A/N: A/N's are gay.
The sunlight poured in through the windows with increasing persistence than ever before, piercing through his eyelids and forcing him to rise to the waking world. His eyes felt as if someone had come along and trailed a line of sticky tack around his lashes, his eyelids refusing to open even when he valiantly tried. It was the kind of day where he wished he could stay in bed. Managing somehow to wrench them open, he rose , walked to the bathroom, showered and dressed himself with the methodical ease that came with habit. He met his brother in the elaborate kitchen of their overly elaborate home and quietly, they ate together. Everything in order, everything regulated, everything running smoothly with clinical ease… Until Seto Kaiba read the headlines on his morning paper.
Joey Wheeler, after a night's episode of drinking and party making with his friend Tristan, was not pleased to see the sun rise. It meant that he had to waddle home, block his crappy wood windows with black garbage bags and heavy curtains, and waste a day sleeping in a passed out stupor. The night had been a revealing one, one that Joey did not like to think about while he slowly became more and more sober. It had seemed alright, in that warm fuzz of drink and laughter, to spill all of his secrets to the one friend that had been with him for so long, and through so much shit. It had all started when Tristan, ranting on in a drunken rage, accused Joey of being too protective of his younger sister. He accused him of being a horrible brother for not letting her make any decisions for herself. They had gotten into a fist fight right there on the ground, but it had ended in the two of them dissolving into slurred tears and apologies. Tristan admitted, with a red face, that he was truly and deeply in love with Serenity, and that they had been secretly dating for months behind Joey's back. Joey, shocked but changed by his friend's passionate speech, had decided then to spill hismost dark and terrible secret…
He remembered it, the words coming out of his mouth like water over a mountain, sliding out graceful and true. "I've got a thing for Mai… But I've got a thing for Kaiba more." He grimaced, running a hand through greasy blonde locks. Why on Earth did I admit tah THAT?, he wondered to himself. Joey, normally, did not bat for the other team. Joey, normally, did not check men out and find them sexually attractive… But it had all started when Seto Kaiba, clad in a dark blue trench coat and a greenish, loose dress shirt that showed off his milk-white collarbone, had appeared out of nowhere at Duelist Kingdom. He was empassioned by Kaiba's tactics to bring his brother home, and had fought and insulted him, but one thought permeated through his entire being the whole time he watched the CEO duel. Alluring.
The word had repeated itself over and over again in his mind, refusing to let him go. Then, when he had appeared hanging out of the helicopter to announce his new tournament rules during Battle City, he had then noticed the lithe way with which the black pants he wore hugged his thin legs, and how the colour white brought out his baby blue eyes. While he looked up, along with all other Domino City inhabitants at the somewhat crazy company president, the word repeated itself again. Alluring.
He had tried to deny it, tried to hide it. He had laughed as Kaiba descended to his theme park in a jet pack. It was so cheesy, and yet- The suit had so many buttons, so many buttons that he wanted to lightly undo and pull away. Alluring. Alluring. Alluring.
Now, after Atem had finally departed them and had gone to rest, he had nothing much else to do than duel, go to school and drink a few with some friends. But now that he wasn't busy, the word was on his brain more than ever before, and in his moment of weakness, he had let it fly from his lips without thought of consequence or punishment. As he passed by the main Domino Square and watched as the giant LCD screens that sat mounted on the colourful high rises displayed commercials and news casts and talk shows… One in particular caught his attention as the subject of his thoughts was displayed on the screen. It was just a trash gossip show, not one he paid much attention to normally. The host was talking in high, lilting tones, living through her words enthusiastically as she spoke in a conspirational tones about the "hottest, youngest CEO that girls everywhere knew about". Joey chuckled quietly to himself and sat down on a bench to watch the newest lies being spun about the subject of his fancy.
"For the longest time now, girls everywhere have been wondering: What will it take to win the heart of Seto Kaiba, young CEO of KaibaCorp and Elle magazine's top rated bachelor? Well, the answer is not going to please you, girls. Apparently, through our sources, Seto Kaiba will refuse to date anyone…" here she trailed off, leaving her audience hooked for more. Joey snorted. Of COURSE Kaiba ain't gonna date nobody. Took them THAT long to figger' it out?Then, the host leaned in, as if it was the biggest secret of the century, "Except for a young blonde boy named Joey Wheeler."
Joey froze completely on the bench he was sitting on, his eyes wide in shock. He felt helpless, trapped, discovered. They knew his secret!He didn't know what to do with himself, other than watch the talk show, his eyes glued to it like eyes become glued to train wrecks. The hostess continued. "I know… A complete disappointment for every girl out there… But at least the male community might have a chance now! You may possibly remember this Joey Wheeler from last year's Battle City tournament held by Kaiba Corp. He was a finalist, ranking fourth behind Kaiba himself, Marik Ishtar and the King of Games, Yugi Motou." Here, a picture of himself, duelling with a grin on his face came to the screen. "Joey Wheeler also took part in the KC Grand Championship where he did abysmally, but stuck around for the whole tournament. This man has been known for religiously standing up and questioning Kaiba, something that not many dare to do, and according to inside sources, the two have been known to banter back and forth very often. Now, last night, one of our talk show members was out on the town when he recognized Joey from Battle City and began talking with him and the friend that he was with. He watched as the two friends got into a brawl, before Joey's companion broke down and told his friend the secret that he had been keeping. Drunk and disoriented, Joey allegedly admitted that he, and I quote, 'has a thing for Kaiba'." The host paused letting a laugh come across her hateful face. "I don't know what this mean folks, but could it be that Seto Kaiba is off the bachelor market for girls everywhere? Stay tuned for more deep info!" With a flourish, the show dissolved into commercials.
Joey gulped down a lungful of air. His heart pounded and seemed to whisper to him with each beat, "They know, they know, they know".He got up, zombie-like and walked towards home. People on the street took a double take, and he walked faster, knowing that they recognized him from the picture they had been shown on television. He ended up in front of his apartment building, but realized with a stomach-wrenching jerk that his father, who sat at home all day and watched this kind of shit, would now know what he had said. He gulped and decided against going home just yet. He then walked slowly and dispassionately towards his best friend Yugi Motou's house, him being the only understanding creature in the whole city who wouldn't freak out. He knocked on the door, and Yugi's elderly grandfather opened the door, as usual, and let him in, as usual. He informed him that Yugi was upstairs refining his beast deck, and that he should "Go right in". He did so with a white face, wondering how Yugi would react. He knocked and then entered the small boy's room after a muffled "Hullo!" from the inside. Yugi's face looked up to see his dear friend and then smiled widely. "Hey Joey! What's up?"
His face fell a little when he saw the expression on his friend's face. "Hey, what's wrong? Maybe you should sit down or something, you don't look too good…" Gently, he lead Joey over to his bed and sat him down. Joey stared forward, his eyes void of emotion. His voice cracking, he revealed what was on his mind. "They know, Yugi. They know." Yugi's eyes brightened, and Joey knew deep down that Yugi understood what he was about to reveal. But he feigned ignorance. "Know what, Joey?" he asked quietly.
Joey looked at Yugi for the first time, and then gave him a lost look. "They know that I got a thing for Kaiba…" he cleared his throat and then looked down. He held his head in his hands a moment and then began rambling, his voice constricted with emotion. "They know now… Yug'. I don't get it…. I love women, I really do. I love their bodies, their ways, their personalities, the little things that women do… But for some reason, I just can't get the thought out of my head that Kaiba is just as beautiful, just as clever, just as lithe and desireable as any woman that I've ever wanted to take on a date…" he slowly raised his head to look Yugi in the eyes, "Is there… Something wrong with me?" he asked softly.
Yugi's eyes warmed at his friend, and took him firmly by the shoulders. "Joey Wheeler, there is nothing wrong with you. Trust me. Do you remember my cousin?" Joey nodded. "Well, she is a lesbian. She loves women. She loves everything about them. But you know who she married? A man. A man named Jake Harley, just because it was him that she fell in love with. Just remember that at least in my eyes, I don't care about the gender of the person, I care about the love."
Joey had dissolved into tears at this point. "Thanks Yug'… That means a lot."
Kaiba, on the other hand, was not in a teary mood, nor was he in a very thankful mood. In fact, his mood was sour. That damned underdog, complete and utter moron. That douche of a dickbag. That son of a whore's inbred sister.The list of insults piled up more and more offendingly as the day wore on and he was forced to endure strange looks from every single person he passed on the street or in his office. But he scowled and bore it, for it was not the first time his personal life had been questioned, nor would it be the last. On the outside, he brushed it off as though it were nothing, but deep down he was seething. He knew there had been something that Wheeler wanted to say to him, and he supposed that he found out the hard way. He sat typing on his computer when the worst of the flack appeared as a video email from both Shrodinger and Pegasus both. The media had long known about the preferences of Shrodinger and he sent a sole email saying "Welcome to the club! I never thought you'd join us. Good for you", and then from Pegasus, "Why if it isn't Kaiba boy on my trash talk shows… I'm glad you finally admitted it."
He replied to them, accusing them both of having feelings for each other and left it at that. Not wanting to deal with another strange look, he closed his office door, cancelled his appointments in the afternoon and went to look in the phone book for a certain underdog's telephone number.
It took him a bit of researching to find it, but it was under a certain "Jack Wheeler" and he had not recognized the name. He called, only to have a drunken man swear loudly at him and reply "I 'unno where dat sonouvabitch flowery-ass son o' mine is et, go find 'im some'ere else". He decided to call Tristan Taylor next, who answered with an extremely muffled "Uh hello?", as though he had been sleeping. Kaiba rolled his eyes. Why where these people so incompetent? Tristan informed him that Joey had gone home after their night of drinking and merriment. Pursing his lips distastefully, Kaiba called up the one person who he hated only slightly after Joseph Wheeler, his nemesis Yugi Motou.
The boy answered the phone cheerfully, and Kaiba found himself rolling his once more. "Yugi, it's me", told the boy bluntly. Yugi's tone suddenly changed and gained a falseness s to it. "Oh, uh, hi. What would you like?" Kaiba noticed that he avoided using his name. That meant he had found the mangy mutt in his hidey hole. "What I'd like is to talk to Wheeler. Now." He gave the command imperiously. He wanted to no fight. To his surprise he put up a fight. "Uh, no. He's too busy." Then, after this, there seemed to be a shuffle around the phone, and he only half-heard what was being said before a loud, broad Brooklyn accented voice graced the telephone. "Hey, Kaibah. Whadda ya want?" He did not seem much perturbed by the events in the media world. Perhaps he did not know yet.
"Wheeler. Apparently the media has the impression that you want to have sex with me and that tiny rumour somehow makes me a homosexual", he stated the sentence bluntly, without emotion, "How in the fuck did that happen?" here, he accidentally let his anger at the whole situation slip through. Joey broke out into peals of laughter on the other end, the sound grating into his already pounding head. Yet, somehow, the laughter seemed hollow and fake to his ears. "What the fuckare those shit programs goin' on about now? You gotta wonder who dey hire sometimes…" he giggled on the other line before continuing, "Well, don't get yer suit in a twist over it. They'll fergit about it in a day or two."
"Whatever, Wheeler, just be careful about the next time you decide to reveal some hidden secret about yourself, make sure that I'm not in it." And with that, Seto Kaiba hung up.
A/N: As gay as this story.