Title: Dark Eyes
Author: Andro
Pairings: YamixYugi, SetoxJou
Warnings: AU, yaoi, some angst
Disclaimer: Not mine! Sadly enough...
Author Notes: ^^ Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you rock muchly. ^.~
Reastons this is so late: x_x First of all, I lost all my notes on this story. So somethings may be different from previously mentioned. Second, Julian(My computer) seems to enjoy eating up what I write. Third; Much school work. Fourth: Friends and Fiftht: I'm just lazy. Oh, and I guess an uncooperative muse wans't helping, but anyway, here it is.
Sorry to B-chan for making her suffer so long in knowing what was up with Tatsuha....
Also, thanks to those that helped me out with the italizing thing and all, but I can't seem to make it work. x_x(Gee, maybe it's because I don't have Word...) but anyway, sankyu! ^^v
Extra: More author comments and explanations as to certain things and reviews at the end-spoiler-rific, so read the chapter first.(Which I'm sure you'll do first, no matter what I say anyway. ^^; ) I split this chapter into two because it would have taken me even long to post it up here at FF.net. Sooo.....next chapter will hopefully be the end-though this does have an epilogue.
Not beta'ed because beta readers weren't available.
*~*~*~
Doing It for Love
*~*~*~
"Jou, are you okay?"
The thin teenager gave a careless shrug and stared at the ground blankly as the two boys walked down the quiet street. It was after school on Friday afternoon, and technically Christmas vacation had just started for them. Like usual, everyone had been thrilled to be out of school for two weeks. Students had raced to the doors, almost as if afraid the teachers would change their minds or suddenly cry out "April Fool's Day!", but in fact the teachers were just as anxious to start their own time off as every one else. Perhaps even more.
Everyone had been happy and cheerful that Friday. Well, except for two people, and their names were Seto Kaiba and Jounochi Katsuya.
Worried, Yugi gave his silent friend a side glance. Seto had come to school again that day, which was rare enough as it was. But it seemed that Jounochi had developed a sudden allergy to him, because when ever the older male caught up to him, he'd go into a coughing fit and excuse himself quickly. It was highly suspicious, and not like Jou at all. He certainly wasn't sick, despite his pale and haggard appearance. Seto looked just as confused as everyone else, and not just a little hurt.
So in an effort to fix things, Yugi had arranged it so that Yami was walking home with Seto, Anzu was busy helping a teacher take down Christmas decorations, and Yugi was accompanying Jou to his house. He figured that he stood a better chance of getting something out of his best friend if they were alone. However, so far the only replies he'd gotten for his questions were wordless and vague at best. Yugi wasn't even sure if Jou was listening to him most of the time. He had a very dim, far away look in his usually bright eyes. He sighed, and decided to change the subject for the moment.
"Hey, Jou? I'm going to spend Christmas over at Yami's house this year, do you want to come?(1)"
"Sure." The taller boy replied absently, kicking a rock out of their path. He felt a little sorry for Yugi, having to deal with him while he was in a slump, but he couldn't help it. Tatsuha's words rang through his mind relentlessly.
*~*~*~
A Week Before
*~*~*~
Jou stared at the strange man, feeling dread crawl up his spine.
"What...what is it?"
Delicately, with completely deliberate motions, Tatsuha slipped his sunglasses back on despite being inside.
"First I must say, that Mr.Kaiba doesn't mean to hurt you at all. I have to state this very strongly." He paused, and continued when Jou didn't say anything.
"Mr.Kaiba has a fiancee, Mr.Katsuya."
"*What"?" He yelped in disbelief, the color draining rapidly out of his face.
"Please, calm down." The tall man held up his hands.
"Believe me when I say that I don't really like to tell you this either, but I figured that I should. If you don't believe me-here." With a quick flick, Tatsuha pulled out his company ID.
Unsure, Jou took it and read. //Tatsuha Wakamiya, twenty two, in charge of international exports at Kaiba Corp. \\ He twisted the card around, trying to see if it was a fake. It wasn't.
"Why?"
Tatsuha gave him a look, though Jou couldn't read it because of the glasses.
"Why am I telling you? Or why is he getting married?"
Jou swallowed hard.
"Why is he getting married. If he doesn't mean to hurt me, why the *fuck* is he getting married?" He snarled angrily.
"Because the company is failing. Why do you think Mr.Kaiba hardly ever comes to school? He's too busy with paperwork and trying to keep the business afloat. If he keeps like that, he'll die of a heart attack, just life his father did." Tatsuha neatly picked the identification card out of Jou's hand before it was ripped to pieces and pocketed it.
"He's marrying a very rich woman, and then he'll have no more problems with the company. However, he's still distracted by *you*..."
*~*~*~
"How's Shizuka?"
Jou kicked the sidewalk.
"She's fine. Having a sleep over party tonight I think." He smiled thinly. Just what he wanted, a bunch of pre-teen girls running around his house, giggling and staring at him.
"That's great! Tell her I said hi, alright?" Yugi glanced over his shoulder, expecting for some reason to see someone behind them. He *felt* like they were being watched, which was odd.
"Mmn-hn." The taller teen agreed as they both turned a corner. The morning was cold, and both were wearing thick jackets over their school uniforms. Yugi wore a green scarf around his neck that trailed down his back, and Jou wore gloves, not that any one could tell since he kept his hands inside his pockets. Snow was scheduled to fall later that afternoon, and meteorologists warned of up to half a foot of snow by Saturday morning.
Hopelessly, Yugi found his thoughts trailing to Yami as the silence dragged on. He seemed to do that a lot lately. Yami was perfect. Calm, witty and observant. He was often quiet but the silence that dawned at those times wasn't uncomfortable at all. It was just a mellow quiet, each left to his thoughts with the knowledge that they each each other nearby. There wasn't any need for words, even though Yugi would sometimes chatter on for a while before realizing his boyfriend had fallen into one of his silences again.
"Soooo.....how did you do on the Shogun era test?" Yugi abruptly asked out of the blue, remembering he wasn't alone.
Next to him, Jou paid enough attention to his words and lifted his head up, giving him a quizzical look.
"Shogun era? When did we have a test on that?" He repeated, sounding lost.
"Erm...like..." Yugi checked his watch.
"Two hours ago? You know, in class? The test that accounts for twenty five percent of this semester's grade?" He tried to nudge his friend's memory, and felt a nice weight the size of a brick settle at the bottom of his stomach when Jou's face didn't register anything but a blank mask.
"Jou, really, are you okay?"
"I'm *fine." The blonde snapped suddenly, tearing his gaze away and staring far ahead. Their steps were taking them past a row of small clubs, and they passed through an open doorway, where two boys around their age were bent over a goban(2) playing Go(3). Both stopped to watch the match for a moment. Neither played the game, but it was interesting to watch how the blonde and dark haired boy went(4) at it, placing stones on lines with careful, graceful movements. They never even glanced up, or noticed Jou and Yugi standing at the mouth of the entrance, studying them.
After a few minutes, Jou shook his head as if to clear it and turned away, legs eating up the ground again. With a squeak, Yugi found himself being left behind and hurried after.
"Look, you forgot about a test that ha-" Yugi started to talk in a soft, quick tone, wanting to get his words out before Jou's temper shattered but he was interrupted-not by the other teen, but by suddenly slamming into a hard wall.
He took a few faltering steps back, blinking stupidly. No, walls weren't that soft, and they didn't wear oddly smelling school uniforms.
//Ah....crap.\\ Yugi thought, with a healthy dose of disgusted resignation tinting his tone. //He never gives up, does he?\\ He wondered, gaze raising up until it met Ahel's furious black eyes.
//Have to give him points for sticking to something at least.\\ His mind remarked in a rather dry tone just in time to get slammed into a *real* wall. That was definitely more painful, the sophomore decided, his back blossoming in tendrils of pain, especially where his shoulder blades ahd connected harshly against the surface.
"What, you think that was it? You little sh-"
Violet eyes met gleaming golden ones over Ahel's shoulder and instant before Jou's backpack was swung and brought with a sickening sound over the upperclassman's head, allowing Yugi to slip from the hands that had gone slack. Giving a curse, Ahel clutched at his head, trying to hold back tears caused by the blow. He turned, finding the twerp's friend a few feet away from him, legs spread evenly across the gravel and black backpack held tight between tension whitened hands.
"Fucker! I don't care if you're Kaiba's bitch, you're gonna fucking pay for that!" He shouted furiously. First Yugi had gotten away with hitting him twice, and now his friends were getting the idea that they could push him around too? With a snarl, he ripped the makeshift weapon out of the younger man's grip, never noticing how cold Jou's eyes had gone at the mention of his boyfriend. He reached out and pushed hard against Jou's chest, sending him down on the rough cement, and with a violent motion, brought his foot down in a grinding action into his stomach.
Jou felt something harsh and vile rise up in his throat, and he thanked anyone that he could remember that he had barely eaten anything for a while, otherwise he would have surely thrown up. Still, there was that very painful matter of Ahel trying to smash his insides into pulp that he had to take care of. Lifting his own leg, he slammed it into the nearest available area that he could reach, which ended up being the black haired man's lower back. With a pained gasp, Ahel took a step back, taking his foot off Jou and ended up tripping over Jou's own legs.
Sucking in a much needed breath, the sophomore scrambled up to his feet quickly, and found that the world was twirling and twisting, and his stomach felt like a snarled ball of rope. He was vaguely aware of Yugi reaching for him to try to help him, but he brushed the hands away, wanting to stand up on his own. He was determined to kick Ahel's ass and spend all his frustration and hurt into beating him up. Or at least he had been stubborn on doing just that before he realized someone had gotten to that ahead of him.
*~*~*~
"He really won't appreciate you following him like this." Yami muttered, or tried to since Kaiba seemed adamant to ignore anything he said, too busy trying to be silent and inconspicuous as the followed a little more than half a block away from their respective partners.
The wind blew harshly, and Yami shivered, pulling his jacket tighter around himself and eyeing the small figure ahead that was Yugi, wondering if he was warm.
"You didn't have to come." Seto finally answered, stopping when the other two boys did and appreciating the time to rub the back of his neck.
"No, but if Yugi is somehow going to get involved in this, I am too." He replied coolly, wishing he'd brought gloves. And a hat, and a scarf.
"Didn't you want to corner him into a talk? Well go do it, none of us are getting any younger." The multicolored boy pointed out, gesturing towards Yugi and Jou with an impatient wave of his hand.
The blue eyed senior opened his mouth to give a scalding reply back when a shadow at the corner of his vision flickered. It wouldn't have normally alerted him to anything, except it had moved towards *his* Jou. Annoyed, he turned to see the king of fools grab his friend, and he felt the sudden explosion of anger radiating from the young man next to him. He smiled thinly, and Yami wasted no time in rushing towards the scene.
Then his smile faded as his little idiot picked his bag and advanced towards Ahel with it. Sudden, inexplicable fear and dread filled him and he started running, passing Yami on the way there. Despite speed, by the time he'd gotten there, Seto was mad enough to kill.
He jerked the other senior up by the collar of his school uniform and violently threw him against the wall, a disgusted expression on his face.
"What did I tell you about touching *my* Jou?" Seto bit out, waiting until Ahel was rising up on his feet to drive a fist into his face, feeling something snap with satisfaction. He drew his arm back and kicked his legs out from under him, intending to royally mess him up until a firm hand grabbed at his shoulder.
"That's *enough* Seto." Yami hissed at him, thrusting him back into reality.
He blinked, and his world seemed to focus around him again. It was cold, and the sun was bright. Ahel was out like a wasted lamp light and Yugi was staring at him with something akin to fear. Yami was looking at him firmly, but not judging. It was just time to stop. His gaze sought out the one person he wanted to talk to, only to find Jou shaking his head at him, a sick and hurt expression on his face before he turned and ran away. (5)
*~*~*~
"Oow..." Yugi winced, sucking in a soft whimper as he threw himself down on the couch, forgetting about his head having been smashed against a wall. He closed his eyes and relaxed, sinking into the touch. He was avoiding opening them up again, knowing that the room would only be spinning still.
He breathed softly, listening to the fluid sounds of Yami moving around. There was actually very little to hear, since Yami rarely made much noise, but after a few weeks of living together with the older boy, Yugi knew what to pay attention to. For example; without even cracking one eye open, he knew that Yami was pulling together a makeshift ice bag and rummaging through the cupboards for an aspirin. Probably trying to find bandages as well just in case. Perhaps even a thermometer. One thing he'd learned-Yami tended to be prepared for *anything*. It was rather cute.
"Hey...did you ask?" Yugi spoke softly, not feeling like spending enough energy to actually speak even at a normal volume level. A whisper of footsteps over a carpet reached his ears, and then a cold glass was pressed against his hand, a few round hard pills into his other one.
"Yes. He accepted. Now take these."
Obediently, Yugi slowly shifted into a sitting position to keep the room from doing the macarena and popped the pills.
*~*~*~
He was pacing like a caged tiger across back back through his room, avoiding stepping on various objects on the floor by years of practice. Jou's backpack had been thrown carelessly on the bed, and he had a vague notion that if he were to search through it, he'd find a few snapped pencils and tattered book spines.
The room wasn't quiet at all, a small stereo was booming out X-Japan's Sacrifice in loud volume, and Jou's steps weren't light. //Why did he do that? He can't care for me, I'm apparently just a distraction from his fiancee. \\ He thought bitterly, running a desperate hand through his hair. //Or did this whole thing start before we started dating? After? What if he really didn't have a choice? Why didn't he fucking *tell* me then?\\ He was angry and hurt enough to cry, but boys didn't shed tears and settled for kicking an innocent object once in a while.
//Break up with him.\\ A voice suggested simply. //It's the best way. Then he doesn't have a reason to search you out and it'll be a closed case. The end. Finito. Even Yugi and the others will drop it.\\
Jou drew in a shuddering breath, letting himself fall backwards on to his bed, narrowly avoiding his backpack. //I can't. I can't even stand to be in the same room as him without feeling all stupid and over emotional. I don't want to do something like give him a call and break up with him over the phone, I don't want to be that sort of scum either.\\ Exhausted, he drew a heavy arm over his eyes.
"Sod it, I'm going to sleep."
*~*~*~
Two days before Christmas, on a breezy Sunday morning, Jou sat in the back of the Motou car, one leg raised up against his chest and watched the snow littered scene that rushed by. Yami was sitting next to him, being quiet like usual and lost in his own thoughts. In the front seat was Yugi, and from the quiet snores drifting in his direction, Jou assumed that he'd fallen asleep with the gently rocking motion of the car.
It really was pretty outside of the city, Jou reflected. He could never live anywhere that didn't have a population of at least fifty thousand people, but being in the country was nice as well. No rush, no traffic, no pollution or over bearing garish billboards. Just long stretches of lands and trees with an occasional cow or horse.
If he were honest to himself, he would usually find the whole thing quite tedious, but in the tattered state that his mind was at the moment, it was soothing.
The car turned, and Jou realized that they weren't on a so-called main road anymore, but on a thin dirt path cleared of plants. He blinked and straightened up in his seat, noticing that Yami had begun to-smile? He quirked an eyebrow at that and looked ahead where the path cleared and made way to a grant, old styled Japanese house. He couldn't tell from his spot, but he thought he saw a black haired girl with a dog jumping up and down and waving her arms madly.
"....Do I even want to know who that is...?"
*~*~*~
1.In Japan, Christmas is a time to spend with friends or dates more than family. New Year's Eve is more family oriented though. 2.Goban Board: Go is played on a Goban board-good ones are made of wood and are actually quite big, squared with at least a foot of length to each side. The top is lined like a grid.
3.Go: A game similar to Shougi(Chinese chess), played on a Goban board. Traditionally played with black stones and white, the game is relatively simple to understand, but takes years to master. I'm just a beginner at it. It's a very ancient game that is played mostly in Asian countries, but it is played in other parts of the world as well. North America unfortunately, doesn't have much to offer the Go enthusiast.
4.Cookies to anyone that knows who these two are.(Sorry, I really couldn't resist)
5.An author rant more than anything. I've been roughly planning this scene for months now really-I knew people expected either Yugi to become tougher and kick the shite out of Ahel, or Yami come in a be all protective-like and trash his bum. So I gave you Yugi protecting himself in the previous chapter, and here Jou joined the fight a little bit...but in the end, it was Seto who finally whooped ass. *cough* ^^; Lovely description, no? Anyway, Yami was the voice of reason here-he's still quite angry at Ahel, but he knows when enough is enough and stopped Seto. I honestly hope this wasn't what minna was expecting and that I managed to pull it off well, I just really didn't want it to turn out like people thought it would. The compliment/comment/review I get the most of this fic(my first fic. So proud. *wipes away tear*) is that it's original, so I hope that this meets up with all of you who have told me this story is unique. ^^
I had one reviewer tell me that the characters were-IC? I can't quite remember what it said, but I think that's what it was-at least all but Anzu. See, the problem is, I honest to *insert preferred higher deity of choice here*, have watched at the absolute maximun...two(American) episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh!. This being an exaggeration. Most of the characterization that I have to go by I generalize from fan fiction and what seem to be the most common traits shared with each characters. With what I have as example, it's very hard to not dislike Anzu, and since I don't quite approve of bashing(It's fun, but if makes the character OOC-Aka, even more annoying than how you perceive them to be usually-then it's not worth it for the story/fic) I settled for giving her a pretty much blasé role-I wouldn't be tempted to make her a bad character, or-*insert higher deity of choice here* forbid-a Mary Sue. So that's why I left that character pretty much blank, I didn't trust myself not to bash her. Because I know me. x_X I try not to bash Kairi from Kingdom Hearts, but I tend to do it anyway. (Refer to Freak Storm on my author profile-which I really need to update as well- and hopefully in the upcoming fic that I'm going to post after this one called Warmth. Which is RikuSora too of course. ^^v)
Author: Andro
Pairings: YamixYugi, SetoxJou
Warnings: AU, yaoi, some angst
Disclaimer: Not mine! Sadly enough...
Author Notes: ^^ Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you rock muchly. ^.~
Reastons this is so late: x_x First of all, I lost all my notes on this story. So somethings may be different from previously mentioned. Second, Julian(My computer) seems to enjoy eating up what I write. Third; Much school work. Fourth: Friends and Fiftht: I'm just lazy. Oh, and I guess an uncooperative muse wans't helping, but anyway, here it is.
Sorry to B-chan for making her suffer so long in knowing what was up with Tatsuha....
Also, thanks to those that helped me out with the italizing thing and all, but I can't seem to make it work. x_x(Gee, maybe it's because I don't have Word...) but anyway, sankyu! ^^v
Extra: More author comments and explanations as to certain things and reviews at the end-spoiler-rific, so read the chapter first.(Which I'm sure you'll do first, no matter what I say anyway. ^^; ) I split this chapter into two because it would have taken me even long to post it up here at FF.net. Sooo.....next chapter will hopefully be the end-though this does have an epilogue.
Not beta'ed because beta readers weren't available.
*~*~*~
Doing It for Love
*~*~*~
"Jou, are you okay?"
The thin teenager gave a careless shrug and stared at the ground blankly as the two boys walked down the quiet street. It was after school on Friday afternoon, and technically Christmas vacation had just started for them. Like usual, everyone had been thrilled to be out of school for two weeks. Students had raced to the doors, almost as if afraid the teachers would change their minds or suddenly cry out "April Fool's Day!", but in fact the teachers were just as anxious to start their own time off as every one else. Perhaps even more.
Everyone had been happy and cheerful that Friday. Well, except for two people, and their names were Seto Kaiba and Jounochi Katsuya.
Worried, Yugi gave his silent friend a side glance. Seto had come to school again that day, which was rare enough as it was. But it seemed that Jounochi had developed a sudden allergy to him, because when ever the older male caught up to him, he'd go into a coughing fit and excuse himself quickly. It was highly suspicious, and not like Jou at all. He certainly wasn't sick, despite his pale and haggard appearance. Seto looked just as confused as everyone else, and not just a little hurt.
So in an effort to fix things, Yugi had arranged it so that Yami was walking home with Seto, Anzu was busy helping a teacher take down Christmas decorations, and Yugi was accompanying Jou to his house. He figured that he stood a better chance of getting something out of his best friend if they were alone. However, so far the only replies he'd gotten for his questions were wordless and vague at best. Yugi wasn't even sure if Jou was listening to him most of the time. He had a very dim, far away look in his usually bright eyes. He sighed, and decided to change the subject for the moment.
"Hey, Jou? I'm going to spend Christmas over at Yami's house this year, do you want to come?(1)"
"Sure." The taller boy replied absently, kicking a rock out of their path. He felt a little sorry for Yugi, having to deal with him while he was in a slump, but he couldn't help it. Tatsuha's words rang through his mind relentlessly.
*~*~*~
A Week Before
*~*~*~
Jou stared at the strange man, feeling dread crawl up his spine.
"What...what is it?"
Delicately, with completely deliberate motions, Tatsuha slipped his sunglasses back on despite being inside.
"First I must say, that Mr.Kaiba doesn't mean to hurt you at all. I have to state this very strongly." He paused, and continued when Jou didn't say anything.
"Mr.Kaiba has a fiancee, Mr.Katsuya."
"*What"?" He yelped in disbelief, the color draining rapidly out of his face.
"Please, calm down." The tall man held up his hands.
"Believe me when I say that I don't really like to tell you this either, but I figured that I should. If you don't believe me-here." With a quick flick, Tatsuha pulled out his company ID.
Unsure, Jou took it and read. //Tatsuha Wakamiya, twenty two, in charge of international exports at Kaiba Corp. \\ He twisted the card around, trying to see if it was a fake. It wasn't.
"Why?"
Tatsuha gave him a look, though Jou couldn't read it because of the glasses.
"Why am I telling you? Or why is he getting married?"
Jou swallowed hard.
"Why is he getting married. If he doesn't mean to hurt me, why the *fuck* is he getting married?" He snarled angrily.
"Because the company is failing. Why do you think Mr.Kaiba hardly ever comes to school? He's too busy with paperwork and trying to keep the business afloat. If he keeps like that, he'll die of a heart attack, just life his father did." Tatsuha neatly picked the identification card out of Jou's hand before it was ripped to pieces and pocketed it.
"He's marrying a very rich woman, and then he'll have no more problems with the company. However, he's still distracted by *you*..."
*~*~*~
"How's Shizuka?"
Jou kicked the sidewalk.
"She's fine. Having a sleep over party tonight I think." He smiled thinly. Just what he wanted, a bunch of pre-teen girls running around his house, giggling and staring at him.
"That's great! Tell her I said hi, alright?" Yugi glanced over his shoulder, expecting for some reason to see someone behind them. He *felt* like they were being watched, which was odd.
"Mmn-hn." The taller teen agreed as they both turned a corner. The morning was cold, and both were wearing thick jackets over their school uniforms. Yugi wore a green scarf around his neck that trailed down his back, and Jou wore gloves, not that any one could tell since he kept his hands inside his pockets. Snow was scheduled to fall later that afternoon, and meteorologists warned of up to half a foot of snow by Saturday morning.
Hopelessly, Yugi found his thoughts trailing to Yami as the silence dragged on. He seemed to do that a lot lately. Yami was perfect. Calm, witty and observant. He was often quiet but the silence that dawned at those times wasn't uncomfortable at all. It was just a mellow quiet, each left to his thoughts with the knowledge that they each each other nearby. There wasn't any need for words, even though Yugi would sometimes chatter on for a while before realizing his boyfriend had fallen into one of his silences again.
"Soooo.....how did you do on the Shogun era test?" Yugi abruptly asked out of the blue, remembering he wasn't alone.
Next to him, Jou paid enough attention to his words and lifted his head up, giving him a quizzical look.
"Shogun era? When did we have a test on that?" He repeated, sounding lost.
"Erm...like..." Yugi checked his watch.
"Two hours ago? You know, in class? The test that accounts for twenty five percent of this semester's grade?" He tried to nudge his friend's memory, and felt a nice weight the size of a brick settle at the bottom of his stomach when Jou's face didn't register anything but a blank mask.
"Jou, really, are you okay?"
"I'm *fine." The blonde snapped suddenly, tearing his gaze away and staring far ahead. Their steps were taking them past a row of small clubs, and they passed through an open doorway, where two boys around their age were bent over a goban(2) playing Go(3). Both stopped to watch the match for a moment. Neither played the game, but it was interesting to watch how the blonde and dark haired boy went(4) at it, placing stones on lines with careful, graceful movements. They never even glanced up, or noticed Jou and Yugi standing at the mouth of the entrance, studying them.
After a few minutes, Jou shook his head as if to clear it and turned away, legs eating up the ground again. With a squeak, Yugi found himself being left behind and hurried after.
"Look, you forgot about a test that ha-" Yugi started to talk in a soft, quick tone, wanting to get his words out before Jou's temper shattered but he was interrupted-not by the other teen, but by suddenly slamming into a hard wall.
He took a few faltering steps back, blinking stupidly. No, walls weren't that soft, and they didn't wear oddly smelling school uniforms.
//Ah....crap.\\ Yugi thought, with a healthy dose of disgusted resignation tinting his tone. //He never gives up, does he?\\ He wondered, gaze raising up until it met Ahel's furious black eyes.
//Have to give him points for sticking to something at least.\\ His mind remarked in a rather dry tone just in time to get slammed into a *real* wall. That was definitely more painful, the sophomore decided, his back blossoming in tendrils of pain, especially where his shoulder blades ahd connected harshly against the surface.
"What, you think that was it? You little sh-"
Violet eyes met gleaming golden ones over Ahel's shoulder and instant before Jou's backpack was swung and brought with a sickening sound over the upperclassman's head, allowing Yugi to slip from the hands that had gone slack. Giving a curse, Ahel clutched at his head, trying to hold back tears caused by the blow. He turned, finding the twerp's friend a few feet away from him, legs spread evenly across the gravel and black backpack held tight between tension whitened hands.
"Fucker! I don't care if you're Kaiba's bitch, you're gonna fucking pay for that!" He shouted furiously. First Yugi had gotten away with hitting him twice, and now his friends were getting the idea that they could push him around too? With a snarl, he ripped the makeshift weapon out of the younger man's grip, never noticing how cold Jou's eyes had gone at the mention of his boyfriend. He reached out and pushed hard against Jou's chest, sending him down on the rough cement, and with a violent motion, brought his foot down in a grinding action into his stomach.
Jou felt something harsh and vile rise up in his throat, and he thanked anyone that he could remember that he had barely eaten anything for a while, otherwise he would have surely thrown up. Still, there was that very painful matter of Ahel trying to smash his insides into pulp that he had to take care of. Lifting his own leg, he slammed it into the nearest available area that he could reach, which ended up being the black haired man's lower back. With a pained gasp, Ahel took a step back, taking his foot off Jou and ended up tripping over Jou's own legs.
Sucking in a much needed breath, the sophomore scrambled up to his feet quickly, and found that the world was twirling and twisting, and his stomach felt like a snarled ball of rope. He was vaguely aware of Yugi reaching for him to try to help him, but he brushed the hands away, wanting to stand up on his own. He was determined to kick Ahel's ass and spend all his frustration and hurt into beating him up. Or at least he had been stubborn on doing just that before he realized someone had gotten to that ahead of him.
*~*~*~
"He really won't appreciate you following him like this." Yami muttered, or tried to since Kaiba seemed adamant to ignore anything he said, too busy trying to be silent and inconspicuous as the followed a little more than half a block away from their respective partners.
The wind blew harshly, and Yami shivered, pulling his jacket tighter around himself and eyeing the small figure ahead that was Yugi, wondering if he was warm.
"You didn't have to come." Seto finally answered, stopping when the other two boys did and appreciating the time to rub the back of his neck.
"No, but if Yugi is somehow going to get involved in this, I am too." He replied coolly, wishing he'd brought gloves. And a hat, and a scarf.
"Didn't you want to corner him into a talk? Well go do it, none of us are getting any younger." The multicolored boy pointed out, gesturing towards Yugi and Jou with an impatient wave of his hand.
The blue eyed senior opened his mouth to give a scalding reply back when a shadow at the corner of his vision flickered. It wouldn't have normally alerted him to anything, except it had moved towards *his* Jou. Annoyed, he turned to see the king of fools grab his friend, and he felt the sudden explosion of anger radiating from the young man next to him. He smiled thinly, and Yami wasted no time in rushing towards the scene.
Then his smile faded as his little idiot picked his bag and advanced towards Ahel with it. Sudden, inexplicable fear and dread filled him and he started running, passing Yami on the way there. Despite speed, by the time he'd gotten there, Seto was mad enough to kill.
He jerked the other senior up by the collar of his school uniform and violently threw him against the wall, a disgusted expression on his face.
"What did I tell you about touching *my* Jou?" Seto bit out, waiting until Ahel was rising up on his feet to drive a fist into his face, feeling something snap with satisfaction. He drew his arm back and kicked his legs out from under him, intending to royally mess him up until a firm hand grabbed at his shoulder.
"That's *enough* Seto." Yami hissed at him, thrusting him back into reality.
He blinked, and his world seemed to focus around him again. It was cold, and the sun was bright. Ahel was out like a wasted lamp light and Yugi was staring at him with something akin to fear. Yami was looking at him firmly, but not judging. It was just time to stop. His gaze sought out the one person he wanted to talk to, only to find Jou shaking his head at him, a sick and hurt expression on his face before he turned and ran away. (5)
*~*~*~
"Oow..." Yugi winced, sucking in a soft whimper as he threw himself down on the couch, forgetting about his head having been smashed against a wall. He closed his eyes and relaxed, sinking into the touch. He was avoiding opening them up again, knowing that the room would only be spinning still.
He breathed softly, listening to the fluid sounds of Yami moving around. There was actually very little to hear, since Yami rarely made much noise, but after a few weeks of living together with the older boy, Yugi knew what to pay attention to. For example; without even cracking one eye open, he knew that Yami was pulling together a makeshift ice bag and rummaging through the cupboards for an aspirin. Probably trying to find bandages as well just in case. Perhaps even a thermometer. One thing he'd learned-Yami tended to be prepared for *anything*. It was rather cute.
"Hey...did you ask?" Yugi spoke softly, not feeling like spending enough energy to actually speak even at a normal volume level. A whisper of footsteps over a carpet reached his ears, and then a cold glass was pressed against his hand, a few round hard pills into his other one.
"Yes. He accepted. Now take these."
Obediently, Yugi slowly shifted into a sitting position to keep the room from doing the macarena and popped the pills.
*~*~*~
He was pacing like a caged tiger across back back through his room, avoiding stepping on various objects on the floor by years of practice. Jou's backpack had been thrown carelessly on the bed, and he had a vague notion that if he were to search through it, he'd find a few snapped pencils and tattered book spines.
The room wasn't quiet at all, a small stereo was booming out X-Japan's Sacrifice in loud volume, and Jou's steps weren't light. //Why did he do that? He can't care for me, I'm apparently just a distraction from his fiancee. \\ He thought bitterly, running a desperate hand through his hair. //Or did this whole thing start before we started dating? After? What if he really didn't have a choice? Why didn't he fucking *tell* me then?\\ He was angry and hurt enough to cry, but boys didn't shed tears and settled for kicking an innocent object once in a while.
//Break up with him.\\ A voice suggested simply. //It's the best way. Then he doesn't have a reason to search you out and it'll be a closed case. The end. Finito. Even Yugi and the others will drop it.\\
Jou drew in a shuddering breath, letting himself fall backwards on to his bed, narrowly avoiding his backpack. //I can't. I can't even stand to be in the same room as him without feeling all stupid and over emotional. I don't want to do something like give him a call and break up with him over the phone, I don't want to be that sort of scum either.\\ Exhausted, he drew a heavy arm over his eyes.
"Sod it, I'm going to sleep."
*~*~*~
Two days before Christmas, on a breezy Sunday morning, Jou sat in the back of the Motou car, one leg raised up against his chest and watched the snow littered scene that rushed by. Yami was sitting next to him, being quiet like usual and lost in his own thoughts. In the front seat was Yugi, and from the quiet snores drifting in his direction, Jou assumed that he'd fallen asleep with the gently rocking motion of the car.
It really was pretty outside of the city, Jou reflected. He could never live anywhere that didn't have a population of at least fifty thousand people, but being in the country was nice as well. No rush, no traffic, no pollution or over bearing garish billboards. Just long stretches of lands and trees with an occasional cow or horse.
If he were honest to himself, he would usually find the whole thing quite tedious, but in the tattered state that his mind was at the moment, it was soothing.
The car turned, and Jou realized that they weren't on a so-called main road anymore, but on a thin dirt path cleared of plants. He blinked and straightened up in his seat, noticing that Yami had begun to-smile? He quirked an eyebrow at that and looked ahead where the path cleared and made way to a grant, old styled Japanese house. He couldn't tell from his spot, but he thought he saw a black haired girl with a dog jumping up and down and waving her arms madly.
"....Do I even want to know who that is...?"
*~*~*~
1.In Japan, Christmas is a time to spend with friends or dates more than family. New Year's Eve is more family oriented though. 2.Goban Board: Go is played on a Goban board-good ones are made of wood and are actually quite big, squared with at least a foot of length to each side. The top is lined like a grid.
3.Go: A game similar to Shougi(Chinese chess), played on a Goban board. Traditionally played with black stones and white, the game is relatively simple to understand, but takes years to master. I'm just a beginner at it. It's a very ancient game that is played mostly in Asian countries, but it is played in other parts of the world as well. North America unfortunately, doesn't have much to offer the Go enthusiast.
4.Cookies to anyone that knows who these two are.(Sorry, I really couldn't resist)
5.An author rant more than anything. I've been roughly planning this scene for months now really-I knew people expected either Yugi to become tougher and kick the shite out of Ahel, or Yami come in a be all protective-like and trash his bum. So I gave you Yugi protecting himself in the previous chapter, and here Jou joined the fight a little bit...but in the end, it was Seto who finally whooped ass. *cough* ^^; Lovely description, no? Anyway, Yami was the voice of reason here-he's still quite angry at Ahel, but he knows when enough is enough and stopped Seto. I honestly hope this wasn't what minna was expecting and that I managed to pull it off well, I just really didn't want it to turn out like people thought it would. The compliment/comment/review I get the most of this fic(my first fic. So proud. *wipes away tear*) is that it's original, so I hope that this meets up with all of you who have told me this story is unique. ^^
I had one reviewer tell me that the characters were-IC? I can't quite remember what it said, but I think that's what it was-at least all but Anzu. See, the problem is, I honest to *insert preferred higher deity of choice here*, have watched at the absolute maximun...two(American) episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh!. This being an exaggeration. Most of the characterization that I have to go by I generalize from fan fiction and what seem to be the most common traits shared with each characters. With what I have as example, it's very hard to not dislike Anzu, and since I don't quite approve of bashing(It's fun, but if makes the character OOC-Aka, even more annoying than how you perceive them to be usually-then it's not worth it for the story/fic) I settled for giving her a pretty much blasé role-I wouldn't be tempted to make her a bad character, or-*insert higher deity of choice here* forbid-a Mary Sue. So that's why I left that character pretty much blank, I didn't trust myself not to bash her. Because I know me. x_X I try not to bash Kairi from Kingdom Hearts, but I tend to do it anyway. (Refer to Freak Storm on my author profile-which I really need to update as well- and hopefully in the upcoming fic that I'm going to post after this one called Warmth. Which is RikuSora too of course. ^^v)