Breaking Their Own Rules
Kaiba watched as the twelfth duel of the night came to a close. Three more to go tonight and already he was wanting nothing more than to go home. It had been a long day and had been tempted to cancel this tournament and postpone it until the week after but decided that it would just be easier to do it and get it over with. Besides, if he had cancelled it, he would have had some angry duelists as well as many angry fans to deal with. He sat just outside the duel arena's gate, watching the duels on a chair that had been set up for him and his closest business partners. In his hand, he held the roster for the evening. He looked down, not really caring who was next. He hadn't been the one to set up the duels, he just provided the arena and the hype. His workers and the public had done the rest. He was shocked to see that the next contender was Joey Wheeler. Kaiba smirked to himself a little. 'Poor dog just won't learn will he?' That's when he noticed that the opponent spot was blank. That could only mean that he had chosen to have a random opponent. However, that did not necessarily mean that the other person didn't know who they were dueling against. The lights went dim once more with only the beam of a spotlight on the announcer. He would be the only one to know who Wheeler's opponent would be.
"And now ladies and gentlemen, you are all in for a real treat for this next duel. The next duelists are Joey Wheeler!" The announcer stopped so that the crowd could applaud. "And Maximillian Pegasus!" He finished.
"What?!" I couldn't help but yell. The fact that he was dueling in my arena made it so much more personal. I knew what deck he would have with him tonight. Just to piss me off.
Wheeler who was now on the platform had been obviously rattled at the news of his opponent. Not many had beaten the creator of the game after all. At least time when he lost he could at least have a decent excuse of why he had lost. Almost immediately behind me in the stands, cheered Wheeler's friends.
"You got this Joey!" Shouted Tea's annoying voice.
"Yeah! You got this, buddy!" Tristen called.
"You got this! Just believe in the heart of the cards and you can't lose!" Yugi shouted best he could over the noise around him. Wheeler turned towards his friend, obviously more confident and gave a thumbs up. I rolled my eyes and looked back at the duelist. I saw him looking dead at me. He glared. I just shrugged my shoulders, trying to indicate that I was not the cause for this particular opponent. Apparently, his friends saw his glare and found the source.
"Seto Kaiba! I should have known that you would be behind this!" Tea accused, narrowing her eyes at me.
"Yeah! Joey's a good duelist and all but Pegasus? Seriously?" Tristen chimed in.
"Kaiba?" Yugi asked.
'At least one of them actually has enough sense to not jump to conclusions.' I thought to myself.
"Believe it or not, I had nothing to do with this. He apparently wanted a random opponent and Pegasus wanted a duel. I didn't choose who dueled who tonight. I just provided the place and the money and the company did the rest." I stated honestly, not really caring if they believed me or not. The crowd had quieted down immensely as the duel was getting ready to start.
"Liar!" Tea scorned at me.
"Kaiba-boy is right actually. I just wanted a duel and Joey was the only one available." Pegasus replied. Tea's face immediately turned a dark red. At this, I usually would have smirked but for some reason, I wasn't quite in the mood. Maybe it was because Pegasus had come to my aide or maybe it was because I had already been stuck here all day and the only exciting thing about any of these duels was the prospect of someone forfeiting so that I could go home early.
"Sorry, Kaiba." I heard Tea say softly behind me. I just waved my head by my head so as to not have to speak to her again. I heard her growl at this but chose to ignore it.
The duel started and for the first ten minutes or so, Wheeler held his own. But just as I was beginning to be a tiny bit impressed and maybe a little bit interested in what was happening for the first time that night, things took a turn for the worst, just like I had thought they would. Pegasus had, after all, brought his toons with him to the duel.
He drew his next card and immediately got that devious smile and glint in his eye. He glanced over at me.
"Kaiba-boy, this next one is for you." He said and focused back on Wheeler. "I activate dian keto the cure master! Next, I activate Toon World!"
'Uh oh, I know what's coming.' I grit my teeth together and glared up at Pegasus. 'You better not summon it, not at my own tournament.' I thought to myself but knowing Pegasus, I knew he would. Just to make me mad.
"I summon my Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon!" Pegasus declared. Wheeler gasped and stumbled backwards a little. I can't say that I blame him for that one.
"Oh no, Joey…" Tea said mournfully.
"He's a goner." Tristen agreed.
"No, he can still turn this around." Yugi persisted.
"It's not going to be easy though and your friend looks like he's about to run out of steam." I said honestly. Tea huffed. I could feel her glare on the back of my head. If looks could kill, I'd be dead already. They started cheering him on again, still continuing to encourage him even though the situation seemed hopeless. Pegasus turned to look at me.
"All for you Kaiba-boy. Isn't he just the cutest?" Pegasus gushed.
"No, he is not." I said back to him. At this point, the entire place had gone relatively silent except for whispers here and there.
"If we can't get Joey to believe in himself, then there's no way that he can win." Yugi said to himself and his friends. They agreed. Their apparent cheers and support didn't seem to be getting through to him.
"It would take a miracle." I chimed in.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Kaiba is right. It's going to take a miracle for Joey to win this one if he doesn't believe in himself." Yugi agreed.
"And I'm about to break one of my own rules." I said as I rose to my feet.
"What do you mean Kaiba?" Yugi asked, very confused.
"You got this Wheeler!" I shouted from the side of the arena. "Don't let him rattle you! You got this! Your friends still believe in you and so do I! Take this cartoon freak down!" I finished. The entire place had gone dead silent. Pegasus stared at me in shock as well as Wheeler and his friends. Finally, it seemed as if everyone snapped back to their senses.
"Well, if rich boy believes in me, then I've definitely got this!" Joey exclaimed. He drew his next card. "And this is where it ends for you, Pegasus!" Joey said, throwing down a card. "Thanks for the card Yug! I activate de-spell! Say goodbye to your toon world and your Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon!" He exclaimed.
"Oh no! Not my toons!" Pegasus said, actually looking worried.
"But I'm not done there, I tribute my Battle Ox and my Little-Winguard to summon my Red Eyes Black Dragon! Now, finish this duel with inferno fire blast!" Joey exclaimed, nearly shouting himself hoarse. Pegasus's life points fell to zero and Wheeler was declared the winner. "I did it! I did it! I beat Pegasus!" Joey yelled, ecstatic as the entire place was cheering their heads off. I got up to gather my things, resolving not to watch the others, feeling that there would be none better than this one for the rest of the night. I unfortunately still had to stick around until the tournament was over so I stayed in the room I had provided for me while I was here. I laid down on the bed that was there and went through what had just happened. I had just cheered Wheeler to victory. I had broken one of my biggest personal rules and there was no way to take back what I did. I argued with myself that it was Pegasus's fault and that I'd rather see Wheeler win any day over Pegasus with his Blue Eyes Toon Dragon. There was suddenly a knock at the door. I sighed and got up and opened it. It was Wheeler and his friends.
"What do you guys want?" I asked, hoping this little visit would be brief. The three of them flinched at the harshness of my voice. Well, all except for Wheeler which I found strange.
"I just wanted to say 'thank you'." Came Wheeler's reply. "You really helped me out out there tonight Kaiba." He said, looking me straight in the eye. Tristen gasped a little. "What?" Wheeler asked indignantly.
"You've just never called him anything other than rich boy or other stuff like that before. Never by his name." Tristen replied.
"Yeah well, after tonight, he deserves it." He said and looked back at me, smiling. A weird feeling started forming in my chest. I started feeling a little warm.
"All it was was me not wanting Pegasus to win. That's all." I replied, trying to get him to go away quicker. I guess it sort of helped.
"Well either way, that was still a cool thing to do. I appreciate it a lot Kaiba." He said. "I'll see ya later I guess." He said, as he started walking away with his friends. I watched for a minute as they walked from my door down the hall until they were out of sight. I shook my head and closed my door. I let out a frustrated sigh and looked at the clock. 'The final duels should be ending soon.' I thought to myself and gathered my things so that I could leave without any problems after naming the winner for this evening. I got ready and was down at the arena as the last duel was coming to a close. The entire tournament wouldn't be over for a few more days. This was just the first round. As I was about to walk back to the place I had been sitting for most of the tournament, I heard the sound of something being hit. I decided to investigate. Not too far down the hall I had just walked past was Wheeler and his friends. There was four people taking them on. As I got closer, I recognized them as Banded Keith and his three lackeys. I saw Tea, Tristen and Yugi all on the floor with Wheeler being held up by his throat by Banded Keith. Keith saw me and nodded his head to me and smirked.
"Hey, I took care of the mutt for ya." He said and threw Wheeler against the wall which landed him a spot on the floor with the other three. I stood there for a moment, looking at the mess that he had caused and stopped when Wheeler and I locked eyes. I nodded ever so slightly at him. I turned to Keith and punched him square in the jaw.
"Let's get one thing straight here, bastard. I'm the only one who can mess with him, I'm the only one that gets to call him names and finally, I am the only one that gets to mess with any of them. Got that?" I said, grabbing him by his throat and holding him up in the air. He nodded best he could. "Good. Now get out and don't let me see your face around here ever again." I said, dropping him hard on the floor. As soon as he could, he started running and his followers was close behind. I walked over to the four of them where Yugi, Tristen and Tea all kneeled around Joey who was the worst-looking of the group. I knelt down besides Yugi and picked up Joey bridal style. One of the security guards came running down the hall to tell me that I was needed in the arena to give out news and congratulations. Upon seeing Joey in my arms, the guard stopped short.
"Have Mokuba do it. He knows what to say and he's been wanting to do it for a while. The script is on my desk if he needs it." I told him and headed to the room that had the first aid kit in it. The other three followed. We finally got to the room about a minute later and I laid Joey down on one of the cots there.
"Wow, this kinda reminds me of the nurse's office back at school." Tea stated. The other two nodded in agreement.
"Will he be okay?" Yugi asked me. I surveyed the damage.
From the looks of it, his nose was slightly cracked but not broken, he had several bruises on his face and a cut lip. He had fallen unconscious on the way to the room. I added a little pressure on his side. His body twitched a little and his face contorted in pain.
"He should be. A few cracked ribs and a bunch of bruises but he'll live." I said while getting out some pain killers and band aids from the first aid kit. "One thing's for sure though, he is definitely going to be sore tomorrow morning." I stated while going to work on him. After a few minutes, he started to come to.
"Hm? Where am I?" He asked in a daze and tried to sit up. He grabbed his ribs and fell back onto the cot.
"Try to lie still. You took a beating from Keith after all." I reminded him.
"Oh yeah, I remember now. Thanks Kaiba for saving me." He said, smiling at me the best he could with as many bruises as he had all over his face. I nodded.
"Don't mention it." I said and looked to the others. "Why don't you three make yourselves useful and go get an actual doctor? I'll stay here and keep an eye on him." I suggested. They nodded, although I could tell that Tea was wary but went anyways. They closed the door behind them. I then felt a hand cover mine.
"No, really, thanks Kaiba. You've helped me out twice tonight. I owe ya one, buddy." He said. I felt my face start to heat up.
"Don't worry about it." I said, wishing for him to just drop it.
"I'm being serious! If you want me to dress up as a dog for ya, I will! I owe ya one for savin' me!" He said, trying to sit up again. I gently pushed him back down into a laying position so he wouldn't strain himself.
"Well, you can start by laying still so you don't end up hurting yourself more." I said. He nodded.
"I can do that." He said and laid still for a few more seconds while I tended to his wounds. "Kaiba?" He said. I looked back at him.
"Yeah?" I asked, curious as to what was going to come out of his mouth next.
"Why can't we just get along? Why can't we just be friends?" He asked. I opened my mouth to give a smart-ass reply, but nothing came out. Thinking about it, I couldn't really come up with a good reason myself. So I just said what I usually did when Mokuba asked that question.
"I don't need any friends." I said. He looked skeptical.
"Aw come on! Everyone needs friends! There're the ones who are there for ya when you need em'! And besides, it gets kinda lonely on your own, doesn't it?" He asked. I shook my head a little.
"Not really." I stated. Although on the inside, I was starting to think the opposite. 'Maybe it would be nice to have someone to talk to every once in a while….no, stop it. You can't be doing this to yourself, Seto, you just can't.' I thought to myself.
"Well I at least know you care about me." He stated confidently.
"And how do you figure that?" I asked, caught off-guard a little. He let out a chuckle.
"If you didn't care about me at all, would you have cheered me on in the duel? Even if it was Pegasus? And would you have saved me from Banded Keith? And tended to my wounds? Face it, Kaiba, you do care about me!" He said, smiling wide. I looked at him for a second before putting my face in my hands. "Kaiba? Are you okay? Was it somethin' I said?" He asked, pulling himself up into a sitting position and laying a hand on my shoulder. I looked up from my hands and immediately noticed how close we were.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's okay, I'm not mad or anything." I admitted.
"Okay. Just makin' sure." He said. He seemed to notice how close we were too. Just as it seemed that we were getting closer, the door opened to reveal the other three and the doctor they found. I patted him on the shoulder and turn to the doctor.
"Put his bill on my card." I told the doctor. "Get better, Joey." I said as I walked out the door. I heard Tristen and Tea gasp and start marauding Joey with questions about what had happened while they were gone then I was out of earshot. I picked up Mokuba and we left the building. The next day, I got a call not long after I had finished breakfast.
"Hello? Kaiba? This is Yugi. I just thought you'd want to know that Joey is getting out of the hospital today and that he has a few broken ribs but nothing too serious." I relaxed. I was glad that he wasn't hurt very badly. Throughout the night, I kept replaying our conversation in my head. I couldn't get his words off my mind. "You can come down and see him if you want. They won't let him go for another hour and the hospital is right next to Kaiba Corp." He informed me.
"Sure, I'll be down soon." I replied.
"Great! I'll tell the others. Bye!" Yugi said before hanging up. I sighed and started making my way down the stairs. I had slept in my office that night so it would only take me about five minutes to get there.
His room was near the entrance so they all saw me as soon as I walked through the automatic doors. Joey was sitting up in bed while the rest of them was gathered around him, talking and laughing. When they saw me, there were mixed expressions. Tea made it obvious that she still didn't like me while Tristen seemed weary. Yugi was his normal self and Joey's smile seemed to brighten a little more when he saw me.
"Kaiba! There you are! I almost didn't believe it when Yug told us you were on your way!" He said, patting a seat on the edge of his hospital bed. I walked over and sat down where he had indicated.
"I was close by so I decided to drop in and see how you were doing." I explained.
"That was nice of ya buddy." He said, beaming. I nodded, smiling a smile so small, no one seemed to notice it. No one except the blondie I was sitting next to. "Hey, guys? Could you three go and find that doctor for me? I want to know if it's okay to eat now." He asked them. They agreed and left us alone, shutting the door behind them. "I saw that one Kaiba." Joey said, smiling a knowing smile directly at me.
"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to keep this new me from showing through.
"You smiled! Well, sort of but it still counts" He said, scooting a little closer.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, trying to keep myself from showing any weakness in front of him.
"And what was that about last night? You called me by my first name! You've never done that before!" He said, smiling his head off.
"Slip of the tongue." I simply stated.
"Uh huh, you keep on telling yourself that, Kaiba." He said, that smile still on his face.
"Shut up."
"Make me."
"Okay, I will."
"And how do you plan to do tha…." He was cut off by my lips colliding with his. I started off nice and slow for him not just because I didn't want to push too far but because this was also my first kiss. Although I doubt that it was his first. I was brought back to my senses when I noticed that he was kissing me back! He had one hand on my cheek while the other rested on my arm. I had one hand on his cheek and the other on his waist.
"Hey guys, we're ba…oh my gosh!" Tea said, stunned into silence. We quickly broke apart and looked away from each other. "Kaiba, how dare you?!" She shouted indignantly and came over, hand raised to slap me. The slap never came though. Joey had caught her hand, mid-slap.
"Don't Tea. I kissed him too." He admitted. I looked back at him to see that his face was red. Mine probably was too. "And if you can't accept that, then that's your problem Tea." He said, releasing her hand. She looked dumbstruck for a few seconds more before the silence was interrupted by Tristen and Yugi quietly cheering, seeing as we were still in a hospital.
"Bout time you found someone Joey!" Tristen said.
"I'm happy for you two." Said Yugi.
"We're not technically together yet guys." Joey said sheepishly. My smirk returned to my face.
"Then let's fix that, shall we?" I asked. Joey looked at me. "Want to go out, Joey?" I asked.
"I thought you'd never ask, Kaiba." He replied, chuckling to himself.
"Congratulations you guys!" Yugi and Tristen said in unison.
"Thanks! Tea? You okay with this?" Joey asked. Her expression softened and she smiled.
"If you're happy, I'm happy." She said and looked over to me. "You better not hurt him though." She warned me. I looked over at my new boyfriend and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I don't think you'll have to worry about that one." He and I both said together. We looked at each other and started laughing.
"You know? I never thought that I'd break this rule of mine." Joey said.
"And what rule would that be?" I asked, curious.
"Oh just the one where I'm not supposed to like you in any way possible." He said laughing. I joined in.
"Same here. That one and the one about not cheering you on when you duel." I said and we laughed until the doctor came in a minute later to release him. We then all walked out together, the group having grown one member larger.