yo readers. i am SOO sorry. i absolutely HATE dream scenes and it always takes soo long. so i didn't update as fast as i would have liked, but its here now, and for further notice, if there is a dream in a chap, i will warn u first. so, with that said, here is the next chap. enjoy.
Jou slowly awakened, pain shooting through his body. Groaning in pain, he hesitantly opened his eyes, and looked around himself. The moldy old green couch was to the right of his head, and the coffee table he was currently residing on was of course, broken. But, there was more, something that brought a small smile to Jou's lips. Silence. His dad was gone. Closing his eyes again, he sighed.
'Damn. That sucked. At least I have the…' Jou snapped his eyes open and jumped up, ignoring the pain that nearly brought him down again, and checked his pockets, and looked all over the floor. Cursing again, he found that his money was gone. His dad had taken his money.
'Damn that bastard!! I'm the one who earned that money! I'm the one who really needed it!! Damn you, you old bastard!' Jou mentally screamed as his body radiated fury. That was his fucking money. The damn bastard would pay!
Glancing over at the only working clock, he found that he had 15 minutes to get to school. Blinking at that sudden thought, Jou reacted. He quickly grabbed his bag and ran out of the building, pushing people out of his way, ignoring the jostling it did to his ribs, and turned the corner, entering the good side of town.
Slowing down a bit, Jou tried to catch his breath as more pain shot through it. 'Damn, why now? This is too soon, its not supposed to do this till…ugn…later.' Jou thought as he clutched at his chest, wheezing, trying to get some air.
A black limo passed him, and he breathlessly hissed at it. Straightening up, he started to jog towards school, hoping not to get another detention from Mr. Akido.
Reaching the gates, he watched as Kaiba exited his limo. He glanced at Jou for a split second, before smirking coldly and walking up to the doors. Fuming, Jou followed and muttered about stupid evil and conniving CEO's.
Reaching the door, Jou felt another throb in his chest. Widening his eyes, he grasped the handle and tried to quench it. Jou felt another throb, and closed his eyes tightly, forgetting where he was. After a few minutes, the pain ended, and he breathed more regularly. Looking up, Jou yelped as he saw Kaiba staring at him.
"What's wrong with you mutt?" Kaiba asked, his cold front in place as per usual.
Jou gasped, then glowered. He walked forward and pushed Kaiba out of his way, walking towards his class muttering, "None of your business, jackass!"
Kaiba stared at him for a moment, then shrugged and followed. Internally harassing himself over his actions. 'Why on earth did I ask him that?'
//You never cared before, what made you start now?//
/I don't know. Probably because he looked like he was in pain./
//Really, and why would you care about that? You never did before?//
/…truthfully, I've no idea./
//…You do know that you're talking to yourself, don't you?//
/…maybe./
//Ah, I see. If you don't acknowledge it, then it isn't true, right?//
/…/
//…right?//
/…/
//Hello?! I'm trying to talk to you here!! Damn you, you cold bastard!!!//
/…did you just…/
//…I just sounded like the mutt, didn't I?//
/…no comment./
Kaiba shook his head and entered the classroom, sitting in his original seat...next to Jou. Glancing over at him, he noticed how pale he seemed…and was that a bruise on his head? Taking an inconspicuous glance closer, he noticed that there was indeed a bruise on the side of his head, but also a deep watery color. Kind of like…blood?! 'Holy Hell!!'
Kaiba stared harder, finding more than one bruise on his visage. 'The wound on his head, and face. The way he was holding himself. The reason that he was gasping for breath…he got into a fight.' Kaiba finally solved. Shaking his head, he turned back to the front of the class.
'Just like Jou to get into a fight.' Kaiba huffed and everything went back to normal.
Jou yawned for the 4th time, and laid his head in his arms. Closing his eyes for but a second, he fell into a troubled sleep…
Sobbing. That's all Jou could comprehend in this nothingness. Slowly, the darkness brightened and Jou focused on a scene he'd never thought he'd see.
It was Kaiba. He was dressed in his usual gravity defying trench coat and suit, but he was kneeling beside a four-poster bed, sobbing. His head rested in his hands, his shoulders shaking, and tears splashing on the floor.
Walking up to him, Jou felt sorry for him. He'd never imagined or thought how… pathetic and upsetting it was to see Kaiba cry. He was startled when Kaiba spoke suddenly and almost…desperately.
"Please. Please let me help you! I can't bear to see you suffer like this!! You have your whole life ahead of you. You have your friends to think about and your sister and…you have me…Please Jou, let me help you!!"
Jou stared shocked at Kaiba's outburst. Hearing a gurgles response, Jou turned and swear he had just died. It was himself. He was lying on the bed that Kaiba kneeled by. He looked so pale, but yellowish as well, with sunken eyes. His thin body was desperately gasping for air.
"I…I can't. Its…too much…besides, if…I live…then…" the sickly Jou broke off in a coughing fit, seemingly unceasing.
"I don't care! Please, let me deal with…" Kaiba started, his voice echoing through the emptiness.
Darkness enveloped Jou again, hurling him around till he didn't know up from down, left or right. Finally, he was tossed back into the graveyard of his first dream.
Landing on his butt in the damp grass, Jou shook his head and groaned. He really hated this place. Sighing, he stood up and glanced around. There, before a grave, was Kaiba.
'Gee, I wonder whose grave that is?' Jou thought sarcastically and walked over to Kaiba…but stopped short. He was already there, he could see the back of his shaggy blond hair. Slinking closer, he turned to see his own face, and jumped back in response. It was the other him. The one Kaiba was pleading with. The thin, pale, and creepy him.
He was staring at Kaiba with a sorrowful and regretful gaze. "Why? Why did you care? Why now? You knew I was dying. So why, when it was only pointless in the end."
Jou stared in shock. Had his other really said that. And why? Sure, Kaiba tried to help him out in the end, but so what. He was still a creep.
Slowly, his other self turned to him, and Jou gasped in horror. His face was decaying, skin slowly peeling off his skin. The other Jou smiled grimly at him, and stalked towards him, Jou backed up in response, then turned to flee. Hands clamping down on his shoulders stopped him, and Jou turned to see his other self, half his face rotted off, he opened his gory mouth and whispered in his ear,
"This is your fate…"
Jou awoke to feel arms on his shoulders. Screaming, he lashed out. Hearing a crack, then a thud, Jou opened his eyes to see the whole class staring at him in shock. Hearing a groan, Jou looked down and blinked. There lying on the floor holding his chin, was Kaiba.
'Why's Kaiba on the floor?'
"Dammit Jounouchi!! What's wrong with you?" Kaiba growled as he stood up, glaring at Jou as he rubbed his chin.
Jou stared at him, then realized what had transpired. Kaiba woke him up. He hit Kaiba. Kaiba falls to floor. Kaiba stands back up. Kaiba yells at him…what?
"Huh?" Jou asked, shaking his head to clear it. Looking back up to Kaiba's face, he shrunk in his seat. He'd never seen Kaiba so red before.
"Jounouchi Katsuya!! How many times have I told you NOT to fall asleep in my class?!" Mr. Akido shouted furiously, stalking towards Jou.
Jou stared around himself, finally landing on his friends. When he turned back to Kaiba, he abruptly remembered his recent dream. Crying out, Jou stood and rushed out of the classroom, hitting Kaiba's shoulder as he went.
Kaiba blinked, then turned towards the door, as did the whole classroom. Mr. Akido yelled something out the door, then ordered the class to return to their seats.
Kaiba started but suddenly stopped. Under Jou's desk was his schoolbag. Kaiba frowned and pulled it from under the seat. He stared at it for a moment before Mr. Akido, kindly, asked him to sit down.
Kaiba sat and tried to pay attention, but his thoughts kept on returning to Jou and his terrified expression.
'I wonder why Jounouchi had that expression. That terrified…what could have scared him so much to run away…Jou, what's going on with you?'
oooooo, is kaiba finally warming up to Jou? well, thats it for this chap, the next 1 is where Jou finally gets the money and goes to the doctor...wat is wrong with Jou? find out next time
