Title: Silver and Cold

Chapter: 7/?

Chapter Title: An Entire Day: Best Spent Unconscious

Current Rating: PG-13 (At best, for this chapter)

Author: Kage Kashu

Archive: FF, Dragon's Lair, AFF

Chapter Summary: Jouno has an interesting dream, and his dad hurts himself at work.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, but oh, how I would love to... *yum* Especially Tasuki. (Except his American voice actor... Who sucks!!!)

Author's notes: I'm on a bit of a Fushigi Yuugi high, lately. ¬.¬ Expect the seishi to start raining down anytime now... ¬.¬

Warnings: For this chapter? Grumbly, annoyed Jounouchi, and a little fighting later on...

Crossover Shows: Yugioh, Fushigi Yuugi (Reincarnate)

Timeline: AUish, after Noa Arc. Some years later.

~*~*~*~*~*~

~Higher now

I'm high above the stars

Light years away

Alone

This must be a dream now

Until I feel

Terrified

I'm falling fast down

Into the abyss

A void

That's calling me into

Somewhere else

And it knows my name

And my soul slips away~

~~Falling Into Darkness

Jounouchi Katsuya stared off into the distance, over the high tops of the skyscrapers that popped up all over Domino. The price, he decided, of living in a large city was the lack of true freedom. The skyscrapers reached, high toward the heavens, as if reaching for that glowing orb just over their tops. Soft layers of cold mist hung low over the trees of the park a short distance away. His breath fogged briefly in the air in front of him, and he wondered why he was here.

The top of Domino High wasn't a bad place to be... It's just that he thought that he was staying at Kaiba's. Not that that really mattered at the moment. All that mattered was the beautiful mist hanging between him and the moon, and the skyscrapers standing between him and freedom. And the absolute silence that seemed so unnatural to the night. Why was it so quiet? Not even in the city... especially in the city... it should never be so quiet at night.

A soft almost-not-sound made the hair on the back of his neck rise, and he turned, just in time to stare into a pair of flat, dark blue eyes, as a hand covered his mouth. Kaiba. He relaxed immediately, and the hand pulled away. "What am I doing here?" asked Kaiba, in a soft, almost emotionless voice.

Jounouchi turned, to lean against the rails that kept wandering students from randomly falling from the roof. "I would ask you that too, 'cause I thought you were out of town."

A smooth roll of Kaiba's shoulders, barely discernable, and Kaiba murmured, "I was in London. Why am I here?"

Jouno smiled, as he realized what the problem was. "A dream." He sighed. "Just a dream." He turned and slid down to a sitting position on the cement. "Why are you in my dream?"

"A dream?" asked the CEO, almost silently. "I could ask you the same thing, koinu (1)." Kaiba sighed. "I think I should ask about other things though. Firstly, how's Mokuba?"

"Last I saw, fast asleep after I told him a story." Jouno shrugged. "I got a few questions myself, though."

"Really?"

He nodded apprehensively. "When you burnt that vampire... did you spread the ashes?"

Kaiba blinked, his expression going from blank to oh-shit. "What happened?"

Jounouchi grimaced, trying to think of a way to explain. "Well... your little 'friend' started sending me 'gifts'. I couldn't say anything to Mokuba, because the bastard threatened him." He sighed, hand pushing his hair away from his eyes as he raised his head to stare Kaiba in the eye. "I gotta favor ta ask."

Kaiba nodded for him to continue, already planning to get home as soon as he was able.

"Get yer ass back here ASAP."

He smirked slightly at that. "I'm one step ahead of you, as usual, make inu (2)."

Jounouchi grumbled. "I don't get why ya gotta start with the insults..."

Kaiba shrugged again. "I suppose that it's gotten to be habit."

Out of curiosity, Jouno asked, "Why did you start that, anyway?"

A soft smile, quickly smothered, flashed on Kaiba's face. If Jounouchi hadn't been paying attention, he would have missed it entirely. "Your reaction was amusing." He snorted softly. "And you seemed to think that you would be able to actually take me down..."

"How was I supposed to know you knew 'jitsu?" Jounouchi asked, feeling vaguely annoyed. "I wouldn't've just dived at ya that time, if I'd known."

Kaiba smirked. "I hadn't realized that you would react so... violently. It was amusing, so I kept doing it, wondering when you'd just stop reacting."

Jouno frowned. "I don't... think of it that way. It's always been, if someone pissed me off, I'd knock 'em down, yanno? And if it didn't work the first time, try, try again. Dad's fond of that line of thought. Not one to give up easy, yanno."

"So. It's inherited."

The blonde snorted, mildly amused. "Oh! And before I forget... Try and get back real fast, okay? 'Cause I think my dad's gonna go after that vampire, just himself, Uncle Chiriko and Kouji."

"So the idiocy's inherited as well," Kaiba answered sourly. "Or perhaps it's just foolhardiness."

"Screw that." Jouno propped a foot on the opposite knee and snorted. "I'm not near as bad. You should see how often -he- gets put in the hospital for rather bizarre injuries... And then Uncle Chiriko and Kouji get to try their 'home remedies' on him. It's kinda funny to watch, but it gets pathetic after a while."

Kaiba blinked. "I bet."

"You know... Is it just me, or is it starting to get light out?" asked Jouno.

The brunette lifted his gaze skyward, also noting that the sky was growing paler. After a moments thought, he spoke. "I have several hours on you, but you probably need to be heading off to school soon."

Jounouchi nodded agreeably as the sky paled further. "I'm gonna get woken up any minute now. Hurry back, okay?"

"Of course," Kaiba murmured...

And everything dimmed, until all the blonde could feel was a hand on his shoulder, shaking it. His eyes opened blearily. "I'm up, I'm up," he grunted, rolling toward the hand that was shaking him. His eyes latched onto the familiar vision of dark blue eyes... wider than usual, but after a moment, he realized why. It was Mokuba, not his older brother. "Hello Mokuba," he muttered, eyes slipping back closed.

"Don't you dare go back to sleep, Jounouchi! I've been trying to wake you for the past twenty minutes!!" Mokuba shook his shoulder a little more vigorously. His voice was loud and painful to Jouno's ears.

He tried to push the sound away from his consciousness. "I'm awake," he murmured, consciousness slipping. The bed was really comfortable.

"Jounouchi?" The shaking stopped, and Mokuba's voice sounded concerned, but the pitch was so high... He winced slightly at the sound.

"I'm awake, I said," he muttered, softer than before. Too warm, too soft. He didn't want to move. But Mokuba's voice was making his head hurt.

"Jounouchi... You're going to be late for school." Mokuba's voice firmed. There was something about that that bothered him.

"I'm not going," he muttered into the pillow. He growled softly when Mokuba shook his shoulder again.

"Jounouchi?" No longer just concerned, but slightly scared. "Are you alright?"

"Wanna go back to sleep," he grumbled, shoving his face deeper into the pillow. The growl deepened when Mokuba's hand rested on his shoulder again. The hand was quickly removed. "Go to school without me." He lifted his head briefly, to draw the pillow out from under it, only to drop his head and pull the pillow over it. "G'night."

"But... Jounouchi..." Mokuba sighed. He doubted that he could easily get around this one. He'd just tell the others that Jounouchi refused to wake up. "Leave a note if you plan on going anywhere, okay?"

"Okay," came the expected grumble.

Mokuba sighed again, climbing off of the bed, and edging silently out the door... or almost silently. Jounouchi could hear him quite clearly. And he was sure that it wasn't because Mokuba was being loud... because he wasn't.

Jouno wondered, if such a quiet sound was so loud to him... what would school be like? School was always loud. And the mere sound of the door opening and shutting was bothering him... He wouldn't be able to stand the noise at school. He growled into the mattress again. He really hoped it was just a passing thing, because if it wasn't, he would be really short tempered for a few weeks.

~*~

Jounouchi Tasuki sat at a desk, carefully folding top-secret files into paper airplanes. He watched as the latest one floated gently across the small office to hit his partner, Chang Kouji in the temple. He snickered as Kouji ignored it. Again. He tossed up the one he was folding, watching as it did the same.

Then, he started over, making new airplanes. He knew that eventually, Kouji would flip, and start throwing them back, and judging by the occasional twitch... he was well on his way to that point.

He grinned at the other, a fang peeking out of his mouth as golden hued eyes crinkled at the corners. Just one more... the airplane made its slow way over to Kouji, and, just like its predecessors, smacked the dark haired man right at the corner of his hairline.

Kouji leapt to his feet in a full convulsive twitch, throwing his half full coffee cup at his partner. "Would you just stop that!! I'm trying to work, here!!"

Tasuki chuckled, glad for a moment that the coffee had missed him... and the papers. He was momentarily distracted by that thought. 'Hm... Too bad.' His grin widened to slightly psychotic proportions as Kouji tackled him. The other didn't usually react so harshly.

He crashed to the floor with Kouji's knee almost in his face and one leg being pulled into such a position that it was never meant to be in. He howled. "Yaaah!!! Kouji!!!" He fitted an arm around his partner's neck, in an attempt to get the other down to his eye level. All he succeeded in doing was pulling his own leg further into that unnatural position and getting an interesting strangled noise from Kouji, who was pulling on said leg. Tasuki howled again. "Gyaah!!"

His howl was cut off by Kouji's knee against his neck. Damnit! It couldn't end like this! He pulled harder on Kouji's neck, earning another strange sound as well as wrenching his own knee out of socket. Kouji's knee landed at the side of his head, and he was free to howl again.

A soft clicking noise caused them to still completely, in horror. Someone opened their office door. Tear filled golden eyes sought out the door, as well as the figure standing in it. To his complete and utter relief, it was just Chiriko, who stared at them with a mixture of amusement and horror. "What are you guys doing?"

Kouji made a rather interesting noise, trying to speak. Unfortunately, Tasuki's arm was still around his neck, so Tasuki had to answer. "Wrestling... I think..." his voice sounded slightly strained. Even to his own ears. "Kouji..." he whined, letting go of his partner's neck. "I think you broke my knee."

Kouji looked mildly alarmed. "Is that what that sound was?" He promptly attempted to untangle himself from Tasuki, to get a better look at the limb he had been holding. Sure enough, the knee was bent at a somewhat unnatural angle.

Tasuki whined again, when Kouji lowered his leg. Then he realized that it didn't hurt so much as it had to start with. Maybe he had been overreacting? He sat up, to get a look see.

Chiriko muttered to himself in the doorway for a moment, before coming over to also get a look. He gasped. It did look broken. He placed his hands lightly at the injury, feeling at it. After a moment, he murmured, "I don't think it's broken... I think it's just out of place..."

Kouji sighed, relieved. He really didn't want to deal with a Tasuki who had a broken leg. That... would not be fun. "If that's the problem... I think I can fix it!" He deliberately ignored the look of terror on his partner's face.

"No!! I'll go to the doctor! I ain't gonna..." He stopped when he realized that they weren't paying any attention to him.

"I read in a book once..." Chiriko was murmuring.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Kouji. "Wanna try it?"

"YOU GUYS!!" Tasuki yelled.

~*~

Quarter after four, Jounouchi Katsuya mused, staring at the clock next to the bed. Mokuba had come back about an hour earlier, and had been surprised to find him still abed. He had been staring at the clock then too. He didn't really want to sleep. His dreams were really weird today.

Around noon, he had been dreaming that he was at school, and in it, he could hear his father's voice, screaming at Uncles Kouji and Chiriko. Something about getting his leg broken. Again.

A little later, he had had a dream about his tutor. Old One Eye had been in Amerika, asking around about his family. It was weird. One Eye had been younger in that dream. His hair was still silvery white, and he was still scarred to hell, but he seemed young, somehow.

Jouno awoke from his reverie to the sound of tapping at his door. "Who is it?" he grumbled, in the same foul mood from that morning.

"Knock knock

"Who's there?

"Why it's Kouji, come to tell his darling godson about what happened at work today.

"Oh! Come right in.

"Why, thank you!" His Uncle Kouji's voice was louder than normal, and by far much too cheerful.

"Jouno," Mokuba's voice, "can we come in?"

"Sure," he grumbled, a little louder, so that they should be able to hear him. Mokuba hadn't heard him earlier, when asking the same question. He was relieved not to have to repeat himself this time though, as the door opened without further ado.

"How are you this afternoon, Katsu-chan?" Kouji asked cheerfully.

He glared balefully at the man before grunting a reply. "In need of quiet." He shut his eyes, so he wouldn't have to watch the movement Kouji was sure to make... It would have made him queasy, he was certain.

"Yer dad nearly broke his own knee today." Kouji grinned.

Jounouchi found himself smiling, almost against his will. He tugged the blanket over his face. "How did that happen?"

"Well, he and I got into a... fight. I had his leg pulled up funny, and he started pulling at my neck. Next thing ya know, he yanked harder, I heard a loud pop, and he started howling, worse than before..." Kouji grinned. "So, he's got a brace now. And a lovely set of crutches."

Jouno grinned into the blanket. "Sounds like it was at least half your fault."

"You should have heard him, though... He was practically begging for us to just take him to the hospital..."

"Do we have a permanent room there yet?"

"So... this is a family trait then?" asked Mokuba. "This being terribly accident prone?"

Kouji scratched the back of his neck. "No, Chiriko doesn't got it, for sure. I think it's more that there's this stubborn streak in the Jounouchi family, that's like, a mile wide." He chuckled, "They won't give up, no matter how much it hurts."

Jouno threw a pillow at Kouji. "I'm gonna go ta sleep... Tell me when Kaiba's back." He buried his head under the remaining pillow.

Mokuba blinked. "That won't be for a few more days yet..." He shrugged.

Kouji leaned over the blonde. "Huh. He's already asleep."

~*~*~*~*~*~

(1) Koinu. Puppy. Literally, "little dog" or "young dog".

(2) Make inu. Pronounced "Ma-kay Ee-new." Means mutt.

~*~ Molly-chan the Anime/Game fan: Is the stalker anyone you know? Depends on what fandoms you visit. ^^ Creepy thought? (Am curious, in spite of myself...=v.v=)

Kaneda-Shotaro and Yami Tetsuo: ^^ Thanks again.

Danyella Skyler Silverfire: ^^ Of course.

the Ghost of Jounochi: Thank you very much. ^^

FREAK014: ^^ (I got called sempai? ^^ So happy.) Kaiba didn't know much on the supernatural, as it were. He's learning.

Sorrow/Dark Star Goddess: ^^ Yeah, very big book. Makes for a nice conversation piece too. And a nice coffee table. ^^