Pairing: Katsuya x Seto
Warnings: There may be some coarse language in this fiction that may not be suitable for younger readers.
Other Warnings: This is yaoi so if you don't like it, read it anyway!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters but the story is mine. Please don't steal!
Welcome, readers! Since I did my last puppyshipping one-shot, I thought I would challenge myself to write more so I came up with a plan!
Last year, I discovered LIGHTS (you should totally look her up on youtube) and I listened to one album pretty much over and over. After a while, I noticed that I could relate Seto and Katsuya to a lot of the songs sooooo...I decided to write a series of one-shots based on her songs. There are no lyrics, fyi, so don't worry. I'm also doing the one-shots in the order of which the songs appear on the album so you could probably follow along and guess what's coming next. These one-shots will have varying POV's and sometimes the narration and the inner thoughts of the characters will mesh (like in this one).
Sorry for babbling a little! xD; I'm sure you guys will figure it out as I go along. Anyway, this first one-shot was inspired by "Savior". Enjoy!
In all my years on this earth, I have never been dependent on anyone but myself. In the end, we're alone so what's the point of relying on someone else who could easily let you down? I mean, out of all the people I know, my little brother is the most important; even though I know he tries his best not to disappoint me, I know that he could never do so. It's just everyone else that I worry about. Well, not worry per se but you get my point.
I've always been a loner but recently I've had this—feeling, I guess, nagging at me. It's almost like emptiness; I just can't shake it. I tried to ignore it but it seemed to become more apparent when I saw other students at school, hanging out and just talking to one another. I'm not jealous–that's definitely not the feeling I have. I just want someone to confide in, someone that won't judge me and will just listen. They wouldn't even need to make comments. I just need someone to listen. No offense to Mokuba, but he's not exactly what I need, considering the kind of subjects I want to discuss.
Listen to me; I do sound like an old man.
Maybe it's just high time that I got a—no. No, I don't need friends. In the end, we're alone and that's how it's supposed to be. I'm supposed to be alone.
I—I am alone.
[Monday]
It's lunchtime again and as much as I love eating in the cafeteria, I don't think it's what I need today. I need to be alone, to get my head straight. Silence, that's it.
I made my way to the roof, which seems to be the only quiet spot in the whole damn building, and sat down. Eating my lunch wasn't exactly something I wanted other people seeing me do; I'm not sure why. I guess somewhere in the back of my head, I'm convinced that the act of eating is disgusting. Especially when certain people eat—like Jonouchi. His table manners are horrendous.
I sat there on my make-shift seat (really, it was a large block of concrete that students just used to sit on) and stared at my lunch. It looked appetizing but I just couldn't bring myself to eat it. Instead, I sat it aside and pulled out one of my notebooks to doodle in. Yes, I said doodle. I, Seto Kaiba, like to doodle in my notebook.
My drawing skills aren't exactly the greatest but I can scrawl out pictures much better than some people I know—like Jonouchi. He couldn't draw himself out of a paper bag much less paint like Da Vinci, Monet or even Bouguereau. I'm surprised he even knows how to hold his pencil. With a snicker, I started drawing, nothing in particular but just things I had seen and thought were interesting. I guess I was so engrossed with my sketching that I didn't even hear the door to the roof open. It became apparent, though, that someone else was with me, considering an annoying shadow was streaked across my page.
"Whatcha drawing?"
I looked up and much to my surprise, I saw Jonouchi. Oh joy of joys. "Nothing," I said curtly and closed my notebook, shoving it back in my book bag.
"Geez, don't have a cow, Kaiba! I was just wondering," he replied, his eyes rolling, and then sat down next to me. He sat down right next to me; this was going to be an irritating lunch. "So what're you doin' up here?"
I shot him a side-ways glance and picked up my lunch. "What does it look like, Mutt? I'm eating my lunch." I pulled out an apple and started eating it, trying my best to ignore him.
He started eating a sandwich and then decided to talk to me again. "Touchy, touchy."
I felt my eyebrow twitch. "Listen, Jonouchi. If you're gonna talk to me, at least swallow your food first. That's disgusting." I heard a very audible gulping sound and turned to look at him, half-expecting him to be choking on bologna. Instead, he grinned that stupid grin of his and pulled out a can of soda. I turned my head back to look straight ahead and took another bite of my apple. "So what are you doing up here? Did the nerd herd kick you out?" I asked, not even bothering to hide my amusement.
He growled like the dog that he is and drank more soda. "No. They're just all hyped up about Spring Break and where they're goin' with their families and junk," he replied and gazed straight ahead as I did. "I didn't really wanna listen to 'em yammer so I came up here."
"Oh," I said simply and watched him guzzle the carbonated sugar water out of the corner of my eye. He really was disgusting.
"So are you goin' anywhere?" he asked; I could feel his eyes on me and it made me somewhat uncomfortable.
I shrugged, chewing the bite of apple I'd just taken, and swallowed it. "Probably not. Mokuba's Spring Break is the week after ours so it would be pointless to go anywhere." I stared at my fruit and got up to throw it away, not feeling the urge to eat it anymore.
"Hey, you didn't even eat half of it! Why're you throwin' it away?"
I turned and saw the mutt just staring at me, incredulously. Was it really that big of a deal? "Yeah, I'm not going to eat any more of it. There's no point in saving it."
"I'll eat it," Jonouchi said, pointing to himself as if I didn't already know.
My eyebrows furrowed at the thought of him eating after me and then I remembered his father was a deadbeat. They probably didn't have a lot of food and as nauseating as it sounded, he probably didn't mind finishing other people's food. Something in the pit of my stomach made me actually feel bad for him so I tossed him the apple. "Whatever."
He caught it with ease and just as he was about to take a bite, he stopped himself. "You ain't got any cooties, do ya?"
I stared at him with disbelief. Did he just seriously ask that? "No. Do I look like I have cooties?" He opened his mouth to answer. "Don't answer that." I walked back and sat down next to him, him laughing to himself.
He prodded me with his elbow, still chuckling a little, and smiled at me. "I was just kiddin'. You gotta lighten up, Kaiba."
Before I could stop myself, I smiled—for a split second—but it was enough for that mutt to notice.
"Whoa, did you just smile? Me? Katsuya Jonouchi made the great Seto Kaiba smile?" He leaned forward slightly to look at my face so I turned it away, actually a bit embarrassed.
"Shut up, Jonouchi."
Still he continued. "No way. This is a momentous occasion!" the blond exclaimed after putting the fruit in his lap and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, leaning close to me and shooting a fist into the air.
I dared to look over at him and tried not to smile again, eventually failing because of how ridiculous he looked. "I didn't even know you knew that word—momentous. Seems a bit beyond you," I managed, attempting to sound as snarky as possible, and looked away once more.
"Don't change the subject, Kaiba," Jonouchi said and squeezed my shoulder, his smile becoming more annoying and more infectious. "We should celebrate this!"
"No. We shouldn't," I tried and took a crack at ignoring him, which was a feat in and of itself.
"Of course, we should! Picture it—" Jonouchi persisted, waving his free hand in front of us to 'set the scene'. "Us, out on the town, painting it red—all that jazz! It'll be fun!"
I leveled a stare at the blond and shook my head, laughing somewhat. "You're really weird."
"That may be so...but I'm fun!" he said, jostling me before pulling his arm back, and finally took a bite out of the apple I gave him. He chewed it with a smile.
I smirked and rolled my eyes, leaning forward on my elbows. "Whatever, Jonouchi." My gaze fell on the concrete 'ground' and I rested my head in my hand, my lips finally settling into a straight line. I listened idly to him devour the apple and sighed; all of a sudden, I felt lonely and I couldn't put my finger on as to why.
"Aren't you gonna eat anything else?"
His simple question snapped me out of my daze and I lifted my shoulders in a light shrug. "I'm not really hungry."
His eyes were on me, I could tell. "C'mon, Kaiba, eat something. You're thin enough as it is."
Did he actually care whether or not I ate enough? Or did he just want my food? Hmm... "I told you, Mutt. I'm not hungry." I grabbed my lunch and sat it on his lap, settling back into my leaning position. "Here, you eat it. I don't want it."
"No, this is your lunch. You need to eat it." Jonouchi tried to give me the food back but I just shoved it away. He was getting irritated; I could tell by the way he got closer to me and practically got in my face. "Am I gonna hafta feed you? Because I will if you're not gonna."
Was he being serious?
I sighed and took my lunch back, grabbing a container of yogurt and a spoon from the bag's contents. "Fine, if it'll shut you up," I said and shoved a spoonful of the strawberry-flavored goop into my mouth.
He leaned away from me with what I could ascertain was a smile and went back to eating his own lunch. After a minute or two, I finished the yogurt cup and tossed it into the trashcan from where we were sitting, surprised to hear a golf clap to my left. Something about that simple gesture actually made me happy; someone was paying attention to me and it wasn't because he had to.
In the distance a bell rang, signaling the end of our lunch hour; had we really been out there that long? I saw Jonouchi stand up and throw away his lunch bag, stopping near the door. He turned around and stared at me. "Are you comin'?"
"Yeah, in a minute. You go on ahead," I replied as I tried to organize my things, keeping my gaze to anything but him.
"Okaaaay. If you say so." The door clicked open. "See ya, Moneybags." It slammed shut.
Finally I was by myself, surrounded by the silence I'd been hoping for, and for some reason, I didn't want it anymore. Being alone sounded—well, not to be redundant—lonely. Had Jonouchi's chance encounter really affected me that much?
I frowned at the thought and grabbed my things, chucking the rest of my lunch into the metal trashcan.
No, I won't let it get to me. I can't. I'm alone. I'm supposed to be alone.
[Tuesday]
Lunchtime again. I slowly climbed the steps up to the roof, my mind bringing thoughts of the previous day's lunch to the forefront. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I somewhat enjoyed the mutt's company yesterday, as trying as it was. I guess I had gotten so used to eating alone or just with Mokuba that I'd forgotten what it was like to be around someone completely different. I mean, really different. Compared to me, Jonouchi's practically my complete opposite.
Opposites attract.
I blushed at the thought and shook it away. Stupid science. Screw science. Science is stupid.
Anyway—I was almost to the top of the steps when my stomach started to feel queasy. Not queasy like I'm going to blow chunks but a different kind of queasy. I don't think I've ever felt quite like that actually; I've heard of people that get sick to their stomachs when they're nervous but I highly doubt that's the case with me. Why in the hell should I be nervous?
I opened the door and walked out onto the roof, looking around as if I expected something to be there. Nothing was there, of course, but there was something disappointing about it.
I took my seat at my usual concrete block (they really should get benches or something up here) and pulled out my lunch. Just as I bit into my sandwich, the door to the roof clicked open; I looked up instinctively and saw none other than Jonouchi standing in the doorway. I'm sure I must have looked funny with my sandwich hanging out of my mouth because that mutt just started laughing at me—literally pointing and laughing. It annoyed me a little but at the same time, it would've been strange if he had reacted in any other way.
"Geez, Kaiba. That must be a damn good sandwich!" Jonouchi joked and took a seat next to me while I attempted to eat my food without embarrassing myself any further. "What is that? Roast beef?"
I nodded my head in reply and tried to chew my food faster, having taken a rather large bite unintentionally. I blame Jonouchi for that.
"Looks good. Better than mine anyway," he said and pulled a sandwich out of his bag, bologna from the looks of it. "So do you come up here every day?"
With a muffled 'mm-hmm', I nodded my head once more, still chewing my infernal sandwich.
The blond smirked and took a bite of his own sandwich, swallowing it after only a few chews. "Man, you're really taking your time with that thing! Do you need some help or something?" he joked and continued to watch me.
I shook my head furiously and swallowed a little of my food, my mouth still full. This was getting ridiculous.
"Hey, you know what's a funny word? Masticate."
I snorted out of surprise and nearly shot roast beef out of my nose—not a pleasant feeling. Finally I gulped down the rest of my food and half-glared at him, my mouth completely giving away the fact that I wasn't really mad. "Y'know, your silly antics could've made me choke, Jonouchi," I said, clearing my throat slightly.
"I know the Heimlich maneuver. I could've saved you," he replied and grinned that goofy grin of his.
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bottled water, taking a quick swig of the cold liquid. "You're lucky I only almost got sandwich lodged up my nose."
Jonouchi snickered and finished off half of his sandwich, dusting his hand off on his pants leg. "That would've been funny though."
I glared at him. "No, it wouldn't. It would've been painful—for both of us," I replied with a smirk. "You and I both know I would've pummeled you if that had come out my nose."
"Yeah, I know. Big, bad Kaiba's gonna beat me up," he said, waving his hands about sarcastically, his eyes focused on me. "That's nothin' new."
I barely breathed out a laugh and turned my attention back to my sandwich, this time making sure to take a much smaller bite. From there, it felt awkward. Maddeningly awkward. Finally after I finished half my sandwich and put the rest aside, I looked over at him. "So what are you doing up here again?"
Jonouchi glanced at me and took in a mouthful of grape soda. "My friends are talkin' about Spring Break again. It's all they ever talk about now," he replied with a sigh and slurped at the soda that had formed on top of the can. "It's startin' to get real annoying."
"I can imagine," I said, staring off ahead. There was another awkward silence after that and once again I broke it. "If you could go on a vacation, where would you go?"
He looked over at me, seemingly amazed at my question. "If I could?" I nodded. He turned his head away from me and simply looked forward, his eyebrows lowering in reflection. After a moment, the blond replied, "I think I'd probably go to an amusement park...like Disneyland or something like that."
"Disneyland, huh? I've been there a few times," I replied with a nod, trying to remember exactly when the last time I had gone was.
"A few? Lucky rich boy." He scowled and leaned on his elbows, cradling his head in his hands. "As much as I'd like to go, there's no way I could afford it." He sighed loudly. "I'll probably never get to see Donald."
"As in Donald Duck? What, is he your favorite?" I asked, smirking, and watched his expression change from gloom to glee.
"Yeah, he's hilarious, especially his voice," Jonouchi replied, laughing a bit to himself. "I love it when he gets all frustrated and starts screaming."
I smirked. "I suppose that is funny," I said, remembering something from when Mokuba and I were younger. "I actually taught myself how to talk like him just to get on Mokuba's nerves. He hates Donald Duck...for whatever reason. I think he hates his—"
"Wait, hold on a second," the blond interrupted. He was staring right at me, his eyes somewhat wide, and leaned closer to me. "You can do the voice?"
Crap, did I actually say that? I did, didn't I?
I scratched at the back of my head, feeling quite embarrassed for divulging that kind of information. "I, uh, used to. I haven't done it in a while," I replied, hoping that Jonouchi would drop it. Please just drop it.
"Can you try?" he asked, which elicited a long sigh from myself, and his grin grew wider and wider. It was beginning to look very creepy.
I rolled my eyes and then glared at him. "If I do this, you have to promise not to tell anyone," I explained, looking around to make sure no one else had snuck up to the roof. "There's no telling what kind of field day the media would have should I make a complete and utter fool of myself."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I promise. Now do the impression." Jonouchi leaned even closer and watched me expectantly, grinning his stupid grin.
"Fine." I cleared my throat, positioned an air pocket in my mouth—and started screaming like Donald Duck. It only lasted for maybe all of three seconds but that three seconds made the mutt's face light up, really light up. I don't think I've ever seen him look like that, in fact. Anyway, he continued to just stare at me with an ever bigger smile plastered on his face (I'm surprised it's physically possible) and proceeded to shake my arm.
"Do it again."
I furrowed my eyebrows out of irritation and shook his hand off me. "No, once is enough."
"Aw, c'mon, Kaiba! Just one more time!" He looked at me with his big, brown puppy dog eyes and stuck out his lower lip a little. (Could he be any more like Mokuba? Geez...) "Please?"
Just as I opened my mouth to say 'no', the bell rang; I smirked at the blond and grabbed my things. "No such luck, pup," I said, purposefully leaving my lunch where it was. "But you can have the rest of my lunch. Dogs like scraps, right?" I laughed as Jonouchi fumed and headed back downstairs, avoiding anything he might've thrown my way.
It really is fun teasing him. Maybe I'll continue this joke tomorrow when he—if he comes by. Yeah, if. That's what I meant.
If.
[Wednesday]
Another boring day. Why am I not surprised? Really, the only events I look forward to during school are lunchtime and the last bell—lunchtime because I can get away from all those useless lectures and the people I don't care that much about, and the last bell should be obvious.
I made my way up to the roof yet again and to my surprise, Jonouchi was already there when I opened the door. He smiled when he saw me and waved; that's definitely something I'm not used to. I, by choice, sat next to him and then he proceeded in punching me in the arm. Really hard.
"That's for that scraps joke yesterday, Kaiba," he informed me, still smiling, and ignored my grumbling.
After rubbing my arm, I smirked slightly and pulled out my bottled water, taking a quick swig. "What? I thought you'd appreciate some quality food," I joked and watched him take a big bite out of his sandwich. Bologna again, I see.
"Oh, believe me, it was good. Compliments to the chef." He took another bite of the sandwich, his cheeks bulging as he chewed.
My eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Wait, you actually ate it?"
Jonouchi nodded and pulled out a can of orange soda, gulping down what I can only guess was about half the can. "Yeah, what'd you expect?" He took another bite of the sandwich, making a point to swallow it before talking again. Good boy. "I'm not exactly one to pass up free food, y'know."
"I should've guessed." I pulled a banana out of my bag and peeled it, keeping my eye on that mutt to make sure he didn't make any lewd jokes. He didn't to my amazement; I guess I'm the pervert here. "So what are you doing up here again? Your friends surely can't still be talking about Spring Break."
He shrugged, finishing off his sandwich. "Well they mentioned it but they all have some test later today in their Chemistry class," the blond replied. "All they were doin' was studyin' so I thought I'd come bug you." He grinned and poked me in the arm he had punched earlier; I'm quite glad it didn't bruise or that would've hurt. "You don't mind, do ya?"
"Probably less than I should." I sighed, taking a bite of banana.
Jonouchi grinned. "I have that effect on people," he said, sounding quite proud of himself. "I grow on 'em."
I snickered somewhat as I thought of something funny. "So you're like a fungus?"
He half-glared at me and then rolled his eyes, drinking more soda. "Ha ha, very funny. Lemme guess. You thought of that all by yourself?"
I frowned a bit and then decided to mess with the blond a bit. "Gee thanks, Jonouchi. I was just trying to joke with you," I grumbled and then finished my banana. "Killjoy."
"Sarcasm, Kaiba! Sarcasm." He shook his head, laughing somewhat. "You really need to let loose, y'know. Don't take everything I say so seriously."
"Whatever."
Jonouchi frowned when he noticed I was 'annoyed' with him and tried to make conversation. "So, what do ya do for fun? Other than Duel Monsters, that is."
I smirked slightly. "Your mom."
Obviously I struck a nerve with him because he stood straight up, glaring down at me. "What did you say?"
"Now who's the one that can't take a joke?" I stared at him in disbelief and watched his features soften and the fists that he had raised fall.
"Dude, you have no idea how close I was to laying you out," Jonouchi said, chuckling as he spoke. "I was prepared to throw you off the building."
"You couldn't throw me off the building even if you tried," I challenged, thinking he wouldn't have the gall to pick me up and hurl me over the chain link fence.
He grinned boldly and stuck his hand out, motioning for me to get up; I complied and stood, staring down at him with my eyebrow ever so slightly cocked. "Alright, don't say ya didn't ask for it!" The blond lunged at me and wrapped his arms around my torso, trying his best to move me. I, of course, stood my ground—with a great deal of effort, mind you. In the end all he could manage to do was make me take a few steps back and even then, he looked pretty silly doing it—with his muscles straining and his head buried in my chest...his hair did kind of smell good...Ah! What am I saying?
Finally, I decided to joke with him again. "You know all you're doing is essentially hugging me, right?"
Jonouchi laughed almost evilly into my chest—and started rubbing his hands up and down my back. "I know," he said coyly and even dared to slap my butt! Really, he did! He manhandled me!
I pushed him away, my face feeling as though it were on fire, and sat back down in defeat and mortification. I could not bring myself to even look at him; that's how red in the face I was.
He sat back down too and he stared at me; I could feel his eyes on me, burning holes into my profile. Finally he leaned forward on his elbows and looked away. "Well...this is awkward..."
"Yeah, a little bit," I replied, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. The worst part about the whole situation was that I could still feel where his hand had hit me; that made me blush even more. What the hell possessed him to do that? I'm not sending out mixed signals, am I? Maybe I should just start talking again, make this less awkward. "Don't take this to heart, Mutt, but it's actually kind of nice having someone to talk to for once." I smiled lightly, happy that I'd actually made a prominent step in this thing called 'friendship'. Strange that I chose Jonouchi out of all people; I used to think he was just some dumb punk with big hair. Now I've added 'nice' to my description. "You're not as annoying as you used to be," I added just for laughs.
"Thank you?" Jonouchi laughed and patted me on the back. "I guess you're not so bad yourself but ya really gotta stop this whole dog thing."
I smirked. "I only do it to ruffle your feathers, Jonouchi. I don't really mean anything by it."
"So lemme get this straight. You've been teasin' me and makin' fun of me and pullin' all this shit because you like to bug me? Is that it?" He stared at me so earnestly that it was almost too difficult not to start laughing.
"Yeah, in a nutshell," I replied with a shrug.
The blond leaned his head back slightly, looking up at the sky, and then turned his head slightly to look at me. "You sure do have a funny way of showin' you like me," he said with a grin and then leaned forward again, breathing out a laugh.
I blushed lightly at his statement. Was I that transparent? "I never said anything about liking you."
In the distance the sound of the lunch bell echoed up to us, Jonouchi smiling at me kindly as he stood up. Still looking at me as he picked up his things, he said, "You didn't have to," with a wink and made his way to the stairwell, his hand rising up in a wave as he went through the doorway.
Something about the way he looked at me and the way he said those words made my heart beat faster—but when Jonouchi winked, it skipped a beat. I could feel my cheeks burning with some emotion unbeknownst to me and no matter how much I willed it away, the feeling remained.
What...is this? This can't be—no, it isn't. I refuse to believe it's—
[Thursday]
After much reflection, I have decided that maybe I'm a bit excited at the idea of making a friend...or at least that's what I like to tell myself. I actually found myself asking the chef to make me more food this morning, enough for two people. I suppose some part of me is afraid that Jonouchi will change his mind— that he won't want to be friends with me unless I can give him something in return. In reality what I'm trying to do is win him over.
With both lunches in hand, I made my way up the concrete stairs to the roof and took a seat at my usual block, setting the food I had my chef make for Jonouchi next to me. I'm somewhat excited to see his reaction; my guess is that at first he'll think it's a joke or something like that but then he'll smile when he realizes what I did. I hope that's how he'll react anyway.
I waited for about five minutes before I started eating my own lunch and before I knew it, the bell rang again, signifying the end of lunch. As I sat there frozen in place, my face began to contort from a look of surprise to one of fury. "That little—I can't believe him! How dare he not eat lunch with me!" I seethed, grabbing both lunches and hurling them in the metal trashcan. "That's the last time I'm fuckin' nice to that guy. Gah!"
Vehemence became me that day and when I went to the one class I had with Jonouchi, I realized my anger was misplaced. He wasn't even there.
This realization gave me some relief but I was still curious as to why he didn't come to school at all. Perhaps I'll ask him tomorrow.
[Friday]
Friday rolled around without a hitch, and upon reaching the final bell, it became apparent that Jonouchi was absent yet again. Normally I wouldn't really care one way or another but from seeing the way his friends acted, I could tell something serious had happened.
I managed to find the group after classes all standing around and chatting; I, of course, eavesdropped.
"Do you think we should get him something? I'd feel bad visiting without a present," Yugi said, his hands wrapped around the straps of his backpack.
"I think he'd like that," Anzu replied and smiled reassuringly at the shorter male. She turned her attention to Honda. "Do you remember where he's staying?"
The brunette nodded. "Yeah, he's at the one down by KaibaCorp. I can never remember the name of that hospital," he said, laughing uneasily." I'm sure it's something obvious."
"It's the Domino Medical Center, you dummy," Anzu replied, her eyes narrowed and her lips drawn straight. "Now let's get going already. I'd like to visit Katsuya before visiting hours are over." The two males nodded and without any more bickering, they walked off in the direction of KaibaCorp.
I'm not sure how long I stood there. I couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breathe. This whole time Jonouchi's been in the hospital and I've been cursing at him for being a jerk. An emotion I hadn't felt in a long while surfaced—guilt; I felt extremely guilty for some reason. Another emotion—worry. I was worried about Jonouchi. Man, I've really gotten soft.
A million ideas flew through my mind as I contemplated what to do.
Should I visit him? Yes, I should. No. I need to visit him; if I see him, I'll know he's okay. Then I'll be okay.
What'll I do when I see him? I should be nonchalant. I don't need him thinking that I've been worried since Thursday...or would he like that? Maybe I'll let him know I was a teensy bit worried about him just so he'll know that I care.
Do I care? Of course, I do...how can I not care?
Why do I care? Because—
Because? ...he's my friend.
Katsuya Jonouchi is my friend.
[Later that day]
After I went home and had a bit of a meltdown, I decided that I would not go to work today. My employees don't really need me there and even if they did, it's not like they're so helpless that they cannot pick up a phone or send me an email. If that is the case, I may need to find better people to work for me...
Anyway, I changed clothes first (black button-up, black slacks, black belt, black shoes...geez, I sound like an emo kid...) and then dropped by a local store in town to pick up a gift for Jonouchi. It's nothing big but I think it'll put a smile on his face. I can hope at least.
I settled on driving myself to the hospital where Jonouchi was staying, dropping by KaibaCorp to inform them of my absence from work on the way. Once I got to Domino Medical Center, I realized I had no idea which room he was in. I managed to get one of the nurses to finally tell me which room I could find him in (I swear these people are incompetent) and made my way to the elevator. As I walked inside the old metal box, I felt quite out of place. It's not like Jonouchi and I are close; I could hardly say that. He doesn't need me to visit him. I guess when it comes down to it, I'm the one that needs this visit.
At long last I got to the second floor and turned down one of the hallways, following the arrows that make it blatantly obvious where I'm going. After a minute or two of walking, I made my way to his room, Room 201. I quietly opened the door just in case he was sleeping and when I turned around, I saw him and froze.
Jonouchi was curled up in a ball, crying—no, sobbing. His arms were wrapped tightly around one of his pillows and his eyes were squeezed painfully shut. He buried his head into the white mass as I took a step toward him. Had he seen me?
I eased my way over to the bed, noting that he didn't share the room with anyone else, and sat the green gift bag on a nearby table next to some flowers and magazines. When I got closer to the blond, I could see how badly he was shaking; it was truly heartbreaking.
I pursed my lips and shook his shoulder gently, his body ceasing its trembling under my hand. "Hey..."
Slowly Jonouchi loosened his grip on the pillow and turned his face to look at me; despite how hurt (both physically and emotionally) he was, he smiled at me. "Hey." He sat up in bed and adjusted his pillows as I pulled up a chair. That's when I finally noticed the cuts and bruises on his arms and the gash near the left side of his mouth; something about this image gave me a sick feeling, like the kind of sick feeling you get before receiving some bad news.
"How did you know I was here?"
His soft voice brought me out of my thoughts and I smiled lightly. "I overheard your friends talking," I started and saw him look somewhat upset. "Y'know, talking about visiting you. I heard what's-her-face say you'd be at this hospital so I thought I'd pay you a visit."
He grinned a bit and sighed. "Well, thank you." His voice trailed off as his eyes darted to his lap, his fingers finagling with his bed sheets. "I appreciate it. I really do..."
"I'm glad," I replied, watching his face carefully as he wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. As much as I wanted to ask him what he was doing here in the first place, I figured he probably didn't want to talk about it. Maybe if I'm lucky, he'll confide in me. "I, uh—I was worried about you, Jonouchi."
The blond looked up from the sheets and stared at me incredulously. "R-really?"
I nodded and smirked, feeling my cheeks flush lightly. "At first I thought you were ditching me at lunch but when you didn't come to school for two days in a row, I got rather concerned," I admitted, scratching at the nape of my neck. "The way your friends acted didn't really help either."
Jonouchi frowned. "Yeah, they kinda worry over nothin' sometimes," he said and then smirked a little. "Well, I guess this isn't nothin' but you know what I mean." He fidgeted somewhat. "I'm just glad they visited me before they all left."
"Left? You mean for Spring Break?" My eyebrows furrowed as I watched him nod, his smile now saddening.
"Yeah. Every one of 'em went on their little family vacations and I'm stuck in this stupid hospital," he muttered, his features twisting in anguish. Tears began to drip down his reddened cheeks and his chin quivered as he tried not to let the pain escape. He pulled his knees up to his chest, jamming his hands into his tangled mane. He spoke again, his voice straining and cracking. "All my friends left me a-and I don't even have any family here! My fucking dad got arrested for doin' this to me and my mom—she said she didn't wanna take me in unless she absolutely had to!" His whole body shook as he sobbed. "I-I'm alone...I'm completely alone..."
His words—each one stabbed at me. Before I knew it, I got to my feet and wrapped my arms around him, feeling him curl into me as he continued to cry. His hands clung to me, his fingers twisted tightly around the fabric of my shirt as if to say 'don't let go'. I ran a hand down his back as I maintained my hold on his shoulders, my head turning toward his. I nudged his ear with the tip of my nose and spoke through his blond tresses. "You're not alone." I felt a lump form in my throat and my heart ache as I said this; I couldn't stand to see him this way. "You have me. I'm here for you...Katsuya."
I heard his breath hitch and he pulled me closer. "D—do you mean that?" he murmured, his voice muffled by my shirt.
I smiled at him even though I knew he couldn't see and squeezed him lightly. "Yeah...I do," I replied gently. "I'll do whatever I can to help you. I mean it."
Jonouchi slowly pulled away, just enough to look at me, his brown eyes narrowed (whether out of pain or doubt, I don't know). "Why? Why would you help me?"
"Because," I began and then grinned, "you're my friend."
I guess he really liked my response because after I said it, he caught me in another tight hug, his arms around my shoulders this time and one hand cradling the back of my neck. After we sat like that for a few minutes, Jonouchi spoke up. "I never thought I'd see the day when I was friends with the Seto Kaiba." He pulled away from me and laughed a bit. "You better not back outta this just 'cause I'm not cryin' anymore."
I smirked. "I won't. What kind of person do you think I am?"
He smirked, too. "Well considering what just happened, I guess I gotta say you're a nice one." He paused for a second and then added a cheeky 'Seto'.
I blushed vividly, remembering I had called him by his first name, and tried not to let my emotions show (failing miserably, I might add). "I try," I said almost in a mumble and decided to change the subject. "I got you something."
"You didn't have to," he said, his expression surprised, and watched me grab the gift bag from the table.
"I know but I thought it'd make you smile at least." I sat the bag on his lap, my stomach churning out of nervousness (yes, I will admit that I was nervous), waited for him to look inside. "It's not much. I just thought you'd—"
"Donald!" Jonou—I mean, Katsuya quickly snatched the stuffed toy from out of the sea of tissue paper and held it up in the light, his smile wide as he breathed out a chuckle. "This is awesome!"
My cheeks flushed yet again and this time I was the one who fidgeted. "So you like it? It's not too...girly?"
Katsuya pulled the doll against his stomach and leveled a smart-alecky stare at me. "Well...I'm not exactly gonna go around tellin' people about me havin' a stuffed animal," he said and then smiled, "but I do like it."
I sighed softly, trying not to seem too relieved. "Well, good," I replied and leaned forward on the bed as an idea popped into my head. "Y'know, since I'm not really doing anything for Spring Break and you want to go to Disneyland—"
"No, no! You don't have to do that!" Katsuya interrupted, waving his hands around in protest.
"I know but I want to." I watched his face turn red out of frustration and embarrassment so I decided to cut him a deal. "Listen, if you don't want to go right now, we don't have to but I would like to take you sometime."
Katsuya sighed, a smirk playing on his lips as he did this. "You're gonna make me go one way or another, aren't ya?"
I nodded with a grin. "Pretty much. You know me; I don't take 'no' for an answer."
"In that case, I definitely want my own room," he said, laughing like a hyena.
I blushed when I realized what he meant and shook my head. "You're such a pervert, you know that?"
"Yeah, I know but would you want me any other way?"
I smiled as I leaned away from the bed, getting to my feet. "I suppose not," I replied and turned toward the door; that's when Jonouchi grabbed my hand. Not my shirt or my arm. My hand.
"Hold on a second!" he said almost desperately and I looked back at him. He really did look pathetic. "You're not leavin' already, are ya?"
I smirked, breathing a soft laugh out of my nostrils, and shook my head. "Of course not." I turned my body toward his again, squeezing his hand lightly, and then grinned wider. "I'm just going to bribe some hospital staff into letting me stay the night." I gazed at Katsuya as he sighed, smiling awkwardly; I poked his nose with my free hand. "I'm not going anywhere, Katsuya."
He blushed as I said this and I squeezed his hand once more before I let go.
"Thank you."
I turned around, not sure if I had actually heard him, and saw him smiling. "For what?"
"For saving me, that's what."
I hope you guys enjoyed "Savior"! If you can, stop and review (no flames please!); I would really appreciate it!
Bonus: You get a cookie if you can find the Golden Girls and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory references!
P.S. I referenced Bouguereau earlier in the fic and in case you don't know of him, you should look him up! (I'd post a link but Fanfiction hates me, lol)
