A/N: Great news all! 1) Softball's starting back up...in the middle of winter (thank my stupid coach.) -.- ok, and now for the actually super special awesome news :D Christmas Break's coming soon! After this week (of course, I have to study for finals...what am I doing? I should be doing that now!) it all starts :D So hopefully, I can write more. ...um...R&R :D
Disclaim: Don't own YGO or anything like that.
Both boys entered the house and were greeted by Mokuba. Kaiba said a quick greeting before rushing off to his room, leaving Jounouchi with his little brother.
"Are you staying the night again?" Mokuba asked excitedly, as he jumped up and down with enthusiasm. Jounouchi smiled a bit and shrugged.
"I dunno...can I?"
Mokuba nodded and ran off to tell his brother. The blonde sighed and collapsed on the nearest couch. It was comfy and soft. As he melted into the fabric, he wished he could never leave, whether it was at Kaiba's or not. Even though it had only been one day, Jou had already adjusted. He was fairly flexible, despite popular belief, and he'd truly already adapted to his current work life. He also enjoyed the Kaiba mansion. It was everything he'd dreamed of and more. He wished he could have a whole house... An apartment in the shittiest part of town was NOT what he dreamed of owning, like now. He sighed happily, just enjoying the feel of the couch. His moment of bliss was soon interrupted by Mokuba saying he convinced his brother to let Jou stay another night. A small bit of relief washed through Jounouchi. He truthfully didn't want to leave yet. There wasn't anybody waiting for him at home anyway, so what did it matter?
"You like video games, right Jou?"
"Hell yeah I do!" The blonde grinned and placed his hands on his hips. Who didn't love video games?
"Wanna go play? I got the new Call of Duty!"
Jounouchi's eyes lit up. It had been an eternity since he played Call of Duty...or any video game for that matter.
"Awright!"
Without warning, Mokuba grabbed the blonde's hand and forced him to go to the gaming room, where they literally sat there and played until Mokuba fell asleep. Jounouchi himself was on the verge of falling asleep. The clock read 2:30 am... He rolled off the couch he'd been laying on and crawled over to flip the PlayStation off. He let out a yawn and struggled to stand up. Mokuba was splayed out on the couch, snoring lightly, his controller still in hand. The blonde smiled and stumbled over to the sleeping boy. He gently removed the controller from the boys grasp and set it over by the gaming system.
"Ehem..."
Jounouchi jumped at the sound of the voice. He turned to the door frame to see Kaiba leaning against it, watching his every move.
"What?" Jou whispered as loudly as a classifed whisper could go. Kaiba sighed.
"Nothing..." The brunette answered simply and walked into the dimly lit room. He shut off the TV Jou had neglected to turn off and placed a blanket over his sleeping brother. Mokuba murmured something and clutched the blanket tightly between his fingers before turning over on his side. Kaiba cracked a smile.
"He can fall asleep practically anywhere..."
It wasn't hard for Jounouchi to believe. The blonde stretched and walked over to the door frame.
"I'm hungry..." he moaned before waltzing into the kitchen. He heard Kaiba sigh and the blonde knew he was going to be followed. As Jou ravaged the cabinets, Kaiba sat at his table and watched him. After a moment, the blonde grabbed a box of Goldfish and sat down across from the cold CEO.
"...What did you mean earlier?" Kaiba asked as the blonde stuffed his face. Jounouchi shoved a handful of the fish shaped crackers in his mouth.
"Huh? What're ya talkin' 'bout?" Jou asked, spraying Goldfish crumbs everywhere. Kaiba grimaced as Jou apologized and shoved the crumbs off the table.
"...About...your home life."
The blonde ceased his eating and stared at the table. Kaiba waited patiently. He was determined. Jou didn't look like he wanted to answer. All the happiness in his face had long faded. It was like his true feelings all a long had been unearthed. It took him a long while to say anything...
During this silence, Jou was debating. Could he trust Kaiba? Kaiba didn't seem like a gossipy bitch... In fact, it was pretty obvious he wasn't. Outside of Yugi's group, Jounouchi wondered if Kaiba even had an 'friends'. He didn't think so...
The blonde felt there was a weight on his chest. A pressure, constantly there, even when he wasn't thinking about it. It just kept pushing, and squeezing all the happiness out of him. The only cure was talking... While Honda and Yugi were great friends...they listened...they sympathized...but...they didn't know what to do. All they did was feel bad. And Jounouchi didn't like making his friends feel that way. So, lately, he'd been bottling it up. It worked well enough, minus the few major breakdowns he had here and there. It was nothing he couldn't handle...but...a little relief...it never hurt anyone.
Jounouchi looked up at Kaiba briefly, before averting his eyes back to his lap. He took a deep breath...before speaking.
"...It's just, my old man. He don't care about me. I don't even think he knows I exist anymore. And it pisses me off. I do everything for him, and all I get in return is shit." He mumbled, a scowl stretching across his face. "I feel so, alone... Friend "love" can only do so much...I want to feel family love...I guess that's why I favor Shizuka so much..." Jou didn't look up. He assumed Kaiba was still listening. The thought that Kaiba could probably careless about any of this crossed his mind... He did his best to ignore it. He wanted to believe someone else...cared.
When Jou didn't say anything else, Kaiba felt it was his turn to speak.
"Jounouchi, if he's that much of a bastard, then, why even bother?"
This struck Jou by surprise. It wasn't like he hadn't thought of this himself. He had. But even then, he had no answer...
"...Because...I just...hell, I dunno..."
Kaiba sighed, not really knowing what else to say. The blonde looked on the verge of tears.
"It's just, all this stuff keeps happening, and it's piling up, more and more, and...I'm afraid if anymore falls I'm going to fall with it. I...I can't deal with it all!"
His hands slid up and covered his face. He wasn't going to cry. This wasn't supposed to happen. These emotions...they shouldn't show...
Kaiba stood up, and pushed in his chair. He walked over to Jounouchi, not giving a damn what he was going to say about this, and placed a hand on the blonde's shaking shoulder.
"There are...others...who care about you, you know. While it might not satisfy you, it is there. And some, is better than none."
The blonde looked up at the CEO in astonishment, but Kaiba didn't meet his eyes.
"I'm going to bed. Make sure to clean up you're mess when you're done."
The hand left Jou's shoulder as the brunette pulled away and walked up the stairs to his room. Jou wiped away the tears that had formed and looked down at the table. Why was his heart beating so fast? He felt bad...He didn't get to apologize for breaking down like that. He was sure he embarrassed Kaiba more than himself, if that was even possible. Had he truly cared? Jounouchi wasn't sure. A million other questions swam around in that head of his, but what Jou found to be the oddest question of all...
Why did he wish Kaiba would've stayed?
The blonde wouldn't lie, he knew he'd been feeling something other than hatred towards the brunette for awhile now, even before the whole debt ordeal. It was...an undescribable, unnameable feeling, that Jou himself didn't quite understand. He felt at ease when the brunette was around, even when they were bickering. He couldn't help but wonder...
Does Kaiba feel the same way?
Only time could tell...He realized sourly. And time sure knew how to take its time.
A/n: ..short chapter, I know. Anyway, I plan on wrapping this story up soon (I don't really like it as much as I did, and I have others in mind...) Also, I'm soon going to be setting up a poll that will decide which story I finish first, so if you want this one to be picked, please vote ^^ Review? :D