Why can't you see that?
Chapter 1
Summary: They thought it was only a school project. How wrong they were when they start to fall in love with each other. Or so… they thought. [SetoXJou(Joey)]
"No! No! No!" Jou said quickly as the teacher handed her the papers on what to report on. "There is absolutely no way I am working this out with Mr. Multi-billionaire Moneybags!!!"
"Do you want to pass or not?" The teacher in front of Jou raised an eyebrow.
Seto examined the 2 arguing people in front of him, turning to their teacher, he said, "Are you even sure he won't chew all those papers down before we get back from school?"
"Shut up, Kaiba!!!" Jou snarled.
"Look, Jounouchi-san. You need this passing grade more than anyone here in class… and Kaiba-san might be able to help you. Isn't that an opportunity?" She tried to smile, but the blonde teen before her didn't buy it. "No! It's not! It's hell! I am not risking my weekend with his presence in front of me!" Jou yelled.
Their teacher raised an eyebrow, "You are going to work this project, whether you like it or not, Jounouchi! That goes for you too, Kaiba!" And with that, the enraging teacher trotted away, throwing the report papers to their faces in the process.
Jou grumbled irritably as he slammed his locker open with a thud. He slid his books inside and slammed it shut, only to see that his wrists (amidst the long sleeved jacket he was wearing) were bleeding and were starting to stain the fabric of his jacket.
'Damn it!' He cursed inwardly.
"Hey, mutt." Jou gave a small eep before hiding his wrists away, looking to the frowning CEO behind him. "What do you want?" Jou snapped. "I'm busy for the whole weekend. So you make the report." Seto said as he pushed the stack of papers to Jou.
"WHAT?! You can't give me that excuse, Kaiba! This is supposed to be a report for partners and I'm certainly not going to work on it alone!" Jou fought back as he pushed the papers to Seto this time.
"Does this face look like it cares?" Seto glared at the blonde teen before him. Jou was left silent. "No… it doesn't." Seto snapped, "I don't care if I fail in this report, pup. I have a high grade in any subject big enough to make me pass for graduation!"
"And you're just going to give me all the load?" Jou raised his voice, sounding a little hurt.
"Yeah." Seto smirked, "Watch me." And with that, he walked away. He was expecting an insult from the blonde when he noticed nothing coming. But instead, he heard a faint… "Fine." And when he turned to look at his pup, the blonde had already walked slowly to the other direction.
Jounouchi was acting weird. He could see that. Lying on his back, he had finished making the documents which were still due 'till next week. Honestly, he never knew what came over him when he just tossed Jou the entire load of report.
Maybe he was expecting the pup to beg for his help…
Or maybe… he was just playing hard-to-get.
Either way, he was regretting it now. Seeing that he was just lying down in a queen-sized bed when the blonde pup might be doing everything in confusion right now.
Finally, deciding that maybe he should just check on his pup. He dialed a number on his cellphone.
"Hello? Kame Game Shop."
"Yugi?"
"Oh. Hey, Kaiba… I… I never knew you'd call… much less… know my number…" Yugi said from the other end.
"You live in a Game Shop. How could I not know your number when there are Kame Game Shop posters being hung on arcades?" Seto raised an eyebrow, noticing that Yugi's innocence can be such a pain.
"Oh. Right… what do you want?" Yugi smiled.
"The mutt's address. Do you know where he lives?"
"Eh? Umm… y-yeah. Why?"
"School project, remember? He's my partner." 'Does he have to know everything?'
"Oh… okay…"
Yugi was starting to get on his nerves.
Seto stared at the paper where he wrote down the blonde's address.
Room 869.
Yup, this was the place. He was about to knock on the door, when suddenly, he heard voices and screaming getting louder. The next thing he knew, the door sprung open and a blonde teen came crashing down with him to the floor.
"K-K-Kaiba??!" Jou blinked, blood coming out from his forehead and lips.
"J-Jou! Y-You're bleeding!!!" Seto gasped.
"Get back here, you son of a bitch!!!" A voice can be heard as Jou quickly pulled Seto up by the collar. "Ah! Hurry! Move!" Jou yelled as he dragged Seto by the hand, running down to the stairs of the broken down apartment.
Both teens panted and heaved as they settled to a bench on the park. Jou placed a hand on his chest as he tried to breathe in as much oxygen as he possibly could, while the brunette beside him just stared.
"What happened? What's going on?" Seto asked suspiciously as Jou tried to breath steadily.
"I see you've met my dad." Jou smirked as he wiped the blood away from his chin. Slowly, he felt a handkerchief come up to his face as he saw the CEO looking worriedly at him. "You're head is still bleeding." Seto said as Jou gladly took the hanky.
"Umm… th-thanks, Kaiba…" he whispered, wiping the blood off of his forehead. When he noticed that the bleeding wouldn't stop, "Shit!!!" Jou snapped, as he felt his head started to spin.
"Don't you have hemorrhage or something?" Seto raised an eyebrow; "Cause a normal person who'd have died of blood loss right now in your condition."
"Sh-shut… up…" Jou said as he tried to punch the CEO, but instead, it was a mere stroke as he weakly fell into Seto's lap. "Damn it!!! Oi, what's the matter, mutt?" Seto shook the blonde teen on his lap as Jou just moaned.
"Heartless… cold… ass…" The half-conscious teen muttered before finally limping into unconsciousness.
It didn't take long for Jounouchi to wake up from his short slumber. The moment he registered everything in his sight, he was leaning against someone's back on a piggyback ride. Jou moaned before finally realizing that he was having a migraine. "You're awake." Came his savior's voice.
"K-Kaiba?" Jou muttered.
"I see I've done a good job on that bandage." Seto smirked conceitedly to himself as Jou looked at the piece of torn clothing wrapped around on his forehead. "Y-you did this?" Jou asked. Seto nodded without saying anything.
Silence illuminated them as the CEO carried the blonde unto his back towards his mansion. For the first time in his life, he didn't want to ride in his expensive limousine right at that moment. He just wanted this feeling to last forever.
Seto blinked. Was he actually feeling something "different" for the boy.
"N-ne, Seto?"
Seto's attention was brought up when Jou said his first time. "Hai?" Seto answered back with a soft voice.
"A-arigatou…" Came the soft and small reply of the teen.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Seto changed the subject.
"Eh?"
"About your dad."
Jou was left in silence as he leaned in closer to Seto's warm back. "I… w- was scared…" Jou lowered his head, feeling tears come out of his eyes. "B-Besides… h-how can I tell anyone… especially you…" Jou didn't mean to sound rude, but, those were what he felt right now… and he didn't know why, of all the people, he had to tell Seto Kaiba.
"…wh-when… you'll just rub it in my face?" Jou continued as he sniffed silently, hoping the CEO wouldn't hear him.
"I pretty much understand your condition, Jou." This time, it was Jou's turn to jump when the CEO said his name. "We both have the same types of abusive fathers!"
Jou felt himself gasp as everything started to register everything that much.
"N-ne?"
"Yeah?" Seto asked.
"D-do you… I mean… do you hate me or something?" Jou quickly asked, hoping that he wouldn't offend the billionaire. Otherwise, the blue-eyed teen would just drop him to the floor right at that instant.
"How about you? Do you hate me, Jou?"
"Hey! I asked you first!"
"Fine."
"Well?"
"Answer me first, mutt."
"Not until you answer me first , Moneybags!"
"Fine."
"FINE!"
"We're going nowhere, you know that?" Seto sighed out loud as he finally gave up. "Fine. I'll answer first." Seto said. "No… I don't hate you. You're just annoying and everyday you seem so cheerful even though you never get things right!" Seto paused, "For some reason though, Jou. I envy you."
"Envy me? For what? For being the punk that everyone hates? For being such a dumb student! You don't know what envy means, Kaiba! I think the person who should do the envying is me." Jou sighed.
"Money isn't everything. At least, not to me." Seto said, "You're lucky you get to hide your emotions by your smiles, Katsuya. Not everyone can do that. For me, it's hard to smile."
"Then I'll teach you to." Jou said as Seto stopped in his tracks. "What?!" Seto gasped.
"I'll teach you how to smile, Seto… that is, if you want me to." Jou smiled.
Seto raised an eyebrow. "Seto?" Seto looked at Jou. "You're calling me 'Seto' now?"
"Umm… can't I?" Jou laughed nervously.
Seto smirked as he gave a small chuckle. "You never cease to amuse me, Jou."
"HA! There! Heard that?!" Jou smirked.
"What?" Seto blinked.
"You called me 'Jou' too! It's an improvement!"
"Improvement for what?!" Seto snapped.
"Friendship." Jou grinned. "Really, Seto. I want to stop arguing. My life is already a living hell and yet your constant taunts makes my heart hurt than it already is." Jou pouted as he leaned his head on Seto's shoulders. "Sorry… for being such a pain."
Seto blinked. Jou was certainly being open to the CEO. Could he be… that… nah!
"Yeah, you should be." Seto smirked as Jou pouted. "Hey! You're supposed to say sorry too!"
"And what if I'm not?" Seto laughed. Jou blinked as he smiled widely. "See? You're doing it already. You're smiling… actually, you're laughing." Seto blushed and looked back to his front, "Y-you're weird, Katsuya."
"I know." Jou smiled as he leaned on Seto's back once again. "G'nyt."
"Yeah… sleep tight." Seto smiled, a genuine smile as he walked back to the road heading to Kaiba Mansion.
To be continued…