Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh which should be obvious as I am writing a fanfiction about it; I make absolutely no profit from writing.
"A friendship that can be ended didn't ever start."
-Mellin de Saint-Gelais
"Oi, Yugi! Yug, wait up!" The multicolor-haired teen slowly turned around watching his best friend run toward him. It had only taken a few seconds yet Jonouchi Katsuya was panting by the time he reached the shorter teen. Then again the blond was probably running down the hall as soon as he saw those unmistakable multicolored locks. "I..." Gathering his bearings, the blond stood up straight. "I'm glad ya stopped, I got something for ya."
Yugi rose an eyebrow. It wasn't his birthday, the anniversary of their friendship, Jonouchi's birthday, or any particular eventful day the fifteen-year-old could remember. "What for?"
"Mutou, Jonouchi. Get to class!"
"R-Right." Grinning, the blond put an arm over the shorter teen guiding him toward their next class which was physical education in the gymnasium.
In the locker room, Yugi sat on the bench suspiciously eying the box in his lap. "Come on Yug, its not like I got ya something that would just explode in your face ...as funny as that would be." Violet eyes narrowed. "What's with the look? A guy can't just get a gift for his best buddy?"
Yugi continued to stare at the small, unmarked, rectangular black box in his lap. The shorter teen was normally a trusting, somewhat naïve individual but Jonouchi slowly brought him out of that hanging together almost every day for four whole years; Yugi gradually became more cautious and a lot more cunning than anyone (other than Jonouchi) would ever expect. But the point was no one just gave presents to their friends, no matter how close, without some sort of motive.
The multicolor-haired teen looked up at the blond who kept a neutral expression. Deciding Jonouchi was far better at this than he was Yugi curiously shook the box listening for some sort of hint. Frowning since he didn't hear any rattling or any other noise Yugi slowly opened the package but not before sending one last curious, distrustful glance at his best friend.
The package was oddly wrapped up inside of another package and after opening the second Yugi nearly dropped it when he pulled out what was inside. "W-What the hell is this thing Jou?"
"Duh, what does it look like man? Its a vibrator."
"I know that!" The shorter teen looked around the empty locker room before putting the multicolored vibrator back into its box then getting up and shoving said box into Jou's chest. "What are you giving this to me for?"
"Its not for ya, per se." Yugi rose an eyebrow as Jonouchi grinned at him, "I guess ya could say its a gift for both of us."
"What do you mean?"
"Come on Yug, I know ya aren't stupid. We watch porn together all the time. I was hoping we could use it... ya know, together?" Yugi's eyes widened. "I guess I'm giving it to ya because I'm putting ya in the driver's seat."
Yugi gulped as the blond leaned down so that his lips were mere centimeters away from his right ear. "Its a real pain using that thing by myself, maybe ya could help me out? Or, I could use it on ya."
Yugi couldn't help but lick his lips as Jonouchi clamped his hands on the shorter teen's shoulders. He used this thing by himself? The multicolored haired teen only held the thing for a few seconds and could barely grip the thing in his hand. How the hell did Jonouchi, or anyone, fit something that size inside of them! "Just to let ya know, I brought lube and all sorts of other stuff."
"R-Really?"
"Of course, ya gotta be prepared with these things. Just thinking about ya made me wanna use it but I'm trying to be in control. I'm still kinda horny and we could always skip and use them without interruptions at my place." Yugi was pretty sure he was panting at this point, especially since the blond hadn't let go of him and those tempting lips were still dangerously close to his ear wetting themselves seductively every few seconds. "What do ya say Yug?"
"What do I say? I say—"
Beep, Beep, Beep! Beep, Beep, Beep! Beep, Beep, Beep! Beep, Beep, Beep! Beep, Beep, Beep! Beep, Beep, Beep!
Violet eyes snapped open at the incessant, obnoxious screeching of an alarm clock. Groaning, fifteen-year-old Mutou Yugi slammed the snooze button on the stupid thing then slowly sat up noticing the prominent tent twitching in his sheet. Sighing, Yugi kicked the sheets off of his bed then trudged to the bathroom which was thankfully attached to his bedroom.
That was the twelfth night in a row he had a wet dream about his best friend; fortunately (or unfortunately ...depending on your perspective) this time he managed to wake up before the ...end. He was starting to run out of clean sheets and boxers and it was only a matter of time before his grandfather started asking questions about the missing linens.
Making a mental note to do the laundry when he got home today, Yugi reluctantly turned on the shower. There was no point in catching a cold to quell his lust so he'd just relieve himself while showering and gather his thoughts.
Yugi was a healthy red-blooded average Japanese teenage male so he was bound to have a few weekly wet dreams so there was nothing wrong with that – what was wrong was that the wet dreams were more daily than weekly and they starred his best friend of four full years. Even before he was pubescent he was lusting after his best friend – only then he didn't know the definition of lust or why he was feeling it. That was fully explained in his first wet dream almost three years ago.
There was no denying that Jonouchi was indeed an irrefutably attractive being, students from other classes came just to flirt with the blond who was more than just a little clueless when it came to the arts of seduction.
Sighing heavily, Yugi stripped completely ignoring the uncomfortable friction his boxers created when they grazed against his hard-on being pulled off.
It was never an easy thing to wake up just to jerk off, but even when his wet dreams reached their climax – pun very much intended – he still had to relieve himself in the shower. Damn, his overactive stamina!
Eyes widening, the teen popped his head out of the shower. Even with the water running and his bedroom an entire floor higher than the ground level he could swear he heard his grandfather's voice clearly from downstairs. He only knew his grandfather was downstairs because he would have been even louder if they were on the same floor, not to mention his grandfather was a massive invader of privacy and wouldn't hesitate to enter the bedroom if he was on the same floor. The fifteen-year-old's voice was nowhere near as loud as his grandfather's so he decided there was no way he could reply while still in the shower so he didn't bother.
The teen tucked his head back into the shower then continued cleansing himself to satisfaction and satisfying other parts as well.
Done with the shower and beyond a few minutes later, Yugi stepped out of his shower in time to see Jonouchi walk into the bathroom. "Damn Yug!"
Blushing profusely the smaller teen grabbed the spare towel off the rack and covered himself fully; during this time his best friend turned around allowing him to do so not that it really mattered at this point. Yugi was just glad the shock temporarily disabled his ability to get hard because it was one of his fantasies having the blond join him in the shower; but thinking about looking at Jonouchi who was looking at him in the shower would only reroute his frazzled hormones.
"So..." The blond began locking his hands behind his head, "I guess with your height ya gotta make up for it somewhere."
Yugi's blush impossibly deepened. They were usually half dressed around one another, especially in the warmer months but full frontal nudity wasn't something you shared with close friends that were like brothers to you – especially when the taller brother in question is seven months younger.
"I guess I shoulda knocked?" Grinning, Jonouchi looked over his shoulder at the shorter teen who rolled his eyes heading out the bathroom to his room. "Shit ain't gonna be awkward between us because I saw your family jewels is it? I'll show ya mine to—"
"Please don't finish that sentence."
"Listen Yug, if you're that fully equipped ya—"
"Don't finish that sentence either!"
The blond sighed, "Yugi~"
"What?" Sighing, the shorter teen put on his boxers under his towel before turning toward his best friend. The blond had the nerve to unleash the dreaded puppy-dog pout on him; no one could resist that damn face! Especially when the blond tilted his head to the right and his lower lip started quivering slightly.
"Ya can't stay mad at me."
"I'm not mad."
"Then what? Ya sure as hell can't be embarrassed." Yugi facepalmed. Count on Jonouchi's tactless attitude to make an awkward situation right again. "Its gotta be painful slugging that thing around all day."
"Not..." Yugi shook his head, "I need to finish getting dressed or we'll be late."
"And that's bad?"
Yugi sighed, "yes its bad. I'm too small to be carrying buckets twice my body weight!"
"I usually carry them for ya so that's no big deal, helps me work up my muscle mass so its a win-win."
"I'll bet it is."
"Yug!" The shorter teen barely had time to react as Jonouchi tackled him to the ground; thankfully he was dressed ...for the most part but either way Jonouchi's warmth brushing up against his cooling shirtless body was not good for the libido.
If things weren't bad enough his grandfather headed into the bedroom and laughed heartily at the two boys laying on top of one another. "You two should get going if you want to make it to school on time." With that the old man merrily walked out of the room.
Yugi, who somehow managed to straddle the taller teen in the confusion, blushed profusely regrettably crawling off the blond's body... or at least he would have if Jonouchi wasn't holding his back. With his face still bright red Yugi glanced into those chocolate colored eyes and saw his own flushed reflection.
The shorter teen barely managed a gulp as Jonouchi's face seemed to be coming closer to his. Instinctively licking his lips, Yugi inched closer and closer to Jonouchi's face until—
"Are you two ready to go yet?" They instantly broke apart as Honda unceremoniously burst through Yugi's bedroom door.
Yugi managed to put his shirt on and fortunately he wasn't facing the door so the tall brunet couldn't see his red face.
"Come on already, the train's gonna leave us!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Help me up, would ya?"
"Sure..." The brunet easily hoisted up the shorter blond. "Why are you on the floor anyway Jonouchi?"
"Mind your own business man, lets go Yug."
"R-Right." Honda stared at the shorter teen noticing the slight blush he was sporting as he walked by. The brunet's eyes narrowed but he didn't comment walking out of the room too.
"You kids have a good day."
"Later grandpa."
"Yeah, later gramps."
"Bye Mutou-san."
"Mutou-san?" The old man chuckled. "Don't be a stranger now Honda-kun, you can call me gramps too."
"Right, I'll remember that." The old man nodded as the trio left the Kame game shop.
Sixteen-year-old Honda Hiroto might have grown up with Jonouchi but he clearly wasn't the blond's best friend; he was probably the next best thing but that still wasn't good enough for him. The brunet was there for Jonouchi in ways Yugi couldn't even begin to imagine!
The two teens met nearly eight years ago when they were in third grade; like most rambunctious children a fight had begun their friendship. Only it wasn't a fight with one another... their entire elementary school was full of delinquents so it was only natural that they would get along after sharing several interests. Both boys liked playing video games, reading comic books and skipping class so there was no way they couldn't be friends.
Jonouchi had joined a gang during the last year of elementary school in an attempt to pay off his father's massive and seemingly endless debt, so the two teens weren't as close as Honda would have liked during those years but they still hung out whenever the blond was available.
Sadly, in the midst of said gang years – specifically their first year of junior high – Jonouchi and Yugi crossed paths. Honda thought nothing of it at first but the two strangely seemed to be drawn to one another, it might have been negative at first but there was no mistaking it. Upon meeting Yugi, Honda thought he was a bit of a pushover because it seemed as though all their classmates took advantage of the small teen so he and Jonouchi bullied Yugi – Honda wasn't particularly proud of doing it but Yugi never retaliated even when Jonouchi gave him ample opportunities.
Sometime before the end of their first year in junior high Yugi managed to prove the manliness Jonouchi tried to pull out of him from their first interaction. He accomplished this by defeating the 'top dog' of their school; the crafty little guy easily outsmarted the big lug making him trip over his own feet and get knocked out when it hit the floor. In addition to gaining the respect of his fellow classmates Yugi got himself a loyal and devoted best friend in Jonouchi. Ever since that instance when Jonouchi patched up the smaller teen they were inseparable.
Honda wasn't all that willing at first. Whenever he would want to hang out with the blond Yugi was always tagging along. He didn't bully Yugi anymore but he would take advantage of him whenever Jonouchi wasn't looking and with the blond being so absent-minded that was often. But Yugi started to grow on the brunet as well, he wouldn't say he was as close as Jonouchi was to him but he was a close friend.
Even hanging out with Yugi, Jonouchi's personality didn't exactly change – he still (physically) fought for what he believed in and was as blunt and rude as ever – but he no longer hung out with classless thugs even though Hirutani tried to get the blond back into his gang with threats several times. Each time the blond would refuse Hirutani was forced to take action harming anyone who came in close proximity of the blond. When the black-haired teen threatened to harm Jonouchi's own sister the blond had no choice but to return during their third year in junior high.
Noticing Jonouchi's absence, Yugi and Honda both decided to investigate because the blond wouldn't skip school without telling either of them the reason. Honda easily beat up one of Hirutani's lackeys and got the information they needed. Figuring it was completely suicidal to try and take on a gang alone, especially since Yugi would be absolutely no help whatsoever in that field. The short, multicolor haired teen somehow managed to get the entire class to back Jonouchi up and an insane brawl broke out causing several dozen students to be hospitalized; worse of all was Jonouchi who had several broken limbs but even worse was that was his old gang leader whom the blond beat within an inch of his life; an eye for an eye was always Jonouchi's motto ...at least one of them.
Neither Honda nor Yugi left the blond's side at the time (with the exception of the times they were kicked out because they had school but whenever they weren't at school they came to see Jonouchi). His sister, Shizuka, had been hysterical when she burst into the hospital room. As the siblings constantly kept in contact even though they couldn't physically see one another aside from a webcam. Honda had a crush on her since they met nearly five years prior to the incident so Yugi had to console her, which he did poorly.
When the blond had been released nearly three months later he used his fighting prowess (perhaps the only good thing he obtained from being involved with Hirutani) to help the weak and whatnot in a true Robin Hood-esque fashion; he even managed to teach Yugi some basic fighting moves.
Perhaps Jonouchi was always the selfless type but this nature was hidden in an attempt to survive and only his badass, excessively violent persona shone through. The blond didn't exactly come from the most loving household, when his parents split his own mother had a restraining order filed against him! She would have also filed one for his sister but Shizuka threatened to run away so their mother called it off but out of fear of her son turning out like his father she limited the siblings face-to-face contact as much as she could, but like any mother she had been borderline hysteric when she saw her only son laying unconscious on the hospital bed fighting for his life.
Because she came to see him and not the other way around, it wasn't a violation of the restraining order but ever since she went to see him in the hospital she lifted the restraining order and even visited her son more often. She also helped him move out of his father's house and put down the first month's rent on his new apartment.
Despite not living with his father anymore, Jonouchi still had to be the debts he began paying since his last year of elementary school as a paperboy. Honda figured that Jonouchi's fighting must have just been an outlet to vent out his overwhelming frustration over the years; that probably also explained the blond's short temper and berserk button when he was called worthless or inferior.
Even in all the years they were friends Honda never met Jonouchi's father, though he did get a beer bottle chucked at him when he broke into the blond's apartment trying to find out why he wasn't at school – needless to say that was an incredibly short visit and he only saw the blond's mother that time at the hospital. Though he and Shizuka interacted more frequently because he was usually around when the blond talked to his sister via webcam.
"Honda?" The brunet blinked looking at the concerned faces of Jonouchi and Yugi. "What the hell man, ya were walking with this dazed look on your face!" Yugi nodded in agreement. "Are ya alright?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you haven't said a word in thirty minutes, not to mention while you were on the train your eyes were glossed over and sort of rolling in the back of your head." Honda looked down at the frowning short teen. Yugi was sometimes too damn perceptive for the brunet's liking. The two idiots personalities and habits seemed to rub off on one another because if was zoning out about five years ago then Jonouchi would have never noticed – in fact the blond would be too zoned out himself.
"Look, I said I'm okay. So I'm okay, okay?" Jonouchi and Yugi exchanged glances.
"Yeah... I ain't buying it." The former replied, "but I'll tell ya what. If ya buy us lunch today we'll forget this whole thing happened." The brunet glared at him.
"Now, you don't have to buy both of us lunch Honda-kun. Jou and I will probably share anyway."
The brunet's left eye twitched. He almost forgot the idiots regularly shared lunch with one another! It was like they were rubbing their closeness in his face! Surprisingly, Yugi was the 'picky eater' out of the duo but he still had as voracious an appetite as Jonouchi did. "Dammit Yug, ya weren't supposed to remind him we could have ate twice as much for free!"
"We'll probably buy something else anyway and in any case we can't have Honda-kun go bankrupt for buying us lunch!"
"What if he brought us food after school instead?" Yugi sighed shaking his head. "Alright fine, ya don't gotta buy us anything ta eat... but I won't mind some calpis."
"No Jou—"
"Why not?"
"What do you mean why not?"
"Its not like he minds—"
Yugi sighed facepalming. "That's not the point."
"Its alright Yugi, I'll see how much money I brought to feed Jonouchi's sorry ass."
"Honda, you're the best man!" The brunet skillfully concealed his blush as the blond merrily clamped onto him nuzzling their faces together.
Yugi chuckled at this little display being far too used to it to comment further. "Come on you two, we're going to be late."
Regrettably, Honda allowed the blond to release him then Jonouchi turned to the still chuckling shorter teen. "Yugi, do you know what time it is?"
"Hm?" The shorter teen looked down at the watch attached to the carabiner on his backpack. Honda found out a while ago that the short teen had some sort of paranoia about not knowing what time it was and so he often had several watches on him. Once his entire wrist was lit up with watches and the weirdest part was they all held the exact same time, down to the milliseconds. "Its 8:35... oh crap! The gate will be closing any second now. We're late!"
"Like hell we are!" Grabbing both Honda and Yugi's wrist, Jonouchi sprinted toward the direction of their high school. With all the running the blond did Honda wasn't surprised in the least that the track teen constantly tried to scout him, the fact that he often ran from them made the team want him all the more.
As they hit the gate, literally, Jonouchi gave Honda a boost and the brunet easily climbed to the other side. Once he was secure in the school grounds Yugi was literally thrown at him making them both fall in the process. Sighing in relief, Jonouchi began climbing the gate – apparently sneaking in and out of private property for two years had its perks. As he reached the top of the gate an ice blue limousine came around the corner, seemingly out of nowhere and slammed into the gate head on nearly taking the blond's legs off in the process, but the momentum of the impact send the blond falling into the limousine shattering the already busted windshield.
"Jou!" Yugi screamed scrambling to his feet watching the blond laying atop the busted car. Even in his shock Yugi easily recognized the limousine belonging to their school's idol of sorts – Kaiba Seto. The chauffeur immediately came out of the driver's seat shaking approaching the unconscious blond.
"I'm so gonna get fired for this."
"Hey!" Honda yelled landing on the other side of the gate near the limousine. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"I-I'm so sorry! I-I thought Kaiba-sama was going to be late." The man's eyes widened. "Kaiba-sama!" He hastily headed to the back of the limousine opening the back door on the passengers side. "I'm definitely going to get fired for this!"
Irritated by the man's babbling, Honda charged forward pushing the man and looking inside the limo. "What the hell man, Kaiba isn't even in here!"
"T-The door closed, I assumed Kaiba-sama was inside and as it was approaching 8:30 I figured he had to get to school on time at all costs—"
"So you drive around town like a lunatic!" The man shrank back shaking almost violently.
"Honda-kun! Is Jonouchi okay!"
Yugi's blatantly worried voice brought the brunet back to his senses just as he was about to beat the idiotic driver senseless. Sighing, he walked over to blond wedged in the car's windshield. Jonouchi didn't seem to be in any mortal danger and was probably just out cold due to the shock. Nevertheless, the brunet picked up his unconscious friend bridal style. "I'm gonna take him to the hospital Yugi."
"By yourself?"
"You gotta tell the principal about this."
"There's no need for that." Honda's eyes narrowed at the turquoise haired bespectacled teen standing on the other side of the gate beside Yugi. "The principal saw the entire thing." The bespectacled teen pointed to the principal's office window. "In fact, half of the school saw what happened. I suppose you three managing to slip by without a punishment will have to wait for now." Adjusting his public moral committee arm band he turned to the distraught shorter teen. "Mutou-kun, you need to move so that I may open the gate."
Wordlessly and not taking his eyes off Jonouchi's limp body, Yugi stepped backwards enough not to be in the opening gate's path. Luckily it opened inwardly because it was highly unlikely that it would be able to open outward with the limo pressed into it. Once the gate was open Yugi ran over to Honda tip-toeing to see Jonouchi's face.
"Honda-kun, you can't take Jou to the hospital by yourself in his condition!"
"I know." The brunet sighed. "Hey!" The chauffeur flinched looking up at Honda. "This thing can still move, right?" Slowly the man nodded. "Take us to the hospital now!"
Nodding once more, the chauffeur scrambled to his feet and climbed into the driver's seat door. "I'm coming too—"
"Seeing as how you two clearly can't be left alone without proper supervision I'll accompany you." Honda and Yugi exchanged glances briefly before they got into the limo allowing the bespectacled teen to climb in behind them.
The ride to the hospital had been silent and with the driver now obeying the traffic laws it was somewhat calming. The brunet sighed inwardly, with the blond laying unconsciously in his lap he couldn't appreciate this opportunity to its full extent, he also couldn't enjoy his first (and probably only) ride in a limousine. The chauffeur had accompanied the group inside until Jonouchi was brought into a room to get looked at.
The doctor came in nodded at the three conscious boys before getting to work. It had taken a few minutes but the blond's wounds he obtained by falling onto the limousine were dressed. His back was badly damaged and embedded with shards of glass, his head suffered a similar fate which rendered him unconscious. After taking care of the blond the doctor left.
"We should be heading back to school now, you know how Crawford-sama gets when students skip."
"Haga." The bespectacled teen looked back at Honda, "I'm not going anywhere until Jonouchi wakes up."
"Me too." Yugi chimed in nodding. "You could go back to school if you want."
Chuckling, the bespectacled teen adjusted his glasses. "I'm afraid I can't do that Mutou-kun, you see I was put in charge of watching you two until you returned to the school grounds." Yugi and Honda exchanged glances then the latter sighed.
"Fine. I'll head back to school and you're coming with me bug boy." Grabbing the smaller, loudly protesting teen by the collar Honda stomped off. When he reached the door he looked back over his shoulder at Yugi seated by the bed. "Just to let you know, I have no problem kicking your ass if you don't take care of my buddy."
Yugi nodded as Honda exited the room. With the room empty, mostly, Yugi slowly got up hovering over to the top of the bed taking in the blond's sleeping face. Jonouchi usually had a pretty interesting sleeping face, but now his eyebrows were furrowed and he seemed to be in pain. Not that Yugi expected anything less, he obviously had to be in pain falling into an already cracked windshield.
Sighing, Yugi pulled up a chair then began gently caressing Jonouchi's face with his palm. As usual, the blond selflessly put himself in harms way making sure his friends were okay. Had Jonouchi climbed first he wouldn't be in this situation; if they didn't run to the gate he wouldn't be in this situation either. Frowning, Yugi regrettably retracted his hand then put his head on the bed near the blond's left leg.
"Yug?"
Violet eyes widened and Yugi's head snapped up at Jonouchi. "J-Jou?"
"I feel like I got hit by a truck."
"You didn't get hit by anything, but you fell on a limousine."
"Ah, Mutou-kun, was it?" Yugi looked up at the doctor flipping through his clipboard. "For the most part you are fine Jonouchi-kun, I mean you have a few bumps and bruises and a couple of cracked ribs – but you're biggest problem would be the blood you lose when you collided with the broken windshield. Dozens of tiny shards were embedded in you and each time we took one out you lost a small amount of blood; couple that with your anemia your total blood loss is about a litre and a half. You need to get some blood in you now before your situation gets worse."
Yugi grimaced. Jonouchi's blood type was B and his was AB, had it been the other way around there would be no problem – in fact Jonouchi had actually given blood to Yugi on two separate occasions but that was irrelevant. Yugi felt pretty helpless especially since the only person he knew with type B blood was someone he knew Jonouchi couldn't stand.
"Yug." Yugi looked over at Jonouchi. "You're not thinking, what I think you're thinking, are ya?" Gulping, Yugi nodded slowly causing the blond to sigh, "alright doc... I can get the blood."
— —
The hospital had dozens of donors on call unfortunately Jonouchi was in the second lowest blood type percentage in the world; Yugi was in the lowest but that was irrelevant. The only donors the blond could take blood from were an O- and another B- making ninety-five percent of the donors virtually useless. According to the doctor a few type O- donors were on their way but there was no telling how long they would take.
With the 'donor' Yugi had reluctantly called, it had taken him less than a half hour to arrive at the hospital. The donor in question was sixteen-year-old Otogi Ryuji, a classmate of Yugi and Jonouchi at Domino High School. Otogi was an arrogant, manipulative son of a bitch that Yugi considered a friend – of sorts. As for the others... Yugi couldn't really speak for them since they didn't voice their dislike of him. Honda usually muttered some obscene things but he said things like that about almost everyone; now Jonouchi, on the other hand, had a blatant disdain for the black-haired teen who seemed to be fueled by said disdain and enjoyed paling around the blond but no one knew whether it was because he enjoyed pissing Jonouchi off or if he was that clueless to the fact that the blond abhorred his presence.
Nevertheless, the black-haired teen amorously allowed the doctor to prick his vein and slowly get his blood to give to the blond.
Once he was finished some of the other donors arrived giving blood to the blond as well. The average human can still fully function losing up to fifteen percent of their blood, with Jonouchi's blood count lower than average with his anemia he lost close to thirty five percent. Four different donors had given blood to the blond, the three the hospital provided were all O- and Otogi was the only B- but all the blood was accepted either way.
Luckily, the blond hadn't gone into hypovolemiac shock with all the blood loss but the fact that he merely lost consciousness a few times during each inter-human transfusion the doctors wanted to keep him a little longer and make sure everything was as it should be.
Hours passed by in the waiting room and school let out so Honda returned with Yugi's childhood friend Mazaki Anzu. Before the whole borderline infatuation with Jonouchi, they always hung out together but even though they were friends Anzu was still apprehensive about hanging out with Jonouchi – given his track record – so the brunette was around but spent more time with some of her female friends, mainly the ones without prison records.
"Yugi, I have a cellphone why didn't you call me?" Anzu asked flopping down in the chair beside the small teen, "you even brought Otogi-kun here?"
"Otogi and Jou have the same blood type." Honda replied not bothering to mask his disdain for the black-haired teen.
"Jealous of my blood type Honda-kun?" The brunet's right eye twitched. "Are you upset that Jonouchi and I are a perfect match?"
"Like hell you two are! Its only blood."
"Blood that's not compatible with yours~"
"You should be thankful you're in the hospital Otogi, because you're going to need medical attention real soon—"
"Honda!" Anzu snapped causing both boys to flinch. "That's enough. We're here to support Jonouchi-kun, not to pick fights with each other!"
"He started it!" They replied pointing at one another.
"And now I'm ending it!" The brunette sighed, looking up she saw a white-haired teen approaching them. "Oh! Bakura-kun, you came!"
The white-haired teen nodded. Bakura Ryou was a shy one; last year during their final year of junior high the friend hoarding tag team of Mutou Yugi and Jonouchi Katsuya easily accepted the transfer student with open arms with as little badgering as possible. Bakura might not have been openly reluctant to be friends with such a rowdy group but he was visibly skeptical about hanging out with them. Nevertheless, he began hanging out with them anyway even though his foreign good looks gave many of their classmates leverage to take a liking to him. "Thank you for texting me Yugi-kun."
"No problem." The multicolor haired teen gulped as the brunette glared at him.
"As I was leaving I saw a couple of repairmen fixing the broken gate." Bakura tapped his chin, "Before that I heard the paparazzi flooded the Kaiba manor. Oh, by the way a few of our classmates said they'd stop by with gifts from Jonouchi-kun."
"Always the popular one..." Honda and Otogi replied shaking their heads.
"Where is he anyway?"
"Jou? He's still getting looked over by the doctors and because Otogi-kun was too loud we had to leave."
"Its not my fault he kept losing consciousness!"
"Fucking up things as usual." Honda replied shaking his head.
"That would be the pot calling the kettle black, wouldn't it?"
"Me fucking things up? Why you stuck up, son of a—"
Anzu hit the brunet over the head but said nothing. The doctor came out of the room and all five teens stood up surrounding him. "Is he okay?"
"Yes, Jonouchi-kun will be just fine. He's resting at the moment and as soon as his guardian arrives to fill out the release forms he can go." The teens stared at each other dumbfounded as the doctor walked off.
"Son of a bitch!" Honda yelled, "he told me his mom lives in Sapporo, it'll take her three hours to get here!"
Sighing, Anzu flipped her phone closed. "Sorry guys, I don't mean to sound insensitive but I can't stay here for three more hours, I can't even stay for another hour – besides we don't know exactly how long it'll take because we don't know how long far away she is from the airport."
Bakura frowned folding his arms over his chest. "I'm sure it wouldn't matter if we got another adult to fill out the release forms—"
"Wait a second!" Honda interrupted, "Yugi, can you get your grandfather to fill out the forms? He did say this morning that Jonouchi was like family, right?"
"Uh..." Frowning, Yugi sat back down in the chair, "h-he did and I guess that would be okay. I mean, I don't see why it wouldn't. But we have to call his mother and Shizuka-san too."
"Great." Otogi replied. "I'll ask the doctor if its okay, Honda'll call Jou's mom and you call your grandfather." The short teen nodded.
"Fuck that, why do you have to get the okay from the doctor? I don't even know his mom's phone number."
"You're even more useless than I thought—"
"Kyaaaaaaa~"
Everyone froze hearing several high pitched screams. "What the hell was that?" Honda asked.
"Oh my gosh he's here~!"
"Get out of the way!"
"Ooh, I just have to take a picture!"
"I just can't believe it!"
"Its him; its really him!"
The five teens braced themselves as the ground began shaking violently underneath them. With the tremors increasing Anzu fell forward landing in front of a pair of blindingly shiny black shoes. Blue eyes slowly traveled upward a pair of lean legs in the customary navy pants of Domino High School's uniform, the matching button-up navy top followed – the broad shoulders were covered by an all white leather trench coat, finally Anzu looked up at the face belonging to none other than Kaiba Seto.
Honda and Bakura helped the brunette up once they managed to get to their feet themselves. "Kaiba-kun?" The brunet glanced in Yugi's direction; out of all the teens Yugi was the only one still seated so the ground shaking didn't affect him like the others.
"Ah, Mutou-kun, its good seeing you." Blushing slightly, the short teen rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Is Jonouchi-kun awake? I brought a get well present." The brunet produced a bouquet of peonies from behind his back along with an incredibly large box of chocolate. "I was hoping to get his forgiveness for my ex-chauffeur's incompetence. I would have been here sooner but I had to deal with the paparazzi breaking into my house."
"Um... Jou is resting right now."
"Ah, Kaiba-sama!" A red-haired female doctor eagerly approached the fifteen-year-old pressing her massive breasts against his back and left shoulder. "Do you need some assistance? I can get you into..." Pursing her lips together, she took the clipboard off the door reading the name of the patient aloud. "Jonouchi Katsuya..." With the frown still on her face, she put the clipboard back pressing further into the brunet's arm. "this room if you like."
"Hold on." Otogi interrupted, "the other doctor said we couldn't get in because Jou had to rest."
Scowling the woman glanced at the black-haired teen briefly before scoping out the others, "is there something I can help you all with?"
"We're waiting for the okay to see Jonouchi." Honda replied. His parents might have raised him not to hit a woman, even if she was asking for it – and this woman was definitely asking for it, but he could always sick Anzu on her; the brunette was definitely more violent than she was led to believe. Whenever she caught him messing with Yugi she'd make him pay for it ...physically! Hell, she hit him twice today...
"Right. This way." Slowly, she retracted herself from the brunet and opened the door. "As the patient is resting you might not want to be so loud. Now Kaiba-sama, if there is anything else you need please don't hesitate to call me." The brunet nodded at the woman who happily walked off.
"Could she have been any more obvious?" Honda muttered to Bakura while shaking his head walking inside.
"Jou!" Since he was the last to enter the room, Yugi stuck his head out of the doorway in time to see a blond running up to the room. "Oh, Yugi."
"Kujaku-san!"
The blond waved him off, "please I told you that makes me sound like such an old woman. Just Mai is fine."
Kujaku Mai was a friend of Yugi and Jonouchi, surprisingly one of the few friends that wasn't shared amongst their little group... at least not yet. Mai was one of the employees of an arcade the teens frequented – only at the time they had no idea she was an employee. As they weren't clad in their school uniforms Mai flirted with them and they, not so successfully, flirted back. It was only when Jonouchi's school identification card slipped out of his pocket was when they were revealed ...and that was also when the truancy officers came for them. At the same time Mai had gotten fired from her job since she was busy playing games for free.
A few weeks later, they bumped into the blond again this time working as a waitress – she overcharged the hell out of them for their meal, however her plan backfired when they ran out without paying. Once again she got fired but an upside was that Yugi left his identification card in one of the chairs.
The next day when Yugi and Jonouchi were going to the Kame game shop they had an unwelcome visitor in Mai. The blond managed to slip into a uniform of their junior high easily fooling Yugi's grandfather who had stepped out as the teens arrived.
Several threats where given, apologies were made and a couple of yen was exchanged and by the end of the day the three became fast friends. The entire thing was a complete and total blur that Yugi actually had no recollection of what happened that night to truly make them all good friends so easily.
"Uh, Mai-san." Yugi gulped, "how are you?"
"This isn't the time for pleasantries I heard about what happened over the radio, is Jou okay?"
The teen nodded. "But you should determine that for yourself." Nodding, the blond followed him inside.
"Who is that?" Otogi asked.
"Oh, right. Guys, this is Kujaku Mai-san she's a friend of me and Jou. Mai-san these are my friends Anzu, Bakura, Honda and Otogi... oh and this is—"
"Kaiba." The blond looked him up and down, "you've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here and you brought gifts? How sweet, I'm sure your—"
Yugi cleared his throat, if he was tall enough he would have covered the blond's mouth but this would have to suffice. "Lets leave the hostility at the door, we all came to check on Jonouchi-kun."
"Crap." Anzu sighed, "I have to go home now. I expect to be informed of his progress Yugi."
"R-Right."
"See you guys tomorrow—"
"Wait a minute Mazaki-chan, we can't let you walk home alone." Otogi interrupted nodding. "Lets go Honda."
"You've gotta be shitting me!" Groaning, the brunet threw his hands in the air as he stomped out of the room behind Anzu and Otogi.
"And then there were four." Mai took a seat in the empty chair beside the bed. "Unlike the rest of you kids I don't have a curfew so I'll stay with Katsuya-chan all night. Of course, I'm sure you already got the okay from Sugoroku-san to stay overnight so you'll keep me company Yugi."
"I have no intention of leaving, Kujaku-san, unless I'm sure Jonouchi-kun is okay."
"Why would you? Its not like any of this is directly your fault."
"Its because this is indirectly my fault is why I'm here."
"Is that how you see it?"
Bakura sighed loudly interrupting the argument, "and I suppose I'll stay too and help Yugi-kun referee. By the way, what was with the ground shaking earlier?"
"My guess was the fangirls following pretty boy around. I was nearly knocked down on my way over here."
"Ah." Bakura nodded fidgeting nervously in his chair. The tension was so thick in this room a knife alone wouldn't be able to cut through it. If the white-haired teen didn't do something fast someone else might end up unconscious on a hospital bed. "Uh, Kujaku-san, do you mind accompanying me to the cafeteria? I'm not really comfortable walking alone in a hospital.. too many bad memories." Violet eyes narrowed at the white-haired teen then Mai glanced over at Yugi who's eyes briefly darted in the brunet's direction before looking back at the blond.
"Fine." Mai began with a huff standing up, "do you want anything Yugi?"
"Uh, well I didn't get the chance to call my grandfather could you do that for me please?"
"Of course, but that's not what I meant."
"Food wise anything is fine."
"Right." Nodding at the teen, Mai walked out of the room behind Bakura.
"That's an interesting friend you have there Mutou-kun, though she does seem a little old to be acquainted with high school students."
"Heh, heh... don't be silly Kaiba-kun. Age doesn't matter in terms of friendship."
"Ah yes, I know your speeches of friendship quite well." Yugi rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "And keeping with that subject, I was hoping you and I could be friends?" Despite every accessible fiber in the shorter teen's being screaming at him to decline he just couldn't flat out refuse without a moderately acceptable reason, especially since the brunet was always by himself in school. Even his hoard of rabid groupies kept their distance from him so, naturally, the brunet had to be depressingly lonesome. Never one to refuse a friend the choice was clear.
"Sure." He finally replied forcing a smile. Yugi might have agreed but with the whole limousine nearly running over one of their close friend, he wasn't entirely sure if the others would be so willing to befriend the brunet. Especially Honda and Mai.
Speaking of Mai, the blond returned with food and Bakura in tow. "I called your grandfather Yugi and he's on his way. I also ran into this woman in the lobby." A brunette peered into the room.
"Kawai-san!" Yugi exclaimed jumping out of his chair.
"Oh, Yugi-kun. I was on my way to visit Katsuya when I ran into your friend Hiroto. He told me all about what happened." She ran over to the bed looking down at her unconscious son. "This is the third time I've had to hover over his bed when he's fighting for his life."
"Third?" The brunette turned to Yugi, "this would be the second... wouldn't it?"
She shook her head, "you two didn't met the first time. While we were getting the divorce finalized my ex-husband took his anger out on our son and hospitalized him. I should have taken him then but..." The brunette collapsed in a chair sobbing, "its all my fault."
"N-No, Kawai-san it isn't—"
"He's right, if its anyone's fault its Kaiba's."
The brunette's head snapped up at the teen in question then up at Mai before sitting in the seat beside the bed. "No..." She shook her head, "Kaiba-kun has nothing to do with this. He acquired his bad luck from being in the same vicinity as his pathetic excuse for a father!" Taking a tissue out of her purse she dabbed her teary eyes and nose. "When he recovers I'm taking Katsuya back to Sapporo with me."
"W-What? No!" Yugi exclaimed. "I-I know you're his mother and I have no right to intrude on your family life but think of what your son would want. All of his friends and everything he's ever known—"
"I understand where you are coming from Yugi-kun, I really do, but his family is in Sapporo and I refuse to come back here."
"Um, we haven't been properly introduced yet." The brunette looked up at Mai again. "I'm Kujaku Mai, a friend of your son. If you need someone to take care of him I'll be happy to let Jou live with me."
"Are you insane?" The brunette nearly jumped out of her seat. "No offense, Kujaku-san, but no thank you. I barely know you and he is his father's son."
Mai rose an eyebrow, "no offense taken but Jou isn't his father and what exactly do you mean?"
"I mean, even if he isn't his father he spent most of his life around him. Nevertheless, I would hate to have an unwed teenage mother to deal with."
"She isn't a—" Mai stepped on Yugi's foot before he could finish.
"You don't have to worry about that, our friendship is strictly platonic." The brunette's eyes narrowed. "Honest!"
"Kawai-san." Yugi interrupted. "We—"
"Yugi!"
"Grandpa?" The old man came into the room panting. "I would have come in sooner but— oh! You must be Jonouchi-san."
"Kawai. Jonouchi is my ex-husband's surname." She shook hands with Yugi's grandfather. "Its a pleasure to finally meet you in person Mutou-san. We just keep missing one another."
"Yes, well—" Yugi cleared his throat, "but that's not important right now. I heard yelling all the way from the ground floor, what's going on?"
"Nothing. I'm simply taking my son back to Sapporo."
"You are? But what about school, the first semester barely began."
"All the more reason to take him out now. Yugi-kun and Hiroto-kun are welcome to visit on the weekends." She looked Mai up and down, "and you as well Kujaku-chan."
"Kawai-san, what if we take care of your son for you? While Yugi's mother is away on business I take care of him and he's turned out just fine."
"Yugi's mother?" Mai, Bakura and Kaiba echoed. The teen barely, if ever, spoke of his mother so they all assumed she either abandoned him or was no longer living but neither of those were the case.
"I can't burden you with my son."
"Katsuya-kun isn't a burden at all. He and Yugi get along so well it would be a shame for them to get separated."
"I know..." The brunette sighed, "Yugi is the first positively influential friend Katsuya has ever had. I-I just hate to find out these things when I'm so far away and Shizuka is a thousand times worse."
"If I may interrupt." Everyone in the room turned to the brunet seated in the corner of the room. "I would be happy to have Jonouchi-kun under my care."
"You? This is your fault to begin with!" Mai growled.
"Kaiba-san, you're just a child yourself there is no way I would allow you to take care of my son." The brunette shook her head, "this is not open for discussion. Katsuya will come home with me."
"Ah... there certainly are more people than when I last left." The doctor cleared his throat. "Jonouchi-kun sustained minor injuries due to him falling onto the limousine but for the most part he is fine. Wait, I said that already didn't I?"
"Is it safe to wake him? I need to catch the plane back to Sapporo tonight."
"It is but its better to let him awaken on his own, we don't know what any shock might do to his condition. I have to say... ma'am your son is incredibly resilient, any lesser man wouldn't make it out of this with just a few scratches." Nodding at the brunette, the doctor walked off.
"Yugi!" The aforementioned teen turned to the doorway. "I just found out something Jou is an emancipated minor, he doesn't need anyone to sign him out... uh, who is this woman?"
"You must be Otogi Ryuji." The black-haired teen in question nodded. "I am Katsuya's mother." Otogi gulped. "I understand why my son never has anything pleasant to say about you."
"Wait a minute, if he's emancipated then Jou is technically legal—"
The woman glared at Yugi effectively shutting him up. "Yes, Katsuya is legally an adult but that doesn't mean I'm going to leave him alone like this."
"No offense lady, but you kind of already did." Yugi facepalmed as Otogi approached the woman. "Jonouchi has been in tougher situations than this and came out fine without your help. You probably had him emancipated after your divorce so you wouldn't have to deal with him. In fact I'm sure with your restraining order you coupled on a disownment. I'm sure the only reason why you are even here is to make yourself look good. The apartment you helped him get was to ease your guilt and now that he can pay for it without your help you feel the need to take it all away from him. Am I right, Kawai-san?"
"I don't know where you get your information from—"
"Ma'am, I'm an expert in obtaining and sorting out data especially when it pertains to my friends. I'm not about to let you screw your own son over just to let you sleep easy at night." The brunette's nostrils flared.
"I gotta say, I agree with spikes over there." Mai added. "You said it yourself, you should have never let him stay with his father and you did anyway. Not to mention you just called your only son a burden. You did what was best for yourself—"
"And daughter." Otogi added.
"—Yes and... what? She has a daughter too?" Bakura and Yugi nodded. "Damn lady... you selfishly disowned your own son distancing him from yourself and your daughter in fear that he would turn out like his father, but did it ever occur to you that perhaps your daughter might be the one to inherit their father's temperament or behavior? Just because Jou is a male doesn't mean he automatically assumes his father's personality."
"You kids have some nerve talking to me like that? I am Katsuya's mother—"
"Technically yes, but legally you aren't. The minute you disowned him you stopped being his mother."
"If that was the case I wouldn't have removed the restraining order or helped him get his new apartment."
"We already covered that Kawai-san." Otogi shook his head, "its too late for you to try and be a good mother now, the damage has already been done."
"Its obvious you're not doing this for Jonouchi's benefit so why did you come here Kawai-san?"
"Not that its any business of yours." She looked them all over not bothering to mask her disdain. "Any mother would be distraught to know one child is in the hospital and her other is on her way to see the first! Contrary to popular belief, I love my son and I had no ulterior motive to see him. I was on my way to check on him when I heard he was in the hospital."
The brunette's cellphone chose that moment to ring. "Excuse me for a moment." Without waiting for a response she walked out of the room.
"Can you believe the nerve of that woman? I don't care if she is Jonouchi's mother if we weren't in a hospital I would—"
"Okay Mai, we're all a little hostile right now but violence doesn't solve anything." Mai glared at the multicolor-haired teen. "I-I'm just saying. Besides, do you think Jou would be happy to find out you knocked out his own mother?"
"Well since this is Jou we're talking about he'll either be really pissed or think its kinda funny." Yugi facepalmed. "What? Come on Yugi, you should know that better than anyone!"
Yugi sighed, "this isn't a productive area of discussion. I propose that we all leave and let Jou recover."
"We can't leave him here overnight alone!" Mai huffed, "my job is not even a full block from here so I'm not heading home anytime soon."
"Hey, if she's not leaving then neither am I!"
"You left already Otogi-kun."
"Yeah, but once I found this information I just had to come back." The black-haired teen sighed heavily. "To think that poor Jonouchi-kun has to deal with all of this unconscious. He needs his friends now more than ever Yugi. I believe the power of friendship will speed up his recovery."
Violet eyes narrowed. "Ooh, that's quite the expression." Otogi licked his lips, "and all this time I thought Jonouchi was the cute one. I guess I was only half correct."
"What the hell is the matter with you? I can't believe you are hitting on Yugi in a hospital room!"
"I wasn't hitting on anyone, I was simply stating a fact."
Mai cracked her knuckles, "you've got to be blind if you didn't think Yugi was cute but that's neither here nor there. If you don't shut your mouth I will personally make sure you get transferred to the orthopedic department!"
Otogi gulped then nodded. Jonouchi's personality was clearly rubbing off on this woman ...or she was just naturally hostile.
Yugi blushed slightly at the cute comment, he personally wasn't looking to be deemed as cute – it just turned out that way.
"I have a proposition." The three teens, Mai and Yugi's grandfather all turned to the brunet. "We should take shifts watching Jonouchi-kun. There are six of us here so we'll divide ourselves into pairs watching him."
"I'll watch with Yugi!" Otogi and Mai exclaimed simultaneously.
"Wait a minute, this is a horrible idea." Bakura, who was pretty much silent for the last half-hour, suddenly spoke. "Splitting up now isn't going to make things better. If we all have agreed to stay for the night then we should do it together."
Everyone in the room exchanged glances. "This hospital room isn't big enough for all of us to sleep in." Yugi's grandfather began, "I think we'll all be better off in the lobby and leave one person in here to keep Jonouchi company as he rests."
"The only person small enough to sleep here is Yugi—"
"You're absolutely right Otogi-kun, Yugi will stay here and the rest of us will be in the lobby sleeping." The black-haired teen gaped then found himself, Bakura, Mai and Kaiba being led out of the room by the old man.
"Goodnight." Yugi called out as the door closed behind his grandfather. Once the room was finally silent he sighed outwardly. It certainly was a lot quieter with everyone outside now; saying today was eventful was a huge understatement. To think a few hours ago they nearly kissed and now Jonouchi was laying unconscious in a hospital bed. Gulping, Yugi glanced over to the occupied bed before slowly walking over to it.
The shorter teen leaned over the bed and gently pressed his lips against his best friend's then almost instantaneously recoiled sitting back in his seat. He could swear the blond kissed him back but that could have been wishful thinking.
"Is that all?" The blond rasped in a soft tone, "I was kinda hoping for some tongue."
"Jou?" Tears nearly welled up in Yugi's eyes but crying wasn't manly and even laying in a hospital bed wouldn't deter Jonouchi from the appropriate unmanly conduct punishment. Yugi stood then leaned back over the bed seeing the blond's trademark grin. "You're..." Yugi frowned, "you weren't pretending to be asleep, were you?"
"Give me some credit Yug, I'm not that good of an actor." Jou's smirk broadened as Yugi's eyes narrowed. "I felt like sleeping beauty being awaken from a kiss from my handsome prince." Yugi couldn't stop the blush from taking over his face if he tried.
"That's an interesting face ya got there."
Yugi's blush deepened an impossibly darker shade of red so he figured it was best to change the subject. "Um, Mai-san visited... Bakura too a-and your mom came as well."
"Seriously? Did she go all psycho, manic-depressive?" Yugi nodded slowly, "yeah. 'Zuka said that their group therapist said the divorce really fucked her up..."
"So, are you saying your mother is mentally unstable?"
"I wouldn't say that..." The blond sat up slowly on his elbows, "don't change the subject Yug. This is the second time we were interrupted."
Yugi gulped. Jonouchi was nothing if not persistent. "You're still recovering." Shaking his head, Jonouchi grabbed Yugi's arm pulling him on the bed practically on the covered lap. "We're in a hospital room."
"What do ya think I'm gonna do?" Yugi's face turned red. "You're thinking pervy thoughts, aren't ya?" Grinning, the blond nuzzled his face into Yugi's. Despite his obvious lack of attention when it came to flirting and the like Jonouchi was incredibly affectionate toward his friends.
"Okay." Yugi sighed pushing the blond's face away from his own. "If I kiss you, without interruptions, will you rest?"
"Only if you lay next to me when we're done."
Yugi would have blushed again but he wasn't biologically sure if it was possible at this point. "Fine." Jonouchi didn't even give Yugi time to sigh before he pressed their lips together. Somehow, Yugi managed to suppress the ever present moan from escaping his covered lips. True to form, Jonouchi's tongue found its way into Yugi's willing mouth coaxing the appendage in question to a duel of dominance then sucking on it once he easily won.
The dire need of air made itself apparent and Yugi broke the trance sucking in as much air as his lungs would allow. The panting blond beside him grinned pressing their lips together again gently.
Yugi would have glared at him but it was too cute the way he was smiling plus his lips were slightly flushed. "Will... you... rest... now?"
Jonouchi nodded, "but we gotta do that again later."
