Me wa Yori oi ni Deau-More Than Meets the Eye
Chapter 2
Rating: R
Author: Moonchild DJ
E-Mail: moonchilddj@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Yugioh and its characters do not belong to me, they belong to the lovely various companies that own 'em lock, stock and barrel. Sadly. :P I just use the characters for entertainment purposes, I always return them back the way I found them. ^_~ But I do own this story and its plot, so please don't take!
Author's Notes: Hello, minna-san! Moonchild DJ back, finally, with a new chapter to MTMtE..it's been quite a while, but I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. ^_^ I hope you all like it too, since it's way different than my usual writing style-not to mention pairings. ^^; Please let me know what you think, reviews are the greatest things to a struggling author. Dedicated to Demon Game, since she's been eager to see a new chapter to this..enjoy, sweetie, hope you like!
********
Morning came and went, life went on, regardless of Jou's troubled thoughts. He was lucky to be able to respond at all to any outside voice or duel properly, his thoughts were so muddled. But he pulled himself through to the best of his ability, though the memory of Pegasus with Seto kept trickling through his thoughts like a bad dream. A glance or two to that selfsame silver-haired man revealed that he knew what he was thinking.
His palms itched to wipe off that all-knowing arrogant smirk, but with the threat to his sister, he could do nothing. Helpless. And if there was anything he couldn't stand, it was feeling helpless. Angered honey brown eyes met cool, arrogant amber, clashed, locked in a contest of wills, before he was forced to drop the gaze before anyone noticed him deathglaring Pegasus. When it came his time to duel, he put his mind into that, to defeat Bandit Keith, though he could feel that amber gaze watching him. The golden Eye prying into his head.
'Would you leave me alone?!' he thought in the strongest way he could back to the prying presence. 'I'm trying to concentrate!' He pictured his mind like a large door, and snapped it shut, locking it.
'My, my, Jounouchi-boy. Touchy, aren't we.' Pegasus purred in his mind, a slow smile curving the man's features. 'Well..if worse came to worse, I could always trap you in a card. Wouldn't be the same one as Kaiba-boy's, but at least you would be in the same area, no?'
Jou growled under his breath. 'Yes, and be no closer to Seto than you are, eh?' he retorted, smirking when there was no comeback. He may have been young, but he wasn't stupid.
'Touché, Jounouchi-boy. You see a lot with those old eyes, don't you?'
'And without a freaky-looking golden Eye-thing, too.'
When no reply was given, he smiled to himself and continued dueling, thankfully coming out on top in the end. Of course, the other blond had to be a sore loser about it, but that was quickly taken care of, and felt a strange sense of weird pride when Pegasus congratulated him on his victory, though he didn't show it. Perhaps because they were more alike than he cared to admit..but when it came to dueling Yugi..that was another matter, entirely.
'Congratulations, Jounouchi-boy, you came this far. Let's see how you fare against your best friend.' Pegasus' voice again in his head, and he made a face.
'I hate you.'
'Yes, don't they all? Good luck, dear boy. You're going to need it.'
'I don't need your luck, Pegasus! You've got lousy luck.' he retorted, gritting his teeth.
'You've got courage, I'll give you that. Perhaps I'll let you see Seto if you prove yourself worthy, hmm?'
He flinched at that. That was bribery if he'd ever heard it, but what great incentive..as he faced down his best friend, he fought his hardest. Not just to prove himself, or even just for his sister. Seto..Seto had a stake in his determination, too.
In the end, he didn't come out on top-but he was still proud. He faced down a champion, and had fought a grand fight, had given his heart and soul to it. He accepted his loss with a high head, though he had lost his chance to nab the prize money for Shizuka, and perhaps lost his chance to see Seto, as well.
But looks could be deceiving. He'd learned that in dueling, and in life, and was pleasantly surprised when Yugi gave him the prize money, anyways. He stared at the card that clinched it, feeling relief flood through him. He hadn't lost, after all.
"Yes, life can hand you all sorts of things, good and bad, can't they, Jounouchi-boy?"
The blond jumped a little from his musing, lowering the card as he glared up at Pegasus. "It's the lull between duels, can't you give a guy some peace?" he snarled under his breath. "Or have you come to gloat because I lost?"
"But you haven't really lost." the silver-haired man replied, placing a hand on one slim hip as the other pushed through his hair. "You got what you wanted, what you came all this way to win, still holding your head up high with spirit intact. That's more than what some people could say."
He frowned at him. "Meaning..?"
"Meaning you proved yourself worthy. And I keep my promises."
"Huh. Coming from you, that's a shock."
Pegasus smirked. "I'm not totally evil, Jounouchi-boy."
"Could've fooled me."
He gave a long-suffering sigh. "Why must people believe so ill of me?"
"Oh, gee, I dunno, because you suckered Yugi and Seto into playing these games by taking what matters most to them?" he replied dryly.
"Touché. You do have a brain, after all." Pegasus shot back before turning on his heel and motioning him to follow him, smirking when the blond growled and stomped after him.
"You sound like Seto." he sighed, shaking his head.
Pegasus paused, then glanced at the blond teen over his shoulder as he walked. "Ever think that he does that for a purpose? Perhaps he likes to get you rattled, because he knows that he's the only one who can do so. A rush, if you will."
"He gets off on taunting me?" Jou blinked, then laughed. "That's a new one, but I doubt it. He just likes to torment me because he can. He hates my guts."
"Looks can be deceiving."
"Keep dreamin', Pony-boy. The time that I mean anything to him is when you do to him. We both have a snowball's chance in hell for that."
Pegasus frowned, pushing silver hair from his face as he glanced to the other, making a face. "You certainly know how to dampen a mood, Jounouchi- boy."
"What can I say..it's a gift." Jou smirked slightly. "You may hold all the cards, Pegasus, but sooner or later, you're gonna lose your grip. Yugi won't let you hold his grandfather forever, and y'know that Seto won't let you hold him and his brother. The sooner you understand that, the better."
"When did you get so cynical?"
"When I faced up to the fact that Seto Kaiba seeing me as anything more than a mutt was pretty much flattened." he snorted.
"Never say never." the man rejoined, pushing open a door and bowing him in. Jou just rolled his eyes and walked in, frowning at the other warily.
Pegasus smirked and led him into an inner room, motioning to a slumbering Seto, who was thankfully clothed this time. Or was that unthankfully? Jou blushed, gazing down at the brunette.
"He's beautiful, clothed or unclothed, isn't he?" Pegasus replied, chuckling when the blond snapped his head around to glare at him.
"Stop reading my mind."
"Aaaah, but one doesn't need to read your mind for that one, Jounouchi-boy. Anyone could plainly read that on your face."
Jou blushed. "It doesn't..show *that* badly, does it?"
Pegasus shook his head. "Only to those who pay attention to detail. And I'm afraid our dear Kaiba-boy can be rather blind, for all his intelligence."
Jou gave a grunt of acknowledgement, gazing down at the brunette tenderly. "Why do ya do this, Pegasus? If you like him that much, why don't you try to work into a real relationship, instead of something based on blackmail?"
"I have my reasons, Jounouchi-boy." Pegasus' voice slipped from its joviality, serious and quiet as he, too, glanced down at Seto. "I need part of his business, his technology,to..make amends for the past. He's rather stone-hearted, as you know, a sob story wouldn't get through to him."
"Sob story?" Jou murmured in surprise, gazing up at him. He frowned when the man just shook his head, not explaining. There was more to this than he thought, though he couldn't say what.
"When I first met up with Kaiba-boy, I was intrigued by him. Besides having the looks of a god, he's very intelligent. Gifted, but sad, in a way. While I had my own agendas, I also liked what I say. Pity that he didn't feel the same way. And when push comes to shove.."
The blond frowned thoughtfully as he mulled over the other's words. Even for all his duplicity and slightly-skewed demeanor, there was a tragic air to the man. He wasn't as fickle as he appeared to be. Just what was Pegasus J. Crawford's past, the reason he kept going?
The silver-haired man's lips twitched slightly, the golden Eye flashing between the silver strands. "Trust me, Jounouchi-boy..you don't want to know." he replied, wagging a finger. Jou sputtered.
"I thought I told you to stop reading my mind!"
"Sorry..force of habit."
Jou snorted and crossed his arms. "So are you gonna bring him back or just stare at him?"
"I'm not the only one staring." he replied with a smirk, watching the blond blush again as the Eye flashed brightly, and the CEO of KaibaCorp stirred to life.
Blue eyes slowly blinked open, coherency filling their depths after a moment, before he stared at the sight of Jou in the same room with Pegasus, and snapped, "What are you doing here?!"
"Now, now, Kaiba-boy. Jounouchi-boy was just concerned about your welfare, you needn't snap at him."
"Mind your own business." the brunette growled at the older man, then pinned the blond with a glare. "I don't know what you're doing here, but I suggest you leave." he replied in a low, frigid voice that didn't fail to make the other teen bristle.
"Claws in, Kaiba, unlike you, most of us don't have ice where a heart resides. I just wanted to make sure you're okay." Jou snarled back, fisting his hands.
Seto gave a skeptical snort and rolled his eyes as he sat up. "What, so you can tell Mutoh and the others how weak Seto Kaiba is? If you so much as breathe a word of this, mutt, I'll.."
Honey-brown eyes snapped, but before the blond could open his mouth, Pegasus placed a hand on his shoulder. He blinked up at him as the older man glanced between him and Seto.
"Now, Kaiba-boy. You really needn't be so paranoid. Jounouchi-boy really was concerned about you, he asked me, without the others' knowledge, of your welfare, and I allowed him to come see you to ease his mind. No more, no less."
It was more than that, and both he and Pegasus knew it. Jou blinked at the older man, then nodded slowly when he looked at him for confirmation. He didn't know what he was pulling, but he was pulling him right into it.
Seto frowned suspiciously, then sighed, crossing his arms. "Fine, fine. So you've seen to me. Happy, now? So go."
Jou gave a barely-evident wince and threw a look to Pegasus as if to prove his earlier words, then glanced back to Seto. "Excuse me for caring."
"Don't make me laugh. You, care for me? You hate me just as much as I hate you. There's no reason for you to care."
"Uh, it's called simple human compassion? We may not be able to get along, but it's not like I want you hurt!"
That seemed to stir something in the previously-brewing CEO, for he turned his head and blinked up at Jou. "You don't? Why? We're enemies."
Jou blinked back at him, stunned. He seemed almost confused, as if he couldn't figure out why he would care. Of course, there was the concept that he had feelings for the baka, but even if he didn't, he would still be concerned for him. Was the notion of someone caring for him that hard to grasp?
"Because we're enemies, I'm supposed to wish the worst to happen to you? What, do you regularly wish me to fall over a cliff every day?"
Seto blinked again. The pup was annoying, but not THAT annoying. "Of course not. That's only limited to the board members of KaibaCorp."
Jou bit his lip on a snicker of amusement, and he heard Pegasus choke back a chuckle behind him. "So you do have a sense of humor. I was worried..so you see? I don't wish any harm to you any more than you do to me."
The brunette rolled his eyes at the previous statement, then studied him after the latter. "You're a strange little puppy. The way we've had our fights, I thought for sure you'd wish me off of the face of the earth."
"Sorry to disappoint you."
"Well, it's like what they say, Kaiba-boy. All bark and no bite." Pegasus added, amber eyes dancing with amusement as the blond exploded as prompted.
"What is it with you people and dog jokes?! I'm not a dog!" Jou growled, causing both CEOs to share, for once, a mutual grin of amusement.
"Suuuure you're not, inu." Seto smirked, looking more like himself.
"Oi, Kaiba! Don't you start in!"
Pegasus smirked, as well. "My, Jounouchi-boy. You have it rrruff."
"Not you, too!" Jou groaned, shaking his head. "Why me?"
"Because it's rather fun to see you explode." The silver-haired man pointed out helpfully, chuckling to himself and placing a hand on the blond's head when he came at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Seto fighting to not burst out laughing, and smiled to himself. Jou was being more helpful than he knew.
"Ugh. Dog comments from the both of you. Lovely." Jou grumbled half- heartedly as he drew back, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Awww, poor puppy." Seto drawled once he'd regained his control-there was just something insanely amusing about the mutt and Pegasus going at fighting that threatened to ruin his cool reputation-and shook his head. "Don't like getting teased?"
"Not particularly, no."
"Tough." Seto smirked, then tilted his head as he watched the blond fidget. There was something vaguely soothing in the presence of both of them, though he had no idea why, since they were both his enemies. He drew a breath made to sound like an impatient sigh and glanced to Jou. "Sit down or something, your fidgeting is making me jumpy."
"Uh? Oh, sorry.." Jou blinked, then sat down at the foot of the bed. If this wasn't a weird experience, to be sitting so comfortably with someone he secretly loved and someone that was both his ally and rival at the same time..something he never expected, was that it was kind of pleasant, in its own way. So pleasant, in fact, that as they made small talk and slowly relaxed regarding each other, he about jumped out of his skin when Seto curled up against his shoulder and promptly fell asleep against him.
He stared wide-eyed at the brunette head against his shoulder, then glanced at Pegasus, who chuckled.
"He's probably exhausted, and he must feel comfortable enough around you. He's actually been communicative, for once. Maybe you're more useful than I thought."
Jou wrinkled his nose at the half-insult, half-compliment, and dared to raise his hand to stroke Seto's hair lightly. "I'm glad he does. Do you think this means that he's not as cold-hearted as he appears? That either of us might actually have a chance?"
"Perhaps." Pegasus murmured, taking a seat beside Seto, and stroked a fingertip against his cheek. "He's rather beautiful when he's sleeping, isn't he?"
"He's beautiful any time."
A soft chuckle. "You've got it bad, Jounouchi-boy."
"And you don't?" Jou retorted with a smirk.
"Touché." Pegasus smirked back, then tangled long fingers through silver skeins of hair. "Do you think you can keep coming back? I believe he enjoys your company, even if he doesn't say it. And you aren't as annoying as you appear."
"Gee, thanks a lot." Jou rolled his eyes, then sighed softly. "My sister?"
"Is perfectly safe. I just needed to cover all of my bases. That's only good business."
"Hmph." Jou grunted, then nodded. "I'll come back."
"Excellent. You won't regret it." Pegasus beamed, clasping his hands together.
Jou just quirked a brow skeptically and glanced at Seto. He stroked the soft brown hair lightly, thanking whatever good fortune he'd encountered to even have that chance, before sighing. "I should go.."
Pegasus nodded. "When should we expect you again?" he asked easily, as if discussing having someone over for tea, instead of having another captive to entertain another captive. Jou shook his head in amazement silently at the man's audacity.
"Tomorrow evening. After everything's calmed down."
The silver-haired man nodded again, then carefully eased Seto from his shoulder, laying him down gently. "Tomorrow, then."
He watched Pegasus tend to Seto, so tenderly, and felt a sting of jealousy, before he stood and nodded his goodbye, heading out again. Seto may have leaned upon him while asleep, defenses down, but he would never do that awake. It seemed that Pegasus had the better chance than he did. The thought made him sad, but he would make Seto happy, who was he to stand in his way? Regardless to what Seto thought, his happiness was more important than his own, and he didn't care if it would hurt, didn't care if he would have a broken heart.
"That's what someone does, when it comes to the one they love.." he murmured to himself as he trailed back through the halls.
******
~End Chapter 2~
Chapter 2
Rating: R
Author: Moonchild DJ
E-Mail: moonchilddj@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Yugioh and its characters do not belong to me, they belong to the lovely various companies that own 'em lock, stock and barrel. Sadly. :P I just use the characters for entertainment purposes, I always return them back the way I found them. ^_~ But I do own this story and its plot, so please don't take!
Author's Notes: Hello, minna-san! Moonchild DJ back, finally, with a new chapter to MTMtE..it's been quite a while, but I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. ^_^ I hope you all like it too, since it's way different than my usual writing style-not to mention pairings. ^^; Please let me know what you think, reviews are the greatest things to a struggling author. Dedicated to Demon Game, since she's been eager to see a new chapter to this..enjoy, sweetie, hope you like!
********
Morning came and went, life went on, regardless of Jou's troubled thoughts. He was lucky to be able to respond at all to any outside voice or duel properly, his thoughts were so muddled. But he pulled himself through to the best of his ability, though the memory of Pegasus with Seto kept trickling through his thoughts like a bad dream. A glance or two to that selfsame silver-haired man revealed that he knew what he was thinking.
His palms itched to wipe off that all-knowing arrogant smirk, but with the threat to his sister, he could do nothing. Helpless. And if there was anything he couldn't stand, it was feeling helpless. Angered honey brown eyes met cool, arrogant amber, clashed, locked in a contest of wills, before he was forced to drop the gaze before anyone noticed him deathglaring Pegasus. When it came his time to duel, he put his mind into that, to defeat Bandit Keith, though he could feel that amber gaze watching him. The golden Eye prying into his head.
'Would you leave me alone?!' he thought in the strongest way he could back to the prying presence. 'I'm trying to concentrate!' He pictured his mind like a large door, and snapped it shut, locking it.
'My, my, Jounouchi-boy. Touchy, aren't we.' Pegasus purred in his mind, a slow smile curving the man's features. 'Well..if worse came to worse, I could always trap you in a card. Wouldn't be the same one as Kaiba-boy's, but at least you would be in the same area, no?'
Jou growled under his breath. 'Yes, and be no closer to Seto than you are, eh?' he retorted, smirking when there was no comeback. He may have been young, but he wasn't stupid.
'Touché, Jounouchi-boy. You see a lot with those old eyes, don't you?'
'And without a freaky-looking golden Eye-thing, too.'
When no reply was given, he smiled to himself and continued dueling, thankfully coming out on top in the end. Of course, the other blond had to be a sore loser about it, but that was quickly taken care of, and felt a strange sense of weird pride when Pegasus congratulated him on his victory, though he didn't show it. Perhaps because they were more alike than he cared to admit..but when it came to dueling Yugi..that was another matter, entirely.
'Congratulations, Jounouchi-boy, you came this far. Let's see how you fare against your best friend.' Pegasus' voice again in his head, and he made a face.
'I hate you.'
'Yes, don't they all? Good luck, dear boy. You're going to need it.'
'I don't need your luck, Pegasus! You've got lousy luck.' he retorted, gritting his teeth.
'You've got courage, I'll give you that. Perhaps I'll let you see Seto if you prove yourself worthy, hmm?'
He flinched at that. That was bribery if he'd ever heard it, but what great incentive..as he faced down his best friend, he fought his hardest. Not just to prove himself, or even just for his sister. Seto..Seto had a stake in his determination, too.
In the end, he didn't come out on top-but he was still proud. He faced down a champion, and had fought a grand fight, had given his heart and soul to it. He accepted his loss with a high head, though he had lost his chance to nab the prize money for Shizuka, and perhaps lost his chance to see Seto, as well.
But looks could be deceiving. He'd learned that in dueling, and in life, and was pleasantly surprised when Yugi gave him the prize money, anyways. He stared at the card that clinched it, feeling relief flood through him. He hadn't lost, after all.
"Yes, life can hand you all sorts of things, good and bad, can't they, Jounouchi-boy?"
The blond jumped a little from his musing, lowering the card as he glared up at Pegasus. "It's the lull between duels, can't you give a guy some peace?" he snarled under his breath. "Or have you come to gloat because I lost?"
"But you haven't really lost." the silver-haired man replied, placing a hand on one slim hip as the other pushed through his hair. "You got what you wanted, what you came all this way to win, still holding your head up high with spirit intact. That's more than what some people could say."
He frowned at him. "Meaning..?"
"Meaning you proved yourself worthy. And I keep my promises."
"Huh. Coming from you, that's a shock."
Pegasus smirked. "I'm not totally evil, Jounouchi-boy."
"Could've fooled me."
He gave a long-suffering sigh. "Why must people believe so ill of me?"
"Oh, gee, I dunno, because you suckered Yugi and Seto into playing these games by taking what matters most to them?" he replied dryly.
"Touché. You do have a brain, after all." Pegasus shot back before turning on his heel and motioning him to follow him, smirking when the blond growled and stomped after him.
"You sound like Seto." he sighed, shaking his head.
Pegasus paused, then glanced at the blond teen over his shoulder as he walked. "Ever think that he does that for a purpose? Perhaps he likes to get you rattled, because he knows that he's the only one who can do so. A rush, if you will."
"He gets off on taunting me?" Jou blinked, then laughed. "That's a new one, but I doubt it. He just likes to torment me because he can. He hates my guts."
"Looks can be deceiving."
"Keep dreamin', Pony-boy. The time that I mean anything to him is when you do to him. We both have a snowball's chance in hell for that."
Pegasus frowned, pushing silver hair from his face as he glanced to the other, making a face. "You certainly know how to dampen a mood, Jounouchi- boy."
"What can I say..it's a gift." Jou smirked slightly. "You may hold all the cards, Pegasus, but sooner or later, you're gonna lose your grip. Yugi won't let you hold his grandfather forever, and y'know that Seto won't let you hold him and his brother. The sooner you understand that, the better."
"When did you get so cynical?"
"When I faced up to the fact that Seto Kaiba seeing me as anything more than a mutt was pretty much flattened." he snorted.
"Never say never." the man rejoined, pushing open a door and bowing him in. Jou just rolled his eyes and walked in, frowning at the other warily.
Pegasus smirked and led him into an inner room, motioning to a slumbering Seto, who was thankfully clothed this time. Or was that unthankfully? Jou blushed, gazing down at the brunette.
"He's beautiful, clothed or unclothed, isn't he?" Pegasus replied, chuckling when the blond snapped his head around to glare at him.
"Stop reading my mind."
"Aaaah, but one doesn't need to read your mind for that one, Jounouchi-boy. Anyone could plainly read that on your face."
Jou blushed. "It doesn't..show *that* badly, does it?"
Pegasus shook his head. "Only to those who pay attention to detail. And I'm afraid our dear Kaiba-boy can be rather blind, for all his intelligence."
Jou gave a grunt of acknowledgement, gazing down at the brunette tenderly. "Why do ya do this, Pegasus? If you like him that much, why don't you try to work into a real relationship, instead of something based on blackmail?"
"I have my reasons, Jounouchi-boy." Pegasus' voice slipped from its joviality, serious and quiet as he, too, glanced down at Seto. "I need part of his business, his technology,to..make amends for the past. He's rather stone-hearted, as you know, a sob story wouldn't get through to him."
"Sob story?" Jou murmured in surprise, gazing up at him. He frowned when the man just shook his head, not explaining. There was more to this than he thought, though he couldn't say what.
"When I first met up with Kaiba-boy, I was intrigued by him. Besides having the looks of a god, he's very intelligent. Gifted, but sad, in a way. While I had my own agendas, I also liked what I say. Pity that he didn't feel the same way. And when push comes to shove.."
The blond frowned thoughtfully as he mulled over the other's words. Even for all his duplicity and slightly-skewed demeanor, there was a tragic air to the man. He wasn't as fickle as he appeared to be. Just what was Pegasus J. Crawford's past, the reason he kept going?
The silver-haired man's lips twitched slightly, the golden Eye flashing between the silver strands. "Trust me, Jounouchi-boy..you don't want to know." he replied, wagging a finger. Jou sputtered.
"I thought I told you to stop reading my mind!"
"Sorry..force of habit."
Jou snorted and crossed his arms. "So are you gonna bring him back or just stare at him?"
"I'm not the only one staring." he replied with a smirk, watching the blond blush again as the Eye flashed brightly, and the CEO of KaibaCorp stirred to life.
Blue eyes slowly blinked open, coherency filling their depths after a moment, before he stared at the sight of Jou in the same room with Pegasus, and snapped, "What are you doing here?!"
"Now, now, Kaiba-boy. Jounouchi-boy was just concerned about your welfare, you needn't snap at him."
"Mind your own business." the brunette growled at the older man, then pinned the blond with a glare. "I don't know what you're doing here, but I suggest you leave." he replied in a low, frigid voice that didn't fail to make the other teen bristle.
"Claws in, Kaiba, unlike you, most of us don't have ice where a heart resides. I just wanted to make sure you're okay." Jou snarled back, fisting his hands.
Seto gave a skeptical snort and rolled his eyes as he sat up. "What, so you can tell Mutoh and the others how weak Seto Kaiba is? If you so much as breathe a word of this, mutt, I'll.."
Honey-brown eyes snapped, but before the blond could open his mouth, Pegasus placed a hand on his shoulder. He blinked up at him as the older man glanced between him and Seto.
"Now, Kaiba-boy. You really needn't be so paranoid. Jounouchi-boy really was concerned about you, he asked me, without the others' knowledge, of your welfare, and I allowed him to come see you to ease his mind. No more, no less."
It was more than that, and both he and Pegasus knew it. Jou blinked at the older man, then nodded slowly when he looked at him for confirmation. He didn't know what he was pulling, but he was pulling him right into it.
Seto frowned suspiciously, then sighed, crossing his arms. "Fine, fine. So you've seen to me. Happy, now? So go."
Jou gave a barely-evident wince and threw a look to Pegasus as if to prove his earlier words, then glanced back to Seto. "Excuse me for caring."
"Don't make me laugh. You, care for me? You hate me just as much as I hate you. There's no reason for you to care."
"Uh, it's called simple human compassion? We may not be able to get along, but it's not like I want you hurt!"
That seemed to stir something in the previously-brewing CEO, for he turned his head and blinked up at Jou. "You don't? Why? We're enemies."
Jou blinked back at him, stunned. He seemed almost confused, as if he couldn't figure out why he would care. Of course, there was the concept that he had feelings for the baka, but even if he didn't, he would still be concerned for him. Was the notion of someone caring for him that hard to grasp?
"Because we're enemies, I'm supposed to wish the worst to happen to you? What, do you regularly wish me to fall over a cliff every day?"
Seto blinked again. The pup was annoying, but not THAT annoying. "Of course not. That's only limited to the board members of KaibaCorp."
Jou bit his lip on a snicker of amusement, and he heard Pegasus choke back a chuckle behind him. "So you do have a sense of humor. I was worried..so you see? I don't wish any harm to you any more than you do to me."
The brunette rolled his eyes at the previous statement, then studied him after the latter. "You're a strange little puppy. The way we've had our fights, I thought for sure you'd wish me off of the face of the earth."
"Sorry to disappoint you."
"Well, it's like what they say, Kaiba-boy. All bark and no bite." Pegasus added, amber eyes dancing with amusement as the blond exploded as prompted.
"What is it with you people and dog jokes?! I'm not a dog!" Jou growled, causing both CEOs to share, for once, a mutual grin of amusement.
"Suuuure you're not, inu." Seto smirked, looking more like himself.
"Oi, Kaiba! Don't you start in!"
Pegasus smirked, as well. "My, Jounouchi-boy. You have it rrruff."
"Not you, too!" Jou groaned, shaking his head. "Why me?"
"Because it's rather fun to see you explode." The silver-haired man pointed out helpfully, chuckling to himself and placing a hand on the blond's head when he came at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Seto fighting to not burst out laughing, and smiled to himself. Jou was being more helpful than he knew.
"Ugh. Dog comments from the both of you. Lovely." Jou grumbled half- heartedly as he drew back, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Awww, poor puppy." Seto drawled once he'd regained his control-there was just something insanely amusing about the mutt and Pegasus going at fighting that threatened to ruin his cool reputation-and shook his head. "Don't like getting teased?"
"Not particularly, no."
"Tough." Seto smirked, then tilted his head as he watched the blond fidget. There was something vaguely soothing in the presence of both of them, though he had no idea why, since they were both his enemies. He drew a breath made to sound like an impatient sigh and glanced to Jou. "Sit down or something, your fidgeting is making me jumpy."
"Uh? Oh, sorry.." Jou blinked, then sat down at the foot of the bed. If this wasn't a weird experience, to be sitting so comfortably with someone he secretly loved and someone that was both his ally and rival at the same time..something he never expected, was that it was kind of pleasant, in its own way. So pleasant, in fact, that as they made small talk and slowly relaxed regarding each other, he about jumped out of his skin when Seto curled up against his shoulder and promptly fell asleep against him.
He stared wide-eyed at the brunette head against his shoulder, then glanced at Pegasus, who chuckled.
"He's probably exhausted, and he must feel comfortable enough around you. He's actually been communicative, for once. Maybe you're more useful than I thought."
Jou wrinkled his nose at the half-insult, half-compliment, and dared to raise his hand to stroke Seto's hair lightly. "I'm glad he does. Do you think this means that he's not as cold-hearted as he appears? That either of us might actually have a chance?"
"Perhaps." Pegasus murmured, taking a seat beside Seto, and stroked a fingertip against his cheek. "He's rather beautiful when he's sleeping, isn't he?"
"He's beautiful any time."
A soft chuckle. "You've got it bad, Jounouchi-boy."
"And you don't?" Jou retorted with a smirk.
"Touché." Pegasus smirked back, then tangled long fingers through silver skeins of hair. "Do you think you can keep coming back? I believe he enjoys your company, even if he doesn't say it. And you aren't as annoying as you appear."
"Gee, thanks a lot." Jou rolled his eyes, then sighed softly. "My sister?"
"Is perfectly safe. I just needed to cover all of my bases. That's only good business."
"Hmph." Jou grunted, then nodded. "I'll come back."
"Excellent. You won't regret it." Pegasus beamed, clasping his hands together.
Jou just quirked a brow skeptically and glanced at Seto. He stroked the soft brown hair lightly, thanking whatever good fortune he'd encountered to even have that chance, before sighing. "I should go.."
Pegasus nodded. "When should we expect you again?" he asked easily, as if discussing having someone over for tea, instead of having another captive to entertain another captive. Jou shook his head in amazement silently at the man's audacity.
"Tomorrow evening. After everything's calmed down."
The silver-haired man nodded again, then carefully eased Seto from his shoulder, laying him down gently. "Tomorrow, then."
He watched Pegasus tend to Seto, so tenderly, and felt a sting of jealousy, before he stood and nodded his goodbye, heading out again. Seto may have leaned upon him while asleep, defenses down, but he would never do that awake. It seemed that Pegasus had the better chance than he did. The thought made him sad, but he would make Seto happy, who was he to stand in his way? Regardless to what Seto thought, his happiness was more important than his own, and he didn't care if it would hurt, didn't care if he would have a broken heart.
"That's what someone does, when it comes to the one they love.." he murmured to himself as he trailed back through the halls.
******
~End Chapter 2~