Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ El Lado Del Rio ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two

 

Knock, Knock, Knock!

 

Yugi ran to the front door and it opened to reveal a very out-of-breath Jou.

 

“There you are! You made us wait!”

 

“Yeah, Yug, I know. I'm sorry. I didn't miss too much did I?”

 

Jou grinned widely at the spiky-haired teenager who was smiling back at him.

 

“Actually, no. Honda just got here. He got off work late.”

 

“Is that right? Man, Honda better be makin' good money. He's always late!”

 

Yugi sighed. He knew perfectly well that Honda wasn't actually late. Jou knew too actually. Honda had recently met a very pretty girl at his work. After work, they would talk, usually longer than they were supposed to. Honda and Otogi were always chasing skirts. Though the two had been very serious about Shizuka, Jou's little sister. However, Jou's threat of beating them within an inch of their life if they hurt her plus the fact that she was totally oblivious to their attentions made them think differently of attempting to claim her would-be affections. They decided ultimately that being her friends would be perfectly alright.

 

“Well, anyways, come in. Make yourself comfortable. We should start dinner soon.”

 

Jou nodded and reached to pull off his shoes. Afterward, he meandered to the living room before sinking into one of the sofas.

 

“Jou! Hey!”

 

He looked up to see Anzu waving towards him from the entry to the dining room. She strode over and sat down next to him.

 

“So Jou, what made you late?”

 

“Ah…yeah, I was listening to some music and relaxing at my apartment. I kinda lost track of time.”

 

“Oh, yeah. I do that all the time.”

 

Jou pulled his eyes away from her smiling face. If only she knew; if only they all knew!

But they didn't. Just like how he didn't tell him how he felt, Jou hadn't told any of his friends either. It didn't seem right almost. To love someone who had wronged your friends in some way seemed very wrong. For that matter, someone who had wronged him as well. Jou sighed again.

 

“Ne, ne. What's with the sighing? You sound like a love sick girl!”

 

Jou's head snapped around to look at Anzu. But his glare softened to a grin when he saw she had been joking. Geez! I'm gettin' to be such a sap. Of course she doesn't know, she's just joking!

 

However, Jou's head snap didn't go unnoticed by Anzu. She smiled at him to hide her quizzical expression. She didn't understand why he had reacted so to her. She had only called him a love sick girl and he reacted as though she had called him something very rude.

 

“Hey, Jounouchi! Mazaki! Dinner's done!”

 

A tall, brunette poked his head into the living room. This was, of course, the other of Jou's friends. Honda was the comical relief when Jou was temporarily off duty. But like Anzu and Yugi, Honda was a true friend.

 

Jou and Anzu stood up and walked to the kitchen where a table ladened with steaming food awaited them.

 

“Yug! This looks great! Thanks for the food!”

 

Yugi blushed and pointed at his grandfather.

 

“Actually, Grandpa did most of the cooking. I just helped.”

 

Jou brushed it off.

 

“Whateva, you still invited to your house for dinner and you did help. It matters!”

 

Yugi just smiled gently at him. But the smile hid a lot. Yugi wasn't involved in many “magical” situations anymore, not since Atem had passed peacefully to the afterlife. He had to admit, he missed that life just a little. These days, he was a little more daring but still the same Yugi. The whole gang was on their last year of high school and soon be to off to college. Yugi knew that Jou was under a lot of stress to keep his decent grades up now. With his father gone, Jou could concentrate his time, energy, and money on college and a future career. But it was quite clear to Yugi that, now, something was definitely wrong.

 

A small frown darkened his features as he took another bite of his oden. Jou noticed Yugi was being rather quiet when usually the energetic teenager was usually the center of the conversation. He stared regretfully at him, knowing perfectly well that he was the cause of Yugi's distress. Of all his friends, Yugi was the only one Jou might be willing to tell him secret.

 

“Yugi? You ok? Kinda spacing a bit, man.”

 

It wasn't Jou that spoke but Honda. He too had noticed the taciturn mood of the usually happy boy.

 

Yugi looked up from his food. “What? Oh, Honda, don't worry I'm fine. Just a little tired from school.”

 

Honda nodded sympathetically.

 

“Don't I know it? The teachers are just determined to crush us before we go off to college. Something about preparing us for college. Psht! Yeah, right. I don't believe it. I mean we have lives! What about the people we love and the relationships we have to keep up.”

 

At the mention of relationships, Jou's mood darkened. He had really been hoping to pass the rest of the night undisturbed by any thoughts of that other person. Until that is, Honda mentions loved ones and relationships. Glancing at the clock, he noticed it was about 9:30. Deciding to maybe staying might be a bad idea, he got up.

 

“Hey Yug? Ya know, I'm more tired than I thought. Is it ok with you guys if I just go home now?”

 

His friends looked up at him in concern, but Yugi was the first to answer.

 

“Sure, Jou. It's never a good idea to be sleep deprived. Go home and get plenty of rest. We'll make up the duels another time.”

 

“Sounds good. Thanks Yug, see ya guys later.”

 

With that Jou took his plate and set it in the kitchen sink, then he went to the entrance of the house, pulled on his shoes and hurried into the night towards his apartment.

 

As he walked, the cool breeze lifted and flowed around him. Jou absentmindedly noted it was blowing in the opposite direction from when he had been walking…well, running to Yugi's house. The fact didn't interest him much. But he kept his eyes towards the pavement. The deep blue sky reminded him way too much of the eyes of a certain someone. God! Why did he have to keep thinking about him?! Jou growled to himself. Some god or higher power somewhere was punishing him for all his evil deeds in life by making him fall in love with his enemy.

 

Jou paused by a park and decided why the hell not? He was tired but he didn't want to go home. So his feet carried him through the park to the swing set where he slumped into one of the swings. He swung a little and, then, just sat staring at the sky. He couldn't help it, even if it was painful thinking of that person, Jou decided now that to have memories, at all, of that person was good enough.

 

“Isn't it a little late for dogs to be out staring at the moon?”

 

Jou froze. His heart started pounding harder than it had before.

 

Ba-bump.

 

He turned to see a figure standing on the path closest to the swing set.

 

Ba-bump

 

The figure started walking towards him. Every cell in his brain was screaming for him to get up and just go home.

 

Ba-bump.

 

The person was now close enough for Jou to see what he was wearing. Every cell in his heart was screaming for him to go and kiss the hell out of that person.

 

Ba-bump

 

The person was slowly descending to kneel in front of him. Jou was taken aback. Seto Kaiba never kneels.

Suddenly, sapphire eyes loomed before him and Jou was looking into the face of his beloved. In a small voice, he asked,

 

“What are you doing here, K-Kaiba?”

 

Jou couldn't help but cringe at the stutter. But what could he do? He hadn't seen Seto since the day before he left nearly a year ago.

 

“Hn…I was going to ask you the same thing. I came back. Is that so extraordinary? I wasn't going to leave my brother in Japan all alone forever.”

 

Jou just stared at him. Kaiba slowly rose to his feet. He then looked expectantly at Jou. Jou noticed that Kaiba's mouth was moving but was too busy watching the mesmerizing movements to pay attention to what the brunette was saying.

 

“Jounouchi? Jounouchi? Jounouchi!”

 

“W-wha?”

 

A contemptuous stare. “If you're done day-dreaming, I'm offering to drive you home, mutt.”

 

A glare. “Why? So you can say what a bad neighborhood I live in and mock me?”

 

Kaiba only stared at him momentarily before turning heel and walking down the path. Jou stared after him for a moment and suddenly made a decision.

 

“Wait. Fine, I'll take you up on your deal. But your mouth stays shut the whole time.”

 

Kaiba only glanced back at him once and nodding before reaching his car, a blue Corvette. Jou was taken slightly aback by the other boy's reaction. Since when did Kaiba back down from mocking a rival. Once upon a time, Kaiba would have killed to have the chance to scorn how lowly Jou was but something had changed.

 

Jou strode up the blue Corvette and let out a low whistle.

 

“Nice car.”

 

“You touch anything and die, dog.”

 

“Fine. Fine.”

 

The ride passed in relatively uncomfortably. Finally they reached Jou's apartment and he got out.

 

“Thanks Kaiba. You'll be at school tomorrow?”

 

“Hn, won't matter to you, mutt.”

 

Jou only sighed before waving the CEO away. It wasn't until he got up to his apartment that he realized he never told Kaiba where his apartment was.

 

&&&&&&&&&&&