Mizu no Awa
水のあわ
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"I said 'run' you mutt!" Seto shouted over his shoulder. He was sprinting down the well trodden path with his white, trademark sleeveless Kaiba Corp coat flying behind him.
Pine trees, standing thick like soldiers, blocked out part of the darkening sky.
They had picked dusk. It was the perfect time. And the Yoshidaya Onsen, where the charity tournament was being held, was the perfect place. At the hot springs, Kaiba Seto would have his guard down. He was a loner and had a habit of going outside to make his business calls so that he wouldn't be overheard. No one would know until it was too late. At least, that was their thinking. But what they had not counted on was a certain Jounouchi Katsuya cornering Kaiba on the veranda and complaining bitterly that being rude to Yugi made him a "total and complete asshole."
"Keep up with me!" Seto barked as his feet thundered. "If you die, I will not come back for your corpse."
Jounouchi, running as fast as his ratty, black sneakers would allow him to, kept looking to the right and left—praying that he wouldn't be going through it again.
Just his luck. His prayers went unanswered.
Half a meter away from his right foot, it happened. There was the sound of guns being fired and the dirt, almost instantly, exploded up at him in brown, powdery sprays filled with small rocks.
"Hell!" Jounouchi yelled but kept going.
The debris bounced off of Jou's green jacket but made small scratches against his face. The force stung and he pushed a palm against his skin as he ran.
In spite of himself, blue dragon eyes darted back. Yes, 'Mutt' was still with him and very much alive. "This way!" Seto gritted out.
Obeying, Jounouchi followed Seto, hooking a hard left into a thicket.
"Sit!" the CEO ordered.
"I am not your dog," the blond griped in a hissed whisper.
"Do you want your head shot off?"
"Okay! Okay! I'll do it." Then, his honey eyes narrowed angrily. "Hell, Kaiba… What have you gotten yourself into this time?" He raked his fingers through his hair and got out some pebbles. With the back of his hand, he wiped the blood off his face from the scratches the rocks gave him.
The two young men, sitting down on the grass now, hid against a waist-high shrub. Mentally, Kaiba was kicking himself. This was undignified for a multi-national CEO. And where, the hell, were his men in black? He had stationed one bodyguard inside the onsen, ordered to keep an eye on him from the other side of the glass door, when the bullets started raining. Of course, The Mutt had been in mid-rant over some inconsequential thing that he'd said in passing to Yugi. And for the very life of him, he still didn't know why he tugged on a slightly shabby green sleeve to have Jounouchi follow him instead of letting him catch a bullet to the head.
Seto took a quick glance at Jounouchi—blond hair, honey colored eyes, handsome features, skin tight jeans. No, he knew why. It was stupid, and overly sentimental, and hormonal—but he knew why.
Both young men were breathing hard. Seto tried to slow his breaths, but felt slightly dizzy doing so. But he worried that someone could hear the gasps and find them.
Looking back on the last few minutes, Seto's eyes grew hard. He had the vivid memory of them running to escape—of them trying doors along the way to the simple wooden stairs that would take them to the forest paths below. The doors were locked. But, maybe, that was for the best. Mokuba was inside with Yugi and the gang. If the gunmen decided to follow, and Mokuba got in the way…? Seto cringed.
Peeking around the shrub, Jou muttered, "I knew you had enemies, Moneybags, but this is ridiculous."
"Stay down, or you'll get your head shot off," Seto fumed and tugged at a green sleeve again. When Jou turned to look at him, Seto added, "And red is definitely not your best color."
As scared as he was, Jounouchi's lips quirked into a smile. "I didn't know you cared, Kaiba." There was fear in those honey colored eyes. Seto could see it and it ate at him somewhere deep down.
"I don't," he lied, and looked at the ground with hard blue eyes.
"Yeah, I know you don't," Jounouchi said offhandedly as his gaze met with the black shadow that turned out to be a Kaiba Corp helicopter hovering in the sky with the "KC" logo painted on smartly. "But it looks like your people are on the job after all."
"It's about time."
Seto's cell phone began to make little beeps. He took it out of his pocket and flipped the phone open.
"Talk to me."
"Mr. Kaiba!"
"Roland, just spit it out." Seto rolled his eyes impatiently. Would this fool just tell him something—anything?
"We're still trying to track the two people who have been shooting at you. And we've notified the authorities."
"Oi, Kaiba," Jounouchi interrupted, leaning in his direction. Seto felt his heart beat a little harder. He ignored it.
"Kaiba? Ask your people how they found us so fast. It's getting dark."
It was a good suggestion, but Seto didn't want to say that it was.
"How did you find me so fast?"
"That's 'us,' Kaiba. I'm right here with you," Jounouchi complained with almost a comical frown. The face twitched. He scooted over to be closer to the phone. The volume was up loud enough to where he could catch part of the conversation.
The helicopter hovered over them and Roland gave a short wave. "It's your coat," the man said. "The white color really stands out against the vegetation."
"I heard that!" Jou said with wide eyes. "Ditch the coat! If your people can see us, so can they!" Jou pointed a finger out past the shrub.
"Keep your voice down, Mutt," Seto hissed.
"I will if you will!" the blond returned.
Seto removed the coat, folded it into a neat little square, and placed it at the base of the shrub. "Right now, if the gunmen are close enough to see the white coat," he complained, "then they're close enough to get a lock on us."
Jounouchi only meant to glance at Seto. But it lasted longer than that. The young man was dressed in a skin tight long sleeved black shirt, black pants, and a belt with a large silver buckle. Around his neck was a card-shaped necklace that held a picture of Mokuba inside of it. Without the dorky coat, Seto is absolutely…
Blue eyes narrowed at him. Casually, he turned away a little. "What are you staring at, Mutt?"
"Nothing," the blond growled, pushing back the next thought that almost came to him—the way nightmares often did. And that particular thought could lead to nightmares if he wasn't careful. "And don't call me 'Mutt'."
"Then, why were you staring?"
In the early blue light of twilight, Jounouchi's face blushed a little. "I'm…I'm just scared and I'm tired… I don't know what I'm doing."
Blue dragon eyes rolled. "Just do what I say," Seto ordered, "and we'll get out of this. Then, you can go back to your little group of losers."
"They're not 'losers,' Jounouchi said quietly, raising up his chin to look at the helicopter again. "Yugi's beaten you loads of times. So, like I said before on the veranda, quit picking on him."
A dark eyebrow was raised.
"Oh, and another thing… Yugi doesn't talk about you that way, you know," the blond continued, his eyes now focused on the pine trees in the distance. "Just cut him some slack, huh?"
"Mr. Kaiba, sir!" Roland said over the phone, "I see movement in the trees to the west of you. I would suggest that you find a better location to hide."
"Agreed," Seto said.
"Since we can't land near you, we'll pretend to be picking you up in that clearing to the northwest. Maybe, they'll follow us there."
"That's fine," Seto stated in an even voice. "The next location we'll be going to is…" Then, Seto heard a series of beeps on the line. "No," he groaned.
"Wha-?" Jounouchi said, his eyes wide with fear.
Seto flipped his phone closed and shoved it into his practically painted-on trouser pocket. "Mokuba's been playing games on my phone again. I can tell. Now, the battery is dead."
"How could it die so quickly?" Jou scratched his head.
"Bad battery thanks to Mokuba overcharging it, I suppose."
There was a sudden tug at Jounouchi's green sleeve and the blond found himself stumbling away through some knee high grass and onto another trail.
"Where are we going?" Jou whispered harshly. He could feel his impatience growing. His eyes darted left and right.
"To my place."
Jounouchi's heart began to thump hard in his chest. Wha-? he thought. I'm going to be alone…with Kaiba Seto…at…his place? "You've got a 'place' all the way out here?" the blond practically squeaked.
The CEO gave one of his trademark "You've gotta be kidding me with that question" glares and tugged on the sleeve again. "I'm renting this cottage for the next week. I wanted some peace and quiet where no one, including the press, would think to look for me. No television, no Internet, no phones…"
The blond nodded and allowed Seto to tug him along. Then, a thought occurred. "But does anyone know about the cottage?"
"Mokuba and my bodyguard."
"I see," Jou muttered darkly. "Then, that means that Roland will have no idea of where to find you for awhile." He ran his fingers nervously through blond hair. "This can't be good."
Seto shook his head with a reluctant grimace. "That's exactly what it means."
"Crap," Jou said, falling in step.
"Well, for once, I agree with you."
Seto had rented the cottage before, mostly to escape his fast forward, too many reporters, too many business meetings on Friday afternoons, so-called-life. He could find the place in the dark, and had to in the past after late shopping trips with Mokuba, who demanded his big bro's full attention during their holidays together. Now, it was dusk, the stars were coming out, and he was thankful for the previous stays at the onsen and the private cottage.
The couple turned down another winding path and slowed to a brisk walk. The pine tree branches suddenly parted to reveal a beautiful Japanese styled cottage with a modest rock garden out front that had a bubbling water fountain made from a red urn, and a statue of a monk with a shaved head, simple robe, and six ringed staff. The serene figure smiled at the travelers, as he did to all who came upon him, and projected a calming influence.
The wind blew. Something somewhere rustled. Seto's dragon blue eyes darted. He was mad at himself again for this basic, simple fact that escaped his attention when he decided to come here. There would be no trees to hide them when they approached the front porch. By walking on the stepping stone path up front, they'd be vulnerable for more than a few seconds. And he knew that circling around to the back was definitely out of the question. There was no door there. Plus, the back garden was mostly a large, well manicured lawn with a winding path that wrapped around the back end of the structure—which supported the landscape designer's concept of good feng shui.
"Oi, Kaiba?" the blond said, his eyes suddenly downward.
"Hush," Seto said harshly. He was thinking, feeling like total crap, and didn't need the distraction.
"I won't 'hush' until I've said something. This is important!" Honey colored eyes turned to Seto with such an intensity that he had to blink to relieve the stress.
"What, then?" Seto growled.
"That," Jounouchi pointed to the ground. There was a dark, splotched blood trail pointing to the way they'd come. Then, the blond rounded on Seto, grabbed his collar, and yanked him closer. "You're injured, aren't you?" Jounouchi was seething. There was the look of hurt from betrayal in his eyes. "Don't lie to me."
"Ignore it."
Blond hair shook "no." "When did it happen?" For the first time, he examined the man before him from head to foot. He noticed that Seto's left arm was bent at the elbow and the fingers were resting casually on his right shoulder near his neck, but no pressure was put on it. It was almost as if he'd decided to give his left arm a rest.
The CEO turned back to focus his attention on the cottage and their situation. "It's not bad. I can deal with it."
"What?!" he rasped.
Blue eyes locked with gold.
Jounouchi flashed a burning look that made Seto almost want to back up. The CEO cursed himself for being weak, for caring what the blond thought of him.
"Stay here, Moneybags," Jou hissed. He could sense Seto letting go of his sleeve. There was a sudden, intense, lonely feeling, but he was pissed—totally pissed—and he would think about his 'feelings' after he'd done what he needed to do. Jou trudged back down the trail—kicking the dirt in some places and rubbing the ground in others—doing his best to hide the red splatters that gave them away. Then, he waked back, shaking the dirt off his dusty shoes with every step. Deep inside, though, he was still fuming. If we don't think ahead and look out for each other, this whole thing is going to be 'mizu no awa'—an effort without any point to it.
"Is that the place?" Jou said with a quick motion of the head in the direction of the building. He gave his right shoe another shake for good measure.
"Yes, it is." He let his arm dangle at his side. It was starting to go numb.
The blond raked his eyes over Seto with a deeply set frown. He saw the back of Seto's left hand had totally gone red and sticky with drying blood. The black sleeve looked torn on the upper arm and it had a slight glistening to it—even in the deeply blue twilight. "Then, just get us in there without bleeding on the ground."
"Agreed." With his right hand, Seto pulled the key card out of this pocket. He took a deep breath, and let it out. Seto hoped that the card would open the door on the first try. Yesterday, it didn't and he had to go back to the front desk to get another one. "This way," he said with a certainty that he wasn't really feeling. "Stay on the path and do as I do. Be as quiet as possible."
"Right," Jou said, but felt the same way Seto did. Either one of them, or even both, could be struck down in the next second. This could be it. Goodbye.
High quality leather dress shoes went first followed by ratty, black sneakers. They stayed on the larger, irregularly shaped grey stepping stones. Shoes going quickly with a tapping sound that made Seto cringe. When trying to be quiet, any sound was like cannon fire.
Seto quickly slid the key down into the lock, waited for the green light to pop on, and opened the door. The CEO tossed the key card onto the little table by the front door, and then tugged the green coat's sleeve—with a certain blond duelist attached—inside.
The door immediately closed with a soft "whump."
"Sit!" Seto hissed. He pointed to the far wall.
Jounouchi gave him the "You've got to be kiddin' me, you ass" stare. "There's no furniture on that side of the room, Kaiba. It's just a wall with a window at the far end."
"Do you think I don't know that?" His eyebrows narrowed. "So, park it over there and sit."
"I'm not a dog," Jou griped.
Seto, starting to feel light headed, ignored Jou's words, made long strides to the opposite wall, and sat down. He leaned his tall body against it and, with a squint, took in the darkened room. The front door, which seemed solid enough, would provide them some protection—at least enough to buy time for them to escape. The only other window in this part of the structure was the medium sized window to his right. The shade was half way up and someone could see movement going on inside if they had the right equipment. Of course, drawing the tan bamboo blinds would be a dead giveaway. Seto sighed. The only other window was in the bathroom. But, in theory, it was too small for anyone other than Mokuba to enter or exit. (Yes, he caught his little brother trying to sneak out to get another raspberry jelly from the onsen. Seto threatened to lower the limit on his brother's credit cards after that little stunt.)
A warm body sat next to Seto's right and rested against the wall, too. He turned to look and saw glittering gold eyes watching him.
"So, this is the safest place for us, huh?"
"Yes, it is." He nodded his head to the left. "The toilet is that way. This, as you can see, is the living area. And, that hallway leads to two bedrooms."
Jounouchi murmured "nice" but thought to himself that this "cottage" was slightly bigger than his own house.
The chestnut haired CEO hoped that this simple explanation would be enough to keep Jounouchi quiet. Briefly, he considered making a joke about "no dogs on the furniture," which happened to be a simple loveseat, chair, and table set, but his arm was starting to ache. And it was taking all of his effort to appear normal.
To their right, the moonlight spilled in—making a blue-grey aura.
Seto caught movement from the corner of his eye. Jounouchi turned to him with an unreadable expression on his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, red pocketknife. He flicked it open. Then, he placed a hand on the material of Seto's shirt right above the belt buckle.
Seto's heart started beating harder. It was difficult to breathe and he could feel adrenaline race through his body in an arc.
"Hold still," Jounouchi said in a harsh whisper.
Seto's jaw dropped at that.
"I said to hold still," he repeated, his voice serious.
Mutt…? What's he going to…?
Stubby fingernails pulled at the material—untucking the shirt. Slowly, the soft material slid up. Seto's skin could feel the coolness of the room and he shivered. He just couldn't stop himself.
Jou held back a smirk. Seto saw it; his eyes widened.
In the next second, Jounouchi was straddling Seto's legs, pulling at the last of the material. Then, he turned the knife blade downwards and stabbed.
"Am I too heavy or what?" Jou said in a vague tone as he cut the material and made strips of cloth before Seto could protest. Not getting an answer, the blond said, "Nah, I probably am too heavy." He moved off of Seto's legs and eyed the left arm as well as he could in the darkening room. The blade came down on the cuff of the black sleeve—making a cut. Jou took the frayed material and split it up the arm.
The cool air immediately found the tacky-blood soaked arm. Seto turned his head away, feeling himself wanting to shiver again. Part of him wondered if it came from having such close contact with Jou.
"Handkerchief," Jounouchi said with his hand held out.
The profile frowned and an eye darted back at him. "How did you know that I'd have one?"
"Look, Moneybags, I'm pretty sure that not only do you have a handkerchief, you probably have a monogrammed one."
With a small shrug, Seto pulled out a white handkerchief with a blue monogram of a seahorse on it. Jounouchi's eyes caught the figure and he smiled. "Kaiba…Of course, you'd have a seahorse on this. Everyone knows that a seahorse is a baby dragon." He chuckled a little. "Mokuba gave this to you, huh?"
"What of it?" There was a defiant glare.
Jou tore at the black sleeve one last time and it fell backwards into folds. "Even with this flesh wound…well, maybe deeper than a flesh wound…you're still your usual…charming…self. It's a relief, really." The blond placed the handkerchief over the gaping slash and watched as it turned red almost instantly. He forced the smirk to stay on his face as he took the black strips of cloth and began to tie them around the arm to keep pressure on the injury. "I really wish we had something like sake to pour on this, but you'll get a doctor to look at it once we're out of here."
Jou's hands tugged at the cloth.
"You'd like to do that…" Seto growled, "…pour stinging alcohol on an open wound of mine."
"In a heartbeat, Kaiba," Jounouchi said with a chuckle. "No infections for you." The blond ended it with a hard tightening of the knot to keep it in place. Seto hissed in pain when he did it.
"Sorry about that, Kaiba," Jounouchi breathed as he crawled around the CEO and sat back on his right side.
Seto ignored him. His arm was throbbing like mad and it was all Mutt's fault.
They sat in silence for what felt like eons. Jounouchi kept stealing glances to make sure that his companion was awake and alert. But, when his arm accidentally bumped against the CEO, he could feel Kaiba's whole body shiver. Finally, Jou decided to say something.
"Cold?"
"No, I'm fine."
Honeyed eyes turned to him. "Liar."
"It's my body and I should know how I feel," Seto complained quietly, trying to remind himself to keep his voice down. "I'm not cold…exactly… I just can't stop myself from shaking."
The blond shifted his body on the floor to look at Seto again. "I'm going to do something that you're probably going to want to punch my lights out for. But, hey, I live dangerously these days."
The young CEO cocked his head at him and then felt a warm hand touch his brow.
"You don't feel like you have a fever," Jounouchi said to himself.
A much stronger shiver racked Seto's body.
"That's it," Jou said with an edge of frustration.
"What's it?"
"I'm leaving." On all fours, the blond started to crawl off.
Seto watched it and a part of him wanted to reach for the green jacket sleeve again. It was stupid, he knew, but it wanted it. Seto wasn't even sure what he'd said to drive Jou away from him. But he suddenly felt exposed and terribly lonely. Seto cursed himself again for being weak and depending on a total, no class mutt like Katsuya Jounouchi.
Jou headed for the door and then took a sharp turn down the hallway. The chestnut haired man craned his neck to see more and waited only a minute before he heard strange sliding sounds coming back.
"Mutt?" Seto hissed impatiently. "What, the hell, are you doing?"
"…What I need to…." Came the voice. "…And don't call me 'Mutt.' Coz I ain't your damn dog."
The odd dragging sounds came closer followed by a clumsy "thunk." Then, another.
"This is harder than it looks," Jounouchi grumbled. "I'm on my hands and knees… and I still managed to trip twice and fall."
"Talent, I guess," Seto grumbled but wanted to smile at the image he had in his head of a certain blond falling down and rolling over like a puppy. But Seto's arm stung with a mixture of sharp agony and numbness. So, he told himself that he had to keep his feelings in check and his head clear. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the dead cell phone, and flipped it open. Nothing. It wouldn't even turn on. No lights. Nothing. It was a stupid effort on his part. And, deep down, he was glad no one was around to see him doing something so useless. He pocketed the phone again.
The dragging sounds stopped.
"Here," Jounouchi said and flung something black and white at him. Even though it was hurled fairly low, hovering just above the carpet, it made a bright contrast to the moonlight from the window.
Seto eyed the thing. It was soft, fluffy, and had weight to it. "Isn't this the bedspread?" he muttered with an incredulous tone. Seto eyed the thing. It was white with the kanji for "longevity" written neatly and "virility" in bold, black strokes.
"Just cuddle up with it, will ya?" Jounouchi said, crawling back with a small woven basket looped through one arm.
"And what is that?" Seto asked.
"Food!" Jou said happily as he plopped himself down next to Seto. He showed him the basket filled with dark chocolate with hazelnuts. The yummy looking treats were wrapped smartly in light green papers with gold trim. "It looks like they gave you more than just the complementary mint on the pillow treatment. You got a whole basket of gourmet chocolates." He took one out and then felt Seto shiver again.
"Let me cover you," Jou said quietly, but got a defiant stare. The blond frowned back. "Got a problem with that, Kaiba?"
Blue eyes narrowed and his head turned away. "Do as you like," he said.
"Thank you," came a cheerful "I got my way…yes!" kind of response from Jou. He leaned over and tucked one corner close to Seto's chestnut hair. The blond was close enough to smell his "Cool Water Deep" cologne and it made his heart beat a little faster. Then, he tucked in the material around Seto's side—sliding his hands against the tall form to smooth out the material.
Moving back to his usual spot, Jounouchi got under the bedspread with him with an arm hanging out to grab more chocolates from the basket.
Seto flashed Jou a surprised look. Never did he think the two of them would share. "What…are you…?" He gaped like a koi fish.
"Gotta share body heat," Jou mumbled with a mouth full of chocolate. He grabbed another piece. "You said I could do as I liked."
Jounouchi had him there. Seto leaned his head all the way back against the wall and prayed to the heavenly realm above that, one day, he'd have the chance to duel Jounouchi again, publically, and kick his ass as payback for what was going on now. Even as he was thinking it, he could feel the lithe form of the blond pushing against him and, almost, snuggling.
Seto closed his eyes for a second and willed his face not to blush. Not even in his wildest fantasies—okay, maybe he had a few—did he ever find himself alone, on the run, and under the same blanket as Jounouchi Katsuya. A hand brushed his thigh. Seto took a sharp breath and let it go slowly. His arm was numbing up and his lower half was feeling something entirely different. He cursed himself again and opened his eyes to see a floating piece of chocolate.
"Eat something," Jounouchi said, holding the candy before Seto's eyes.
The brunette sat up a little straighter, still blinking at the food.
"Just open your mouth," the voice whispered in his ear.
Seto racked his brains for a witty comeback, but decided against it. He took the chocolate with his teeth and pulled the rest into his mouth. For a fraction of a second, he felt Jounouchi's fingers against his lips. The soft stroke was there and the warmth.
Seto chewed and crunched into the hazelnuts harshly.
"Noisy eater," Jou chuckled and popped a chocolate into his own mouth. Then, he eyed Seto, who felt a little self-conscious at being his focus once again. "You know, Kaiba, with you bleeding and all…" He leaned his head to one side to cast a glance at Seto's arm, now well covered under the word "virility." "Maybe, we should get you in bed."
That was it. Seto's face blushed hard from his ears to his cheeks and down past his neck.
"Kaiba?" Jounouchi said in rising panic.
"Shhh!" Seto shushed him in the hopes of changing the topic.
"Kaiba," Jou said in a raspy tone, "I just saw your face darken." He placed a hand against Seto. He felt warmer. "You…you feel…" Seto shivered again and, this time, Jou noticed that he'd dropped his part of the bedspread in order to reach over to the young man next to him. "Oh, sorry about that." Seto felt almost panicked as Jounouchi repositioned the soft material, snuggled in tighter, and placed an arm around his middle. "Let's see if we can get you to stop shaking. Lean on me if you need to."
Seto struggled with it. What Jou had just said was difficult. Injured or well, it would have been a hard call.
"Come on," came the soft voice in his ear. "Is this really so bad?"
Jounouchi smiled to himself a little as he felt Seto's body shift and lean into him. It felt good. The body was warm and the smell of cologne returned. And, as the minutes ticked by, the shivers grew less frequent.
"How long do you think it will be until they find us?" the blond asked barely above a whisper. Seto's head was now resting on Jou's chest.
"I don't know," he answered. "There's also the chance that those guys will find us first."
Jounouchi squeezed Seto around the waist at that. "I'm not going to think about them," he said, "but, pretty soon, I'm going to need to change your bandage." He lifted his chin a little to look at Seto's shoulder. "You're bleeding through the bedspread."
Seto turned his head to see a red spot slowly spreading out. He was about to shift the bedding away to get a better look, but Jou's fingers dug into his waist a little. "Just don't worry about it," the blond said. "I'll find some more material to rip and we'll change your bandages. You'll be fine." He rested his cheek against chestnut hair. "I'll make it fine."
Seto smirked at that. "And just how do you know that?"
The blond chuckled softly. "I was in a gang once. I learned a lot about surviving on very little."
The CEO's self-satisfied smirk died when he said it.
"Besides, Kaiba, the one those guys want is you. And there are ways to lead them off the track."
"They've got guns, you dolt," Seto said in a hollow voice, but found himself leaning against Jounouchi for more than just warmth now.
"So do gang members…especially the nasty ones. Face it, Kaiba. I'm involved. Do you really think those guys are going to ignore what I've seen and been through. Even back in the gang, we knew that we didn't want to witness nothing and get dragged into other people's problems." He stroked Seto's hair with a far away look. "You may have some scars for it, just like I do, but you'll make it back home to Mokuba.
"Scars…" Seto repeated. His mind went back to the beginning of last term. He had PE with Jounouchi and he noticed that Jou was always the last one to dress out. Once, when he had been late to school because of an important breakfast meeting, he found himself changing clothes at the same time as Jou. He, begrudgingly, admired the chest until he looked closer and saw scars—jagged, deep ones. There were rumors at school that Jounouchi was scarred up and that the injuries were recent—that his mother mistreated him and that's why his parents divorced.
"You know, I've got scars," Jou said offhandedly. "It's not a big deal if you don't let it be." Then he sighed a little. Seto could feel it and tried, instead, to focus on the pain coming from his shoulder. It was easier that way than to imagine Mutt being mistreated. "Okay, I guess…maybe for other people…it's a hard thing to look at." He leaned his cheek against Seto again. "You know, I got them all from being in the gang. And, I guess, I should have just told people that's where I got them. But, instead, I did the typical Japanese thing. I just decided to ignore it and hope it would all go away. I even tried to avoid people seeing. But they knew. They saw…anyway." The hand around Seto's middle tightened, and Seto found his body gravitating towards the blond next to him.
Jou smiled sadly at the feeling of Seto leaning into him again. It was the closest thing to sympathy that he'd ever gotten from the CEO. He continued, "To make matters worse, people began spreading rumors about me. They started saying things like my mother treated me bad and that I was some kind of idiot who would let my family smack me around or something. The stories got bigger and bigger. At one point, even Yugi asked me if any of it was true. I'm not sure who sent the school nurse after me, either." He chuckled at the thought of escaping history one day while she grilled him over each scar and how it was made. "What idiots… I was in a street gang, damn it. I know how to fight to defend myself. I know how to avoid a punch. And, if necessary, I can run real fast."
Seto released the breath that he didn't know he was holding. Honey gold eyes looked at the mop of chestnut hair leaning on him.
So, you thought those rumors were true, huh? I wish you had a little more faith in me to take care of myself. I'm not that wimpy.
Jounouchi tried to sound a bit more upbeat. It was just his way. "We'll keep on going, Kaiba. You and I are both survivors. It won't end here."
"Agreed," Seto said. His mind focused on the door and the people he knew who were beyond it. Still, he would find a way to make it out, alive, with Mutt. But, in the meantime, he would accept this moment with Jou and the unexpected comfort of being together with him. A comfort without weakness. He had never believed such a thing possible. Jounouchi stroked chestnut hair again with a soft, steady touch. Blue eyes closed briefly, drinking in the feeling.
Two hours had passed. Inside the cottage, Seto and Jounouchi glanced at each other. The bedspread fell, totally forgotten, into their laps. They could hear rushed footsteps on the landing. They had, maybe, a minute together.
"Damn it," Jou said as he stood. Seto gripped his bandaged arm and tossed a heated glare at the door as he got to his feet, too.
"No," he shook his head. "We're not doing it their way." The blond's face grew determined. He shoved Seto back roughly and positioned himself between the door and the blue-eyed dragon that he'd come to care about.
"Out the window, Kaiba." Jou gritted out—fists clinched. He could hear them pounding on the door. "Don't look back."
"And what do you intend to…" the chestnut haired young man began with irritation from being shoved, but he knew the answer long before he uttered the words.
"I'll follow you when I can."
"A lie…" Seto hissed. "You have no intention of…"
The door pounded, the frame breaking off in pieces and falling to the floor.
"I'm a 'mutt,'" Jounouchi laughed bitterly. "I can say whatever I want."
Beams of light from flashlights streamed through cracks in the door and bled through the broken frame.
"Damn it! There must be more of them!" He turned back, terrified. "You're losing your chance, Kaiba!" the blond said urgently, giving him a sharp shove in the direction of the window this time. "And Mokuba needs you."
Blue eyes narrowed. "That was low—even for you! Using Mokuba!" Seto raised a hand to slap some sense into the blond when the door burst in and footsteps thundered.
Jounouchi, using his body as a shield, wrapped himself around Seto and cringed. "Now, we're both in for it. Why didn't you just leave me when you had the chance?"
Seto squeezed his eyes shut. They would go together, he decided. That was how it would end.
"Nii-sama!" shouted a little raven haired child who pushed his way past a troop of men in suits and dark glasses. With joy, he took a dive at Seto and Jou, knocking both young men to the ground. He crawled over Jou's arms and legs to get closer to his big brother. Mokuba was so relieved that his big bro was alive that he didn't care that he was wearing his shoes indoors.
Sitting on the floor again, Jou pushed back his mop of blond hair with one hand and enjoyed the scene. Seto was on his ass, legs and arms sprawled uncomfortably, with a little brother sitting happily on top of him, chatting non-stop. He barely caught things like "we were so worried" and "didn't know what to do" as well as "caught those guys and they're going to jail."
Jounouchi looked at Seto with a touch of envy. If he could see his younger sister more often, he would do it. And he knew what it was like to care for someone younger and more vulnerable. Seto was gifted, he decided, but not in the ways most people thought he was.
Seto caught the expression and a part of him didn't know how to react now that they weren't alone. His heart just froze at the look. And when Jounouchi repositioned his legs in order to stand up and move away from them, Seto knew what to do.
Jounouchi tried to get onto his feet. He could walk away now and continue on—maybe catch up with Yugi and let him know that he was safe. There was no need to worry.
Jou got his feet under him and tried to lift himself up, but there was a tug on his green sleeve, pulling him back.
Honey colored eyes shot to Seto in confusion.
The chestnut haired man still had his jacket sleeve tightly in one fist. "Stay," he said.
It wasn't an order. Oddly, it was a question. It was the only way Seto knew to say it, and Jounouchi understood those feelings.
The blond thought about it. He thought about the times he'd been called "Mutt," and "small fry." He remembered the duels and the struggles—losing to Kaiba and ignoring the shallow reasons why the CEO was determined to win. But he also knew the things he had in common—the endless droning of school teachers, their love for their siblings, and their passion for Duel Monsters. And both were survivors of a world where adults had failed them.
The hand was clutching tighter to the green sleeve, knuckles white.
Stay, huh?
Yes, Jounouchi considered it. He really did.
Then, he sat back down next to Seto…and decided to stay after all because, for the first time in a long time, he was wanted.
Author's Note: "Mizu no Awa" is a Japanese idiom that means literally "bubbles on the water" or an effort in vain