from going over and wrapping my hands around that pasty neck of his. . . Was it possible to strangle an ancient spirit?
“A priest?” Kioko tilted her head, “You were a priest, Kaiba?” She batted her eyes like the bimbo that she is.
Seto rolled his eyes, “No. Never was and never will be.”
“You’ve seen his legs?” It was Honda this time, his eyes as wide as I had ever seen. That’s when I realized that everyone was staring at me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have blurted out the truth so easily.
Seto, on the other hand, had sat back down on the couch. He was staring down at his hands in his lap while a bright pink blush faintly stained his cheeks.
I sat down beside him, beginning to change colors myself. Well, what can I say? We all know that I’m not very good at thinking things over. I say whatever is on my mind, regardless of the reaction I’ll get for it.
“So. . . Are they nice?” Keita, Yuugi’s usually-quiet partner, looked hopeful.
“If his body is anything like the one that he had as a priest. . .” Yami’s voice trailed off.
“You guys,” I tried to interrupt, fearing for Seto’s mental well-being. He had gone through a really rough week, “Please-”
“Oh yeah.” Bakura continued, ignoring me and closing his eyes as though to reminisce. “The priest Seto had the most beautiful body in the whole kingdom.”
Seto pursed his lips, but surprisingly said nothing. Was he about to lose it?
“How would you know, thief?” The pharaoh spat, looking particularly peeved.
“You just answered your own question; because I’m a thief. I enter without permission and take what I want, regardless of the will of the owner.” He licked his lips. “But I bet that our dear Seto of today has no recollection of such an event. What a shame.”
Yami began yelling something back at him, but I had stopped paying attention to them and instead focused on Seto. His head was bowed just enough that his bangs fell forward and covered his eyes.
“Seto. . .” I tried to speak quietly so that everyone else would keep watching the two ghosts fight rather than eavesdrop on our conversation. I couldn’t let him lose himself in front of everyone. He would be devastated if that happened. I had to think of something fast. “Hey Seto,” I gently took hold of his arms and led him away from the couch and toward the hall, “Don’t you have some e-mails to answer or some offers to decline?”
He looked confused for a moment, but then smiled softly as we went to my room together. “Thanks.” He muttered quietly.
I shut the door behind me, making a mental note to get the lock fixed. . . Or to get a whole new lock altogether. “I’m sorry that all of them showed up.” I leaned against the wall, one hand in my pocket and the other nervously rubbing the back of my head.
“It’s not your fault.” He sat on my bed, using the utmost care. “So Yuugis one and two were here yesterday?”
“Yeah. . .” I felt like a child whose secret had been discovered. “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.” He fiddled with the bandaging on his arms, but his eyes were focused on me.
I never really thought much about it, but Seto’s eyes could be pretty creepy-looking sometimes. Like right now, for example. The room was relatively dark with just faint sunlight filtering in through the closed blinds. In the dim light, Seto’s blue eyes looked ethereal. . . Actually, even his skin looked like it was glowing. Smooth white skin, bold Sapphire eyes, elegant brown hair, a perfectly-shaped body, a really nice ass that could make any guy-
“Katsuya!”
Oops, he looked pissed off now, “Uh, what?”
He rolled his eyes, “Don’t you ‘uh, what?’ me.” He turned slightly, reaching back to open the blinds and brighten the room. He still looked beautiful, even when bathed in rays of light. Again he faced me. “I asked what those two came over for yesterday.”
“Oh. . .” Why had they come over yesterday? . . . Oh yeah. “To drop off that thing that I got for you yesterday.” I grinned sheepishly.
“I still haven’t seen it.” He cocked one brow, the corresponding corner of his mouth following suit.
“Do you want to?” I leaned away from the wall, my grin widening as I clasped my hands together over my chest like a hopeful fan girl.
He shook his head and smiled in amusement, “Not really.”
“Well you’ll be wearing them tomorrow whether you’ve seen them by then or not.” A mischievous smile crossed my lips.
“Speaking of that whole pool thing tomorrow, I thought about my situation and came up with a solution.” He seemed not to notice my subtle threat.
“A solution to what? Oh yeah, your back.” My smile faded. I had forgotten about that and felt kind of bad for it.
“Yeah. I’ll just wear swimming trunks and a white t-shirt. I just won’t get in the water.” He folded his arms and leaned back against the window, leaning up when apparently the open blinds didn’t feel so comfortable.
“Well that would work,” I started, “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.” I smiled pitifully at him.
“I’ll tell her that I need a shirt because I come from a long line of people with melanoma.”
“English, dude.”
“Skin caner, dumbass.”
“Woah, woah! Watch the profanity, moneybags!” I held up my hands in my defense, laughing as I pretended to be offended.
There was silence for a moment and Seto looked as if he was contemplating something. “I could just wear a black shirt. . . Or dark blue. Something that won’t become see-through if it gets wet.” He looked triumphant.
“You’ll get hot in the sun with something dark on.”
“I think it’ll be worth it.”
Someone outside of my door yelled “Holy shit!” Which was promptly followed by a loud thud.
Startled, Seto and I both jumped a little and I yanked open the door behind me. We both stepped out into the hallway to find Honda laying on the floor with his back to the wall and his pants down around his ankles.
“What the fuck, Honda?!” I yelled, closing my eyes so I didn’t have to see his package. “Pull your damn pants up.”
“What happened?” Anzu asked as she and everyone else ran up to the little scene. Luckily for them, Honda had managed to get on his feet and yank his pants back into their proper place.
“I had just gone to take a piss,” Honda recounted, “and I smelled something strange. I started looking around and then I saw the tub! Jou, what the hell happened in there?!”
I think mine and Seto’s eyes were about the size of softballs by then. I hadn’t cleaned the tub.
Just about the moment when everyone began to peer into the bathroom, Seto ran in front of them, slamming the door with a loud bang. “None of you should have ever come over here in the first place. Some things happened, but they are none of your business.” His eyes were narrowed dangerously, his irises dark with silent threats. “I want all of you to get out of here immediately. 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!” His voice rang through the hall and in my own ears. I felt as though he was yelling at me, even though I knew he wasn’t. Seto could be really scary. . . But then again, that’s what Gozaburo had wanted him to be, right?
Anzu looked determined, “Kaiba, you can’t just expect us to-”
“Anzu,” Yami no Yuugi’s voice was very stern, “You and the others go on over to the game shop. Yuugi and I need to have a word with these two.” His eyes never left Seto, whose gaze was as unwavering as ever.
There was a long, hanging silence until everyone finally left. Yuugi peeked around the corner to make sure that they were really gone. I moved to Seto’s side, ready to help defend our secret. They couldn’t find out what had happened, regardless of what they had already seen. Yes, they were my best friends, but. . . I couldn’t let something like this leak out. If everyone knew what happened, Seto would be swarmed with all kinds of unwanted attention, and something like that could lead to. . .
I shook my head as thoughts of the gun in his nightstand flooded from my memories.
“Alright guys, explain.” Yami folded his arms and Yuugi imitated him.
“We don’t have to explain anything.” Seto was clearly on edge. I hadn’t seen that look in his eyes in a long time. “The fact of the matter is that something is going on in my life and it doesn’t concern you.”
“Doesn’t concern us?” Yuugi looked a little hurt. “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 stepped closer to Seto, but knew better than to even lay a finger on him.
“Even so,” Seto countered, “This is a bit different than those times. Mokuba is safe and sound. As long as he remains out of harms way, then-”
“You’re important too!” I shocked myself when I blurted out so suddenly, but I just couldn’t help it. “Even though Mokuba isn’t in immediate danger, you are.” I hung my head, feeling as if I had said something I should have. . . And maybe I had.
Seto gave me a long stare before he finally managed to blink, returning his gaze to my friends. “Alright.” Everyone looked a little surprised as though that one word had never left his lips. “You all want to help so badly?”
“Of course we do!” Yuugi yelped with genuine concern. Yami just nodded eagerly in absolute agreement.
“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?” He held his hands out, looking truly worried about the possible outcomes. “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.” His eyes were still narrowed, his stern brows not even so much as quivering with emotion.
“You say it could be catastrophic,” Yami looked skeptical, “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?” He rubbed at his chin.
Seto’s eyes widened, his lips tightening until they were nothing but a thin line. “You know what?” There was a tiny shake to his voice, but it was very clearly from the anger he was trying to suppress, “I have killed someone! And not just one person either! 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’s eyes were now covering about three-quarters of his face and he was shaking like a frightened animal.
“Seto. . .” I slipped over to him and laid a hand on his right shoulder, “You shouldn’t be so harsh. . . Maybe if we just told them. . .”
“You’ve killed someone?” Yami looked shocked, the hand that had been at his chin was now halfway covering his gaping mouth.
“Yami!” I snapped, glaring. He just shrugged his shoulders at me as if to ask ‘well how did you expect me to react to that?’.
“You know what?” Seto stepped away from the bathroom door and started walking towards my 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.”
“But Seto-”
“Katsuya.” He looked back over his left shoulder and our eyes locked for a moment, “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?” He turned away again, “Whatever happens, happens.” He disappeared into my room, closing the door softly behind him.
He trusted me to make a decision like this?
“Well?” Yami asked, his arms now crossed over his chest.
Where could I even begin?
- - -
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! (Happy Halloween, Happy Easter, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, Happy Thanksgiving. . . And all of those other holiday’s that I’ve missed since last Christmas, haha. . .) Happy New Year!
No, I’m not dead, just busy and uninspired. I hope that these 28 typed pages of text have made your holidays at least a little better. . . Then again, this wasn’t a very uplifting chapter. I hope things have progressed in this chapter and that is it maybe a little better than the others. After all, I have been working on it all year. . .
I hope to see you all on my forum now! I check it every day. Also talk to me on AIM! I get so lonely. Feel free to bother me for updates! Maybe it will inspire me to write them for the sake of shutting you up, lol!
I love you all, and thank you to those of you that have stuck with me, even when I’m so awful at updating!