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Mokuba
Niisama had been acting strange for nearly two weeks.
I looked from him out through the windows, perched comfortably on a little ledge in front of the window. It was where I always sat when I was in Niisama's room, just because could sit and stare outside. At that particular moment I was watching the driveway and the road beyond – I could see it all from where I sat. I was waiting for Jou, but Niisama didn't know that; if he did, he'd never leave us alone. As bad as I felt about sort-of deceiving him, I didn't really want him spending the entire night hovering in doorways.
A strange smell filled the room, and I crinkled my nose against it.
Cologne.
I looked at Niisama in surprise. The way he'd started spending a little less time at work had been odd but welcome; I figured he had finally found an interest that wasn't Kaiba Corp, or me, and I wasn't about to object to that. For an eighteen-year-old, Niisama lacked normal hobbies, and I was ready to welcome one that wasn't life threatening.
Then he started dressing up. I hadn't seen Seto look in a mirror any longer than twenty seconds before, but suddenly he would spend a couple minutes examining every aspect of himself just as critically as he would look at programs or figures at work. But never, EVER in my life had I seen Seto use cologne; I didn't even know he owned any.
The look, the care taken to cultivate it… He was obviously seeing someone. "Alright, spill it," I demanded.
"Hm? I don't know what you're talking about," he said flippantly, finishing buttoning his shirt. I shook my head – if Niisama thought I was clueless, he had another thing coming.
"You've been doing this too long for it to be a fling – who's the girl? Did you meet her at work, or was it a chance meeting on the street? Is she hard to impress? She must be, if you're trying so hard." I had to grin, watching him straighten out the shirt he was wearing. "And if she is hard to impress, you should unbutton the first button or two – you're not too old to be good looking, right?"
He smirked at himself in the mirror, casting a sidelong glance over at me. "Hardly. She's young, and a little silly."
"Is she nice?"
"Very." He looked down at his watch. "I'm going now; be good while I'm gone."
"Of course," I said angelically – and I knew he didn't buy it. He rolled his eyes and left the room; I watched out the window as he left – and he undid one of the top buttons of his shirt as he got in the car. There was DEFINTELY something up with Niisama – I'd just have to make him tell me all about it when he got home. After all, there had to be more to this girl than young, silly, and nice – it just didn't add up…
Then again, in the past two weeks, trying to impress a girl hadn't been the only odd thing that Niisama had done – he had also been weirdly calm about my relationship with Jou. He didn't rant, swear, or try anything weird to break us up – instead, he tried to use rationality. But even then, he was a lot cooler about it than I thought he'd be… and I felt a little guilty sometimes; Niisama must've trusted me a lot, and I used that to my advantage sometimes… But I never broke his rules, not once. After all, just because Jou wasn't allowed in my room didn't mean he wasn't allowed to visit the house…
No matter what Niisama thought of him, or his reasons, I liked how things were going with Jou. My friends always talked about dating and how girls were hard to deal with – "Everything's about being a good boyfriend," they'd say, "and it's impossible to be a good boyfriend."
I didn't see it; Jou was a great boyfriend: nice, sweet, silly, strong, and – boy! – could he kiss. Not that I had kissed a whole lot of people in my life (most of them were dares or games), but I was smart enough to know when it was good.
Speaking of Jou, I peeked out the window; he was coming up the front walk. I grinned and hopped down from the ledge, running down to meet him; I made it to the door as he rang the bell and hugged him. If only I weren't so much shorter than him. In a couple of years I'd be bigger, but for the time being… At least I was taller than Yuugi.
"Enthusiastic greeting," he teased, ruffling my hair. I grinned up at him and let him go.
"C'mon," I ordered, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him to the game room. The original idea was that we were going to play video games, but I had a much better plan than that. After all, friends played video games, but weren't boyfriends supposed to do something more? Truth be told, I was curious. He followed, laughing and teasing me the whole way about how 'eager' I was. He plopped down on the couch when we arrived in room.
"So, what's the game?" he asked, silly grin on his face. Instead of answering I leaned in tentatively, still standing, and kissed him. Before I knew it I was in his lap, and his mouth was attached my neck, one arm wrapped around my waist. I had my head tossed back to give him more room, and my hands were tangled in his hair. He chuckled against the skin of my neck. "You're pulling my hair, kid," he said huskily. "Am I that good?" His teeth grazed my skin, and I nodded, whimpering as the hand against my back ventured lower, cupping my jean-clad backside.
Even I knew that was what boyfriends were supposed to do.
"Ahem!"
I sat up properly, looking back to the doorway to see our most recent butler standing there. I sighed heavily; I had completely forgotten that part of his job was to check up on me. "Master Mokuba, there are several more suitable seats in the room; I suggest you find one."
I was tempted to tell him no, and to go to hell on top of that, but I knew that Niisama was going to hear about the situation as it was; I didn't want to make it any worse. I lifted myself up off Jou's lap and hopped into the seat beside him, smiling sarcastically at the butler. He left, but not before pointedly frowning at Jou.
"We should probably play that game," Jou said. The quality of his voice surprised me; it sounded heavier. Did I do that?
Damn, I'm good.
"But I was having plenty of fun with what we were doing," I pouted, blushing as I said it. Still, Jou bit his lip and shook his head, going to set up the game.
Jou was more honorable than Seto would ever give him credit for. Most guys – myself included – would've gone back to what we were doing before we were caught, but not Jou; he had to play the good guy. It was kind of another really good thing about him; I wasn't afraid of him at all. Where I might have found someone else intimidating, he was just like a big teddy bear. I liked that.
I just wished he didn't seem to be able to turn himself on and off like some sort of light switch. How could he even think of concentrating on a game, after that? I certainly didn't feel like I could. Maybe he wasn't as easily affected as I was, or maybe I just needed to find the right way to turn him on… I frowned. "Jou, you like me right?"
"Of course," he threw back, looking over his shoulder at me. He was smiling. "Why?"
"Seto thinks you're using me. I guess I was just checking," I laughed. It was a serious conversation that Niisama and I had. I was sure Jou wouldn't do anything like that, and Niisama replied that he couldn't think of many other reasons why an adult – he had been very clear about using that word – would be with a teenager. He figured Jou was out to 'steal my innocence and gloat to his friends about it'.
"Nah, I wouldn't do that," he assured me, grabbing two controllers and coming back to sit beside me on the couch, handing me one. The title screen of the game was coming up, and he nudged me in the side with his elbow. "So, are we gonna play, or what? I've gotta leave early; my mother invited me over for dinner for some reason – something about Shizuka's new boyfriend. Like I want my baby sister to have a boyfriend," he scoffed.
I rolled my eyes. "You're such a baby," I said. "Look at Niisama – he's being really good about this whole thing with us."
Jou laughed sarcastically, pressing start and whizzing through the game menu. "Right, right, good – if that's what you call the way he glares at me. If looks could kill, you'd be crying on my grave right now."
"Whatever," I replied as we started playing.
Yeah, Jou was great. He was fun, caring, trustworthy, and one of the sweetest guys I knew. And just as soon as I could get Seto to see that, I'd bet that things would be perfect. I grinned and pressed start. "Yeah, and I'll totally kick your ass."
Kaiba
I had to sit there… and look nice… and act nice – no, be nice to the woman who brought Jounouchi into the world. I may have been smiling at all the right times, and was as charming as I knew how to be, but all I really wanted to do was look her dead in the eye and ask her why she hadn't left Jounouchi in the hospital and forgotten about him.
But that was rude, and what sort of boyfriend would I be if I was rude?
The word 'boyfriend' still didn't seem to fit right into my vocabulary, not when applied to myself. When applied to Mokuba's life, it translated roughly into 'threat'; when applied to Jounouchi's, it simply screamed 'eliminate immediately' – which was what I was in the process of doing. However, when I tried to apply the word to myself…
Well, I tried not too; the situation was complicated enough without my own analysis making it worse.
"Seto," Shizuka said as her mother got up to go check on dinner. "Are you sure you're okay with Oniichan coming over? I know you guys don't get along…"
"It's fine," I told her for what had to be the millionth time since I had arrived at her house. Actually, it was perfect; I couldn't have set up my meeting with Jounouchi better if I had been the one planning it. It sort of just happened; I'd spent two weeks wooing Shizuka – and doing a damn good job, despite how odd every second of it had been – and much sooner than I would have expected, she was telling me that her mother wanted to meet me. She'd bit her lip and looked at me with what had to be absolute horror in her eyes, and she told me that her mother had invited her brother as well.
I had to be impressed that she realized how awkward that would have been under normal circumstances. However, it was the perfect venue to tell Jounouchi all about the plan I had set up for him – because of him – for his sister. After all, with the guilt of his sister's well-being on his shoulders… There was no way I could lose.
"Are you sure?" she repeated, biting her lower lip. I was definitely sure, and I smoothed some hair back from her face, leaning in to kiss her cheek. It just served to remind me that I had to kiss her at some point… In truth, I had been avoiding it. That was the only flaw in my plan; I actually had to be just as much a boyfriend as Jounouchi. It wasn't comfortable territory, nor was it familiar. Luckily, I understood the simplicity of Jounouchi's thoughts; he would assume the worst, so long as I made it look right. I could take that time to get used to the idea of actually making his assumptions reality.
As though two weeks hadn't been enough.
There was a knock at the door, and somewhere in the kitchen, her mother uttered a quiet, "Oh crap, he's early for once!" She went scurrying across the living room and into the small front hall, smile on her face the whole way.
She was proud of Shizuka, proud that her daughter has snagged me – much to my disdain. Still, irritating as I found the thought, I hadn't counted on her feeling that way; it was almost as though I could take down two women important to Jounouchi all at once.
It almost made my stomach turn.
I kissed Shizuka's cheek again and twined my hand with hers, resting it against her knee – that'd get Jounouchi's imagination going.
"It's fine," I said, trying to force a reassuring smile; after all, I didn't want to look too cocky. "It'll all work out just fine."
notes
You have no idea how badly I wanted to start Kaiba's POV "Whilst Mokuba was merrily being molested on the game room couch..."
hearts to Hannah; she went hardkore beta mode with this chapter, and I got way excited about it. XD
It's really funny; I feel bad that while Jou and Mokuba are being all overly-snuggly, Kaiba is in the middle of having kissing issues, even though there's not a chance in hell they'd all be on even footing with relationships. I dunno – I just worry about fairness for all involved? Lol. v And I always get a kick out of Mokuba giving Kaiba advice; it amuses me in ways I can't explain. XD