Disclaimer: Yup, I don't own Yugioh, the characters or anything else along that line. This is just for fun. Thanks!
Note: In English, Kaze no Tayori would be something like "a message carried on the wind." It's a statement that can't be confirmed or denied; a rumor.
Kaze no Tayori
かぜの たより
Chapter 1
Jounouchi Katsuya and Kaiba Seto walked down the hallway. Both guys were each carrying a large, taped up cardboard box. Jou was having a little trouble holding his because the contents inside kept shifting awkwardly with each step that he took. Seto carried his box easily.
"What's in this? Rocks?" Jou complained. "I don't know why they need this stuff." Slightly bent over as he was, Jou could feel his blue high school jacket riding up in the back. It annoyed him, too.
"And just why did you mention me, Mutt?" Seto said, cutting his eyes dangerously at Jou. Jounouchi smirked back, looked around to make sure that no one was in the hallway, and picked up the pace to keep up with him.
"I wanted to hang out with you," Jounouchi said sheepishly. "Think of it as a little play time, no work."
Seto shrugged and kept walking. The two of them had been dating for about a month now. And they'd both decided to keep their relationship as quiet as possible. But, sometimes, it was hard because Jounouchi stared at him during class, and Jou tended to blush a lot when the look was returned.
"Sensei needed to get these boxes taken over to the stage so that the drama club could practice after school. Now here's the genius of it," Jou said with a toothy grin, "this would get us out of class early, and we could just… be together… for a few minutes longer," Jou said, smiling at the floor now.
Seto sighed openly. "And how did you explain to her that you wanted me, of all people, to help you move the boxes? Everyone thinks we hate each other—well, except for your friends."
"That's the best part," Jou said and snickered a little, "I told her that you and I had called a truce. And that I was giving you a chance to be nice."
"Wait. WHAT?" he said, shocked. "You were giving me a chance…?" Seto growled with each word.
"Yup," Jounouchi said and gave Seto a playful nudge of his shoulder with his own shoulder.
"Mutt, everyone knows that you are the one who does stupid stuff. The official story should have been that I was giving you a chance."
"Oh, that's not very likely, is it? Your rep is that you are not the forgiving type. Heh. Heh. Heh." Jounouchi smiled closely to Seto's face, "And that's too bad, you know."
Seto glared.
"You can kick me hard if you don't like it," Jou flirted back.
Jounouchi jumped quickly when he noticed Seto's foot heading his way.
"Hey! You almost got me."
"A pity," Seto growled.
"I could have been hurt."
"A pity," he growled again.
The door to the auditorium was held open due to a wooden wedge shoved into the door at the bottom. Jounouchi cast Seto an injured look and followed him inside, accidentally bumping the door with his box as he did so. They could hear hammering and hesitated for a second. It took a minute for their eyes to adjust to the dim light coming from the stage. Jou jumped slightly when the auditorium door came to, slamming behind him.
"It's only the door," Seto mumbled.
"You're so good to me," Jounouchi whispered, dripping with sarcasm. "I can see how much you truly care."
Seto glared darkly in his direction.
The two of them passed rows and rows of fold down chairs covered in cheap, red velvet. The stage was made of a light colored wood with black scuff marks and there was a layer of sawdust everywhere. High up, Jou and Seto noticed Fujisawa Kenichi up on a platform--working on one of the sets. He had a hammer and box of nails---trying desperately to keep his balance and to nail in another piece of wood. It didn't help matters that while Fujisawa-kun had a talent for designing sets, he had a fear of heights, too. And that made him easily distracted.
"Hey!" Fujisawa shouted, followed by a goofy wave. "Thanks for bringing that stuff over. I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't have time to go get it."
Seto looked up. Why does this school attract nerds? Come to think of it, am I the only normal one here?
"Hi ya!" Jou called back with an equally dorky wave of the hand. Seto glared at him.
"Stop that," Seto grumped.
"Stop what?" Jou said back, confused. When he didn't get an answer, Jounouchi looked up at Fujisawa. "What are you making?" Jou asked.
"I'm designing a set for the play that Anzu wrote called 'Kikkoden.' You know, it's the age old story of the weaver princess and the cow herder prince. Since we need a starry sky, I've got that to do-- as well as this bridge here."
"Bridge? Ummm… It looks kind of like a platform to me," Jou shouted up.
Fujisawa nodded. "It will be a really big bridge by the time I'm done with it, and it will cross the sparkling 'Celestial River' in the sky. I'll have the weaver princess on one side," he gestured to where he was standing. "And, then, we've got the cow herder prince on the other," he pointed to the opposite side of the stage. Then, we've got the dramatic scene when they cross over the river, join hands, and they fall into each other's arms. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. Audience swoons at the romance. The curtain comes down."
"And Anzu wrote this dribble?" Seto said to Jou with distain.
Jounouchi shrugged back. "I guess she's more of a romantic than I thought." He started to hum a song and Seto glared at him again. Under his breath, Jou sang to himself, "The stars go twinkle, twinkle; Gold and silver grains of sand." Seto stood with arms folded and listened to him, but pretended to be annoyed.
Jou looked at him out of the corner of his eye and said softly, "Oh, come on, Kaiba. You know the Tanabata song. Everyone does."
Seto said quietly back to him, "Don't expect me to join in." But with a shrug, he added, "You sing well, though."
"Thank you." Wink.
Fujisawa picked up the hammer and twirled it in his hand, trying to be a little macho. It felt nice having the undivided attention of Kaiba-kun and Jounouchi-kun. Both guys were looking up at him and that image felt good in his mind. Fujisawa didn't even notice himself kicking the box of nails off of the narrow platform that he'd just constructed.
"Oh, hell!" Fujisawa said as he saw the box fall off in slow motion and land on the stage with a metallic, jangling thud. The good part was that he'd closed the box. None of the nails fell out. But, the bad part was that he'd have to climb all that way down to get it, and he was afraid he'd forget his place—what he was working on now. He looked down at the guys below him. If he asked Kaiba to help him, the answer would probably be a huge, loud "no." That was Kaiba's rep at school. However, Jounouchi's reputation was that of a nice guy with a big, loud mouth. He hung out with Anzu, Honda, and Yugi. So, he had a better chance of asking Jounouchi to get the nails.
"Sorry, Jounouchi-kun, but could you bring up the nails?"
"Sure," Jou said, putting his large box on the stage and climbing up onto the stage itself--even though the narrow stairs were less than a meter a way. He grabbed the small, dented nail box and then went for the ladder. Bored, Seto put everything that he was holding down on the floor and stared up with arms folded.
Jounouchi is too nice. He says "yes" to everything. Every once in awhile, he should just say "no," Seto thought with a sigh.
"I really appreciate this," Fujisawa said and reached a hand out. The box passed hands. Jou got onto the platform with Fujisawa just in time to see the clumsy guy drop his hammer.
"Oi! Kaiba-kun! Head's up!"
Seto had already seen it and stepped back, blue eyes wide. A loud, dull "bang" followed by Kaiba's cursing echoed in the auditorium.
"Shit! What kind of fool are you?! Don't you know what you're doing?" shouted a commanding voice from below.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Fujisawa said, bowing and moving past Jou. "I'd better go and get this one myself," he muttered to Jounouchi and went down the ladder. There was no way that Kaiba would help him out now and give the hammer back.
Good luck with that, Jounouchi mused. He stopped for a second and looked around. The set was really good, if not great. He liked the nighttime design with stars and sunset colors. Plus, he had an unusual view of the auditorium from this height. Unlike Fujisawa, Jounouchi really loved views from a height. It made him feel connected to everything.
"Kaiba-kun, I'm really sorry," Jou heard from down below, ruining the moment.
"Well, you should be! That thing could have killed someone—namely, me! Think, for once, before you do something, fool." Seto used the rude Japanese word "you" and enjoyed doing it.
Enough, Kaiba. You're turning Fujisawa into the "I'm sorry machine" and all he's going to do is apologize to you now and gripe about you in the locker room after gym is over. Jounouchi sighed openly. Sometimes, Kaiba could be a total pain in the posterior. Plus, this outburst was making Jou squirm inside. "Hey, Kaiba? I think we're done here," Jounouchi said, interrupting Seto's next volley of insults. I'd better get him out of here before he embarrasses me any further. Not that anyone knows we're "together," but---
Jounouchi took a step and the platform slid several centimeters…down. It took a second for his brain to realize that the platform moved on its own. He froze. "Oh, hell!" Jounouchi whispered to himself, his voice breaking as the stage shifted laterally now. The wood and metal began to groan. A part of the backdrop, which was constructed of small, colorful pieces of paper, began falling off in whirling bits.
Seto's head shot up. He could see his blond puppy stranded far above the stage, wide eyed, and helpless.
"Jounouchi?!" Seto shouted. He glared hatefully at Fujisawa, grabbed a fist-full of his school jacket, and pulled him forward. "Hey, you, listen to me! You built this piece of crap." Seto pointed an accusing finger toward the stage. "Go get sensei! Hear me? You go get her!" Fujisawa, looking guilty, nodded absently and began to head for the door, but kept looking back as he was doing it—half expecting the whole thing to collapse.
"Run, you fool!" Seto shouted at him with a fist raised.
Suddenly, the dark haired student was beating cheeks out the door and down the hallway.
Now that the idiot's gone… Seto thought angrily.
Bamboo poles, resting against the wall until needed for set decoration, fell and rolled all over the stage. Half of the boards gave way under Jounouchi's feet and smashed into the paper lanterns below. Bits bounced off the stage. Seto raised an arm to block the shower of debris. "Hey, Mutt?!" He could see that Jou was holding onto the red velvet curtain with his left hand and a metal rail with his right. The rail was starting to groan, too.
Jounouchi's heart was racing. His body was stiff with shock. He looked down and tried to shift his foot on the sharp fragments of board that were remaining.
"Stay back, Kaiba!" Jounouchi shouted, but it sounded more like a wail.
Kaiba ignored him and jumped onto the stage in one leap. He stepped onto the ladder, which, he quickly noted, shifted under his feet as he climbed. At the top, he leaned forward and thrusted out a hand to Jounouchi.
"Let go of the curtain and take my hand!" he ordered.
Jou blinked back, face white.
"I said, COME TO ME!"
"R-Right," Jou breathed. The blond made a lunge, and his body fell through the last of the boards. Jounouchi was dangling now-- holding onto the metal rail. His hand was sweating and he felt himself starting to slide.
"NO!" Seto shouted. His voice echoed. Seto leaned over and grabbed Jou by the wrist.
"Come to me!" Seto demanded again. "I'll find a way to get you back."
Seto tried to pull but realized that his school shoes didn't have much tread under them. Seto began to slide, too, and Jou could feel it. They were both sliding down. Jou shook his head "no" and his hazel eyes were pleading.
"Now is a really inconvenient time to learn what the word "no" means, Mutt!" Seto bellowed at him.
"We're both going to fall!" Jou yelled back. He imagined the feeling of falling onto stage, but not alone this time. His heart beat harder. No! We can't do that. I won't let it happen. They started to slide again. Seto dug his shoes into the cheap wood. The blond shook his head "no" in frustration. Jou's heart was beating painfully against his ribs now. If I can shift just right, I can pull Kaiba against my body. Wrap myself around him…protect him… I'll hit the ground first… I have to! But, if I make a mistake… He looked up into blue eyes. He loved them so much. No, I can't risk it.
"I'll think of something!" Seto dug his short fingernails into flesh.
"No," Jou looked at him, hurt. He forced himself to feel calm, to feel nothing—the way he did every time a bully was about to hit him hard.
Don't think about the next second, Jounouchi told himself.
"Kaiba? Just let go."
"What?!" Seto was red faced and furious now. "You…cannot be…serious!"
"If I fall, I won't die from this height."
Seto glanced downward. There was a growing pile of wood, nails, and debris on the stage. "You are crazy! Do you hear me?" His eyes grew hard. "I can't believe you'd think I would do such a thing."
The platform continued to crumble. It was raining planks of wood and the metal groaned again with a deep voice.
"It's okay," Jou sounded reassuring now. "Just let go. I'm pretty sure it will be okay. Meet me down there, right?" He gestured with his eyes to the stage.
"No!" Seto growled, "And I'm not the cold-hearted bastard that everyone thinks I am. I'm not going to do this. So, you can just deal with it." He leaned forward and tried to hold onto Jou's wrist with both hands. If he could just get a better grip, he could pull him up.
"I wish you would listen to me," Jou said, looking down fearfully. He just couldn't help himself.
"That's not your wish and you know it!" he yelled back.
There was a sudden lurch and the whole structure shifted left. Jounouchi, dangling by one arm and his entire weight hanging down from it, jerked, too. Seto could feel a sickening shift in the arm and the muscles. The arm pulled.
Jounouchi shot his head back and screamed.
"Jou?!"
"My arm! Let go, Kaiba! My arm!" Jou's knuckles were white and the arm was shaking with veins sticking out of it like tree roots. Jounouchi was still screaming at him and Kaiba tried to block the sound out of his mind, and to think of a way out of this situation.
"Take my hand!" He ordered over another long, hideous scream that followed. "Move your other hand, and take my hand!"
They were both slipping again.
Jou's face showed the agony that he felt. He moved his other hand up…and tried to pry Seto's fingers from his wrist. Seto gnashed his teeth and snatched the free hand roughly.
"Let go!" Jounouchi ordered, "I am not taking you with me!"
"Listen, you bastard, I am not doing that!" Finally getting a good grip, he pulled Jou's chest onto the remnants of the old wooden platform. Jounouchi whimpered when his body slammed against the sharp, edges. Seto put one hand and then the other under the blond's arms. He pulled him into a bear hug, lifting him up. Quickly, Seto had Jounouchi against him, short nails digging into his back with the force of one hand, and pulling him down the stairs.
Once they got down onto the stage, part of him wanted to kick Jounouchi hard, but he could see the tears on his face and he was cradling his right arm with his left.
"Hurts. Hurts," Jounouchi said, leaning weakly against Seto.
"What line of crap were you trying to sell me, huh? Drop you? I would never let you fall!" Pieces of the set on the far side of the stage began to crumble, too. "And let's get the hell off the stage before the rest collapses."
With a rough hand gripping the blond's shoulder, Seto forced Jou down the narrow stairs to the ground level. But Jou wasn't moving quickly enough for Seto, who cast worried glances behind him. "J-o-u-n-o-u-c-h-i," Seto growled at the other's back "we're going."
Shoving Jou's back with each step, Seto prodded him back up the isle. He complained bitterly each step of the way, too. "How could you think that of me? How? Why be with me if you think that? And what were you doing? You were trying to make me let go of you even when I refused!"
Jounouchi stopped, head down and eyes in shadow. He turned to Seto. His arm hurt like hell in places and felt numb in others. The feeling was getting worse. It wasn't an arm. It was like a piece of meat attached to his shoulder. The pain was agonizing but he stopped anyway and leaned his head against Seto's chest.
Blue eyes narrowed. Seto took an impatient, huffy breath. Oh, no…Don't even try to make up with me right now! he thought. Seto grimaced. He was really going to let his dog have it. "Hell, Jounouchi! I…" he began right in Jou's face.
The blond let his right arm dangle at his side. He stared up like a stranger into Seto's eyes. Hazel locked with blue. Seto blanched. Suddenly, this wasn't the Jounouchi he knew.
"I hate you." Jounouchi thumped Seto's chest with his left hand doubled up. "How could you think of falling with me? It's okay… for me… to fall, but not you." Jounouchi said the last three words through gritted teeth, his voice deep and angry. "Mokuba depends on you. He needs you."
Jounouchi leaned his body against Seto again. He trembled. "Mokuba's not eighteen like you are. What happens to him if you're not there? He goes back into an orphanage, that's what!" Dizzy, Jou leaned his head against Seto's shoulder for a second. "He'll be alone again. Do you remember what 'alone' feels like? I do."
Seto blinked back in surprise, taking it all in. His eyes softened a little when he looked down at the blond. "Jounouchi…I see …I…"
"I hate you." Jou squeezed his left hand into a fist. He thumped Seto's chest. Seto took the weak blow, cringing slightly and putting a firm hand around to the small of Jounouchi's back to steady him. He could feel Jou body leaning awkwardly and noticed his face turning white again.
"I hate you." Thump.
"I hate you." Thump.
"I…hate…you!" Thump.
"I HATE YOU!"
"Yes, we all know that pretty well, Jounouchi-kun," Yukimura Sensei shouted from the double doors at the back of the auditorium. She had a very guilty looking stage designer by her side twiddling his thumbs and hoping not to be noticed until sensei had calmed down a bit. The short, stocky Japanese woman with a flat chest and thick glasses stormed down the isle. She gave Jou a dour look. He was barely on his feet, face flushed with anger, and an arm that was clearly injured.
Yukimura Sensei's sharp eyes looked over to the crumbling set—shredded paper, velvet curtain hanging down limply, twisted metal and tons of wooden debris. All of that work for nothing and the new set materials would probably break the budget.
"How did this happen?" she snapped.
Seto's face twisted into a scowl. "That idiot," he pointed to Fujisawa, "designed a 'bridge' that wasn't safe. And I had to go get this idiot here," he gestured to Jou, "before he fell to his death."
"He's not in the drama club," Sensei said, frowning back. "Why was he up there?"
"Let's ask the fool who dropped the nails and wanted Jounouchi to bring them up to him, why don't we? Lazy, if you ask me."
"Which I didn't," Yukimura Sensei snapped back.
Jounouchi wasn't paying attention. His body tilted slightly. He cradled his right arm in his left arm again, eyes far off. The pain was so bad that Jou had to remind himself to breathe
In and out…just breathe…in and out…again…in and out…I wish they'd shut up…in and out…assholes, all of them…in and out…
A part of Seto wanted to hold Jou, no matter who was looking. But, he gave his word to Jounouchi that they'd be discrete. And, in this at least, he'd do his best and keep his word. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Jounouchi almost fell to his knees. Seto grabbed the back of his school jacket at the last second and pulled him up by it. To sensei, this looked like Seto was becoming a puppet master.
"I see…" She gave Jou a kinder look, and Seto decided to cut her a little slack.
"Take him to the nurse's office."
"He can't make it like this," Seto said in a monotone. He'd had enough experience with Jou to know when he simply couldn't go on. "Do you want me to carry him?" Seto scowled deeply with dull eyes. He pretended that the thought disgusted him. "Then again, I could drag him," he said with a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. She saw the look.
"No, have him sit down," she gestured to one of the red velvet auditorium chairs, "and I'll ask the nurse to come here. But, I think we'll have to send him to a hospital."
"No hospitals," Jounouchi said, his eyes far away.
She glanced at the arm, "You'll go and not argue." She started to walk away, but stopped and said to Seto, "I'm glad you two are learning to get along better."
Lady, you have no idea just how well we get along, Seto thought tartly.
She left for the nurse's with Fujisawa trailing behind with, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I mean, nothing was going right. First, there's the nails…and then the hammer…." He was bowing and walking at the same time. His whiney voice faded into the distance. He disappeared from sight.
Watching them go, Seto's shoulders slumped a little in relief. He folded down one of the red chairs and guided Jounouchi into it. Jou was doubled over, clutching his arm.
"Hurts…oh, man…this feels really bad…"
"You can hate me some more if it will make you feel better," Seto said, taking a chair next to him. His voice was quiet, and his eyes on the floor. "Maybe, I was wrong. I wouldn't let you go. This is what happened."
Jounouchi was taking short, huffy breaths now. "Questioning yourself, Kaiba?" Jou said roughly. "That's not like you." Jounouchi leaned forward with his head down on the back of the theater seat in front of him, eyes cast in shadow. Jou tried to breathe through the pain. He'd been sitting like that for a minute or so before he shook his head to clear it, and forced himself back in his own seat.
Seto cast a quick, worried glance and then stared at the floor again. Jounouchi saw it.
"But it's okay… I don't hate you," Jou breathed, closing his eyes to shut out the pain. "Deep down, I really don't."
"That's a coincidence," Seto said, eyes cutting in his direction, "I don't hate you, too."
"You wouldn't let go of me. I've never mattered that much to anyone." Even my own family, he thought bitterly. His hazel eyes looked far away for a second, remembering something. He took a sharp breath and closed his eyes tightly, slouching down in the chair a little.
"You do matter," Seto said quietly, almost reaching out a hand to Jou but quickly taking it back, "even when you hang out with the geek squad, make me mad, argue with me, say 'yes' to everyone, tell bad jokes…sing…"
Jounouchi fought hard to stop shaking. His body felt weak, too. "Really? Then, you'd better hug me before they come back with the nurse."
With relief, Seto reached over and held Jounouchi—gently placing Jou's head against his chest. He tucked the blond head under his chin. "You could have been hurt. And I mean, worse than this…," Seto murmured, stroking soft blond hair with his right hand. Now that it was all over, Seto allowed himself to feel upset. His hand shook a little.
"A pity," Jounouchi said back with a slight smile. "Isn't that what we said earlier?" Jou reminded him.
Seto glared at the comment and hated himself for it.
"Jounouchi?"
"Hmmm?"
"Just curious… Since when did you start to care so much about my little brother?" Seto asked, his tone serious.
Jounouchi tilted his head back and rested it against Seto's shoulder, chin raised. Hazel eyes looked up into blue ones.
"The minute I fell in love with you."
"You may come to regret that," Seto said, followed by a sigh.
"Never."