Jounouchi walked away from the apartment that he shared with his father angrily. The rain tapped against the umbrella that protected him but his ratty shoes were already soaked through to his skin. He didn't understand why his father always had to come home drunk. He didn't get why he had to always hand over his hard earned cash to the man. He didn't even know why he still put up with the drunken bastard.
He made his way to the nearby park in brooding silence. One hand was shoved angrily into his jeans pocket and the other gripped the handle of the umbrella so tightly that his knuckles were white. The heavy green coat he had grabbed before fleeing the apartment helped guard against the crisp coldness that was brought on by the rain.
The park was lit dimly by streetlamps that hadn't been touched by a maintenance man in years. The trees and playground equipment were dripping with the cold droplets and puddles were already forming on the sidewalk. Jou glanced around at his surroundings. All but one of the park benches was empty and he didn't have to squint very much to recognize the obnoxious white trench coat that only one person in the entire world would wear willing.
Seto Kaiba sat at one end of the bench with his head held in one of his hands. His brown locks hung heavily with how wet they were and his clothing looked the same. The coat clung to his body and it only made the CEO look skinny and weak. Jou stared at Kaiba for a bit longer as he stood beside the brunet and soon moved the umbrella so it covered Kaiba. The rain instantly made Jou's hair stick to his face and neck and he could feel just how 'waterproof' his coat was. It was becoming heavier by the second.
Kaiba lifted his head from his hand hesitantly as he turned his face to see what had stopped the onslaught of cold rain. When he saw that it was Jou, he was confused. "What are you doing here?" he asked the blond. His voice was gruff but his tone wasn't as harsh as it usually was. Jou instantly picked up on the difference despite his own bad mood and wondered what could have the rich-boy so down in the dumps.
"Jus' takin' a break from it all," he admitted after a quiet moment had passed. His brown eyes matched Seto's blue ones in the sorrow and anger both respectfully felt. Kaiba scoffed lightly but said nothing more. "What're you doin' out 'ere?" Jou asked curiously. Given the time of year it was, Mokuba should've been back home from his private school. He was supposed to be on break after all. From what Jou knew of Kaiba's relationship with his little brother, he'd do anything for the kid. So, he wondered why Kaiba would be moping about in the rain when he had his entire world back at his mansion.
Kaiba sighed and sat back. His soaked clothes make a sloshing sound upon the movement. "I guess I'm just taking a break too," he replied quietly. "Thinking things over."
"Yeah, I know wha' ya mean," Jou said and took a seat beside Kaiba who he figured was too sad to care he was sitting next to 'lower duelist trash'. The umbrella spanned over the both of them now and effectively kept the rain off. "Wanna talk abou' it?"
Kaiba shook his head in the negative. "Not especially but I suppose if you start, I'll have to finish."
Jou took that as the roundabout way of saying 'Sure, go ahead' and began talking. He told Kaiba about his father, deciding to start at the very beginning, and how the man had slowly become a drunk. He told him about how his father would always take his money and how he could never fight back against him lest he wanted to lose the roof over his head. He went on to talk about all the crap that had been going on at his work at the arcade and about how much he just wanted to get give everybody who pissed him off a good left hook.
That elicited a chuckle out of Kaiba who began to compare that to all the incompetent idiots he had to deal with at Kaiba Corp. He complained about how they could never do anything right no matter how much money he threw at them or how many threats he made. He slowly drifted into complaining about events that had happened at the mansion with all the new maids and how Mokuba had been completely ignoring him since he had gotten home for break.
"I don't even know what I did wrong!" Kaiba exclaimed. "I do everything I can for him yet he still chooses to ignore me!"
Jou snorted. He knew just how hard Kaiba worked for Mokuba even without the man saying so and was kind of surprised at Mokuba's actions. He hadn't taken the kid to be spoiled since Kaiba kept a tight reign over that aspect as well and something told him deep down that something else had to be going on in the kid's life.
"Does he eva' talk abou' his school?" Jou asked. They had been having the rather pleasant conversation for at least an hour now and the uncomfortable wetness that they both suffered from was placed on the back burner of their minds as they talked. In fact, Jou could even say that this was the longest time Kaiba had gone without calling him some degrading name.
"No," Kaiba said with a shake of his head. Water droplets flung from the tips of his hair, but Jou didn't mind. It wasn't like he could feel them landing upon his face anyway considering any of his open skin was numb with the cold. "All he says is that his grades are fine and that it's going well. Do you think someone is bullying him there?" His tone had darkened at the idea and Jou shrugged.
"Could always happen," Jou replied. "Private schools, least, in my opinion, have da worst cases of bullyin' I've heard of. Mokuba doesn' seem the type ta let it get ta him tho. Not when he's got ya ta follow afta'."
Kaiba sighed and ran a hand through his now clumped hair. "He's always been independent but I thought he'd come to me if anything like that ever happened. He's only twelve, damn it! He shouldn't have to go through that!"
"Talk ta 'im an' see what's up," Jou said with a shrug. "He prolly jus' wants ta be all big an' brave like his olda' brotha'."
Kaiba sighed again and stretched his legs out in front of him. The loud pops and cracks that the lanky bones emitted caused Jou to chuckle. "What?" Kaiba asked but without the snapping tone. It was almost as if he were curious as to why Jou was laughing.
"Make that 'is very old olda' brotha'." Jou continued to laugh and Kaiba simply scoffed.
"I'm not that old," Kaiba grumbled with a small pout that Jou noticed immediately. It only spurred his laughter on even more. "I can't be but a couple months older than you which makes you a 'very old olda' brotha'' too." His attempt at Jou's Brooklyn accent sent the blond further into his laughing fit. He clutched at his stomach with one hand while the other was preoccupied with holding the umbrella. Kaiba couldn't help but find Jou's laughter contagious and began chuckling as well.
"Aren't we only like," Jou paused to count on his hand the number of months between January, his own birthday, and October, Kaiba's birthday. "Eight months apart?"
Kaiba snorted at Jou's antics but held back whatever rude comment about Jou's stupidity that had come to his mind. "Exactly eight months apart," he confirmed with a nod.
Jou beamed and exclaimed proudly, "See?! I can do math!"
"Yeah, on your fingers and toes like a child!" Kaiba retorted back playfully. Jou laughed again but fell quiet shortly after the outburst. They sat in companionable silence that was neither awkward or uncomfortable for a while longer before Jou stretched out his own body, accidently getting a couple water droplets onto Kaiba as the umbrella shook. Kaiba snorted distastefully but remained quiet. It appeared he didn't want their now decent moods to be ruined.
"Well," Jou began a bit reluctantly. It was only drizzling now, and the sun would be coming up behind the gray clouded sky in about an hour. He hadn't realized that they had talked for so long but was glad that they did. He felt oddly happier, and it wasn't just because he was able to get so much off of his chest. He felt closer to Kaiba and was made happier by the thought of it. "I bes' be goin' on home now. Dad prolly is hungova' an' the bathroom will need cleanin'." He stood and Kaiba followed after him. "Thanks for da chat, Kaiba."
"Seto," Kaiba corrected quickly without meeting Jou's gaze. "I'd prefer it if you'd call me Seto." A light blush dusted across Jou's cheeks at the offer and he could tell that Kaiba, or rather Seto, was embarrassed as well.
Jou cleared his throat and gave a lopsided smile. "Then you'll jus' hafta' call me Katsuya."
Seto reached into his coat pocket and pulled out one of the damp company cards that he always kept on him. On it was his name, company, and contact information. He handed it to Jou who took it carefully. He didn't want to rip the piece of cardboard accidently.
"Call me sometime, Katsuya," Seto said and turned away before he could see the very visible shiver that shot down Jou's spine. He gave a wave as he walked away from Jou and the park. Jou gave a tiny wave back despite Seto being unable to see the motion. He glanced back down to the card and briefly wondered why his own name being said would've caused such a strange reaction out of him.
He smiled before pocketing the card and turning in the opposite direction that Seto had gone in, relishing in the strange yet welcome new feeling. He began the walk back towards his apartment with a slight bounce in his step. The smile and bounce persisted throughout the day even as Jou cleaned up around the apartment and dealt with his father. His friends easily noticed the change and questioned him, but Jou remained tight-lipped about it. From that day forward, he always had not only Seto's card close at hand but an umbrella as well. He never knew when he might need it again.
To Emariia: Happy Birthday~! :) -fires off a round of celebratory cannon fire- I'm glad you're enjoying all these 1-shots and I'm even more happy that they're making you so happy on your special day! Btw, you mentioned that you had ideas for A Simple Hello, right? Well, I'd be more than happy to hear about them and put them to good use. Not to be a bummer, but I don't especially like allowing people use of my own ideas just because of some stealing that has gone on in the past. However! If'n you see fit ta tell me, I'll be happy to make sure you're mentioned in the header notes as I always do with all the lovely little readers who help me make my stories better! Once again, Happy Birthday! And, of course, Happy New Year~!