Summary: Tragedy strikes. Joey Wheeler is gone forever. Or is he? Joey POV. Post Duelist Kingdom AU. Will eventually be Seto/Joey shounen-ai.
Author's Notes: Well, I thought I'd try writing a YuGiOh fic. And it's still going.
As always, thanks to everyone for the reviews. I'm glad people are enjoying this fic ^_^
Tuulikki: about the "silky locks"... Uh... In his own head, Joey would happily declare his locks silky, or his body dead sexy. Good self body image. Of course, he probably wouldn't go right out and say so to some random person on the street. Does that work?
Rating will stay PG13 despite the more-than-occasional bouts of pottymouth. Don't tell. ^_~
Warnings: Character death (sort of), language, angst, eventual Seto/Joey.
Disclaimers: I don't own YuGiOh or any other brand names you might come across. No shiny reflective surfaces were harmed in the making of this fic.
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Being Dead Ain't Easy
Chapter Six: Kaiba
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…To the bathroom.
Eh heh heh. Whoopsie.
It's not what you think! He's takin' a shower, not… well… you know. I can hear the spray of the water against the walls of the shower stall. I guess I didn't hear it before 'cause the bathroom door's pretty sturdy. Or maybe I wasn't payin' attention, or I'm going deaf. Whatever. There's frosted glass panels around the shower, so I'm not seein' any wrinkly Kaiba bits. And since I can't see anything, there's no reason to leave.
Man, this is the nicest bathroom I've ever seen. Black marble tiles, sparkling faucets, elegant drawers and cabinets, the little bathroom doohickeys all neatly organized. A place for everything, and everything in its place. It's all so neat, it's scary.
Oh, and there's a huge mirror stretchin' from one end of the room to the other. It's gettin' all steamed up from Kaiba's hot shower. I try not to look at it 'cause I still haven't gotten used to not havin' a reflection. I'm bein' silly, I know.
I should try to get over it. No mirror's gonna get the better o' Joey Wheeler! So I poke it with my finger. Take that! Heh, I crack me up.
My finger leaves a mark on the mirror. There's a spot with no water droplets where my finger was.
You know what that means, don't cha?
I can actually do somethin' in the real world! Break out the champagne!
I poke the mirror again.
Nothin'.
Okay. First time was a fluke.
No. I'm not gonna believe that.
Concentrate.
I'm doin' some serious focusing on the end of my finger as I slowly clear a line on the mirror. It's working! It's not a fluke!
After a minute, I've drawn one wobbly letter.
Kaiba's still showering. Man, isn't he gonna run outta hot water? I shrug. Not my problem. I've got other things to worry about.
I start writing out a message, one slow letter at a time. I just finish when the shower turns off. I've gotten so used to the sound that I get startled and whirl around.
Dripping wet naked Kaiba. Standin' there. Wet. Naked.
He blinks.
I blink.
We both scream like girls.
"AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!"
He stops screaming and staggers to the mirror.
…Wha?
Oh. He was screamin' at the mirror, not me. I guess I'm still invisible. Oh well.
Heh heh heh. The mirror message was worth those fifteen minutes of hardcore concentration. I leer - no, I mean smirk, SMIRK! - at him.
What cha think o' my little message, Your Royal Nakedness?
JOEY WUZ HERE
And a happy face. Gotta have the happy face.
He's starin' at the mirror like he can't believe what he's seeing.
Suddenly, there's a banging at the door. "BIG BROTHER! WHAT'S WRONG!?" It's Mokuba.
Kaiba takes a sec to wrap a towel 'round his waist before yankin' the bathroom door open. He grabs Mokuba real roughly and starts shakin' him. "DO YOU THINK THAT'S FUNNY!?" he screams in his little bro's face. His face is all twisted up in this horrible, horrible look of rage and pain.
I get the hell away from Kaiba. What the fuck's wrong with him?
"WELL, DO YOU!?"
"I… I don't kn… know what's wr… wrong, big brother," Mokuba whimpers. "I… I'm sor… sorry…"
Just like that, Kaiba snaps out of it. "Mokuba, Mokuba, I'm so sorry I yelled at you, are you hurt, are you okay?" He kneels down and desperately checks the kid for injuries. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, little brother. I didn't mean to. Are you all right?"
Mokuba sniffles a little, but nods. "Big br… brother…"
Kaiba calms down a bit. "Yes, Mokuba?"
"Why were you screaming?"
The guy's face shuts right down. "It was nothing." Sorry, but it sure didn't look like "nothing" to me, Kaiba.
"Didn't sound like nothing to me," says Mokuba skeptically.
Kaiba hesitates. "Mokuba… I have to ask you something."
Big wide kiddie eyes gaze up at him. The kid worships him, don't ask me why. "What is it, big brother?"
Kaiba moves outta the way and lets his brother into the bathroom. "Did you write… that?" he asks, pointin' at the mirror.
Mokuba reads the message I wrote and gasps. "NO! No way, I wouldn't write something like that, I swear!"
"Are you sure?"
The kid nods. "Uh huh. I swear, I never touched the mirror, big brother."
"I see. And I know for a fact that the writing wasn't there this morning. Therefore, someone must have broken into the mansion and decided to play some sort of sick joke." His eyes narrow. "I'm not amused."
"I'm not either." Mokuba gulps. "Or maybe Joey really was here…" Listen to your little bro, Kaiba. He knows what he's talkin' about!
Kaiba laughs humorlessly. "Witless and idiotic the dog may be, but even he wouldn't rise from the dead simply to break into the bathroom and doodle silly messages."
Yes I would! "That's where you're wrong, Kaiba!" I retort. "I would too break into the bathroom an' doodle silly… messages..." I trail off.
Ya know, I think I just insulted myself.
"Big brother…"
"Go do your homework, Mokuba. We have school tomorrow."
Mokuba looks like he wants to argue, but Kaiba gently herds him outta the bathroom and closes the door. Good thing, 'cause the bathroom's gettin' kinda crowded.
Once the kid's gone, he leans against the door, trembling. He takes a few deep breaths until he's under control again. "Just a sick joke," he whispers. He nods once to himself, straightens out, and drops the towel so he can put his boxers on.
I, uh, step out and let the guy get changed, but not fast enough to miss gettin' an eyeful. Um. I mean I didn't get an eyeful.
I didn't see nothin'. I saw NOTHING.
And Kaiba's the Queen of England.
~~~###~~~
Well, that was weird.
I lean against a wall to think.
Kaiba was really freaked out back there. I've never seen him lose his cool like that, never.
Does he really care that much that I'm gone? I mean, when I saw him at school, he looked fine! He was acting like the Kaiba I know; pickin' on my friends, glarin' at anyone who so much as looks at him, the usual. He wasn't crying like Yuugi or goin' all weird like Tristan. While everyone was being sad over me, he just went around doin' his own thing like always. Yeah, he was kinda upset when I croaked in his arms –
"…dumb mutt! Stay with me! Open your eyes and stay with me, you mangy, flea-bitten dog!"
"Joey, NO!"
- but he got over it mighty quick. I mean, he's Kaiba. He's fine. Nothing bothers him for long.
Or maybe, just maybe, he's just that good an actor.
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