Story: Coming Home
Summary: Jou is alone, broke and cold on Christmas Eve. It will take a Christmas miracle to bring a certain brown haired CEO in time to rescue his puppy from doing something very, very stupid. SetoJou fluff…kinda.
Chapter 1 – The Dubious Miracle
Isn't it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for - I don't know what exactly, but it's something that you don't mind so much not having at other times.
-Anonymous
Jounichi Katsuya sighed, rubbing his cold hands together in front of the meagre fire burning in his dilapidated apartment.
This was the worst Christmas ever! And not just because it was his first Christmas after his father had died. Not even because he didn't have a Christmas tree that year, not even a small one like last year, because all his money had gone into paying off his father's debts. Also not because it was snowing and it was cold and sucked to be alone on Christmas. Yugi had very kindly invited him over for the day but Jou could never do that to him; Yugi had Yami, Ryou had that crazy tomb raider Bakura and Jou could not intrude on their Christmas, just because he was lonely. If he were there, Yugi would try his utmost to make him feel better and everyone would feel uncomfortable and it would just generally ruin the Holiday mood.
Of course, if Yugi knew how he was spending Christmas – alone and cold in his broken down apartment – he would have forced him to come. So Jou had made up a convenient lie about having a date on Christmas. It was his good fortune that Yugi and the gang seemed to think it was with Kaiba, of all people, and that is why it had to be kept a secret.
Jou's shoulders slumped and he slid down lower on the wall that he was leaning against. Because of the friction, some white plaster came loose and showered him with dust and dried paint. He pulled the thin blanket that he was covered in tighter around himself and stared morosely into the flames.
If he was honest with himself, Jou didn't think having his friends around him that day would lessen any of his loneliness. He had spent the whole day with them, laughing and teasing and fooling around and he would probably spend the next day – Christmas Day – with them too. It hadn't made him any less lonely. It was just better covered up when there were a raucous group of friends around. When he was alone, it hit him harder, that was all. But in some ways, it was better to be lonely when he was alone. It was exhausting smiling all the time for the benefit of his friends when inside, he felt like crying. And it was all a certain asshole CEO's fault.
Kaiba had not even bothered to argue with him that day. Maybe even moneybags had realized the 'the mutt' wasn't worth his time and had therefore decided it was in his best interest to stay away from him. The thought hurt, for some reason. It wasn't like he liked being insulted by the rich bastard but somehow, in the course of getting out of the gang, his father's death, paying off his old man's debts, and raising money for Shizuka's operation, arguing with Seto Kaiba had become the highlight of his day, along with hanging out with Yugi and the gang whenever he had the time.
Jou sighed. Maybe it was for the best. His little crush on the CEO would only get worse, the more time he spent with the ass. He really was pathetic if he would not mind insulted in the worst possible ways just to be close to the CEO for a few second, to have his attention on himself.
Reaching inside his jacket, he pulled out a small, chipped off plastic santa claus that Shizuka had once given him on Christmas. He missed giving and getting gifts on Christmas. That was out of question right now, of course, because he would get kicked out of his apartment if he didn't give every single penny he had to his landlord and he absolutely refused to receive gifts from his friends if he was unable to give them something in return. That was just the way it had to be and Yugi understood that. He would really feel like scum then; after all, the short boy insisted on helping him out with so many other things, even letting him stay over for a while after his dad's death and even loaning him money when Jou desperately needed it.
Jou let his eyes fall close. He hoped he could get a little sleep despite the cold. He had to put on a happy face and wish his friends on Christmas Day tomorrow, after all.
There was a knock on Jou's door a little past midnight.
A few seconds later, when there was no answer, the knock came harder.
Still no answer.
Seto Kaiba frowned, hand poised to knock on the door again. Was the mutt really such a heavy sleeper? No, that couldn't be. He would never have survived in Hirutani's gang if he weren't alert enough to awaken at the slightest noise. Staring at the rickety old door, Seto debated as to what to do.
It had taken a lot of pleading and puppy eyes on part of Mokuba to make him do this. Not that he hadn't wanted to - every time he saw that bright, feisty puppy bogged down by heart breaking circumstances that were not his fault at all, he felt like grabbing him and shielding him from all the misfortunes surrounding him - but he couldn't. There was no way the golden puppy felt anything for a cold, heartless man like him, not when he tried so hard to make the boy's life hell. If he bared his heart to him, Jou would no doubt laugh at him. It would be the perfect revenge for all the times he himself had mocked him. He had more pride than that.
When Mokuba told him just how bad Jou's condition was, what the boy was hiding, even from his friends, Seto had been shocked, though he put up a stoic face for his brother's benefit. Besides, Seto thought Mokuba must have be exaggerating a little in a bid to earn his sympathy; no one would be foolish enough to go through all that just to avoid inconveniencing his friends. Seto could not believe it, even in case of his naïve, selfless bighearted puppy. They had argued till midnight. He'd finally relented when Mokuba threated to go to Jou's place alone to check on him. There was absolutely no way Seto would allow his little brother into this neighbourhood at night.
That was how he found himself driving through the snow on this freezing night and here he was, waiting impatiently in front of the mutt's door and the stupid boy was doubtless sleeping peacefully. He retracted his hand and stepped back hesitantly. He should leave, he really should. It was not wise to make a racket in the middle of the night here. If any of the seedy occupants of this apartment building woke up to find a billionaire CEO alone…
But he couldn't lie to Mokuba either. One, because he felt bad about lying to his little brother and two, because the little devil always knew when he lied, even though he had the world's best deception experts fooled.
He contemplated calling out but decided against it. That was just asking for trouble.
He mustn't be home, Seto thought glancing down at the floor under the door. There was no telltale thin film of light coming in. Surely the lights from a Christmas tree would be at least slightly visible from outside?
There! Seto stepped closer to the door and squinted. Yes, that was definitely a hole in the door. Placing his palms flat against the door, he pressed his eyes against it. He could dimly make out a small huddled shape slumped against the floor next to a cold fireplace.
Seto's eyes widened.
Without thinking, he stepped back a few paces, then charged the door with his shoulder. It gave after the first push, crashing loudly onto the floor. Out of the corner of his eyes, Seto could see the lights coming on in various nearby apartments, but no one stepped out to see why someone was breaking down the neighbour's door. In this neighbourhood, people breaking down doors meant one of two things – thugs or cops. No one wanted anything to do with either.
The door crashed into the inside wall inside the apartment and Seto stood frozen the doorway, staring wide eyed at the small figure covered in a thin blanket, blue with cold.
"Jou!"
Didn't the idiot know that it was dangerous to sleep in the cold? And the fact that he hadn't woken up after all that racket was a very bad sign.
Striding in, he immediately knelt beside the boy and shook him gently.
"Jou! Katsuya!"
His heart accelerated with fear when the boy slumped against him. Swiftly pulling a glove off one hand, he placed his palm against the boy's cheek.
He was cold as ice.
Gritting his teeth, he swiftly took off his own heavy coat and wrapped it around Jou. He glanced at the fire, then looked around for firewood. There didn't seem to be any. He walked over to a chair and threw it against the wall. The cheap quality wooden chair broke immediately. He threw the pieces in the fire and began fumbling in his pocket for a lighter. He uttered a small exclamation of triumph when he found it. Clicking it a few times till it lit, he set the flame to the broken pieces of the chair in the fireplace.
When he had a decent fire going, he turned back to the freezing boy. The coat didn't seem to have made much of a difference. Jou was still unconscious with that disturbing blue tint to his skin.
He swiftly unbuttoned his shirt, knelt down beside Jou and he pulled Jou's sweat shirt over his head. When both their upper bodies were bare, he lifted Jou in his arms and sat down on the floor, lowering Jou in his lap, facing him. He pulled his big, heavy coat on and wrapped himself and Jou in it, pressing his puppy's icy chest against his own warm one.
Then he brought his cellphone out of his coat pocket and speed dialled his personal doctor. After giving him the address and terse orders to come there with an ambulance as soon as possible, Seto wrapped his arms around Jou and waited.
A/N: This will probably be a 2-shot or a 3-shot at the most. Tell me what you think! It's my first fanfic in this fandom.
