Update: This fic has been altered slightly to include a better version of the sword fight. Chocolate-chip Cookies to anyone who can guess where the fighting style was inspired from. This fic is complete, but I'm thinking of doing it's sequel now.
Everything had suddenly gotten very dark. Jounouchi found he couldn't see even the nose in front of his face. He started walking, holding his arms outstretched in case he was going to run into something. Where are you? Jounouchi wasn't sure where he even was, but the area beneath him felt hard like wood. He thought if he kept walking, he'd at least hit a chair or a wall, but nothing seemed to come near him. No sounds were present around him either, not even his footsteps made a noise on the floor below. Honda? He held his hands to his ears as a nearby gunshot broke the silence. Jounouchi winced and searched the darkness for the source of the sound. Dim light began to penetrate the room he was in as several candles had been lit at once. Cold blue eyes stared at Jounouchi as a hand rested on the smoking gun, ready to fire again. Kaiba?
"He can't help you now." Kaiba stepped aside to reveal Honda's shivering body, a pool of blood forming around him.
"You- you bastard!" Jounouchi screamed at Kaiba, tears forming in his eyes.
"It's your fault, make inu." Kaiba aimed the gun at Jounouchi and pulled the trigger.
"No!" Honda screamed from the floor and with inhuman strength, stood and shoved Jounouchi aside, took the blow himself and collapsed lifelessly onto the floor.
"Honda!" Jounouchi screamed and woke up in a sweat. He panted hard as he looked around and gave a sigh of relief when he saw Honda in the bed lying next to him. Honda hadn't heard him scream apparently, or he hadn't screamed out loud after all. Jounouchi held a hand to his chest and balled a fist around his shirt. It was just a dream. Kaiba wouldn't do that. He curled close to Honda and closed his eyes, hoping he could go back to sleep. ...Would he…?
Morning came slowly, the sky stayed pitch black as a violent thunderstorm overpowered the sun. Jounouchi woke up, nearly curled up in a fetal position against Honda. He heard crashes of thunder outside and was reminded of the gunshot in his dream. Wait, was it storming all night? He tried to convince himself that the thunder was the cause of his dream. Honda woke not long after and reached to stroke Jounouchi's hair.
"Honda…" The blond smiled as the other touched him and slid off the bed.
"Something wrong, Jounouchi?" Honda sat up and cocked his head curiously at him.
"No, I'm fine." Jounouchi smiled and looked around, wondering where the others had slept. "Geez…we kind of took over Yuugi's room, didn't we?"
"Guess we did…well lets go down and see if the others are awake." Honda stood and clasped Jounouchi's hand and led him back downstairs.
Bakura was curled up nuzzling against a pillow on the floor. Anzu was nowhere in sight, she had gone to sleep in Yuugi's mother's old room and hadn't yet waken. Yuugi stepped into the room and smiled as he saw Honda and Jounouchi emerge from the stairwell.
"Ohayo Jounouchi-kun, Honda-kun. I made breakfast if you want to…" Yuugi trailed off and laughed as both men dashed for the kitchen. "Try and leave some for Anzu and Ryou!" Yuugi smiled and made his way into the main game shop to unlock the door. Anzu came into the main room and yawned, taking a seat on the couch, smiling as she saw Bakura cuddling his pillow. Yuugi came back in and grinned at her.
"How can he sleep in this storm?" Anzu whispered.
"You don't need to whisper, he's just a deep sleeper." Yuugi knelt down and gently shook Bakura. "Ryou, wake up. You need to go eat before Honda-kun and Jounouchi-kun finish off breakfast."
Bakura yawned and blinked his eyes open, reaching up to place a soft kiss on Yuugi's lips.
"Ohayo, Yuugi. Breakfast?" Bakura looked down at his watch. "But it's almost noon…"
"That's okay. All of you just woke up, so it's breakfast to you." Yuugi smiled at Bakura and hugged him. "You'd better hurry."
"Un." Bakura nodded then smiled and rose to his feet, headed for the kitchen.
"You too, Anzu."
"Hope it's not too late," Anzu stood up and shook her head with a chuckle and made her way to join the others.
The phone began to ring in the other room. Yuugi stepped into the shop and lifted the phone to his ear.
"Hai, moshi-moshi."
"Yuugi. I know the pup is there. I need to speak with him."
"Kaiba-kun?" Yuugi frowned. This wasn't going to be good. Maybe he could stall Kaiba. "Jounouchi-kun's eating right now; can I take a message for him?"
"That figures. Look. I'm coming home early; I'll stop by your shop to pick him up."
As soon as Yuugi put the phone up, Jounouchi and Honda walked into the game shop. Yuugi winced inwardly not having even the time to go through what he was going to tell them. Jounouchi automatically caught the look on his friend's face.
"Yuugi, what's wrong?"
"Kaiba-kun…he's coming here to get you…" Yuugi's eyes glanced to the floor.
"Shit…he said he wouldn't be back until Monday." Jounouchi looked at Honda. "What are we going to do?"
"First, we wait for him to show up." Honda grabbed Jounouchi's hand and took him back to the main room once more and sat him on the couch. "While we're waiting, tell me why you went with Kaiba if you're now so scared of him?"
"I'm not scared--"
"Jounouchi…" Honda interrupted him and waited for an answer.
"It was safer."
"Safer than what?" Honda blinked and sat down beside him.
"If Kaiba rejected me, it wasn't a big deal. But if I had gone to you…and you rejected me…" Jounouchi's head fell down on Honda's shoulder as he fought the forming tears in his eyes. "I didn't want to lose our friendship if you didn't feel the same."
"Jounouchi, I would have never…" Honda sighed and hugged the blond close to him. Whatever happened in the past was done, Honda had Jounouchi now and there was nothing Kaiba could do about it. Honda bit his lip and listened for the sound of an engine pulling up. Several minutes dragged by and a small caterpillar Honda had been watching made its way to the opposite side of the room. Jounouchi had nearly fallen back to sleep against Honda when a limousine pulled up in front of the shop.
"He's here…"
Jounouchi stirred and sat straight up when he realized who "he" was, his eyes widened as he realized he still did not know what they were going to do, or what Kaiba would do. Honda stood and looked down at his best friend then helped him up and gently squeezed his hand to reassure him it would be alright. Within moments, Seto Kaiba stepped into the doorway, cold blue eyes staring at the both of them.
"Honda," Kaiba said simply, his eyes narrowing at the other brunet. "What are you doing back here?"
"I've come to see my friends, Kaiba. Is that any business of yours?" Honda's hazel eyes locked onto Kaiba's blue ones, neither one backing down from this staring contest. Jounouchi watched both of them intently and wondered what was going to happen next. Jounouchi squeezed Honda's arm tightly, causing Kaiba to turn away and look at him. Kaiba scowled at Jounouchi and looked back at Honda.
"Whether you visit Yuugi is no concern of mine, but the puppy belongs to me."
"He is not, Kaiba. I came back to face the past and I am not letting him stay with you any longer."
"Duel me for him."
"What?"
"I said duel me. If you win, you can keep the mutt." Kaiba made no show of emotion as he watched Honda and Jounouchi.
"We're not kids anymore, Kaiba. This is about more than some stupid card game that put us through hell and back."
"Then I have another proposal. You will duel me with swords instead of cards, to the death."
"Honda, this is stupid! You don't need to get yourself killed for me!" Jounouchi shook Honda by the shoulders roughly.
"No, I have to. It's the only way he'll give you up, if I win you in a duel. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."
"Come with me, we'll take my limo back to the mansion and duel there." Kaiba turned away and headed back out the door, his long trenchcoat swooping along behind him.
Once at the mansion, Kaiba led Honda and Jounouchi to a fencing court. Honda was given choice of swords and looked at each one. There were katanas, rapiers, and other less-dangerous weapons. Honda chose the katanas and handed one to Kaiba. Jounouchi folded his arms as he watched from the side.
"I'm not an object you know, you don't need to duel for me!"
"Quiet, puppy." Kaiba gave him a dark look that only made him growl louder.
Honda took his position, looked at Kaiba, then narrowed his eyes.
"Are you ready?" Honda stood in a basic kendo stance as he waited for Kaiba to do the same. The duel began, both men dueling their best and showing no signs of weakness. Honda blocked every one of Kaiba's blows and dodged to try and get a better stance and go on the offensive. Kaiba wasn't about to let him through easily, but Honda's strength was greater and Kaiba began to get pushed back.
"I don't want you to kill each other damnit! You two are such idiots!" Jounouchi continued to shout from the sidelines though neither seemed to hear him. "I swear you must be related…"
Kaiba crossed his sword against Honda's and smirked as he pushed the other brunet backwards.
"You're not suited to fighting with swords," Kaiba mocked. "Only the lowest forms of street fighting."
Honda growled and stepped back and moved into an offensive position, moving around Kaiba to get behind him and lunged for an attack. Kaiba only smirked and moved his hand onto the katana's blade, ignoring the blood that formed as he squeezed it, shortening the length of the sword to block every one of Honda's attacks. Honda's eyes widened as he saw Kaiba's move and leapt backwards, watching his moves. Kaiba then began moving back and forth as he attempted to confuse Honda's perception. Honda closed his eyes and listened for the air around Kaiba to change and swung his sword around just enough to drive Kaiba off of the attack.
"You were saying?" Honda smirked.
Honda eventually got far enough in to scratch Kaiba across the arm, drawing a thin layer of blood. Kaiba let a smirk past his lips that he made sure to hide, then closed his eyes and fell to his knees in defeat.
"Kill me quickly."
"Kaiba…I'm not going to do that…"
"It was a duel to the death and I lost."
"I'm not killing you." Honda shook his head and set the swords down. He stepped over to Jounouchi and promptly got his head smacked by the blond. Both Honda and Jounouchi then headed out of Kaiba's property. Kaiba opened his eyes again and watched them go silently as a figure came up on him from behind.
"You knew you couldn't win."
"I did." Kaiba didn't bother to look at the voice's owner. A bandage was wrapped around the small wound Kaiba had been given.
"You lost on purpose. That barely broke your skin."
"Don't remind me." Kaiba snorted.
"Did you love him?"
"I did…once. But he deserves someone who can take better care of him. I'm not that person. I need someone that can put up with me and take care of himself.
"Someone like me?"
Kaiba closed his eyes and nodded.
"Someone like you…Pegasus."
Jounouchi and Honda made their way back to Yuugi's game shop and noticed they had a visitor. A visitor with long black hair, black and red clothes, and vibrant green eyes.
"Otogi?" Honda blinked as he walked towards him with Jounouchi.
"Hon…Honda?" Otogi blinked back as he caught sight of the brunet. Otogi ran over and hugged Honda tightly. "I haven't seen you in years!"
"Otogi…I need to breathe…" Honda's eyes widened as Otogi had squeezed his arms tightly around his neck. Otogi stood back and smiled sheepishly. Jounouchi looked in the main room and blinked.
"Otogi…where's my sister?"
Otogi flinched and didn't answer him, going to try and sneak past to join Yuugi and Bakura. Jounouchi, however, grabbed Otogi's collar and shoved him against the wall.
"Where's Shizuka?"
"She's…" Otogi whimpered and looked Jounouchi in the eyes. "She's gone with Anzu back to New York…" Jounouchi blinked and let go of Otogi who just slid to the floor. Honda and Jounouchi exchanged glances as Otogi started to cry. Honda pulled Otogi back up to stand.
"Don't worry, Otogi. You can stay with us until things get better…"