From Dusk 'Til Dawn

Chapter 21

Sum Up Your Emotions

Seto eyed Jou, who was currently huddled beneath the blankets so that only his messy mop of hair and dark brown eyes were visible. Inside the brunet was smiling at the endearing sight but outside he remained as emotionless as ever.

"So..." the brunet drawled slowly. "You're afraid of thunder." That was the conclusion Seto had come to and also the reason he was still in the blond's room so late at night. It was more than apparent that Jou was terrified of the storm.

"I'm not afraid", Jou argued heatedly from his haven. "I just really, really dislike it."

An almost fond smirk tugged at the CEO's lips as he replied: "Of course."

There was a moment of silence, during which Seto studied Jou's eyes through the darkness. He wondered if Jou's night vision was as good as his. After all, they did share plenty of other traits ability-wise.

"Kaiba..." Jou asked quietly. Seto only hummed in response, signalling the other that he was still there and listening. "Is there something you don't like about me?"

"Yes", Seto replied before he could really think about the question or the reasons behind it. "You're loud and idiotic."

Jou let out an indignant huff before replying: "Well, you're cold and insensitive."

"That's a big word from the mouth of a mutt", Seto said with a slight snarl. "Are you absolutely certain that you know what it means?"

"It means you're a horrible prick that doesn't care about others and stomps on everyone else's feelings", Jou growled heatedly.

"Fine", Seto said as he stood up from the chair he had been occupying. "I shall return to my own room to get at least some sleep tonight."

The CEO had barely managed to take a couple of steps before he heard Jou's tearful voice whisper: "I hate cold."

The words had not been meant for Seto's ears but they still made his insides churn. Jou hated him? Because he had stripped the other of his freedom? Hurriedly Seto made his way to the door.

When the door opened to reveal the dimly lit hallway Seto froze for a moment. Without turning around he spoke: "You won't be needing an escort to move around the base anymore." That said Seto stepped through the door and closed it behind him. He left the door unlocked, though. Jou was not his prisoner.

&&&&&&&

It had been a few hours since Kaiba had left and Jou was still lying awake in his bed. For some reason he was unable to fall asleep. And the roar of thunder right outside his window was not helping matters at all. With a frustrated groan Jou climbed up from bed.

Jou walked across the room to the door. He was not sure if he had imagined it or not but he thought that he had not heard Kaiba lock it. The blond tried the handle and the door slid open.

Feeling absolutely joyous Jou rushed to get his pillow and blanket and walked out of the room. He would find himself a better place to sleep somewhere where he would not be able to hear the thunder.

It was after Jou had managed to get himself lost in the dark hallways that the blond realized that he had no idea where to find a good spot to catch some much-needed shut-eye.

"Jou-kun?" Jou almost jumped out of his skin when he heard someone speak his name suddenly but as he came face to face with Hakuba his irritation changed to gratitude.

"Yo, Hakuba!" the darker blond greeted with a wide grin. "Do you know any quiet place where I could sleep? The storm's keeping me awake."

Something flickered in Hakuba's eyes but before Jou had a chance to even begin to try and recognize it the look was gone and Hakuba thoughtfully suggested: "Kaiba-san's office is sound-proof." A very conspirational smile came to the pale lips. "And it just so happens that I'm one of the four people with the key." Hakuba shrugged his shoulders. "It just happens that the office on this floor hasn't been used by Kaiba-san in months."

"I couldn't possibly sleep in Kaiba's office!" Jou argued forcefully. "He's already out to get me. I don't need to make him even angrier with me."

Hakuba smiled reassuringly at the shorter blond as he spoke: "Don't be ridiculous, Jou-kun. Kaiba-san isn't out to get you." Suddenly Hakuba smirked and his eyes flashed again, causing Jou to feel very, very afraid. "He's out to take you."

Jou's face heated up at that suggestive tone and words and he decided to mask the blush of embarrassment as a flush of anger by yelling his next words: "Don't you be ridiculous! There's no way Kaiba would actually like me!"

That was when Hakuba smiled smugly. It was the most infuriating thing Jou had ever experienced, or it was how the blond felt before the Brit spoke again: "And here he was being so obvious about it to help you catch on." The smile turned into a grin but it was still as smug as ever. "Tell me, are you really this naive or are you just really, really gullible?"

Snorting at the question Jou huffed a snappy remark as an answer: "Kaiba would ask if I was stupid or really stupid." There, that would support Jou's opinion.

The comment did not have the desired effect, however, as Hakuba replied: "How cute."

Jou frowned at the words that seemed out of place and growled: "You think it's cute that he calls me stupid?"

Hakuba chuckled, waving his hand dismissively before answering: "Don't be foolish. I meant the fact that you can guess what he would say." The Brit gave the other boy a teasing smirk. "The only thing worse would be for you to wear his clothes in order to be closer to him."

That comment struck very close home, Jou realized as he clammed up. His thoughts went to the set of clothes Kaiba had given him three, almost four, days ago.

"What?" Hakuba questioned suddenly, his accusing glare drilling into Jou's brown eyes. Jou let out a nervous laugh before he confessed, unable to handle the pressure: "I have one of his shirts, okay?" A protective glare came to his face. "But I'm not handing it over!"

"You don't have to", Hakuba said with a sigh. "I don't want it. No one here would." The paler blond paused. "Well, maybe Koizumi. She's been itching to try some voodoo spells on Kaiba-san." Then he gave Jou a bright smile. "Now how about I take you to that office?"

&&&&&&&

Seto was walking down the hall, headed directly to Jou's room. He wanted, no, needed to make sure that the blond had not left the tower again. Even though the brunet had given Jou some of his freedom back he was still very much against the thought of the blond leaving. And it was not just because of the vampire attack on the blond.

Taking a deep breath Seto opened the door to find Jou's room empty. There was no sign of the blond in the room, nor was there any noise from the bathroom. It was too early for the blond to be simply wandering around. It was clear that Jou had left.

A feeling of betrayal crept to the CEO's mind as he observed the empty room. And he felt more than just simple regret for trusting the other, he felt lonely and possibly just a bit hurt.

"Ah, Kaiba-san. You're up."

The brunet whirled around when someone spoke his name and came eye to eye with no other than Hakuba.

"What are you doing here?" Seto snapped at the blond. Hakuba simply smiled pleasantly in reply, in a manner that indicated that he knew something the brunet did not.

"Well, good morning to you too, Kaiba-san", Hakuba said before glancing into the empty room. "I take it you're looking for Jou-kun?"

Seto let out a defeated sigh before questioning: "I don't suppose you've seen him during the past ten hours or so?"

"And it so happens that I have."

The CEO froze at the other teen's words. Carefully he put his most threatening smirk on his face as he demanded: "Where was that?"

"On a hallway", Hakuba replied with an air of dismissal, not affected by the look Seto was giving him. "He was having trouble sleeping so I left him in one of your offices. The one on this floor."

Seto did not stay to question Hakuba for his actions. The blond's motives were unimportant at the moment. The only thing that mattered was getting to Jou as soon as possible.

When Seto stormed into his office he was met by the sight of Jou sleeping soundly on the softly carpeted floor, seemingly peaceful. For some reason Seto could not take his eyes away from the endearing sight.

Carefully and quietly the brunet walked into the room. He grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from his desk and scribbled down a short message on it. Holding back a soft chuckle he placed the note next to Jou's head on the floor before leaving the room.

After the door had clicked closed behind him and after the CEO was certain that no one would see he smiled.

&&&&&&&

Jou woke up slowly, even though he felt well rested. He was reluctant to leave the comfort of his blanket when he blinked his deep brown eyes open. He blinked again when a white flash stung his still sleepy eyes.

The next time Jou opened his eyes more carefully after rubbing the sleep away from them. He peered at the carpet next to him again as he sat up. There was a neatly folded piece of paper on the floor and Jou picked it up. The contents of the note caused Jou to blush and his insides to warm up.

Good Morning, Angel

Jou stood up hurriedly, scanning around the room for anything he could use to check the spelling. Hakuba's words from the previous night repeated themselves in Jou's mind over and over again but he was not ready to trust them yet. This could be a prank played by the Brit. Apparently he had grown tired of Jou trying to pull pranks on him. Or then it was Yami's revenge for all the pranks he had gone through. Only one problem with that, though. Yami had no idea about Jou's growing affection towards a certain brunet.

That was when Jou noticed the address book on the desk. As he quickly flipped through it he figured that it belonged to Kaiba. No one else would have that many foreign addressed in his address book.

With surprising patience Jou checked all the letters on the short message very carefully. In the end he came to the conclusion that either the one who had written the note was really good at forging Kaiba's handwriting or the message was really from the CEO.

Just as Jou came to this conclusion the door to the office opened. The sound brought Jou's head around to its direction and then brown met blue in shared surprise.

"You're awake", was the first thing that was spoken, and it was said by Kaiba even. Jou simply nodded in response, having lost his voice suddenly. He started to lift the hand holding the note that was supposedly from Kaiba. Catching himself just in time the hand lowered again and Jou hid the note behind his back. If it was not really from Kaiba, the brunet would guess how he felt about him if he went and asked about it. After all, why would it meant so much if Jou was not interested?

"Did Hakuba tell you I was here?" Jou asked, unable to get anything else out from his mouth. Kaiba simply nodded. Jou nodded back and then they were both quiet. Jou was beginning to suspect that Kaiba had actually written the note and was waiting for Jou to bring it up.

But just as Jou was about to speak up Kaiba sneered at him: "Did the mutt enjoy his sleep in his master's room?"

Jou stared at Kaiba in disbelief, unable to understand why the brunet was such a heartless robot. Jou had done absolutely nothing and the CEO saw it fit to insult him and degrade him. Red hot anger burned inside Jou and it was pretty apparent from the smoke coming from both his nostrils and mouth.

As the air in the room began heating up from Jou's anger the blond marched across the floor to Kaiba, surprisingly managing to look threatening in his pale green pyjamas. Kaiba glared back, clearly ready for a fight and Jou actually doubted his chances against the brunet for a moment.

But Jou was in no mood to fight. He had gone beyond violent anger into a boiling rage that would break out in a single burst. With all his might Jou slammed his fist on Kaiba's chest, sending the brunet stumbling backwards.

"I HATE YOU!" Jou screamed at the top of his lungs before turning around and bolting out of the room. Fighting back bitter tears the blond made his way down the hall, away from the person he still, no matter what he had just said, could not bring himself to hate.

To be continued...

Ending Notes: Hakuba is scheming, but fortunately it isn't anything bad. I still wonder why he has taken it upon himself to set Kaiba and Jou up, though. Perhaps he thinks companionship's a good thing. Too bad his efforts were wasted. I feel sorry for Jou, though. All the terrible things I put him through and still he's too stubborn to cry and let it all out.