Chapter 4
Dreamy
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, all. There have been personal problems building up that have had to take priority and that have just completely preoccupied me. What happens with Jonouchi's visit to the Kaiba brothers? We shall see!
"Do you ever get the feeling that Kaiba is...spiraling?" Jonouchi said. He sat on a cooler as Honda tinkered with his motorcycle. His friend's eyes were focused on the fuel injection.
"What does it matter? Let him spiral," Honda said.
"That's kind of cruel. You wouldn't say that about anyone else, I bet."
"Yeah. Because it's Kaiba. He's a fucking asshole and deserves what he gets." His eyes hadn't left the bike.
This was not a pretty side of Honda. Jonouchi frowned and then blew at his bangs. "What about Mokuba? The kid doesn't deserve to see his brother go off the deep end."
Honda gritted his teeth. His jaw was tense, as if he was restraining himself from saying something with all his might. Something in Jonouchi snapped.
"What? You don't think Mokuba deserves that, do you? That kid has been nothing but kind to us ever since Death T-"
"Don't get me started on Death T."
"I won't. But you can't hold that against them anymore. They've changed a lot since then, and you know my dad...Do you really think that Kaiba deserves to go down that road?"
"Do you want me to answer honestly?"
Jonouchi sighed, frustrated. "Then would you wish anything that my dad did to me on anyone else?"
Honda fell silent. After a moment, he shook his head.
"Then try to act concerned when I tell you that I think Kaiba is showing...addict behavior."
Honda sat back on the floor of the garage. He said, "Seriously, one dinner with the Kaiba brothers and now you're all concerned for them. It's like with Yugi. The second he started working together with Kaiba his empathy toward them just skyrocketed. Are they putting something in the food? Or did you develop a crush on Kaiba-?"
"Fuck. Just because I'm gay and just because I'm concerned about Kaiba does not mean I like him that way." Scowling, Jonouchi stood and kicked the cooler with his heel. "Geez, Honda. I thought we were through with this. You know what? Forget about it. I'm leaving. I gotta meet up with Mai."
"Jou, I'm sorry."
"I don't wanna hear it," Jonouchi said and walked out of the garage. He ignored Honda calling out for him and ended up at a bus stop routed for Mai's hotel.
Out of everyone, except Yugi, Mai was the most understanding if not obnoxious about Jonouchi's sexual orientation. She was there whenever Yugi wasn't available to vent at, and she always seemed to know what to say to make him feel less like a freak and less misunderstood. The problem was that she was always in and out of town. Most of the time, Mai was going to international duels, ones that she pushed him to join (but he never did). Because of this, Mai had no official homebase in Domino. Homebase was the next city over. The bus stopped in front of him, and he hopped on. Honda's words burned him. The assumption that he may have a crush on Kaiba...He had done that multiple times before. Anytime Jonouchi showed any compassion toward a guy Honda didn't like he was accused of liking said guy. He thought that the last time was it, but apparently he was wrong. Jonouchi didn't think that Honda would ever fully accept him.
The problem was that Jonouchi did think Kaiba was cute, especially when he kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to admit to Honda this. It would just validate the other's suspicions. He didn't want to make things weird with Kaiba and Yugi, so he didn't want to tell Yugi. That left Mai. He took out his phone and texted her.
"Can we talk about him? I'm a little worried."
He stared at the phone until she responded.
"Sure, hun. We need some code name though. I have a lot of 'hims' in my life. ;)"
"Will be in lobby, Jou."
His cheeks burned at that. While he was comfortable with talking about some details in his love life, the second Mai found that he could be a confidant she removed all filters and talked about anything guy related. He wondered if it had anything to do with his orientation. Jonouchi inhaled sharply. Not everything could be attributed to that. He shook his head.
The bus stopped at the junction near Mai's hotel. Jonouchi hopped off and hurried down the path and into the hotel. There she sat, scrolling idly on her phone. She broke out into a large smile when she saw him.
"There you are. You need to get your driver's license, hun. You could've gotten here in no time."
"No thanks. Cars are expensive."
"They don't have to be. Especially when you go abroad for tournaments." Mai stood from her spot and walked over to him. She rattled her car keys. "Let's get going. I wanna hear all about Kayoko and your date tonight."
"Kayoko? Date?"
"Yeah. You know. Kayoko." She took him by the elbow and tugged him away, outside and to the parking garage. Her heels clicked on the sidewalk as he stumbled after her. Realization dawned on him. He felt thick from not figuring it out. She found her car and got in. Jonouchi followed and shut the door to the car. The top of her car was up.
"Does he really have to go by 'Kayoko'?"
"You got a better one?"
"Plenty."
She leaned toward him, smiling. "Well, I think the name suits him." She sat back abruptly and started the car. She drove it out of the garage. "So what's up?"
He poured his heart out about his concerns he had for Kaiba and Mokuba, Mai nodding as he spoke. Finally, she said, "What got you so invested? Didn't you hate Kaiba even a few weeks ago?"
Jonouchi sighed. "You can't just walk around hating people forever. I'm just trying to grow up, even if Kaiba doesn't want to. I don't want anything bad to happen to anyone, and that includes Kaiba."
"Mhm. And it's not because of your need to fix things and those gorgeous blue eyes."
"Ha. Funny. Now let's get some food."
"Yeah, yeah, you human garbage disposal."
It wasn't long until he stood at the front doors of the mansion. With the grandness of the home, Jonouchi felt like an insect. He shook the thought out of his head. This was probably how Kaiba intimidated others, but it wasn't going to intimidate him. He knocked on the door and waited. The night before popped into his head. The civil conversation, Kaiba's careful apology, his collar bones. Jonouchi blushed. He was here to test out a game, not gush over an inaccessible guy. Inaccessible in many ways.
"Pull yourself together, Katsuya. You probably won't see him."
The door jerked open, and one of the staff members at the mansion greeted him.
Mokuba was quick to intercept. He stood at the entrance wearing a T-shirt with an ice cream cone on it. He said, "Jonouchi, you're here. I was worried that my brother scared you away."
Jonouchi laughed as he walked in, hands in his pockets. "Your brother doesn't scare me. Just a thorn in my side, is all."
He followed Mokuba down the corridor of the mansion. Their footsteps echoed as they walked.
The only times that Kaiba actually scared him was whenever Mokuba was in trouble. Somehow, his first instinct was to go full on mother bear whenever that happened. All other times, his ego and his elitism just was maddening. They didn't agree with much, which Jonouchi was realizing was odd, since they had more in common than he originally thought. Sometimes he thought that Kaiba was simply being contrarian to get a rise out of him. God...Jonouchi wished that he would chill and show some vulnerability for once.
Nervous, Jonouchi glanced at Mokuba. He said, "But since you mentioned him, is your brother here?"
Mokuba laughed. "Seto's here. He is currently not not working in his office."
"Oh. So it's just you and me then."
"Sure. Up until dinner."
"Aw, man...Is it going to be all fancy and formal?"
"Seto always makes things seem formal, but no. We're not eating in the dining room."
Jonouchi huffed. At least he didn't have to worry about Kaiba until dinner. He turned his eyes up to the rest of the house. It was just like he remembered from a few years ago. Grand but not grand enough to hold the older Kaiba's ego in. Pristine and perfect with its wainscotting and crown molding and gray walls. They walked past leather furniture, which he was sure was real leather, and large paintings that could have been in museums. He tried not to look too awestruck. Maybe it wasn't just like he remembered from a few years ago. After ago, then, the Kaiba brothers were trying to kill them.
A hint of coffee hit his nose. The smell grew stronger as they kept walking until...Jonouchi gaped. Kaiba stood at the countertop of the kitchen sipping at what appeared to be a freshly brewed cup of coffee. Unlike last night, the CEO was without his business attire, and also wore a casual plain blue T-shirt-a v-neck, Jonouchi noticed-and jeans that Jonouchi refused to look at lest he show a semblance of attraction towards Kaiba.
"Oh, hey, Seto. I figured you were still in your office."
"What isn't done can wait until tomorrow," Kaiba said. He sipped the coffee, not bothering to turn to meet Jonouchi.
"Uh-huh. Right. And it has nothing to do with you running on three hours of sleep."
Kaiba turned to face them. "No. I've worked with less sleep."
Mokuba smiled up at Jonouchi. "Well, it looks like my brother's joining us."
Great.
"Let's get going," Kaiba said and walked out of the kitchen, a book in hand, to another room. Jonouchi assumed it was a small entertainment room for the brothers. He sat on the floor in front of the couch. Kaiba arched a brow at him. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable on the couch?"
"Nah. Everyone knows that playing video games on the floor gives you an advantage," Jonouchi said. He smiled at him, tossing a wink in for good measure.
Kaiba simply stared back and sat on the couch, opening the book.
"You're not even going to watch us play?"
"You'll be writing a report for me later, so what's the point?"
"What? Nobody said anything about a report."
"It won't kill you to show you're literate."
Mokuba brought the game in but glared at the two of them. Kaiba sighed deeply and sat with his back to the arm of the couch. His slippered feet sprawled across the rest of it.
"Hey!" Mokuba rushed to the couch. "I wanted to sit there!"
"A recent study shows that sitting on the floor while playing video games give you an advantage," Kaiba said flatly.
Not sure how to respond, Jonouchi gaped at the two going back and forth. How smiles slowly curled on their faces.
"Fine! I'll sit on the floor."
They settled on the floor and started the game. They played for a few hours without distraction until Jonouchi felt the couch shift behind him and a large thump. He turned to see Kaiba sleeping peacefully, softly breathing. On the floor sat the book.
"He hasn't been sleeping well lately," Mokuba said. "This month is usually bad for him."
Jonouchi looked at Mokuba curiously. "Why?"
"It's the month that Gozaburo died and Seto took over Kaiba Corp. There's a lot of stress associated with this month."
Jonouchi nodded. He had heard the stories, but what was true and what was not always eluded him. He picked up the book-a collection of Sagawa Chika's poetry and literary analyses. Who the hell was that? He shook his head, placed the book onto an end table, and returned his gaze to Kaiba. There was little movement, except the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Who knew that such an angry person was so peaceful in his sleep? Jonouchi's eyes trailed down from his face down his neck to his collar bones-
"We should let him sleep. I honestly think he had less than three hours of sleep last night."
Jonouchi jumped. He had forgotten himself. "Should we wake him up for dinner?"
Mokuba thought for a moment. "Nah. Let him sleep…"
Jonouchi nodded. He felt relieved. And comforted. By what? He wasn't sure. However, he was disappointed too, and that's what he was afraid of.
