Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Falling From Grace ❯ 29 ( Chapter 29 )

YUGIOH

Falling From Grace

 

 

 

Chapter 29.

"I'm sorry, Joey.....I just don't feel that way", Tea said, as Joey dropped his head in despair. "But, that doesn't mean we can't still be friends."

 

"Yeah......friends", Joey said, looking away to hide just how terrible he felt hearing that from Tea. He loved her. How could she not understand that, especially after she was the reason he felt the way he did?

 

Tea then looked right through Joey, seeing Yugi and Tristan coming up from behind. They stopped when they saw both Joey and Tea there, and eyed Tea suspiciously.

 

Moving right passed Joey, Tea focused entirely on Yugi and said, "Yugi......please don't be angry with me. I know what I did was terrible! I'll do anything to make up for it! Can't you find it in you to forgive me?"

 

Once again, Yami took over, as if to protect Yugi from Tea's presence. He crossed his arms, stating, "You've done enough harm here, Tea. And Yugi doesn't want to talk to you."

 

Tristan moved right over to Joey, putting his arm on his shoulder, and muttering, "Come on, man....she aint worth it."

 

Joey left with Tristan, his head still low.

 

Yami watched them go, then looked back at Tea, saying, "Don't you see how you've hurt Joey?"

 

Tea replied, "Of course I've seen it! I'm trying to avoid him, but he's the one that approached me! What else can I do??"

 

"You can stay away from all of us", Yami answered, coldly. "And don't offer him any more of your false friendship speeches. You shouldn't say what you don't mean."

 

"But......but, I do......!", Tea tried to exclaim. But, by that time, Yami was all ready walking away from her.

 

Tea dropped her head, trying not to cry. 'This can't be happening!', she thought. 'There 'has' to be a way to get them back, and like me again!'

 

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

 

It was later in the day, and the kids were getting out of school. Yugi and Tristan were all ready packed up in the classroom and turned towards Joey still sitting there, who was looking just as miserable as earlier.

 

"Hey, Joey......you coming?", Yugi asked.

 

Joey shrugged. "It's okay, Yugi......you go on ahead. I'll catch up with you."

 

Yugi nodded, trying not to show pity in his eyes, and they headed out of the classroom.

 

Joey just sat there and stared for a good five minutes, doing absolutely nothing. Somehow, joining his friends at Yugi's place once again didn't sound very up-lifting. How could he enjoy anything, when all he felt was the terrible pain of emptiness in his heart?

 

He was rejected.......Tea didn't want him. He also knew there was one person that did want him, and was probably suffering the same way. But that didn't do him any good, since he was in love with Tea.

 

Besides.....the only reason Kaiba loved him was because of a potion, right? Kaiba was in the same boat as he was, feeling some kind of false love from a bad drink. And there was no way out of this curse. They'd both be doomed forever. It made life seem so meaningless to go on.

 

Finally, Joey packed up his things and left the room, looking rather grim. he managed to drag himself to the front entrance of Domino, and look around outside. Even now in the distance, he could see his friends still waiting for him, at the far edge of the school property. And immediately, they noticed Joey in the doorway, and waved to him.

 

'I really don't deserve those guys', Joey though, and weakly waved back. And he was just about to leave and go meet up with them, when he heard a voice from behind him mutter, "Joey......"

 

Joey stopped and turned to see Kaiba now behind him. "Oh, hey.....", Joey said. "I'm, uh.....really sorry for the way I acted. It's just.....Tea told me to say that. And at the time, I felt if I did that....then maybe she'd go out with me." Joey looked down. "I know that probably sounds really dumb......"

 

"I wouldn't expect anything different from you", Kaiba said, giving a subtle smirk.

 

Joey gave Kaiba a glare, but he couldn't keep it knowing how Kaiba felt towards him, and how miserable he also probably felt, right now.

 

"So......you care for Gardener, now. How is that working out?", Kaiba asked casually, looking away.

 

At first, Joey blinked....not knowing Kaiba would even know that. He then looked back down, and shook his head miserably. "It aint......she don't feel that way. One sided-love really sucks. But then.....you know that, don't you?"

 

Kaiba said nothing, still staring off away from Joey.

 

"It aint your fault you feel this way, you know. It's Tea's fault. There aint no reason you have to feel that way, either. You realize we can both cure this in one easy move", Joey said.

 

Kaiba glanced over, raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're thinking of killing Gardener. The way she spoke to me about it, it sounded like the idea came up more than once, all ready."

 

"So, that's how you found out about me and Tea....she told you", Joey said. He then shook his head, stating, "Don't be silly......I love her, remember? She might be seen as nasty and cruel from most everyone else, but I still love her." Joey turned away. "Actually, I was talking about killing myself."

 

Kaiba looked over at Joey in absolute horror.

 

"See, if I die.....I aint miserable cuz I'm dead, and you're not miserable cuz the spell will be bro-....."

 

"Forget it!", Kaiba snapped angrily at him, roughly grabbing him by the collar. Joey looked up at him in surprise, as Kaiba hissed, "Don't you dare even think about that!"

 

"But......don't you get it? It's the potion that's....."

 

"That's bullshit!", Kaiba snapped. "Nothing controls me, especially some stupid vial. If you die, it'll solve nothing. Nothing would stop me from forgetting about you, no matter what you say or do!"

 

Joey looked down and smiled, wiping away a tear. "Thanks, man......"

 

Kaiba then released Joey, deciding he made his point. For the moment, there was nothing left between them but uncomfortable silence, as seconds ticked by in slow motion.

 

Kaiba was first to break it, as he asked, "Are you sure you feel......nothing? There was something there before, I know there was. You still have those memories, you have to remember how you felt."

 

"I do.......I was happy", Joey said. "But it just aint there. All I can think about now is Tea. So.....I guess we're both toast, doomed to be miserable. Well, you know what they say.....misery loves company, right? Atleast we'll both be suffering", he added, attempting to joke about it.

 

Kaiba then handed Joey a card.....it was his Red Eyes. Joey looked up at Kaiba in surprise.

 

"There's no sense hanging onto this. It's meaningless, now", Kaiba said.

 

Joey's eyes twitched a couple times, then turned away, saying, "I want you to keep it."

 

"Why? What's the point? Your reason for me keeping this is no longer there."

 

"Yes there is", Joey said, looking back over at him. "There aint nothing there, now. But I know there was once." He sadly smiled. "Once upon a time I was happy. I felt something for someone who made me feel special. Even if it's gone......if you still hold onto it, that thought will still be there. Even if the future looks grim for me. Atleast I can still look back in the past and smile."

 

"Hmph." Kaiba looked away. "You're starting to sound like Yugi, always trying to live in the past. Maybe some day you'll find it....."

 

Another moment of silence lagged between them. Kaiba calmly put the card away, which Joey noticed went straight into his card deck. It made Joey feel almost good for a moment......except those damn feelings for Tea just wouldn't leave him alone.

 

Joey then looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. He began to make a step to walk away, muttering, "Uh.....the guys are waiting for me. I guess I should be go......"

 

But, Kaiba stopped him, unable to let him go just yet. "Joey.....", he muttered, cutting off what Joey was trying to finish saying. "One more kiss to say good-bye......then we part ways."

 

"Kiss?", Joey stupidly asked. He clearly remembered a time where Kaiba's lips on his felt like heaven, and he couldn't get enough. But, those feelings were gone. And with little left but feeling emptiness for the CEO and overwhelming love for Tea, Joey's reactions to Kaiba reverted back to how he reacted around him before.

 

Fear and awkwardness to kiss another guy in public once again filled Joey's head. If he ever considered himself as gay before, he knew he definitely wasn't like that, now. He now had deep feelings for a woman.....for Tea.

 

.....a woman who didn't care for him in the least.

 

He hated the reminder of that one-sided love. But those thoughts also reminded him of something else. As much as he attempted to be with Tea, she wasn't even willing to 'try' and go out with him, to see if maybe it could turn into something more. All she could offer him was her 'friendship let-down' speech.

 

The last thing he was going to do was be like Tea, and basically throw Kaiba's feeling in his face. And he had all ready done enough to Kaiba, with the harsh rejection he gave him the other day. The least he could do was make up for all that by fulfilling a simple request.

 

One kiss. Even if the whole school afterwards marked him as a flaming fag, he owed this to Kaiba for what he had done, and what they had been through.

 

Joey shrugged, hoping he wasn't going to regret this and said, "Hey, sure......one for the road. Why not?"

 

Kaiba approached, hating the idea of a good-bye. But he had to taste him just one more time, before the idea of suffering in silence. He now approached Joey, and gently kissed him on the lips......making sure there was a nice long pause before he finally let him go and backed away.

 

Joey had even kissed back after a moment, which Kaiba assumed was probably an act of pity. Once he backed away, he looked down at Joey who had paused, licked his lips, then looked stupidly up at Kaiba, as if the CEO had just grown a second head. But then, Kaiba could also feel the eyes of other school kids around them, so it was easy to assume Joey probably didn't know how to react, feeling ashamed as he had in the past about Kaiba's actions.

 

Just as Kaiba forced himself to turn and was about to walk away, Joey placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from leaving. "Wait a minute!"

 

Kaiba turned to see what his problem was, when Joey surprisingly asked, "Uh, could we......do that again?"

 

"Again??", Kaiba asked, in shock.

 

"Just one more time.....", Joey said, sounding almost like a plea.

 

Why? Was Joey trying to mock him? Kaiba felt a mix of paranoia and hopefulness at the same time. He immediately tried to read his eyes, to see if there was something there......something that was there before, that was recently lost.

 

But Joey got impatient waiting for Kaiba to reply. So, before Kaiba could clearly read Joey's face, he instead grabbed Kaiba's head, and this time Joey kissed him.

 

It felt like heaven. Kaiba was still trying not to be hopeful, and was very confused with Joey's odd response. But he couldn't resist his own urges, especially with Joey being the one that's attacking him. His arms soon slipped around Joey's waste, and pulled him close.

 

The commotion caused even more kids to pause and look over......not sure what to think about what they were seeing.

 

The kiss ended once again, as Kaiba again studied Joey's reaction. Indeed, Joey's whole demeanor seemed to be changing right before his eyes.

 

The boy who was standing there looking like a beaten dog a moment ago, suddenly looked so full of life. It was an astonishing turn-around. And Joey still stared at Kaiba like he was some kind of alien.

 

Finally, Joey spoke, as he spat out, "Holy shit! What the fuck did you just do to me??"

 

"What do you mean?", Kaiba asked.

 

"I dunno......it's like a brain-cloud just lifted from me, or something. What the hell was I even thinking? Tea?? Jesus Chris, I must have been out of my fuck'n mind!", Joey exclaimed.

 

And that's exactly what it felt for Joey. The instant their lips touched, it was like something fizzled in his brain....a barrier that was keeping him at bay, refusing to let him feel what he knew should be there. In an instant, that barrier was broken and all the feelings he had towards Kaiba came rushing back to him all at once. It was there all along.....he simply had to find it again.

 

He gave Kaiba a sheepish grin, then finally looked down in shame. "Seto, I......I'm sorry. I dunno......"

 

"You called me Seto", Kaiba said, once again interrupting, not expecting the first name to be used. That final night, they both agreed to stop using last names with each other. But when Kaiba saw him again, not only was he still being called Kaiba, Joey was cold and distant.

 

"Will you stop interrupt'n me!", Joey growled. But he stopped yelling quickly, guilt now over-whelming Joey, after what he made Kaiba go through. He looked away again, answering, "You told me to.....remember? I would have before......but, then it didn't feel right, anymore."

 

He looked back up at Kaiba, asking him, "So.....you mad at me?"

 

"How could I be mad at you?", Kaiba said, as a smile started coming over him. He couldn't stop it. Kaiba didn't know how, but he was somehow given a second chance.

 

Joey smiled back. "Uh.....I'm suppose to be heading to Yugi's. You wanna come?"

 

"I'm supposed to be at work, after school", Kaiba muttered. He then added, "But I think I can make an exception this one time....."

 

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

 

'Why didn't I think of it before? God, I'm so stupid, sometimes!', Tea thought, as she left the side entrance of the school and was approaching the front of it. She was hoping to be able to catch Joey in time, before they all went to Yugi's.

 

Tea was head-aching all day over a way to somehow regain her friends. And the idea just hit her out of nowhere. Though it may not be the nicest way to do so......at the moment, she was desperate, and was willing to try just about anything.

 

It was actually Joey himself that helped her to figure out how to do it. And it was so simple, she was surprised she didn't think of it before: the simple plan was to accept Joey's offer and go out with him. Given....it would be basically taking advantage of Joey's love for her. But, it's not like he would be feeling any better away from her.....right?

 

'He's feeling so bad by me not being interested, anyway. It'll be kinda like....charity', she thought. 'I can play girlfriend for a little while, as long as he doesn't expect too much out of me. Then as his girlfriend, they'll have to let me be with them. They certainly wouldn't keep Joey away from them because of me. And I'm sure once we're together again, things'll just go back to normal and they'll forget all about what happened.'

 

At that thought, Tea smiled coldly. 'Maybe Kaiba's right...finally I'll be able to stick it to him. But, after everything I had to go through because of him...he deserves it, anyway. Joey will be happy because he'll have me. Everyone else will be happy, because Joey's happy. And best of all, Kaiba's miserable because he's alone and miserable! And I'll be happy because Kaiba will be miserable, and I'll be with my friends! Then everyone will be happy!'

 

There was a time when Tea would have actually been ashamed of her thoughts and the direction it brought her in. But after all that had happened......certain morals now seemed to have less meaning to her then they did before. Tea had all ready prostituted herself out to more than enough people in the last few days, in an attempt to get one of her friends killed. She murdered an old man, she threatened the kill Mokuba, she lied and decieved her friends, she hurt people. When she made a Shadowpact, even though she didn't have to sell her soul, what it did take instead was her innocence.

 

She was now a woman that was left with nothing, desperately trying to get back what was lost. Her friendship made her feel important......it's what she lived for. She had to get it back, and was willing to do whatever it took to do so. And if she had to step on one of her own friend's heart-strings to do so, then why not? It's not like she hadn't stooped lower than that in the past.

 

And because of this decision.....Tea felt good for the first time in probably weeks. She felt there was finally hope for a future. Assuming she had everything all worked out, she turned the corner of the school on her hunt to find Joey.....to pronounce him as her new date. But then, Tea stopped in her tracks to see what a handful of the other Domino High students were also seeing. Kaiba and Joey were kissing right outside the front of the school.

 

And as if that wasn't enough.....after they stopped kissing, Joey practically jumped Kaiba and was kissing him 'again'.

 

"Wh-what?", she questioned to herself, out loud.

 

Everyone got a good eye-full, as they finally broke their second kiss. Then seeming quite happy with each other, both Kaiba and Joey wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders and walked towards the rest of the group.....who all finally walked happily away.

 

Tea watched as they left, unable to believe what she was seeing. In one shot, all her hopes and dreams shattered. And it was all somehow destroyed......by Kaiba. Once again, he seemed to crush all her plans without barely even trying. Again.....Kaiba got in the way. And now because of this, everyone was happy and together.....except for her.

 

'But....how could that be?', she asked herself, once again fuming. "That's not fair!!"

 

-------------------------------------

 

Narr: Well, I hope you guys liked it, and thought my solution to everything wasn't too corny. I didn't want the ending to be too droll or predictable. So, there it is. But it's not entirely over.....there's still one chapter left: the Epilogue! This can't be a 'true' happy ending, unless the lead character is left at her most absolute miserable point.....right?? So, we get to see the fate of our stars, next and last chapter!

 

Also, I'm sorry for being so long. The real world ended up catching up to me and I just had too much to do. So, I took a week off to get it all done. Sorry about that......I know you people were waiting for the ending. Also, since I have some additional notes after the epilogue, I decided to put my responses to everyone in this chapter, instead.

 

Finally, we got two people for the guessing awards. There was quite a lot of people who were making guesses at the endings, but only two came close enough to mention:

 

Congrats to Lady Psychic: (Chapter 28), who had theorized that maybe the potion does not cancel out original feelings.

 

And Congrats to Growing Pain: (Chapter 27), who thought that Joey would somehow break free from the spell.

 

Growing Pain: Glad you liked the fic. Hope you like the last of it.

 

Rubisora: I'm sorry. In your last review you said: 'Kill Tea so Jou-kun would be free from the potion he drank!'. I assumed you remembered what you said, and simply reduced it down to 'potion thing'. Either way, I'm sorry to say that didn't happen. But hopefully you'll like what did happen, instead. You missed Joey die in the series? You're talking the adventure part when they faced the Big 5 the first time, right? That was a good one, too. But, I have to say I didn't really care for whoever was drawing them during that episode. It gave Joey the most retarded looking face when he was disappearing. I've seen Joey look stupid before....but normally they give him this cute 'chibi' Joey look, when he's acting or looking dumb. This was more like 'stupid caveman' dumb.....not so attractive on him. Speaking of looks, I'd have to say the most memorable look they showed on Kaiba was during the Noah series when they gave Kaiba a sad-eyes puppy dog look. That was sooo cute, it made a person instantly want to go 'awwww'. Er, I think I got side-tracked again. Sorry, my bad. Yes, it would definitely be sad if Joey killed himself (it was sad enough that the guy even thought about it!). Fortunately, Kaiba was there to snap him out of even daring to think of such a thing! It would be interested indeed to know how much Kaiba was affected by the potion. But, I'm afraid my story doesn't offer a way to tell exactly just how much. But it still gives a reprieve in the Epilogue to atleast get a basic idea of what you're talking about. Random talk: It was the white trench coat from Battle City. It looked so good, too! You look better in a guy costume? I don't think that would work for me.....I got size D tits. I think people would notice that (heh). Plus, I'm only 5'. Something about a short long-haired Kaiba with tits just don't seem to fit in my head. ;)

 

ninjitsu: Unfortunately, Tea continues to show her true colors all the way to the end. But, hopefully her fate will please you. Glad you liked it.

 

Lady Psychic: Sorry.....looks like Tea doesn't die, after all. But she still has a pretty crappy fate facing her, in the end. As for the potion.....what I tried to portray, is that it didn't kill the emotion....his new love for Tea simply overwhelmed it so much that it blocked it from his sight. When he saw Kaiba, he felt basically emptiness and dumbness. The emptiness to him was like the emotion was gone, but only cause he couldn't see it beyond his blind love for Tea. The numbness was the blockage it placed over Joey's heart towards him. But fortunately, Kaiba unknowingly found a way to break through that terrible nasty barrier, and help Joey find his way. And Kaiba was right (of course). The potion 'can't' kill what's all ready there. So, go ahead and enjoy the happy ending (except for Tea). ;)

 

Cinnamonqueen: Well, her off the wall craziness was caused by the potion. I'm not sure how well I showed it in Tea, but I was trying to also show a change in her 'after' the potion, as well. Before the potion, I felt Tea was fake but she still had her "I'm a sweet little girl" portrayal on her at all times. But when she came out of the potion, it didn't change the fact that she still ended up sleeping with 1/2 of the scum of Domino, murdered someone, and tried to kill someone else. Things like that can change a person. So, I tried to show that even though Tea was trying to be herself again, there was a new callousness about her. Her concerns to anyone else except herself had lessened because of her experiences. Any innocence she had were lost (literally). But I'm not sure if I worded it well enough to get that point across. Believe me, I considered the idea of Kaiba wanting to go ballistic on Tea, too. But as you saw, for him to believe that killing Tea would make Joey love him would be the same thing as him admitting that his love for Joey was only there because of a liquid he drank.....which he refuses to accept. To accept that would be the same as him accepting it's not real love he's feeling. Besides, I didn't want to try and compare the dark side of Kaiba with Tea's present behavior. Doing so could only lesson the character, so I wanted no chance of comparisons. Anyway, I'm real glad you liked the fic, and hope you enjoy the ending just as much.