Chapter 2

The grandfather clock inside Kaiba mansion struck 7am, but those inside were already awake. Seto Kaiba was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the morning news when Jounouchi stepped in. Kaiba noticed him, but said nothing as he continued to read. Jounouchi rolled his eyes and grabbed one of the rolls on the table.

"I know you see me."

"Yeah, so?"

"Never mind," Jounouchi sighed and left him alone, heading for the main room of the mansion.

"Hey, don't get crumbs on the couch, puppy!"

"Up yours!"

"Don't give me any ideas," Kaiba smirked and set the paper down to follow him into the other room. Jounouchi ignored him and grabbed his yearbook from the coffee table, blinking as a loose picture fell out. He picked the picture up to see all his friends and the Kaiba brothers and smiled faintly. That had been the last picture of them all together. He frowned and looked at Kaiba standing over him.

"You see them all the time."

"I see them maybe once a year, Seto. You bastard, why won't you let me invite them over? It's not like we'll run out of room in here."

Kaiba moved through the room and put on his trenchcoat. He glanced over at Jounouchi and shook his head.

"I don't want Yuugi in my home. You can see them all you want this weekend, I have to meet Pegasus at the Championship."

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were-"

"Just don't bring them here," Kaiba interrupted him and turned away.

"Can I at least try and call Honda? Bakura has his number, but it's long distance. We can afford that, Seto!"

"Honda?" Kaiba scoffed. "He abandoned you. That's why you don't see me depending on others. I'll be back on Monday." He slipped out the door without another word.

"Kaiba!" Jounouchi threw his shoe at Kaiba, only to have it hit the door as it was shut. He sighed and fell back onto the couch, staring at the high ceiling. "Honda, did you really…no. He's wrong about Honda, he'd never abandon me…not the guy I knew." Jounouchi rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Damnit, I don't care what he does to me." He sat up and grabbed the phone, quickly dialing the number to Kame Game Shop.

"H-hai, moshi-moshi." A sleepy, timid voice answered.

"Bakura! Do you still have Honda's phone number?"

"Jounouchi-kun? Hai… Honda-kun's number? It's been years since he gave it to me, he probably forgot he ever did, it may not work anymore."

"I don't care, let me at least try." Jounouchi grabbed a pen and wrote down the ten numbers quickly as Bakura relayed them. "Arigatou!" He hung the phone up and frowned, looking at the clock. He wasn't really sure what time it was in San Francisco, nor did he even have proof that this was the right number. He held his breath and dialed, knowing Kaiba would kill him when the phone-bill came.

"This number has been disconnected…" A shrill recording greeted him, much to his dismay.

"Honda…no! Where are you?!" Jounouchi slammed the phone down and burst through the front door, leaving Kaiba's mansion behind.

Jounouchi walked along the streets, not knowing where he was even going. He sighed and kicked loose gravel across the sidewalk and sat down in a park bench. He rubbed his temples and held his face in his hands. He glanced upward as he heard two girls walking down the sidewalk.

"I'm serious! There's this new therapist in town that accepts walk-ins. My sister went in to see him."

"Really? He must be hoping to get some regular customers quickly by doing that."

"My sister says he's really sweet and cute too! I may have to give him a visit…"

"Where is his clinic anyway?"

"Near the docks, there's a sign hanging off the building, so you can't miss it. I'll take you when I go."

Jounouchi blinked as the girls disappeared out of hearing range. Therapist? Maybe he can help figure out what the hell's wrong with me. He stood and looked around to get his bearings and headed for the docks to see if he could find the building. He finally spotted the sign saying "Crawford Therapy" and blinked, thinking there was something familiar about the name. He shrugged to himself and went inside, not bothering to read the name on the front door. He stepped up to the receptionist and coughed to get her attention.

"Can I get an appointment to see the therapist?" Jounouchi asked, hoping it was true about the clinic accepting walk-in patients.

"You can go in after the last person is done. Name please?"

"Jounouchi Katsuya."

"Have a seat there, it shouldn't be long." The receptionist indicated a small couch and went back to her work. Jounouchi walked over and sat down, tapping his fingers impatiently on his knee. He stared blankly at the wall for a good ten minutes before the door opened and someone stepped out. He saw the receptionist stand and go into the room and peered around the door. He ducked back out of the way as she came back into the waiting area.

"Katsuya?" A male voice with a strange muddled American accent came from the room. Jounouchi blinked at being called by his first name, but stood and made his way inside. The therapist glanced at Jounouchi, making the blond blink again. This man was just about the same age he was, had thick shoulder-length brown hair and bright hazel eyes accented by a pair of glasses. Jounouchi sat down opposite him and noticed he was being looked at very oddly. He looks almost familiar…but why is he staring at me like that?

"Um…" Jounouchi tried to think of what to say.

"Baka Jounouchi, it's me, Honda." He laughed and smirked at the clueless look on his friend's face.

"Honda?" Jounouchi blinked and launched himself at him and shook him hard. "I thought you were in America, why didn't you call me, you bastard?!"

"Oh, like I'm going to call Kaiba's mansion!" Honda shoved Jounouchi off of him. "Anyway, I was in America, but I wasn't doing too well there. I tested out of most of my classes early and only got a few scholarships. Nobody would ever hire me, so I had to live on the leftover money I had. Couldn't even live on campus, I had to find the dankest area with the cheapest rent just so that I'd have money for food."

"Geez…so how'd you get back?"

"Pegasus brought me. He created a job here for me too so that I could find a place to live here."

"What about your mom?"

"I can't live with her forever, Jounouchi. But wait, why are you here?"

"I don't know, I just…I've had it with Kaiba bossing me around and treating me like shit."

"Took you this long to figure out he's a jerk?" Honda idly pushed his glasses back on his nose. This earned him a slam on the back of the head from Jounouchi. Honda laughed and grabbed Jounouchi in a headlock. "Tell you what, you go wait at Yuugi's shop and I'll meet you there tonight." Jounouchi squirmed out of the headlock and smirked.

"Well see you later then, and you'd better show up or else, Honda."

"I'll be there, I swear."

Jounouchi smiled at him and walked out the doors, heading for the Kame Game Shop.