Hey, dad...

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't know, don't sue. However, I roleplay Jounouchi in an LJ community, which is what this fic is being written for. And Jou's dad's name? I made it up, kthx.

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The as-of-that-day seventeen-year-old Jounouchi walked up the stairs of the grimy apartment building, not having done so since after Battle City had ended eight months ago. The dank cement stairwell smelled of alcohol and cigarettes, and Jou scrunched his nose in disgust as he reached for the door handle that opened to the sixth floor. He walked down the all-too-familiar hallway until he reached the door that held the name 'Yukio Jounouchi'. His own name, Katsuya, was long before scratched out on the name card. He pulled out his spare key and slid it into the lock, pushing the door open and peeking his head inside.

It had been a long time since Jou had seen his father, let alone the apartment the teen had grown up in. However, it looked the same, even after all these months away from it. The carpet was still brown and stained; the walls were still a sickly yellow and his father's brown, tattered recliner still sat across from the small television, next to a table with an empty bottle of alcohol sitting atop it. The small apartment still held the feeling of a broken, bruised family, and just looking at it again made Jou feel as if gravity had become ten times stronger. He closed the door behind him and looked around once more, not seeing his father anywhere. The blond entered the living room and something caught his eye on a nearby shelf that hadn't been there before, and upon coming closer to it he realized it was a picture of he and his father when Jounouchi was very young. Yet something was wrong, and after a moment he realized that the picture was ripped in half lengthwise, and that his mother and Shizuka weren't present. He understood immediately that his father had ripped them out, and Jou lifted the picture from the shelf to get a closer look. He stood for a few minutes, trying to imagine his mother and sister back into the picture when suddenly a voice behind him snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What are you doing here?" The gruff voice of his father demanded, and Jounouchi put the picture back up on the shelf and turned around. Unlike everything else in the room, his father had changed. He was still thin and wiry like his son, but the dark underneath his eyes and the developing wrinkles made him look much older than he actually was. His once blond hair was streaked with gray, and his face held the look of pain as he scrutinized his unexpected visitor. Jou looked at the floor, suddenly feeling guilty.

"H-hey, dad," Jou said quietly, unable to think of anything to say. He felt the man move a bit closer.

"What do you want, Katsuya?" he asked, not even greeting his son back. "Looking for money, I expect? Well I've got none."

Jou finally managed to look his father in the eyes. "I've got a job, pops," he said, to which Yukio scoffed, "and that's not why I came here." He stared at his father for a moment, hoping longingly that his father would clue in, or surprise him with a birthday wish, or let him know it was all a joke, or something. He hoped that the man in front of him remembered – or even cared – that today was his son's seventeenth birthday. The blond, finally giving up, looked away. "The least you could do is call your own damn son on his birthday," he finally muttered. His father blinked.

"Oh." The man looked slightly embarrassed, but lost that expression quickly. "Happy birthday, then. Satisfied?"

He wasn't. So his father HAD forgotten. Jou pushed away any restraint he had, biting his lip as he glared at the man. "Know what I hate?" he shouted, advancing upon his father, "I hate the fact you act like none of your family exists! You think that now that I don't live here anymore you can forget about me, just like you did with mom and Shizu'!" He kicked the wall beside his father, anger rising in his chest. "It's like I don't even HAVE a family anymore! You didn't call for Christmas or New Years, I haven't seen Shizuka in months, and mom…!" He gave a painful sigh. "You know, it's a damn good thing I've got friends, or I'd end up like you."

The teen's father's expression was weary, not at all angry like Jou had expected after previous fights with his old man. "So you came here to yell at me, is that it, Katsuya?" He asked, trying to cover up the pain in his expression. "Do you think that by taking out your anger on me it'll change anything?"

Jou opened his mouth to speak, but sighed instead. "I… I miss you," he said quietly. "And sometimes I wish you'd just…" He trailed off and looked at his father again. "… do you even know how old I am today? Huh?"

Yukio's eyes moved to the floor embarrassedly. He didn't. "You're…"

Jounouchi sighed and leaned against the wall. "I'm seventeen, dad. See what I mean?" He looked at his father, his sad brown eyes the only thing showing that he was hurt. He saw the man sigh and he looked away again.

"I guess I do."

Jounouchi shook his head and took his weight off of the wall, turning as if to leave before looking back and facing his father again. "Y'know, I love you, dad. I just wish you would try a little harder." There was a moment of silence between the two before Jou turned back around, heading for the door. He was reaching for the handle when Yukio finally spoke up.

"If you're going to leave… happy birthday. Really. And… I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I forgot, that I never call..." He gestured vaguely as if to add in all the other things he'd done, and he sighed. The face that Jounouchi was so used to as being angry, drunk and unforgiving actually looked like he meant what he was saying, and before he knew it the blond had made his way back across the room and into his father's arms.

"Thanks, dad…"