Bigger Than Life
Everyone knew Jounouchi Katsuya hated Kaiba Seto. Everyone knew the feeling was mutual. What few knew, however, was Jounouchi Katsuya admired Kaiba Seto. Not that the same couldn't be said for the entirety of Domino's population. However, Jounouchi preferred to keep his feeling as secret as possible. After all, it would totally ruin his image in the eyes of the duelist community if it seemed like he actually liked Kaiba.
He didn't, of course. Kaiba was just some stupid, rich, egotistical asshole. End of story. Jounouchi hated the stupid, rich, egotistical asshole.
He admired the strong businessman that wouldn't let anything crack his mask or hurt anything he considered his own, though. It felt kind of like a defeat to admit that, but it was true. Kaiba Seto was an impressive human being and he gave credit where credit was due.
He still hated that rich brat's attitude, though. That conceited, overpowering gaze and those steel-edged barbs really got on his nerves. And that was fine. He didn't mind hating Kaiba. Hell, he was good at hating Kaiba. Besides, that bastard needed to know that not everyone would bow down and kiss his ass. It kept him on his toes to know that someone – even someone as insignificant to him as Jounouchi Katsuya – hated him; it made him sharper and kept him trying harder.
That was what Jounouchi liked about Kaiba Seto. He never gave up, even in the face of a towering adversary. He always kept his cool and fought to protect his brother and his company, even with the whole world conspiring against him.
Jounouchi wished he could do that. He tried, certainly, tried to protect Shizuka and his friends, but he wasn't anywhere near as strong as Kaiba. He still needed help to keep everyone safe. That was okay, though. He'd learned that. He could accept help from others and that made him stronger. Sometimes, though, he wished that he had the strength to stand up to the world without the supporting hands of his friends on his backs.
That was what made Kaiba Seto impressive. He didn't have the love and support of his friends like Jounouchi did, but he still kept firm and made a better protector that Jounouchi did.
He'd never let anyone hear him say that, though. Kaiba had a big enough ego without having the satisfaction of knowing that "his mutt" really did look to him as a "master". Kaiba was the game master, the controller of Domino City, and he was good at it. He knew he was good at it and he certainly didn't need Jounouchi to tell him so. After all, if Kaiba stopped thinking he hated him, where would the challenge be?
