Spoons: Hello, folks! Welcome to the re-written version of Dragon's Overture!
Kaiba: However it probably won't be as good as the previous. And the previous version sucked big time.
Spoons: -whacks Kaiba- You should know better now than to criticize an author. -glares-
Kaiba: X.x
Joey: picks up Kaiba Er... this fic contains yaoi, suicide attempts, angst...yah. Violence, possibly. Spoons doesn't own Yugioh or any of its characters...plotlines...yep. She owns da plotline of this fic an' any original characters in it. Slight OOC-ness exists...me, of course. Otherwise I wouldn't try to commit suicide, now would I?
Spoons: And the yaoi content is minimal. Little-to-none of it, pplz. Sorry, but no graphic yaoi goodness. TT
Joey: If yer sad about that, why don' you just edit some in. You can do that, ya know. --;
Kaiba: Don't.......-cough-......give her ideas........
Spoons: You two never learn. -shakes head- Anyway, I've bored you all enough. Please continue on to the fic. And please don't flame me for Joey's bad accent. I try, folks. I really do.
ooooooooooooooooo= scene/time change
oooooooblahoooooo = scene/time change w/ specified location/amount of passed time
'blah' = thoughts
/blah/ = hikari to yami
)(blah)(= yami to hikari
-blah- = emphasis/italics
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Dragon's Overture
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Joey stood on the park path, his hands clenched in his pockets, head bowed to look at the small crumpled form on the grass next to him. The cold rain was soaking his clothes, but he welcomed the numb feeling. He bent to pick the crumpled thing up, but stopped when he realized what it was."A bird?"
A dead one, apparently. He gazed at its bent wings and ruffled feathers. He'd always loved birds. Especially small ones. He used to keep one before his dad killed it. Hanging his head, he continued down the path.
It was the last day of summer vacation. He had no problem with starting school again. It gave him something to distract himself with. All of his friends were busy today with one thing or another. He didn't really care. Stopping under a large tree, he sat down on the wet grass and rested his head against the trunk, admiring the lights coming from the city. They were so beautiful at this time of night, and the rain made everything blurry. The faint roar of distant cars on the street drifted up the hill, but other than that and the sound of falling rain, all was silent.
This place was perfect. He always came here when he felt depressed or when he just needed to think or be alone. He'd spent lots of time here during the summer break.
Joey rummaged around in his pocket until he found what he was looking for. A knife. He sighed heavily and dropped it onto the ground beside him without a second glance. He wasn't sure he was going to use it. He desperately wanted release from his life, but he was afraid to die. What if this was all there was? What if this was the only thing he would ever know?
Joey picked the knife up and tested it. Sharp. Good.
He might do it, but it would hurt. Was there a way to kill oneself with a small knife without it hurting too much? He brought the blade up to his left wrist, but changed his mind, deciding that he would rather not slowly bleed to death. He touched the knife to his chest, and finally, his neck.
He hadn't really come here with the intention of killing himself, just to think about it. Not because he wanted to, but because he needed to. It was nice to know that he still had some shred of control over his life. That he could make it all go away with a flick of the wrist. He thought about his friends and sister. Surely they would be very disturbed if they knew what he was doing. And they would try to talk him out of it.
But he didn't want that.
Suicide sounded pretty good right now. Even though he had good friends, nothing could seem to make that dark cloud that always hung over him go away. Every day it ate at him a little more. And it had become unbearable.
As far has he saw it, there was only one way to end his suffering.
Joey breathed in deeply and clutched the knife handle and pressed the blade up to his neck as he shut his eyes tight. To his surprise, he felt not only a sight fear, but also curiosity for what was to come, if anything.
A loud cry brought him back to reality as the knife was roughly snatched out of his hand. He looked up in shock to see a pair of icy blue eyes glaring down at him.
"Wheeler!! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Kaiba yelled.
"I......" Joey shook as sobs began to grip him. Why Seto? Of all people, Joey would have even settled for his drunken excuse for a father. Just not Kaiba. Anyone but him. He saw a mixture of what seemed to be rage and panic written on the ceo's face. It was certainly an unusual thing to see for this particular person, always looking like he was in control. Joey glared coldly right back at him.
"Wheeler!" Seto screamed as Joey jumped up and ran for it. The blond was usually rather fast, but it was dark and slippery, and Joey's emotional state wasn't doing him any good either. All things considered, it didn't take long for Kaiba to catch up to him.
"Wheeler! Wheeler, stop! Please, Joey!!" He kept running until Kaiba finally got close enough to reach out and grab his arm. Joey tripped and sent them both tumbling down a wet, grassy slope and into a large puddle of rainwater. He laid there in defeat, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
Kaiba pushed himself up with his elbows and stared at Joey, his face blurred by the heavy rain. The blonde was now sobbing uncontrollably. Finally after what seemed like hours, he looked up at Kaiba and sat up in the puddle, trying to regain some of his composure.
"Wheeler..." Kaiba began softly.
"Kaiba, please. Just...just leave me alone"
The ceo's eyes narrowed. "Why? So you can kill yourself? I don't think so."
"Shut up, Kaiba!" Joey screeched. "What do you know?! I never asked for you to come along and stop me! Its my choice!!"
"Idiot! Do you think I'm just going to sit and watch you commit suicide!?"
"What difference is it to you!?" Something hard connected with the side of Joey's face. He stared at Kaiba in shock. Had the man just slapped him?
By now they were both completely drenched in water and covered in grass stains, while the rain still came down in a heavy torrent.
"Don't say things like that, Wheeler." Kaiba said, his voice dangerously low.
"But why should you care?" Joey asked slowly, bracing himself for another attack.
Kaiba's expression softened and he sighed. His eyes seemed to be glowing in the semi-darkness, and Joey, despite the seriousness of the situation, could not help admiring them. "I just...don't want you to die. That's all."
Joey looked down and wrapped his arms around his legs. The moon was almost out of the clouds now. It gave everything a pale, almost eerie glow. He began to shiver from the cold. Being drenched in water and buffeted by the night winds did little for one's body temperature.
Kaiba stood abruptly and pulled Joey to his feet by the arm, then removed his blue coat and draped it around the boy's shoulders in an attempt to warm him. He started towards the cobblestone path, pulling Joey along with him, who was shivering even harder now. Kaiba's teeth chattered quietly, he too beginning to feel the effects of not having a coat on.
Meanwhile, Joey, broken and consumed with grief, did the unthinkable. He got up next to Kaiba and leaned into him, desperate for the contact as well as the warmth.
The ceo stumbled in surprise for a moment, but then regained his composure and wrapped an arm around Joey's shoulder, pulling him in closer. They walked that way until Joey's apartment complex reared into view.
"Um...... Kaiba?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks, man. I really owe ya."
Kaiba smiled as he was handed his coat, and turned to leave, when he felt Joey grab his hand. The blonde's eyes widened as he realized what he was doing and let the hand drop. A period of awkward silence followed.
"You had better be at school tomorrow, Wheeler." Kaiba said finally, his voice taking on a threatening tone again.
Joey lowered his gaze to the ground and smiled faintly before opening the door to the complex and stepping inside. Seto turned and started down the desolate street, hands tucked in his wet pockets, towards the road that led to his house. That had really been more trouble than it was worth.
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Spoons: Yeesh, that was short. Responses to reviews will be posted in the next chapter.