Disclaimer in first chapter.
Chapter 1:
Times were tough, moving from apartment to apartment and job to job. Joey was currently in high school and held multiple jobs to assist his dad. Let's just say his dad wasn't the most reliable as of now. However, the blonde always managed to wear a smile and enjoy his friends' company at school. That said, he never missed a day at school.
Joey was bicycling to school one day and was impressed as a glimmering black limo cruised by, rendering him to shift to the side of the road a bit. 'Must be lucky to ride in one of those…' The teen wowed and continued to stare at one of the black side windows to get a glimpse of who was inside.
Meanwhile inside the vehicle, Seto sat with his little brother, Mokuba. Seto had his eyes shut but happened to glance out the window to find a blond staring at them wide-eyed but unaware of that fact. "Hmph, it's because of idiots like these that accidents occur." The brunette went back to ignoring the world outside. "Speed up, will you." He ordered the driver, who obliged.
Joey noticed them speed up, forcing his eyes back to the road. He also happened to recognize the 'KC' symbol on the rear of the car. 'Ah! Kaiba corp—it's that Kaiba's car! Hmp, rich boy. I bet he looks like a stuck-up spoiled brat.' The teen huffed, not knowing who Kaiba was personally but assumed the worst. However, little did he know that Kaiba was the most serious and mature person he'd find.
"Thanks, Mokuba." Yugi received tickets from the younger Kaiba right outside the school gates.
"Eh, no worries, now we're even." Mokuba grinned.
"But are you sure this was okay…"
"Haha as long as it's between me and you, I don't think Seto would mind free tickets for you guys."
The blond noticed his friend and approached the pair. "Yo, who's the kid? Damn that's some long hair? A girl?" He teased.
"That's certainly one way to greet a person." Mokuba deadpanned.
"A dude actually." Joey held his bag over his shoulder.
"You remind me of an idiot more."
"Hey! Where are ya manners? Shouldn't small boys like you be in grade school?"
"Joey…" Yugi wasn't certain if or when he should intervene.
"Quit calling me small—the name's Mokuba!" The long haired preteen exclaimed.
"Mokuda?"
"Yugi do you know this third-rate character?"
"Haha…" The shorter teen laughed sheepishly. "Yeah he's my friend."
"Excuse you! Third-rate! I'm the main character here!"
"I don't know about that." Mokuba calmly uttered.
"Why you little— ugh forget it." He wasn't going to argue with a kid. (What was he just doing for the past 10 minutes?) The blond smacked both sides of the younger's head instead and ruffled his hair.
"Haha you guys are getting along so well already." Yugi laughed.
"What?!" The two yelled out in unison.
"Ow my head, geez why did you do that?" The raven haired kid pulled away and rubbed the sides of his temples.
"Hn? Whaddaya talkin' about? Don't ya have any siblings?" Mokuba gazed back at him perplexed, not following at all.
'Did siblings do that kind of torture?' Mokie wondered. "Uh, I do…but we don't do that…"
"Ah! A younger one? Then you should learn and go do it today—It's a bunch of fun."
"No, they're older, way older."
"Tough luck."
"Hey, I like my brother a lot okay! Even if we don't do that weird thing."
"Yeah yeah, I got it lil bro." The elder raised his hands up in defeat.
"Um Joey, actually Mokuba is—" Yugi began to explain the kid's identity but another voice interjected.
"Yo! Joey the man! Did you wait for me?" All of them turned to find Tristen join their circle.
"Nah you just got lucky."
"Oh, hey Mokuba." The brunette acknowledged.
The young Kaiba waved. "Anyhow I gotta run now. See you Yugi."
"Yugi waved goodbye as he watched the kid enter a private car. He then also noticed Tea exiting the school building and smiled. "Looks like the whole gang is here, wanna go somewhere for a bite?" He suggested kindly.
A couple of days later, Joey walked to Yugi's grandpa's shop. Before entering the shop, it appeared a tall brunette was giving gramps a hard time. The blond was standing at the door and was nearly knocked over when the brunette walked out. 'Whoa…' Joey stared back at him and the first thing he noticed—after the ruthless expression—was the silver briefcase he was holding.
"Huh, whoa—Did you just buy a whole brief case of cards?" The words slipped off his tongue on their own accord.
Seto wasn't expecting to be spoken to and it took him a minute to register the inquiry was directed towards him. "Mind your own business." It didn't take him long to lose interest and continue walking again.
"No, seriously though isn't that an obsession?" Apparently, the blond didn't get the message and tailed him.
"Quit talking."
"A piece of advice: increasing the number of cards doesn't make one a better player."
"Spare me the pointless advice." 'Why don't I just ignore him?'
Joey was intrigued. 'Who would have that many cards? This guy must be good…?' "Then duel me."
"Excuse me?" 'Was this kid mad?'
"I've been meaning to challenge my skills and you seem pretty serious about it—"
"Hah. I'll pass. Go find someone else to play house with." The brunette kept on walking.
"Don't tell me you're afraid to lose a card game?" At last, Seto swerved around, eyes glowering dangerously.
'First of all, it wasn't a mere card game. Secondly—' "—do you even realize who you're speaking to?"
Joey raised a confused brow until he was finally able to take in the brunette's whole form, from top to bottom and registered the 'KC' symbol on his coat. "Wait! Don't tell me…you work for Kaiba Corp?!"
Seto wanted to drop dead at this guy's stupidity. "And don't tell me your middle name is imbecile. I am Kaiba corp."
Joey sought to insult back but shoved the urge aside to simply swallow the fact that this was the CEO of Kaiba Corp. standing before him. He knew all about the corporation, but never had paid much attention to the CEO himself, since for him they lived in completely different worlds. Kaiba smirked when he presumed the other had found his place. "Realized your place mutt?"
Joey growled in response. "No way—bring it on!" 'And a damn arrogant punk too.' The blond mentally noted.
'This is straight-out outrageous and ridiculous—What am I even doing here?'
5 minutes later:
One way or the other, the blond teen had managed to convince the other to duel him. Though…he was beginning to regret that decision as he stared at the ground on his hands and knees.
"What an utter waste of time. Be this a lesson to you. I'm sure by now you've realized you're only trash." Kaiba gathered his stuff.
'Darn it, he had saved his Red Eyes Black Dragon for last…but he didn't even get a chance to whip it out.' He wasn't exactly a weak player but...Dammit Kaiba. Except he couldn't argue since he lost fair and square and admitted his defeat. "We're definitely gonna have a rematch! You hear me!" He called out one last time from behind.
"Un-bel-ieveable."
Tristen was walking from the incoming direction just as the Kaiba Corp. limo drove away from the shop. "Whoa was that Kaiba?"
"You know him too?"
"Who doesn't?" Joey felt like a boulder just hit him in the face. So, was he the only one this ignorant? "Did you guys have a match?"
"Don't mention it."
"No way! He actually cared to fight you?" Tristen was awestruck.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" But the blond never received a response.
"Anyhow you wanna go for some smoothies?"
"Yeah...sure, why not?" The teen sulked.
"Haha cheer up man!"
When Joey arrived home that evening, the place was an upside mess. 'Ah...shit, I forgot to make lunch this morning in case he decided to come home early. Crap.' "Uh dad...?" He gingerly crept past the front hall into the living room door until something like a bottle came flying at his head. The teen thanked his quick reflexes and let the wall be the target instead. The glass bottle shattered against the wall, shards spraying all over the place with one striking him across the cheek. Joey automatically trailed the direction of the bottle and found his dad at the end of the room.
"You...you only have one job and that's to take care of the house—and you can't even do that."
"My bad." The blond long understood that arguing wouldn't help. "I'll fix something right now…" However, before he could elude the room, a hand grabbed the back of his hair and yanked him back.
"You think you can just come and fix things whenever you want? Where the hell do you go off getting this demeanor?"
'Dammit, that freaking hurts.' Joey gripped his father's wrist in an attempt to loosen it. "Shit, I'm sorry okay—so let go of my hair already! I Just forgot—geez dad were you drinking again?!"
His dad finally let go. "I don't have to report anything to you…"
"Che." It hated him to see his only family like this, but he couldn't trace back to when things spiraled so out of control the last half decade or so. Joey went into the kitchen to prepare dinner and recalled the scratch on his cheek that was beginning to sting.
Joey decided to take a detour after school the next day and crossed a construction site that was on hiatus. The area was open with piles of metal girders and a half finished building dead in the center of it. For the past few weeks, the teen had discovered this place and sometimes snuck in to clear his mind and get some solitude. He would much prefer a beach or a lake side and watch the ocean waves, but the shore was miles away from where he lived. He heaved a sigh. It would be just great to run away. He'd miss his friends, but sometimes the blond truly felt like dropping his school bag and running as fast as he could—somewhere far, far away. He'd take his little sister with him if he even knew where his sister was.
The teen was snapped out of his thoughts when he witnessed a couple of men drag a kid into the abandoned building.
'Eh?' The blond was yet a distance away from the building, but his instincts told him to run after them. In hindsight, maybe that wasn't the most efficient way to deal with a kidnapping but, meh, his guts were more important in the moment.
"What do you want?!" A child's voice exclaimed, trembling negligibly. "You caught the wrong person!"
The entrance doors had no lock but were guarded by two men. Hence the blond used one of the hollow window dots to sneak in instead, when he found the opportunity. As soon as he did, the teen struck the guy holding the kid hard with his school bag from his behind.
"E-Eh…no way, Joey?! What are you doing here?"
"Where did this brat come from?!" One of the men claimed. "Get him!"
"Huh? Mokuba? Don't worry, you can thank me later." The elder ignorantly grinned like he had the entire situation under control and turned his attention towards the men who were ready to charge at him.
Mokuba couldn't help thinking, '…he's still trying to act cool—will he even make it alive from here?'
While the teen was being ruffed up in a one against three fight, the kid took the chance to secretly alert Kaiba corp.
"What do you think you're doing runt?!" The fourth guy that was previously struck yanked the kid's collar.
"Wa—Nothing!"
"Hey, lay off the kid! Why don't you fight someone your own size!" Joey called out from his end, but his split attention earned him a punch. "Dammit ya guys don't know when 't give up! Who are ya takin' orders from anyway?!" He kicked one of them away.
To Be Continued…
Very bold, Joey lol.