Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Hearts ❯ The Plot Thickens ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

- blah blah - = thoughts ^_^

Broken Hearts
Chapter 7: The Plot Thickens
Anubis_Himura


~*~

Joey woke up to the piercing sound of his alarm clock. He didn't remember setting it, but that didn't stop the fact that it was slicing through his brain in an abnormal pitch. He reached over to shut off the alarm but it went off before his hand hit it. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times, adjusting to the light. According to the clock it was six. Joey sat up and yawned loudly, he felt an arm around him as another presence shifted on the bed. He looked over, startled at first, then comprehension dawned on him.

"Morn' Trist." He said through another yawn.

"Mornin'." Tristan replied, replicating Joey's yawn.

"Isn't your mom going to be worried?"

"Nah. I told her I was staying at your house." Tristan answered, sitting up also.

"Cool. Why did you set the alarm?" Joey asked, stretching up toward the ceiling.

"Cause I wanted to be out of here before Kaiba woke up." Tristan explained.

"Good point." Joey felt a slight chill as he stood up to throw on his weekend clothes.

"You need to eat something." Tristan commented.

"Why do you say that?" Joey asked as he threw on his usual white shirt it slowly cascaded down his thin stomach, his ribs practically visible beneath his skin.

"Look at you. You're nothing but bone." Tristan pointed to Joey's stomach, emphasizing his point.

Joey looked down and felt his stomach. "Hmm, maybe I shouldn't get in to so many fights. That burns like a hundred calories." Joey laughed slightly, sitting on the edge of the bed. He was in his usual weekend attire; favorite white shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

"Besides, you're not one to talk Trist. Look at you." Tristan looked down at his bare chest.

"Shut up." he threw a pillow at Joey.

Joey caught the pillow and laughed, tossing it back gently. Tristan sat up and continued throwing pillows at Joey. Joey in return jumped off the bed and ran around the room, avoiding Tristan at all costs. Tristan chased him through the room and into the 'living' area, back through to the bedroom. Joey jumped on the bed and ran across it cornering himself between the wall and the nightstand. Tristan held a pillow in his hand.

"Come on Trist. I'm defenseless, you wouldn't hit me." Joey held his hands up, showing his defenseless side.

"Yes I would." Tristan smiled.

"What is this racket?" Another form now occupied the room. In all the commotion the bedroom door opening had been overlooked. Now the slightly frightened eyes of two seventeen-year-old boys turned to stare in shock at one CEO Seto Kaiba.

"Hey." Joey said lamely. "This is Tristan, from school, you know him. I’m . . . sure." Joey gulped back slightly, out of reflex more than necessity.

"Hello. Leave."

"Yeah, I was just thinking of . . . doing that anyway." Tristan threw on his clothes and nodded to Kaiba as he bowed out of the room.

"Sorry Kaiba." Joey said in the same tone he had used previously. The tone that stated he was scared out of his mind, but trying his best not to look like a pansy.

"No visitors."

"Right, I know. It's just that -"

"No. No visitors. I don't need everyone in the school coming to my house for no apparent reason." Kaiba turned and began walking out of the room.

"But there is an apparent reason -" Joey said, causing Kaiba to turn around.

"That's right. He's your little boy toy-" he smirked.

"Shut it Kaiba." Joey warned, loosing his momentary fear.

"What did you say to me?"

"I said shut it. Or if you want I could break ya nose."

"Try it!"

Joey shook his head. He felt bad for Kaiba. Kaiba obviously didn't know that Joey was a self-taught black belt. He fought to win. He would stop at nothing to make sure his opponent was on the ground, cowering for his life. Especially if his victim was the one and only Seto Kaiba.

Joey struck his fist out to punch Kaiba, but Kaiba countered quickly. Apparently the pansy CEO knew a thing or two about fighting. Joey didn't know what it was about Kaiba that got on his nerves more; the fact that he was arrogant, cocky, and self-absorbed. Or the fact that he had had the biggest crush on him for nearly three years.

Joey was in the seventh grade the day he met Seto Kaiba. Kaiba had come into school, his usual entourage closely behind him. Joey had been mesmerized by his clean-cut hair, neatly tailored uniform, and more so by his dazzling sapphire eyes. Joey had lost himself in them the minute he saw him. Then some kid knocked him in the ribs and the trance was broken. Joey spent most of the seventh grade year, idolizing Kaiba. At this point he was not fully aware of sexuality and didn't know if what he was could be called 'gay'. He just knew that he looked up to Kaiba in more ways than he looked up to anyone else. He had never really had a father figure, and his mom lived in Osaka with his sister. Joey needed somebody to idolize, even if it were just a rich seventh grader.

Joey had made it to see his freshman year in high school before he realized he was gay. He then realized that he was practically in love with Kaiba. Kaiba, naturally, talked to no one and would never be Joey's friend, so Joey let it go. Then he met up with Tristan, who was pretty much everything he needed. He was a best friend, and a close companion. Joey looked up to Tristan too, then they started 'seeing' each other and nothing had been the same since. Not a long and twisted tale, but Joey's tale nonetheless.

Joey countered again as Seto went in for a right kick to the stomach. Joey caught Kaiba's leg and Kaiba shook his head, jumping out of Joey's grasp and kicking him with his left leg instead.

Joey collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily and licking away the blood from his lip. He kicked Kaiba's legs out from under him and Kaiba fell to the ground.

Kaiba lay there next to Joey, breathing heavily. "You fight well . . . mutt." Kaiba choked out. His tone was no longer the stern semi-monotone that it usually was; his tone seemed to be almost friendly.

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "You too . . . snob." Joey's panting slowed down as he regained his breath. "You know Kaiba," he started, sitting up. "It's not over, till I kick your ass."

Kaiba followed Joey's actions, wiping the blood from his brow with the back of his hand. "Or I yours."

Joey nodded and the fight commenced. Both duelers were very good at what they do. Kaiba had years of professional trainers, of course, and Joey learned from pure street cred. It was quite a sight to behold. Kaiba ducked, what would have been a nasty blow to the temple, and his thoughts ran back in time; to junior high to be exact.

Kaiba entered the seventh grade, walking with his bodyguards behind him. They were his best friends. Men in their late thirties, early forties, that he paid to follow him around so he could look important. He had no friends of his own age. He wouldn't mind having just one friend that he could play with and talk to. It wasn't all that exciting, having all his money and not having anyone to hang out with. Sure, he had his brother Mokuba, but not at school. School was another battle zone, and he had to fight it by himself.

He walked down the hall and noticed one kid in particular that he would like to get to know. He was short, scrawny, and blonde. Nothing in particular made him stand out from the rest of the people, except that, he was. He existed. There was a feeling in Kaiba that made him know that him and Joey were going to be friends one day. Of course, he didn't know the kids name at this point, and he didn't really believe all that much in intuition. So he ignored it and continued on his way to class.

Then, as years got on, he saw Joey more and more, with his friends, having a good time. Kaiba thought bitterly how he could be friends with them, had he only opened up that first day. As he got older, and realized females did nothing to persuade him, he noticed more and more that his thoughts drifted to Joey. He would be sitting in class, and for no reason at all Joey would pop into his head, and he would have to shake the thoughts away. He realized that somehow, Joey had become the object of his affection.

One day, it seemed a perfect ploy fell into his lap. He was sitting in the bathroom of the school, he despised using them, but what must be done, must be done, and then he heard voices. Muffled moans, skin against skin. Then conversation. It was the blonde and his mate Tristan. Kaiba listened carefully as they spoke of their intimate life. Then, he had a perfect idea. A way to keep Joey all to himself. Invite Joey to live with him.

It was foolproof.

Only, it wasn't.

Joey delivered another blow to Kaiba's aching ribs and Kaiba went down. "Say Uncle!" Joey said, bending over, and panting as the fight ended.

"Never." Kaiba said as he pulled Joey down with him.

Joey collapsed on top of Kaiba, with barely enough energy to breathe. The fight had endured for quite some time. The clock now illuminated seven thirty two on Joey's bedside table. Kaiba opened his eyes to the presence of Joey, Joey looked down into Kaiba's eyes. A dark purple and blue bruise was forming around Kaiba's eye and blood was pooling from his brow.

Joey felt horrible guilt in his stomach as he stared at Kaiba. He didn't stare with the blind hatred he had fought with a moment ago. He stared with longing. With lust. He felt the admiration he had once held onto, so deeply, for Kaiba, returning as he lost himself in the depths of his eyes. Kaiba felt the familiar smile starting to grace his lips that happened only when he was alone and thinking of Joey. He dared himself then, dared himself to lean up and kiss the blonde on the lips. He did. First the contact was soft, then it melded into something more. Tongues battling against each other. Tired bodies struggling to stay close to each other as the world around them spun and was lost for mere minutes. Joey pulled back, away from Kaiba, as he needed to breathe, and thought about what had just happened.

The guilt he was feeling previously increased ten fold. He rolled off Kaiba, putting his hands to his head, shutting his eyes to block out the pain. He had physical pain, which he had dealt with, and could deal with now. But more importantly, he had emotional pain. He had kissed his former crush, on the lips, for a good minute to minute and a half. While his boyfriend was at home, probably worrying that he wasn't getting killed by the young corporate tycoon.

"Joey . . . " Seto sat up, looking glum. He had finally kissed the only boy that had ever made him question his sanity, and he felt like shit. "I'm sorry." he said.

Joey looked over at him. Seto Kaiba never apologized to anyone. "Kaiba -"

"No. I know that you and the brunette are close, and it was wrong of me to initiate the action. Please, accept my apology." he stood up and looked down at Joey.

"You fight well Joey."

Joey looked up, as Kaiba started walking away. "You too Kaiba."

~*~ At School Monday ~*~

Joey walked in to first period with Yugi, and sat down behind Tristan. He hadn't talked to Tristan all weekend because of the guilt he felt.

"Joey, I thought you were dead," his voice was hushed, but forceful. "Why didn't you call?" he asked.

"It's a long story Trist. Sorry."

"We need to talk sometime Jounouchi”

- Oh no. He called me Jounouchi. This is a problem. -

~*
"Okay class, we are going to count off, for partners, so we'll need to count to six please, and one person will be the extra. Count please, Kaiba."

"One."

"Jenn will be next, and we'll go around." the teacher instructed.

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"Fi ve."

"Six."

"One." Joey said as he looked up to see who else had been dubbed 'one'. He then realized the whole thing had started with Kaiba. He mentally groaned at the thought of being Kaiba's partner for this project. The project involved having to actually talk to your partner. Tristan was with Setsuna, and Setsuna would never change partners. Setsuna hated Kaiba more than anyone, which was surprising.

"And when Alexial gets back she will be with Mr. Kaiba and Mr. Wheeler." the bell rang. "That is all for today."

"Look Wheeler." Kaiba came up to Joey after class.

"Go on ahead Trist." Joey said calmly.

"Nah. I'll wait."

"Wheeler, I want you home right after school. No going to your friends houses. Got that?" Kaiba didn't wait for an answer as he walked down the hallway and around the corner.

"Well, that blows my theory on talking to you after school then." Tristan said as he turned back to Joey. "Look, I just want to know what happened this weekend. Kaiba looked pretty pissed that day. What happened?"

"We got into a fist fight . . . " - I can't possibly tell you the whole story Tristan. I'm sorry. - "That's about it. Again, I'm sorry I didn't call you."

"It's cool." Tristan shrugged. "Come on, let’s go."

Tristan and Joey had to go to second period quickly. Not only was it on the other end of the school, but now, thanks to Kaiba, they were running late. Walking at a fast pace, so as to not get yelled at by teachers monitoring the hallway, but still succeeding in running down a few Freshman, Tristan and Joey made it to class in three minutes flat.

They took their usual seats in the back of the classroom and took out their notebooks, having no ambition to actually copy the notes. Joey rested his head on his left hand, hunching over the front of his desk. Tristan drew absentmindedly on the edge of his notebook. Finally class was over and they ran off to lunch.

“Wonder what’s for lunch today?” Joey said, hurrying to the cafeteria.

“Probably something posing as meat.” Tristan said offhand.

“Yeah.” Joey agreed. “Mmm, Tacos.”

Lunch was a boring affair. Tea was studying furiously for a test she had the next block, from time to time saying answers out loud and shaking her head, then re-answering herself. Yugi was looking at her concerned.

“She’s been doing this all morning.” He whispered to the others.

“Ten to the twelfth. No. Grr.” Tea looked up at the boys, as though realizing for the first time where she was. “Oh. Hi! How’s your day going?” she asked.

“Good.” They responded in unison, afraid to say more.

“Lovely!” she looked back down at her notes and didn’t say another word.

The rest of the day was as unimportant and uneventful as lunch. Then, finally, at three o’clock the bell rang and Joey was on his way home. He waited out side the school doors for Tristan and they walked down to the ‘student pick up’ area to look for Seth. Immediately Seth was spotted, whispering into a small device he wore on the shoulder of his jacket.

“I gotta go Trist. You heard Kaiba, he’ll probably drown me in the pool if I’m late. I’ll talk to you later.” Joey smiled airily and went down to Seth.

“Affirmative Blue Eyes. We’ve got the blonde, he’s heading into the car now. Over.”

“Thank you Ground Leaf. That’ll be all.” Kaiba’s voice turned to static and the transmission ended.

“Thanks for picking me up Seth.” Joey said as Seth got into the car next to him.

“You’re welcome.” There was only a momentary silence before Seth broke it; “So, what are you and Young Master doing your project on?”

“Heck if I know.” Joey scratched the back of his head, as though thinking. “What class was it again?” he smiled as Seth looked at him with disbelief. “I’m kiddin’, I’m kiddin’. It was History right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Cool. I don’t know. We haven’t really touched on space travel this year, maybe we could do that.” Joey shrugged. “Kaiba will probably just hire somebody to do it for him anyway.”

“Perhaps.” Seth nodded.

“You know something I don’t.” Joey said, looking at Seth knowingly. “Don’t you?”

“No Sir. I have no idea of which you speak.” Seth smiled.

“Uh huh. Sure Seth.” Joey ended the conversation.

They arrived at the Kaiba mansion shortly after, and Joey went up to his room.

“How do you always get back before I do?” Joey asked, seeing Kaiba sitting on the couch in his living area. “We leave at the same time.”

“That is not your concern.” Kaiba said calmly. “Now, I’ve talked to Alexial’s parents.” He said as though he were divulging in something very important. “She is out with pneumonia and will not be back for several weeks. So, we will be working on this project alone.”

“Cool.” Joey said, taking a seat across from Kaiba. “So, what are we doing the project on?” he asked. “Or, are you just going to hire someone to do it for you?”

“Us. We are doing this project together. We are going to do it on space travel.” He said. “Now, come to my room. I have more resources in there.” He said, standing up and leading the way out the door.

Joey followed Kaiba through one hall after the other, and up the stairs. Finally they arrived at Kaiba’s room and went in. Joey looked around the room, which was more like an office than a bedroom. There was a computer on the far end of the room, facing the gray colored wall. A large bookcase covered the wall to the right of the door, and a square table lay in the middle of the room. To the left was a door leading into a large bathroom. A small bed lay near the corner of the room as though it were an afterthought.

“We will begin now.” Kaiba said, settling down at the table in the middle of the room.

Joey watched him for a minute, stunned that he hadn’t already hired someone to finish the project.

“Well sit down.” Kaiba said in a curt tone.

“Right. Sorry.” Joey sat down across from Kaiba and took out his history book. “So . . . uh . . . where do you want to begin?”

“I would say that we should begin at the beginning.” He looked at Joey sharply. “Wouldn’t you?”

“Uh. Sure.”

“We’ll start with when the space program began. Then we will work our way through the years with different missions and advancements.”

“Easy enough.”

*

“Wheeler,” Kaiba said, putting down his pencil. The silence in the room had been awkward and deafening. Joey was glad Kaiba broke it. “About the other day.”

“There’s nothing to say.”

**

do de do! So chappy 7! Havin’ fun? I bet ya are! I don’t know who the pairings are going to be yet. I’m still writin’ it! Haha. But I’ll try to update a little faster in the future. I just can’t seem to write properly lately. *sigh * must be all the hype about leaving. And angst about it. Haha. I feel like I’m in a fanfic sometimes! Anyway, leave me love if you liked the chapter. Or if you hated it. Whichever! Thanks for reviewing so far.

Much love
Anubis