Disclaimer in first chapter.
Chapter 5:
To Joey's surprise, after he had passed the symbol on to Kaiba, he wasn't really needed anymore. Kaiba ordered him to go home and 'not get in the way.'
Either way, it had been a week since that meeting and Joey was growing anxious by the day. He couldn't contact the other directly since he didn't have his phone number and he doubted Kaiba just handed his personal cell to anyone. He was at home pacing about in the living room when he heard his phone buzz. Caller ID: Mokuba.
"Hello?!" The blond eagerly answered.
"Joey? Hey! My brother wants you to meet at xxx street. Now."
"On my way!" Joey didn't even care why, he grabbed his thin hoodie and ran out in his slippers. It was late in the afternoon but wasn't too cold, so the blond wore a simple white T-shirt with jean shorts. When he arrived at the destination, he witnessed Kaiba's men arresting some men in robes wearing the same symbol he had drawn a week ago. "Kaiba!" The teen called out as he ran towards them.
"...you look like you've been living off the streets."
"Argh, who cares about that anyw—ah! It's him!" the blond cut himself off when he happened to recognize one of the men in cuffs. He automatically ran towards the kid that stole his card that day. "You little punk! Where is it!? Speak now or else you're saying hi to my fist!"
"I- I don't have it..."
"Say what?!" The younger yanked the other by the collar.
"Is that what you're possibly looking for?" Seto's voice casually pointed out from behind. The teen found the brunette pointing to the ground, towards a card three feet away from where they were standing. Joey decided to release his enemy and pick up the card, his expression changing from a scowl to sparkling delight.
"I found it! The one and only!" Joey began cheering, holding his card up in the air. "Aw man, I thought I was going to die without it!"
"Save it." The brunette sighed and walked over with curiosity as his men took the others away. "So, what's this infamous card that is equally valuable to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon." He leaned over the blond's shoulder to catch a glimpse of this card and was momentarily stunned. There was no mistake, that was the one and only Red Eyes Black Dragon.
"Can't believe I'm sayin' this but it's all thanks to you!" The blond grinned as he looked at the elder who was still blatantly fixated on the card in his hands.
"Why do you have that?"
"What do ya mean? It's mine, I've always had it."
"Since when?" Seto further inquired. If he wasn't mistaken, he had seen that card before—a long time ago. If the other claimed that this was the original version of the card, then there should only be one other person who has it—that kid he met at the orphanage once.
"Like I said, for forever! But I don't know…seven, eight years old maybe...?"
"Is that right…" Gears of confusion and reality were still working in Seto's head as he tried to process answers. That is, until they heard a honk.
"Looks like yer ride's here." Joey pointed to a limousine waiting by the street with Mokuba waving inside. The brunette silently walked towards it and sat in, mind not fully in the present. "Weird, he didn't say anything after that... Oh well, all that matter is that I've got my Red eyes back!" The blond kissed the card once.
While Seto tried to make sense of things, he was suddenly blasted with memories of the distant past. Memories he was sure he had forgotten along the way.
"I think it's superb! I want my own Red Eyes too! Fine if you don't like it then ya can get a Blue Eyes. Haha yeah that sounds better for ya, your eyes are blue too!"
'What? The kid from that time, the one who introduced the abstract idea of a Blue Eyes White Dragon— that had become the purpose of his life... is Joey Wheeler?' He had a hard time believing that. However, there was no doubt that was the same Red Eyes. More than rediscovering the card, he was shocked by the owner of it.
"Fine. If I find it, I'll get one for ya okay?" Seto covered his face feeling embarrassed when another fragment of his memory surfaced itself.
He felt troubled yet again when a more recent flashback conveniently hit him:
"Ya think ya have a spare card—hey, hey, I don't want it for myself, I just promised someone I'd give it to them…" Joey spoke.
The brunette hated to admit, but it was beginning to make sense now. 'That idiot actually remembered a promise from that long ago. What a pointless promise, he could swear Joey had no idea where that kid possibly was since they never ran into each other again. It had been ages since they met but he still wanted to get him that card?' Seto wasn't sure how to feel as new unfamiliar emotions evolved in him. The feeling was too flattering, like a child being spoiled unconditionally.
"Seto are you okay?" Mokuba broke his introspections.
"I'm fine Mokuba." The elder responded in his usual stoic tone of voice, looking out the window.
For the next 24 hours, the brunette's mind was filled with a certain blond. Perhaps not filled per say, but by the end of the next day, he noticed that during every little break when he allowed his mind to wander, a variety of the blond's expressions would torture him one after the other. The first one was when he smiled so gracefully and thanked him. The fact that someone other than Mokuba was so genuine and pure and made him feel 'wanted,' set him off guard. The second was of the unruly blond child who smiled so innocently with a ray of sunshine over his head, covering most of his face. Then he recalled the teen's angry face, shouting at him and calling him a jerk or bastard or even asshole. Next was his determination, jumping on to their targets with eyes fixed towards his goal to retrieve his Red Eyes. Lastly, was a secret countenance he encountered only once, during the time the blond spoke of his lost sibling. The normally jovial eyes averted with pain and remorse dancing in them.
'Geez this guy makes too many faces,' Seto thought with a frown and closed eyes. Those were only a few compared to the others he made: when they first met, or when he was staring at the car window in wonder—not to mention when he was laughing at Seto for being a bad tour guide. Okay, Seto had to stop himself there. He literally fought a very faint blush at the edge of his cheek, as he caught himself thinking so deeply of the insignificant other. 'I thought I would have to be insane to think about him in my spare time but...sigh, let's call it a day.'
It had been two days since Joey reacquired his Red Eyes and life had gone back to normal. It was a regular school day when the teen walked out the gates after dismissal. As he walked past the gates, he couldn't fail to notice a black limousine standing right outside. The backseat passenger window rolled down, and a familiar head popped out.
"Yo!" Mokuba waved.
"Mokie? What's up? Who are ya looking for?" The blond crossed the street in his direction.
"Heh, you."
"Me?"
"Do you have your Red Eyes on you?"
"Uh, yeah..."
"Good, then come on—my bro wants you in his office."
"The prince summoned me? Why?"
"You'll find out." That convinced the blond to get in and be dropped off in front of the Kaiba Corp. building.
"Go to the second last floor and the guards will lead the way from there." Mokuba instructed and drove off. Joey gingerly entered and obliged. 'This felt like a scam, what was going on? Knowing Kaiba, he probably wanted some sort of reimbursement.'
The blond took in a sharp breath and knocked on the door. "You're late, come in." He opened the door to find Kaiba in a room with nothing but keyboards and a massive wall sized computer screen.
"Um, am I going to die soon or something…?" The teen muttered.
"Excuse me?" The brunette raised a confused brow.
"No, I mean, why did ya call me here again?"
"Just sit down first." Seto was standing over a large rotating chair which he spun towards the teen. Joey took a seat and rotated himself towards the holographic keyboard.
"I feel so royal already." The younger joked.
"This computer contains all the cards in our database as well as all information pertaining to them. The Red Eyes Black Dragon hasn't been updated since this man held the card." Seto opened the profile next to the Red Eyes and a picture of an old man displayed itself. "That's why we need you to fill in some information and register it as your card. Any questions?"
"Ah! That's gramps!"
"What?"
"That's my grandpa—mom's dad. I can't believe he's in your database too."
'Was he not listening to a word I said?' The brunette thought annoyed. 'So, his grandfather was the one who had it before—makes sense.' "Anyhow," Seto bent over the teen and hit a few buttons. Joey couldn't help but notice the proximity of their bodies as he looked up at him.
'He had very sharp features, no wonder he looked handsome. Too bad he's such a total jerk though.' The blond glanced away feeling envious.
"I need you to place your thumb down on that square." Kaiba ordered. Joey stared at a fluorescent square that lit up in a portion of the keypad.
"Like this? Ya know it feels really odd without the ink."
"Center it more." Seto insisted. "I swear, Mokuba can do a better job than you."
That was quick to piss the younger off. "Oh yeah, you can't expect me to do everything perfect on the first try—then show me how!"
"How useless." The brunette sighed and wrapped his long fingers over the other's rough hand. Joey wasn't expecting him to oblige.
Ba-dump. The blond's expression froze when he noticed his heart skip a beat. 'Aw crap what was that?! Did his heart just skip a beat…no, no, no, he wasn't a pervert or anything—it was just that he wasn't expecting it... yeah…plus the other's hand felt nice and comforting.' Meanwhile, Seto singled out his thumb and guided him to the center of the square, pressing it down for two seconds before it registered.
As soon as that was over, the taller teen went back to hitting a couple of keyboard keys and inputting data. Joey continued to sit and watch, secretly holding his hand. 'It felt really strange. He was a guy, like other guys. I find pleasure in holding smaller, gentler hands of women. When a guy and girl held hands, the compatibility was the sweetest thing, But, here… it was almost as if their hands locked on perfectly.' The realization put him in a momentary shock.
"Don't zone out on me. Enter your last name and address here, or do I have to hold your hand for that as well?" The brunette smirked.
The blond shook his head, fired up again. "I'll do it!"
"Damn that actually took a while, if I knew you were gonna take my picture, I would've dressed up a bit." Joey leaned back in the chair feeling mentally exhausted.
"Quit complaining, you're fine."
The younger didn't let that slide. 'He said fine. Wait, fine as in, I look fine, or fine as in it's fine even if I look ugly. Ugh…' Anyhow, the entire process took about an hour. Since he came right after school, he was beginning to feel tired and hungry to say the least.
"So, are we done?"
"Yes. I'm just saving." Kaiba answered without looking away from the screen.
'What food should I grab on the way back? I wonder if Tristen is free...' Joey mused. While he was deep in thought, Kaiba glanced from the corner of his eye and saw the blond quite relaxed in his presence.
'Unruly blond hair… yeah maybe he had something like that. Looks like that hasn't changed at all.' After he was finished on his end, the elder hovered over the blond, arms supported by the chair's arm rests. Joey stared back at him with wide eyes. "So, looks like a Blue Eyes White Dragon really does exist, doesn't it?"
That question changed the blond's expression to one of confusion. "Uh…yeah, it does?" 'Wasn't it too late to ask that, since he had a million Blue Eyes models.' "Anyways, then I'm out—" The blond excused himself, standing up but suddenly stopped when his stomach growled loudly.
The blond's face turned a shade of red. "Is that how far your tolerance goes?" The elder asked, mockery heavy in his voice.
"You're not the one attending school—!"
"Do you want to stay for lunch?"
Joey stared at the other speechlessly. 'What was going on? Who was this person asking him to stay?'
"Oh, is that what you were expecting me to say?" Seto teased.
That was the last call. The blond slammed the door on his way out, stomping down the hall, out the Kaiba Corp. building with steam coming out of his ears. 'I'm going to freakin' kill that bastard! How dare he play with someone else's feelings!'
To Be Continued...