Author's Notes: This chapter is dedicated to mandapandabug, who wished for this chapter before her trip. I apologise again, but I'm not so good as to write a whole chapter within seven hours.
Play Your Part, Seto
Chapter 2
Thoughtful
Seto had thought that once Katsuya was his, then everything would be as perfect as real life could be, but then something like this had to happen and now the brunet did not know what to do. He did not know how badly Hirutani's attack had affected Katsuya or what he should do to help the blond. Because the shorter boy had already been traumatized before, Seto had already decided to do what he could to help the blond get passed that, but now Hirutani had come along to complicate things. Sure, the male had been restrained and Seto had made sure that Katsuya would not be running into him again anytime soon, but that did not help with the damage that had already been done.
The two lovers were currently sitting in a corner booth in a hamburger place. Seto had decided that the matter of Hirutani had still not been closed between him and Katsuya, so the brunet had told the other teen that they were not going to the movies after all. The blond had rolled his eyes in a manner that had immediately told Seto that the other knew what they were going to talk about.
And yet neither of them was talking. Seto was gazing across the table at Katsuya with his hands folded in front of him, while Katsuya was pretending to draw slurps from a plastic cup of chocolate milkshake that was surely empty by now. It was obvious that Katsuya was not in any mood to talk for a change and Seto was almost ready to shake his boyfriend a bit to get over the other's attitude. It was not like he was not aware of Katsuya's condition, situation, or whatever one wanted to call it.
Finally Seto released a heavy sigh as he leaned back in his seat and ran a hand through his hair. Brown eyes that had been looking out the window absent-mindedly immediately turned to the brunet as the taller teen spoke out: "You're going to be difficult about this, aren't you?"
A frown settled onto Katsuya's face, followed by the blond grumbling: "What do you mean 'difficult'?"
"You obviously lack any desire to be cooperative with me on this matter", Seto commented and crossed his arms over his chest. "So, I suppose we could start with something simple. Are you certain that this Akemi won't come after you with her friends to take revenge?"
There was a nod from Katsuya, followed by the words: "I know Akemi's kind. They won't be any trouble."
Seto lifted a curious eyebrow at the blond's choice of words. Not feeling up to guessing what Katsuya was getting at, the brunet questioned: "What do you mean when you say 'her kind'?"
Katsuya pulled the straw out of his cup and waved it around as if for emphasis as he answered: "I'm talking about the lot that is left of Hirutani's former gang. Soon after Honda and I left the bunch, Hirutani got caught during an attempt to rob a convenience store. Let's just say his parents decided to do something about his behaviour. After Hirutani was sent to another city to a boarding school, the others stopped causing trouble. They're hopeless without Hirutani there to tell them what to do. Most of them go to Rintama High on the other side of town."
"And you don't think they'll just take the bus here?" Seto questioned incredulously. "I mean, that Takuya came here from another city just to get revenge on Yami."
"That was because Takuya has guts", Katsuya pointed out and the straw was waved at Seto's face. "Akemi and her pals, on the other hand, don't have guts." Seto snatched the straw away from the blond to prevent any unpleasant poking the blond might have attempted next. Katsuya merely glared at the action before finishing: "They know I'm stronger than any of them."
That was something Seto worried about. Was Katsuya really in a good enough shape to take on some thugs? Even if the blond's physical condition would have been the same as before, his mental state was everything but. Seto hated to think of how easily Katsuya could be reduced into a sobbing mess after only a few touches from one of those gangsters.
"I'm strong, Seto", Katsuya spoke sternly and Seto's worried blue eyes met with determined brown ones.
"Yes, Katsuya, I know", Seto mumbled. But was he strong enough?
&
Yami paced back and forth in his room, shooting paranoid glances outside through his bedroom window. He was looking for any sign of that tall-tale mess of platinum blond hair. Marik would be easy to spot; the teen would have never altered his haircut. He loved his hair at least as much as Yami did his, and that was saying a lot.
No, there was no sight of an almost white bush of hair from the slowly darkening street. The fall was nearing on winter and the evenings would soon be growing darker, which would make it harder to see any threat before it was too late. Yami considered this and wondered if it would be better if he simply sought Marik out now before the other had a chance to catch him off-guard.
Groaning in frustration, Yami yanked at his golden bangs of hair. Why was he so hesitant to go after Marik? Before, back in Osaka, he would not have hesitated one bit. Back then, only a few months ago, he had been known as the 'Game Master', the ultimate gambler. What he had gambled in his dangerous games was his life; there was no stunt that he had hesitated to pull.
Of course, Marik had often been on Yami's side during his escapades. Perhaps that was the reason Yami felt so uncertain about facing the other. He knew very well that Marik was just as dangerous as he was, as he had been. At present time Yami shuddered every single time he remembered his past in Osaka. The whole reason he had come to Domino was so that he could forget and now Marik had come after him, along with all of his unpleasant memories. Marik had, after all, been present for most of Yami's darkest moments.
A sigh came from the crimson-eyed youth, followed by a nervous laugh. What was wrong with him? Marik had been in town for a day and he was already climbing up walls in anxiousness. It would take time before Marik would be able to locate him in Domino; Yami had nothing to worry about just yet. He should just stay calm. He could not handle Marik if he was a nervous wreck. And knowing Marik's twisted mind, that probably was what the platinum-haired male had been aiming for when he had made contact with Jounouchi. Perhaps Marik had counted on Jounouchi knowing who Yami was and to get the star-haired teen all worked up over nothing.
A sigh came from the star-haired teen and he fell backwards onto his bed. It was no use worrying about it. His best chance would be to wait for Marik to come to him and just kick back and relax until then.
Too bad it was very difficult to relax when you knew that you had a maniac out to get you.
&
"Thanks for taking me home, Seto", Katsuya spoke as he smiled at the brunet in question, who gave a smaller smile back as he brought his arm around the blond's waist. Katsuya seemed to sink into the brunet's side and Seto pulled the shorter teen further against his side before murmuring: "You're welcome, Katsuya."
Katsuya truly seemed to be fine now. As far as Seto could tell, the blond had at least not gotten worse form the previous events of the day. There actually was something the brunet would have wanted to discuss with the blond that day, it being their one-month anniversary and all. Of course, the only one of them to really mention the matter was Katsuya and even that had been as a passing joke. It appeared that neither one of the teens cared much for such shallow celebrations.
Despite not being able to care less about some one-month mark, Seto did think that there was one thing the pair could do now that they had reached said mark. But, there was still the matter of bringing the topic up with Katsuya and, worse yet, getting the blond to agree with it.
The two came to a stop when they reached the apartment Katsuya lived in. The blond turned to Seto and spoke: "Thanks, Seto."
"You're welcome, Katsuya", Seto replied and Katsuya's smile turned even wider. The blond then laid a hand on Seto's shoulder to give himself support as he lifted himself up to make up for the short height difference and pecked the brunet on the lips.
"See you tomorrow", Katsuya said with a crooked smile. Seto smirked back at the blond and spoke: "You can bet on that."
A laugh came from the shorter teen after which the blond proceeded to open the door. Seto received one more smile from his boyfriend before Katsuya disappeared into the apartment with a short wave.
Seto really did prefer Katsuya when he was in a good mood. Perhaps his proposal could wait for a bit. After all, a month was not really that long of a time.
To be continued…
