Hi, I am back with the second chapter. A big thanks to these ppl for reviewing: DJ Moves, Silver, Kaelas, Emme1, keira maxwell, Lizzie, Kanberry, Rowan and Sakura, Dee-whY-Cee-aRe.
You ppl gave me support and helped me continue this fic with a happy smile.
Okay, on to the second chapter.
Stranger…
~*~
It was warm, but it felt strange. The unfamiliar gentle embrace that was enveloping him in a warm and fuzzy feeling. He thought he never experienced it again in his life. But it was there now, and he was afraid. He was afraid it would be just a pointless dream when he woke up. Dreams meant nothing to him. True, he could escape into his own world of fantasy, but it hurt when he had to face reality after that. Dreams were just a decoy, a lie he gave himself when he could not take reality any longer.
And for a moment, Jounochi Katsuya thought that the owner of this embrace was from his mother, a woman who once abandoned him just because he would remind her of her useless husband, and took only his sister instead. He opened his eyes, such a simple act even hurt then. Everything was a blur and he could barely make out the person beside him.
'Mum…no…she isn't any longer.' He mused bitterly but he stopped himself before he could reminisce the past. 'Since when does that woman has short brown hair?'
'She has blue eyes too. Wait a minute, blue eyes?' he shook his head but he was tired and it only came out as a mere short and simple movement of his head, with golden locks falling all over his face lightly. He wanted to rub his eyes but his hand dropped before it could even reach his destination. Nevertheless, his vision was clearer this time, and he found himself not staring at the face he did not whether to hate or not but the face of Seto Kaiba.
Before he even had time to absorb the fact that Kaiba was holding him, Jounochi felt the powerful force of weariness threatening to drag him back into the darkness.
However, there was a last thought. 'Kaiba is my mother?' he snorted in laughter inwardly and almost opened his mouth to tell the CEO that but the force was there again, this time not threatening but already in action. But he welcomed it anyway. He was simply too tired.
~*~
Seto Kaiba sat at the bedside and regarded the blonde was currently sleeping in his bed silently. He reached out a hand to sweep away the golden bangs that had fallen all over his face in a messy and funny yet strangely cute manner. Seto shook his head. 'Why am I even here?' he stared hard at the sleeping boy.
'He is just a third-rate duelist who is not worth my time.' He stood up.
'He is just an irritating puppy who has a big mouth.' He turned around and walked towards the exit.
'He is weak and always depend on Yugi to save his ass in whatever trouble he got into.' He turned the doorknob although a lot of voices suddenly screamed at him that what he just thought was all not exactly true.
He stepped outside. 'He is simply the one which invaded Seto Kaiba's thoughts at every minute and second of the day, even when he sleeps.' At that, Seto entered the room, closed the door firmly back, sat back down and he chose the option of glaring at the innocent sleeping puppy. Seto admonished himself mentally as what he just done dawn on him. He wanted to smack his forehead but that would not fit his image. 'Who cares?! You are alone, except for the pup that is.'
Oh well, he had already lost the urge to smack his forehead. 'What if the servants seen me doing that? They would think I had gone nuts, walking in and out of the room like a complete idiot.' But he reminded himself that even so, no one would dare voice his or her opinions.
Back to glaring at Jounochi. He was the one who caused him to act like that anyway. Jounochi really looked very vulnerable then, causing Seto to wonder how it would be like to break him. Yet there seemed to be this strength in him at the same time, something not breakable. 'Why does the puppy have to be so complicated and confusing?'
And somehow, a voice answered his question. 'That is what made you took notice of him.'
Seto furrowed his eyebrows. 'I can't figure him out.'
'You want to break him, don't you?' the voice asked cheekily.
'…' Seto stared at Jounochi.
'Because you can't have him. You are obsessed with him. It's just like the blue eyes white dragon. You destroyed Yugi's grandfather's one because you couldn't have it.'
At that sick realization, Seto was startled. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. 'Great. Now I am talking to myself.'
'I shouldn't have brought him back in the first place. I should have known I regretted it. Why did I even put him in my room anyway? Aren't there at least a dozen guest rooms?' He stood up and this time, he strode straight out of the door despite the strong urge to turn back.
'He is just an insignificant puppy. Someone whom I should not even look at twice.' But even after telling himself all these, Seto knew very well that he was desperately lying to himself.
~*~
Mokuba lay in his bed, his eyes wide and sparkling. He was too awake to feel anything akin to sleep. And the reason was Jounochi Katsuya, a puppy he had seen his brother carrying to his room, leaving him full of unanswered and probably never would be questions, unless he asked his brother personally.
But he doubt he could get anything out of this brother of his, since he kept to himself most of the times.
He realized that Seto had changes ever since he met Yugi and his friends, which was a good thing, he decided. Seto should open up more.
He had never seen his brother carry someone like that. 'Why didn't he get a servant to carry Jounochi? And he carried it to his room without any hesitation. Why is Jounochi unconscious anyway? Aarrgghhh! Why do I have so many questions? Why am I still questioning myself? Oh, shut it.'
He glared hard at the ceiling. But his thoughts drifted back to the blonde that had been in his brother's arms. All of a sudden, he brightened up. He had thought of a brilliant idea. "I could ask the driver that fetched nii-sama home!" he shrieked out and immediately realized his mistake. 'Oops.'
He turned his head and stared at the photo frame with the picture of him and Seto smiling taken many years ago. He wondered what would make Seto smile like this again.
'Maybe…just maybe…Jounochi could be the one…'
~*~
Icy Blue eyes were staring at him, drowning him. But soon they closed and the figure turned away. "Wait!" he called out desperately. He tried to run after the shadow but he was already gone, leaving him alone by himself, slumped in a pathetic heap wherever he was.
"Why didn't you wait?" he whispered brokenly. He lifted his head. The pair of blue eyes was there again. This time, they were soft. It was the only thing he was familiar with here. Everything else was unknown and strange to him. He smiled a little. "You are back." A hand reached out to him.
Without any hesitation, he reached out to hold it, but no matter how hard he tried, the hand never seemed to reach him. It was getting further.
"Don't go!"
~*~
Seto stood outside his room, debating with himself if he should go in.
"Why am I here again?" he asked no one in particular.
'Because you want to see him' a voice answered.
"I just want to sleep in my room." 'Is it really just because of that?'
'You just asked yourself if that is the only reason.' The voice was there still.
"I wanted to make sure that mutt doesn't dirty my room." 'Who am I kidding?'
'Yeah, right.' The voice could not get anymore sarcastic.
"It is right." He said softly but firmly. 'Even if it is a lie, I will make myself believe it.'
Seto placed his hand firmly on the cold doorknob. Strange. It seemed to him that everything felt cold under his touch. Except Mokuba and…he hated to admit it…and the mutt.
CRASH! Groan… and a "What the hell?"
Was all it took for a wide-eyed Seto to open the door at once and stepped inside, switching on the lights as his hands went automatically to the familiar place of the only switch, which led to only one light. He had always hated bright places.
He found Jounochi on the floor, one hand rubbing his eye while the other rubbing on his head, all the while grumbling about the bed being too small and making him roll out of bed to crash onto the not-so-kissable floor.
Seto rolled his eyes. "Unlike you, mutt, I think a king-sized bed is pretty big for a person who's sitting alone." 'It's also quite big for two, and there is even enough space if he joined the puppy in bed and have his own way with him…what the hell am I thinking?" He shook his head. He seemed to be doing that a lot nowadays. All thanks to a certain mutt.
But he must admit, a puppy on the floor rubbing his head was a very cute sight to behold.
Jounochi looked up, startled. He seemed to notice Seto only now. As Seto's words slowly sank into him, he looked at the bed beside him. Sweatdropping, he smiled sheepishly. "It is rather big." 'Oh my god! I actually slept in a king-sized bed! Man, I should have slept a little while longer. Who am I kidding? I should sleep at least a day longer, even if it meant no food for my stomach.'
Jou seemed to have not gone over the shock of sleeping in such a big and comfy bed that he seemed to forget to question his surroundings, until
Seto moved towards him and pulled him onto the bed. (Yuki: Take him! Seto:* Glare * Yuki: * sweatdrop * just kidding -_-0)
"Mum?"
Seto raised an eyebrow. "What did you say?"
Jou looked confused. "You…my mum…"
Seto stared at him impassively. 'He hit his head when he fell. Is this the after-effect?'
Jou shook his head. 'Why in the world did I suddenly thought of my mum?' (Author's note: Jou has clearly forgotten about the incident in the car.)
Jounochi blinked and looked up at blue eyes. He gaped. 'His eyes…why is it so familiar?'
Seto noticed his expression and snapped, "What are you gaping at?" he smirked and leaned down. "My looks?" he whispered…seductively? But mentally he was screaming at himself to stop.
Jou felt his face heat up at the closeness. "No." he muttered. 'It's your eyes. Something about them makes me feel…feel what?' but of course he did not voice that out. He shifted in discomfort as a voice at the back of his mind told him, "But you wouldn't mind gaping at his looks. Sexy, isn't it?"
Seto noticed his action and immediately straightened up, all while berating himself for his foolishness. He cleared his throat. "How are you feeling?" Jou stared at him incredulously. 'He is concerned?' Seto looked away. "I meant, it's unfortunate that you look fine. I was just wondering if by any chance, you could be feeling like shit."
"Oh." Jou murmured. He could not understand why he was feeling strangely disappointed. It suddenly dawn on him that he had not asked the most common and basic question when one does not wake up in his own bed. "Hey, Kaiba. What am I doing here?"
Seto stared at him for what seemed like an eternity before answering simply, "The rain."
The blonde stared at him, confused, until his eyes suddenly widened in recognition. What happened a few hours ago finally hit him as he recalled the previous events. He could managed out an "Oh." He tried to fight off the blush that appeared on his face as he thought of the kiss. But in that instant, his face fell. 'I probably just dreamt that up. Why is there a dull ache in my chest?'
All these went unnoticed by Seto, who was questioning himself if he wanted Jounochi to remember the kiss. In the end, he gave up and forced himself to settle on the conclusion of "It probably doesn't matter."
"Thanks, I guess." His voice was awkward.
"Hn." Seto felt awkward.
The atmosphere became very awkward. (Yuki: My vocabulary seemed to reach an end. -_-0)
Jounochi tried desperately to think of something to say to break the silence. In the end he came out with a "Why?"
Seto looked up. "Why what?" 'Don't ask me why I brought you to my room. Don't ask me why I brought you to my room. Don't ask me why I brought you to my room.' Seto chanted mentally in his head. If there was one thing he was afraid of at that moment, it was that question.
"Why did you bring me to your room?" Jou asked, totally unaware of Seto's internal groan and mercilessly ignoring his silent prayers. "Why not the guest room?"
Unable to think of any good answer and contradicting the fact that many people seemed to think he was smart, Seto settled on the worst out of the worst response. "My room is easier to find. I don't want you to get lost among the guestrooms and dirtying more parts of my house." He snapped ruthlessly. 'What the hell am I saying?'
Jou glared up at Seto. Despite that, he was unable to keep the hurt out of his eyes and away from sight. Anyone who knew about his life would think he was very good at hiding his emotions. But it was Seto Kaiba, and Jou found that the hurt was too much to mask. "I am not the one who asked you to bring me back. You could have just thrown me out there in the streets." He yelled back. 'It's not as if I am not used to that kind of treatment.' He thought bitterly.
He stood up and strode towards the door, intent to get out of here before anymore hurtful and cruel words could affect his wounded heart. But a strong grip on his wrist held him back.
Jounochi turned around and snarled, "What the hell do you want? Not afraid that if I stay any longer, your house could get more contaminated?"
Seto's eyes softened and he was overcome with a heavy pang of guilt as he saw how he had hurt the one he loved. 'The one I loved? Oh well, what's the point of denying?'
"Jou…"
Promptly, the blonde's jaw dropped. Kaiba had just called him Jou. Not mutt, not puppy, not third class duelist, but Jou. It was short and simple but it was enough to send his mind reeling. He thought it sounded nice. Very nice. 'I wonder how would 'Katsuya' sound.' Not only that, Kaiba's eyes had softened. Unfortunately, his whirled up mind could not recall where he seen it. (Yuki: Right, it was in his dream just now. Can you recall? I am being very irritating, am I?)
"You are acting strange, Kaiba. Are you feeling okay?"
Seto stared into those brown orbs deeply, leaving Jou feeling vulnerable and his soul being trespassed. "Then how do you want me to act, puppy?"
"I don't…don't know," his eyes narrowed, "Why are you calling me puppy again?"
"Because," Seto's voice was unmistaken ably soft, "I don't want to be a stranger to you." He leaned closer to his current object of desire. .
Jou's eyes widened. "Kaiba…" 'Seto…'
Their lips met and Jou willingly opened his mouth to allow Seto entrance. It was without a doubt, passionate, and both of them moaned. And for a short moment, two hearts beat together in unison as the two boys shared a kiss which they thought meant nothing but yet so much.
~*~
To be continued…
~*~
There! Second chapter done. How was it? Tell me honestly, from the bottom of your hearts.
Cya next time, or when I review your fics. ^_^
