Smile
Part Two
by Lethe
Chapter Twenty-Six: Forever by Your Side
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Why is it that whenever I imagine Jou and Seto at the movies, Seto is always sitting on the right?
I actually am not very fond of Dexter's Lab… and I don't watch Tenchi Muyo… but hey, ::shrugs:: whatever.
Auuh! I went to NYC over the weekend, and it was awesome! The Pokemon Center was so cool!!! ::hearts::
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"You scum! I, Pickleman, shall take revenge upon your heinous misdeeds!"
"Hahahaha!!! You shall never destroy me! Bonbon Blast!!!"
"No! Pickleman!"
"Do not worry… Ketchup Girl…"
Seto's eye twitched. Why had they chosen this movie? Why had that Scuttlebot movie even rated a sequel?
Jonouchi's fingers slipped further into his and he remembered.
…Some things can be lived through, I suppose…
"Jou," he whispered over the shouts of Pickleman and the Caped Candy.
"Hmm?"
"Have I ever told you that I love you?"
Jonouchi grinned. "Oh, never."
Seto took Jonouchi's shoulder and pulled him closer. "I love you."
"I love you too, Seto…" Jou nuzzled into Seto's side.
A loud whistle from the back – and they snapped apart, blushing.
--
"How do you do this problem?"
"That one? That's easy!" he exclaimed cheerfully, grabbing a pencil and scribbling on the paper. "See, the quadratic equation is x equals negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four times a times c over two times a, right?"
"Um… I guess?"
"See, a is this number here. And b is this one. Which means…"
"C is this one?"
"Right on!"
"Okay, so I would…"
"You would substitute them into the equation," said Mokuba proudly. "Darn, I'm good."
Shizuka laughed. "Right."
Mokuba sighed then. "It's sad, though."
"What?"
"We haven't been able to plot anything lately."
"I know!" said Shizuka. "Of course, that's because…"
"They've gotten together on their own now," finished Mokuba.
"I wonder how far they've gotten, though?" said Shizuka with a devious grin. Mokuba's grew to match hers.
"I think it's
time we put my brother's technology to good use…" said Mokuba wickedly. "To the lab, Dee Dee!"
"Heyyy! You
should be Dee Dee!"
"Nuh
uh," said Mokuba, shaking his head. "You
can be Dexter next time, though, okay?"
Shizuka beamed. "Okay. And after that, I'm going to be Washu!"
"Well, then, I'll be the guy from Flubber." Mokuba stuck out his tongue.
"Race you downstairs!"
"No fair! No fair!"
--
"So…" said Jonouchi, twirling his spoon through the bowl of ice cream and taking a big bite. "That was fun."
Seto nodded. "The movie itself didn't interest me, though."
Jonouchi stared at him. "You too?! I just chose the movie because I thought you liked the last one!"
Seto spat out the water he had been drinking, and Jonouchi laughed. "Now there's something you don't see every day."
The dark look Seto threw at him was unrivaled by any other. "You won't see it ever again, either!"
"I should hope not," said Jou mournfully, looking down at his shirt. "You got my clothes all wet."
"Exaggeration, pup," said Seto. "I only got your shirt wet. And besides, you deserved it."
"I'd throw my ice cream at you, if it didn't taste so good," said Jonouchi after another bite.
Seto rolled his eyes.
"It really does! Try some," said Jonouchi, proffering his laden spoon.
"All right," said Seto mildly. Jonouchi grinned and put his spoon to Seto's lips.
"Good?"
Seto nodded. "Good."
"Too bad there's none left now," said Jonouchi. "If there were, I'd share it with you."
Seto smiled and leaned over the table. He kissed Jonouchi.
"Next best thing, huh?" said Jonouchi.
"The best thing."
--
"Why am I hanging out with you?" he grumbled. With his arms draped comfortably over the park bench, though, Otogi didn't take Honda seriously. He looked too comfortable to be complaining.
"Because I'm the love of your life and we're going to spend every minute we can together?" suggested Otogi lightly.
"Hn. You're the love of my life now?"
"If I'm not, I'm going to be soon," said Otogi.
"I'm sure." Honda closed his eyes and sighed. "The sun feels warm."
"What did you expect, genius?"
"That's my line," said Honda. "Besides, you know what I mean anyway."
"It has been getting chillier lately, hasn't it?" said Otogi.
"Yeah…" agreed Honda.
Otogi stretched, catlike, and stood. Honda immediately jumped up. "Are we going?"
"If you want to," said Otogi. "I just didn't feel like sitting any more, after all the time we spent in that restaurant."
"And yet the sun is still up. Yes, summer is truly amazing," said Honda.
"That it is."
Honda raised an eyebrow. "Did you just say 'that it is'?"
Otogi slapped his own forehead lightly. "Oops. I guess I should cut back on the anime."
"Heh. Whatever. It kinda suits you… kinda."
Otogi grinned. "More than it suits Jonouchi, I'd bet."
Honda was quiet.
Then Otogi hit his head again, harder. "Ah, I shouldn't have said that…"
"Forget it," said Honda. "It's okay."
Otogi looked closely at Honda. "Hiroto, are you all right?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" said Honda. Otogi would have believed him, had Honda's voice not risen about a decibel.
"Are you feeling all right?" clarified Otogi. "What do you feel towards Jonouchi?"
"I… well, it's weird…" Honda sank back onto the bench. Otogi followed.
"It's all right," said Otogi. "You can tell me."
"I mean… you and I have been on dates, and I honestly have fun, but sometimes… well, it hurts."
"I would be surprised if you didn't hurt every now and then," said Otogi in a quiet voice. "Getting over somebody can be rough."
"Yeah, I'm sure you know all about it," said Honda.
Otogi smiled sadly. "No, as a matter of fact, I don't. But I'd like to."
Honda glanced sharply at him. "You would?"
"Not first-hand, of course, but I can hear about it from you."
Honda actually smiled then, and Otogi looked at him in surprise. This smile was something new. He had seen Honda smile before, true, but wasn't it usually that joking grin he shared with his friends? or the triumphant, laughing smile as he completed a tough assignment? or the forced smile when he was fibbing to Shizuka and he knew it? There were more than he could name... but he had seen them.
Otogi had thought he knew all of Honda's expressions, and here he was, realizing that maybe – maybe – there was more to this person than met the eye. He was seeing the true Honda, he realized. All barriers down, all defenses cast aside. Hiroto trusted him.
Unless it was another layer, and the real Honda was still hidden underneath…
--
"Summer's almost over," said Kaiba.
Jou sighed exaggeratedly. "Thanks for reminding me. You would just brighten up any party, wouldn't you?"
"Sorry," said Seto – Jonouchi marveled inwardly at how much he had changed since last fall – "but I was thinking…"
"You? Think?"
"Yes, me." Seto raised an eyebrow. "I do enough thinking for the entire city of Domino."
"Yeah, yeah…" said Jou.
"In any case… have you made a decision?"
"Hm?"
"College," said Seto. "What are you going to do with your life?"
"Be with you forever," mumbled Jonouchi, snuggling into Seto's side.
Seto smiled tenderly before shoving Jonouchi away. "It's not naptime yet, pup."
"Aww!" protested Jonouchi.
"You have to answer."
"Well, uh…" said Jonouchi. "To tell the truth…"