Bhakti: *looks at Joey* I know something you don't know!
Joey: I KNOW you don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything associated with it! Okay? Y' made it pretty darn obvious.
Bhakti: *anime falls*
Dragonfly: On with the fict!
Baka and Bishounen:
Chapter 10: Which Jounouchi?
Kaiba had a huge smile resting on his face. He wasn't dreaming. Dreams were wonderful, where his hopes hid. They were, however, not superior to what he was pondering. That night, his dreams had become memories. Dreams had become solid and tangible. Sure, he had achieved dreams before, but they just trophies compared to Joey's affection. Kaiba's smile twitched. Better then trophies?
The annoyance almost forced him to wake. He was trying to love himself when he gained trophies, and maybe make some people happy--It wasn't like he wanted to make everyone miserable, he just came first.
Kaiba Corp, Kaibaland. They were all achieved dreams, and all of them didn't compare to Jou. His love for himself and the love of the masses were nothing like the love of Joey Artemis Wheeler. Artemis… even his name reminded him of love, Artemis, an archer. Kaiba's grin stretched. Joey must have been in cahoots with Cupid…
All he had to do around Jou was be around him, and that made him happy, it had to be love. He didn't have to struggle anymore, and everything made sense without having to fry his mind over it. They fit together, they were a set they were- Chess was brought to Kaiba's mind and instantly he was engulfed in pain. Chess had kindled his old dreams. It was now coming back to haunt him. They were Black and White. Struggles never end, but there is always hope. They were both shades, both extremes, and both blind. In the pitch black or looking into the sun, both were blind. What were they together? Grey? Grey expanded over the whole shade scale. White was only one shade and the same for Black. Grey was a million times more powerful then Black or White. All it took was the two shades to come together... But did he really want to become Grey? Black and White made sense, and were logical. Grey was where mistakes were made. Grey was where misunderstandings were created. Miscommunications were grey areas. Maybe Grey wasn't so powerful… White, and Black, they were concentrated, when you dilute something you make that bigger too, but, where was the power…
Where was the power?! Kaiba staggered out of bed. His alarm clock was blank, the house was chilled. The power was out. Kaiba stood on the ice-cold floor and fought the need to hop about like a mad man to keep his feet from the cold. He got his mind off the cold floor and back into his thoughts. Chess, it was the beginning of my dreams coming true. Kaiba let a cold laugh ring through the house. There was a dream he sure wished he hadn't pursued. Wasn't it? Dreams had their prices. Devils offered dreams, free dreams in exchange for souls. Had he sold his? Being an important CEO made him a target, and that meant people using Mokuba to get to him. It was like everything he strived to do, was in fact the cause of what he wanted to prevent. It was like a tricky demon's contract. Then again, if he hadn't made that decision, he and Mokuba might have been separated forever. Dreams had costs. It just hurt that you only find out when it's time to pay when the dream crashes to an end, or when you wake up.
Kaiba laughed gently. If his dreams could awaken, he could dream awake. Focusing on the idealistic beauty of a dream was all fine and dandy, but when it came to creating them, he had to think of all the horrible mishaps that were bound. He had to consider all of the grey between where he was, and where he wanted to be. He let out a sigh and decided that he'd have to take it as it came. He glanced at his watch. He felt his knees giving into an anime fall and just barely regained his balance. It was 3 o'clock. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept that long. The guests would be arriving in a few hours, and so would the media.
A great shudder arose though the mansion and the house came back to life again. Kaiba made a note to get a generator system installed. No power bothered him. He went down the stairs and tripped on the last step as he was met by a glare.
Kaiba's response was anything but original, "Mokuba."
Kaiba knew he had to face this.
"So you decided to wake up. Guests will be here soon." Mokuba was eating a bowl of cereal but didn't break eye contact with his brother.
"You're mad…" Kaiba couldn't understand. Mokuba, of all people, shouldn't be acting this way.
"I'm just confused." Mokuba continued with the cereal, but paused to speak. "Why didn't you tell me before? Why did you keep it such a secret?"
Was THAT what was bothering Mokuba? That he didn't tell Mokuba? It was loss of trust?! Kaiba could hardly believe it.
"I didn't know! I've never felt like this before! Maybe there was something for Yugi, but, it really wasn't the same."
"That was friendship, Big Brother"
"Oh.."
Friendship was far from Joey's mind. He glanced at the torn letter. He didn't even know if he could get in with it. Maybe he'd be lucky and be sent home. He glanced outside and saw that the bus was just arriving down the street of the mansion. Mansion? Try-
"It's a palace!" Serenity exclaimed.
Joey grimaced. He was thinking dungeon. Bright exterior walls and whimsical architecture couldn't hide it. The energy reeked of emptiness and pain. Then again, it was probably just a reflection of how he felt.
"Oh, come off it! You're not psychic, you know, you don't know it's going to be that bad!"
Joey cocked an eyebrow. "y'aren't psychic, either"
Emerald eyes rolled. "I can see that your upset, Joey, I've heard you talk about Kaiba before and it was never this bad. There's something your not telling me, isn't there?" She spoke like she already knew.
"You really did get the brains of the family, didn'tcha?" Joey couldn't help but smirk. He knew he had to tell her, he knew it would hurt, but it was for the best. "Kaiba kissed me." There was no need to work around the problem anymore.
Serenity was surprised, of course, but nothing like her brother had been expecting. She was silent for a moment, not because she couldn't handle the information, but because she really wanted what was best for Joey. She wanted to be the best little sister to the best big brother. "Thank you. Thank you for telling me." She fell silent. She was still going to that party, not for herself anymore, but because she knew her brother had to face Kaiba.
Joey blinked as Serenity stepped off of the bus.
"What 'er you doing?!" he exclaimed furiously as he chased after her.
"We're still going." Her brother needed to settle this, whether Kaiba was good or not, whether he cared about him or not, it wasn't resolved and she saw that. "You have to settle this!"
Joey scowled. "Who taught you about revenge?! Was it Tristan?!"
"No, silly," giggled serenity. "You're confused. That kiss meant something"
Joey's face contorted. "How'd y'know that!"
"You wouldn't care so much if it didn't. A-aa-nd you used to like Yugi."
Joey yelped in surprise again. "Did he tell you?!"
"I don't miss things now that I can see; I don't take it for granted."
"And you use this to pry into my personal life?"
Serenity just smiled and responded, "You weren't going to tell me anytime soon, were you?"
"Didn't I JUST tell you?"
Serenity smirked, although it still dripped with innocence and cuteness "All is fair in love and war?"
Joey was imagining her defeating someone in a duel with that smirk as they approached the gate. Serenity was already holding up her invite to a security camera. Joey was nervous beyond belief and jumped as a voice came over the intercom.
A curt voice barked "And his?"
Phew! It wasn't Kaiba! Wait. What did they mean, 'And his?' Did they not recognize him?!
Joey yelled at the camera. "Look, Buddy! I'm Joey Wheeler! I came in second place in Duelist Kingdom, and-"
Serenity interrupted him by holding up a taped invite. "Here it is."
"Is that torn?" responded the mechanized voice.
Joey wasn't holding anything back this time. "YES, IT'S TORN! But it's here ain't it?!"
"One moment, please."
Serenity sighed. "You had to rip it up, didn't you?"
"I shouldn't NEED an invite!" Joey was balling all his emotions into a tight knot of anger. It was dangerous, and it was showing.
"President Kaiba," Started the security guard.
"Yes?"
"A Joey Wheeler has arrived with a torn envelope, shall I send him away?"
Kaiba blinked softly, unbeknownst to the guard. "No."
The guard nodded "Alright, Sir."
Kaiba walked to the exit then paused. "By the way, you're fired"
Joey's head was planted against the intercom. "Did ya hear that?"
"Hear what?" Serenity looked at her brother like there was a scapegoat on his head.
"Dey left the intercom on…" Joey paused. His anger was washed away by a sea of curiosity and then an ocean of hope. Joey was far away suddenly, eyes glazed over and a lax smile spread across his face. This look was replaced by exaggerated expressions as he was mouthing the words "by the way, you're fired," over and over again. His motor functions were abandoned and he slipped to the ground, still in a daze.
Serenity laughed as she tried to drag him to his feet. "It isn't over yet, lover boy!"
In the mean time, Kaiba was racing furiously down the hall. How could they to that to Joey! He wasn't some paperboy! He wasn't some third rate duelist!
Kaiba froze. Joey had at least been those things. Kaiba was not a happy camper. At least he got to fire someone today--that took a load off. It didn't save him from the plaguing questions. Why had Joey ripped his invite? Was it some sort of accident? Was Joey that clumsy? Was there that much that Kaiba didn't know about him? This also brought up the thought that Joey didn't know anything about him. THE INTERVIEW! How could he have been so blind! He had gotten to Joey first… but he'd assumed Joey had seen it! Why? Why? Why! He definitely hated himself now. How could he ever love himself again if Joey saw him that way? How could he see himself any other way now? Kaiba's anger was knotting up and wrenching pain. It was dangerous, and it made his whole stomach churn. The anger was being fuelled by questions, too. If Joey thought that he hated him, why was Joey here?! Kaiba's eyes flickered. Kaiba realized it was pay time for his dreams. Had he woken up in time? Or were his dreams about to crash to an end?
___
Bhakti: Jou! You were not supposed to hear that! What the heck!?! He knows?! No! Please! There will be more drama! Don't stop reading! Please?! Jou isn't a total airhead! He doesn't change his mind every ten seconds, and this entire mind changing is going to get him really confused, and when he gets confused he's going to get angry, and Kaiba is already angry! It's about to blow up! And THAT is why the next chapter is "Face Off". I made it clear that all the important characters realize which Jounouchi is the one involved, yes? The party is in the next chapter, I swear! And I'm going to start responding to reviews now! It just took me so long to figure out what review responses were! And I think I'm going to write a duel! You know, since the original show is based around dueling, a lot of emotional things happen in duels, and I know a lot of Seto/Jou's cards, so.. *shrugs*.
Things to say to reviewers: ^__^! I love you all!
Terry: I did NOT update soon, Gomen! This morning I woke up with ideas that were relevant to where the story was, go figure! Well, not this morning, but, the day this got written, yeah.
Malik Chan: Sorry to leave you hanging, you were hanging for a long time; this chapter is extra long for folks like you!
Animage: Jou evesdrops, so, everything is going… to EXPLODE! Wahaha…
Dragonfly: What a strange review, I don't know what the heck you're talking about. Oh, well. Maybe it was angsty and that confused/frustrated you *__* Oh, and you help me a lot with my story, you're smart! *shrugs*
Nieni: He was in a sensitive situation. *cackling is heard*
Renee: It gets worse for Jou.
Death Blade: I'm not posting this for a full day just because I want you to read it first, but hey, I delayed writing it for a month, so, if people are waiting, they can one little day to get a proof-read version which won't hurt their brains! See? Did you see the mistake in that sentence? I did! I'm going to leave it as an example! Wa. Ha. Ha. Your reviews were so.. full of squees! I thought I was going to die! I want to go back and thank all the people from Chapter 8, but, I would die and be corny! It would take me longer to write chapter 11! ^__^! I really tried to bring some of chapter 8s niceness to chapter 10… God bless English class, eh?
Taito: Seto didn't do it! Oh yeah, he did! … Keep reading!
Hyatt: O_O Are my characters not believable? *wails* and by the way, my directions depend on how I wake up in the morning, if I had continued to be depressed… there would have been a chapter called "Roulette" and I would have been burned at the stake. In other notes, I may write "Roulette" as a one shot! ^_~ it may actually be successful angst!
Daisy: Ah, c'mon, I didn't write his
heart break that well, and SETO DOES LOVE HIM! *laughs happily* *is suddenly
dead serious* at the moment. My mood changes, my story changes. *shrugs* don't
expect to expect the expected. Make like card-captors? *shrugs*
Angel-belle: You're too kind to call it angst. I'll try with more Angst, but, my life just isn't angsty! Where is the inspiration!!!! Oh well, I'll have to base it on what I've learned from others, no limit to that! Experience is everything, isn't it? T_T
Blue Lagoon Loon: You always review first, AND have reviewed every single chapter, AND leave me with really entertaining reviews! AND you have to up-date Dark Wonderland, there are too many beautiful mysteries, staring Kaiba! *squees*