Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Falling From Grace ❯ Chapter 18 ( Chapter 18 )

YUGIOH

Falling From Grace

 

 

 

Chapter 18.

It was the next morning. Yugi came out of his house, just as Tristan came over, saying, "Hey, Yugi.....ready for school?"

 

"Have you heard from Tea?", Yugi asked.

 

Tristan shook his head. "Maybe when we see her at school, she'll be better."

 

Yugi nodded, then looked around. "So, where's Joey?"

 

Tristan looked around, saying, "Not sure.....haven't seen him. I assumed he'd be here with you, all ready."

 

The next moment, a limo suddenly pulled over beside them. Yugi looked at the car in concern, thinking, 'What does Kaiba want, this time?'

 

He approached the limo, as the window pulled down, showing Joey grinning ear to ear. "Hey Yugi, ya wanna ride??"

 

"Joey? Is Kaiba in there?", Yugi asked.

 

"No", Joey answered. "This dude just pulled over, offering to ride me to school. So, I asked him to come down here."

 

By this time, Tristan checked the back of the limo, which sure enough had KC on the plate. "Yeah, this definitely belongs to Kaiba. So why isn't he in it?"

 

"I dunno. Who cares.....we gotta free ride!", Joey said, bouncing inside. "Come on, man....get in!"

 

They climbed in, as the limo headed to Domino High. Yugi looked uncertain, saying, "This is strange. Why would Kaiba offer this to us? Well, actually......to you, Joey. And why did Kaiba want to see you in the first place? Do you know anything about this?"

 

"Uh......I dunno", Joey said, looking guilty.

 

"Hey man, if you know anything about this.....then, spill it!", Tristan snapped, grabbing Joey by the shoulder.

 

Joey grabbed him back just as threatening, saying, "Hey, I dunno anything about this, okay??"

 

As they fought, Yugi looked to Yami with concern. 'What do you think, spirit? If I didn't know any better, I'd swear Kaiba was purposely trying to turn our friends against us. First, we both feel drained when Kaiba walked in, then Tea out of the blue turns on us and for Kaiba. And now he seems to be trying to bribe Joey.....'

 

'It does seem that way, aibou. Maybe it's time we had a 'talk' with Kaiba, and see exactly what he's up to', Yami said. 'But if he thinks he can 'buy' our friends, then obviously he's learned nothing of friendship!' (1)

 

'Mmm-hmm!', Yugi agreed.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

They made it to school, infact a bit early.....since they were used to walking and were driven there, instead. They then headed into the school, and separated to go to their lockers. Joey was alone, as he dialed his combination and opened his locker.

 

Joey then blinked. To his surprise, inside was a colorful string dangling in mid-air, which was tied to the top of his locker and holding onto what looked like an envelope. Joey immediately felt it must be from Kaiba, since he gave him the ride this morning......even though he wasn't there. That infact made Joey wonder, just as his friends did. Why didn't Kaiba show up in the car? Why wasn't Kaiba here now to give Joey the gift? And why was he offering these things to him in the first place?

 

So, Joey untied the envelope, wondering what this little surprise was, and opened the envelope. After looking at it, he almost had a heart-attack, himself. "Oh, wow!!", Joey blurted, "This is sooo cool!!" There were no notes or anything in the envelope. The only thing that was inside were multiple gift certificates to Joey's favorite places in the whole world: the arcade, the pizza shop, Kaiba land, Burger World, and even Yugi's grampa's card shop. Each certificate was worth $500.00. (2)

 

".......I've got to be the richest guy in the world", Joey thought, his brain fogging over in ecstasy, unable to believe what he had in his hand. "Maybe I died and went to heaven....."

 

"I can arrange that", a soft voice muttered near him, causing Joey to freeze. A hand then lazily leaned against Joey's locker, his other hand extending towards Joey's face. Joey slowly turned to see Kaiba smirking down at him.

 

"Why did you get me these?", Joey asked.

 

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, curiously. "Isn't this what I'm supposed to do? You're a guy not a girl, so I can't exactly give you candy and flowers. Then again, the way you eat you'd probably like the candy."

 

"How do you know how I eat? Nevermind.....I don't wanna know that", Joey said.

 

Kaiba then added, "Are you saying you don't like what I got for you? Would you prefer something different? You sounded rather pleased about it, a minute ago. I believe the two phrases were, 'You're the richest person in the world. You just died and went to heaven'", Kaiba smirked.

 

Joey blushed, looking away. "You.....you can't buy me, you know."

 

"I'm not trying to buy you. I'm trying to get your attention....I'm trying to make a point", Kaiba stated.

 

"A point?", Joey asked, looking back towards Kaiba. "What kind of point?"

 

Kaiba moved his hand from Joey's face, wrapping it around Joey's waist and pulling him close. "I'm trying to remind you that I can provide for you.......something you're obviously incapable of, for yourself."

 

'Provide?', Joey wondered, totally missing the rest of what Kaiba said passed that part. Joey was trying but was still unable to understand what Kaiba meant, when Kaiba suddenly pressed his lips against Joey. Joey joined back for a moment. But then, he suddenly heard footsteps and quickly pushed Kaiba back, whispering, "Cut it out.....we're at school!"

 

Kaiba glared down at Joey. "So? What does that have to do with anything? What is your problem?"

 

Joey turned around, saying, "Listen, maybe I......don't......want this......"

 

"That's not what you were saying in the bathroom the other day, when you were screaming my name", Kaiba said, crossing his arms.

 

"Shhh!", Joey said, glancing around, nervously.

 

Kaiba then smirked, asking, "Is that the problem? You're looking for this to be more of a.....'secret rondevue'??"

 

"Well.....how can you be so comfortable with this?", Joey asked. "I mean, aren't you worried if someone found out and put this on the newspapers or TV? You are like....a celebrity or something. Can't that hurt you?"

 

Kaiba retorted, "I have made many sacrifices in my life in order to have what I want. This is no different. When I make a decision to have something, I don't let anything stand in the way.....that includes the media. If they cause too many hassles, I'll deal with it. I've never allowed petty peer pressures to bother me. It's a pity you have to lower yourself in that way. But I guess when you're at rock bottom, it's all you have to hold onto."

 

"Hey, now.....wait just a minute, here!", Joey began to growl, knowing an insult when he hears it.

 

But Kaiba grabbed him by the arm, saying, "I am offering you more than what you have. I can give you anything you want. If you want this to be so secretive, then fine......for now I'll play your little game. But don't expect it to last long, before I take what's mine. And soon, I'm going to make sure you know that when you need something, Yugi wont be the number 1 person for you to choose to hide behind, anymore......that's going to be me, instead."

 

"What?", Joey asked, confused. 'What did he mean by that?'

 

"You heard me. I'm going to beat Yugi in that next duel", Kaiba said, moving over quickly and kissing him harshly on the lips, causing a couple students that were beginning to trickle in to stop and stare. Kaiba released him quick, and smiled seeing the blush on his face.

 

He then moved to Joey's ear, saying, "I'm going to be your shield for now on.....not Yugi. I'll prove to you I'm better.....then you'll come to me." Kaiba then moved back, turned, and left down the hall.

 

Joey watched him go, still holding the certificates in his hand, as he thought about what Kaiba just said. 'Wait. Did Kaiba just basically say he's fighting this duel to......impress me??'

 

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(1) aibou: (pronounced 'I - bo') Japanese word, meaning 'partner'.

 

(2) All money stated in my stories are in US currency, since I don't know what the equivalent would be for Japanese. Just assume it's Japanese money, and feel free to calculate the currency equivalent if you want. Infact, if anyone knows of a web-sight that shows the differences of money in different countries, please let me know! That would be fun to read up on.

 

Next week: Yami confronts Kaiba on this continued 'bribery' towards his friend. Will Yami figure it out? will Kaiba confess all? Read, and find out!

 

Sorry for being so long. There's been a slight change in personal life at home that could cause some additional delays on my part. I'm making arrangements to change my system, so that those delays will no longer be a problem. But before that happens, it'll take a couple days of adjustments.....so please bare with me.

 

Dimples91: Sorry your Monday probably ended up miserable anyway, but a problem came up. I should hopefully resolve that soon. Sowwy! And glad you liked the idea, but I think there was enough to this chapter that I didn't need to combine the two, this time. We'll just see what happens next, in a week.

 

Rubisora: Well.....yeah, that's the point. What's worst is she'll be getting even scarier before this story ends. That's true.....Honda's not exactly playing with a full deck (grin). On the contrary.....they not only had that first part with Seto, it was far more involved. Instead of starting off by seeing the BEWD and trying to steal it, it starts out totally different. Seto begins in the original series by being abnormally 'nice', and is willing to be 'friends' with Yugi. He even invites Yugi and his friends to the mansion to show off his trophies and greatness to them. But the whole 'I'm a nice person' is an obvious act. It goes to show you what Kaiba 'really' believed friendship was: you act nice, then stab them in the back. They do the first battle, but don't show him getting trapped in a card. It's left at a strange hang, wondering who won without actually showing. But with the look of hate in Kaiba's eyes later, it's pretty obvious. Infact, the whole series they keep having Kaiba show up a bit here and there. He hires other professionals to battle Yugi over and over, and test his strength and abilities, before Death-T arrives. I rather liked Kaiba's interesting add-in throughout the series. Too bad they didn't show that in the manga. I still think the best part was before him showing the trophies (we're talking an entire room filled to the brink!). Then after losing to Yami, Kaiba goes into a fit of rage and trashes his entire trophy room. With that one loss, suddenly none of his other victories mean a thing to him, anymore. It's all or nothing.

 

FireieGurl: Well, you'll start to get more Seto/Joey in the coming chapters....so that should make you happy. Glad you liked the last chapter. That was one of those chapters I worked really hard to make sure it came out right.

 

Midori-Jester: It gets crazier (glad you finally found the sight). You'll see more torture as the story continues. But I'd say you're having the winter blues. I know that feeling....I've been feeling that way for the last month, now. I can't wait till winter's over all ready, and it just started.

 

Intoxicated Biscuit: Well....atleast it's roughly once a week. I wish some of the fics I read could be that quick. I normally have to wait once a month before I get my updates (not fair!). ;p

 

Growing Pain: Well....these chapters do end. If they didn't, they'd fill up the fan web-sight, plus I don't think anyone could read 'that' much (grin). But, still.....if the reviews become too long, I'll just have to force two chapter together. That should make you guys (and Media Miner) happy. You pity Kaiba? You mean, cuz Tea's clinging to him? Yeah, if Tea was clinging to me I know 'I'd' certainly feel bad for me (ha). Kaiba.....nice.....now, that 'is' funny. Do those two words even fit properly in the same sentence? ;)

 

Dannita: Sorry.....can't inform pieces of the storyline before it happens. But when that comes up, I'll be happy to confirm if your right or not (I'm keeping tabs on those guessing on the story line. Anyone getting anything right, I'll make sure to give personal cuto's to). Glad you liked the Tea torture. But really, it hasn't even begun. Joey's feelings on this will probably seep in slowly (it's a suspense thing). So, sorry if you have to wait on that. Atleast you should get a hint of how he's reacting to this in this chapter. But, just don't die! You must read!!

 

Yume Ishimaru: Glad you enjoyed the chapter.