A little introspective as a certain CEO muses about everybody's favourite blond. A birthday drabblefic dedicated to Jounouchi Katsuya-tanjoubi omedetou!-though not really as cheerful as one might assume.

Still, I hope you enjoy this here oneshot and remember to review.

Arigato gozaimasu!

Disclaimer: Don't own zip. Don't sue.

Summary: Kaiba does a little musing about Jounouchi. Non-yaoi, drabblefic.

Reviews: Pleeeeaaase...?

Black chocolate

Bittersweet.
And dark.
Like chocolate.
Despite his cheerful disposition, the inu is anything but the dumb, happy-go-lucky fool he tries to make everybody believe.
It's there in his eyes, if you care to look close enough.
The sadness, defeat and despair-and the last embers of a dying hope.
Oh, he hides it rather well, he even had me fooled into believing that he is, what he seems to be.
Everybody takes it for a given, this mask he wears, never realizing how much it bears him down.
Beause never mind how much he tries to make believe and how well he fits into the role, Jou is neither dumb, carefree nor content.
Well, dumb perhaps, but not happy.
And if he really were that stupid, he would not be bothered by his sorrows.
I know how it works, seeing as this is the one thing we got in common.
Each morning he will coat the bitter essence of his being with another white, sugary icing.
Each day he will fill the hollowness inside with the sweet, numbing liquor of friendship.
And for a while, it keeps him going, he can laugh, cheer, joke and be happy again.
Until the evening.
Until he is finally alone.
Only then, in the solitude and safety of his room, he will remove layer after layer of the inu along with his clothes, and can finally be free from his self-inducted torture, the prison he volunteerly locks himself inside.
Because he is nothing like the gold-and-honey Jounouchi.
But dark and bittersweet.

Like black chocolate.

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Hugs random Jou-muse) Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..!