Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Urgency of Life ❯ falling 2.0 ( Chapter 2 )

The Urgency of Life

A Seto/Joey fanfic by subaruxkamui4ever

So, remember to not do drugs…right? Well, this story isn't starting out that sad, but it will get sadder. Trust me. And then later, it will get sadder. Really. And so on and so forth. Now this is where Seto comes in and tries to rescue his puppy from himself! Oh, it's so romantic! But then, later, it will get sadder….

falling….. . . .. . . . . . .

"Jo….Joey! Joey, you nose! It's…"

The teacher stared at my face and pointed to the door. "Quick, go to the nurses office! Your nose is bleeding." As she attempted to regain control of the classroom, in which the air had become heavy with whispers, it finally dawned on me and I put a finger to my lip. Blood trickled slowly out of my nose, and trailed down my face, running rivulets over my lips and tingeing my tongue with a metallic taste. I was not as shocked as I'm sure everyone thought I should be, but I was not quite in my right mind. I laughed as I gazed at my hand, looking at my red fingertips. There wasn't really that much, I just wasn't sure how I had done it. I mean, I had a pretty good idea, but I had done everything like normal. What had gone wrong? Or maybe this was supposed to happen every once in awhile. It had been almost a year, but that wasn't very long to have an addiction. There were plenty of things I had yet to experience, I was sure. And since I was actually `on' while this was happening, I found it to be quite exciting.

"Joey, are you OK?" I looked up to see who had called my name. The teacher, who had sent me to the nurse a minute earlier, was curious to know why I hadn't gone. I was momentarily glad that I looked worse than I felt, I could pass off my strange behavior as dizziness, or something related. I decided to play along with it. "No, I feel…sick. I can't go alone…" I played my hand, hoping she'd ask one of my friends to take me. Then we'd have a chance to get out of class for awhile. I hated sitting for very long. "Can someone come with me?" I pleaded, halfway shutting my eyelids so they drooped and made me look tired. I still had plenty of blood on my face, so I'm sure I looked pitiful either way, but everything I did in this state of mind was over-exaggerated. The teacher looked carefully around the room before settling slightly on a face and then returning to her text.

"Seto, will you please escort Joey to the nurse?"

Oh. That wasn't what I had meant at all.

No. This was bad.

Not him. I couldn't be alone with him.

Not now.

Not today.

Not ever.

I was in love with him.

falling.. . . . . …. ..

He was silent as he stood abruptly from his desk and turned to face me, giving me a look of cool indifference, regardless of how sick I looked. "If I must…" he returned. Walking towards the door, he passed me completely without pausing for a second and turned the handle, swinging it open. "Come on mutt," he said deeply, and smirked. "Let's take you to the vet." The class loved it, and laughed hysterically as I rushed past them, desperate to be away from them. I knew my face had probably gone red by then, and I was afraid someone would notice. He had smiled at me…and I almost couldn't handle it. True, it was more of a calculated grimace than a smile, but it was more than enough to drive me crazy. As I walked out of the classroom, he let the door close behind us and began walking down the hall, not bothering to see if I was following him or not. "Hey, wait!" I said, trying not to yell, since there were classes in session all around us. He didn't, nor did he show that he had heard me call to him. I ran and caught up to him quickly. "Hey, Kaiba, this isn't even the right wa-" I was cut short as he abruptly stopped and grabbed me by the collar, pulling me in the direction he had turned in so suddenly. Opening a door, he tossed me casually inside and followed me in. The door shut itself behind us. Looking all around me, I realized that I was in an empty classroom, alone, with Seto.

Alone.

Still half sitting, half-lying on my back, I watched him as he opened his briefcase, which I had failed to notice him grab earlier. Sitting at one of the empty desks, he pulled a laptop out of his bag and turned it on, apparently preparing to work on something. It was as if I had never happened. I needed his attention desperately, but I couldn't just start insulting him out of nowhere. I'd look insane. Instead, I got off the ground and approached him cautiously, coming around the desk to stand behind him. "Whatcha doin'?" I asked casually.

"Working." He replied, in a way that halted the rest of the words that were about to leave my lips. I caught my breath in my throat, this was exactly what I couldn't stand! Hate me, Love me, feel anything for me, but don't feel nothing at all! I exist, and I will make sure that I exist to you as well, if it's the last thing I ever do! I looked at his face for a full minute, watching him work. He became frozen, stilled to perfection when he worked, the only movement at all were his fingers, flying across the keypad, almost too fast to see. The light from the small screen shone across his face, lighting his already unnaturally blue eyes with a bright silver sheen that made them glow almost like those of a demon. His features were so small and delicate, when you saw them close up. It was surprising, because when one thought about Seto Kaiba, one did not think of the words small and/or delicate to describe anything about him. But he really was. I was thinking a mile a minute, and being in such close proximity to him, accompanied by my altered state, caused me to completely forget that when I spoke,my voice could be heard. Because I was so used to saying it over and over again, whenever I thought about him like that, it came out naturally. I didn't even think, it just came out. It was so quiet, spoken under my breath, almost in awe of his presence.

"I'm in love with him…." I looked past him, behind him, and my focus blurred. It had been a few hours since I'd had more, and it was well past the time I normally did it. Seto, on the other hand, had stopped what he had been doing and looked up into my face. "What did you say?" He asked, and there was no underlying tones in his voice whatsoever. His face held confusion, and he stared directly into my eyes, waiting for me to answer. Seeing him like that brought me back from my momentary daze, and I realized that I had said that phrase aloud. I panicked, but tried not to show it, willing my voice into a casual tone.

"I said…uh…I asked why you didn't take me to the nurse?" I looked at him and realized that I didn't know the answer to that question, either. He blinked, obviously not buying the pathetic lie, but not curious enough to pursue the issue. Or maybe he's letting me slide for now, I thought. That could mean trouble later on. I knew that Seto always followed up on things when you least expected him to, always catching his opponent off guard. Always in control of every situation. "Don't be stupid, mutt. I only came so I could get out of that travesty of a learning facility. At least I can get some work done in here. Aren't you happy? You don't have to learn anything else for the rest of the day. Now leave me the hell alone." Turning back to his work, he began typing once more, and I turned to leave. If that's really what he wanted, I would give it to him. I would do anything at all, just to give him a single moment of happiness. If he would only accept it.

"And clean off your face while you're at it. You look pitiful."

I walked back out, into the hall. Passing a few more rooms, I reached the bathroom, my favorite bathroom. The one that has my favorite stall, where I can sit on the ground comfortably, without being noticed. It was the bathroom that was used the least out of all the others, because of its location. Farthest from the school exit and entrance, upstairs and in the back wing. I had one class that was only a few halls away, the class I was supposed to be in right now. But I'm sure the teacher didn't expect neither Seto nor I back before the end of the class. Judging from the time it had been when I'd left Seto in the room, I still had twenty minutes before the bell rang. Perfect. But first…about this blood. I wet a paper towel and cleaned all the mess from my face. It hadn't been much at all, I just hadn't noticed it, so it had spread across my face slowly. It had all come out of the nostril I had used earlier this morning. I supposed that maybe I should give that one a rest for awhile. I still had one more, anyway. I locked myself in my stall, and pulled out my cigarette box. I couldn't bring everything I used at home, since I was at school, so I used my old school ID card from last year to cut the lines on. Spreading the substance around the card, I watched as the blade slowly ran across the picture of my face, cutting into the plastic deeper with each passing day. My features were barely discernible anymore. Soon, I would be almost unrecognizable. But it was just a silly school picture.

I was ready. But a thought struck me. I didn't have anything to drink. And I couldn't bear the thought of swallowing it down, eating away at my throat and esophagus, making me retch uncontrollably. There was no way. I'd have to get something, but what? There was a soda machine outside the bathroom. I could run out really fast and grab one, and come right back. But what if someone came in and saw? I couldn't very well say, "Hey, don't go in there, that's my stall!", could I? I'd look crazier than I already did. But I'd already got the stuff out of the bag, there was no way I could put it back in without losing some of it. I felt trapped. Just as I as about to make a move, I heard the door to the bathroom open, and someone came inside. "Joey?" I knew that voice. It was Seto! But looking for me? That didn't make any sense. Suddenly, I realized that if he found me, he'd find a lot more than just me in this stall. I pushed any feelings of panic down and kept my cool. I would be silent. He wouldn't come into the stalls, and he'd see that, whoever was in this one wasn't answering to Joey, and he'd leave. I stilled myself completely. "Joey…" he called one last time. I heard the door open once again, and footsteps led outside. As the door shut, I let out the breath I didn't know I had been holding. That was too close. But what did Seto want with me? I shook my head, ridding myself of the thoughts. It didn't matter, I told myself. It wasn't what you wanted. Standing up, I, ever so carefully, lifted up the card that had the lines cut on it, and slid it behind the toilet, in between the base and the wall, just in case. Hastily unlocking the stall, I pulled a dollar out of my pocket and flattened it between my fingers as I walked out of the bathroom. The machine was directly across the hall, not more than five steps away from the bathroom door. I selected the soda I wanted, and it fell from the machine and I grabbed it, dashing back across the hall the way I had come. I hadn't seen a soul since Seto, and it couldn't have been more than six or seven minutes later. I hadn't lost much time. Back in the stall, I listened silently for a moment, just to be sure that no one had come in while I had gone. There were a few moments when my back had been turned, but I hadn't heard a thing. Judging the area safe, I slid the metal lock across the door and went back to work.

Fishing the card from behind the toilet, I was relieved to find it completely undisturbed. The drug, while one of the cheaper versions of it's class, was nonetheless expensive in large quantities, especially for someone so young as I. There was no way I could afford to lose a single line. Wasting no more time, since I wasn't quite sure how much I had left, I brought the straw up to my nose and placed it just inside the nostril that hadn't been dripping blood everywhere earlier, deciding that to be the safer route. If at all there was a safer route to be found in this game. Holding my breath and clamping my other nostril shut, I took up one line…..two….three. Sniffing hard, I tilted my head back and allowed the powder to work it's way into my body. The burning…it was so good…I loved it. "Ah!" I involuntarily let out a soft sob at the feeling, I had been waiting to do this. But, inevitably, after the burn settled, it slowly turned into the dripping. It drips slowly down through my sinuses, gets caught in the back of my throat and makes me dry heave a few times. It's got an awful taste, which varies from ball to ball, but is always unbearable. And it was upon me. "Oh, god…" I whispered, feeling the mucous gather in my brain. I opened the soda and took a quick drink, and began trying to cough it up. God, it was so awful, but I had to try to keep quiet. I could be rather noisy while working the drugs through my body, and I sometimes forgot where I was in the rush of the whole experience. After a few more minutes of torture, the feelings of nausea were replaced, once again, by feelings of excitement and interest. I was determined, I was involved, and I was completely alive! I wanted to experience everything, all at once. I wanted to laugh with my friends, fight with my enemies, be everywhere at all times. And I felt capable. I began to laugh, and it was quiet at first, but it grew slowly into a full, rich cascade of tones, echoing all around the stalls, passing from wall to wall, filling me with my own ecstasy.

I was unstoppable. And then, the bell rang.

As the students filed out of their classrooms, I sat quietly in my stall, safe from all of them. Upon cleaning up after myself, I realized that I had left my backpack in the classroom. I would have to go and get it, and the school day was over, so it would have to be now. I was sure Seto hadn't gone back as well, and was probably riding away from the school as I walked, in some sort of expensive automobile. I reached the room I had left over half an hour earlier and found no one inside. No Seto, but no teacher either. I wasn't going to say a word. We both got what we wanted out of the deal. It was all mutual, and we were even. We would never speak of it again, I was sure. But I was very wrong.

I had my backpack, my soda, and my drugs, and I was off campus. I set off in the direction of my house, feeling very neutral about the fact that I was going there for the next few days. Today had been Friday, there was nowhere for me to go until Monday morning. I had resigned myself to my fate long ago. I had accepted it because there was nothing to fight against. This was my life, and I would live it until the very end, however far away or around the corner my demise actually was. I honestly didn't really care all that much. What did it matter? I had already achieved all that I believed I was able to achieve for myself. In my own opinion, there was really nowhere else to go but downhill. If only I were capable of more. If only I were…good enough…

A car slammed on it's brakes directly behind me, causing me to nearly have a stroke. My heart rate was up quite enough, it didn't need anymore stimulation from an outside source. Clutching my hand to my chest, I turned around to see what had happened. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Get in the car. Now."

Seto Kaiba stood not more than ten feet away from me, right in front of a very black, very shiny, very expensive looking car. It wasn't a limo, but it wasn't being driven by him, either. He stood directly in front of one of the back doors, holding it open and looking at me expectantly. Wait, he wanted me to get in the car with him? That couldn't be right. "Huh?" I asked, scrunching up my nose in confusion. He put one of his hands on his hip and stood dramatically, gesturing with his other hand towards the inside of the car. "Get in the car, you stupid dog! You don't want me to come get you!" Hearing the fury in his tones, I immediately ran to the car and jumped in, scooting over to the other seat so he could sit, which he did. Shutting the door and locking it, he looked up for a second and said "Drive." in a commanding tone. The car moved into traffic seconds later. I was rather frightened, already having been easily excitable due to the drug, but now all of this? What was going on today? I looked at Seto and found that he was already looking at me…had been for awhile. Under the scrutiny of his eyes, I felt as though he was searching for answers to questions he hadn't bothered to ask me. He always thought he had it all figured out on his own. That's how he always got into trouble. I returned the look he had been giving me, but it didn't faze him at all. He didn't even appear to notice. I began to grow frustrated, and I spoke.

"Hey, what's going on? How come you're taking me to your house? And what are you staring at? I'm really confused…" I didn't know what to say to him. How do you convince someone who doesn't care about what's happening to tell you what's happening? I just looked at him pleadingly, right into his eyes, searching for his answer. Finally, he spoke. "After you left the room, I decided that since I promised the teacher I would take you to the nurse, I had better make sure you got there. It would be just like you to get lost on the way. And, just as I thought, you never made it. You want to tell me what you were doing?" He stared menacingly into my eyes, daring me to lie to his face. I had no other choice. I had to lie. "I had to go to the bathroom first, Kaiba. I went to the nurse right afterwards. See, no more blood." I turned my head this way and that, showing him the blood was truly gone. "Oh, really?" he asked, a small grin playing his lips. "Then what's this…?" He reached a hand out and touched my face, lightly dragging a finger across my top lip. I paled immediately, and then, seconds later, blushed madly. What the hell was he up to? He brought his finger up to my face and held it momentarily in my line of vision. I focused on his hand and gasped, clutching my face. Immediately I felt wetness stick to my hand. There was more blood. This time from the other nostril, I knew it. He watched me intently to see my reaction. I was scared, but I still wanted to know what he was up to. I wiped my wrist across my face, hoping to drag off most of the blood before it dried, I already knew how fresh it was.

"So what? My nose bleeds. Big deal, Kaiba. That still doesn't explain why you're trying to kidnap me! Tell me what's going on?"

He was silent for a few moments, evidently thinking out his approach. It seemed as though he really did have something to say to me. I grew anxious, completely at a loss over what it was that he could possibly have to speak to me about. He looked out the window, away from my face, as he spoke. "I shouldn't have to tell you what's going on. I think you know exactly what I mean."

The silence in the car was terribly empty. I was shocked into complete submission. He couldn't mean…no. There was no way he could know. He meant something else, I was sure of it. "No, I … really don't know, Kaiba. Just tell me what you mean. I'm sure we can talk about it, whatever it is…"

He looked back into my face, slightly amused. Apparently I had said something funny, although I had no clue what it was. "Oh, there isn't anything we need to discuss. It's you who needs to do the talking here. Tell me, Wheeler, how long have you been snorting crank?"

AN: Well, would you look at that? Our little Seto is all grown up and identifying his drugs. He sounds really bent out of shape about the whole thing. I know he always sounds bent out of shape about everything, ever, but why is he bent out of shape about Joey and his uh, bad habits? What does Seto care? Or does he….? Dun,dun,dun! Yeah, ok, but I don't actually know the answer to that question, so please don't really ask. All will be revealed when the time is ripe. And, uh, don't really do drugs, or something. Till next time…