Broken Hallelujah - By MandaMcMoo
This is a SetoxJoey fic. It's rated high for language, and leaves me room to Lemonify if I feel like it later on, not to mention depending on how much you beg!
It doesn't need a premise, it explains itself pretty well. Yes the title is a song reference, but I don't think I'll mention it directly in the text.
By the way before you start complaining about my spelling, I'm English, and this is how we spell brunette and blonde, colour, favourite etc. Don't moan, just try to live with it please.
Also, for now I'm putting speech in italics. This is because in future I'll be adding different perspectives and characters will interact with non-spoken communication, but I'll explain that all as it comes.
Are you sitting comfortably? Well, without further ado I guess I'll begin….
Chapter One - Precision
It was a quarter to seven, he knew it instinctively. The habit was now so well formed that he didn't even need to look at his watch. He left swiftly.
Shutting the car door behind him he mounted the steps towards the imposing front door. He was on the third step when the front door was flung open.
"Seto!"
The tall brunette smiled as the small arms clamped around his waist. Picking his brother up by the underarms he carried him into the mansion.
"Mokuba, I will never understand why you always look so surprised to see me, even though I make certain to be home at the same time every evening."
They sat together at the dinner table, Mokuba jabbering away about his day, Seto occasionally interjecting with a question, a word of praise, or a general acknowledgement. It was time well spent, the elder Kaiba soaked up these brightly coloured fragments as if they were life itself. His work was interesting enough to him, but here was passion, excitement, real life. Mokuba may have felt that he was boring his brother, but he could never understand just how precious these moments really were.
Bedtime for Mokuba was at nine, although Kaiba was considering giving him an extra half an hour in the near future. Unfortunately that would mean less time for himself, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.
Before then there was a good hour and a half together. This time was generally divided between homework help and reading. It was a habit they'd never really grown out of. The books aged with them, at the moment Dickens was a particular favourite. They would sometimes read alternate chapters, sometimes paragraphs, and even if it were a play (they had recently completed a phase of Ibsen) divide the voices between them. General custom was for Mokuba to be the girls, although Seto had been known to play an old crone for comic value.
Once Mokuba was in bed it really depended on what was happening. If more work was required, then Seto could calmly work his way through until breakfast the next morning, and even if not he might still clock up an extra hour in preparation for the next day. There was usually homework, mostly a formality but on odd occasions tedious. He gave himself a half hour for his journal, maybe another half an hour for a bath if he felt like it. Every evening was the same, as it drew to a close he would feel its pull upon him, the thing he couldn't ignore. He was trying to avoid doing it with all his soul, putting it off in the same way every night as if he could convince himself somehow.
But, as ever, eventually he made his way down the corridor into the third room on the left. Two hours later he came out in a foul mood and went to bed. Like every night.
"Every fucking night."
So...what do you think? This is only my second fanfic after a one-shot on Ouran. All comments gratefully received!
Grateful thanks to my Mum for putting up with me, my boyfriend for...putting up with me and my beloved flatmate and Beta Crystal-Nimrodel for being absolutely insane with me!!
Disclaimer - Don't own the characters and don't want to.