Secret Affairs
..
.
Kaiba was watching him, he was sure. Looks that sharp you couldn't mistake.
What the hell? thought Jounouchi. Yuugi had just left with Anzu for lunch, but Honda was just at the other side of the classroom. Kaiba wasn't supposed to pick a fight with him right there.
Kaiba stood up, and began to walk in Jounouchi's direction.
Jounouchi watched him warily. The door was behind him, so it could be that Kaiba just wanted to...
Kaiba averted his gaze just before he brushed past Jounouchi, his fingers extending out a slip of paper without moving his arm. Jounouchi's fingers caught it just as discreetly. Then Kaiba walked out the door.
"What's with that guy?" Honda had come to his side, frowning at where Kaiba had been a moment ago.
"Who knows," Jounouchi said, the paper hidden in his grasp.
.
.
The sky was dark when Jounouchi arrived at the field. It was empty.
He leaned on the nearby tree trunk and closed his eyes for a brief nap.
"You're early," a voice woke him, moments later.
Jounouchi opened his eyes. "I had nothing else to do," he replied, straightening up. This time was inconvenient, but it couldn't be helped, so he didn't say that.
Kaiba put down his briefcase by the tree. "Now, shall we?"
Jounouchi answered with a punch to his face.
Kaiba dodged it just in time. "Your speed hasn't improved at all," he snorted, and sent a kick towards Jounouchi's side.
.
.
"I have improved," Jounouchi said, sprawled on the grass after the fight was over. "Admit that."
"I guess so." Kaiba too was on the grass, sitting in a manner far less brash than his companion's.
"Heh, really?" Jounouchi hadn't expected him to actually acknowledge that.
"Your moves are more calculated now."
Jounouchi made a face. "Unlike how I used to fight like a street punk?"
Kaiba looked amused. "You said that."
"That's what you used to say."
"I'm a good influence," Kaiba said, and imitated, "Admit that."
Jounouchi scowled. "I guess so."
Kaiba glanced at his watch. Jounouchi caught the hint and sat up. It was getting quite late.
Kaiba stood up and retrieved his suitcase; Jounouchi, his schoolbag.
"What time next week? Will you work late again?"
"Usual time. I'll inform you if I'll be late."
"Okay," Jounouchi draped his schoolbag over his shoulder. He could get used to Kaiba's rather unnerving method of informing him.
They walked their separate ways home.
.
.
Fighting with Kaiba was a good practice -- it helped him develop his skills. They had moved past hostility now, and perhaps one of these days he could stop hiding it from Yuugi. His friend worried too much about his getting into trouble with Kaiba.
As for Honda... he was a great friend, but he still thought Jounouchi had no chance against Kaiba. That he shouldn't pick a fight he couldn't win wasn't really what Jounouchi wanted to hear.
He didn't quite remember how it started. An insult from Kaiba, he supposed, and he got angry and punched him. Yuugi and Honda pried them off somehow. He couldn't let it go, though, and approached Kaiba after school to challenge him to a fight.
When he showed up with ugly cuts and bruises the day after, he told Yuugi he'd bumped into pickpockets and had to fight them off. Yuugi was still concerned, of course, but he couldn't exactly tell Jounouchi not to fight to defend himself, so there.
Honda had looked at him funny back then. Jounouchi thought he knew. But Honda he was not worried about. Only Yuugi got upset over his dangerous ventures -- ones that he could have avoided, anyway -- and Jounouchi really didn't want to make him unhappy.
But he just had to have that fight. It gnawed on his pride if he didn't.
So he had that fight. Then he had another, and another. It was so easy to get into fights with Kaiba, such a jerk that guy was.
And they fought it real. Jounouchi had to go all out, certainly, and to his pleasant surprise, he found himself getting better each time. There was nothing like an arch-enemy to bring out the best in you. Never mind those injuries -- they hurt, but they went away.
As he walked back home, Jounouchi reviewed the fight in his head. That one kick would have got Kaiba if he had aimed more to the right; Kaiba protected his left better than his right. He also noticed today that Kaiba had a habit of moving just that way before he jabbed his opponent -- oh, he could so make use of that.
He would take his revenge next week.
Now it might be a bit pathetic for him to be saying that every week, but hey, revenge came in sachets, too.
.
.
Fighting with Jounouchi was a good practice -- it kept him in shape. Not to mention it was a nice relief after the day's work.
Kaiba paused to consider that thought. Was he really that stressed out? Mokuba had indeed suggested once that he get a punching bag to channel out his stress.
He smirked with amusement. Oh, he did. This one came with talking capabilities, even.
Jounouchi would be outraged if he ever heard it. And they could have another good round of fight.
Sure, Yuugi was a much better opponent when it came to games, and Jounouchi wasn't the best martial artist around. But he had hated Jounouchi, and that had defined the whole meaning and purpose for him to fight at all.
Not exactly hatred maybe, now that he thought of it, more of annoyance because Jounouchi was plain stubborn to an insufferable degree, and stupidly, unthinkingly so.
He had told Jounouchi as much, the day they had their first real physical fight. Jounouchi's friends had been wise enough to keep the raging boy away from him, knowing what the results would be.
Jounouchi himself wasn't gifted with that kind of wisdom, and had challenged him afterwards.
Always impatient with idiocy, Kaiba had accepted his challenge. Even on the weird terms Jounouchi came up with, that they should keep it from Yuugi. Just because Yuugi would get upset if he knew Jounouchi got himself into trouble again.
It wasn't like Jounouchi hadn't got into enough troubles already, and even some because of Yuugi himself, but that really wasn't Kaiba's concern. Still, he was amazed sometimes at how devoted the punk was to that friend of his.
He thought he had taught Jounouchi an unforgettable lesson that day, but it turned out Jounouchi had very short memories when pain was concerned.
Kaiba found himself accepting his challenge again. And the subsequent challenges as well. He wasn't aware he was starting to enjoy their fights -- until Jounouchi stopped.
He gathered the punk finally had one streetfight too many. Not that he cared. So Kaiba took over the initiative, and picked the fight with him.
Neither of them had to do that now. They already knew: five o'clock, the soccer field behind the old factory, and keep this from Yuugi.
.
..