YUGIOH

Dealing w. Adulthood

Chapter 9.

Kaiba was continuing to have problems about Joey. He was beginning to wish that Martin never said anything to him about it, because atleast then he could have stayed blissfully ignorant. But instead, the more aware he was of the situation, the stronger it seemed to get. He had to make an effort just to keep from looking at him. And on top of that, the more he tried to ignore Joey, it seemed the more irritated Joey became towards him....as if he had just given him the worst insult of his life. Kaiba couldn't understand it. Didn't Joey tell him time and again that he wanted Kaiba to 'leave him alone'??

In between his next class, Martin had snuck up to Kaiba's locker, muttering, "We need to talk."

"Now's not the time...." Kaiba answered coldly, closing his locker. "I'll tutor you later."

"This is about a phone call....regarding me." Martin said.

Kaiba stopped in his tracks. "Phone call?" Why did he think this wouldn't come back to haunt him?

"Yes....and Joey Wheeler's sister...." Martin added, glaring at Kaiba accusingly.

Kaiba sighed, "Okay....let's go."

They met at their normal meeting place at the same familiar tree, as they pulled out their math books.

Martin began saying, "You told me you weren't interested in him."

"I'm aware of that." Kaiba answered.

Martin snapped, "Then why did you call him, pretending to be me and saying you were interested in him?"

"I....wanted to know." Kaiba looked away, not feeling very proud at the moment.

"Why??" Martin asked.

Kaiba closed his eyes, saying, "Because....because...." Kaiba then sighed, saying, "You were right....I'm sorry." He then looked up at the heart-broken Martin, adding, "Understand though, that I didn't lie to you when I told you that. It simply never dawned on me, until...."

"....until I said something. So then it's my fault, my stupidity." Martin muttered miserably. "Then I guess you're pursuing him."

"No. I'm afraid you're wrong on part of your theory. I checked him out….he's totally straight. He spends ½ the night gossiping about girls with his friend. He's about as straight as they come." Kaiba said.

"But...." Martin began to say, but thought otherwise. If Kaiba thought it was one-sided, then he still had a chance. "So, does this mean....we're still together?"

Kaiba stared Martin down for a long moment, actually feeling bad for the next thing he was going to say to him. "No....I'm afraid not. This isn't working out. We're going to have to end it."

Kaiba was actually trying to be nice for once, since the short time he had with Martin was actually kind of nice. But Kaiba wasn't very good when it came to talking about personal things. How does one nicely explain to a person that a relationship simply went stale and couldn't go any further, without really hurting the guy?

Martin looked heart-broken. "What am I doing wrong? Whatever it is, I can change. I....I can try to be more like that other guy! Do you want me to start failing my grades?"

"Don't be ridiculous....it's not you." Kaiba replied. "And the thought of changing yourself to please someone else is simply moronic. You really need to grow a backbone, Martin."

"I can do that!" He said, causing Kaiba to look at him like he's an idiot. The kid drooped his head at that, realizing what he said. "Sorry...."

Kaiba sighed and shook his head. "I'm not going to insult you by giving you the 'We can still be friends' speech. But....I want to thank you. You've helped me through a lot."

Martin wiped the tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "I'm really gonna miss you, Seto. Can we have....maybe....one last kiss, atleast?"

Kaiba looked back towards Martin, as he asked this. He took a quick look around to make sure there were no on-lookers, then approached giving Martin his request. A tear dribbled down Martin's cheek, as his feelings for Kaiba kept him from being selfish.

As Martin pulled away from their last kiss, he said, "I can't do it. Kaiba, I'm telling you that kid has a thing for you. I'm sure of it! He might have checked out as being straight, but then....if anyone ever checked you out before you met me, they probably would have found you to be the same way. Just because you appear to be something on the outside, it doesn't mean you are."

Kaiba offered Martin his first smile, though it was a bitter one. "It doesn't mean you aren't, either. Thanks, but you're wrong on this one."

No way was Kaiba going to allow anyone to try and raise false hopes of someone liking him. He was not going to run to Joey like some love-sick school girl, only to be burned in the end. He was a realist….and hope never did good for anyone.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

By the end of school, Kaiba had thought he successfully made it through the school day. He headed out to quickly escape to his limo, when he heard the familiar voice from behind him suddenly appear from nowhere.

"Hey, Kaiba!"

He stood frozen for the moment, conflicted between wanting to run away, or accept the pull from Joey's strange influence over him and let it take him over once again. He decided to do neither, and just stand there, as he snapped, "What is it, Mutt?"

"I aint a dog!" Why were those words suddenly so tempting to him, to join in the dance? Why had he never realized it before? How could someone like Joey have so much power over him?

"Don't forget 6 o'clock tonight, unless you're gonna run away....which I guess I couldn't blame ya. After all....after I pound ya into the ground, there aint gonna be anything left."

'Damn him!' Kaiba thought. Every word Joey uttered was like a silent demand for him to turn and face him. He could feel his hand trembling, as he was physically aching from the resistance he was keeping on himself. The only reason he had not turned Joey's way yet, was because besides the usual pattern of wanting to turn in order to shove those words back down the Mutt's throat, he was also imaging himself ravishing him and taking him right there. No....he was not going to embarrass himself like that.

"I already told you I'd be there....I don't break my agreements. Now get lost, Wheeler. I have better things to do than listen to your senseless prattle." Kaiba snapped.

Joey was fuming....not just from the insults, but from the fact that Kaiba didn't even offer him the dignity to turn and face him, when he spoke. Normally, Kaiba had no qualms about getting in his face. He was ½ tempted to lunge at him right there, if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't want to get too much in trouble before the competition.

So, Joey held his ground for now. 'Besides….after tonight, I'll teach that prick a lesson he'll never forget!' "All right, moneybags....just you wait. After tonight, we'll see who calls who master! You got that?" Then, Joey turned and marched away.

As Joey left, Kaiba found his last comment towards him rather ironic. Lately, he had been wondering that same question himself.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba had followed his normal routine from there, picking Mokuba up before heading to their next destination. But after picking his brother up, he then ordered the driver to wait a moment, as he asked Mokuba, "Do you want to go home, or to work?"

"Uh....aren't we going to work?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba looked away, saying, "I have a....pressing appointment at 6. I was going to do some work at home until then."

"Okay, then we'll go home." Mokuba said, noticing something was bothering his brother, but didn't say anything to him for the moment.

They headed home rather silently, Kaiba not saying a thing, simply staring out the window. After making it home, he headed straight to his office, as Mokuba went to the kitchen for a snack. He let his older brother take the time to settle into work, before going to see him to find out what was wrong. Work always made his brother feel more comfortable and secure, making any talks with each other easier.

But as Mokuba knocked and entered the room, he found his brother was not only away from his work, but staring out the window.

"Seto....what's wrong?" Mokuba asked, even more worried.

Kaiba answered, "It's nothing." Obviously lying.

Mokuba approached and looked up to his brother, saying, "It's about Martin, isn't it? Did you two break up? I haven't seen him too much, lately."

"Yes....we broke up. No, it's not about him." Kaiba answered, still staring out the window.

"Then what's it about?" Mokuba asked. Again, his brother didn't answer.

Why did it always have to be so hard to drag anything out of his brother? Did all brothers have to drill each other like this, or was he just the lucky one? So, it was Mokuba's turn to play another game of Charades with his brother, until he could figure out what the problem was. Sometimes, he really hated these games.

So, when Kaiba didn't answer, Mokuba remembered a piece of information he mentioned earlier in the car. "You said you had an appointment at 6. This isn't another date, is it?"

"No." Kaiba answered. He sighed, and explained, "Wheeler made a dare for me to duel him tonight, insisting he could beat me."

"Oh." Mokuba said, not finding that unusual. And he was hoping this would give him a hint to the problem.

"Is it getting in the way of something important? I'm surprised you agreed." Mokuba then laughed, "He probably made some stupid bet again, didn't he? Last time you made him gamble his Jinzo card."

Kaiba offered a faint smile at that....he still had that card. He never realized the reason why he had it encased in a plastic sleeve to keep it safe, then placed it in his middle desk drawer in order to see it anytime he wanted to. At the time, he assumed he was simply doing that to gloat, not for any other specific reason.

He finally answered, "If Joey wins, he wants me to announce to the world that he's the better player and put a plaque of his face in the arcade we'll be dueling at."

Mokuba laughed, "He's so stupid, sometimes....Joey should know better. Hey, you called him Joey!"

"Did I?" Kaiba asked, blankly.

His lack of expression and almost depressed look was beginning to worry Mokuba. "Yeah, uh....so if you win, what is he supposed to do?"

"Technically, he's my slave for a week." Kaiba answered, feeling his heart skip a beat once again at the thought of Joey being totally his the entire week.

Mokuba's eyes widened in shock. "Are you serious? Does he have any idea of the things you could do to him??"

Yet the question seemed to flash a few odd emotions through his brother's eyes. One of those emotions Mokuba recognized as fear, as Kaiba turned away....withdrawing even farther from his view of facing his brother.

"I don't know if I can go." Kaiba said in almost a whisper.

"What? Of course you can go! Why can't you? Seto....what's wrong?" Mokuba asked.

Placing his head into his hand, Kaiba muttered, "I....I'm attracted to him."

Mokuba froze for a moment, then laughed, "No....seriously." But Kaiba said nothing further, instead glaring over at his brother as if showing him just how serious he was.

Mokuba gaped, trying to figure out if he should go into a fit of laughter, keep the shocked look on his face, or start to take pity on him. He decided on the shocked look. "But....but I thought you couldn't stand him!"

Kaiba turned back to the window offering a weak smile. "Funny.....I thought the same thing. I didn't even see it, until Martin decided to slap me in the face with that fact. It's one of the reasons I broke up with him. Who knows how long I've been feeling this way, and didn't even know it."

Mokuba kept the silence hanging in the air, as Kaiba looked his way for a moment, to gear his reaction, then turned back towards the window. He offered a weak laugh, muttering, "Well, it looks like I fell for a dog, after all. So, I guess you're going to have to disown me."

"But, I thought you like Martin." Mokuba said.

Kaiba sighed. "I got bored with him. He was too agreeable, and worried too much about offending me because of who I am."

"Well, if you got bored with him....then maybe you'll get bored with Joey." Mokuba shrugged, trying to cheer his brother up.

"It's not the same." Kaiba said. "This isn't something I can just get over. I had an interest in Martin, but not like this. I accepted Martin over here because I was curious about myself, not because I felt he was something important to me. I could have tossed him away at anytime, and it would have never affected me in the least."

"You don't think you could do that with Joey?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba sighed. "Mokuba....I'm not even sure how I'm going to react, if I see him at the Arcade tonight."

His hand formed a fist, hitting the window. "I can't control myself around him, now. That's why I accepted his offer, I couldn't make myself say no." Kaiba shook his head, adding, "I can't win....I can't have him with me for a week. I'll destroy myself if I do."

"You can't let yourself lose, Seto! That'll hurt Kaiba Corp, and your reputation!" Mokuba said. "Maybe he likes you, too?"

"No, he doesn't." Kaiba answered simply, leaving no room for argument.

Mokuba then approached him, and gave him a hug, saying, "You're my big brother, and I know you can get through this, no matter what! Just show 'em who's boss! You never let anyone push you around before, and I know you wont now. Besides....maybe after you beat him, you can simply take pity on him and just tell him you relieve him from the bet."

"What?" Kaiba asked, then looked down at his brother in surprise.

Such an idea never occurred to Kaiba. After all, the very word 'pity' was never in Kaiba's vocabulary. He never believed in pity.…ever. But he believed in deceit. It was an ingenious idea to mask his retreat, hiding behind the façade of pity….it was so crazy, it could work!

Mokuba smiled, "You know....just tell him he doesn't have to be your slave for a week. Then you don't have to worry about it. I can't imagine Joey fighting you on it. He's just looking to beat you, that's all."

For the first time in atleast two days, Kaiba offered a genuine smile, saying, "Thanks, kiddo….I needed that."

Suddenly, things didn't look so bad, anymore. He could get through this….he 'will' get through it.

Okay, next is the duel! What will happen? Will Kaiba stop being so Emo? Will Joey stop being so clueless? Probably not, but we can always hope….right? Watch and read next!

Just to warn you all ahead of time, I'm not going into a lot of detail for this duel. There will probably be a brief description on it, with mainly the focus on the characters. So, if you're hoping for a real detailed battle….I'm afraid you might be disappointed.

Also, I thought I'd try something different this week. Instead of sending 2 chapters out in the middle of the week, I'm going to send just one out now, and Chapter 10 out a couple days later and see how that works. Then let me know which way you like better!