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.
I never thought I'd get so many reviews for my first fic here. Thank you ^_^
Regarding the relationship between Seto and Joey: keep in mind the words "probably" and "eventually". It'll probably happen, but it'll take a while...
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 hamburgers were harmed in the making of this fic.
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Being Dead Ain't Easy
Chapter Nine: School Sucks and So Does the Food
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I spend the day following Kaiba around as he goes to his classes. He does perfect in all of 'em. How does he do that? How can he concentrate on schoolwork on a nice sunny day like this? I hafta respect him a little for that; he runs a company and goes to school and still has time to do homework and take care of his little brother. After way too many classes, it's finally time for lunch.
Kaiba goes to his own little corner of the cafeteria, pulls a laptop and a sandwich he made at home outta his briefcase, and gets to work, typing with one hand while holding his sandwich in the other.
Tappity tap tap. Munch munch. Tappity tap tap. Munch munch. And repeat.
Now that I think about it, it's kinda weird that he's just havin' a sandwich for lunch. I mean, he's rich, right? He can afford to eat better than that. He can afford to have more than, say, scrambled eggs and coffee for breakfast.
For a guy who lives in his own mansion, he sure does a lotta stuff himself. I mean, shouldn't he have a cook or something to make breakfast in the morning? Where's all the hired help he should have? Where's the butlers and maids and cooks and stuff? Yeah, he's got guards around the mansion and he's got his flashy limos, but what about the rest? It's like he's only keepin' up appearances so that people don't find out he hasn't got the money.
Why wouldn't he have the money? That doesn't make any sense. Unless... I know those five guys who turned on Kaiba wanted to bring him down, but they wouldn't totally screw up his company just because they didn't win, would they? I mean, Kaiba... broke? That makes about as much sense as Kaiba... nice. Well, he's probably not broke. He's the type o' guy who'd have wads of cash hidden away.
It's not my problem. Kaiba's a big boy; he can deal with it.
He glances up and his lip curls in disgust at some kid, no, at the cafeteria food he's eating. Yuck. I'm glad I'll never hafta eat that crud again. Kaiba's frowning.
Okay, I'll bite. What's he lookin' at? What's so awful about the food? Besides the obvious, I mean. We both stare at the kid's lunch. I feel kinda weird following Kaiba's lead, but whatever.
Today's special is some kinda meat thing, I think. The kid splatters ketchup all over it to make it taste better, but it looks really, really disgusting. I'm almost expecting the 'food' to squeal like a wounded animal when the kid stabs into it with a cheap plastic knife. He pins it down with a matching cheap plastic fork and starts cutting. The knife's pretty dull so every time he saws into the meat, juices ooze outta the flesh and mingle with the bright red-
he's lookin' at my torso. He's got blood all over him, and it's not his. His eyes go kinda glassy as he stares at all the red stuff
FLASH
somebody's blown a freakin' hole in me. It looks real bad
FLASH
man, there's so much blood. Probably why I'm feelin' pretty woozy. At least it doesn't hurt so much anymore
FLASH
only way Kaiba'd be warm would be if he was radioactive. Maybe it's just the warm blood I bled all over him
-I think I'm gonna be sick. I tried so hard not to think about it, but I can't, I can't...
Kaiba's gone pale. Did he just see...? He stuffs everything back in his briefcase and runs, yeah, runs, outta there. Shit, I can't leave him alone, so I take a few deep not-breaths and chase after Kaiba. He barges into the first empty classroom he finds, takes a sec to make sure there's really nobody in there, and slams the door right after I get through. He lurches away from the door and collapses against a desk. Good idea, great idea, so I do the same. He looks about as bad as I feel. We're both shaking all over. He looks like he's gonna hurl. If he doesn't pass out first. He's sorta chokin' a little. A lot. He ends up on the floor.
I try to whack him on the back, but my hand goes right through him. Damn! "Kaiba, Kaiba, breathe, man." He lets out a strangled gasp. "That's it, be a good little CEO and breathe, yeah, that's it..."
He manages a whispered, "Wheeler..."
"Yeah, yeah, it's me, the one an' only Joey Wheeler. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry about whatever the hell just happened, but maybe you're the one that did it, I dunno, I'm sorry, I dunno why I'm apologizin' to ya, but I'm sorry anyway, so please don't have a heart attack an' die, okay?"
After about a thousand years of him lookin' like he's seconds away from needin' an ambulance, he shudders one more time, pulls himself together, and straightens his trench coat. He runs a hand through his brown hair, and just like that, his "Stone Cold Kaiba" face is back on.
Whoa. What just happened? "Kaiba?"
He doesn't see me. He just grabs the briefcase he dropped on the floor and leaves.
"Hey!" I'm still too shaky to follow him. "Come back here, ya jerk!"
He closes the door behind him. Doesn't even look back.
DAMMIT! I slam a fist on a handy desk. There's no 'thud' when it connects.
Did he not know I was there or something!? I mean, he said my name, for cryin' out loud! That means that he heard me before, right? Me goin' on and on about how sorry I was for doin' who-knows-what.
Ugh. Never mind. I hope he didn't hear me. But then he must've, because he said my name.
Unless he just goes "Wheeler!" whenever he feels stressed? Like a, whatchamacallit, knee-jerk reaction. But in that case, shouldn't he be going "Yuugi!" instead? It'd make more sense. Yuugi's like his arch-nemesis or something. 'Course, Yuugi doesn't think so.
Or maybe he just... forgot... I was there? Like he can't believe I'm there so he just blocks it outta his mind.
Or maybe just can't sense me at all. He's just plain flipped and randomly spazzes out now. That works.
Gah, this is too deep for me. I think I'll just sit down for awhile. I'm not feelin' too hot, myself. Having flashbacks about-
don't think about it
-uh, stuff... does that to a guy.
Yeah, and I gotta calm down so I don't strangle Mr. Bastard for not seein' me.
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When I get back to Kaiba, he's finishing off his sandwich but with his back turned to the rest of the room this time. I guess he doesn't wanna see anyone else butcher lunch. That's okay, I don't wanna, either. I sit next to him and try to figure out the freak that is Kaiba.
Yuugi, Bakura, Tristan, and Tea are all sittin' at another table, but Yuugi looks at us, says something to the gang, and comes over. Kaiba hears him coming and turns around. "What do you want?" he sneers.
Yuugi just smiles in that sweet way of his. "Hey, Kaiba! Do you want to play Duel Monsters? I have some free time right now and we haven't played in a long time. Just for fun?" He wants to duel Kaiba? Wait, I know that look on Yuugi's face. He's trying to cheer Kaiba up. Good luck. He gazes up at him with great big violet eyes that belong on someone half his age. I hate it when Yuugi does that. You can't argue with the guy when he looks so... ugh... adorable. Make him stop, Kaiba!
Kaiba turns back to his laptop. He's not lookin', so he's immune to the 'Big Wide Kiddie Eyes o' Doom'. "I'm not in the mood."
Yuugi switches tactics. The little guy's puzzle flashes and now he looks a lot taller. And meaner. "I see. I understand if your skills have gotten a bit... rusty. Perhaps next time, once your dueling is actually up to par," taunts the other Yuugi.
I hope ya know what you're doin', Yuugi. Either of you. Insulting Kaiba's abilities at Duel Monsters is asking to get your ass kicked. But then, this is Yuugi we're talkin' about. There's no ledges Kaiba can threaten to jump off of handy, cheatin' bastard. Yuugi's not gonna lose.
A creepy smile crawls across Kaiba's face. "If you put it that way... I'm always up for a duel... Yuugi Mutou." He turns off the laptop and carefully puts it back into the briefcase. They're gonna duel.
I get outta the way and get ready to see Kaiba lose. Yeah, this is gonna be good.
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