Chapter 18: Heading Home
It was Friday and Joey's day off from work. The blond mechanic had decided to spend the day tidying up his apartment and had just finished cleaning the kitchen counter. Cleaning his apartment was a rare occurrence for Joey but he wanted his place to look halfway decent when his sister came to visit. The summer semester was ending soon and there would be a week-long period between the end of the summer semester and the fall semester. Even though Serenity was renting an apartment off-campus, Joey had offered to let Serenity stay at his place during the break so they could spend some time together.
Joey gave the counter one last wipe down for good measure and then tossed the soaking wet rag into the bucket of water by his feet. Joey looked down and saw the water was murky and brown from all of the grime and dirt that not only came off his counters, but his stove and kitchen floors too. Joey's face contorted with disgust—maybe the cleaning rags he used weren't worth washing after deep cleaning his kitchen. Joey shuttered when he recalled how many cleaning rags he had to throw away after cleaning his bathroom earlier in the day.
"Maybe I should consider hiring a housekeeper before Serenity comes," Joey mumbled to himself, looking at the messy living room space that was next on his cleaning list. He then felt a buzzing in his pocket and took out his phone. His sister's name was flashing on the screen and Joey immediately picked up.
"Hey sis, you're not going to believe what I was just doing."
"Hi Joey! I'm surprised you picked up; I was expecting to leave you a voicemail. Aren't you at work?"
"Nah, I have the day off. I've spent the last three hours cleaning my apartment in preparation for you staying over," Joey said with pride, "What did you want to leave me a voicemail about?"
"A couple of things, actually. First, I was calling to see how you're doing. I randomly got a text last week from Mai saying she ran into you and Kaiba at the bar? What was that about?" Serenity asked.
"Oh, really? That's… so weird. Is Mai sure it was us?" Joey asked, panicking.
"Yeah, she said spoke to Kaiba when you two ran into her."
Joey could feel his cheeks becoming hot with embarrassment and his thoughts were racing. He hadn't told Serenity about the dating competition between himself and Seto and he certainly didn't want to tell her about how brokenhearted he had felt since discovering she already had a new boyfriend that night. Plus, there was the added bonus that Serenity could decipher Joey's lies without a second thought, so he had to really think about how to respond.
"The truth is that Kaiba and I have been… hanging out. You know, I've been taking your advice! You told us that we should get a life and we did, and it just so happened we ran into Mai while we were at a bar having a life. What's so weird about that? Domino City isn't exactly the largest city in the world," Joey replied, speaking a mile a minute, silently hoping it didn't seem suspicious. However, he felt there was enough information there that Serenity wouldn't inquire further.
"Are you and Kaiba friends now? I didn't think that my speech had actually impacted either of you when I gave it," Serenity said with surprise.
"Oh yes, really great friends now. I know we didn't act like we were going to listen to you before, but you know how us guys are. Sometimes we need extra time to process information."
"I'm glad to hear that you guys are such good friends now because I have a huge favor and I want you to ask him."
Joey groaned before saying, "What is it?"
"Well, you know how I'm entering my last year of university in the fall, right? I know that most people have a graduation party following their graduation, but I plan to throw myself into finding a job. The ideal situation would actually be that I've landed the job already before finishing my last semester," Serenity said, "That being said, I think I'll be way too busy and possibly completely disinterested in having a party after I finish university so I thought it would be cool to have a 'last first day of the semester' party while I'm staying at your place."
"That all sounds fun but what does Kaiba have to do with any of it?"
"Well, we certainly can't host a party at your dirty studio apartment, right? I was hoping you would ask Kaiba if we could host the party at his mansion instead!"
Joey couldn't control the laugh that burst out of him, "Why would Kaiba ever say yes to something like this? If you want to host a party, you know I'll support you no matter what, but I don't think Kaiba will go for this."
"Mokuba said he would convince his brother. He and I have actually become friends over the summer."
"Then why don't you have Mokuba ask about the party?" Joey swiftly replied. He loved Serenity more than anything, but he wasn't a fan of asking favors, especially not to Seto. Joey could already hear the response now and the string of insults that would come his way after the request was denied.
"Because it should come from you if it's a party from me! Will you do this for me, big brother?"
Judging by the tone in Serenity's voice, Joey got a sense that a simple 'no' wouldn't cut it. The two of them would be on the phone for hours if that was his response. Joey sighed and replied with, "Ugh, fine! You're so annoying… but I'll do this for you."
"Yay! Thanks, Joey," Serenity said with glee, "I gotta go now but love you!"
Serenity hung up the phone before Joey could ask when she would be coming home for summer break so he could plan for the party. Joey considered the possibility that Serenity put it in his calendar already, so he wasn't too worried about it. Joey shrugged and turned back towards the disorganized living room that awaited him. Whenever Serenity was coming home, Joey needed to make sure his apartment wasn't a complete mess beforehand.
-YGO-
Seto loved Friday afternoons at the office, particularly in August. In years past, he had observed that many of his employees would take off for vacation and Friday's were especially quiet during this time of the summer. Seto welcomed the silence of a desolate office and treasured this time of year. He enjoyed being able to catch up on lower priority projects and he really enjoyed the sound of silence that came with having an empty office. On this particular day, Seto was feeling productive and he was thrilled to be checking many tasks off of his to-do list.
Seto clicked 'Send' on another email when his desk phone rang. The name that displayed on the phone screen was Risa, the front desk secretary. Seto answered the call with a "Yes?"
"Mr. Kaiba, there's a visitor here to see you."
"Who is it? I don't have any appointments on my calendar," Seto replied, slightly annoyed. This wasn't the first time Risa had called him about a visitor that didn't have an appointment. She was a sweet girl, but she had a hard time understanding how much Seto hated receiving calls about visitors that were almost always just trying to waste his time.
"His name is Joey Wheeler. He said the appointment was personal and wouldn't be on the calendar," Risa nervously said, fearful that she had made a grave mistake, "Did you… want me to send him up or turn him away?"
Seto rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, you can send him up."
The visit from Joey was unexpected but not a complete surprise. It had been about a week since they both went on first dates. On the ride home from the bar, Joey had expressed the need to take some time off from the dating competition after running into Mai. Seto was happy to take a break; although the night hadn't gone as badly for Seto as it did for Joey, dating was still an unusual and not a fun experience for Seto. In the meantime, Seto was focused on something even better—Mokuba's summer courses were ending soon. The younger Kaiba would be home for a week and Seto was looking forward to it.
"Hey Kaiba, how's it going?" Joey asked when he walked in, his voice booming with enthusiasm as he walked into Seto's office.
"Why are you so hyped up?" Seto asked.
Joey slid into the chair that was positioned opposite to Seto's desk, "I'm surprised you're not as excited as I am. Isn't Mokuba coming home soon?"
"He is but why do you know that?" Seto replied.
"Because Serenity is coming home too. Duh! Did you forget that our siblings went to the same university?"
Seto closed his laptop and said, "I suppose I did forget. And what does that have to do with me?"
Joey leaned back in his chair, "I have a favor to ask and before you say 'No,' can you at least hear me out?"
"I suppose," Seto begrudgingly answered, reopening his laptop. If he was going to be subjected to prolonged interaction with Joey, he might as well see if any new emails came in. Seto already knew the answer would probably be 'no' so there was no point in really listening to Joey.
"Serenity is heading into her senior year of university and she wants to host a party to celebrate her 'first last day of school' before the new semester begins. She was hoping you and Mokuba would come."
"Don't soon-to-be-graduates usually host graduation parties? I've never heard of a 'first last day of school' party," Seto said, closing his laptop once he saw no new emails had come in. Seto began gathering up the papers on his desk, "And I have yet to hear the favor; I've only heard an invitation to which I will let my brother decide whether he wants to go or not, but I think I'll personally skip it."
"I know it's not a typical party but Serenity says she's going to be too focused on getting a job after graduation so I think that's why she's having a party at the beginning of the year rather than the end," Joey continued, "And the favor isn't the invitation, it's actually the party itself. I was wondering if you would be willing to let me host this party at your place."
Seto couldn't contain himself from busting out laughing before saying, "Absolutely not. You know I hate parties and people in general. Why do I need to host your party?"
"I don't have the money to rent out a place and my apartment is way too small. Come on, Kaiba Mansion is huge! You don't even have to attend; your house is so big you could get lost in it," Joey begged.
Seto continued to chuckle as he continued to gather his things to leave for the day. After hearing nonsense like that, Seto felt he deserved an early start to the weekend and responded with "I hope you're not getting the wrong impression from our friendly competition. I don't owe you a favor in this universe or an alternate universe so I would stop whatever sales pitch you've planned for the rest of this conversation."
Just as Seto closed his briefcase, his cell phone started vibrating on the desk. Seto saw the call was from Mokuba and immediately picked up, "Funny that you called, I was just talking about you."
"You were? With whom?"
Seto's eyes grew wide and he mentally kicked himself. If he uttered Joey's name, Mokuba would immediately ask more questions or worst… invite him over so that they would experience a prolonged interaction. Seto had learned from last time that Mokuba liked to play jokes like that.
"Risa was asking about you so I told her how you would be coming home soon."
"Aw, that's sweet of her! Are you still at the office? I was calling to let you know I'm on my way home now."
"You are? I'm at the office right now but I'm on my way out. What time will you be at the train station?" Seto smiled and was pleasantly surprised to hear this news.
"Serenity is actually giving me a ride down. She was gonna surprise her brother."
"Why are you with Serenity?" Seto asked and his smile disappeared.
"Wait, my sister?!" Joey exclaimed, jumping to his feet.
"Oh, I thought I told you that we became friends. Did you know that we go to the same university?"
"Yes, everyone in Domino City keeps reminding me of this. Why does that make you two friends?" Seto growled.
"Chill out, Nii-sama. Serenity helped me register for my fall courses and she recommended all the best professors to pick. It's great to be friends with a senior!"
"Sure, and what time will you be home?" Seto said before rolling his eyes. While Mokuba being friends with Serenity was annoying, at the very least, Seto felt comfort in knowing that Serenity would be graduating within a year. Seto doubted the two of them would find much time to hang out with one another after that.
"Hey, what is Mokuba saying about Serenity?" Joey asked, walking over to Seto so he could overhear the phone conversation.
"Is Joey with you?" Mokuba asked.
"Yes, unfortunately, but we were just about to part ways as I was heading home now," Seto replied as he started walking over to a different part of his office to get away from Joey. Joey continued to follow Seto around the room with one hand next to his ear, hoping to hear any part of the conversation.
"Great! Why don't you bring him over to the Kaiba Mansion? That way Serenity and him can drive home together."
"Since when did I become his chauffeur?" Seto snapped, shooting an intimidating glare Joey's way.
"Don't be like that, Nii-sama! Just give him a ride. You know he doesn't have a car right now," Mokuba said, "See you soon!"
Mokuba hung up the phone before Seto could protest further. Joey stopped following him and asked, "What was that all about?"
Seto sighed and picked up his briefcase, "Come with me. Serenity and Mokuba are going to meet us at the Kaiba Mansion."
Seto and Joey then walked out together… both equally unsure about how they felt regarding the friendship between their siblings.
-YGO-
A/N: Hello everyone and happy Thursday! I'm publishing this chapter on the three-year anniversary of when I first published this story. I am shocked that it has taken me three years to get to this point in the story; I'm pretty sure I envisioned this story being completed by now. But hey, life happens, so what can you really do? It's been nice to get back into writing. I think my favorite best practice for the last couple of chapters has been running the jokes and plot lines by Rena Redhead before publishing the next chapter just to make sure it's funny/entertaining enough for you all. My apologies if this chapter was too dialogue heavy. Clearly Seto and Joey had a lot to say, haha. Have a great day and thanks for reading!