Trip to Fall
by Lethe Seraph
Chapter Five: Look close
Where had the weekend gone?
He knew the logical answer, of course, but couldn't seem to grasp his mind around the thought that time passed at equal lengths no matter the magnitude of a situation.
Seto groaned and told the computer to shut up, he was awake – though not so rudely, of course. What would be the point? He slipped out of bed and padded toward the bathroom.
A good, long shower. That was what he needed. Then he would feel fine.
-
Elsewhere in Domino, a blond teen was having the same thoughts. They weren't nearly as coherent as Kaiba's, but they were there all the same.
"What the hell…" he muttered, switching the alarm clock off. It was still dark out. He shouldn't have to go to school when he didn't think it was even morning yet. The word 'morning' should only apply to times of the day when the sun had at least risen, for crying out loud. He toyed with the idea of just staying in bed and sleeping the day through. It wasn't such a bad thought, really. Even if Yugi, Honda, and especially Anzu would disapprove, it would make for a nice, restful day.
Or was it, suggested a voice in the back of his mind, that he was afraid to see Kaiba?
No. Nonononono. He was notthinking about that. He wasn't going to think about that again. He had been having some really weird dreams lately, and now Yugi and Honda thought he was madly in love with the stupid CEO!
Of course, for all he knew, it could be true.
Jonouchi rolled over and went back to sleep.
-
Kaiba glanced around the classroom upon entering. He didn't see Jonouchi. Was he relieved or disappointed? He wasn't sure himself. Kaiba swept past the giggling girls and talkative boys, and took his seat as well as a book.
He opened the book and resumed reading.
Who needed Jonouchi? He had his own mind.
The book was rather interesting, to be honest. The author, though not as fluid in vocabulary as Kaiba would have preferred, was quite adept at structuring events. They pulled the reader in, demanding their full attention. Kaiba leaned forward, deeply immersed in the world that enfolded him.
That, of course, was when Jonouchi showed up.
-
Jou skidded into the classroom just as the bell rang, and Yugi and Honda began applauding. Yugi grinned. "All right, Jou!" he cheered.
Anzu gave him a disapproving stare. "Jonouchi, you should wake up earlier. You don't want to risk being tardy again."
"The teacher's not even here yet!" he protested upon glancing around the room – noting, in the back of his mind, that Seto Kaiba looked rather more worn than usual. Gods forbid that a stray hair should escape his perfect do! He smirked slightly.
"Teacher or no teacher, you still have your conscience," chided Anzu. "What is it telling you now?"
Jou grinned foolishly. "That it's tired?"
She groaned and put her face in her hands. "Yugi, youtalk to him."
"He got here on time!" said Yugi supportively.
The teacher entered. She gave Jou the same look that Anzu had a mere moment ago.
"Jonouchi, why aren't you in your seat?"
At that moment, Jou realized that Kaiba had looked up from his book and had actually been staring at him for a while now. He gaped. Kaiba's expression wasn't insulting, it was… analyzing. Like Kaiba was trying to find something. It kind of disturbed Jou, not seeing that sneer – it reminded him of Friday. Friday, when Seto – when had he decided to use the other's first name? – had touched his cheek, stroked him gently, asked him…
"Don't you hate me?"
Jonouchi had been surprised by that question. He had never really thought about it before. What else was there, but argument and offense? It was a game in its own right, one that Yugi's other half would be hard-pressed to try and win. Though, to be fair, the spirit did at times display the same expression Kaiba often did – superiority in its highest, not to be challenged. Jonouchi had challenged Kaiba.
What had made him pull that "Seto-koi" stunt, anyway? It was just a joke, but he could have made other jokes. Like the ones before.
Only, he had wanted to do something different. Something that the boy would remember, even if he killed him afterward. "Yes, I remember him," Kaiba would have said a few decades later. "He was the brat who pissed me off enough that I hollowed his insides out with my mechanical pencil and burned him alive." Except he would have managed to make it sound completely acceptable and even that Jonouchi had deserved a worse death.
Kaiba's reaction was what really surprised him, so totally unlike the cold young man that he had gotten to loathe, and now the entire class was laughing at him because he had totally blanked out!
"You may sit down, Jonouchi!" exclaimed the teacher in a tone that told Jonouchi she had already said the same thing at least three times before.
His face flamed, and he took his seat without argument.
-
What had happened to Jonouchi, up at the front of the class? It seemed obvious to everyone that he had noticed, or thought of, something – but what? It couldn't have been him. Kaiba had to admit that he was rather … glad … that Jonouchi was out of it. It gave him an excuse to stare.
Perhaps he could find his answers in that face. Maybe it would explain to him exactly why he had needed so badly to touch it, to know just how Jonouchi's skin felt, during that one short moment. He frowned, and shook his head slightly to clear it. As before, it didn't help much. He turned his eyes back on Jonouchi, and realized – Jonouchi was watching him.
Jonouchi was watching him.
Why? Kaiba knew perfectly well that Friday's event had been just a stunt, a ruse to provoke his anger. It was nothing out of the ordinary, ignoring his the race of his heart, the flush of his cheeks, his lightheaded thoughts and dizzy steps as he made his way to the limousine that in fact had never come; he had had to take the bus, and find a new driver afterward.
He hadn't had the concentration to work on his new program all weekend…
As he had managed to realize, through the haze, before:
It was because of Jonouchi.
Jonouchi… what was his first name? Kaiba's superior memory couldn't recall: he had called the boy 'mutt' and 'pup' so often, he had forgotten the true name beneath the insults. It was amazing that he could remember as much as he did.
Jonouchi, first name unknown; about one hundred and seventy centimeters (he estimated one hundred and seventy-seven); slim and almost a match for his height. Kaiba could observe shaggy blond hair that contributed to his nickname, as well as a number of nicks and bruises on his arms, when the boy chose to expose them during warmer days. From the school's 'emergency database', which he had hacked quite a long while ago because of a lack of interesting lessons in his computer class: sixty-two kilograms, blood type B, born on the twenty-fifth of January. It didn't really seem to fit him, that wintry date: Jonouchi looked so open and energetic; one would guess that he was born in the summer – though that belief was completely unsupported by fact. Kaiba himself was born in October – October the twenty-fifth, actually. How about that?
And yet, he couldn't remember Jonouchi's first name. Had his friends ever called him by it? No, his memory supplied. It was always his last; sometimes Jonouchi, sometimes an affectionate Jou.
Jonouchi had remembered Kaiba's name.
Of course, he wasthe head of KaibaCorp. Everyone knew who he was.
It disturbed him that he couldn't remember.
But he wasn't about to ask…
Kaiba glanced at his watch, and nearly groaned aloud. If the rest of the day passed as slowly as these last five minutes had, he didn't know whathe would do.
And, a few desks away, Jonouchi's thoughts echoed his own…