2: Love Like Winter

"You two are idiots."

It was ten at night and Jack had just gotten out of his father's black-tinted SUV holding a red gallon gas can.

"Forget the gas," Kiryu moaned in a desperate voice. "Fooddddd. Waterrrrr. Atmosphereeeee."

"Yeah, yeah, I got you guys food." Jack held out a plastic bag that Kiryu snatched from his hand. Yusei grabbed a sandwich before Kiryu could inhale the entire bag.

After five minutes of wolfing down every last edible crumb, Kiryu threw his arms around his cousin and clung to him.

"Jackyyyyy, you're the best~" he sang, and it was just a little too close for Yusei's comfort.

"We should get going if we want to put gas in the car before the gas station closes," Yusei said coolly, picking up the emergency gallon of gas. "Kiryu, can you pop the fuel tank door?"

"Gas stations don't close, crabhead," Jack snorted as Kiryu let go of him to help out.

"Some of them do."

"Really now, what's got your panties all up in a bunch?"

Yusei rolled his eyes at him as he stuck the nozzle of the gas can into the car's tank. Jack leaned on the hood and moaned, "Hnnng, careful Yusei~ It's my first time~" in a girly voice. Kiryu coughed uncomfortably as Yusei threw the gas can cap at Jack.

"Hey, don't bite the hand that feeds you," Jack said wisely, and Yusei narrowed his eyes.

"Are you going to be this much of a dick the entire trip?"

"I won't be a dick if I get some dick."

Yusei slammed the fuel tank door shut and leered at Jack.

"Sorry, we're fresh out," he replied sarcastically.

"Oh really? I don't think you are…" Jack's eyes definitely wandered over to Kiryu. Yusei could practically feel the steam blow out his ears.

"Goodbye, Jack. Come on, Kiryu, we're leaving!" Yusei stormed to the driver side.

"Oh, lighten up, crabhead," Jack snorted, and he opened the back door.

"What are you doing?!" Yusei snapped.

"I'm coming with you."

"What about your dad's fucking SUV?!"

"Oh. Right."

Yusei wanted to scream as Jack chuckled and got back out of the car.

"There's a hotel about 5 blocks down. That's where I'll be staying. There are two beds so I think we can make it work. See you soon, huh?"

He waved them off as he got back into his car.

"I might actually kill that man," Yusei sighed, starting the engine.

"Make sure to take his wallet afterward." Kiryu grinned, but Yusei felt uneasy because sometimes Kiryu really did mean what he said.

After acquiring the appropriate amount of gas, Yusei headed for the hotel. If it wasn't for the fact that Jack had already paid for the room, he would have insisted he and Kiryu find a different place to crash.

And as they pulled up it was just as Yusei feared:

"He fucking booked a five star hotel."

Yusei's head hit his steering wheel as he let out a frustrated groan.

"Cool!"

"No, not cool!" Yusei snapped, whipping his head back up. "Now the rest of the trip is going to seem severely downgraded based on the ideal of our first night!"

"I have no idea what you just said," Kiryu replied cheerfully, "but if you don't hurry up the pool will be closed!"

"It's almost midnight, Kiryu. I'm sure the pool is already closed."

But Kiryu was already half way out the door. Yusei swore that he'd kill Jack- or at least give him a nice smack- for this.

By the time Yusei caught up with Kiryu in the lobby he was already asking for a Mr. Atlas.

"I'm sorry, but no one under that name is booked here," the attendant apologized.

"Godwin. The last name is Godwin," Yusei sighed. He needed to remember to tell Jack to stop confusing Kiryu by using his middle name as his last.

"Room 221," the attendant bowed, and Yusei grabbed Kiryu's suitcase along with his own.

"C'mon, Kiryu. Let's go kill Jack."

Kiryu bounded happily up the stairs. Yusei opted for the elevator since he was trailing two suitcases. But when he got to the second floor Kiryu was frozen in the hallway, wide-eyed and terrified.

Great, just what they needed. Another Kiryu episode.

"Kiryu… you okay?" Yusei asked cautiously.

"I can't go in there," he cried hysterically. "I can't… I can't go in there!"

"Alright, calm down," Yusei said, setting the suitcases aside. He went to knock on the door but Kiryu grabbed him violently and pulled him back.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" he screamed at Yusei. That was bound to wake up the entire floor.

"What's wrong?" Yusei asked, hoping to quell this new delusion before it could get out of hand.

"You can't go in there!" Kiryu whined.

"Why not?"

"Just don't!"

It seemed Kiryu couldn't say why, which definitely meant it was a delusion.

Suddenly, the doorknob turned and the door opened, causing Kiryu to scream and jump back in fright.

"It's only me," Jack huffed, opening the door wider. "Come on in."

"NO!" Kiryu burst into tears. Down the hall, a head poked out here and there from other rooms, looking to see who was causing all the noise.

"Kiryu, you're just having a delusion. It's not real. Now get in here." Jack treated him like a misbehaving child. This statement only proved to upset Kiryu even more. Yusei put his arms around him and glared at Jack.

"You are a shitty cousin," Yusei snarled.

"We're not really cousins," Jack said, shrugging them off and going back into his room. The desire to nail Jack in the face was starting to overpower him.

"You know what, Jack, we're leaving, and you're not coming on this trip with us. I don't even know why we invited you! C'mon, Kiryu, we'll find a different place to stay!" Yusei was being very gentle with Kiryu, but he was very angry at Jack.

"Oh, come now, don't be like that!" Jack huffed, turning back around to lean in the doorway. "You're such a baby."

"That's completely insensitive to Kiryu!" Yusei snapped.

"You're babying him too much!" Jack snapped back. He strode over and wrestled Kiryu from Yusei's hold. Kiryu squealed and tried to run away but Jack was stronger and pulled him towards the door.

"NO!" Kiryu screamed, as if he was being tortured. He was crying hysterically and hallway doors kept opening to see what was going on.

"JACK, STOP!" Yusei shouted, and he grabbed Kiryu protectively.

"He'll never get over it if he doesn't tackle the problem head on," Jack reasoned with Yusei.

"HE'S SCHIZOPHRENIC, NOT A BRATTY FOUR YEAR OLD!" Yusei yelled in exasperation.

"Yusei, I'm older and he's family, let me handle this!" Jack snarled viciously, and he pulled Kiryu screaming and clawing into the room.

"What is going on here?" The attendant and security officers were storming up the stairs. "Is someone being attacked?"

"No," Yusei sighed, rubbing his forehead. "My friend has schizophrenia and he's having an episode. And his cousin is doing the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do and is making the situation worse."

"Well, we still need to check out the situation," an officer said. Yusei followed them into the room, hoping that maybe they'd arrest Jack or something. It was then that he noticed Kiryu had stopped screaming.

"See? I told you I could take care of it!" Jack huffed rudely, sneering at Yusei. Kiryu was curled in a ball, shaking and looking horrified.

"You fucking traumatized him, you fucking-!" He couldn't think of a word horrible enough to call Jack so let out a string of curses in his native tongue. Then he gently and carefully put his arms around Kiryu. He felt almost lifeless. Yusei could not believe Jack sometimes. He was so insensitive and knew next to nothing about mental illnesses and how to treat them. While Jack talked to the officers, Yusei went into the bathroom and wet a washcloth with warm water. He gently cleaned Kiryu's face and stroked his hair.

"I won't let Jack do that to you again," he promised softly. To his surprise, Kiryu answered.

"I'm okay. I just want to go to sleep."

Yusei nodded and kissed the top of his head. He helped lay Kiryu down and tucked him in.

"Stay with me, please." It was such a soft whimper that Yusei barely heard it. But he did, and his heart melted, and he got under the covers and pulled Kiryu protectively into his arms.

"You're my best friend, Yusei," Kiryu whispered. "Please don't leave me."

"I won't. I promise." Yusei murmured back. He fought the madness inside him that wanted to just spill the three secret words right then and there, but this was definitely not the right time or place.

Yusei woke up when Jack reentered the room. He rolled in Yusei and Kiryu's suitcases. Yusei was still furious at him for how he treated Kiryu. He pretended to be asleep, but his ears perked up at the sound of Jack coming closer.

"Hey," Jack said in a low voice, and Yusei felt him shake Kiryu a little. Kiryu moaned and squirmed a bit in Yusei's arms. Yusei couldn't help but smirk. It felt nice.

"What…?" Kiryu muttered.

"I'm sorry about earlier."

Yusei wanted to snort but that would give away his feigned sleep.

"I should have been more sensitive to your illness. You're my cousin and I love you and I'm sorry I get really impatient sometimes."

The smirk left Yusei's face. His heart rate increased and his stomach churned. 'I love you' rang in his ears.

"It's okay. I love you, too," Kiryu whispered back.

Yusei let go of Kiryu and swiftly got up, grabbed a pillow, and slammed the bathroom door behind him. He was already regretting this trip. He wanted to go home and he wanted to punch Jack in the face. He really wanted to punch Jack in the face.

He would go home tomorrow, that was it. He wasn't going to put up with this shit for an entire month. If Jack wanted Kiryu, fine, he could have him. He hoped Kiryu went into psychosis and attacked him. It would serve him right.

Yusei immediately felt bad the second this idea sparked in his mind. He knew he was only thinking that because he was so upset. He grumbled into his pillow. He had just wanted to have some quality time with Kiryu, but of course Jacky-poo had to invite himself on their trip. He thought maybe the trip would be exactly the thing he needed to finally tell Kiryu how he felt.

He'll never feel the same, he snorted to himself. He was Kiryu's best friend. And that was all.

The bathroom was very nice, considering this was a five star hotel. There was a lounge so Yusei took some towels to use as blankets and curled up on it.

Tomorrow he would go home.

Yusei was rudely awoken by Kiryu banging on the bathroom door.

"Yusei, wake up! Time to go!"

Yusei groaned and rolled over, which caused him to fall off the lounge chair. Rubbing his head, he sat up and yawned, stretching. Without bothering to put the towels or pillow back, he opened the door.

"Good morning Yusei~ Time to go!" Kiryu said cheerfully.

"Yeah, it is," Yusei agreed. "I'm going home."

"What?"

Kiryu's eyes were suddenly twice his normal size and glossy. Damn that boy for making such a cute, sad puppy dog look.

"I'm going home," Yusei repeated, pushing past Kiryu to get his suitcase.

"Breakfast~!" Jack cheered, shoving some kind of hot egg sandwich in Yusei's face.

Something in Yusei snapped. He grabbed the sandwich and repeatedly hit Jack anywhere he could reach, his fist doing most of the contact.

"Hey!" Jack snarled, but Yusei was in a frenzy.

"YOU THINK -WHACK- YOU CAN JUST -WHACK- BUY ME A -WHACK- SANDWICH AND -WHACK- ALL WILL BE -WHACK- FORGIVEN?!" He chucked the sandwich across the room, knocking over a lamp, which shattered. He didn't even care.

"I'm going home. Good. Bye." Yusei grabbed his suitcase and shoved his shoes on, eager to put as much distance between himself and Jack as possible. He didn't even look at Kiryu as he stormed out.

"Jeez, that guy has no sense of humor," Jack muttered, rubbing his head.

"Jack!" Kiryu snapped, an uncommon note of authority in his voice that made Jack pay attention. "You go run down that hall right now and get Yusei back. I don't care if you have to apologize for being born, just make him come back! This was supposed to be a fun trip and we're one day in and you're ruining it! How am I supposed to win his heart if he's not here?!"

Jack actually looked ashamed. That had been the whole point of this trip. Kiryu wanted to tell Yusei how he felt, and Jack was here for support. And what had he done? Had a laugh at the expense of Yusei AND Kiryu.

"Fine," he sighed, and he swept himself out of the room.

Jack finally caught up to Yusei as he slammed the trunk of his car shut.

"Yusei, wait…!"

"I'm not interested," Yusei snapped. "I'm going home."

"You can't go home!" Jack huffed. This only seemed to infuriate Yusei even more.

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" He wrenched open the driver side door and slammed it behind him.

"Yusei, don't make Kiryu pay for what I did." Jack was actually begging, which piqued Yusei's interest. "He was really looking forward to this and I've been a dick since me and you know who broke up. I think I just need to get laid. Seriously, please don't go…!"

Yusei started the engine. Jack jumped onto the hood of Yusei's car. Yusei honked his horn loudly but it didn't even seem to phase Jack. Scowling, he rolled down his window and shouted, "So what do you want me to do about it?! If you're going to be a giant asshole until you get laid, then go prowl for fresh meat somewhere else!"

"It's alright, I'm good now!"

Yusei raised an eyebrow.

"Please, Kiryu was really looking forward to this and I didn't mean fuck things up…" Jack looked sincerely sorry. With a sigh, Yusei turned his car off, took the keys out, and got back out.

"Thank you, Yusei!" Jack hugged him.

"Yeah, yeah. Just stop being such an asshole," Yusei sighed heavily, shoving the blond off him.

Kiryu was delighted that Yusei had returned. He clung to him like a monkey, and Yusei didn't mind. But as they were leaving, Yusei looked back at the room, and he noticed that the bed that should have been Jack's seemed untouched. This bothered Yusei but he put that in the back of his mind for now.

"Dad got his car last night, so I have to stick with you guys," Jack said as they walked to the car, as though this settled all the matters, past, present, and future. Yusei grumbled under his breath.

"I'll take first driving shift," Jack volunteered, and he dangled Yusei's keys in front of his face. Yusei hadn't even felt himself getting pickpocketed.

"Fine, but Kiryu sits in the back with me!" Yusei demanded.

"But you know I get car sick," Kiryu frowned. Yusei gave him a murderous look before storming into the back seat of Kiryu's car. He brooded in silence the entire day. And what annoyed him even more was that Jack and Kiryu seemed to be having a good time. They were talking and laughing and telling inside jokes. Yusei was regretting his decision to stay.

It was a long drive and the sun was high in the sky as they pulled into a motel that was only a block away from the beach. They were going to stay here for a few days to enjoy the ocean. Yusei must have fallen asleep because when he woke up Jack and Kiryu were whispering to each other, stopped in the parking lot. Yusei pretended to still be sleeping so he could eavesdrop.

"…you'd have to tell him eventually…"

"…no! He doesn't need to know."

"Kiryu, you're not going to feel good about yourself until you-"

"Why are we even talking about this? Nothing even happened between us yet!"

Yusei's stomach curled. His worst fear seemingly confirmed, he pretended to wake up. The two cousins immediately stopped talking.

"'Morning sleepyhead," Kiryu smiled at him.

"Where are we?" Yusei yawned, pretending nothing was wrong.

"We're at our motel. We should probably bring our stuff up if we want to go swimming," Jack said, taking the keys out of the ignition.

Kiryu and Jack were still being secretive as they dragged their luggage up the motel stairs. Yusei was fuming behind them. He wanted to talk to Kiryu privately and demand to know what was going on between him and Jack.

When they finally got to their room, Kiryu opened the door and Jack hurried inside. And because it was Yusei's lucky day, there was only one bed, and Jack didn't even ask who got it. He just flopped down on it and kicked off his shoes. As soon as Yusei let go of his bag inside the room, Kiryu handed him a twenty.

"Yusei, go down to the convenience store, please. Buy whatever you want, but I need to talk to Jack in private."

Yusei's mouth was agape. He snatched the bill from Kiryu's hand.

"Are you going to have sex with him?!" he demanded, his voice cracking from becoming upset. Kiryu looked vaguely shocked at the question and his cheeks turned rosy.

"Yusei, that's none of your business!" Kiryu snapped. "Now go!" He pushed Yusei out the door.

"See? He can practically smell it anyway. You might as well just tell him," Yusei heard Jack say. Tears brimmed in Yusei's eyes. He stormed down the steps and ran. He didn't know where he was running to, just that he needed to get away.

"He better not have heard that," Kiryu hissed to the blond who was lazing on the bed. "I'm pretty sure Yusei thinks there's something going on between us!"

"So? Let him think that. If he likes you then he'll get jealous. Then you'll know if you're wasting your time doing this or not."

Kiryu folded his arms.

"That's not how I wanna find out," he huffed.

"Well, eventually you're going to have to tell him about the time we, you know-" Jack made a swirling motion with his hand and Kiryu looked away with scarlet cheeks.

"That happened before he moved here. I thought we agreed to never speak of it!"

"You have to tell him. It's not right to keep a secret like that."

"You never tell your boyfriends!" Kiryu snapped viciously.

"That's because it wasn't my first time."

That shut Kiryu up. He rubbed his forehead.

"That shouldn't even count. I was delusional."

"No, you weren't! You were in love with me!"

Kiryu smacked him with a pillow and hissed, "Thank you could you have said it any louder I don't think our fathers at home heard you clear enough!"

"Alright, sorry! I didn't mean to yell it. But you weren't delusional. You were in love with me for weeks."

"That was the delusion!"

Jack wore a pout.

"So are you telling me that meant nothing to you?"

"I- What did it mean to you?!" Kiryu demanded quickly.

"I had a special bonding experience with my adopted cousin. I made you a man."

"This is so fucked up," Kiryu groaned, flopping down on the bed. "Maybe you shouldn't have come with us."

"I'm the protector, okay? I protect you and Yusei from others, and from yourselves. Besides, I want to see you two together."

"Well, you're doing a shitastic job," Kiryu snorted sarcastically.

Hundreds of miles away, a girl with red hair and brown eyes answered her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Aki."

"Oh, Yusei!"

She smiled. It'd been a long time since she heard that voice. He didn't sound too good, though.

"Is everything okay?"

"Not really. I just finished throwing up an entire day's worth of meals."

She frowned into her phone.

"Did something happen with Kiryu?"

She knew Yusei got sick to his stomach when he was upset, and usually it was over Kiryu. She and Yusei had been best friends before he moved away, and he told her pretty much everything. She was the first one Yusei went to when he discovered he wanted more than just friendship from his new best friend.

"I think he and Jack are fucking."

Aki choked on her tea.

"W-What?! I thought they were related!"

"Not by blood…"

Yusei told her everything that had happened and she listened sympathetically.

"I think I want to go home," he ended his story with, sniffling. Aki pursed her lips.

"If they wanted to be alone together, then why would they take you along? Something is up about the reason for this trip, I think," she finally replied. Before Yusei could respond, someone in the background on Aki's end sang her name.

"Shit, Divine's home. I gotta go, Yusei!" With a click, she hung up.

Yusei sighed. Why was Aki still with that guy? He was creepy and controlling and downright abusive. But Aki claimed they were in love so… nothing Yusei said had worked to change her mind yet.

Yusei hung up the phone and laid back on the bench. He wasn't sure where to go from here.

He thought he only shut his eyes for a few seconds but suddenly he was being shaken awake.

"Hey, Yusei. Can we talk?"

Kiryu was standing over him. Somehow he had found him.

"Where's Jack?" Yusei mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Beach. Already prowling for tail."

Yusei glowered at him.

"What, you weren't enough for him?"

"There's nothing between Jack and me," Kiryu said factually. "He's my cousin. He's like a brother to me."

Yusei sat up.

"Even so, you two are being too close. I thought this trip was for us," Yusei complained sulkily.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel left out."

Yusei pursed his lips distrustfully.

"Fine. I guess I forgive you," he muttered. Kiryu gave him a one arm hug.

"C'mon, let's go swimming!" Kiryu clapped his hands together and rubbed them deviously.

"Alright, alright." Yusei smiled as he got up.

"Hey, Kiryu, did you take your meds today?"

"Hm? Yeah, of course!" Kiryu assured him.

"Okay, just making sure," Yusei nodded.

"Liar~" Crow sang in Kiryu's ear. "You are a liar. You lied to Yusei. He's going to be mad. You're a filthy, dirty, disgusting whore."

Kiryu walked faster, but Crow turned into his bird form and flapped around his head.

"He's going to see right through you, that you slept with Jack. Doesn't matter how long ago it was. You're tainted. You're dirty. You're poisonous."

Crow continued to berate him even when they were back in the motel.

"I'm just gonna put my suit on," Kiryu assured Yusei as he slipped into the bathroom. He opened his bag and took out his medications. Crow hissed.

"Now I'm not a liar," Kiryu whispered as he swallowed his pills. By the time they were actually ready to get in the water, Crow would be gone.