Sorry for updating so late!
I've been really busy with studies, but now I've finished mt tests so I hope I can write faster!
I'll try to focus on this fanfic first, since it's close to its end, and then continue with the YGO 5D's one I'm writting. Sorry to keep you waiting.
Thanks for all of you who keep reading me even though it took me so long to continue the story! Hope you enjoy the episode!
Episode 10: Hidden feelings
The classes started again, and everyone was soon busy with tests. As always, the Prism students didn't care a lot about it.
Jonouchi sat down on his chair, sighing.
-I can't believe the holidays are over already ... -He said.
-Come on, Jonouchi, are you going to complain all day? -Replied Yugi, who was sitting next to him.
Jonouchi saw how Ryuuji walked into the class, peeked at Honda, and quietly went to his seat, not greeting him. He frowned, confused.
-Hey, Yug, don't you think there's something strange going on between these two? At the festival too... -He said, looking at his friend.
Yugi gazed at them and raised his eyebrows.
-It was going to happen sooner or later... -He answered- Give them time, it's all they need for now.
Jonouchi pressed his lips, not very convinced. He suddenly remembered something and spoke again:
-I noticed you've been talking with Kaiba a lot lately. During the trip and that. Is there something wrong with him?
Yugi smirked at that and looked back at Jonouchi.
-Can you keep a secret? -He asked.
Jonouchi's curiosity grew when he heard that.
-Yeah, of course.
Yugi leaned on closer to him to lower his voice:
-I'm seeing him... privately. We're giving each other some benefits... If you know what I mean.
Jonouchi's eyes opened widely in surprise.
-What? But Yugi! It's Kaiba we're talking about! -He said, looking at him.
Yugi chuckled at his reaction. He knew it was going to be like that.
-I find him fascinating, and very attractive. It's only to release sexual tension, nothing serious. -He said.
Jonouchi let out a sigh and scratched the back of his head.
-Well, it's your decision... -He mumbled.
He wouldn't have cared if it was another person, of course, but Kaiba... But to him, Yugi seemed to serious about it. He knew he had nothing to say in that, and it made him feel bad. "Wait… for how long has this been going on…? Yugi certainly acted strange during the school trip…", thought Jonouchi.
The teacher arrived, so they had to drop the conversation, but Jonouchi kept thinking about that and about Ryuuji and Honda all day. When the classes ended, he had to leave quickly, since he had to work that night. He walked to his apartment and let out a sigh when he closed the door behind him. It seemed like his friends were separating little by little, and he knew he couldn't be the only one noticing it.
When the night came, he got ready and went to the pub. The boss had already taken some affection for him, since he pitied his situation. Jonouchi started asking for people's orders, and the night passed like all the others, without inconveniences. Except for one thing.
At a certain moment, the door opened, while Jonouchi was taking some things to the bar. When he turned around to welcome the costumer, he stopped, frozen in place. The client's eyes also went wide. "What is Kaiba doing here?", thought Jonouchi. He started to get nervous, not being able to say a single word. If he thought things through, it wasn't that strange. It was an expensive pub, meant for rich people, and very stylish. Kaiba was with some business man, so it made sense that they had gone there to drink something. But Jonouchi didn't know how to react.
Kaiba cleared his throat, to try to shake the confusion out of his body, and frowned at the blond guy.
-Aren't you a waiter? Shouldn't you be serving us? -He said.
-Ah, of course... Here's the drink menu... -Replied Jonouchi, coming back to his senses.
Kaiba and the other business men sat down next to a table, and it didn't take them long to choose their drinks. They told Jonouchi what they wanted, and the blonde guy walked back to the bar to prepare the drinks.
Kaiba didn't take off his eyes from Jonouchi, trying to figure out how he ended up working there. He held in a sigh. Lately, it seemed that, no matter what he did, he'd end up bumping into those Prism guys. And he hated that.
Jonouchi approached them and let their drinks on the table, quickly walking away. He was truly unlucky. He passed all the night trying to avoid that table, and he felt relieved when he heard them get up to leave. Kaiba and Jonouchi crossed their eyes a last time before the CEO and the other men walked away.
Jonouchi continued working, trying not to think about it, but for some reason, that brief encounter found its way through his mind, and there it was, that stupid rich guy's face, occupying all his thoughts.
He went back home with a weird feeling in his chest that he didn't understand, but he felt so tired that he let himself fall to his bed and quickly fell asleep.
When the results of their latest test came out, Ryuuji felt like he was being slapped in the face. He had been putting all his efforts into getting good grades to go back to Holo school, and yet there he was, failing that test. He knew that it wasn't the end of it, but he also knew why it had been that way. It was because of the pain that he had been feeling since that fireworks night, the night of the festival. Both Honda and himself were avoiding each other, even though it obviously hurt. But probably talking to him after what happened would hurt even more.
Two weeks had passed since that night, and Honda had tried to get things back to the way they were, but Ryuuji couldn't face him yet. He knew he would break down if he tried to, so he decided that he needed some time to recover from that. He had no idea how their relationship would go after that, but he had a feeling that he had destroyed their friendship.
So, loving a friend, but also feeling like he was losing that friend, failing a test... Why was everything going wrong? And which one was the right way to follow?
He got up and got out of the classroom, walking with his head down, not paying attention at his surroundings and lost on his own thoughts. Honda went to the corridor to follow with him with his gaze, and he pressed his lips when he saw him. He felt guilty for what had happened and for the situation they now were in, but he didn't know how to fix it. Seeing his friend like that broke his heart.
He started following him, slowly, not wanting to bother him, but it seemed like Ryuuji didn't notice his pressence. The black haired guy didn't stop walking. Honda knew that if he wanted to fix things he had to make him stop and talk to him... but words didn't come out. He was only able to watch as Ryuuji got slowly away.
Those weeks had been tough for both of them, though Honda knew that Ryuuji was feeling much worse. And he was the reason why. He couldn't just ignore that fact and leave his friend like that.
He walked quickly to reach him, but he didn't dare to rest his hand on his shoulder. Instead of that, he stopped and cleared his voice before calling him:
-Ryuuji.
The black haired boy stopped walking when he heard Honda's voice. However, he didn't turn around. He felt like if he looked at him in the eye he would break down, and just replying already took a lot of effort, holding in the tears and trying to avoid his voice breaking.
-...Yes? -He said.
His voice was quiet, and that made Honda even more conscious of the situation. He fixed his gaze on the floor and then answered:
-I know that... I won't be able to fix things like this. But I want to apologize. I'm sorry for what happened that day, and my behaviour was horrible... I'm sorry.
There was silence for the next few minutes. Both of them had their eyes fixed on the floor, not daring of looking at each other. Ryuuji took an effort to answer:
-...You don't have to apologise.
That didn't make Honda feel better at all. He preferred Ryuuji to blame him, to let everything out and to say exactly how he felt... because he had plenty of reasons to apologise. He hadn't act like a friend, and he knew it. He lifted his gaze a bit to look at Ryuuji, who still was with his back to him.
-Of course I have... -Continued Honda- Forgive me...
Ryuuji had to press his lips to avoid wavering. He didn't want to start crying there and make Honda feel even worse. He didn't want to trouble him anymore. He still felt like all of that wouldn't have happened if he had been quiet.
-It's okay, don't worry. -He said.
After a few moments where no one dared to say anything, Ryuuji started walking again, getting away from Honda. The brown haired boy reacted and walked quickly to reach him. He grabbed him by the arm, but didn't pull. He just made him stop, standing behind him and without forcing him to turn around. He just didn't want him to leave.
Ryuuji, without knowing how to react to that, stood still, and waited until Honda talked.
-Ah... I'm sorry. -Mumbled Honda, letting him go- It's just that I... don't want things to end bad between us.
It was hard to say that, being him who had treated Ryuuji so bad, but he didn't want their friendship to finish.
-Me neither... -Replied Ryuuji, who was having a hard time trying to hold back the tears.
-Then… -Started Honda.
Ryuuji turned around to say:
-Give me some time. I still need to recover.
He could see some tears on Ryuuji's eyes, which made Honda open his eyes widely, surprised. He felt the urge to go and hug him and apologize again, but he decided to follow Ryuuji's decision and to keep some distance.
-Alright. Thanks, Ryuuji. -Replied Honda.
His friend nodded lightly and then left, leaving Honda a bit more hopeful.
Bakura closed the door behind and let a sigh out. He was smiling, and he still could feel his cheeks warm. He walked to his room, in a cheerful mood.
It was hard for him to believe that his dreams had came true. He was dating Marik, the boy he loved. He remembered the day Marik had approached him, on the high school. It had surprised him to see a foreign student changing of school that late, but he soon became infinitely grateful for that. He had been able to make a real friend, and he had been able to feel for the first time how his heart skipped a beat when he was with him.
He couldn't believe that Marik felt the same way. It was hard to assimilate. He also didn't expect there would be a day when he would kiss Marik, when he would hold hands with him…
His smile widened, not being conscious of it. He started walking around his room, and he ended in front of the board he had on the wall. There he had put all the photos he had taken with Marik until then. He had printed them for his boyfriend and for himself, and he always put them up right when he printed them, glad to add new memories to his collection.
He started looking at them slowly, one by one, feeling relaxed just at seeing them, and he remembered all the memories there were behind each of them. "Time flies, huh?", he thought. He had been dating Marik for quite some time, and he had been able to enjoy lots of things with him.
When he reached the last photo, he pressed his lips to try to hold on the tears that started to appear on his eyes. Time flies. The school year was about to end. There was very little time left before Marik had to go back to Egypt. He had been so distracted spending time with Marik that he had forgotten about it. "There are still so many thing I want to do with him…", thought Bakura.
He approached his bed and sat on it. He had to try to avoid thinking about it and enjoy the time he had left with Marik, but… it was hard to do that when the day of depart was so close.
-Egypt is really far from here, huh…? -Whispered Bakura, being conscious that tears were already rolling through his cheeks.
Jonouchi's hands were on the broom he was grabbing, and his chin was over his hands. He was gazing out, completely distracted from his original task. Yugi slapped him on his back, earning him a reaction. Jonouchi looked at him, surprised.
-If you go on with this it will be night and you still won't have finished sweeping. -Yugi said.
Today was their turn to clean up the classroom. Yugi had already finished his part, and he was waiting for Jonouchi.
-Your mind is on space today. -Added Yugi.
-Ah, no… -Jonouchi grabbed the broom and continued with his task.
-Don't you have to work today? You're gonna be late if you don't hurry up. -Commented Yugi.
Jonouchi, after taking a look at the clock they had on the classroom, started to work faster.
-Right! When did it get this late…? -Jonouchi said.
Yugi was sitting on a table, looking at his friend. He was kind of distracted that day too. It had been quite some time since the last day he saw Kaiba, and even if that shouldn't bother him, he was slightly upset because of it. "What's wrong with me…? There's nothing serious going on between us, anyways…", he thought, looking away.
As soon as Jonouchi had finished, he picked up his things quickly and waved Yugi off:
-See ya tomorrow! I'm in a hurry now. Sorry to have had you waiting for nothing…
-No, it's okay. I had nothing better to do. -Replied Yugi.
Jonouchi nodded as a reply and then left running. Yugi sighed.
-I should also get going… -He whispered to himself.
Jonouchi arrived to his apartment quite fast. He went to his room and changed clothes. Then he left the apartment running towards the pub.
When he arrived he greeted the boss quickly and started working. For some reason, that day he just wanted to finish as soon as possible and leave. His superior walked to him and commented:
-You're very hardworking today.
Jonouchi just nodded. To be honest, he was completely wrong. He was so distracted that he hadn't even heard what his boss had told him, but he was still able to work quickly.
From time to time, he lifted his gaze to the door, as he had heard someone coming in. At those moments he shook his head, annoyed of giving it a thought, and he tried to concentrate as much as possible on his work. Even if he tried to avoid it, the thought of that boy entering the pub always came to his mind… and he didn't understand it.
When he had ended his duty, Jonouchi waved everyone off and got out of the pub. At that moment he stood there, surprised to see someone out there, who seemed to be waiting for someone.
-…Kaiba? What are you doing here? -Asked Jonouchi, confused.
He hadn't seen him come in nor get out of the pub. Then, what was he doing there? Kaiba, who was with his arms crossed, looked at him and frowned.
-Ah, it's you. -He said, looking away- You were so focused on your work that you didn't see me get in.
That didn't calm Jonouchi down. How could he not have seen him…? He shook those thoughts away and frowned.
-Why does it have to be this pub?
-I don't think you should treat your customers this way. -Kaiba said, turning his back on him and starting to walk away.
Jonouchi pressed his lips. "He was standing here as if he was waiting for someone…", he thought. He felt the incomprehensible urge to follow him and stop him, but he held back. He looked away, frustrated for not understanding what was wrong with himself. "Whatever he does is not my business…", he thought, trying to believe in those words.
After standing there alone for a couple of minutes, the cold breeze of the night made him react, and he decided to go back, slowly, to his apartment.