Written, of all places, at my Nan's house last summer. I was bored, had my creative writing book on me (ooh, get me with the crazy prepared awesomeness!) and I needed to have a fix of Puppyshipping, so I wrote this. The one thing I regret about this fic is that I couldn't really make it sound like Joey. He has a distinctive voice, and I didn't get that because when I tried, it sounded awful. So yeah.
Joey/Jonouchi, Kaiba, Mokuba and Serenity all belong to Kazuki Takahashi.
I could never understand why I liked Seto Kaiba. I could never figure out why I would be so happy to see him, why my heart would flutter every time he was near, why I would think about him near constantly, and why I would strive so hard for him to notice me. No, not notice. Respect. I have always wanted his respect, and I didn't have a clue why.
I do know why I hate him, though. He is my polar opposite, as different to me as the day is to the night. Everything about him is different, even his appearance. He's a tall, brown-haired, blue-eyed rich kid who's got more change in his pocket than I can make in a year. I'm a blonde, hazel-eyed street punk who does more jobs than both his parents put together just so we have food in the fridge. He is a spoiled, patronising bastard who doesn't care at all for anyone he thinks is of a "lower status" than himself (which means pretty much everyone). To him, I really am a dog, some filthy stray that has no worth. A mere annoyance to be ignored. It really doesn't help that he's a genius too, in more than on sense. He's massively intelligent, a greatly trained martial artist, and an effortlessly brilliant duelist. Me? The only school subject I pass at is P.E., I get into fistfights on a regular basis and my duelling strategy is mostly based on luck. Not talent, but absolute dumb-luck. I would watch him duel against Yugi, watch him blow away some of Yugi's life points as though it's the easiest thing in the world, hear him follow it up with some remark about how no one will ever win against his deck, which is made up of rare, expensive and powerful cards…and I would seethe in anger, as he would prove that he's everything I can never be.
And so I made him my immortal rival. I would challenge him over and over, all too eager to try and beat him, to prove to him and everyone else that I am strong, that I am actually worth something, that I'm not just some dirty, irritating stray that's not worth any attention. Because if I did beat him, he would be forced to acknowledge me and my skills. And if he did acknowledge that I'm worth something, maybe I'd start to believe it too. But I never could do it. Still can't. I've tried - Lord knows, I've tried - but the outcome is always the same. Kaiba would win. And I would hate him for it.
But after a while, I noticed a few…similarities between us. Things that made me re-evaluate my views on him. Like me, he's respectful of those whom he sees as better than himself. He kicks ass in a fight. He's rude to people he doesn't like (mostly me). He'd had no "proper upbringing". And he has a younger sibling he'd give the world for. I can really relate to the latter two. I understood how he felt when I discovered he had no parents cause, in a sense, I don't have any either, since mum left (with Serenity in tow) and dad is…well, the less said about him, the better. And I can definitely understand why he cares for Mokuba so much, why he would risk life and limb to keep him out of harms way, because I would do exactly the same thing for Serenity. When the grown-ups in your life couldn't care less about you, that kid sister who might otherwise have annoyed the hell out of you becomes the most important thing in the world. I remember covering her ears to drown out our parent's arguing, thinking "I wanna keep her safe". Although it's meant to be a parent's job, I know that every older sibling feels that protecting that annoying kid brother or sister is their duty, especially if said parents are neglecting that. I came to understand Kaiba a little more, as I saw bits of me, traits that made me me, float around in him. I realised that, deep down, we were one and the same.
I could never understand why I liked Seto Kaiba so much. But now, I guess I kinda do. Because when you take away the riches and the over-inflated ego, all you've got left is a kid who wants to prove himself to the world, an older brother who wants nothing more than for his kid brother to be happy. Because in the end, he and I aren't so different.