Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Haima ❯ Chapter 13: Autumn Holidays ( Chapter 13 )

Haima
Author: Nekocin
Anime: Yuugioh
Warnings: OOC
Rated: PG-13
Disclaimer: Anime in question doesn't belong to me. Never was. Never will.
Author's notes: I know I haven't been updating this story even if I've this chapter already in my notebook. I apologize for not typing this chapter earlier. I'm sorry.

Chapter 13: Autumn Holidays

10:15 AM - Friday

"How's your leg, Ryuuji-san?" Shizuka asked while putting fresh water in the vase for the flowers.

"Never been better" officer Ryuuji grinned giddily. His leg had luckily been 'saved' from being amputated once it had gotten infected. He needed a few weeks before getting released from the hospital. And during that time Chief had given him permission to be on off-duty. Maybe he should thank that little idiot -erhm... rookie- for coming to save his life. Hehehe...

It might have just been his luck that Shizuka-chan was checking on him. The dreamy look on his face went unnoticed by the optimistic younger Jounouchi [or is it?]. Would he ever get a chance with her?

"Ryuuji-san... Ryuuji-san? Ryuuji-san?!" Shizuka frowned at the dreamy-looking officer on the bed with his injured leg.
"I wonder what he's actually dreaming about" she mused when a knock on the door made her tune out her curiosity.

"Shizuka-chan, there's someone who wants to speak to you outside" An officer popped his head into the room.

Brown eyes. Brown hair. Hmmm... Who's he again?, she blinked in confusion. "Really? All right. Just give me a minute"

Shizuka wondered who might want to speak to her in the hospital. Maybe Inspector Kaiba's younger brother?
It has been 3 days already after that incident. She wondered if the younger Kaiba was going to get angry at her brother...

The officer nodded goofily and immediately disappeared behind the door. Shizuka turned her attention back to the officer on the hospital bed.

"Ryuuji-san, if you don't mind I've to go outside for awhile" she smiled and didn't notice the shocked look on the officer's face.

NOOOO!!! Otogi screamed mentally. "Damn that Honda! He did it on purpose!"

"Would you like to come with me to the 'Stairs to Heaven' shinto for the Autumn festival tonight, Shizuka-chan?"

As soon as Shizuka had come out that brown-eyed, brown-haired officer asked her out. What's his name again?... Hiro-something something?

The officer sandwiched her hands into his and started giving her pleading looks.

"Uhm... I..." Shizuka was still dumbstruck by the sudden question about the festival thing. She was speechless. What must she do?

She had forgotten all about the Autumn festival while worrying about her brother's scarred past and present.
Declining the offer would mean she would have to crush his hopes. That would be a very mean thing to do.

"Uhm..."

"That's a great idea! Why don't we all go there?" A new voice broke in. Both Shizuka and the officer looked up. "Huh?"

She didn't know how, but a genuine smile really was flashed to whoever had made that suggestion.
Officer Honda's eyes twitched in annoyance. Damn! It's that genius of a brother from the Inspector's side.

"I agree, Kaiba-kun" Shizuka added quickly to confirm her acceptance of going to the temple even though if two guys were going to take her... EH?!
Somehow a very unexpected thought hit her when she didn't notice. Shizuka blushed immediately. Why do some of the guys notice her?

"Great! I'll tell brother that I won't be around tonight" he chirped, not quite understanding Shizuka's grateful smile.

10: 36 AM

Katsuya stared, uninterested, out of the window. People were passing his side of the window, but he wasn't quite paying much attention to them. Not even to those wonderful-looking paper lamps.

Maybe if he'd stayed clueless about the rookie case then maybe, just maybe he wouldn't have to be in the other's debt [the Inspector's debt]. The damn guilt was eating him inside.

Jounouchi growled unconsciously when he thought about the guilt again. Images of how the inspector had taken the bullet were replaying occasionally in front of him. Why?

"What is it, Jounouchi-kun?" agent Yuuki asked indifferently as he looked at the rookie from the corners of his eye. Yami had taken his car along on duty when he'd remembered their police car had exploded. This time agent Yuuki took the wheel and drove them towards area F.

It was kind of strange to see the rookie so frustrated. Yami just didn't believe that police work had been too much for Jounouchi.

"I'm at a loss..." Katsuya said lowly at last and sighed sadly. Should he tell? Was it worth agent Yuuki's time to hear him out?
While keeping his eyes on the road, agent Yuuki swerved the wheel to the left. He stopped the car near the pedestrian road and turned to the rookie.

"You know what your problem is, Katsuya-kun?"

Katsuya blinked. His temporary teacher had just switched himself from using formal names. Did that mean it's getting personal?

Yami smirked at the confused look. "You're having a block"

Blink. Blink.
Katsuya wondered what he meant. Was he saying it literally? Or figuratively? He'd never really seen agent Yuuki as some compassionate person, so why was he even bothering?

Yami smirk broadened. "Tonight a summer festival will be held at the 'Stairs to Heaven' temple. Why don't you try your luck under the full moon?" he suggested mysteriously.

Somehow that made something seem so obvious in Jounouchi's mind. Something clicked. "You're going to do that too, aren't you?"
A smile slowly made its way to the rookie's face.
AHA! There's something going on here. Something really smell fishy about this topic, Katsuya mused and temporarily forgot about his previous dark mood.

Yami steadied his smirk. Good. The rookie was giving him his full attention. Yami wondered how he would bring that carefree side of the rookie out. He himself had a hard time doing that until... ah, forget it.

"Is it because of Yuugi?" Jounouchi teased, abruptly ending Yami's serious thoughts. At the mention of agent Mutou's name, Yami stared wide-eyed at the rookie. He'd almost sputtered out in denial, but being the way he was, agent Yuuki Yami didn't sputter.

"What?"

The look on the rookie's face told him that Katsuya knew what he's talking about. Katsuya knew that he knew he knew what he meant. It was too obvious.

"Don't deny it. It's so obvious, but I admit, it took me a while to notice this... this thread" Katsuya grinned truthfully as he watched Yami's face pale.

Yami flushed embarrassedly. "Y-you knew it all along?"

"Mhm. But it's still strange that Yuugi hadn't picked up the pieces yet. At first I thought you were just being goody-goody with your previous partner, Yuugi. But later on I just happened to find out that yours is much more than just companionship" Jounouchi nodded eagerly, happy to share this little discovery with his temporary teacher.

"Aa... Yuugi has a hard time telling the differences between police life and commoner life. He sort of see the pieces, but didn't think they were important..." Yami smiled sadly. It really hurts to feel so left out from the one you like.

"Why not tell him tonight? The moon is some sort of romantic symbol for two lovers, right?" Katsuya cut in.

Yami flushed. What if the feelings aren't mutual? What if Yuugi would feel disgusted? What if he was too late to confess?

"Why don't you go take Mai-san along tonight?" Yami blurted out. It wasn't his intention to turn the around but... he'd seen the look on agent Kujaku's face whenever Jounouchi was around or when his name came up in a conversation. The look was hopeful, longing, wistful... love.

Heh.

For someone like Jounouchi Katsuya Yami was surprised that the rookie hadn't noticed this. Maybe he was just too busy fussing over his younger sister's safety or too goofy to tell the feelings apart or too dutiful to even see those looks or maybe he's already in love with another or... he might be ignoring her... Heck! They all seem possible answers.

The teasing smile faltered and the light in those brown eyes disappeared. Katsuya felt empty and the guilt came back.

"I can't... I mean, I would like to... since Shizuka loves having me going out with a companion... especially on holidays. But I can't. I've something in mind... that I need to do right away. Sorry" His answer was so jumbled that Yami wasn't sure if Jounouchi knew about his implication that someone had a crush on him...

10:30 AM

"Onii-chan?..." Mokuba started softly. He peeked through the door's jar just to see if his brother was asleep.

"Hm?"

This confirmed the younger Kaiba's suspicion; Big brother wasn't even resting! He was...

"Onii-chan! You should be resting, not working!" Mokuba scolded when he saw the laptop on his brother's lap.
Red-rimmed blue eyes looked dully at the harsh violet eyes of the younger Kaiba. The blue eyes immediately softened.

"I need to finish my projects as soon as possible" the patient explained. The older one rubbed his neck carefully as he tried not to pain himself through more physical movements.

"Onii-chan!" Mokuba crossed his arms over his chest and gave his brother a disapproving look. "No working yourself out till the end when you need to rest in order to heal that wound"

Seto sighed. He didn't like to be ordered around whenever he needed to finish his works. Especially not from someone like Mokuba who's studying for Doctor. But... at the back of his mind he knew he needed to get out of bed soon. There's plenty of work to do if he's not out of hospital in two weeks.

Seto looked apologetically at his brother and received with a small smile from his brother.

The smile faltered.
"Onii-chan, would you get mad if I told you I'd agreed to go somewhere without asking for your permission?" After taking a deep breath, Mokuba blurted out, hopefully.

"No, why would I get mad?" Seto's lips twitched slightly. His stomach dropped as soon as he'd said that. He feared Mokuba would have to leave him one day. Hopefully, not that day. Mokuba wouldn't be so cruel to leave him behind when he's bedridden, right? Right? Just because he looked so helpless in that bed... that wouldn't be the reason, right?

"Because that will be the reason why I can't be here tonight, onii-chan" Mokuba answered truthfully and peered critically at his brother. He wondered if his brother was suppressing all his real feelings just because he's present. Dammit! He's not a little kid anymore! Maybe he acted like one, but he's truly sure that he's not a little kid.

"Oh... the Autumn Festival, ne?" Seto responded awkwardly. Sadness welled up inside of him. He felt sorry for himself that he couldn't take his younger brother somewhere just to celebrate the Autumn Festival.

When was the last time they'd been doing something together? When was the last time he'd watched Mokuba grow out of his childhood into adolescences?

"Yes. I actually agreed to go because I'd sensed Shizuka-chan was feeling uncomfortable going alone with officer Honda. I guess I sort of blurted out as soon as I saw her indecisiveness" Mokuba explained embarrassedly while scratching the back of his neck.

"But don't worry. I'll try to get back as soon as possible before onii-chan feels lonely" he added quickly. The younger Kaiba already felt bad about 'saving' someone because he had to leave his big brother behind that night.

It was so unfair!

"Aa... Have a great time then. Don't let me be the reason to stop you from having fun" Understanding seemed clear in Seto's eyes. So the reason had to be the famous rule of saving the damsel from distress. "So you're now her knight in shining armor?"

Mokuba blushed. He really didn't mean it to give his brother such an idea, but it really sort of fell in the same category.

11:00 AM

Station 6's chief, PJ, was looking over some reports as he slowly rolled his chair distractedly. Most of the handwritings were done by the ever-so-critical agent Yuuki, but they really lacked the rookie's presence. Was the rookie getting lazier by the minute? He thought he'd seen the rookie writing furiously over is report just a few days ago. What had happened?

"Haku" his commanding tone snapped the said person out of his daily mind rants about the lower officers having no respect for him and such petty stuff surrounding a certain person.

"Yes, sir?" Bakura responded indifferently and blanked his face once he looked at the chief.

"What's the latest reports on our rookie's behavior?" the agent looked up at the ceiling for awhile and collected his thoughts carefully.

"Depressed would be a good word, sir"

A delicate eyebrow rose up.

"Depressed? I thought personal problems should be tune out whenever one's one duty" The chief pointed out. He's a bit enraged by the rookie's behavior. Jounouchi should have blended into police life for a few days by now.

"That murder case on rookies hadn't been solved, am I right?" the chief sighed and abruptly asked when he remembered the word 'rookie; in a different light.

"No, sir" came the dull reply.

"I see..." The chief clasped his hands in front of his face and looked thoughtfully at the door. Maybe he should ask the rookie personally or maybe he should pair Jounouchi up with agent Mutou.

Besides that, Chief Crawford wouldn't be surprised if agent Yuuki was letting the rookie on his own. The guy didn't really have this social sense in him except maybe... for that agent Mutou. Who can help but like the friendly agent Mutou? But as cold as agent Yuuki might be, he's a good officer.

"You're dismissed"

Bakura bowed and turned away. He collected himself and kept his eyes on his desk next to his childhood friend, agent Ishtar. What had actually happened? Agent Yuuki refused to say one word to him about the rookie a few days ago. It meant something had happened to the rookie... something that had to be shushed among them.

For some reasons unknown, he looked around absently and somehow his attention was focused on someone across his side of the desks.

Big confused brown eyes had looked up when the chief called for his partner. He wondered if the chief was going to replace everyone all over again like last time. He was considered as one of the lucky ones who didn't have to be replaced [unlike agent Mutou].

But unfortunately, he'd to stick with agent Haku. Those damn uncomfortable feelings whenever his partner's around made him feel edgy towards the other. It wasn't like he hated having the other around. It was just this damn unknown feeling...
ACK!

Bakura was looking at his direction.

Ryou panicked mentally and quickly broke eye contact. Ryou prayed his partner wasn't going to suspect him of something...

"Meet me at 'Heaven's gate' temple 11 o'clock tonight" the familiar voice made Ryou stiffen. The footsteps went past him as soon as he looked up in surprise. He watched agent Haku take his place behind his desk and frowned.

Huh?

End Chapter 13

End notes:

- Shinto - Buddhist temple
- "Stairs to Heaven" is not really a temple [I can be wrong though]
- I believe the Japanese celebrate Autumn festival... but I forgot within which week this is celebrated. :sweatdrops: I'm sorry for my incompetence.
- Oh yeah, a very big error. Throughout the story I've let Mokuba refer to his brother as "Onii-chan" instead of the actual "Nii-sama" he always use in the Japanese version. I'm sorry for using the more affectionate one :points at 'Onii-chan':.

It might not make any sense anymore, after I've been gone from this story awhile. So re-reading might spark the interest again... if you have come this far, that is. :sigh:

:smiley face: cin