by Lethe
Chapter Seventeen: Studying
Jonouchi held Seto gently. What could have hurt him this much? he wondered. Kaiba was the kind of person who never showed weakness; rather, he held in his emotions. It must have been pretty bad.
Seto's crying was slowing. Jonouchi hugged him tightly and then let go.
"What happened?" said Jou.
"Jou…" whispered Seto. "I love you. No matter what anyone says. Do you believe me?"
"Yeah," said Jou in surprise. "Of course. I love you too."
Kaiba nodded. "Okay."
"What happened?"
"Some girls in class were talking about me, is all. I just overreacted."
Jou frowned. "Well, they must have said some nasty things about you."
"It's hard…" said Kaiba. "It's hard to love people when you don't have a heart."
"Is that what they said?" said Jonouchi.
Kaiba looked away. "Yes."
"Well, don't listen to them. You do have a heart, Seto. I should know!" Jou grinned.
"I know…" said Kaiba softly. "Thank you, Katsuya."
"Hey!" said Jou. "You called me Katsuya!"
"Would you rather I called you a puppy dog?"
"If it makes you feel better," said Jou.
Kaiba smiled. "All right." He pulled Jonouchi down onto the bed and into a hug. "Puppy," he whispered.
"Listen," said Jou seriously. "You can talk to me about these things, all right? You don't have to hide anything from me. I just want to help you."
"Likewise," said Kaiba.
Jonouchi seemed to realize something, and scrambled up, blushing. "Um…" he stammered. "Where's Mokuba?"
"He stayed after school-" Then Kaiba reached the same conclusion as Jonouchi had. "-oh." His face became a few shades redder.
"Ahaha," laughed Jonouchi nervously. "Looks like it's just you and me… in your room…"
"Yes, it does," replied Kaiba, just as nervously. "Would you like me to get you a drink? We could study for the English test coming up…"
"Y-yeah," said Jou. "Water would be good…"
"I'll go get us some… The English textbook is in my backpack, over there…"
"Um, okay."
**
There was silence.
Aside from the sound of pages turning, and either Jou or Seto taking a sip of water, there was silence.
And it wasn't a calm silence, either. It was an awkward silence. A long, awkward silence.
Then Jou broke it. "Hey, Seto? I don't get this problem."
Seto sighed in relief and looked over Jonouchi's shoulder. "Which one?"
Jou pointed. "Number ten."
"The boy plays basketball with his friend," read Seto. "He enjoys it very much."
"Oh. So 'enjoys' is this word?"
"Yes. Do you understand it now?"
"Yeah, I think so. Thanks."
And then the silence returned.
**
"Well, I'd better head back," said Jonouchi reluctantly. "It's getting late."
"Would you like me to walk you home?"
"Oh, it's all right. I'll be fine."
"If you say so," said Kaiba.
"So… I'll see ya tomorrow."
Kaiba smiled. "Right. Thank you."
"Nah, thank you. I feel like I'm going to ace this exam now!"
"'Bye."
I love it when he smiles.
I'm glad that I could help him.