Disclaimer: *clears throat and points down below* See those words after "Act Five"? Those are lyric translations of the song "I'll" by Dir en Grey. =D Can you tell they're my favorite band?
Pairings as of now: Otogi/Jounouchi, Seto/Jounouchi, Yam+Anzu, Yugi+Isis, and Malik/Yugi. Last three are background pairings so have no fears!
Nothing has changed in my heart since that time
The jealousy I give you is only an invitation
I'm afraid of being hurt, and I can do nothing
I hope that someday my dreams will come true
Yami had come to visit the Pharaoh again. That had been the first thing Seto had been informed of after returning from a night with Jounouchi. It hadn't turned out quite as the chestnut-haired male would've hoped it would. After that first kiss Katsuya had refused to even look at him. They talked for hours—something that they've never done before. Yet the whole time honey-hued eyes were fixated on the ground, the sky, the streets and houses of the Hebrew slaves, and just about anywhere else the blonde could find to look just so long as he wouldn't have to look at Seto.
That made Seto want to panic. He had always had a hold over Jounouchi for so long, a hold that even though the blonde himself wouldn't admit it, was that of complete control. No matter how much Katsuya would protest or attempt to get away from him, he could never escape Seto. That had been his curse.
Now that hold is gone. And why—because one idiotic thing he had said? One lie that shouldn't have even mattered in the first place. He was the high priest of Sutekh and Jounouchi was a slacker Hebrew slave, love was not meant to exist between them. How sadly ironic it had been for Seto when he had first discovered his feelings the loudmouth blonde.
Before then their relationship—used in the loosest way possible—had been nothing more than lust. It had been a way for Katsuya to keep himself free, but no, it didn't stay that way. What had happened to change things? Nothing at all. Jounouchi kept being Jounouchi and Seto kept being Seto but somewhere along they way the brunette had realized that Jounouchi being himself was more than enough to capture his heart. It was infuriating.
Even then Seto had managed to keep things the way there were. After all, hiding emotions was one of the things that Seto had done best. But then that night happened. That one moronic question had arisen and destroyed everything. Where had it come from? Katsuya had never concerned himself with such things before, so why did that happen then?
Ryuuji Otogi was the only thing that came to mind. Seto wasn't a moron. He had seen the two sneaking—or rather attempting to—around to see each other over the years. Nothing ever seemed to happen between them though. That was until a couple of nights ago. Ah yes, Seto knew exactly what it was that had happened between them. He was always watching Katsuya during the nights and sometimes during the day if he could a chance to. He was always waiting for a window where he would be able to approach the other but with Otogi there, one never came.
It had been painfully obvious that Ryuuji lusted for Jounouchi. He was always kind and loving, polite and very gentlemanly. Those were things that Otogi wasn't. Truth be told, the raven-haired male was a spoiled rotten brat with no grasp on his tongue. He was rude and arrogant and quite frankly, he irked Seto.
Always, always, always—Otogi got always got what he wanted and it was infuriating. Normally that wouldn't bother Seto much if it weren't for one thing: what Ryuuji wanted was what Seto wanted. And who was the one who got his way? Otogi, of course. Jounouchi had been one thing that he had thought he would have over the other priest but clearly he was wrong.
So Seto had simple convinced Yugi that Otogi would be so much better suited for a certain task than he, leaving the priest busy for the whole night, and then went Jounouchi himself. He was convinced that one night would be all that he needed to get the blonde back, to once again have the same controlling hold over him, but he was so very wrong. Even though Ryuuji's feelings for Jounouchi didn't seem to be reciprocated he hadn't been able to do so much as fully grasp the other's attention.
Why was that? There had never been a time when Seto had found himself unable to hold Jounouchi's interest up until that point. It had always been the blonde hanging on his every word, move, breath, helplessly clinging to him like some pathetic child would do to their mother. That had been the sort of attention that Seto had come to crave. Why was last night any different?
He told Jounouchi he loved him and over the course of the night he had made it painfully clear that he wasn't lying about it. And that had been what Katsuya had wanted more than anything—for Seto to love him. The fact that that had apparently changed over the years drove Seto up a wall.
It didn't help matters that Yami's visit earlier hadn't been pleasant. It had been that time that Seto had been in the middle of one his many daily bathing sessions (as all priest and priestesses were required as to keep themselves purified) when Yami had spoken with Yugi. He had let the warmed water ripple off of his body, letting it clear his mind for the smallest amount of time before he once again began to rack his brain for some sort of explanation, when the water had turned to blood.
At first Seto had believed that he had gone insane and that it wasn't blood he was seeing and thus just left the bathing area and dried himself off. Still he ignored the blood the stained the pale colored fabrics, believing that it was all in his head. It wasn't until he had gotten himself a drink of water that he realized that it wasn't inside of his head. The metallic taste of blood had overwhelmed his senses, causing him to choke and gasp, spitting the blood back on the ground.
Later he was informed that not only was all of the water in Egypt turned to blood but also it had been made so because of Yami. Now the Pharaoh was hysterical. He had run to Isis, asking her again and again if he had done the right thing by turning Yami away. No matter how many comforting words had come from her painted lips, no matter how many reassuring kisses had been placed atop of his head, not comfort came.
For Malik it had been no different. He would feed Yugi his normal lies and empty promises of love, did the same things that had always allowed him to bed the Pharaoh to his will, to keep him close, but in the end Yugi had only pushed him away. He didn't believe any of it.
Where did Yugi have to turn after two of the three he held dearest held no comfort? Obviously not the last for he was the very reason Yugi was the way that he was at the moment. So were would he go? Right to the most straightforward and honest person he knew, Seto. That was where the brunette was then, sitting and listening to the Pharaoh's endless rambling and choked words while he tried not to block him out and deal with his own problems. Of course, that never happened as almost immediately thoughts of Jounouchi had strayed Seto from where his mind should've been.
"What do I do, Seto? What do I do?" Yugi choked out for the umpteenth time that hour. "Did I do the right thing by turning him away…? Maybe I should just let them go. I don't want him to hate me. I don't, I don't, I don't."
This was insane. It didn't matter what anyone told him or if they didn't say anything at all. Yugi just wouldn't listen. He was too busy being locked inside of his head.
Seto let out a growl of frustration, already in a greatly bad mood due to being unable to figure out what went wrong with Jounouchi, and Yugi only making the day worse for him. The urge to walk right up and shake some sense into Yugi was great, but he refrained. The price for touching the Pharaoh—without permission and even then it was still questionable—was death.
Still, Seto had to do something. Not only was the constant babble driving him crazy but it was just pathetic. He stood up taking a few steps towards Yugi, his face cold and detached. He stopped right before the boy, his azure eyes burning into large violet ones in a way that made the small Pharaoh's lip quiver in fright.
"What should you do?" the brunette hissed, blue eyes narrowing, "Stop being so pathetic. Right now you should be more concerned for the well being of your people rather than whether or not your moronic brother will hate you for doing what you had to do. You're the Pharaoh. You're meant to be a God for all of your subjects to look up to and worship and you're sitting here crying to me about something that shouldn't even matter to you. You're so pathetic you don't deserve the name Pharaoh. You disgrace your people with your easily corrupted mind and weak heart. And I bet even after I've said all of this you're still wondering whether or not what you did is right. And if you want my honest opinion, I believe that Malik would be a better ruler than you are. At least he'd know what it was that he was doing and wouldn't let someone control him or worry about the feelings of others."
A moment of silence followed those words. Seto kept his gaze locked on Yugi, whereas Yugi had diverted his eyes to the ground, his whole body trembling. He didn't want to believe what Seto said was true, but deep down he knew that it was. He wasn't meant to be Pharaoh. He was too kind, too loving... too weak.
"I could have you killed for saying that," Yugi muttered just above his breath. The words were spoken meekly with a twinge of fear. He was still refusing to look Seto in the eye.
"You could, but you wouldn't. You'd have to have some form of a backbone in order to do that." With those coldly spoken words, Seto left, leaving Yugi behind in his broken state. And the whole time the small Pharaoh was alone he couldn't help but wonder: would he ever be anything different or would he always be unworthy of calling himself Pharaoh?
He couldn't take any more of this. It didn't matter if there was someone talking to him or if he was alone, Seto couldn't help but think about his situation with Jounouchi. It was infuriating. No, no—it was beyond infuriating. Getting even the simplest of tasks accomplished seemed to be impossible at this point. He was going to have to do something about the situation, something to tip things in his favor.
But what exactly could he do? Talking to Jounouchi himself obviously did nothing and speaking with Otogi would be much too dangerous for him to even risk. If anyone eve found out about his affairs with a slave, he would be a dead man. Granted, Ryuuji himself was in the same boat, but he could easily deny everything. Much more easily than Seto could. After all, Seto wasn't a coward. He wouldn't bring himself so low to protect himself. All of the things he had done thus far had been for Jounouchi's safety and his alone.
The only way anything could be accomplished would be if he could somehow catch Otogi off guard. Perhaps show him up and tip the scales in his favor. Recent events would certainly make things a lot easier to do so without being noticed, but there was still the factor of what to do. It wasn't as if he could do just about anything in order to gain Jounouchi's undying affections again. Oh no, the blonde was far too stubborn to fall for cheap tricks or all around kind words. The only way he'd do so was if he were desperate for the attention anyways. That was how he first ensnared Jounouchi in the first place.
And then, it hit him. Ah yes, it would still be a dirty trick, something that he would wish that he wouldn't have to do, but in the end finding another way would most certainly be unlikely.
With much luck the very person Seto needed to see in order to set things in action happened to be passing by his doorway. He outstretched his hand, quickly stopping the small servant boy Ryou in his tracks. He let out a startled yelp having not expected to be snatched so suddenly.
After regaining a bit of his composure Ryou turned to Seto, bowing ever so slightly. "Is there something that you need, Master Seto?" he asked in a polite voice before silently awaiting the orders that he knew were going to follow.
"Find Katsuya and bring him to my chambers," Seto explained simply, "If I'm not there, telling him to wait. I have something to attend to before I can see him and I should arrive shortly." Ryou gave a small nod of understanding before scurrying off to find the blonde haired Hebrew.
Of course, if everything went according to how Seto wanted it to, Jounouchi wouldn't make it to his chambers. A proud, dark smirk curled at the corner of Seto's lips. Now all he had to do was find the black-haired priest and everything would be set.
The sounds of harsh words exchanged between the two priests filled the hallways. Their voices were hard whispers though they held all of the power of the loudest of yells. It was then that Ryou and Jounouchi had approached. The small servants eyes went wide and just as Katsuya was rounding the corner to put an end to the fight, he leapt forward, grabbing the blonde by his arm and pinning him against the wall with his hand clasped tightly over Jounouchi's mouth.
Ryou shook his head slowly when Jounouchi's amber eyes fixed on him in a glare. "Don't interfere," he mouthed, "it isn't safe."
Silence came over the two fighting priests. It seemed that at that moment, every nasty remark they had had boiling inside of their minds had died just about then. So in that moment, they just stared at each other, eyes narrowed into firm, heated glares, holding exactly the hatred that they felt for each other.
"What do you think you're doing?" Otogi shrieked out suddenly, backing himself up against the wall. Unfortunately for him, it had only taken two steps to get there and thus only two steps for Seto to get closer. The brunette's fingers trailed lightly over his cheek, over his jaw, and to his chin, applying a bit of a force to tilt Otogi's chin upwards.
"I don't have to be doing anything," Seto stated simply, tilting his head inwards so that his breath would play over Otogi's lips, "It's just a simple touch."
The raven-haired male furrowed his brows, looking at the blue-eyed male before him with a puzzled expression. "This is something, no matter what you say. You're clearly implying something with your actions, something that could cost the both of us a great deal," Ryuuji pointed out bitterly.
A smirk tugged at the corner of Seto's lips. It was something of a haughty nature, making the other gulp beneath it. There was something that Otogi had failed to pick up on in those moments. No matter what he said or how much he tried to defend himself, he had still yet to pull away from Seto's touch.
"Like I said, this doesn't have to be anything. And it's true. It could be nothing more than a comfortable closeness or a simple touch. Anything more—or implied as you so very well put it—is all in your head," the brunette whispered mockingly, "and if it is in your head, you've obviously thought about it and on some level actually want what I'm doing to mean something. Am I not right?"
Otogi only continued to stare, his emerald eyes slightly wide, fixated on Seto's face with a glimmer of something close to shame in them. Despite his hatred for the man before him, he did want what the other's actions might be implying. He did want what they might lead to. And he hated himself for it. He shouldn't be reacting any way aside from anger. Yet he wasn't even the slightest bit angry at all.
"What? You have nothing to say in your defense?" Seto chuckled, "I was expecting more from you. Not that what I was expecting was much at all but I wasn't expecting you to just slink against. It's outright pathetic of you. You could at least put up a fight before admitting de—"
Any further words were silenced as Seto soon found Otogi's mouth pressed persistently up against his. He couldn't help but let his eyes widen a bit. This wasn't exactly how this was supposed to go. Well, the kiss was, but now Seto found himself being pushed to the other side of the hall, his back soon hitting up against the wall. Ryuuji wasn't meant to be the one in the control as he so clearly was. And at that moment, only one word registered in Seto's mind. Panic.
Just around the corner Jounouchi was fuming. He was completely furious—not to mention hurt by—with the whole situation. Not only had Seto easily made a pass on Ryuuji but also Ryuuji had easily accepted it. Why, why, why would he do something like that? The blonde tried to round the corner finding himself being slammed up against the wall.
"Don't!" Ryou hissed sounding uncharacteristically demanding even though his brown eyes were pleading. With a sigh of defeat Katsuya slinked back against the wall, taking Ryou's advice. Seto could still push Ryuuji away. And he would do so… right? Yes, he would. So there was no point for Jounouchi to worry himself.
However he found himself quickly sinking in doubt as Otogi's lips had moved down to Seto's neck, covering the tanned skin in feather-light kisses. He turned his head away. He couldn't watch it anymore.
"Take me back," Katsuya whispered to Ryou. The small servant furrowed his brows in thought for a moment before looking at Jounouchi somewhat pleadingly. "Tell him that if Seto has any qualms with you, he is to take them up with me first. I'll take full responsibility; don't worry. And I would like you to also tell him that aside from anything regarding your safety, I don't want to see him again."
Ryou looked at him for a moment, taking in everything that he had just said before letting out a small sigh. "As you wish. I'll take you back now," he muttered, finally releasing his hold on Jounouchi.
As soon as Ryou backed away however, Katsuya bolted. In a few simple steps he had walked around the corner, a little bit pleased to find that at the very least, Seto had pushed Otogi away. The raven-haired male was now a few feet away from him looking more than a little miffed. Of course that miffed look soon turned to one of shock as Jounouchi stopped right before him.
"Katsuya, I—"
Instead of getting any sort of explanation—not that it would've done any good—or apology out Otogi found himself touching his fingers to his cheek. The whole right side of his face seemed to sting, most of all where a large, red, hand-shaped mark was now appearing. Katsuya's hand lingered slightly in the air. It was almost as if the blonde wasn't sure he had actually done it. But he had. He slapped Ryuuji.
"Save apologies and explanations for someone who wants to hear them."
Leaving nothing more than those last words in the air, Katsuya turned on his heel and ran. He couldn't stand to be in the palace any longer. Little did he know that not too far behind him, taking long and steady, but silent steps nonetheless, was a certain brunette priest who was no doubt bent on 'taking the pain away'.
I apologize for my lack of writing just about anything as of late. You see… well… I have no excuses. I have a feeling this story is going to end up being longer than the originally planned 9 parts. Oh well—you who actually read it will love it, right?
Chapter 5 and I don't know how I'm going to end this. Hmm—well, readers… if any of you bother to review, who would you like Jounouchi to end up with Otogi or Seto or would you like him to end up with no one? And state reasons. If you say 'because it's my favorite couple' I shall whack you upside the head. So don't.