Kaiba watched his puppy sleep through yet another class. The brunette wished he could just wake the blonde up and demand answers.
Why did you end things?
Why were you on a date with Mai Valentine?!
The answer to both questions was the same: Joey had found someone he preferred on the island and didn't want Kaiba anymore. There was no other explanation for the blonde's weird behavior. The texts Joey sent were just a bunch of nonsense the blonde was using as an excuse to end things with Kaiba without telling him about Mai. Coward.
The brunette was glad when the teacher yelled at the blonde, telling him to wake up and take the hoodie off his head. Joey groaned, sat up, then reluctantly did as he was told. Kaiba's smile instantly disappeared. His puppy had a black eye. Why?!
"You should see the other guy," Kaiba heard the blonde say to Yugi, who was giving him a worried look.
Joey darted out the door as soon as the bell rang. Kaiba just sat there for a bit, trying to ignore how his chest clenched at the thought of anyone hurting the blonde. Joey didn't want him anymore. Nothing that happened to the blonde was the brunette's business.
Still, Kaiba found himself searching for excuses to meet up with Joey and got just what he needed when he overheard a conversation that the blonde was having over the cellphone that the brunette had bought him. Kaiba had told Joey it was out of convenience, but, in reality, he was just afraid that the blonde might get into another street fight and not be able to call for help. The thought of his puppy hurt and alone did not sit well for the brunette.
"Hey Mai, you want to hang out later today?" Joey asked, causing Kaiba to stop in his tracks.
What?!
He's asking her out?
Again?
So, Kaiba did the only thing he thought was, at least, semi-reasonable. He followed the blonde home, waited 5 minutes, then banged on the door. Technically, he wouldn't confront Joey. He was just there to ask for the phone back. If the blonde starts arguing and unconsciously confessing things, which Kaiba knew he would, then that would be Joey's choice.
The brunette's anger seemed to fade with every second that his knock went unanswered. During those moments, he had time to truly look around. He had been fuming when he told the driver to follow Jou. He hadn't really paid that much attention to the area, but, now that he had a bit of time to calm down, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the broken window at the end of the hall, the entirely burned down apartment next to Jou's, and the many hookers that passed him in the ten seconds he had been there.
What a dump.
Jou must be visiting a friend.
The blonde had once told Kaiba that he lived in a villa in the far end of Domino city, that his relatives lived in the same villa complex. Did Kaiba pick a bad time to follow him?
If he is with his friend, he'll just hand over the phone and refuse to speak.
He won't make a big deal out of it.
I'll be out of excuses, then.
And I'll be the jerk that took back a gift.
Maybe I should leave.
"What's the big idea-" a blonde man started saying upon opening the door. He reeked of alcohol, was wearing a tight white, see-through undershirt, and looked like he hadn't bathed in days. His eyes widened upon seeing Kaiba, then he leaned in and whispered "Listen man, we don't have any of that stuff here, but, for a small fee, I can hook you up later tonight. What d'ya say?"
Kaiba was about to yell at the man for mistaking him for a junkie, but he held back. He didn't come here to argue with this man, whoever he was.
"I didn't come here for drugs. Could I speak to Joey? I believe he's visiting someone here,"
"And who might you be?" the old man asked, interrupting Kaiba. He was getting on the brunette's last nerve. Kaiba resisted the urge to tell him to take a shower and lay off the booze.
"Someone who'd like to speak to Joey," the CEO gritted out. God, if the man was an employee, Kaiba would've fired him three times by now. Who takes this long to comprehend a simple request?!
"Well, he ain't home," the man snapped, presumably sensing Kaiba's hostility towards him, then shut the door in the CEO's face. Kaiba blinked.
Home?
The man looked a lot like Joey.
Was he Joey's father?
Why is he lying about Joey being in there?
Kaiba banged on the door again, and the same man answered it, this time with a beer in his hand.
"I just saw him come in," Kaiba said firmly, looking the man in the eye. The black eye. The bruises. This man. Joey's lies. The apartment. Everything was starting to make sense to Kaiba, except that the brunette desperately wished to be proven wrong.
"He doesn't want to see you, rich boy!" the man snapped, but, before he could close the door again, Kaiba stuck his foot in it.
"If you don't let me in, I'll call the police. Child abuse, at best, will get you a few months behind bars. You really want to risk that?"
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," the man said nervously, then stepped back to allow Kaiba to enter, "but if you want to see him that badly, that's his room right there."
The brunette instantly went up to the room and knocked softly on it, not wanting to scare Joey. The old man's reaction had pretty much confirmed Kaiba's fear. He needed to get his puppy out of this house.
"What do you want, Kaiba?" Joey asked from behind the door in a quiet, defeated voice.
"How did you know it was me?" Kaiba asked to buy himself some time. He didn't have a gentle way of saying "pack your things, you're coming with me because your father is a disgusting-."
"The place is pretty small. I hear everything that's going on."
Oh
"So, what do you want?" Joey asked again when Kaiba didn't say anything for a few seconds. The brunette was snapped out of his thoughts. What did he want? What was his excuse? What reason was he going to give Joey? Kaiba had completely forgotten.
"I don't understand what made you...mad at me," Kaiba finished lamely. This was the least needy way he could ask Joey what had gone wrong between them. Maybe if he knew, he could fix it, and then Joey would be more willing to leave with him.
He heard a noise from behind the door, then saw the door knob twisting. Joey stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Kaiba.
"Would you have done it?" Joey asked, not looking away from the brunette. Kaiba furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Done what?"
"Jumped."
Kaiba's blood ran cold. He instantly tore his eyes away from Joey's and looked at the ground in shame. Would he have jumped? He didn't know. He just remembered that he was really, really desperate to save Mokuba.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Kaiba gritted out. Why would Joey bring up such a sensitive issue when he knew that the brunette didn't like talking about such things.
"If you were going to jump, then you had zero faith that Yugi and me would help you rescue Mokuba, which makes you the biggest jerk on the planet. If you weren't going to jump, then you were manipulating Yugi, who is the nicest guy in the world, which makes you the biggest jerk on the planet."
"I knew you'd help me if I asked, Joey. I simply didn't want to ask," Kaiba said, carefully avoiding answering the question.
"Are you saying your ego is so huge, you'd rather jump off Pegasus's castle than ask me to help you?" Joey snapped, then slammed the door in Kaiba's face, saying, "Go home, moneybags."
"No," Kaiba started, then took a deep breath. He hated showing his vulnerable side to people. He continued softly, "I am saying I didn't want you to duel Pegasus because I didn't want you to meet the same fate that Mokuba and I did."
After a second of silence, the blonde spoke up from behind the door.
"So, you wouldn't have jumped, then? If what you're saying is true, if you care about me that much, you wouldn't have jumped. Is that what you're saying?"
"I am saying that, if I had jumped, it would've been a mistake," Kaiba replied frantically, desperate to convince Joey to forgive him, but not wanting to answer honestly, especially now that Joey had a girlfriend.
Mai…
The thought of her put a damper on Kaiba's mood and reminded him why he didn't want to say any of these things to the blonde.
"Why do you care, anyway? Don't you have someone else now?" he said, viciously, wanting to shift the attention to another topic.
"Mai asked me to help her make some guy jealous. It worked. They went out on a date last night. She asked to take me out to dinner as a thank you today."
Kaiba's eyes widened. So Joey didn't find anyone else. His puppy was just upset about his duel with Yugi. That was easily fixable.
"Puppy, come out and come home with me," Kaiba said gently. They cleared up the misunderstanding. There was no reason for Joey to say no.
"What about Yugi?" he heard Joey say from the other side of the door, "Didn't you care about him?"
"Why should I?"
"Because any decent human being would! Yugi is the nicest guy in the world. He set you and Mokuba free, even though you've been an absolute jerk to him."
Kaiba's left eye twitched in anger.
"That's why you were mad at me?! Because of that runt?" Kaiba yelled, unable to keep his temper in check.
"He's not a runt! He's my best friend and the way you treated him just wasn't right! He was completely destroyed over what you did. He wouldn't speak for hours afterward."
"Mokuba's soul was on the line!"
"So was grandpa's!"
Kaiba blinked.
"Oh, I didn't know that," he whispered, but the blonde had heard him.
"Really?"
"Yes, really! How was I supposed to know? I thought he just wanted the title and prize money like anyone else."
"If that were the case, he would've given you his star chips in a heartbeat once you told him that Mokuba was in trouble. Yugi doesn't care about fame and money, unlike some people."
They both remained silent for a whole minute. Kaiba didn't know what to say to that. He waited for Joey to say something. The blonde didn't.
"I am starting another tournament, one that takes place in the city, then in a blimp. If you're one of the finalists, you'll be able to stay on that blimp for a few days at least. Until then, can you consider staying with me at the mansion...please?"
Joey finally opened the door, though he was giving Kaiba a questioning look.
"Why?"
Are you really asking me that?
"I think you know why," Kaiba said slowly, fighting the urge to just grab Joey and run for it.
When the blonde didn't say anything for a few minutes, Kaiba's temper got the better of him.
"It's either that or I am calling the police," he said firmly, then regretted it instantly. The blonde immediately frowned and narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest again.
"Do that and you'll never see me again," he gritted out, then added in the same tone, "I'll stay with Yugi until the tournament. Thank you for the heads up. Now, leave."
After the door was slammed in his face for the third time that day, Kaiba decided he'd done enough grovelling for a lifetime.
"If you're not with Yugi tonight, I'll know!" he yelled at the door, then stormed out of the apartment, cursing the fact that his puppy was so stubborn.