Disclaimers: Still doesn't belong to me. ;_; Wish it did…
Notes: Um…yay! Go me; I'm finally starting with chapter 2!
~*Beauty and the Beast*~
The day passed in more normalcy than Joey would have predicted. Seto's harsh warnings to him in the car kept him from saying anything to his friends about staying at Seto's, finding easy ways to get around their questions without lying. A large group was immediately around the two of them when they found out that Joey had arrived at school with Seto. Everyone wanted to know what the house looked like, what his family was like. None of them bothered Seto, however, his cold personality keeping them away from him. However, he ordered them to drop it and leave them both alone about it, and the crowd departed, leaving only Joey's friends to talk to him.
"Kaiba!" Seto stopped as the voice called out to him on his way into the school, turning around the see Yugi running towards him, waving happily. He snorted and turned to leave. "Hey, wait!" he screamed again, finally catching up with Seto. He was out of breath, and Seto waited for him while he panted for breath. That must have been quite a run for someone as short as Yugi. "I wanted to say thank you, for helping Joey. It was partially my fault, so I was really worried about him." Seto glared at him a moment before turning around, closing his eyes. Why was everything thanking him all of a sudden? He couldn't stand it.
"I could have cared less about the idiot, I just didn't want him thinking I owed him. Mind your own business Yugi," he demanded harshly, continuing on his walk to the school. Yugi stood confused for a moment before laughing softly, turning to run back to his group of friends. He normally wouldn't have been worried about Joey, but he was aware that Tristan was out of town, and everyone knew that Joey didn't have anywhere else to go.
"Hey, where'd you disappear to?" Tea asked as Yugi caught back up with them, squeezing his way between Tea and Joey. He blinked and looked up at her, smiling happily.
"I was just thanking Kaiba," he offered cheerfully, hands instinctively reaching up to hook onto his backpack. It was a habit he'd picked up sometime in his life. He was aware it only made him look even younger but he didn't care, it wasn't like he cared what other people thought of him anyways. All he cared about was his friend's opinions of him. They were the people who really knew him, after all.
"I don't see why you bother. He's so cold," Tea offered, watching Seto's back as he retreated into the school. She didn't see why he would be going into the school building already when it was such a beautiful morning, but Seto was always a strange one. It was almost like he didn't like people. Why was beyond her, but that was the idea she had started to form in her mind.
"He was nice enough to let me ride to school with him," Joey offered in his defense, hands digging into his pockets. He would have liked to say more in his defense, but he really couldn't without surely getting into trouble with Seto. He was sure he wouldn't like to be known as such a nice person; he certainly didn't seem to want nor care about people's approval.
"Still, you know all of us would help you out if you'd ask us," Tea answered in her own defense. She didn't see why Joey was getting all defensive on Seto's behalf. He wasn't a necessarily nice person by ANY means. Sure, he may have been nice to Joey once, but he shouldn't let that overlook all of the other cruel things he'd done to him in the short time they'd actually known each other. She'd never forgive him for being so cruel to Yugi and his grandfather when they'd first met. He hadn't even known Yugi and he'd treated him like such an asshole. Like he was above him.
"Yeah, but I didn't have to ask," Joey snapped back, eyes narrowing slightly. They just didn't understand it. He hadn't asked for his help, he hadn't even mentioned that he'd needed it. Seto had offered. He couldn't be that bad of a person if he was going to just offer help to someone that looked like they needed it. Tea narrowed her eyes as well and looked like she was going to snap back but Yugi spoke up first.
"Joey has a point. For someone like Kaiba to offer him help…he can't be that bad. It must have been a big dent in his pride even to offer it. He may not act like a nice person, but he must be to help Joey out. I bet he's just afraid people might not respect him if they find out how nice he is." Tea seemed confused for a moment before she nodded, and Yugi smiled happily.
"I agree with Yugi. Now come on, let's get to class," Joey offered quickly, heading on his way inside and forcing the others to follow. Maybe Yugi was right. Would that mean that him thanking him was insulting his pride as well? He didn't want Seto to hate him, really. It was just his way, to thank people.
He sighed as he walked into the classroom, leaning his hands on Seto's desk. "Um…I…" Seto looked up at him from his book with disinterest and pointed to his seat.
"Don't talk to me," he demanded, and Joey nodded, staring down at the floor.
"Sorry," he managed weakly, heading over to his desk. He wasn't aware of the fact that Yugi was watching him with particular interest, but Seto caught the other's glaze easily, turning to glare at him. A single word and he would be sure to make the boy's life miserable. However, Yugi just smiled in response and waved, heading to his own seat.
The rest of the school day passed normally, not a word mentioned to either of the boys about their arriving together. That wasn't to say that it wasn't the talk of the school, but they were spared the questions. Whether that was a good or bad thing depended on what view you had of the situation. Joey wished that they wouldn't make things up by themselves and just ASK, but Seto was happy so long as they weren't bothering him.
"So, everything's alright now, right?" Yugi asked as they left the school. Tea had been staying after school the last couple of days learning dance routines. She'd been accepted into a dance competition, and the poms instructor was helping her with her dances. Therefore, only Yugi and Joey were left walking home together.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Joey answered with a smile, flashing a thumbs-up at his friend. He'd never realized how much they worried about him until today. This was the first time he hadn't had anybody to turn to, and they had all been worried to death about him. They kept on asking him exactly what it was that Seto HAD done. All they were aware of was the ride he had gotten to school. He had told Yugi about staying the night at Seto's, but not Tea. He didn't feel she needed to know that. After all, she held a big enough grudge against Seto that telling her that was definitely not the wisest of choices.
"So your father's not mad?" he asked innocently, wide eyes staring up at him. Joey blinked a couple times and shook his head, holding his smile in place. He wasn't about to worry his friends even more, after all. That was the way he was.
"He's not happy with me, but it's nothing all too bad," he offered as an excuse, hands buried in his pockets again. There was an uncomfortable silence for a while, but that was okay with Joey. He didn't want to have to think of any more almost-lies. He was getting sick of trying to lie while not lying to his friends. It made his head hurt.
"So…what's it like staying with Kaiba?" Yugi asked after a while and Joey sighed. Finally, something he could answer completely truthfully.
"It was nice. I mean, his house is HUGE! Mokuba was there, of course. He showed me around and fed me. Kaiba wasn't any nicer than he normally is; he mostly stayed in his room. He did offer me a ride this morning though, so that was nice of him. I think I embarrassed him this morning," he offered with a laugh, brushing hair back from his face. "I sort of walked in on him changing. He was blushing like mad. I don't think he noticed that, though. Don't see what he has to be ashamed of. I'd kill to look like that," Joey offered, crossing his arms behind his head and staring at the sky as he walked. Yugi laughed from next to him and he looked down, eyes burning from the odd angle he was looking at, and he dipped his head down slightly so as to be more comfortable. "What's so funny?"
"Sounds like someone has a crush," he offered playfully, winking up at his friend. Joey must have turned all sorts of shades at that, and he stopped immediately in his tracks, hands falling to his sides. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he just glared. Yugi found it all so very humorous. It had taken him a while but he'd finally come to terms with liking his other side himself. He wondered if he would have behaved like that if someone had mentioned his crush before he realized it himself.
"I do no…shut up Yugi," he finally managed and Yugi laughed, skipping over to the door of the card shop. Joey hadn't even realized they were so close to it. "What are you so happy about?" he demanded after a short while and Yugi laughed again.
"I'm right, aren't I? Want to come inside?" he asked more conversationally, opening the door.
"Nah. I don't want to push my luck. See you later," Joey offered just as politely, glad to drop the conversation as they waved goodbye. There was no way he had a crush on Seto Kaiba. The guy was…was…was a guy, he guessed. Besides, who in the world fell for someone who wouldn't even look at him once they were at school? It just didn't make sense. Even if he DID like Seto, which he DIDN'T, what good would it do him? Even if Seto liked him back things at school wouldn't change. They'd only like each other out of school, and that wasn't what Joey wanted.
Since he didn't know where Seto's house was, EXACTLY, he was stuck walking home. It was only instinct. Besides, it wouldn't look as fishy that way. Yugi was expecting him to walk off towards his house, if he turned around to start looking for Seto's place Yugi would know that something was up. He was sure they were all still worried about him, but he couldn't avoid that. They'd be worried about him no matter what he did now.
"It's about time. What took you so long?" Joey blinked as he recognized Seto's voice, turning around quickly to find him leaning against the edge of his car, arms crossed. "Well? I won't wait for you like this everyday," he demanded harshly and Joey nodded, running over to where Seto was standing. "Are you allowed inside to get your things, or don't you know?" Joey stared down at the ground again and shook his head, hands clenching tighter to the handle of his bag.
"I'm not allowed inside," he offered softly and Seto nodded, opening the door next to him.
"Then I guess we have to go shopping. You're not wearing the same clothes the whole week," he demanded sharply, waiting for Joey to get inside. Obviously he didn't get the hint since he just stood there and stared at him. "Well? Get inside the car!" he snapped and Joey did as he was told, scooting over so Seto could get in as well. He did so and slammed the door shut behind him.
"I can't pay you back any time soon, just in case you were thinking that I could," Joey offered as they started off towards wherever, and Seto sighed. "What? I'll try, but it's not like I have much money."
"We'll figure that out later." Joey smiled slightly and turned to face the window.
"Thanks for eve…"
"I'm not doing this to be nice!" Seto snapped, and Joey turned to look at him, surprised at the look in his eyes. He looked so very cold, but at the same time…not. It was definitely confusing. "I don't know why I offered for you to stay, but now that I said I will I have to. If I didn't owe you anything I wouldn't be doing any of this, so stop thanking me!" he demanded and Joey shrunk back a little bit, before anger filled his own eyes.
"I'm sorry but that's just the way I am! I'm thankful when people help me out, whether they're doing it to be nice or just doing it to pay off a debt! Because, whatever reason they're doing it for, they ARE being nice by helping me out!" he snapped back and Seto's eyes narrowed even more. Joey sighed and leaned back in his seat, staring at the ceiling. "I don't see why you hate me so much. I didn't do anything to you," he pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. Seto blinked a couple times in confusing, crossing his own arms over his chest.
"That was a sudden mood change. What the hell's wrong with you?" Seto asked, leaning back in his own seat and slouching down like a child that didn't get what he wanted. He was very aware he was spoiled, but he frankly didn't give a damn.
"I dunno. You tell me. You're the one that hates me," Joey offered harshly. Seto sighed and sat up again, trying to think of a way to explain this to him. It was just…he just did. He wasn't quite sure of the reason himself.
"I just hate people. They're cruel, arrogant, and stupid. I'm not just singling you out," he offered after a long while and Joey laughed softly. "Why the hell do you care why I hate you anyway? Don't try and tell me no one's hated you before." Joey shrugged and sat up.
"I guess it's because I couldn't see why you did. Made me feel like there was something really wrong with me. A lot of people hate me because of my big mouth, but I normally leave you alone. It really hurts when people hurt you for no reason. You don't seem to hate Mokuba," Joey added after a while.
"Mokuba's the only family I have left. He doesn't treat me like a spoiled brat, in case you haven't noticed." Joey smiled and nodded, sitting up again and turning to face Seto.
"I guess I never thought about that. Think, maybe, we could try to be friends? I promise I won't treat you like a spoiled brat if you won't treat me like a loud mouth punk," he offered, reaching a hand out to make a deal. Seto looked down at it a while, eyes wide before looking back up at Joey.
"But that's exactly what we are," he offered, sounding more than a little confused, and Joey shrugged.
"So? We're also two teenage kids that go to school together. We're both lots of different things. Teenagers, boys, students, people. We don't have to treat each other the same way everyone else does. Everyone treats you like a spoiled brat; everyone treats me like a punk. You said you like Mokuba because he treats you differently, and that's why I like my friends. They treat me differently. You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm just saying…" Kaiba took Joey's hand before he could finish, a tiny little smile on his face. It was sort of awkward, and Seto was blushing slightly as he did it. For some reason Joey got the feeling that Seto didn't smile often, even at home.
"I guess…I could try. Not to say I'll be kissing your ass the entire time you're over." Joey laughed and nodded.
"I wasn't expecting you to," he offered as he let go, leaning back in his seat. He felt a lot better now that that was over. Sure, Yugi would laugh at him and say he had a crush if he were there to see it, but so what. Fact was, he WASN'T there to see it, and therefore couldn't rub it in his face. Seto wouldn't admit it, but he also felt a little, teeny tiny bit better. Mokuba would be happy he was trying to be nice to someone. Besides, even he was a little lonely.
He'd never had any real friends before. They'd all called him 'spoiled little rich boy' and ignored him in school. The friends he did have took advantage of him, so he'd stopped talking to people around the age of 9. That was why he was so obsessed with Duel Monsters. It was his way out, his way of proving to himself that he was better than those assholes that'd taken advantage of him. He'd holed himself in his room and dedicated himself to being the best, that way people would see he was worth something. He wanted people to realize he WASN'T their stepping-stone.
"Is this alright?" Seto asked as they stopped in front of a store and Joey nodded, climbing out of the car quickly and following Seto inside. Okay, first step forward: Seto had spoken without constant badgering. It was a miracle in itself. "Get whatever you want, but remember that you might end up paying for it," Seto demanded as they walked inside, hands buried in his pockets. Joey's eyes lit up happily as they walked around, picking out all sorts of things. You'd think they'd be in and out, but Joey wanted to try on EVERYTHING he could get his hands on.
"You're not seriously thinking of getting all of that, are you?" he asked as he walked over to where Joey had been calling him over. His eyes widened slightly and he shook his head.
"No way. I want to see what looks best on me, though. That way I don't buy anything that looks bad." Seto sighed and leaned against the nearest wall.
"Can't you just grab them and get it over with?" Joey shook his head and handed Seto a group of clothes. "What the hell am I holding this for?" he demanded as soon as Joey handed them to him, taking them anyway.
"There's a limit to how much stuff I can bring in there are one time," Joey explained easily, disappearing into the first stall with the rest of his stuff. "Would you be willing to give your opinions?" Joey asked from the other side, examining himself in the mirror. He didn't think he looked all too bad, but he wasn't sure. He never did like clothes shopping by himself much. Not to say he particularly enjoyed clothes shopping either way, but he felt better when someone else was there with him. He always seemed to buy the wrong sorts of things when he shopped by himself.
"I'm sure it looks fine," Seto responded without a care as to whether it did or not and Joey opened the door to peer at him from around it. "What?" he asked as soon as the head materialized from the other side of the door. Was he trying to get on his nerves? This whole 'being friends' shit wasn't going to work if he kept on pissing him off like this.
"Nothing, I had this short thought that you were being nice and complimentary, but forget it. Obviously just being evasive," Joey answered easily with a smile, moving to close the door behind him. He blinked as he noticed Seto's face staring at him intently in the crack between the door and wall.
"So long as you have the door open you might as well," he offered softly and Joey smiled, opening the door. Okay, so maybe Seto had been wrong. Joey obvious could look better than he'd normally given him credit for. Even the simple change from a white to a black top made him look so very very different. Joey blushed slightly as he realized Seto wasn't saying anything.
"I take it there's something wrong with it?" he asked softly and Seto shook his head, digging through the pile of clothes he was stuck holding to pull out a jean jacket Joey had picked out earlier. "You're seriously…suggesting something?" Joey asked as he took it, and Seto glared at him. "I'll take that as a 'yes, now shut the hell up,' okay?" he answered with a laugh, sliding the jacket on as well. "Better now?"
"It looks fine," Seto snapped and Joey rolled his eyes, shutting the door and changing into the next outfit. This was more fun than he'd thought it would be!
Both boys spent a good hour, at LEAST, shopping, and Seto had seriously entertained the thought of strangling Joey a couple of times, if only to be able to leave. However, even he offered input every once in a while, minus his mandatory 'you look like crap' remarks on the clothes that looked less than satisfactory. He hated to admit it but Joey wasn't all that bad looking. He was almost surprised that there weren't girls hanging all over him. He was sure people wondered the same thing about himself (he wasn't completely clueless as to the girls' whispers in the hallways) but his personality was enough to detract from even his good looks. Joey was nice, if not a little annoying, at least. Then again, the school uniform wasn't exactly flattering on ANYBODY. Maybe the girls, but Seto didn't bother noticing such trivial things.
"Well, that took forever," Joey whined as they walked out of the store, stretching as he talked. He had changed into the clothes he had first tried on, and was happy with what he had ended up with. Seto looked over at him and glared for all he was worth.
"I wouldn't whine if I were you. It was all your fault," he snapped and Joey laughed, both of them waiting outside the doors of the store to be picked up. "What are you laughing about? My little brother's home alone because you decided to act like a girl in there," Seto snapped again, and Joey stopped laughing immediately.
"I'm sorry. I thought maybe you could try to have some fun. If you'd told me you wanted to go home and see Mokuba I would have put it all back and left. I…I don't want to be a burden." Seto sighed and leaned back against the wall of the store.
"Stop that. I can't stand it when you apologize like that. Not everything's your problem or your fault. I don't think I've ever actually had fun in my life; don't think you can change that in a day. I don't think you could manage to find something I enjoyed doing in a week," he offered quietly, leaning back to stare at the overhang of the building. What in the world was taking them so long? They couldn't have been that long of a drive away from home.
"You don't enjoying dueling?" Joey asked after a while, walking to lean against the wall next to Seto, following his gaze to the ceiling. Seto turned to glare at him before pushing off from the wall, burying his hands in his pockets.
"No, I don't. I duel because I'm good at it, not because I like it. You play it nonstop for a couple years and see how much you like it," he offered coldly, cutting Joey off as he was about to speak again. "I might have enjoyed it when I started off, but I'm not sure. All I can remember thinking is about how badly I beat the kid I played, how much I wanted to beat EVERYONE, that way maybe they'd like me." Joey just stared as Seto spoke, eyes wide. Why in the world was Seto telling him all this? Was he seriously trying to open up to him?
As if to answer his question Seto turned to glare at him. "Don't you dare say anything! I don't want your pity or your questions or whatever!" he demanded harshly, and Joey knew that Seto hadn't meant to say what he had. Otherwise he wouldn't be so afraid of Joey continuing with it.
"You should do something because you like it, not because you want people to like you. Didn't you ever want to have any fun?" Seto shook his head and headed towards the car as it pulled up in front of them, not saying another word.
Joey was quiet for a long time as well, staring out the window as they drove around.
"Heh, never noticed that place before. Probably new," Seto offered quietly as they drove down the street, catching Joey's attention. He was staring out his own window, elbow resting against the door as his chin rested in his hand, a bored expression clearly written over his facial features.
"Where?" Joey asked, leaning over to see if he could still see it out of Seto's window.
"Nevermind," Seto offered just as quietly, lost in thought. WHY in the world had he told all that bullshit to Joey? He didn't want his pity; he didn't want him to feel SORRY for him! That wasn't what he wanted at all! He wanted him to see him as a normal PERSON! That was all he'd ever really wanted, but even Joey treated him differently when it all came down to it. He'd seen Joey when he was hanging out with his friends, Joey didn't dare treat him the same way. In the end he always ended up on the outside. He guessed that was where he must have belonged.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
MY CONTACTS ARE ALL FUZZY AND I CAN BARELY SEE BUT I'M DONE WITH CHAPTER 2!!!!!!!
I've been working on this in my head for a long time now, but I haven't had a chance to work on it in my rush to finish my Gravitation fanfic. Only 6 more chapters and I'll be FINISHED with it and can work on this as much as I want! Now, onto:
MANDITORY MOKUBA KIDNAPPING!!! Scene 2:
Yugi: We have to help Mokuba!
Joey: *too busy flirting with Seto to give a darn about Mokuba*
Seto: *being pissy*
Yugi: Umm…aren't we going to go find Mokuba?
Seto: …
Joey: Who's that again?
Seto: *smacks Joey*
Joey: ;_;
Duke: …I'm hot…
Psycho gurl: O.O *molests Duke's earring* It's so pretty…as are you…so very pretty…
Malik: *smacks psycho gurl aside head with Millennium rod again*
Malik: *looks innocent…as possible* I didn't see anything…
Yugi: O.o Okay…I guess Mokuba will have to save himself…
Mokuba: *sitting at home playing video games* I wonder why no one's bothered to call me for dinner yet…
Okay! Now that that incredibly POINTLESS and dull segment is over, we shall proceed to the begging!
*Gets on knees and begs* PLEASE review! I'm trying very hard to update as much as possible and your reviews are helping me write faster! I originally wasn't going to mess with this again until after I finished my Gravitation story, but your reviews made me put down my Gravitation fanfic (yes, you read that right. I PUT IT DOWN, STOPPED WRITING ON IT, FOCCUSED ON SOMETHING ELSE!!!) and work on this.
^_^ Until next chapter everybody! *Waves bye-bye*