Pairing: Kaiba/Jonouchi
Rating: PG-13 for mature themes
Genre: Romance, I suppose
Chapters: One-shot.
Spoilers: Mild mention on Gozaburo's death. Nothing other than that.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Comments: This idea mauled me. I have NO idea where it came from. Anyway, it's a change from all the fluffy, happy-ending KaiJou fics out there. It's not angsty. It's just... well, more realistic (I think!) I suppose.
I'm also posting this story to apologize to all of my YuGiOh fans. As of late I've begun to lose interest in the series and I can't promise much on the matter of updating my other stories or getting more out. I'm sure this won't be my last YGO piece but...well, unless inspiration kicks back in I can't be sure how much longer the series will hold my attention.
Anyway! That's what this is for..! An apology and an informer! 8D It's different than the way I normally write the pairing but... Oo I actually like this piece.
HUGE thanks to my beta, Moonchild DJ!! Sankyuu so much, onee-chan!
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Hooking up with Kaiba…
It wasn't anything like I'd been expecting.
I swear, it took us forever to even get to talking on civil terms. FOREVER. I love my friends, really I do, but their attempts at helping… it made everything that much harder. Kaiba does not appreciate being thrown into a game of matchmaking and a week after Anzu got the idea in motion, he caught on.
He's always been too damned perceptive for his own good.
But that's one of the things I like about him. Most of the time, at least.
And yes, I did say "like", not "love". I do like Kaiba – he's my boyfriend, after all. I don't think that works with somebody you don't like – but I'm not sure if I actually LOVE him yet. He's a hard guy to like as it is. I think I'll take my time with screwy emotions.
Anyway, back on track. Matchmaking is not something you want to get Kaiba involved in. Not only does he figure out it's going on too damned fast but he also figures out exactly who you're trying to hook him up with AND manages to side step all of your plans without so much as a flick of his trench coat. He always had the perfect excuses for turning down Anzu's elaborate plans and knew exactly how to dodge any "traps" set out.
Again, I love my friends. I know they meant well but I think that if they'd let things lie then we would've hooked up faster than we did. Hell, our first really "friendly" conversation was initiated when Kaiba finally got fed up with the pathetic attempts at hooking us up. He wanted me to get my friends to back off and leave him alone. Since I'd been in about the same mind frame at that fourth week, I agreed whole-heartedly and assured him I'd try.
Give the man a little respect – whether he deserves it or not – and he'll cave enough not to call you names. He didn't boast about it like I thought he would, though. I mean, when I agreed to do something for him you'd think he'd go on about the "puppy finally obeying his master" or some weird shit like that.
Nothing.
Nothing like that, at least. He just smirked and nodded. I actually thought that was going to be the end of it and was about to head on when he asked me why my friends thought he needed some "half-assed matchmaker attempts" to get him to ask me out.
Now, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to take that. The wording suggests he might want to ask me out but with Kaiba you can never be too sure. So I just shrugged and told him I had no idea. His response?
"I see. Nn. Well tell them I'll get around to inviting you out once they're off my back and my schedule's clear enough to do so."
Then he left.
Blunt, ain't he? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't shocked but I'd also be lying if I went on about how "life-changing" that was and how I could've cried for having my "undying love finally returned!" Because that's just bullshit.
I wanted to sleep with him, not live happily ever after with him. He was good looking and I don't really give a damn about gender. Plus, you can't banter with somebody every day like that and not feel SOMETHING. Hate was always a possibility but I still can't figure out where that died and lust took over.
Trust me, he's still an annoying bastard but he's a damn good kisser. So I guess that evens things out some.
I think Anzu was the most hung up on that soul mates shit. I mean, she hated Kaiba when we first met and still thinks he's a bit of a dick but she's also gotten herself hyped on this "yaoi" genre and is half ass-kicker, half hopeless romantic now.
Yugi was glad he didn't have to be dragged into any more matchmaking schemes and Honda's advice was to at least get a good lay out of it. So very Honda, that is.
Everything didn't just turn to hearts and rainbows after that, though. I mean, Kaiba finally did take me out to dinner and we started hooking up after school but he didn't suddenly become this romantic god or anything.
He was still an ass and we still argued – just not to the point of wanting to kill each other over it.
We've been together for… oh, four months now, I think. Kaiba still thinks my friends are annoying and refuses to spend any more time than necessary with them. I still live with dad but usually spend Saturday nights with Kaiba. Not every Saturday, mind you, but he's such a damned workaholic it's one of the only times we can hook up without having to worry about being up at some ungodly hour in the morning.
He doesn't put off work for me and I don't put off my own job for him. We just compromise time. I personally think it works better this way. We'd get sick of each other if we spent THAT much time together. Trust me. We still manage to piss each other off after a couple hours together sometimes, much less days or something.
Let me tell you, though, just because we're "boyfriends" now doesn't mean Kaiba's changed. Sure, he doesn't call me a mutt anymore and we sleep together, but hell if that does anything for his personality.
He's a workaholic. Even Mokuba has a hard time getting him to put stuff off for a little while, much less me. I don't try any more. After he threw me out of the house for a week and a half for turning off his laptop, I learned better. I don't visit him at work either. I don't want to and he doesn't want me there. I stopped by once and was bored out of my skull. He said I was annoying while I was there.
Typical.
I also don't know much more about his past. I know he and Mokuba were in an orphanage and I know Gozaburo jumped the window after Kaiba took over the company but other than that… nothing. Kaiba doesn't like to open up to people – even if he is banging them. But he doesn't ask about dad's drinking, either, so we're even. Those are things better left alone, I think. The last thing either of us need is giving anybody a reason to start throwing on the pity.
Neither one of us want it so we don't talk about it. That's fine by me. I don't really care to be honest. If whatever shit went down in his life before we met is THAT important, he'd mention it. Otherwise, I don't need to know. The present is what's important, after all.
After all of this, though, it probably makes you wonder why I put up with him, ne?
I don't know.
He's good in bed and this is certainly a better way of interacting than the non-stop bantering. Besides, I do like him and, even though he's never said anything, I know he's got to like me at least a little. He wouldn't put up with me as much as he does otherwise.
All in all, Kaiba's a good guy deep down. I don't care if that side never really comes out for more than a few seconds at a time. It's there and that's all that matters. I also think that, if even only a little, Kaiba likes being accepted as the asshole he tends to be. He's always a little nicer around Mokuba but the snappy, glare-prone Kaiba I know is the real him. It's what he's become after god-knows-what and I'm okay with that.
In the four months we've been together, I can count the number of times he's full out smiled at me on one hand. I think he's hotter when he smirks, anyway. But I guess those tiny peeks of humanity in him are little bits of assurance that there's hope for us yet.
He doesn't love me. I know that. Like I said earlier, I don't love him. We just… like each other on some strange level. And we're both content with that for now. Who knows, maybe a year down the road there'll be something else there but until then I'm happy with what I have.
Opposites might attract but, when it comes right down to it, we're not opposites. We're the same thing. I guess we just "click". Girls are always clingy and hyped up on all this romantic shit I'd rather skip. Between Kaiba and I, though, we know how much distance we need to give each other and we know how much excessive affection is really necessary.
He's never called me Katsuya.
I don't want him to.
That'd be…weird. We're close, I guess, but not like that. I still call him Kaiba and he still calls me Jonouchi. That's the way it is between us. Simple, to the point and comfortable.
That's the way we like it.